Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1878-05-31

weeks. N. W. W.
The Ethlcs and EsthetIo Side OF Angling.
That veteran angler, George Dawson. of
the Albany Ereni,y Iou1ld, in tho course of a
recent most interesting article on fish and
fishing, has the following
alt is strange" said my friend, 'that the
gentle art has such fascination for men of
such opposite temperameuts. Must there
not be in each OF them something common
to ALL which thus makes them of kin in spite
of their seeming unlikeness 2
mo doubt of it" replied. Father Wal
ton says of anglers as of poets, they are
born SO !, and there is in every angler some
thing of the poetic and aesthetic elements.
These elements, you know, are not always de-
veloped in rhythm. They as often find ex-
preston in tastes and habits as in words.
But whatever makes man an angler, there
is nothing equal to the art rs o fascinating
pastime. Like a JOY of youth it is something
to partake of with ecstacy and remember
with delight"
That, said my friend, has certainly
been my experience. But | have found it
even more than you say for what may be a
Joy in youth is Often mOnotonous or insipid
in old age. But We never weary of this
our years and stays with us even when the
grasshoppers has become burden. My
memory runneth not to the contrary when L
loved to fish But until the snow-hakes be-
gan to drop upon my locks it was possible
for some other promised pleasure to WOO me
from nv accustomed vacation on lake or riy-
er. Not so now, however. | long for the
coming of the season when l may set out on
nv angling tramps us the weary watcher
waiteth for the coming of the morning"
Il know all about that feeling" | said.
but when the coveted time docs come and l
find myself whipping my tayoritc river or
fighting n three pound trout. five pound
bass or thirty pound salmon, | am amply
repaid for the waiting and grateful to kind
Providence for making my tastes to harmo-
nize with those of the simple wise men
whose pure and sanity lives have almost
elevated the gentle art into the placid realm
of holy worship"
Il am glad TO hear You say that, sir. 1t
shows ME that yOu have caught the spirit of
our dear old master. There are also those
who have such low conceptions of the art as
to assume that for one to find delectation i'll
it is to give proof of thouGhtless habit if
not of questionable morality and an irrever-
ent mind But all such err i'll their hasty
Judgment because they fail to comprehend,
not alone the physical benefits OF the pas
time. but its intellectual and moral possibi-
litics as well.
Your experience" l said, l said, sis not
singular. Reverence and an appreciation of
the beautiful arc elements which enter into
the character of every true angler. His vo-
cation takes him where nature il seen ut her
best. River, lake. forest and mountain are
his inseparable companions. Cascade and
brook and bird I'LL the air with perpetual
melody, while sunshine and shade by day and
the tremulous rays OF the myriad stars by
night TALL upon him, III his peaceful solitude,
like whispered benedictious.
You are quite right. am sure. The feel
ings you describe have often come to me
while sojourning in the quiet places where
our vocation takes us. l learned long ago.
in the hurry and fret and hustle of rasping
business life, what Paul meant when he said
When would do good evil is present with
me : but ! have only approached the apos-
Ties conception of the higher spiritual posi-
bilities when have felt the solemn stiffness
of the silent woods or been bathod III the
mellow sunlight whose reflected rays trans
formed the reposeiul lake into sea of molt-
EN- SILVER. In such moments have. with the
Psalmist lifted up mine eyes and my heart
also to the unseen hills from whence.my
help cometh, and thanked God for u recrea-
ton in whose pursuit | had found II Jacobs
ladder upon which angels assembled and de
scended to strengthen my faith and enlarge
my conceptions of the Divine muniticence.
.'Huw strange" said i'll response. THAT
anglers are so widely misunderstood. A too
common sentiment votes them indolent mo-
rose. unsociable and cruel, as well rs intense
" sensuous and irreverent. But they are
not indolent indeed, as II rule. they are lar
more busy and active during their soJourn on
angling waters than are most men at home.
Nor are they morose. They covet solitude
but not the solitude of the recluse. They
enjoy beyond the conception of their censo-
rious critics the cOmpanionship OF mild-tem-
pered men of guilsless habits and simple
tastes, who prefer the pure mir of the forest
to the deleterious atmosphere of n crowded
inn. and the invigorating exercise and exhila-
ration which angling affords to the enerva-
ting Incidence and insipidity insepan'ble
from the average fashionable resort. Nor
are they unsociable. rs the animated discus
sion, enlivenIng lest and cheerful song.
which make their nights under canvass an
ever pleasant memory, can testify. And m
for their cruelty, who were more sympathetic.
more gentle or more responsive TO the ap-
peal of sorrow? As was the master "A type
of ali the virtues-so for the most part are
the ulsclpltS- Lei tnoSe WHO uuib' i'hu bilc
long list of worthless whose names are classic
and whose virtues have made their memories
We may not all lie rs reyerent AS
We should be- hut ms you. sir. have so well
said. our associations and surroundings eH-
cite TO reverence and compel recognition OF
the great Architect 10y whose hand has been
reared the grand and beautiful where all an
glers love to congreGatr.
''Ah yes. said my friend those nights
under canvas How the recollection OF them
will linGer in the memory and Hood with sun
light the intervening months of weary walt
ing But these weary months viii not he
long i'll passing and when they shall have
passed, | shall hope through some stroke OF
good fortune, to find myself placed where
can experience some of the pleasures you
fish for salmon"
81 trust. WAS my reply. THAT you may
yet experience tins supreme pleasure. For
while would not say of salmon angling what
some have said OF the metropolis OF France
See Paris and Die, may say that no ang-
Ter has any Just conception of the grand pos
sibilities of the art who has never killed II
"And this, sir yet hope to accomplish ;
md would esteem myself happy could
have you as teacher that my graduation
from the high school of the art might ensure |
equal pleasure to myself and honor to my |
master"
II shall, was my sincere response. "he |
most happy to help You to become aS proii- |
lent in this as YOU are already skilled III the |
MINOR departments OF the art and may
aind Providence deal gently with both OF us |
until the time ot the singing of the birds |
shall again come when II will he right to 90 |
Fishing
And then with cheerful good night,
Ne each sought our couch, renewedly I'M |
pressed with the fascination and dignity OF IN
,rt which, more than most others, gives to
IL v0taries the inspiration OF the poet, the
epose OF the philosopher, the kindliness of
he phlanthropist, and the mental and ply |
neal elasticity oi perpetual youth.