INTRODUCTION'. xxiii 



harm him as little as you may possibly, that he may 

 live the longer" that is, that he may serve as bait 

 the longer. The moment one of his "little living 

 creatures " presents itself in the guise of bait, it for- 

 feits all claim upon the otherwise abundant sympa- 

 thy of Izaak Walton. Several writers, notably Byron 

 and Leigh Hunt, have railed at him on this score; 

 the former irreverently declaring in " Don Juan " 

 that 



" That quaint, old, cruel coxcomb in his gullet 

 Should have a hook and a small trout to pull it ; " 



while Hunt, perhaps more with an eye to the capa- 

 bilities in the way of literary development of the 

 point of view than out of any tenderness for the fish, 

 wrote : 



"Now fancy a Genius fishing/<?r us. Fancy him bait- 

 ing a great hook with pickled salmon, and twitching up 

 old Izaak Walton from the banks of the river Lea, with 

 the hook through his ear. How he would go up, roaring 

 and screaming, and thinking the devil had got him ! 



1 Other joys 

 Are but toys.' " 



As intimated in the preface, this edition of Walton's 

 masterpiece is designed chiefly for those who wish to 

 enjoy it as a piece of literature rather than to consult 

 it as a manual on fishing; and indeed we fancy that, 

 in the latter capacity, it is largely superseded. Pass- 

 ing over, then, its technical features, let us consider 

 briefly what are the literary qualities which account 

 for its survival and constant popularity, and make its 

 author, with his relatively limited attainments and 

 moderate production, one of the best known of the 



