IZAAK WALTON AND HIS FRIENDS 3 



and who soon after became Bishop of Winchester, 

 and from whom Walton has been said to have 

 "sucked wit and wisdom." By this second 

 marriage Walton had issue three children, short 

 particulars of whom are given in Chapter XIV. 



It is a curious fact that none of Walton's 

 biographers, before Sir Harris Nicolas,^ make any 

 mention of his first marriage, and very few of them 

 mention that by his second marriage he had issue 

 two sons, respectively called by the name of 

 Izaak. 



Of Walton's youth we know nothing for certain. 

 We may well believe that it was spotless and that 

 he possessed "self-reverence, self-knowledge, self- 

 control," added to that which St Augustine has 

 called " a mind naturally Christian," and that he 

 sat "self-governed, in the fiery prime of youth, 

 obedient at the feet of law." This makes his life 

 much more interesting than if he had been a great 

 sinner before he became a great saint. I consider 

 that he must have received a very good education, 

 and that he must have read a great deal, having a 

 special knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. Tlie 

 Love of Amos and Laura^ written in 1613, is 

 dedicated "To my approved and much respected 

 friend, Iz. Wa." In that year Walton was only 



^ His full names appear in the Dictionary of National Biography 

 as Nicholas Harriss Nicolas. 



2 The unique first edition (1613) was sold at Sotheby's in May 

 1903. The second edition (1619) is in the British Museum. 



