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PREFACE. 



EW men who have written books have 

 been able to win fo large a fhare of 

 the perfonal afFedlion of their readers 

 as honefl Izaak Walton has done, and 

 few books are laid down with fo genuine a feel- 

 ing of regret as the "Complete Angler" certainly 

 is, that they are no longer. " One of the gentleft 

 and tendereft fpirits of the feventeenth century," 

 we all know his dear old face, with its cheerful, 

 happy, ferene look, and we fhould all have liked 

 to accompany him on one of thofe angling excur- 

 fions from Tottenham High Crofs, and to have 

 liftened to the quaint, garrulous, fportive talk, the 

 outcome of a religion which was like his homely 

 garb, not too good for every-day wear. We fee 

 him, now diligent in his bufinefs, now commemo- 

 rating the virtues of that clufter of fcholars and 



b churchmen 



