1

331

341

64. Rocks, with confluence of the Dove and Cooper

Brook 65. Rocks, called the “Dove Holes,” and the "Shepherd's

Abbey" 66. The Great Hawthorn Tree in Dove Dale 67. View in Dove Dale, near the Manifold River 68. The Hiding Caves, alluded to by COTTON in stanza VIII. of his poem on

Retirement" 69. Source of the Dove, with Explorers drinking to the

immortal memory of WALTON and COTTON

343 347

356

361

.

.

The above are from the original drawings of Messrs. GOMPERTZ and LEITCH, in the collection of John L. ANDERDON, Esq., mentioned at page viii. ante. The whole were drawn on the blocks for the Engravers by J. W. ARCHER.

70. The Pearch, from a painting of a remarkably fine

specimen of this fish, by F. R. LEE, Esq., R.A., in
the possession of W. J. BRODERIP, Esq.

367

4

IN THE NOTES.

368 402

.

71. The WALTON Chamber in Beresford Hall, alluded to

p. 273, &c. 72. Music to the Angler's Song 73. View of Theobald's, copied by J. W. ARCHER, from

the “ Vetusta Monumenta.” 74. The Weathercock, with the wind in the “right quar

ter," by K. MEADOWS, Esq.

408

418

H

OWD:

If there were a single circumstance by which the fame of those honourable men,” the effigies of whom now face the reader, could possibly be enhanced, it was that of having for their biographer one, who, with the soundest judgment, possessed a sweetness of disposition ever inclining to the bright side of things ; — a veracity not to be questioned, and a felicity of expression peculiarly his

thus gifted, like the skilful artist, at once both flattering and faithful, he brought to the task of delineation, that delicacy due to family feeling, combined with the justice demanded by strict impartiality : the existence, and the application therefore, of such rare qualities, are equally the subject of exultation.

On the other hand, that Izaak Walton should have been deemed by his contemporaries, the fittest of all persons to perform so important a task, were sufficient by reflection alone, to ensure to himself

an imperishable name; the pictorial allusion, therefore, at the head of this Introductory Essay, will probably be deemed particularly appropriate :- it

contains the Portraits of Dr. John Donne, Mr. George Herbert, Bishop Sanderson, Mr. Richard Hooker, and Sir Henry Wotton, whose lives, at different times, were written by Walton.

The praise bestowed on the Life of Dr. Donne, by Dr. King, afterwards Bishop of Winchester, in a letter to Walton himself, is equally applicable to the rest: “ I am glad that the general demonstration of his worth was so fairly preserved, and represented to the world by your pen, in the history of his life; indeed so well, that, beside others, the best critic of our later time, Mr. John Hales of Eaton, affirmed to me he had not seen a life, written with more advantage to the subject, or reputation to the writer than that of Dr. Donne.”

The posthumous fame of these lives so well accords with this contemporary applause, that they are to be found in almost every respectable library : yet it were unpardonable on the occasion of this attempt *

The attempt was so successful as to leave me for ever indebted to the whole body of the public press. DR. SOUTHEY, , also spoke of this humble Essay in terms too flattering to be here adduced; but I must crave pardon for the necessary egotism of a few other notes. Twenty one years having now elapsed, and Three Editions become scarce, I have, in the endeavour yet further to increase the popularity of this work, again the co-operation of a host of talent and a world of kindness ! — while the staunchest Waltonians have looked on, free

to give additional popularity to our author's inimitable work of the Complete Angler, not to remind the reader that he has other claims to literary reputation than those derived from this truly felicitous achievement.

In both instances he became an author by mere chance. Sir Henry Wotton had undertaken to write the life of Dr. Donne, and had requested Walton to assist him in collecting materials for that purpose, but Sir Henry dying, before it was completed, Walton undertook it himself, and succeeded so fully to the satisfaction of the most learned men of his time, that it was to be attributed to their importu. nity, rather than to his own ambition, that he performed the same office for his dear friend Sir Henry ” himself, and those other eminent men whose names have just been enumerated.

Sir Henry Wotton too, as it appears from the Dedication of the Complete Angler, to John Offley,* Esq., had intended “ to write a discourse of the Art and in praise of Angling, and,” continues Walton, “ doubtless he had done so, if death had not prevented him; the remembrance of which hath often made me sorry; for if he had lived to do it, then the un

from jealousy, and anxious only, to see their beloved author made as attractive as possible to the rising generation.

* This gentleman, whose ancestors had been settled at Madeley manor, as early as the year 1237, married the heiress of the Crewes, of Crewe Hall, and was the progenitor of the present Lord Crewe. The family is connected by marriages with the noble houses of Hastings, Powis and Wilton.

b

learned angler had seen some better treatise of this art, a treatise that might have proved worthy his perusal, which, though some have undertaken, I could never yet see in English.”

Here again our modest author finds an excuse for the undertaking of a work, of which it seems almost too weak a praise to say, that its parallel could scarcely have been hoped for, even from the elegant mind of Sir Henry Wotton himself.

Our author, who was born at Stafford in 1593, but who lived the greatest part of his time in London, published the first edition of this celebrated work in 1653, and lived to see it go through no less than five editions ; the last of which, in 1676, was accompanied by a Second Part, written by his intimate friend, and adopted son, Charles Cotton, of Beresford Hall, in the County of Stafford, Esq. This Second Part, in which Mr. Cotton, from his local opportunities, was enabled to treat more at large on Fly-fishing, than Walton had proposed to do, forms an important part of the work, in more than one point of view; but, chiefly, as conveying the fullest evidence of that reverence, and almost homage, which its accomplished author entertained for the character of Walton.

The Fishing-house on the banks of the Dove, seems to have been built expressly to perpetuate the memory of their friendship; the motto over its door was

“ Piscatoribus sacrum,” with the initials of Walton and Cotton interwoven in a cypher upon