THE English, perhaps, more than any other nation, are capable of appreciating the charms of Nature, and those thousand beauties which are to be found in our little sequestered dells, and in the smiling valleys through which many of our pretty trout-streams find their way. The secret satisfaction and complacency which arise from a contemplation of the beauties of the works of creation,-our walks in verdant fields and shady woods, the song of birds, and the calmness and stillness of Nature in her most sequestered spots, all these have been dwelt upon and described both by naturalists and poets. It is indeed impossible to see the verdure of our fields and woods, to hear the melodious songs of birds, to witness the fertility of the earth, and to view the order and economy which pervade all Nature, without appreciating the charms of Walton's pastoral, or the tranquil pursuits of Gilbert White.

We have often thought that the amusement of angling has been too much despised by those who are not anglers themselves. If all the pleasure of the pursuit consisted in dragging a fish to shore, or in watching a float to see it go under water, we might join in the ridicule which has been bestowed on the "brethren of the rod and line." The pleasure of angling, however, takes a far wider range, and we are convinced that the mere act of fishing is only a secondary consideration with those who join with it a fondness for the charms of Nature. The enjoyment of air and exercise as the angler pursues his course through flowery meadows, and fields covered with herds and flocks, listening to the unseen lark, or watching the varied movements of the swallows as they glide around him in every direction, has charms which add a relish to his walk, and harmonize with every kindly feeling of his heart.

Walton, perhaps more than any other writer we are acquainted with, appreciated the delight of thus strolling on the banks of a river. His charming pastoral is a proof of this, and we are convinced that he merely made angling a secondary consideration in describing those scenes in which he so much delighted. While he amuses, he also instructs his readers; and his fervent and unaffected piety, the simplicity of his taste, the benevolence of his mind, and the contentedness of his spirit, are apparent in every thought and expression.

We are aware that in describing the character of Walton, we have to encounter the serious charge of a want of humanity, which has been brought against him.* We are anxious to rescue our good father" from this charge, and we are afraid that we can only do it at the expense of his piscatory skill. In expressing our opinion that

*We have been assured that the two stanzas in Byron's "Don Juan," in which Walton's supposed cruelty is so severely censured, were written by Mr. Leigh Hunt, and also the note which is subjoined to them.

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Walton did not deserve the name of an angler in the modern acceptation of the word, we know we shall excite the astonishment, if not the indignation of many of his admirers. We must, however, honestly avow our conviction that "Master Izaak" was almost as ignorant of the mystery of fishing as the contented-looking cockneys we occasionally see every summer dozing in a punt near RichmondBridge. We believe that the old Cromwellian trooper, Richard Frank, was right when he hinted that Walton had derived his knowledge of fishing from "antiquated authors and mouldy records." We chance to have some of these "mouldy records" in our possession -on which we set no little store-and, on looking over some of them, we are bound to admit that our honest and worthy father" has taken not a few of his hints from these rare "treatyses of fysshynge." It is evident that his own skill was confined to watching his float as it glided gently down one of the pretty streams he has so delightfully described; while his hints and instructions to anglers are derived from those who had preceded him in piscatory information. Indeed he appears to have copied from others with but little discrimination, and an evident ignorance of the art he professes to teach. This is apparent in several of the instructions he gives to his disciple, Venator; and it is evident that his contemporary, Richard Frank, thought that they were compiled from authorities which were anything but authentic. The charge of cruelty brought against Walton is founded on the instructions he gives his scholar for baiting a hook with a frog, in which he tells him to "use him as though he loved him, that he may live the longer.' In looking through some of our ancient books on the art of angling, similar instructions may be found; and in one of them a recommendation is given to attach the frog by a string to the leg of "a goose's foot," in order to "see good halynge whether the goose or the pyke shall have the better." Another authority, speaking of the best bait for a pike, says, "But the yellow frog, of all frogs, brings him to hand, for that's his dainty and select diet, wherein Nature has placed such magical charms, that all his powers can never resist them, if fastened on the hook with that exactness, that his life may shine, and the bait seem undeprived of natural motion." That Walton copied implicitly from others, without practising what he recommends, is evident, as, if he was a fisherman at all, he was what is called in modern times a ground-bait angler. Sir Henry Wotton, while he was himself employed in fly-fishing, apostrophized his companion thus:

"There stood my friend with patient skill,
Attending to his trembling quill."

Independently of this, however, we may refer to the whole tenor of Walton's life and writings as sufficient to contradict the charge of

* And in the "Secrets of Angling" (1612) are the following directions for taking

pike.

"Now for to take this kind of fish withall

It shall be needful to have still in store
Some living baits, as bleiks, and roches small,
Gudgeon, or loch, not taken long before,
Or yellow frogs, that in the waters crawle,
But all alive they must be evermore.
But as for baits that dead and dull do lie,
They least esteem, and set but little by."