IZAAK WALTON AND HIS FRIENDS 47 



novelty which he understood not himself; but 

 stuffs his book with morals from Dubravius and 

 others, not giving us one precedent of his own 

 practical experiments, except otherwise where he 

 prefers the trencher before the trolling-rod, who 

 lays the steps of his arguments upon other men's 

 observations, wherewith he stuffs his indigested 

 octavo; so brings himself under the angler's 

 censure, and the common calamity of a plagiary, 

 to be pitied (poor man) for his loss of time, in 

 scribbling and transcribing other men's notions." 



Sir Walter Scott, in his preface when he edited 

 the book written by Franck, as to which see 

 Chapter III., states: "Probably no reader, while 

 he reads the disparaging passages in which the 

 venerable Isaac Walton is introduced, can forbear 

 wishing that good old man, who had so true an 

 eye for nature, so simple a taste for her most 

 innocent pleasures, and withal, so sound a judg- 

 ment, both concerning men and things, had made 

 this northern tour instead of Franck, and had 

 detailed in the beautiful simplicity of his Arcadian 

 language, his observations on the scenery and 

 manners of Scotland." Here I digress in order 

 to make some observations as to Walton's reasons 

 for writing his books. 



In Boswell's Life of Dr Johnson, we read 

 of a letter which runs thus: "It gives me much 

 pleasure to hear that a republication of Isaac 



