2 OUR FATHER IZAAC. 



What more can be said in praise of angling 

 than that which the good and quaint old father 

 of anglers has so charmingly discoursed? What 

 more delightful picture of an angler's life and 

 pleasures of the scenes 'mid which he wanders, 

 and the poetry which shines in his heart and 

 illumines the mental atmosphere in which he lives 



can be presented than that which Walton has 

 bequeathed to us in the delightful book which he 

 designed as " a picture of his own disposition," 

 and which is described as having "hardly its 

 fellow in any of the modern languages?" Who, 

 on reading, or recalling to his recollection, the 

 beautiful scenes and dialogues in that exquisite 

 production, will not fancy himself the delighted 

 companion of Piscator, Auceps, and Venator? 

 will not be carried away for a while from the 

 stern realities and corroding cares of the world, 

 to the quietude and poetry of nature to the 

 flower-spread banks of a lovely river in some 

 sequestered vale embosomed by its tree-clad hills ? 



will not feast, in imagination, upon the glorious 

 and ever-varying scenes through which an angler 

 roams, and taste the indescribable enjoyment 

 which is peculiar to his fascinating pastime ? 



" God never did make a more calm, quiet, 

 innocent recreation than angling," let cavillers 



