246 Sir Walter Scott's Wish. 



editor, Sir Walter Scott, in his Introduc- 

 tion, says : 



" Probably no reader, while he reads 

 the disparaging passages in which the 

 venerable Isaac Walton is introduced, can 

 forbear wishing that the 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." 



Revenge was the last thing Walton 

 would care for ; but what a revenge time 

 brought for him ! Here is the greatest 

 genius of Scotland editing the only other 

 edition of Franck's book ever published, 

 and in the lines I have just quoted wishing 

 Walton had made the journey and written 

 the book. Still, one cannot help agreeing 

 with Sir Walter that the gibes of Franck at 

 " that scribbling putationer The Compleat 

 Angler" are none the less pungent for 

 having some substratum of truth in so far 

 as they are the sarcasms of one who did 

 know and practise fly-fishing for both 

 salmon and trout, whereas Walton does 

 not pretend to have done any salmon- 



