"And let no man imagine, that a work on such a subject must, necessarily, be unentertaining, or trifling, or even uninstructive; for the contrary will most evidently appear from a perusal of this excellent piece, which, whether we consider the elegant simplicity of the style, the ease and unaffected humour of the dialogue, the lovely scenes which it delineates, the enchanting pastoral poetry which it contains, or the fine morality it so sweetly inculcates, has hardly it's fellow in any of the modern languages."

From Walton's latest and most copious biographer, the Rev. Dr. Thomas Zouch, an equally honourable testimony is selected.

"In this volume of the Complete Angler, which will be always read with avidity, even by those who entertain no strong relish for the art which it professes to teach, we discover a copious vein of innocent pleasantry and good-humour. The dialogue is diversified with all the characteristic beauties of colloquial composition. The songs and little poems which are occasionally inserted, will abundantly gratify the reader who has a taste for the charms of pastoral poetry. And, above all, those lovely lessons of religious and moral instruction, which are so repeatedly inculcated throughout the whole work, will ever recommend this exquisitely pleasing performance."

Yet the enthusiastic admirer of Walton, will be still more delighted with the wonder-working effects of his book, as set forth by that deservedly-popular

writer, Mr. Washington Irving; whose applause being that of a man of acknowledged taste and brilliant fancy, bespeaks it's own peculiar value, in pointing out our author's claims upon the present and succeeding ages.

From the "Sketch Book" of this gentleman, published under the assumed name of Geoffrey Crayon, we extract the following.

"It is said that many an unlucky urchin is induced to run away from his family, and betake himself to a seafaring life, from reading the history of Robinson Crusoe; and, I suspect that, in like manner, many of those worthy gentlemen, who are given to haunt the sides of pastoral streams with angle-rods in hand, may trace the origin of their passion to the seductive pages of honest Izaak Walton. I recollect studying his Complete Angler,' several years since, in company with a knot of friends in America, and moreover that we were all completely bitten with the angling mania. It was early in the year; but as soon as the weather was auspicious, and that the Spring began to melt into the verge of Summer, we took rod in hand and sallied into the country, as stark mad as was ever Don Quixote from reading books of chivalry.

"One of our party had equalled the Don in the fulness of his equipments, being attired cap-a-pie for the enterprise. He wore a broad-skirted fustian coat, perplexed with half a hundred pockets; a pair of stout shoes, and leathern gaiters; a basket slung

on one side for fish; a patent rod; a landing-net; and a score of other inconveniences, only to be found in the true Angler's armoury. Thus harnessed for the field, he was as great a matter of stare and wonderment among the country folk, who had never seen a regular Angler, as was the steel-clad hero of La Mancha, among the goatherds of Sierra Morena.

"Our first essay was along a mountain brook among the highlands of the Hudson; a most unfortunate place for the execution of those piscatory tactics, which had been invented along the velvet margins of quiet English rivulets."

6

"For my part, I was always a bungler at all kinds of sport that required either patience or adroitness, and had not angled above half an hour, before I had completely satified the sentiment' and convinced myself of the truth of Izaak Walton's opinion, that angling is something like poetry—a man must be born to it.' I hooked myself instead of the fish; tangled my line in every tree; lost my bait; broke my rod; until I gave up the attempt in despair, and passed the day under the trees, reading old Izaak; satisfied that it was his fascinating vein of honest simplicity and rural feeling that had bewitched me, and not the passion for angling."

"But above all, I recollect the good honest, wholesome, hungry' repast, which we made under a beech tree, just by a spring of pure sweet water

that stole out of the edis of a hill; and how, when it was over, one of the party read old Izaak Walton's scene with the Milk-maid, while I lay on the grass and built castles in a bright pile of clouds until I fell asleep."

The remainder of this elegant essay Mr. Irving devotes to the character of an old Cheshire angler; he concludes, "I could not refrain from drawing this picture of this worthy brother of the angle,' who has made me more than ever in love with the theory, though I fear I shall never be adroit in the practice of his art.”

This is precisely the treatment of our author which agrees with our own views; it requires not so much the love of angling, as a relish for the general charms of nature, to render any person of true taste delighted with his pages. We have consequently spared no effort to illustrate the literary and rural beauties of the work: our numerous topographical views, with those other subjects which have been suggested to the various artists as the result of a long intimacy with these fascinating pages, it is hoped, can leave but little to be desired on this point, whilst the great pains which have been taken to ensure correct delineations of the FISH, (the whole having been painted from nature expressly for this edition), may add to the character of the work as connected with a popular branch of natural history:-truly may it be said (after allow

ing the painter, in each instance, due praise,) that the a gwa," also,

Had a strife

W nature to outdo the He

The important and classical addition of the speeife and generic characters, will speak for itself to proceed from a most competent quarter.

The Notes,* consistently with our view of the work," in it's more important character of a BRITISH CLASSIC," are devoted chiefly to the illustration of it's literary merits, and though we should deem it a sort of profanation to place them on the same page with the text, we have most zealously endeavoured to render them worthy of a distinct perusal.

The frequent occurrence of eminent names throughout the work, naturally leads us to reflect that the chief argument used by Walton in recommending his art,-the "love and practice" of it by persons of science and learning,-is of the most permanent kind. The most ardent anglers of the present day, will be found in the higher walks of

* From a conviction that the character and writings of Walton require a fuller exposition, than the form of an appendix is capable of supplying, a distinct work, to be entitled Waltoniana, is in preparation. It will comprise very copious Lives of Walton and Cotton, founded on those of Zouch and Oldys, and a variety of literary and graphic illustration, both of the " Angler” and the "Lives," and in a uniform style with the present volume, will also complete the whole of the known works of Walton.