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in the simple and original perception; and, even when phy"sical sensations are assumed, we can seldom account for them ' in the secondary and complicated shapes, in which they take 'the name of diversions. I never yet met with a sportsman, who ' could tell me in what the sport consisted; who could resolve ' it into its principle, and state that principle. I have been a great follower of fishing myself, and in its cheerful solitude have passed some of the happiest hours of a sufficiently happy life; but, to this moment, I could never trace out the source of the pleasure which it afforded me.'*

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Is angling a lawful pursuit ?-And this question reminds us of the Treatise before us, of which we had almost lost sight. Mr. Salter anticipates this objection against the subject on which he writes, and has thought it necessary to give us a page or two of Apology for Anglers.'

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Ought we (he says) to abandon the Cod-fisheries on the score of humanity? Yet what is the Cod-fishery but angling on a larger scale? Every cod that smokes upon our board has been caught by a line and hook, and every turbot has been obtained by the same means. Surely, then, if it is not a crime to angle for fish of a larger class, inhabitants of the ocean, it cannot be criminal to take the smaller kinds that abound in our rivers. The nursery which the Newfoundland Codfishery affords of hardy seamen, accustomed to danger, and, in the hour of adversity, our best hope, may be reckoned as no trifling advantage resulting from the use of the baited hook. Few would willingly have it abandoned because the fish may suffer pain when they are hooked

In these remarks Mr. S. seems to have inverted the apophthegm with him what is nationally right, cannot be morally wrong

He afterwards proceeds to shew that angling is justifiable, and may be practised without offence to God or man; and among other things he remarks,

That in various parts of the Old and New Testament, fishermen, angles and hooks, are mentioned, but in no instance is the practice condemned, even by implication.

And again,

In order to convince the most incredulous that catching fish with hooks was never considered a sinful pursuit, I shall quote our Saviour's order given to the apostle St. Peter: "Go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up."

This last argument would seem almost decisive: it goes near to preclude the propriety of offering any thing in the way of an objection regard to its lawfulness. Mr. S. next sets himself to combat the charge advanced on the plea of alleged

* Paley's Natural Theology, 9th edit. pp. 531, 2. VOL. II. N. S. 2X

cruelty, and here, on the subject of live baits, he acquits himself in a very unsatisfactory manner. The questions are, however, quite distinct. Most river fish may be taken by artificial, and by dead baits. Indeed, we have heard that some who esteem themselves true anglers, actually reject the use of live baits.

With respect to the Treatise itself, it seems fully adequate to every purpose which it professes to teach. It is principally distinguished from others on the same subject, in being more particularly adapted to the angler in the neighbourhood of London, so much so indeed, that a map of twenty miles round London would be no unserviceable addition to it. The city angler, unlike the city sportsman, as being certainly the most skilful of the fraternity, will thank Mr. S. for the sections of the rivers Thames and Lea, and for the particular local information connected with them. The wood-engravings are sufficiently illustrative of the various modes of baiting.

The poetry-for what is a "Treatise on Angling" without poetry-is vile: we mean that which we suppose is given as original. Anglers, however, need not be poets, if they may be anglers. Thomson's inimitable description of the taking of an old cautious trout, the monarch of the brook, by the fly angler, could have been written only by a most skilful hand in each depart

ment.

At the end of the work Mr. S. has very judiciously given the rules prescribed by the Royal Humane Society for the recovery of drowned persons. By making himself acquainted with these rules, the angler may render a much greater benefit to his fellow creatures, than that of sharing his day's produce with the cottager who may have kindly afforded him shelter from the storm, or with the wearied peasant, returning home from his day's labour. In the low meadows in many counties, the adjoining river is a great temptation to the heated haymaker to bathe, and the consequence is too often fatal; deep pits, weeds, and even in shallow places, the cramp, rendering it impossible for him to regain the shore. And if the unhappy man be taken out in a state of suspended animation, the distance from medical aid precludes all hope of restoration. Here the well-instructed angler may render the most essential service.

It might be well worthy the attention of the Royal Humane Society, to print their instructions on cards, and distribute them to the shops, to be put into the books of tackle as a constant appendage to them. The angler indeed will do well always to provide himself with a few copies, and in his excursions to distribute them at the various places of refreshment he may visit."

There is another case in which the angler may do good service to society, we mean in the way of distributing tracts, but

that

more particularly, tracts on poaching, as he is very liable to receive the sauntering visits of those idle persons who probably very morning spoiled the river of the fish he is ardently hoping to catch. And we would suggest to persons who are qualified to write tracts, the propriety of two separate tracts on this subject, discriminating between the mere sly pilfering poacher, and the desperate marauder-the armed villain who goes out with his life in his hand. Human nature is ever ready tostifle conscience, and to seize every thing that offers itself in the way of palliation. The lesser criminal hardly recognises his own character as involved in that of the confirmed, determined poacher; he draws a contrast highly satisfactory to his own mind, and thus the very means used to awaken serious concern, actually becomes a source of pleasing self-gratulation. In order to do the utmost attainable good, the doublings and evasions of the mind should be accurately studied and opposed. Persons who have been accustomed to visit malefactors and prisoners, might seem particularly qualified for this purpose; and it is certainly desirable that tracts should be suited to different degrees of vice, that no contrast tending to allay any rising misgivings of conscience may be drawn at the moment of reading them.

Mr. Salter has added some directions by which to judge of the weather, and a few cautions in regard to health, certainly very necessary, but none levelled at the morals, still more necessary in all circumstances. Cotton has left it on record, that his attachment to fishing never broke in on the sanctity of the Christian Sabbath. The bridges up the Thames, and the banks of the Lea, frequently present, we fear, on that day, an awful and melancholy testimony of the obdurate wickedness of the human heart. What can these despisers of the moral law expect, but that their profaneness will draw down upon them the utmost severity of the doom denounced against the despising Egyptians in the days of Isaiah:-"The fishers shall mourn, and all they "that cast angle into the brooks shall lament."

Art. XII. Original Lines and Translations. Foolscap 8vo. pp. 106. 4s. Murray, 1815.

WE know not whether we have any right to attach a name to a volume of poems, which its Author has preferred to send forth unaccredited: nevertheless, those who are initiated into the mysteries of publication, will easily infer the name of the present Author from the works advertised at the end of the work. And if they have chanced to meet with an ingenious Prophetical Romance, (reviewed in our Number for January last,) they will have less difficulty in appreciating the

following address to His Imperial Majesty, the Christian Alexander the Great.'

Anointed Prince! whose bright Imperial Crown
By prescient Heav'n fore-doom'd to high renown,
With new effulgence fills the Christian sphere;
To every people sends its radiance near;
Great Alexander! Not as He of old

In Pagan times, in Pagan story told :.

His lust, was power; Thy gracious will, to save ;
Thy praise to free; His glory to enslave:
With name more sacred, glory more elate,
Thee nations hail, The Christian and The Great!

pp. 7—8.

O High-commissioned! sent at length to close With Christian Peace the tale of Christian Woes! To Thee we see consign'd the sword of God, To save His Church and break her Tyrant's rod. On Russia's plains the Almighty word is giv'n, And nations press to own the voice of Heav'n; With prostrate faith th' Eternal Will to praise, And hail the saviours whom its counsels raise.". After the example of the Poet Laureate's "Three Odes," these "Original Lines" are preceded by a similar address to his Royal Highness the Prince Regent; but our Author has chosen the Duke of Wellington, instead of his Majesty of Prussia, to complete the heroic triumvirate. Those to the Prince Regent are naturally the worst: there is something ludicrous in the effect of the rhyme in the second couplet.

'HIGH-FAVOUR'D BRUNSWICK on whose Royal crest
The marks divine of Heavenly Mercy rest:

See the third fleeting year now op'ning since
Thy own Britannia hail'd Thee REGENT PRINCE.'

And again:

So pass the years in rising glory, since

Thy own Britannia hails Thee REGENT PRINCE.'

But there are better things than these in the volume: and although our excellent Author cannot be considered as having succeeded in establishing his claims to the sacred character of Vates, in either of its imports, the reader will, we think, close these "Original Lines," not only in perfect good humour, but with sentiments of esteem for the character which they serve to convey to us. The volume was evidently designed for the circle of his friends, and within that circle it will interest. We will make room for the following specimen, which we extract from Lines to Childe Harold.'

"O!" if, as holiest men have deem'd, there be
"A land of souls beyond Death's sable shore,"
How would quick-hearted Harold burn to see
The much lov'd objects of his life once more;

And nature's new sublimities explore.

Ah! say not if to those whom God hath taught:
If aught on earth, that blessed truth is sure;
All-gracious God, to quiet human thought,

Hath pledg'd His Sacred Word, and demonstration wrought.
'Did Babylon, in truth, by Cyrus fall?

Is't true, that Persia stain'd the Grecian land?
Did Philip's son the Persian host enthrall ?
Or Cæsar's legions press the British strand?
Fell Palestine by Titus' sword and brand?
Can Harold to those facts his faith intrust?
Then, let him humbly learn, and understand,
Then "is Christ risen from te dead," the first
Dear pledge of mortal frames yet mould ring in the dust.
"But Harold "will not look beyond the tomb."
And thinks he may not hope for rest before :"
Fie! Harold, fie! unconscious of thy doom,
The nature of thy soul thou know'st not more:
Nor know st. thy lofty mind which loves to soar,
Thy glowing spirit, and thy thoughts sublime
Are foreign on this flat and naked shore;
And languish for their own celestial clime,

Far in the bounds of Space, beyond the bounds of Time.' p. 24.

Art. XIII. The Doctrine of Atonement, an essential Part of the Christian System: A Sermon preached at Beccles, to the Members of the Norfolk and Suffolk Associations. By William Hull. 8vo. pp. vii. 58. Price 2s. 6d. Conder. 1815.

A TONE of vigorous thinking and impassioned feeling, 59

happily pervades this discourse, that we deem it entitled to a more than ordinary degree of public attention. It is founded on the apostolic declaration to the Corinthians, “We preach "Christ crucified;" and after some preliminary observations on the doctrine of atonement, Mr. Hull amplifies at considerable length the general arguments by which it is supported. He proves that it accords with the typical nature of ancient sacrifices; with the exalted terms in which the Scriptures have described the person of Christ; with the unparalleled sufferings he endured; and with the importance attached to his death by the sacred writers. He then illustrates the suitableness of this doctrine to the moral condition of our nature, and proves the 'impotence of those who oppose it to substitute a better hope in its stead.'

It will be perceived from this brief analysis of the principal reasonings in the discourse before us, that there is not any original argumentation; but what is advanced is well supported

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