as if there were no Death in dying Such Men as these think the Sun shines Blessings no where but in their Chimney-corners that build their Habitation upon a sandy Foundation that judg and pre-judg both Moralist and Heathen that rather deserves their Pity and Charity and censure all the World when they themselves cann't live without it Arnold What crazy Props such Men lean upon that exchange their Profession for Profit If Christ be our Foundation let 's believe as Christians not barely to honour the Appellation of Christianity but live the Life and Practice of Christians otherwise we build on a sandy Foundation that sinks beneath the Surface or tumbles down in the Storm We daily observe the Earth a fix'd Body yet it bears not the Heavens nor it self neither because it hangs by Poize of its own and the Providence of God supports it For our blessed Saviour that made the World is the Support of the World for none less than he that made the World had Power to redeem Man and save the World This is the Water of Life that 's drawn from the inexhaustible Fountain of Christ our Redeemer This is the true Physician of Life that blots out the dismal Characters of Death Thus whilst the formal Christian draws Streams from the muddy Cisterns of the ambignous World his Devotion reaches no higher than himself and the gaudy Titles of Ambition and Hypocrisy Theoph. Shall I oblige Arnoldus to entertain us with a Contemplation of Seraphick Joys whilst the silent Night passes away and the blazing Torch of the Sun appears that causes an early Blush in Aurora Arnold Every Day has a new Birth but Time and the World had but one Beginning The Night was made to shadow the Day but the Sun to light and illuminate the Universe and this was ordain'd by the Wisdom of him that stuck the Stars in this beautiful Order before whose triumphant Throne the devout Penitent prostrates his Devotion and pours forth his Orizons and sweet Adorations in the Presence of that great and ineffable Good that made the glittering spangled Orbs and is himself the Light of the World before whom every Nation and Kingdom must bow or break whose Mercy infinitely excels all his Works and whose Justice and Judgment who shall dispute Theoph. O ArnolduS pray goon Arnold The Elements nay the Heavens contain him not nor is he comprehended within the circular Globe of the Spherical Orbs. These luminous Bodies of Sun Moon and Stars were ordained by him to light the Creation for he that made them gave them a Being and dignified them also with prolifick Virtue adapting them Parents of Vegetation Procreation and Prolongation of Life whereby to regulate and reform Times and Seasons as also to distinguish betwixt Summer and Winter The greater Light he made to govern the Day but the Moon he made to patrole the Night and that they have Influence upon secondary Causes no Man is so irrational I hope as to question it Theoph. For my part I do not pray proceed Arnold Thus the Stars and Constellations have Divine Order and Influence and the Celestial Powers and Principalities as Angels and Arch-angels Thrones and Vertues have Dominion also over humane Frailties And where the Patriarchs and the Prophets are with the Apostles and Evangelists with the whole Quire of Saints Cherubims and Seraphims perpetually singing Praises and Glory to him that sits on the Throne and rides triumphant on the Wings of the Wind. O let the silent Deeps and the ponderous Mountains with every thing that has Breath praise the Lord For the Earth is his and the Fulness thereof by whose Wisdom the World was made and Time begot and by whose infinite Power the separated Elements live still in Harmony who form'd the Fetus of Earth and made the Firmament its Swadling-band and in the vast Circumference of Heaven he hung up the glorious Creature the Sun whereby to illuminate and illustrate the World whose Centre nor Circumference contains him not nor the Excellency of his Glory that superexcels all Creatures and Creations from whom the deplorable Sons of Men wail for Deliverance and Redemption from Sin And now let 's contemplate the nocturnal Muses Sleep first presents us with an Emblem of Death yet is it the poor Man's Solace tho the rich Man's Terror A Repose and Recreation to the wearied Limbs but a Disease of Inquietude to the voracious Mind the Body's Requiem and Death's Effigies Now Death is the desired Hope of him that truly conteMplates the State of Immortality And as Mortality is the End of Sorrow so by Consequence it 's the Beginning of Joy A Period of Misery but the Trophy of Victory The Resurrection of Life and the Bloomings of Eternity For as the barren Ground thirsts after Rain so does the Oppressed seek Deliverance in Death Great and good is our glorious Creator whose Divine Excellencies superexcel the Creation whose infinite Wisdom display'd it self before Time and the World had as yet a Beginning Pardon my Presumption most sovereign Power when to prostrate my Humilities before thy sacred Shrines that with a holy Reverence and divine Piety all my Devotions may be acceptable to thee We are but finite but Thou art infinite Infinite in Power to create the World and infinite in Wisdom and Providence to uphold it Thy Government is in Heaven yet thou rulest upon Earth but thy Habitation here is the Tabernacle in Man O sacred Divinest direct us in thy Paths of Wisdom to lead us the ready way to thy self for thou rewardest every Man answerable to his Works and our Works as Paul saith do certainly follow us then will they as certainly be an Orb to environ us and because an Object continually before us we can neither evade nor shake them off whereby they 'll delight or be a Terror unto us As the Tree falls so it lies and in the Grave there is no Repentance therefore seek the Lord early in a Spirit of Meekness for the Meek are said to inherit the Earth whilst the Proud that exalts himself shall be abased Thy powerful Arm has often reached Deliverance the Righteous therefore shall rejoice in thy Salvation and all that sollicit thy Paths of Peace shall be found in their Duty as by Wisdom directed but Destruction as a Judgment is prepared for the Scornful Therefore let the Pious rejoice in his Hope for the End of the Wicked shall be an Abomination Lord when we contemplate our mortal State below and those invisible immortal Powers above blest for ever to behold the Glory of thy Majesty it brings us to consider the Beginnings of Time and to ruminate where we were when the Foundations of the World were laid and stretch'd out and who but thy self by Infinite Power fastened the Ends thereof and lifted up the Curtains of Heaven's glorious Canopy and caused the Face of the Firmament to shine Who but thy admirable Arm could separate Light from Darkness the Sea from dry Land
entertain Travellers So that now Scotland represents a Star that reflects a Beam on our Southern Orb but England is the Magnet that attracts this Northern Chalybs by sweet Influences and mild Condescensions whereby the Fruits of Peace and Tranquillity protrude and bud up to unite Interests in one another The Orbs were made for the Erratick Stars and every Star as a lesser Orb destinated for Light and Discovery renders the Creation beautiful to excess by Divine Appointment of the Divinest For the Sun we see is not impaired because to lend us a Ray of Light nor does it lessen Superiours in any Degree to communicate their Virtues to influence Inferiours Do Stars run retrograde to make Subjects Slaves when the whole Creation is but under subjection by divine Condescension of the great Creator Nor is there any thing of Slavery save only Servility except Man who enslaves himself to his Lust or by Tyranny imposed upon his Fellow-Creature And now Sir I have done in doing my Duty not only to my Country but singly to your Self give me leave therefore to wind up my Epistle and solicit Pardon if any thing be amiss supposing my Language runs harsh and rugged but that I cannot help because drawn from the rough Draught of a Martial Pen which shews my Stile may be somewhat unpolished Nor can I flatter the Times for I never was a Parasite nor a Time-server so that Errors excepted I may hope a Pardon and an easy Penance from so mild so moderate and judicious a Patron under whose Patronage I lodg my Sentiments and subscribe my self Worthy Sir yours to serve you Philanthropus A Dedication to the Virtuoso's of the Rod in Great-Britain's Metropolis the famous City of London GENTLEMEN I Was somewhat unwilling my Angler should pass the Press till sedulously examined by some of your Ingenious Society and the rather because it 's eminently known that many amongst you are experienced Proficients in the Mystical Art and Intrigues of Angling whose Approbation will indisputably accommodate my Design provided it come time enough before my Angler encounter the Press However if it come short I shall satisfy my self as if already confirmed that you 'l please to embarque in these my solitary Examinations of those Rivers and Rivulets in England and Scotland where the Fields in Winter are paved with Frost yet are the Meadows in Summer-time beautified with Greens and deck'd and adorn'd with redolent Sweets that perfume the Air whose delightful Fords are furnished with Trout and to advance Recreation the generous Race of Salmon an entertainment perhaps not every where understood nor is it by every Angler I perswade my self throughly examined But Gentlemen I have brought you somewhat else which for ought I know may prove a friendly Diversion if you please to inspect this Narrative and Survey of Scotland where perhaps you 'l meet with such Entertainment as may not only benefit but in some measure delight you after your Exercise of fishing for Trout What then if you step from the Water-side and contemplate Nature so raising your Scenes you 'l admire the Creator in his rare and admirable Creational Work there you may see the Operation of Elements and stellate Influences there also you may see the curious and various Amalgamations of Earth into Cristaline Forms and Opacous Bodies and there you may see how the Luminaries are adapted Parents of polite Stones Metals and Minerals How Vegetables also protrude and bud up because impregnated with prolifick Vegetation and how the Principles naturally operate in Animals inspired and animated by the Soul of the World We have also considered some Moral Duties in reference to Men of sober Conversation Nor are we altogether barren of Solitudes and Divine Contemplation The Stars we consider as fiery Objects and he that made them thus gloriously to shine made them also to influence and impregnate the Universe for God through Wisdom hung up aloft these bright shining and globical Bodies whereby to illuminate this stupendous Creation and that by reason of their Rapidity and circular Rotation they impregnate the Earth with prolifick Virtue and as we see the Stars surround the Earth the Orbs beyond dispute immure the Stars but the Heavens encircling both the Orbs and Elements plainly demonstrate that from the Divinest every created Individual has both Ends and Means naturally and specifically appropriated to it self whereby to make it visible and Visibility terminates in Time Which Notion to explain in a philosophical Sense seems to imply that both Matter and Form results in their own proper and natural beginning Know therefore that Corruption is the Child of Putrefaction and Putrefaction is the Prison and Sepulchre of Death Death therefore precedes the Resurrection and the Resurrection is the Clavis that opens Eternity But Gentlemen pray excuse me if I wander too far from the Water-side to gaze and admire these glorious Metaphors the Divine Oracles of him that made them so not only lose my Opportunity of Angling but endanger to lose my self in these solitary Meanders rarely frequented and trod by the Vulgar Give me leave therefore to retrieve my self and introduct you into the slender Margin of this my uncultivated Book and examine the Volume if provided any thing may be found there worthy your ingenious Entertainment or the general acceptation of so splendid a Society that gives Laws and Rules to all the Anglers in England that accommodates every County with Rods for Diversion and inriches every River with Hooks and Lines that circumspectly prescribes Critical Hours for Recreation and consults both the Mean and Elevation of Angling whereby to augment and quicken the Spur of Pleasure But I 'm sorry I can raise my Scenes no higher to elevate this admirable Piscatorian Science beyond the Elizium of the Angler's Arcadia For had I that preeminence of Pen and Fancy to illustrate what the Art of it self deservedly requires I should impoverish England nay it may be all Europe if not all the World to select Expressions to express and decipher it's deserved Encomium But finding my self unable to accomplish this great Undertaking I 'll silently sit down satisfied under the Rhapsodies of Contemplation inviting my Associates so to do when encountring the Rocks and Rivers for Recreation Now Gentlemen since Magnetism is so little known among Artists I less blame the indigency of those that know not how Nature by innare Quality attracts her own Likeness than other inconsiderate Rationals that sport away their time in pursuit of their Lusts. Let the Angler therefore if he please select Contemplation and pity such others that are destitute of those heavenly Advantages till the Strokes of Grace and a pious Example or Education compel them to write Memorandums of the glorious Creation in the fair and legible Copy-Book of Wisdom so imitate Nature in her daily Progress till ariving at the Super-excellency of practical Christianity which truly to know is Wisdom in the Abstract that transmutes our Nature into Grace and
Undergraduate in the Art Nor have I confidence to raise my Ambitions higher than to superscribe my self an Admirer of the Rod and a Lover of silent and solitary Streams Let my Writings therefore remonstrate my Experiments and my Experiments manifest my Zeal for Solitudes and my natural affection to the Place of my Nativity which can never be wanting whilst I 'm in a capacity to speak or write my Name Philanthropus A Dedication to the Gentlemen Piscatorians Inhabiting in or near the sweet Situations of Nottingham North of Trent GENTELMEN IF to violate Faith though but with Infidels we forfeit not only our Reason but Religion so not to dedicate some part of my Experiments to your Ingenious Society might justly prohibit me the freedom of tracing your flourishing Fields and fragrant Meadows inamel'd with Flowers that perfume the beautiful Suburbs of Trent upon whose delightful Banks I formerly used to spend some solitary Hours in pursuit of the scaly Fry and where the Plenty and sweet Situations invited me not only to contemplate but improve this mystical Art of Angling though it 's true the Rudiments in the minority of Youth were laid in Cam yet Silver Trent's orient Streams graduated my juniour Experiments by unfolding her Meanders and making obvious the Intrigues of her rapid Fords replenished with variety nay so great variety of Fish that only to express it would almost bring Truth into Suspicion when from the more profound and solitary Deeps the Artist if expert may summons up Lucit and the generous Race of Salmon But Gentlemen I am not Angling now I 'm only telling you those original Motives to this solitary and Piscatorian Science that grew up with me when an Adult for then I courted the shady Streams of Cam but Trent as I told you above gave me Education To Trent therefore and the Place of my Nativity I direct my Influences let Malice do its worst nor are they extravagant Notions nor broken Fragments collected from Foreign nor Domestick Authority but lineal and practical Experiments and Demonstrations drawn up and cultivated by the Mediums of Art and the exact Methods of Observation which without vanity I dedicate to your Society inhabiting the flourishing Ports of Nottingham which I doubt not you 'l accept of though not much to inrich you however you may taste of those solitary Hours laboriously spent in Great-Britain's Hellespont the famous Trent where I used to refresh my self and ramble up and down her delightful Fords to gratify and satisfy others as well as my self with the Fruits of Experience So that should I call Sea and Land Elizium it 's not altogether improper so to do since Earth and Water compleat but one Globe In those florid Fields near the Fords of Trent I frequently wandred up and down to crop the Buds of Experience yet I plundred no Man's Orchard to enrich my Arbory nor borrowed I other Mens Labours to adorn my Discoveries the Bounty of Heaven that always blest me with benevolent Success restrained me from rifling the Records of my Ancestors when to put a Rod in my Hand and place a River before me so that I should offer Violence to Reason and Art if now to consult the Authority of others when such a large and legible Folio to write by as the great and stupendous Volume of the Creation which to contemplate interprets the Divine Practice of Solitudes and becomes not only contributary to the present but the future Generations To study Contemplation is the high way to Heaven where the Suburbs consist of a Divine Composition and where you may read by those Oracles the Stars the beautiful Order of Celestial Bodies and the great and lesser World all Harmony for Heaven and Earth are Correlates which duly to contemplate poises our Passion and baffles our Pride which necessarily pursues the Foot-steps of Generation as naturally as Rust follows Copper which without dispute is the Death of the Compound consequently Tradition if penitentially admitted and Ignorance opposed to the Mediums of Art there uncultivated Arts present no Dispondencies nor need a Man solicite Reality in Practicks But this I oppose and confidently assert he that licks up the fabulous Fiction of slippery Authority to confirm his false and untenable Position brings unsound Arguments to prop and support the slender Faith his Opinion leans on whereby he exposes himself to Clamour and Reproach and the Censure of every judicious Examinant Give me leave therefore to remonstrate my Resolution since the Arguments and Allegations in my Book are my own Yet had I rob'd Virgil to adorn my Muse peradventure my Fancy had been more fruitful but take it as it is since so freely dedicated to the Virtuosos of the Rod from whom in modesty I may reasonably expect some charitable Censures of this my Sober and Contemplative Angler advising them to direct to the Gnomen of Practicks omitting Theory and the useless Prescriptions of the Antients Then shall no Man need to grope the Invention of others but manifest every Truth by plain Demonstration Thus far I may safely sail under the Angler's Protection but should I write Marginal Notes and place them to the Test of unpractical Anglers beyond dispute I should split on a Rock and wanting a Pilot to bring me off I might live without Hope and die in Despair which I resolve against whilst capable to write my Name Philanthropus THE PREFACE Courteous Reader LET me manuduct you through the slender Margin of my uncultivated Book to contemplate the Evangelical Sweets of Reason and Religion two requisite and necessary Priniciples for a Christian. For since it hath pleased God through infinite Mercy to breathe into Man a rational Soul whereby he was made Lord of all the Creation to govern and conduct the Creatures committed to his Charge with respect of Duty to his Sovereign Creator this capacitates Man to act prudentially for imprudent Actions proceed from Rashness and the inconsiderate poize of Reason So to be religious it 's the Christian 's Corona that enables him to contemplate his present State and future Felicity Which to accomplish he must cruciate himself with his Thoughts and his Lusts and strip himself of all imaginary Vanities to ruminate how the certain uncertain State of Mortality in a Moment breaks up and terminates in Death And it 's requisite it be so since the Body's Solution displays the Soul's glorious Ascension out of this elementary Tabernacle of Earth and Clay whereby with more vivacity she may elevate her self on the Wing of Faith by Divine Attraction to those glorious and invisible Exaltations which beatifical Vision no mortal Tongue can well express nor can Mortality conceive nor enjoy here save only by a Divine Faith and a Holy and Heavenly Speculation Now how necessary is the study and practice of Christianity the true noble and the heavenly Birth For a Christian is such by Regeneration and to be regenerate is a Child of God and a Child of God is a Saint here
me otherwise the Prejudicate will conclude me ignorant or affected with paucity but I shall prevent that Suspicion by publishing to the World this Treatise of Angling wherein the Practicks are manifestly divulged though the Contemplative be but in part express'd And what hinders I pray you to withdraw sometimes from the trembling Streams of Trent to dedicate your vacant Hours to the Shrines of Solitudes to sit upon Rocks or in shady Groves there to contemplate the beautiful Creation and meditate our present and eternal furture State so with a holy and reverentical Fear call to mind the Creator and Original of all Things through whose Wisdom Kings rule and Princes decree Iustice But doubting some may want other moral Inducements to such I have brought a Glass of Morality wherein they may view the World's state of Inconstancy but to the more religious and contemplative Angler a Model of Piety Jacob will struggle hard for a Blessing where be may see the inamour'd and Seraphick Soul surmount the Aether whilst Earth-worms like-Otters prey below upon Fish Now to such as love Travel I have brought them History but to such others as love Fish and pleasant Waters my Treatise for the studious Geographer here are Cities and Countries but for the active Engineer Castles and Citadels Should thy Fancy be mean here are shallow Brooks deep Rivers require the skilful Art of Swimming Thus my Book seems a Mart where a Man may trade for Trifles or merchandise for things of greater Value The World is all Purchase and Death the Pay-master Think not therefore to naturalize Earth into Heaven since every thing adheres and partakes of its own Nature I advise therefore the Lovers of a solitary Life to study Sobriety Temperance Patience and Chastity for these Divine Blessings are the Gift of God So is Contemplation which never shines so clearly as when retired from the World and worldly Incumbrances Woods Rocks Grotta's Groves Rivers and Rivulets are Places pick'd out for Contemplation where you may consider Creational Work and melt with the warbling Notes of Philomel and the innocent Harmony of musical Birds that deliciate the Air and delight the Attention Or you may proportion your Meditations with the Pulse of the Ocean or the soft and murmuring Complaints of purling Streams that imprint their Passions as they pass along when melting the smiling florid Banks Nature consults no Artificer to imbellish and adorn her illaborate Works and shall the God of Heaven the great Creator draw his Lines from the faint Shadows of Nature Pray but consider who makes the Sea keep her regular Motion the Constellations their Rotations and the erratick Stars roll in their several Orbs Are not all the Reins of Government in the Divine Hand of him that made them Is not the Christian's Diadem and the Purchase of the Cross there Liberty and Freedom there the sweet Tranquillity of Peace there the blessed Society of Saints and Angels there Iustice and Mercy there the results also of Life and Death there And where shall we be found if not there in those everlasting Arms of Beatitude that exert our Souls by the Divine Ray of Contemplation Study Patience practise Humility and let Repentance be our daily Exercise since these with other Vertues are Duties incumbent Then may we sing Hallelujahs at an Angelical pitch and that 's a strain above the World's Ela. These and such like Divine Impressions we ought to imprint on our immortal Minds when with impatieney we pursue our Exercise either to the River or solitary Lough For the Taper burns and the Thread of Life because lap'd up in this fine tiffany Web of Mortality like a Meteor terminates sometimes in a Blaze Too late then to confer with Reason or think of Religion So farewel and be happy in the Rules of Friendship but happier to live in the amiable Arms of Vertue ever honoured and admired by thy Friend Philanthropus To my Book GO tell those Men that bait their Hook with Gain That plow the Hellespont and cross the Main To fish for Gold in ev'ry muddy Pit And hourly wait for ev'ry paltry Bit That make their Shops the Fishponds and the Fry Knacks of all sorts to catch the Standers-by That trole with silver Hook but use no Rod And freely strike perchance the Line but nod That use no other Links than such as are Compos'd of golden Threads not Stone-horse-hair Such mudling Anglers all the Baits they lay Tempt nothing more than Arguments of Clay Not well consid'ring all this while they paddle In Craesus wealthy Ponds their Eggs prove addle For when they come to scale their Fry and Cook Ev'ry surprize reach'd them with silver Hook They must conclude more Fin than Fish was caught 'Cause ev'ry Action proves an empty Thought Come trace the Angler's footsteps he will lead Thy Genius to some Grove or Rock there feed Thy thoughts with Contemplation whilst most Men Think such retirements but a Cave or Den And I 'll assure thee when thou com'st to know Those Vertues that from Contemplation flow Thou surely wilt conclude the whole Creation Was made for Man Man but for Contemplation Philanthropus To my Honoured Friend Capt. Richard Franck upon his Contemplative Angler I Am no Fisher But a Well-wisher to the Game And as oft as I look And read in your Book so oft I blame My Minutes spent with frothy Recreation Whilst others live aloft by Contemplation It s true sometimes I read In Cambden and Speed and sometimes Mercator Yet in them I can't spy How the scaly Fry floats in the Water We grant those Anglers were elaborate To fish the World but you the Anglers State John Richards To my Worthy and Honoured Friend Capt. R. F. on his Contemplative Angler SIR you have taught the Angler that good Fashion Not to catch Fish with Oaths but Contemplation No Man that 's Wise but out of good Intention Will hug your Plot and well-contriv'd Invention To take the Fowl and Fowler let alone That 's not the killing two Birds with one Stone But he that catches Fish and Fisher too Has done as much as Man or Art can do Honour 's the Bait for one but silly Flies Are mortal Engines for the scaly Fries And he that thinks to scape the present Danger Fastens himself thinking to noose the Stranger For one or other's still catch'd in the Net When Politicians have the Pool beset And haling to and fro to fill their Dish Lites on a Chub perchance or some such Fish That dies without Redemption unless be Amphibion-like can live by Land or Sea But in the Calms of silver silent Trent There 's no such danger in the Turnament For you may fish till Sun-set nay all Night Find but your Gamesters a fresh Appetite And that a Bait will do when you would court Your Game ashore that dies to see the Sport Mercurius Hermon To my Honour'd Friend Capt. R. F. Author of the Contemplative Angler I Know Ingenious Sir that Sol's
bright Rays Make Tapers useless so will be my Praise Of this your Angler for what I express Can nothing add to that illustrious dress Except in this as Colours dark we know Cause brighter Colours far more bright to show The Garb it 's clothed in indeed is Rich Made up of neatest Ornaments of Speech Grac'd with most pleasant Fancy and the Flow'rs Of purest Elegance pick'd at such Hours When you have sat to hear the Muses sing On the sweet Banks of the Castalian Spring Adorn'd with most curious Observations Ioin'd with most sober Contemplations Things both Divine and Moral and withal Pleasant Descriptions Geographical Full of Ingenious Variety Mixt here and there with dainty Poesy So that there 's scarce a Line throughout the Book That is not furnish'd with its Line and Hook With which the Reader will be caught when 's Eye Is searching how to cheat the scaly Fry Ladies will make it their Companion And learn by it to fish in Hellicon Who when that their fair Eyes shall chance to view Your active Fancy will with haste pursue After the same to see its utmost flight And so involve a progress of Delight Here 's nothing to offend their Eyes or Ears Nor fill their tender Breasts with dismal Fears No horrid Plots nor base Conspiracies Nor noise of Arms from Mars his Nurseries No Fields of Blood nor Air disturb'd with Tones Of harshest Discords sent from dying Groans Arnoldus and Theophilus will lead Them in more pleasant Paths They now may tread On Scotish Ground with Pleasure for that Place Looks brisk and fair since you have wash'd its Face 'T will please them when they do behold the State Of this new Structure bravely situate And then immediately they 'l fall in love With that alluring and delightful Grove And those harmonious Birds that sit and sing Whilst ev'ry pretty purling pleasant Spring Doth murmur as it glides and loth to be Depriv'd the Sweets of such Societie Here may be found those vertuous harmless Sports That far transcend the Vanities of Courts Here may be seen each Hill's majestick Brow Smile on the amorous Valley that 's below Here may a Man enjoy such pleasant Naps As Poets have upon the Muses Laps Whilst gentle Zephyrus from Rosie Lips Sends whispers which through fragrant Bushes skips Vpon the gentle Streams that glide away Whilst Lambs do bleat and pretty Fishes play And thus through paths that strewed with content You bring the Reader to the silver Trent Vpon whose fertil Banks methinks I see Apollo's Darlings making Melodie Led by your Fancies thread from their own Spring And in delightful Tones sit sonneting Who when they mention you in their sweet Lays May th' Angler eccho your deserved Praise John Slator To my Honour'd Friend Capt. R. F. Author of the Contemplative Angler ATlas i 've seen and I have read your Book Where ev'ry Argument's a Line and Hook To catch the curious Reader let him throw But to surprize the Fish he 's surpriz'd too For whilst in shady Streams the Anglers watch To catch the Fish the silly Purdues catch'd Nay I have seen when I have seen you spread The trembling Streams with neither Silk nor Thread That you with Horse-Hair upon throwing in Has Fish surpriz'd that never wagg'd a Fin. Mussles in Trent I 've seen them leave the Water And swim ashore as if 't were them you sought for Cheese after Meat prohibits other Dishes And after Shell-fish rarely other Fishes Now Anglers look about you whilst you draw Your Game ashore and preach the Common-Law Of Destiny as if it were a Favour To sentence Death beyond all good behaviour You know not but your selves in project may Be angled for whilst you devour the Prey If so the Fisher with the Fish takes share And both alike their fortunes equal are Richard Johnson The Author to the Poet. IT 'S true you do allow a Man may fish In Trent's calm Streams and complement his wish What then were Trent all Fish without content I 'd neither covet Fish nor value Trent The glorious Eye of Speculation differs From airy things that 's hung about with Ciphers It 's not the Man that 's Rich it is the Mind That makes him happy ' cause it's unconfin'd Riches remonstrate horrid shades of Night The Day puts off which Phoebus puts to flight And Fear our flight pursues so that where e're We lodg our Fears Death he brings up the Rear But Solace and Content is such a Thing And so Divine it 's great Jehovah's Ring With which he weds the World to make Earth's Portal The Celebration of things more immortal For Heaven and Earth in unity repose From thence our Contemplation sweetly flows The great and lesser World 's all Harmony The Spheres are vocal Pipes Man 's but the Key That when Jehovah's Fingers touch to play The ravish'd Soul shakes off this mould of Clay And hov'ring with her Wings at last makes flight Vnto those endless Cords of true Delight Philanthropus A Brief DESCRIPTION of the Cities Citadels c. in Scotland With the Contemplative Angler Theophilus IT was in April when every Bough look'd big with Blessings and the florid Fields and fragrant Meadows adorn'd with Green sent forth their sweet and redolent Perfumes to refresh the Universe Chanticleer then gave the Day a Summons and the early Lark earlier than the Sun salutes the Air whilst blushing Phebus paints and gilds the Azure Globe whose Celestial Influence by refulgent Magnetism blest all the World with Prolifick Blessings so that the whole Creation began to vegitate and every Vegetation sent forth sweet Aroma's the Birds began now to build their Nests and every Bird to choose his Mate whilst the Groves and delightful Springs as also the Forests and unfrequented Desarts celebrated the fragrant Spring when the frigid Congelations of Frost and Snow were all struck dead by the blazing fiery strokes of the Sun Arnoldus What infer you from these pretty Metaphors Theoph. I infer thus much The Vernon Ingress smil'd a Blessing when she sent the melodious Harmony of Birds to melt the Air. The Nightingale with her warbling Notes the Blackbird Thrush Linnet and Golden-Jay besides the Canary and delicious Bulfinch fill'd all the Woods with their solitary Strains And because beating the Air with such proportionable Harmony every Bush became an Aviary and every Grove a mellifluous Consort whilst the purling Springs and more shady Rivulets softned by the gentle Breathings of Zephyrus seemed tacitly to express a secret whispering silent Praise Arnold To whom Theoph. To whom think you unto Iehovah the great Creator Arnold Very well exprest Proceed Theoph. Things thus posited under such a rectoral Governance my Reason and all my Faculties were excited to contemplate the excellent Beauty of this stupendous Creation but above all when to consider Man Lord of this Creational Work and invested with Power to conduct the Creatures and intrusted with the Cargo of the whole Creation this I confess was
to encounter the Philistines Theoph. That Authority that tolerates Solomon to have Wisdom the same Authority concludes Saul inquisitive after Witches Arnold Admit it does what then that Power that gives Life a Being is indisputably more noble than the thing that has Life God created the World and by Wisdom animated it with Life so that Life shines every where in every Individual this is manifest to every Man and every Creature that breaths in the Creation Theoph. This I agree in but I can't reconcile my self to your Opinion that Solomon and Saul's Case run in parallel Lines Lucifer and Michael though Stars of the first Magnitude yet they paid not equal Adoration to their sovereign Superiour Arnold I don't question but you will grant that nothing has Life of it self but from something else that 's eminently superiour That the World is governed by Divine Providence and that every Beginning is destinated to Death in time Theoph. All this I grant what infer you from thence Arnold I infer and observe you are somewhat too severe in censuring Saul's Sin by the Rule of your Judgment unpardonable Now for one Man to take upon him to judg another he betrays his Rashness because his Judgment is not infallible Theoph. I know where it pinches you 'll hinge upon Mercy Arnold I must tell you that God is a merciful Judg whose Mercy as recorded is above all his Works and a Mystery so sacred and secretly conceal'd that Angels themselves dare not pry into it How then shall Man discover this admirable Arcanum of Mercy when lock'd up in the secret Cabinet of Heaven Let us not assume such previous Conjecturals but rather consult and expostulate Death since Death is the Wages and the Reward of Sin Man and the World terminate in the Arms of Death because they alike consist of elementary Principles But Death will be found the Extinguisher of Life except that Life that 's lighted by the Torch of Regeneration that Life will outlive the second Death Theoph. But you 'l agree in this that a vicious Man living and reigning in Sin all the Days of his Life his Life may be taken for a living Death Arnold I 'll comply with any thing except Censoriousness for that end trumpet not Solomon's Praise too loud lest the Eccho resounding ecchoes Ostentation On the other Hand not to hope an Indemnity for Saul we straiten God's Mercy which is infinitely boundless So let 's leave it to the Judg of all the World for if the World be left to determine this Case she 'll denounce a false Judgment because of her Partiality Nay she may be suspected uncharitable too and such are we if Children of the World because subject to err by the Rule of Instability Theoph. You bear hard upon me yet I 'm loth to give up the Cause there 's little or no Difference in the length of our Weapons but this I 'll say so drop the Argument Solomon was an Oracle of Wisdom and Learning and the blazing Star that shin'd in Ierusalem And Saul was a King and the first King in Israel but then he was that King God gave in his Wrath which was soon after removed for David stood in Saul's way Arnold So did Vriah in his when inamoured on his Wife Theoph. But David was a Prophet and a Man of God and Saul was censured for his impious Exorcisms as if the Tincture of Regeneration was obliterated in him Arnold God forbid that the Sting of Sin should be so venemous a Poison that no Antidote can cure it Did not the Lord of Life die to conquer Sin and Death and Hell in every Believer Let us be so charitable as to parallel Saul with Sampson who had his Dalilah as Saul had his Endor Here we read that David found Repentance after the Prophet's Reproof And Sampson had his Satisfaction upon the Lords of the Philistines These two had their Pardon feal'd before Death and fain would I be so charitable to conclude so of Saul Theoph. Ay but Saul's Fault is writ in Capital Characters Arnold That 's instituted for our Admonition and the Reformation of succeeding Generations Theoph. O Arnoldus the Generations to come will abominate this that inflames it self to set the rest of the World on fire Arnold Then let them burn and consume one another for Lust and Pollution augment the Flames Theoph. Do not all the Nations and Kingdoms about us exhaust their Treasures to indulge themselves and devote their Services to the Hypocrisy of the Times Arnold It 's rare to a Miracle to find Faith amongst Men especially such as daily expose Conscience to the wreck of Opinion And he that makes a God of his Belly devotes all his Services to his luxurious Appetite Thus Men as by Machination traduce one another into the Devil's School to brazen themselves against the Modesty of a Blush lest Sin should be thought to be shame-fac'd And others raking up the Embers of Revenge fire themselves by quenching the Flames Theoph. So let them But what 's all this to our Angling Design Arnold Stay a little till we come to the Water-side In the mean time I have a Question to put and that 's this How comes it to pass that the Hinge and Poize of Politick States move and turn about with such rapid Motions that Kingdoms and Potentates are dash'd in pieces Theoph. The Naturalist we see him consult Natural Causes and the Judicial Astrologer Planetary Events but the more Religious devotes himself to the Providence of God Is there not a Time for Frost and a Time for Hail a Time for Rain and a Time for fair Weather a Time for Revolution Dissolution and Death and all these Times and various Changes are exercised by him that holds the Poize and Ballance of Government That Naturalist therefore that concludes a Divinity in Celestial Influences does but grope in the dark and the Astrologer pins his Faith upon other Mens Sleeves Arnold You tread upon the Heels of my former Assertion Theoph. What if I do I hope not to hurt you The Prince of this World rules in the Air insinuating himself into the Heart of Man from whence comes War and the Rumours of War as Rapine Ravages Murder and Blood Does not Pride strut up in the Face of Piety and Hell presume to justle Heaven And can Good and Evil think you run in parallel Lines No Arnoldus I perswade my self this Age lives within one Step of Destruction were it not upheld by an Almighty Providence Arnold O the Subtilty of Man's Heart that nothing but Arrows from the Almighty can reach it Theoph. He that reads his own Heart without a Perspective reads all the World but to know God is Life eternal and that 's more than the World knows because wanting the Key of Knowledg Arnold Man is like a Ship in a turbulent Sea where every Wave threatens him with Death and every Gust of Wind one Step to his Grave How mindful therefore ought
abominates Sycophants that fawn and flatter and seem to adore the rising Sun yet with Impatience longs to see it set Not but that no Sun shines without some Cloud nor any Court is kept without some Flatterers till that time comes and I hope is at hand that Vertue shall naturally flow from the Streams of Piety and not from Imitation which spontaneously spring from the Celestial Fountains of pure Christianity Theoph. When Democrasians dagger the Crown then the perplex'd Native stands a tiptoe every minute expecting some fatal Event and so it is when Insolency justles Justice then the Magistrate suffers Affronts in his Legal Justiciary Proceeds Such Scorpions as these wound and infect the Body Politick Ar. From thence I observe whenever Pride is most predominant there of necessity a Nursery of War is planted that in time will murder the Blessings of Peace We have learn'd by Experience that Fulness of Bread without a Blessing perverts into Wantonness so into a Curse that by degrees grows up into such a Vice that murders all it meets with and kills without Care it 's a Vertue therefore to shun its Acquaintance Th. Come Arnoldus let us enter this solitary Grove here we may dwell among Rocks consort with the Creation and keep time with the Pulse of the fluctuating Ocean Here we may refresh our Ears with the relishing Notes of tunable Birds and astonish our Eyes with the beautiful Model of Heaven Where whilst we gaze on those glittering Orbs our Hearts as inspired may breath forth Flames Ar. A solitary Life I always approv'd of to trace the polite Sands to sit down under the Shades of Woods and Rocks and accost the Rivers and Rivulets for Diversion as now we do and trample on the beautiful Banks and florid Medows beautified with Greens that will not only refresh our Senses with their redolent Perfumes but enamour us beyond express when to see their Banks bath'd by such Silver Streams Come and let 's pitch our Tents in these delightful Plains where every shady Grove as an Vmbrella will shelter us from the scorching fiery Beams of the Sun till the Earth sends forth her sweet Aroma's over which the burnish'd and beautiful Firmament of Heaven surrounds all the Earth and the blessed Creation with Melody like Birds and murmuring Streams I fancy it a kind of Counter-Paradise for Mortal Content And how sweet and sublime is that Contemplation that surmounts Angels for Divine Associates Observe Theophilus that little rowling Rivulet where every Eye may evidence Fish in those purling Streams courting the Sun as if naturally enamoured with Stars and Celestials Such Observations flow from our present State let us therefore consider both the Author and the End Th. If Ends and Beginnings have a like Fate and Period as indisputably they have then Time and our latter End contemplates Eternity our future Hope so that a retired Life of all Lives in my Opinion will be most agreeable to our present Condition for I like not the Aspect of our Friend Agrippa Ar. Nor I neither but be it what it will be the Rocks and the Woods if I calculate right shall contribute to Arnoldus any Man may read in legible Characters a discontented Frown on his Martial Brow Th. What if it be it won't make new Breaches in our Loyal Breasts Ar. Nor cement old ones for here 's a Breast ready to receive the Charge of Danger tho Death be Conduct I value not the Swellings of my Adversaries were every one of them as great as Goliah as deep-mouth'd as the Cyclops that roar in Mount Aetna or as formidable as Thunder that cleaves the Cedars and the sturdy Oaks yet the Shrubs may escape and live in hope to see a Purgation of such eminent Contenders Th. If ill Omens presage fatal Conclusions I like not Agrippa's Aspect Ar. Nor I that Resolution that only endeavours Self-security Th. Would you have me turn the Point upon my self Ar. No nor your Friend neither by turgid Repetitions come what will come let 's talk no more on 't high Tides have their low Ebbs and the higher any Man rises the greater is his Fall expected I know the World is such an inviting Morsel that attempting to swallow it some have been choaked Alexander of all Men bid fairest for the World yet when he went out of it a Sepulchre of six Foot serv'd to inter him Th. It 's just so now have not we a sort of Senators that impatient of Destruction pull down the House upon their own Heads to noose other Folks in the same Snickle Ar. There 's nothing can stand against the rapid Torrent of a giddy Multitude it 's good to stand clear of Male-contents that justle Superiors and call Parliaments Pick-locks and Robbers of the People under the pretence of publick Faith Th. Such Furioso's I must confess are of an odd Kidney that can silence Justice and sentence the Laws that sit uneasy under Governments tho of their own contrivings that are angry with any thing that 's uppermost nay they shall arraign themselves if no Superior to contend with Such Men I question not will condemn us for Victims tho without Breach of Law or Affront to good Manners Ar. That can never be done by any except such as exchange their Loyalty for Luxury that degenerate from Native English Men and renounce their Oath in Baptism that swear they do not swear and be Religious to boot But the great Acts of former famous Men will live upon Record on the Stage of the World whilst the World has a Being more especially such great Actions as drew Life from Vertue Such Heroes we have had but asleep now whose Memories still blossom and after Death smell sweet in the Dust. Th. What then must we despair of our selves as poor silly Birds do that are seiz'd in a Gin and wait Deliverance from the wretched Fowler as if Death would solace our captivated Fears and refer them and us to the Grave for Reconciliation Ar. I am not ignorant that the Rape of a Sword results in a SCar and amputates sometimes to the loss of a Limb lest peradventure the whole Body be hurried into a Fever For the Sword you must know is Death's cold Harbinger that depopulates Kingdoms and lays Countries in waste sucking the Lives of the Subjects and Treasure of the Nation till at last like a Cripple it creeps to its Grave Th. But what if the Banks overflow with Plenty and the Nation superabound with luxurious Inhabitants may not a War in such case be thought requisite to purge the Kingdom of superfluous Vagrants Ar. Where Excess and Intemperance extend the Veins by Surfeit or Pleurisy beyond their natural Bounds it 's better to bleed than blow up a Kingdom Th. I 'm of your Opinion in that matter in all acute Distempers there ought to be adequate and expeditious Expedients but without Offence may I ask you one Question Ar. Two if you please if I can answer them Th.
Experience and the Promulgation of Health and Maintenance What tho Caesar and Pompey contend for an Empire Alexander Magnus bids fair for the World Th. I have waded to the Chin in the Practicks of Experience but never attempted Knee-deep in the Rudiments of Politicks Ar. And I have liv'd under various Dispensations of Providence by the Divine Power and protection of the Divinest Th. Nectar and Ambrosia have fill'd my Cup almost to an overflowing while my Associates were the Pious and the Penitent but not the Politick with Apollo sometimes to bear a part with musical Instruments that never spoke Treason this is a Life that lives above the World Arnold O the heavenly Raptures that flow from Contemplation they 'r enough to raise the Mind by divine Faith and a holy Speculation to the very Suburbs and Portals of Paradise Theoph. And such is Unity for it 's the Key of Harmony which if but touch'd by the divine Finger of the great Iehovah how quickly the World is put in Tune Arnold And quickly out of Tune where Policy is planted in the room of Piety Now I always thought Piety the best Policy when beautified with the Ornaments of true Christianity For since God himself has blest Man with Reason and to his Rationality added intellectual Understanding let us act above Sense for that enslaves us and once enslav'd we 're captivated with Fears Th. Were I a wise Expositor I should interpret this Sentiment by the rule of Travel Ar. And whither would your Fancy direct you Th. Into the very Centre and Bowels of Scotland Ar. What would you propound to your Self when there Th. The exercise of the Rod and learn to Fish Ar. And who shall instruct us Th. Our selves who should You shall be my Tutor and I l'e be your Pupil Ar. Must I be didactick to initiate this Art Th. No Man than your Self knows it better Ar. If so you must arm your self for Angling Encounters for I best approve of a resolute Combitant whose Conduct and Courage equally strive against all vicissitude of Fortune and smiles when at the precipice of Danger Such a Man bears the triumphant Standard of Constancy in all Difficulties and doubtful Uncertainties Th. Are Lectures to be read in Features Ar. Are Lovers by Sympathy capable to feel those amorous Flames that scorch their Hearts in each other's Breast Th. If that Axiom be true my Breast has burnt long enough Ar. With what Th. It may be with Passion Ar. And it may be with Suspicion Th. Let all Suspicion and the Nature of it be for ever suspended Ar. If that be your Resolution give me your Prospect Th. The flourishing Fields and the plentiful Streams in Scotland Ar. Shall we ramble the Highlands Th. Ay and the Lowlands too for I l'e hazard my Fortunes with my Friend and share in his Adventures Ar. Is that your Resolution Th. Yes that 's my resolve I must confess I had rather go than stay Ar. Stay then and I l'e go with you Theoph. Why now I 'm answer'd Doubts can have an end And so have mine since lodg'd in such a Friend To Nature human Learning Sense and Reason Compounds of purest Peace no Plot nor Treason Harbours in that calm Breast where Art and Science Bud up like Twins and bid a bold Defiance T' Ignorance and Prophaneness let thy Lot Be what it will and see if mine be not The same adjusted know that I can bear The hazard of my Fortunes any where To vie Arnoldus if Arnoldus lay Commands on him that 's ready to obey Ar. This looks somewhat like a Foreign Doctrine Th. However you 'l find it an innate Principle Ar. If so then we run but one single Risque which of necessity will incorporate us in one single Adventurer in order thereto let us first dispatch Agrippa whose Countermarch will very much advance our Progress Th. That 's well consider'd pray let it be so that without interruption we may ramble all Scotland Ar. And the studious Art of Angling must not we make that our employment Th. Yes sure but how must we accommodate our selves with Rods and other convenient Manuals and Instruments whereby to pursue this mysterious Art Ar. Trouble not your self with that little Affair Here Agrippa take you these Letters and sweeten your Rhetorick with returns of Arnoldus so oft as enquired for by my dear Constantia Agrip. Can the Tides forget their natural Course I 'le court Sun and Moon to sprinkle the Tracts with propitious Beams to return me prosperous Ar. But when you approach those harmonious Ports where Constantia dwells be well advis'd what you say or express let not one Word slip that may cause a Tear for if one Star falls all the Heavens lowre Th. And remember me honest Agrippa to the Vertuoso's in Nottingham together with the generous Society of Anglers that traverse the fragrant Banks of those silver silent and murmuring Streams of the famous Trent Ar. Near whose cultivated Shores and florid Medows shines the Life of my Life in the constant Breast of my dear Constantia Agrip. I 'le observe your Punctims and pay your Respects Ar. Do so Th. Agrippa farewel and forget not Theophilus who petitions their Welfare and thy prosperous Journey Agrip. Heavens influence your Designs Ar. Now he is gone nor will he be long in going in the mean time let us contemplate the beauteous Creation and retire to those solitary Rocks to defend us from the radient and refulgent Beams of the Sun that direct their Strokes upon us such Retirements will moderate Extreams afterwards we may stretch our Limbs to encounter our Recreation and sport our selves with the princely Trout in the flourishing Rivers and Rivulets in Scotland which probably may contribute as much Satisfaction as any other Rivers in the Promontories of great Britain if dextrously examined and industriously managed with Patience and other Requisites sutable and agreeable to the Methods of Art We may also in our Progress as we travel the Country take a Survey of their Towns Forts and Fortresses the like we may do of their Cities Castles and Ciradels with their Rivers Rivulets and solitary Loughs which will furnish us with Fish enough provided we can furnish our selves with Baits But to furnish every Angler with a new Bait was the studious Invention of Isaac Walton Author as you may read of the Compleat Angler who industriously has taken care to provide a good Cook supposing his Wife had a Finger in the Py which will necessarily be wanting in our Northern Expedition where the Fry are numerous nay numberless almost in some of those Rapid and Trembling Streams from whence the Artificial Fly if that Exercise be well understood will contribute as much as any thing to court them ashore and sweeten our Recreation But I speak more peculiarly to ingenious Artists not to those flegmetick Fellows indigent of Art such only I allot an accidental Fate Th. Methinks I grow impatient to attempt these
famous Tweed But Westward from thence and inclining yet more Norward are the remarkable Antiquities and Ruins of Boghall and not far from thence is the admirable Tintaw a prodigious Mountain over-looking the Marshes From whence or from Erricsteen that 's not far from it there issue forth three eminent and considerable Rivers as that of the Tweed Loyd and the River Annon But of these three Rivers we shall discourse more at large as opportunity presents in its proper place And now let 's advance to our Country Cottage since compelled by the Extremity of Rain and encreasing Waters To which place when we arrived like Men in amaze we stood gazing at one another because to see the Sheep grazing on the Tops of those Houses where there was hardly Grass enough to graze a Goose in By this you may conclude their Buildings but low and I 'm sure their Doors and Entrances were so strait that they exercised our Strength beyond our Art Archimedes Engines signified but little till the Souldiers set their Shoulders to support the Eves by which means the Horse got an Entrance in and that Horseman that was not throughly wet was doom'd that Night to go Supper-less to Bed Thus in a Storm we stormed the Town and 't would make a Man storm to be treated only with Oatmeal of which we made Cakes for every Souldier became a Baker and the Flesh-meat they procured us was drest without Slaughter for none we had except my Duck you formerly discours'd so that most of us roosted with an empty Appetite and every Man that went that Night to Bed was sufficiently alarum'd before it was Day Oat-straw was our Sheets and Port-mantles our Pillows It 's true some had Cloaks and 't was well they had them otherwise they had been constrained to use Plads and he that used one but to cover his Carcass mustred I uphold him more gray Coats than black Coats that claw'd him more perniciously than a Middlesex Bailiff The next Day we recruited with some Country Ale but so thick and roapy it was that you might eat it with Spoons Besides some small quantity of Mutton was brought us enough to discover the Cookery of the Country and the Linen they supplied us with were it not to boast of was little or nothing different from those Female Complexions that never washed their Faces to retain their Christendom But among the rest I had almost forgot to remind you that the Souldiers and the People were jointly agreed to part without the loss of one Tear in the Morning Th. I hope not to see nor would I willingly dream of such bad Commons a hungry Belly and nothing to bite on nay worse than that more Sluts than Cooks and in every House fowl Women fowl Linen and fowl Pewter yet in their Rivulets such Silver Streams What not a Bed nor a Thread but linsey lowsy to keep a Man dry who could project or contrive worse Entertainment for the worst of his Enemies Ar. Why how now Theophilus is it that time of day he 's an early Angler that angles by Moonshine Th. Mistake not your self I 'm only groping for Baits it may be I purpose to angle early Ar. Who questions it when you catch 'em so fast before Sun-rise what will you do when it's break of Day Th. O Arnoldus I 'm almost worried to death with Lice my Skin is all motled and dapled like an April Trout Can you blame me to relinquish this lowsy Lodging when my batter'd Sides are pinck'd full of Ilet-holes One Brigade pursues another and Flight I find the best Expedient for my Enemies I perceive are so desperately resolv'd that they 'll rather die than quit the Field Dangers foreseen are the sooner prevented and I design to sleep in a whole Skin as long as I can Zanker farewel I am glad to see thee behind me and no need of a Chirurgion Ar. Did you think of Boghall when the Vermin last Night were so busy about you the Story of my Duck was pleasant to you and so is this to me Those Characters and Impressions seal'd on your Sides by these Scotish Interlopers will oblige you to remember Zanker these seven days You have not been used to such coarse Entertainment nor treated as I have been with such Scots Commons Is this the fruits of private Practice to compleat your self a Graduate tho you steal your Preferment from a Nitty Corporation at the best you can be but Batchelor of Backbiters-hall But now jesting is done and you 're half undone I perceive what will you do now in reference to Zanker can you give us a Relation of that Corporation Th. Yes that I can and will do notwithstanding the Difficulties I have encountred Zanker stands situate on a Flat or Level surrounded as you see with excellent Corn-Fields but more remote it 's besieged with Mountains that are rich in Lead-Mines The Planets I fancy them very benevolent to influence this swompy Rocky Earth and shine Metallick Blessings into them to commode the indigent and almost uncultivated Native Heaven it 's true is always propitious because never to impose the Law of Sterility when to supply the whole World with the Bounty of Increase And tho the People hereabouts are destitute of Ingenuity and their Fields for the most part impoverish'd for want of Cultivation yet are their Rivers and Rivulets replenished with Trout because undisturb'd with the noosy Net which augments the Anglers if not the Artizans Entertainment Ar. Here 's no Character of Zanker all this while Th. I am just coming to tell you that Zanker is a Town and a Corporation too tho not bulky in Buildings yet there is a Bailiff Master sometimes of a Brew-house whose Entertainments in my opinion may easily be guest at provided you reflect on our late Accommodation There is also a Market-place such an one as it is and a kind of a thing they call a Tolbooth which at first sight might be suspected a Prison because it 's so like one whose Decays by the Law of Antiquity are such that every Prisoner is threatned with Death before his Trial and every Casement because bound about with Iron-bars discovers the Entertainments destined only to Felons Now the Market-place is less worthy of a Description than the Tolbooth for no Man would know it to be such were he not told so There is also a Kirk or something like it but I might as reverently call it a Barn because so little to distinguish betwixt them and the whole Town reads daily Lectures of Decays so do her Ports her Avenues and Entrances Where note I call her the Child of Antiquity by reason of her Ruins and irreparable Decays It 's true I was not murdered nor was I kill'd outright yet I narrowly escaped as eminent a Danger when almost worried to death with Lice Ar. However I am glad you escaped without Scars and advise for the future that you examine your Lodging before you make your
measure of incomparable Salmon if I calculate right where we may sport to Day and to Morrow too provided the Season serve to our purpose So from thence we may pass into the Fields of Luss by fording the Loemon where beyond dispute we shall gratify our selves with such solitary Entertainments as the Angler most delights in So from thence by crossing the Loemon Eastward we arrive in the steril Fields of Bohanan a Situation by some thought almost inaccessible by reason of Hills and multiplicity of Boggs Th. What lofty domineering Towers are those that storm the Air and stand a tiptoe to my thinking upon two stately elevated pondrous Rocks that shade the Valley with their prodigious Growth even to amazement because to display such adequate and exact Proportion with such equality in their Montanous Pyramides as if Nature had stretch'd them into Parallel Lines with most accurate poize to amuze the most curious and critical Observer though with exquisite Perspectives he double an Observation yet shall he never trace a Disproportion in those uniform Piermonts Ar. These are those natural and not artificial Pyramides that have stood for ought I know since the beginnings of Time nor are they sheltred under any Disguise for Nature her self drest up this elaborate Precipice without Art or Engine or any other Manual till arriving at this period of Beauty and Perfection and because having Laws and Limits of her own destinated by the Prerogative Royal of Heaven she heap'd up these Massy inaccessible Pyramides to invalidate Art and all its Admirers since so equally to shape a Mountain and to form it into so great and such exact Proportions Th. Then it 's no Fancy I perceive when in the midst of those lofty and elevated Towers a Palace presents it self unto us immured with Rocks and a craggy Front that with a haughty Brow contemns the Invader And where below at those knotty Descents Neptune careers on brinish Billows arm'd with Tritons in Corslets of Green that threatens to invade this impregnable Rock and shake the Foundations which if he do he procures an Earthquake Ar. This is the Rock and that which you see elevated in the Air and inoculated to it is an artificial Fabrick invelop'd as you now observe in the very Breast of this prodigious Mountain which briefly yet well enough your Observation directs to both as to the Form Situation and Strength Moreover it 's a Garison and kept by the Albions where formerly our Friend Foelecius dwelt who of late upon Preferment is transplanted into Ireland however Aquilla will bid us welcome and if I mistake not he advances to meet us look wishly forward and you 'l see him trace those delightful Fields from the Ports of Dumbarton Aquil. What vain Delusions thus possess me nay what idle Dotages and Fictitious Dreams thus delude me if these be Ghosts which I fancy Men. O Heavens it's our Friend Arnoldus and if I mistake not Theophilus with him Welcome to Dumbarton Ar. Thanks dear Aquilla thus friendly to salute us we are come to see you and have deserted the beautiful Tracts of Albion to trample the solitary Fields in Scotland Behold these Evidences we have brought our Rods where note you may easily guess our Design Aquil. Above all Men you are fortunate for had you studied an Age to time your Business for a Day 's Diversion the Heavens could not shine Stars more propitious Do but see how the Ground is chap'd and parch'd and the Streams so lean and barren of Soil as well they may for no moisture has fallen to refresh the Earth nor drive down Soil to recruit the Rivers and feast the Fish this Month or more till yesterday and then the Clouds began to dapple the Face of the Firmament to lowre the Sky to discolour the Air to moisten and the Spouts of Heaven seemingly to drop yet when all came to all it came to nothing for the Tears of this Storm converted into a Calm so exhal'd into Meteors for ought I know for when we expected a Deluge of Rain there fell by chance but some few extravagant Drops which for Greediness made the Fish almost forsake the Water the Complexion whereof being but a little changed you may fancy if you please to fish under a Colour Ar. Notwithstanding all this I 'm for the Fly Th. And I 'm for any Bait or any Colour so that I be but doing Aquil. Then I 'm for the Ground-bait and I perswade my self it will turn to best Account and prove most profitable to answer my Expectation For with but three sorts of Fish we must trifle our time viz. the active Eel the dextrous Trout and the incomparable Salmon all which will as greedily pursue a Worm as a luxurious Appetite pursues his Paunch Bring but a Brandlin or rather a Gildtail and try whether Trouts be destitute of an Appetite Th. They must have good Stomachs sure if they be always eating Aquil. You are waggish Theophilus but really I am serious for now we begin to discover those silent and solitary Deeps those rapid and swift Falls of Water besides those stiff and strong Streams that invite us to treat the Family of Fish So that I conceive it is almost impossible to direct a Line and miss a Reward And the bottom if you please let us examine that with Ground-bait to prove the Effects of our Art and Skill to summons Contribution from so generous an Adventure But if Mid-water we consult then I commend the Canker with the Catter-pillar or the Grub or if with a depinged Locust you will not lose your Labour nor will you starve your Cause if to strip off the Legs of a Grashopper All these are excellent Baits but the green Monket of the Owlder-Tree super-excels them all Then there 's the Pink which you call a Minew if display'd with a Swivel at Mid-water or you may if you please drag him from the bottom of the Deeps so glide him all along through the Region of Limpid Streams the better to display this amorous Charm so obtain the Point by the Mediums of Art as already is advisable by consulting the Artist Th. Now I perceive we but trifle Time this tedious Discourse obstructs Recreation Let us stretch our Limbs with the length of the Streams we have Day enough and pleasant Weather why then so vainly to procrastinate Time with flattering Thoughts of suggested Enjoyments which signify no more than Honour in Dreams Come my Friends let us reform that Error by the Progress of Art So that if our Labours be spent to advantage and our selves like Artists sufficiently recompensed by the Rod we may sport the Day away and lengthen our Expectation that to Morrow's Recreation if the Season favour us may glut us with Pleasure and burden us with Spoil Ar. We shall cross the old Proverb I perceive since no Arguments are Engines strong enough to convince Theophilus that Haste makes waste whose unlimited Zeal after Recreation is boundless
come to fee her Arbours and Aviaries so naturally dress'd up in the Shades of the Forest and perfum'd with Fragrancies from the redolent Meadows of Trent besides the pleasant Prospect it has into the cultivated Fields in the fruitful Vale of Belvoir then would you say that Nottingham is the Magazine for Cheshire and Lancashire and the daily supply of those Mountainous Parts in the Peak of Derby-shire These are those Ports where the Angler and Ingenious never yet entred without sober Accommodation let us therefore first consult the Virtuoso's of the Rod afterwards sweeten our Ears with Rhetorique from Apollo Th. As you have given us a fair and large Character of Nottingham so have you been as copious in your practical Experiments of Angling and brought to Test the undeniable Assertions of Truth not imaginary Fragments nor Romantick Fictions stoln or suggested by plundring Plagiaries Now every one knows that Ignorance emulates Art and Impiety above all things abominates Devotion Tradition also that truckles under Forms and Hypocrisy and Flattery are Time's Apostates But Science and Experience are the confirmation of Eye-sight and Truth the Standard of Divine Speculation By these we proportion the Measures of Vertue which is found by him that treads the Tracks of Wisdom and wades through the profound Depths of Patience for as he that devotes himself to a solitary Life lives a Life most congruous to Devotion so he that devotes himself to Piety lives a Life analogous to Contemplation For what signifies the Court but to remonstrate the Prince his Magnificence and the Palace but to heighten his Enjoyments On the other hand where Humility is celebrated to Piety there Content dwells every-where in an humble Breast and Humility and Penitency like Links concatinate content themselves with the garb of a Cottage Thus we may read the State of the World but that which I always approved of as the best State was to seek the Blessings of Content in every Condition Then welcome Woods Rocks Rivers Groves Rivulets nay it 's possible the very Shades of a Forest in some measure answer to the Comforts of Life and Life answers to the Ends of the great Creator Consider therefore that the Soul 's great Diadem is Christ and Christ by Wisdom and Sanctification every Christian knows is God And who but God created this stupendous Creation and drest up this imbelish'd Fabrick of Heaven and Earth when he made the Majesty of his Invisibility visible and placed Man in this sublunar Orb to conduct and manage his Fellow-creatures But Man imprudently transgressing in not answering the glorious Ends of his Divine Creation in Obedience to the Commands of the Sovereign Decrees of God the Almighty discharged him the Soveraignty of Government so exil'd him from the glorious Sun-shine of Paradise Of whom if you please let us have an account But I wonder at one thing to me it 's a Paradox Ar. What 's that Th. You writ your Book in 58 and spread the Net to 85. Ar. What if I do I lived in the Reign of five Kings and in the Time of four great Worthies Th. Was O. P. one Ar. I leave that Bone for you to pick. But this I assert that great English Hero was exemplary in Piety eminent in Policy prudent in Conduct magnanimous in Courage indefatigable in Vigilancy industriously laborious in Watchings Heroick in Enterprize constant in Resolution successful in War one that never wanted a Presence of Mind in the greatest Difficulties all the World owns him for a great General that influenced all Europe gave Laws to all neighbouring Nations and disciplined France with English Arms. Th. These are great Encomiums Was the Lord R. one Ar. That great Man of Worth and Honour was truly Vertuous the Patriot of his Country and the Glory of the Court beloved of the People and a lover of Piety who left Legacies of Love to the surviving Natives when he sealed his Death with noble English Blood Th. Was Col. A. S. one Ar. That great Soul was too great for the World whose Life in a manner was a continued Death signified by those Trophies of War he carried about him He died but to teach his Country-men the easy Methods of honourable Dying to the astonishment of Mankind and foreign Ambassadors Th. Was Alderman C. one Ar. That brave and worthy Citizen to his eternal Praise sealed London's Magna Chart a with a Christian Exit and a Voice from Heaven Therefore put no more questions for the Aenigma is explained but begin where you left off so let us conclude Th. Then I 'le only desire a Description of Man Arnoldus his Meditation Ar. Adam as an Angel in the Shades of Paradise typified his Creator then it was that this mortal State seemed Immortal and Man because a Signature of this admirable Creation was made to live by that Life that made him for it was the Will of the Supreamest that made him to shine a Ray of the Majesty upon him and generate in him the glorious beauteous Ray of Himself But this was done when the Divine Majesty made Man absolute Lord and commissioned him Conduct over all the Creatures So that Adam was now a Divine Substitute because the Divinity had divinely inspired him and stamp'd the Impress of his Royal Signet upon him the lively Emblem and Character of Himself whereby to demonstrate in him a Sovereign Power over all the Families of Creatures that God had made and by Wisdom bless'd in this stupendous Creation So that you may read Adam was made in the Likeness of his Maker but he begot in his own Likeness This was once the blessed State of Adam and a regenerate State to be born again in Spirit is the same with us now for Primitive Purity can never be blotted out by National Impiety Nor shall Age nor Time nor Death it self vacate the Lustre and Glory of Christianity for as the Donation of Purity is the Royal Act of him that 's pure and lives for ever so the Piety of Christianity shall out-live all Ages to the utmost Limit and Period of Time Where note the Primitive Times have liv'd till now and that that begot Time in the Bosom of Eternity is Christ in us the Hope of Glory Why then do Christians violate their Faith Does it become us to enslave it by Lust A proud Faith is as great a Contradiction as an humble Devil The glorious Hope we have of Paradise incites and invites Believers to the Duty of Repentance and Repentance leads on to a humble Submission to cruciate our selves and this temporal State that naturally resigns upon every Assault of Death for all complicated Elements melt into Obscurity Shall the Clay rebel against the Potter that moulds it Shall Man resist his Maker that made him Shall the Vice of the Times vote against Heaven and Impiety provoke us to mutiny against the Deity Must we learn no Language but Oaths and Imprecations and denounce no Dialect but the Rhetorick of
Hell Can no bounds be put to luxurious Ambition nor any Limit to the impudent Impostor who has not considered the Body sometimes diseased and how Death stands ready to blot out the Character of Life so that if ill Symptoms but happen to invade us the Grave immediately stands gaping to devour us Nor can our Limbs any sooner be touched with the Cold and icie Finger of Death but our vital Fires begin all to extinguish and the glorious shining Sparks of Life look languid and dim and so by degrees lose their sparkling Lustre Then it is that the natural Artifice of Men and Means suddenly forsake us and the secret Subtilties of our deceitful Hearts basely and cowardly renounce and desert us And then it is that our truckling Faith prostrates a false Heart on the cold and frozen Altar of Despair which formerly was the common Factorage and Receptable of impure Flames where we used to offer up adulterated Sacrifices with impious Adorations as the Athenians did to unknown Gods prophetically Prognosticating our merited Destruction So that now in a Clod or lump of Clay the lustre of Life is silently sealed up and secretly conveyed to the Sepulchres of Death and because translated from the beauteous Creation is made to cease from a natural State and embrace Corruption and the putrid Grave in eternal silence where we shall never see Light nor Day any more nor with Sorrow or Reluctancy look back upon the anguish and anxiety of those we formerly persecuted by unjust Sentences when as Judges we sat and perverted Judgment yet would seem to appear as Angels of Light But strip'd and stark naked the World now inspects us and all those Graces that naturally adorn'd us discover themselves but personal Deformities So that Disease finds as little difficulty to attempt us as Death to encounter and overcome us For have not our sensual Guards all declin'd us and the Arguments of Sense and Reason revolted from us Every Instrument and Organ has reclaim'd its natural Function whereby we perceive our selves deserted by the active shining Motions of Life and doom'd to Death by the Law of Sin we subscribe to the fatal Decrees of Mortality O fatal flattering Impiety where 's all those specious Pretences of Purity that link'd and intail'd our suborn'd Inclinations to the gaudy Temptations of luxurious Honour What if every Man had the Wealth of a Monarch and as great as Alexander in Empire and Dominion and suppose his Domesticks as numerous as the World yet Death would arrest him and send him Summons to appear before Heaven's high Tribunal where he must answer for himself and not another for him whilst Conscience as a bold and daring Accuser will accuse him for the Deeds done here in the Body So that as our Work was here upon Earth such also will be our Reward in Heaven But how sad will it be when to behold the Portals of the New Ierusalem firmly bolted and barrocaded against us when to hear the dreadful and irrevocable Sentence of eternal Excommunication pass upon us to be utterly secluded Society with the Saints and denied Community with the blessed Angels that perpetually triumph with Seraphick Hallelujahs as the Seraphims and Cherubims with heavenly Ejaculations whilst we are made to grope in Darkness unutterable and to lament there the Impiety of Life and debar'd Repentance after Death because to reject it when proffred unto us for in the Grave there 's no Contrition nor after Judgment is there any Revocation This is a sad and deplorable Sentence beyond the reach of Sorrow to contemplate for if but to consider the Janglings in Hell and the murmuring Complaints of the Damned in Torments that belch out Blasphemies to confirm their Impieties and by spiritual Pride prophane the Beauty of Holiness and would if possible corrupt the Creation prostituting to Idols and the Ides of Time and as much as in them lies pervert and poison the Sacred Oracles of Judgment and Justice But what Tongue can express the glorious Raptures and beatifical Visions the Saints enjoy with the Seraphick Harmony of the blessed Hierarchy whilst Penitents pass by the Gates of Hell to the heavenly triumphant Joys of Eternity O what Love so convincing and stupendously manifest as a Saviour to die for unregenerate Sinners to affix himself to the Cross of Death to fasten our Souls to Eternal Life to load his Body with the Burden of Sin to purchase for Sinners the Seal of Redemption This is that great and sublime Elixir that transmutes our Nature into Divinity Time into Eternity and our Souls into Himself from which supereminent Heavenly State there 's no relaxation but an intire Unity and Community with God for ever and ever to all Eternity For as Light is inseparable from it self nor can Darkness co-mingle or incorporate with it such is the Soul that is truly sanctified and sprinkled with the Blood of this Miracle of Mercy that never for the future can be separated from its Saviour but as Sin hates the Light because the Light discovers its Darkness so Light because it 's the Standard of Truth not only discovers but dissipates the Darkness The Lamb of God is the Light of the World that for ever shines and for ever frees the penitent Soul from the Shades of Darkness How great therefore must that Light be that enlightneth the World and every Man that cometh into the World Now the true State of Felicity is only attainable by Faith in Christ and Faith directs to the Portals of Humility Humility to Piety and Piety leads on to the Duties of Charity by a religious resignation of our inglorious Will to the Glory of his Will that bore our Burden of Sin on the Cross. Here let us sigh down if possible the Sins of the Age as Christ by the virtue of his pure Divinity depress'd those Mountains of Sin in the World then in obedience to this great Example let us cruciate our selves the better to enable us to triumph over Death for to conquer Self forceth the Devil to recoil and to render the Vanities of this World contemptible is to lead Hell and Captivity captive which none but Christ can do and has done yet ought we to imitate our Leader as true Volunteers of the Cross if we hope to imbrace the Royal Sanctions of him that bore his Cross in a bloody Shower for the Redemption of Mankind This I recommend to the Christian Reader that follows the Lamb the Captain of our Salvation Th. By this most excellent Description of Man he labours I perceive under great Anxiety till Christ affix him by his Sovereign Ray of Light whereby to illuminate and sublime his immortal Soul into the everlasting Arms of himself the glorious Being of his all-glorious Father where Time shall be no more for Time is but the Child of Eternity as is Generation the Child of Time Generation therefore devolves in Time and Time results in the Arms of Eternity But Eternity is the Beam
though formented by the Sons of Zoilus shall never darken it so as totally to deface it but will shine forth a Light to discover their Shame with the Vice of the Times and Exorbitancy of Life I write to the Intelligent and not to Alphabet Anglers that wander up and down besides themselves to lick up the spumous Froth of Fiction and rally the Records of fabulous Pamphleteers to swell their impoverished empty Volumes on purpose spread abroad to amuze the unwary but this I resolve against by exhorting Ingenuity to consult Experience notwithstanding my Rudiments and laborious Directions for without due observation in the Exercise of Angling besides Speculation in the Progress of Theory in this or indeed in any other Art no Man shall level a right Foundation Th. Such signal Remonstrations like a ingressive Spirit strike deep Impressions into my thoughtful Breast It must be a Master and what Masteâ— but Experience must we have to induct us iâ—â—â— the Methods Mediums and Regularities of Science Does Experience any more obliterate Theory than Rudiments rip up the Foundation of Art which they do not nor cannot then ought the Rules of Practicks to be the solicitation of every Artist which Analysis of necessity I cannot but comply with or let the surviving Ages engrave on my Tomb-stone Post est occasio calva Ar. To compleat a Scholar therefore we are to consider that every Pedagogue that initiates his Novice into the Rudiments of Grammar gives him Literature first After the same manner and not altering my Methods I have laid down the Rules and Hypotheses of the Ground-bait Where note I prefer the Worm for the Angler's Exercise if artificially scoured as a general Bait before any other and upon all Occasions inordinate Seasons excepted if purposing thereby to consult the Bottom as also the innumerable families of Fish and so farewel for it 's almost Sun-set Theophilus What tho the Night 's dark Scenes and Shades display The bright Sun's absence can't the Stars make Day Arnoldus Can those obscurer Tapers light the World Whose Lights are from the Sun 's bright Furnace hurl'd Motion they have it 's true that causes wonder But God that join'd their Rays takes them asunder Theophilus From what bright Influence then do Comets borrow Their radiant Beam Arnoldus The Stars they strike them thorow Theophilus Must we conclude the World all Vegetation Humane Race excepted by Generation Arnoldus The slippery Womb of Earth in time sent out A thing uncapable to walk about Till God in love out of a pure Compassion Made Man the Margin of this great Creation Theophilus Why then do Mortals fight against Superiours And pull down Angels to advance Inferiours Arnoldus Man may attempt it but his slender Arm Has hardly warmth in 't for to keep him warm Theophilus No why then presumes he by force to raise His Fires so high to make the Heavens blaze Arnoldus That 's a mistake Man 's but a Minute's Breath Blown out of Doors but with one puff of Death Theophilus And yet immortal too strange Prodigy That Man the Lord of all should live to die Arnoldus 'T is true a Star fell on a Shrine of Earth That touch'd Mortality and gave it Birth Conduct and Reason and a Soul immortal Lit by the Lamp of Heaven's glorious Portal Made all Miraculous yet this won't please Heaven must die to cure the World's Disease And yet this mortal Wonder we call Man Is still averse e're since the World began Theophilus Vngrateful Creature who by Heaven's Decree Was made to live and had the Sov'raignty Of the Creation What to say I know not Nor what to think for Thoughts are things that do not Arnoldus Since Days and Nights all terminate in one And Stars made Emblems of their Sovereign Sun Then to be Loyal each a Star must be But to be Royal claims the Sov'raigntie The Gordian Knot 's so knit none can unty But he that made the World's great Harmony For God with Nature such sublime things blended That Man nor Dev'ls Angels themselves can't find it We can but climb the gradual Steps of Sense And they 'r but Motives to Intelligence But those sweet melting Cords in a Saint's Brest That lives by Faith of things yet unexprest Invigorate the Soul and lends her Eyes to see That Earth and Heaven all 's but Harmony Theophilus Then Rocks are Organs and the ambient Air But the harsh sound of Heaven's softer Quire Waters make Musick so all things by Art Where Nature freely her free Gifts impart Speak Harmony and divinely shows That from another Fountain this thing flows Arnoldus Consider but the Chaos in Creation When the Divinest made a Separation How that the Earth stood still whilst he rais'd higher The Sun's bright Torch or all had been on Fire Theophilus Amazing Wonder see Aurora now Strips off the Sables from Night's shady Brow That Sol no sooner peeps to gild the Skies But all the Mists before his Presence flies Arnoldus 'T is true they do and he that sees their flight Sees Darkness gradually transform'd to Light Yet let him not mistake himself for Day Is but Time's Copy-Book cast that away And what presents Death more obscure than Night Through whose dark Pilgrimage we creep to Light LAUS DEO FINIS ADVERTISEMENT RABBI MOSES or A Philosophical Treatise of the Original and Production of Things Writ in America in a Time of Solitudes By R. Franck. And are to be sold by the Author at his House in Barbican See Ludlow's Reply to Hollingworth