The fresh'ning air with vernal mildness fills,
From the low vallies to the tow'ring hills:
Then come attended by the genial gale,
And let not blighting Eurus now prevail;
Nor let the ruddy morn those winds attend,
That tender herbs, and infant blossoms rend;
Nor let old Boreas dare resume his breeze,
To check th' expansion of the budding trees.
Let not the atmosphere betray its cold,
While Nature does her ev'ry charm unfold;
And big with love, benevolently gay,
With April beauties crown the April day;
While birds, soft passion'd, artless sonnets sing,
In praise and honour of the growing spring.
The soaring lark loud trills her matin song,
And warbling linnets various notes prolong :
The love-born nightingale explores the spray,
Once more she sings her sweetly plaintive lay:
The mellow thrush soft chaunts her charming strain,
And merry wood-larks tuneful make the plain:

The feather'd songsters all in concert join,
And shake the copse with music half divine;
The groves re-echo with their spotless love,
And hide in leafage the love-cooing dove,
Who, there conceal'd, or cheers its faithful mate,
Or plaining, mourns its sad untimely fate.
The kids and fawns, and firstling lambs advance,
And course the meadows in a frisky dance.
The shepherds pipe and shepherdesses sing,
And fragrant odours drop from zephyr's wing.
The op'ning bloom the promis'd fruit displays,
Which in its purple fold securely lays ;

How smile the woodlands o'er the flushing year!
How sweet the briar's smell-how fresh appear!
In verdant liv'ry deck'd is ev'ry tree,

And all is love, and joy, and melody.

The south, distent with gently falling showers, To life and vigour wakes the rural pow'rs; And lo! at once from tubes prolific rise

Millions of Nature's gifts to greet the eyes;

And from earth's womb the vegetables rush,

And spread the ground with deep and deeper blush. The stream soft flows in gentle, winding, maze, And on its banks the lusty steerlings graze;

The pools and ponds are crown'd with various flow'rs, Whose covert swarms of diff'rent fish embow'rs.

Now sweetly mornings smile-the skies look fair; Few boist?rous gusts disturb the placid air, The finny tribes now feel the warming ray, Rise from the deeps, and yield an easy prey. His tackle now the Angler should prepare, The choice of which demands his utmost care; To young beginners, brief, I'll state the rules Rever'd by Anglers-doctrine of their schools. First, with discerning eyes your (a) Engine view, Of yielding hazel, or of tough bamboo;

(a) Engine-a Fishing-rod. A long tapering rod to which the line is fastened. Of these there are several sorts: as-1st, A Troller, which has a ring at the end for the line

With nice proportion in their bulk and length,
Its joints be shap'd, for beauty and for strength:
Tough, taper, flexible, well form'd to strike

The pigmy Minnow, or gigantic Pike :
Springy, elastic, be it in the hand,

To throw the line, or strike with, at command.
Your (b)Line, or by the spinning-worm supplied,
Or by the high-born courser's hairy pride;

to go through, when it runs off a reel.—2d, A Whipper, a top-rod, that is weak in the middle and top heavy, but slender and fine,-3d, A Dropper, which is a strong rod, but very light.-4th, A Snapper, which is a strong pole, peculiarly used for pike.-5th, A Bottom-rod, being the same as the dropper, but more pliable.-6th, A Sniggling, or Procking-stick, a forked stick, having a short strong line, with a needle, baited with a lob worm: this is only suitable for eels in their holes.

(b) Fishing-line is either made of hair twisted, or silk; or of the Indian grass. The best colours are the sorrel, white and grey; the two last for clear waters, the first for muddy ones. The pale watery green is given artificially by steeping the hair in a liquor made of alum, soot, and the juice of walnut leaves, boiled together.

Of gross, or subtile texture, must obey

The might, or weakness of your destined prey:

Furnish'd with sliding Float(c) your line to keep
At proper depth, suspended in the deep;

As also by its dipping to betray,

When struggling to get free, the wounded prey.

Be rich in steel, by dextrous Vulcan tam'd, To barbed hooks(d) for stubborn temper fam'd;

(c) Fishing-floats, are little appendages to the line, serving to keep the hook and bait suspended at the proper depth, and to discover when the fish have hold of them. Of these, there are many kinds; some made of quills, which are the best for slow waters; but for strong streams, sound cork, without flaws, or holes, bored through with a hot iron, into which is put a quill of suitable proportion, is preferable: the cork should be shaped to a pyramidal form, and made smooth.

(d) Fishing-hook, a small instrument made of steel-wire, of a proper form to catch and retain fish. The fishing-hook in general, ought to be long in the shank, somewhat thick in the circumference, the point even and straight; the bend should be in the shank: for setting the hook on, use strong