The Grange advance. [volume] (Red Wing, Minn.) 1873-1877, 1876-07-19
MIR. JOHN ROACH.

MIR. JOHN ROACH.
"a'ss-------
"You see, l was a fisherman. I
think that is enough to account for
the whole story My neighbor look
ed up from his float as he stood angling
for perch upon a little rustic bridge
which used to be nearly opposite the
Rye House, at Hoddesdon, in Hert-
fordshire. had been botanizing all
the afternoon among the waterside
flora-which is very beautiful in Eng
have gossip with Mr.. John Roach.
We live near each other, and feel the
natural esteem which comes of reci-
procal good offices. His place is call
ed s*Nestfelds,' and mine ''The
Priory.' don't know why. They
are both substantial country houses,
built of red brick, without any pre-
tension, and surrounded by twenty
acres or so of gardens and meadow
land. They were probably erected in
the reign of Elizabeth, when our is
land peculiarities were somwhat more
marked than they are now, for they
are both alike in this popularity, tina
small portions of light and air are
walled in for private use and plentiful
ly planted with good things. My
friend s "habitation was the dover
house of old Sir Reginald aRoach's
widow, who seems to have set UP SOME
queer religion for herself and followers
"a sect once numerous in the villages
round about her my, place seems to-
1,ox,o 1no,, J,
an ancient monastery which was, per-
haps, pulled down by Henry the
Eighth S Commissioners after the bluff
King had quarreled with his Romish
clergy.
John Roach and are alike in many
respects. We have both good gardens,
excellent wine-cellers, larders well
stocked at all times, curious libraries
with all the shelves full Of companion
able books. We are both bachelors
under the guardianship of sunny tenn
pered housekeepers, so, that we ripen
and grow mell0Wer daily, as do peaches
upon southern wall in Autumn-time,
We have both warm incomes too,
enough for all the wants of the fancy
and the wants of the heart, nothing
over. We could neither of us take to
building OF picture-buying on a large
scale; but we can purchase all the re-
spect we require for common use, we
never haggle over figures, and let our
tradesmen, work-people and servants
make such gains as please them with
out demanding strict accounts from
any one. At Christmas and at Easter
we have always something to give
away, and we keep the birthdays of
old folk and children that we may en-
JOY the perpetual sight of happy faces !;
SO that whenever big fish or blade
Of strange grass is heard of within
miles of our abode, John Roach and I
are sure to have the first news piping
hot, because our bread and cheese and
ale are good, and he loves angling, and
it's we'll known that am searching
for the four-leayeQ+ shamrock, which
is said sometimes to Reward a: patient
and intelligent-looking into the secrets
of Nature. .'.t:.,t- -. =:
*'Yes,.I was a fisherman, and Philip
was not: or: he. might have better
understood the originAofs happiness"
continued my neighbor, with quaint,
demure smile playing over his features
in the soft hazy light Of an English
Spring in early evening.
nodded as arranged an unusually
fine specimen of a parasite which grows
upon the water-lily, and which then
fancied I had myself discovered,
though I now find it was known to my
Scotch gardener, and is not uncommon
in Perthshire, his native county. AS
nodded, also remarked with sound
discretion that fishing and botany
might account for many things.
''Ah!'' returned Mr.. John Roach,
with more readiness, if with less pro.
fundity, than had characterized my
observation ''fshing has an advantage
over botany, because it is less absorb.
ing. When you go a-hunting for flora
you are as a student who diligently
pores over a book, a large and open
book indeed, but one of which the
characters are often hard to decipher,
and your attention can never wander
from the subject. A fisherman has on
ly to keep an eye upon his float, and
may leave his thoughts at liberty to
roam over all creation. Fishing is
rather an aid to contemplation than a
hindrance to it,
| had nothing to say in answer to
this statement, and if I had been able
to controvert it should not have done
SO, for we must have lived and thought
to small advantage if we do not evade
discussion whenever it is possible to