else, may signify thus much, that I am willing to obey your desires, and am, indeed,

"Your affectionate friend,

LONDON, May 10, 1678.

"THOMAS LINCOLN."

Among the literary characters of the sixteenth century, none appears with more transcendent lustre than that of Sir Henry Savile, a magnificent patron of merit, and a complete gentleman. He seems to have traversed the whole range of science, being equally celebrated for his knowledge of ancient and modern learning. The life of this illustrious scholar would be a valuable acquisition to the republic of letters. That it was actually compiled by Mr. Izaak Walton, we have every reason to conclude. Dr. King, Bishop of Chichester, in his letter to him, dated November 17, 1664, tells him, that "he has done much for Sir Henry Savile, the contemporary and friend of Mr. Richard Hooker." It is seriously to be regretted, that the most diligent inquiry after this work has hitherto proved unsuccessful.

Among those whom Sir Henry Savile honored with his friendship was Mr. John Hales of Eton. Mr. Anthony Farringdon, an eminent preacher, and a man of extensive learning and exemplary piety, had collected materials with a view to write the life of this incomparable person. On his demise, his papers were consigned to the care of Mr. Izaak Walton, by Mr. William Fulman, of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, who had proposed to finish the work, and on that occasion had applied for the assistance

of our biographer. The result of this application is not known. Fulman's collection of manuscripts, written with his own hand, was deposited in the archives of the library of his college, and Wood laments that he was refused access to them. It is unnecessary to add, that the Life of Mr. Hales, by Mr. Des Maizeaux, was published in 1716.

Angling had been long a favorite diversion in England. Alexander Nowell, Dean of St. Paul's, the composer of" that good, plain, unperplexed catechism, which is in our good old Service Book," was a lover of, and most experienced proficient in this delightful art. It was his custom, besides his fixed hours of private and public prayer, to spend a tenth part of his time in this amusement, and also to bestow a tenth part of his revenue, and usually all his fish, among the poor, saying, that "charity gave life to religion." An elegant Latin poem, written by Dr. Simon Ford, was inscribed to Archbishop Sheldon, who, in his younger years, being fond of this diversion, is said to have acquired a superior skill in taking the umber or barbel, "a heavy and a dogged fish to be dealt withal." Dr. Donne is called

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a great practitioner, master, and patron of angling." And we learn from good authority, that Mr. George Herbert loved angling; a circumstance that is rather to be believed, "because he had a spirit suitable to anglers, and to those primitive Christians who are so much loved and commended." Let not these remarks provoke the chastisement of censure. Let them not be condemned as nugatory and insignificant. Amidst our disquietudes and delusive cares,

amidst the painful anxiety, the disgustful irksomeness, which are often the unwelcome attendants on business and on study, a harmless gratification is not merely excusable, it is in some degree necessary. In the skilful management of the angle, Izaak Walton is acknowledged to bear away the prize from all his contemporaries. The river which he seems principally to have frequented for the purpose of pursuing his inoffensive amusement, was the Lea, which, rising above the town of Ware in Hertfordshire, falls into the Thames a little below Blackwall; "unless we will suppose that the vicinity of the New River to the place of his habitation might sometimes tempt him out with his friends, honest Nat and R. Roe, whose loss he so pathetically mentions, to spend an afternoon there." In his tract of “The Complete Angler, or the Contemplative Man's Recreation," he has comprised the clearest and fullest instructions for the attainment of a thorough proficiency in the art. James Duport, the Greek Professor at Cambridge, who was far from being a novice in the use of the rod, disdained not, on this occasion, to address our author in a beautiful Latin Iambic Ode, of which the following classic version will not be unacceptable to the reader.

"Hail, Walton! honored friend of mine,
Mighty master of the line!

Whether down some valley's side

You walk to watch the smooth stream glide,
Or on the flowery margin stand

To cheat the fish with cunning hand,

1

"Or on the green bank, seated still,
With quick eye guard the dancing quill;
Thrice happy sage! who, distant far
From the wrangling forum's war,
From the city's bustling train,
From the busy hum of men,
Haunt some gentle stream, and ply
Your honest crafts, to lure the fry :
And while the world around you set
The base decoy and treacherous net,
Man against man, th' insidious wile,
Or, the rich dotard to beguile,

Bait high with gifts the smiling hook
All gilt with Flattery's sweetest look;
Arm'd for the innocent deceit,

You love the scaly brood to cheat,
And tempt that water-wolf, the pike,
With ravening tooth his prey to strike,
Or in the minnow's living head
Or in the writhed brandling red
Fix your well-charged hook, to gull
The greedy perch, bold-biting fool,
Or with the tender moss-worm tried
Win the nice trout's speckled pride,
Or on the carp, whose wary eye
Admits no vulgar tackle nigh,
Essay your art's supreme address,
And beat the fox in sheer finesse.
The tench, physician of the brook,
Owns the magic of your hook,
The little gudgeon's thoughtless haste
Yields a brief yet sweet repast,
And the whisker'd barbel pays

His coarser bulk to swell your praise.

"Such the amusement of your hours,
While the season aids your powers;
Nor shall my friend a single day
Ere pass without a line away.
Nor these alone your honors bound,
The tricks experience has found;
Sublimer theory lifts your name
Above the fisher's simple fame,
And in the practice you excel
Of what none else can teach as well,
And wield at once with equal skill
The useful powers of either quill.
With all that winning grace of style,
What else were tedious, to beguile,
A second Oppian, you impart
The secrets of the angling art;
Each fish's nature, and how best
To fit the bait to every taste,
Till, in the scholar that you train,
The accomplish'd master lives again.
And yet your pen aspires above
The maxims of the art you love;
Though virtues, faintly taught by rule,
Are better learnt in angling's school,
Where Temperance, that drinks the rill,
And Patience, sovereign over ill,
By many an active lesson bought,
Refine the soul, and steel the thought.
Far higher truths you love to start,
To train us to a nobler art,

And in the lives of good men give
That chiefest lesson, how to live;
While Hooker, philosophic sage,
Becomes the wonder of your page,