togyder fetely, soo that the croppe maye justly entre all into the sayd hole; thenne shaue your staffe, and make hym tapre were; then vyrell the staffe at bothe ends with long hopis of yren, or laton, in the clennest wise, wyth a Pyke at the nether ende, fastnyd with a rennynge vyce, to take in and out your croppe; thenne set your croppe an handfull within the ouer ende of your staffe, in suche wise that it be as bigge there as in ony other place about: thenne arme your croppe at thouer ende, downe to the frette, wyth a lyne of vj heeres, and dubbe the lyne, and frette it faste in the toppe with a bowe to fasten on your lyne; and thus shall ye make you a rodde soo prevy, that ye may walke therwyth; and there shall noo man wyte where abowte ye goo."

Speaking of the Barbel, she says: "The Barbyll is a swete fysshe; but it is a quasy meete, and a peryllous for mannys body. For, comynly, he yeuyth an introduxion to the febres: and yf he be eten rawe, he may be cause of mannys dethe, whyche hath oft be seen." And of the Carp, "that it is a deyntous fiysshe, but there ben but fewe in Englonde. And therefore I wryte the lasse of hym. He is an euyll fysshe to take. For he is soo stronge enarmyd in the mouthe, that there maye noo weke harnays hold hym.

"And as touchynge his baytes, I have but lytyll knowledge of it. And me were loth to wryte more than I knowe and have prouyd. But well I wote, that the redde worme and the menow ben good baytes for hym at all tymes, as I have herde saye of persones credyble, and also founde wryten in bokes of credence."

For taking the Pike, this lady directs her readers in the following terms, viz.

"Take a codlynge hoke; and take a Roche, or a fresshe Heeryng; and a wyre with an hole in the ende, and put it in at the mouth, and out at the taylle, downe by the ridge of the fresshe Heeryng; and thenne put the lyne of your hoke in after, and drawe the hoke into the cheke of the fresshe Heeryng; then put a plumbe of lede upon your lyne a yerde longe from your hoke, and a flote in myd waye betwene; and caste it in a pytte where the Pyke usyth: and this is the beste and moost surest crafte of takynge the Pyke. Another manere takynge of hym there is; take a frosshe, and put it on your hoke, at the necke, betwen the skynne and the body, on the backe half, and put on a flote a yerde therefro, and caste it where the Pyke hauntyth, and ye shall haue hym. Another manere: Take the same bayte, and put it in asa fetida, and caste it in the water wyth a corde and a corke, and ye shall not fayl of hym. And yf ye lyst to haue a good sporte, thenne tye the corde to a gose fote; and ye shall se gode halynge, whether the gose or the Pyke shall haue the better."

*

The directions for making flies, contained in this book, are, as one would expect, very inartificial: we shall therefore only add, that the authoress advises the angler to be provided with twelve different sorts; between which and Walton's twelve, the dif ference is so very small, as well in the order as the

* Or Frog. Minsheu's Dictionary

manner of describing them, that there cannot remain the least doubt but he had seen and attentively perused this ancient treatise.

The book concludes with some general cautions,

among which are these that follow: which at least serve to show how long Angling has been looked on as an auxiliary to contemplation.

"Also ye shall not use this forsayd crafty dysporte, for no couetysenes, to the encreasynge and sparynge of your money oonly; but pryncypally for your solace, and to cause the helthe of your body, and specyally of your soule for whanne ye purpoos to goo on your dysportes in fysshynge, ye woll not desyre gretly many persons wyth you, whyche myghte lette you of your game. And thenne ye may serue God, deuowtly, in sayenge affectuously youre custumable prayer; and, thus doynge, ye shall eschewe and voyde many vices."

But to return to the last mentioned work of our author, "The Complete Angler." It came into the world attended with Encomiastic Verses by several writers of that day; and had in the title-page, though Walton thought proper to omit it in the future editions, this apposite motto:

"Simon Peter said, I go a fishing; and they said, we also will go with thee," -John xxi. 3.

And here occasion is given us to remark, that the circumstance of time, and the distracted state of the kingdom at the period when the book was written, reaching indeed to the publication of the third edition thereof, are evidences of the author's inward temper and disposition; for who, but a man whose

mind was the habitation of piety, prudence, humility, peace, and cheerfulness, could delineate such a character as that of the principal interlocutor in this dialogue; and make him reason, contemplate, instruct, converse, jest, sing, and recite verses, with that sober pleasantry, that unlicentious hilarity, that Piscator does? and this, too, at a time when the whole kingdom was in arms, and confusion and desolation were carried to an extreme sufficient to have excited such a resentment against the authors of them, as might have soured the best temper, and rendered it, in no small degree, unfit for social inter

course.

If it should be objected, that what is here said may be equally true of an indolent man, or of a mind insensible to all outward accidents, and devoted to its own ease aud gratification; to this it may be answered, that the person here spoken of was not such a man. On the contrary, in sundry views of his character, he appears to have been endowed both with activity and industry; an industrious tradesman; industrious in collecting biographical memoirs and historical facts, and in rescuing from oblivion the memory and writings of many of his learned friends; and, surely, against the suspicion of insensibility he must stand acquitted, who appears to have had the strongest attachments, that could consist with Christian charity, both to opinions and men; to episcopacy, to the doctrines, discipline, and the liturgy of the established church; and to those divines and others that favored the civil and ecclesiastical constitution of this country,

the subversion whereof it was his misfortune both to see and feel. Seeing, therefore, that amidst the public calamities, and in a state of exile from that city where the earliest and dearest of his connexions had been formed, he was thus capable of enjoying himself in the manner he appears to have done; patiently submitting to those evils which he could not prevent, we must pronounce him to have been an illustrious exemplar of the private and social virtues, and upon the whole a wise and good

man.

To these remarks, respecting the moral qualities of Walton, I add, that his mental endowments were so considerable as to merit notice. It is true, that his stock of learning, properly so called, was not great; yet were his attainments in literature far beyond what could be expected from a man bred to trade, and not to a learned profession; for let it be remembered, that, besides being well versed in the study of the holy Scriptures and the writings of the most eminent divines of his time, he appears to have been well acquainted with history, ecclesiastical, civil, and natural; to have acquired a very correct judgment in poetry; and by phrases of his own combination and invention, to have formed a style so natural, intelligible, and elegant, as to have had more admirers than successful imitators.

And although in the prosecution of his design to teach the contemplative man the art of angling, there is a plainness and simplicity of discourse, that indicates little more than bare instruction, yet is there intermingled with it wit and gentle reprehen