i62 THOMAS KEN AND IZAAK WALTON 



whom Walton evidently had a great regard, 

 becomes a question of distinct interest as 

 throwing light on the friendships of his last 

 years ; so that the feeling of satisfaction which 

 the writer experienced when he discovered 

 that ' Mr John Darbyshire ' was Dr. Hawkins's 

 curate at Droxford will easily be imagined. 

 ' Mr. John Darbyshire was Rector of Portland 

 and Curate of Droxford.' At Droxford, as is 

 clear from the registers, he entirely resided, 

 and the chief events in his family history 

 were connected with the place. 



"Among the other friends mentioned in his 

 will to whom Walton leaves a ring as 'a 

 friend's farewell ' will also be noticed the name 

 of ' Mr. Francis Morley.' He, too, the writer 

 has discovered, was a resident of Droxford, 

 and lies buried in a vault in the north-west 

 corner of Droxford Church, beneath the floor 

 of the baptistry. . . . Francis Morley, as we 

 learn from his marble tablet in the church, 

 was a nephew of the Bishop of Winchester, 

 and this fact doubtless deepened the intimacy 

 between the two men. 



" The old rectory is still standing, although 

 somewhat enlarged since the days of Izaak 

 Walton. Part of it, however, remains in 

 exactly the same condition as in the closing 

 years of the seventeenth century. The floors 

 are still boarded with wide planks of oak, 

 and the leaden lattice casements remain. One 

 or two rooms facing south, for the old man 

 was nearing ninety, and doubtless felt the 

 cold mists arising from the river, may not 

 unnaturally be associated with our friend. 

 Perhaps in a corner of the room stood his 



