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    since the above lines writte It 1098 —— ...

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    A TREATISE ON ANGLING. The Angler's Inst...

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    A Hundred Years Ago. A Hundred Years Ago...

    were n . is notorious that the best man is now-a-days invariably selected m preference to one merely recommended by family interest lu SL S ^ hLay > > ° "B ever / ° t ! rs 1 the « W « eept with the determination to make * S . £ « . ?!? profefision , and to look to merit alone for honour and promotion . As for S tS ^ ViT COlOmal T ™ ' We neeA meniion onl ^ «*"<* Australia , m testimony of the hanrmony and cordiality that now exist between ' onr planted . and their governor ; aad the natives in that insular continent TriH equally Sr SShrS . and enli shtened treatment they have received from their Christian ' . $ *** ' ' «* ti « m then groaned under a national debt of only Eeventy-two millions , and an expenditure of eight millions , and there were grand iellows m the House of Commons to treat every public question with earnestness and dignity . Pitt and Fox stood at the bead of a magnificent phalanx , and this was the result : — °

    The certahxty of discussion keeps administration in a-we , and preserves awake the attention of tie representatives of the people . Ministers are and should be suspected * b public enemies ; the injustice arising to them , or the prejudice to the country bv -such jealousy , can Jtiarfly ever be adequate to the mischief they may do in a xnomenL -if too much is left to their power , if too much trust is repoeed in their integrity . We must not dwell too long on that topic , or we shall begin to be ^ shamed of our House of Commons . A suggestion of Pitt ' s is recalled however , which deserves to be put into circulation at this moment : — ' That great orator expressed a hope that the standing army would never be less Jiiun 18 , 000 men , basad upon a militia at least 50 , 000 strong .

    If we are jealous of their orators , we need not envy their administration Our ways were their ways . We quote only one of the illustrations connected with , the career of tbe able and gallant Major Cunningham who , upon the disablement of his superior officer , took temporary command at Minorca : — Instead of this appointment , however , being confirmed , a decrepit old gentleman was sent out who was busily engaged throughout the siege in nursing a gouty toe . The miscellaneous contents of the volume mark some interesting incidents < tf a hundred years ago . It was then that Fonthill Abbey-was ° destroyed b y fire , that the first stone of Middlesex Hospital was laid " in Marybon Melds , 'V tbat the statue of Kewtoa -was erected in Trinity College , Cambridge , that the East India House began to rise on the site of the old African House , tbat the building of Blackfriars Bridge was projected and opposed on the ground that it might destroy the current between London

    -and Westminster Bridges , that the construction of the City-road was authorizedj c to conriecttwo suburban -villages , * and that the Princess Emily -shut the gates of Efctee & jond park , so that the people Tvere forced to scale the walls . In Trance , the king was -washing the feet of the poor , the UTarmers-General were eating cherries and green peas at Christmas , and the Marquis -of Plumartin was terrifying the population of Poitou ; in the same yeai Lisbon was shaken down by an earthquake . Mr . Hutton describes a controversial book on the causes of this calamity . The authoT seems to have ibeen an ancestor of the gentlemen who write at home at ease , and in the exuberance of their young-e 3 ed complacency fling the word ' scribbler every senior contemporary : —

    He calls their authors " dastardly mongrel insects , scribbling incendiaries , starveling savages , senseless yelping curs , blushless caitiffs , growling grovelling bipeds , scandal yelping crew , varlets lavish of falsehood , joumalistical fire-eaters , superlative coxcombs , crack-brain'd dealers in abstrrdity , jack-a ' -lanterns , pragmatical ghosts of entity , daring , blushless , heartless , freebooting aliens , crawling vermin , unnatural fry of barbarous insects . " One is a heartless witling , that chokes himself with swallowing a flight ; another a little griping understrapper with a dirt-raking mind and a ¦ spurious breast . u Villains , whatever be tho climate in which they first drew their . breath , axe atill ubiquitary abortions from human nature , whose hereditary soil is that of the gallows to which they are born , improbity being evervwherc an exotic . "

    Fine words , from which a few may be selected by those who believe in the power of verbal violence . In his notice of authors , actors , artists , and books of a hundred years ago , Mr . Hutton glances lightly and pleasantly at "Volney , Flaxnaan , Siddons , Godwin , Mozart , and Crubbe and Ohatterton—• both children then ; Madame Dacier , Curran , Goethe , Eentham , Dibdin , Lavoisier , Lavater , De GenLis , and Jenner , were also children . Gibbon was preparing for his history , Oliver Goldsmith was beggaring himself by -buying tulips , Watts was in 1756 making instruments for the University of Glasgow , Abercroinbie commencing his career , Eugene Aram teaching Latin and Greek , Cook voyaging ^ Falconer thinking of poetry at sea , JNecker keeping accounts in TheTusson ' s bank ; Gainsborough and West were studying ;—

    . Foremost among those whose intellect was in the fall pride of strength rises the mighty form of Samuel , Johnson . Long since distinguished for his learning , -inyaosuit colqphonem , he put the finishing stroke to his fume by the publication of his Dictionary of th « English , language . Oa the : 25 th of March , L 7 W , the following adwertiflenaent appeared in the Gazette : — " Tkis Month will le publMied , "In Two Large ¦ Volumes in Folio , ( Price , bound , Four Pound Ten Shillings ) A Dictionary or tixk English Language : In which the ¦ words are deduced from their Originate , and itluatrated in therr different Significations by Examples from the best Writers .

    " To which are prefaced 11 A Hibiout of tho Lanouaqk , and a Grammar , " By SAMUEL JOHNSON , AJM .. " Printed for J . ond P . Knapton , £ . and T . Longman , ( j . Hitch and L . Hawes , A . Millar , aud It . and J . Dodnlqy . " Wlioro may ho had , Gratia , " The Plan of thla Dictionary . " Addressed to tho Right lion , tho Earl of Chesterfield . " And in the same paper : — This day itipublished ^ Boautifully printed on a Royal Taper , in two Volumes Quarto , and illustrated with Twenty-eight new Copper-plutcs , designed by llnyman , and engraved by the beBt ArtiatB , " A New Translation of Tho History and Aovkntciies of the Renowned Don Qttixote , from tho Spanish of MigwO . do Oorvantea Baovedra :

    " To which is prefixed some Account of the Author ' s Life ™" ¦ ¦ ¦ „ ' . ¦ ¦ ¦ " By T . SMOLLETT , M . D . t P . » te J- A . . . Millar , in the Strand ; T . Osborne and J . Slupton , in GraVs I ™ T . and T Longman C . Hitch and L . Hawes , in Pater-Noster Row " ' J lloLes ^ n London Bridge ; and J . and J . Eivington , in St . Paul ' s Church yard il 0 U ° > on 1 ^ - Such Noblemen and Gentlemen as have subscribed to the Author , ^ ill be S ^^ ifSok ^ * 3 ana - ^^ toA . M H in the stv ij ^ i * i , % n ketch ° f H . terature in that prolific year is admirable . The clanter that tallows , on crimes , is a startling fragment of social history : — Among other crimes prevalent at that period child-stealing was of frequent occur rence . The motives to this cruel offence were various . Sometimes it was commit ^

    for the sake of the clothes ; at other times in the hope of extorting a reward from ita agonized parents for the recovery of their lost darling-though I have met with no advertisement offering more than twenty guineas , and that was for a child thirtv months old . Occasionally also children were kidnapped to be brought un as chimney-sweepers . But the most iniquitous case was that of an old woman who used to inveigle her innocent victims into a cellar , where she destroyed their evesight by applying heated brass plates , and vhen blinded , aeat them out into the streets to beg . When this monster was discovered , four children were found in her den stone blind , and several more in different stages of cec ' rty . k

    T ? frivolities of the women of the period are set in contrast with the irivolities of the men . Among the latter , an example is worth quoting : —' _ " Some bloods being in company with a celebrated Jille da j ' oie , one of them " pulled orl her shoe , and in excess of gallantry filled it with champagne and drank it off to ner health . In this delicious draught he was immediately pledged by the rest and then to carry the compliment still further , he ordered it to be drest and served up for supper . The cook set himself seriously to work upon it . He pulled the upper part ( which , was of damask ) into fine shreads , and tossed it up in a ragout ; minced the sole -, cut the wooden heel into very thin slices , fried them in butter , and placed them round the dish for garnish . " Here is a new anecdote of fashionable gambling :-

    —^ BIy lords of Eockingham and Orford made a match against each other for five hundred guineas , as to whether five turkey 3 . or five geese would in the shortest time perform the journey from Norwich to London . The result vindicated Lord Orford ' s sagacity , for , though at first the turkeys had it all their own way , the geese waddled past them at night , while they-were lazily roosting in the trees beside the hedgerow . With a matrimonial advertisement of a hundred years ago we conclude our extracts from Mr . Ilutton ' s volume . It is very characteristic : —

    ;¦ " IFhekeas a tall young Gentleman above the common size , dress'd in a yellow grouaded flowered velvet ( supposed to be a Foreigner )^ with a Solitair round his neck b and a glass in his hand , was narrowly observed and much approved of by a certain young Lady at the last Kidotto . This is to acquaint tho said young Gentleman , if his heart is entirely disengaged , that if he will apply to A . B . at Garraway ' s Coffee House in Exchange Alley , ne may l ) e directed to have an interview with the said young lady , which maj- prove greatly to his advantnge . ^ Strict secrecy oh the Gentleman ' s side will be depended cm . " We seldom meet with a volume so entertaining as £ Hundred Ye & rs Ago .

    Since The Above Lines Writte It 1098 —— ...

    since the above lines writte It 1098 —— THE XEABER . [ No . 399 , Novemseb 14 , 1857 -

    A Treatise On Angling. The Angler's Inst...

    A TREATISE ON ANGLING . The Angler's Instructor . A Treatise oh the best Mode of Angling in English Rivers , Lakes , and Ponds , and on the Habits of the Fish . By William Bailey . London : Longman and Co . ; Kottinghaiu : Forman . ANGLrxo , which is essentially a summer pastime , has , with the advent of November dreariness and cold , been pretty generally abandoned until the ensuing year . Pike and grayling , however , are still in good season , and wilL continue so during the coming winter ; but the trout , recently so gorgeously arrayed in vesture of scarlet and gold , now cesvscs to bo an object of the fisherman ' s pursuit . Thin , lean , and discoloured after spawning , he hides beneath the hollow banlcs of the streams which he frequents , and neither feeds nor permits himself to be seen , until the genial gales of another spring restore his pristine strength and beauty . ¦

    The grayling , or umber , called by the French Vomhre chevalier— ' Sir Shadow '—possibly from the swiftness of his movements , and the silvery grey tints of his scales , which render it difficult to trace his passage through the water , is in good season through the present and ensuing months , inhabiting Knglish streams less generally than the trout , there are none , we believe , nearer to the metropolis than the rivers of Hants and Wilts . In Herefordshire , the Wye , Lugg , Teme , and Arrow , hold plenty ofgrnvling ; they frequent also the upper Severn towards Shropshire . Walton , and his

    friend Charles Cotton , two hundred years ngo , dwelt with rapturo on the general abundance of this choice and delicious fish in the clew rapiils of . Derbyshire—in none , however , more large and numerous than in the classic Dove . Unlike the trout , whose jnws may be described as nil bone nnd muscle , admitting of nny moderate degree of force in striking him , the grayling ' s mouth is soft and tender . This distinction cannot be too carefully kept in mind by those angling for tiictn , because an attempt to strike or fix the hook after the fashion common to the trout fisher will invariably tear all awav , and of course cause the loss of many a good nsh . bordered

    For angling during the warm scn . 8 oii , when tbe rivers arc by hnzal and aider-trees , there are two natural baits bred upon their foliage , tbe best that can be used for grayling , and also for trout . These arc the hazel fly , a small apecies of caterpillar , brown above and dark green below , and , secondly , the alder fly , a clusky-hued insect seen in great numbers running upon posts and rails by the wiiter-side . There is yet a third insect of note not so generally known to anglors , of a rich brown tint , large and full bodied , called the cannon fly , found in orchards , on the shady side oi apple-trees , darting on and ofl" incessantly , and always alighting with its head downwards . These three , m > d especially tho last , are very deadly baits . With a long taper rod , which enables the angler to keep far buck i ' rom the water ' s brink , a short line of the roundest , finest , and most trustworthy silkworm gut , nnd a annul , well barbed hook , buited with a single lly , there is an alinont certainty of sport , even in the hotto .-jt nnd brigbtCHt days that ever shone in July . No other dovico in such unfavourable usliing weather would be successful . _ Protected by the sheltering alders , kneeling , stooping occasionally , even lying prone upon tho grass—in short , using every expe

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 14, 1857, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_14111857/page/18/