Which I do the rather believe, by comparing the affectionate, loving,
lowly, humble Epistles of St. Peter, St. James, and St. John, whom we
know were all fishers, with the glorious language and high metaphors
of St. Paul, who we may believe was not.
And for the lawfulness of fishing: it may very well be maintained by
our Saviour's bidding St. Peter cast his hook into the water and catch a
fish, for money to pay tribute to Caesar. And let me tell you, that
Angling is of high esteem, and of much use in other nations. He that
reads the Voyages of Ferdinand Mendez Pinto, shall find that there he
declares to have found a king and several priests a-fishing. And he that
reads Plutarch, shall find, that Angling was not contemptible in the days
of Mark Antony and Cleopatra, and that they, in the midst of their
wonderful glory, used Angling as a principal recreation. And let me tell
you, that in the Scripture, Angling is always taken in the best sense; and
that though hunting may be sometimes so taken, yet it is but seldom to
be so understood. And let me add this more: he that views the ancient
Ecclesiastical Canons, shall find hunting to be forbidden to Churchmen,
as being a turbulent, toilsome, perplexing recreation; and shall find
Angling allowed to clergymen, as being a harmless recreation, a
recreation that invites them to contemplation and quietness.
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