33aafe tfllalton an& Cbarles Cotton 47 



enough to occupy such time as he could spare from 

 conviviality. 



In 1656, when he was six-and-twenty, he married 

 a daughter of Sir Thomas Hutchinson, of Owthorpe, 

 Notts, and a sister of Colonel Hutchinson, who has 

 been immortalised by the pen of his devoted wife 

 Lucy. It was probably this union with a noted Puritan 

 family which secured him from molestation by the 

 Parliamentarians, in spite of the fact that he was an 

 ardent and pronounced Royalist. 



Cotton had probably first made the acquaintance 

 of Walton at his father's house, for the retired London 

 tradesman was often a guest there, and nothing more 

 strongly shows the high position and reputation which 

 the author of " The Compleat Angler " enjoyed than 

 the familiar terms on which he associated with county 

 gentlemen of old family like Cotton and eminent 

 divines like Donne. 



The younger Cotton was without doubt a man of 

 brilliant parts. Lovelace, in dedicating to him " The 

 Triumphs of Philamon and Amoret," describes him as 

 " the noblest of our youth and best of friends," and 

 I can well believe that his fascinating manners, his 

 handsome person, and his pretty wit, made him popular 

 in all circles. 



In 1670 his wife died, leaving him with a family 

 of three sons and five daughters ; and soon afterwards 

 he joined the army in Ireland with the rank of captain. 

 Beyond the fact that his journey thither gave him the 

 opportunity of writing an amusing satiric poem, " A 

 Voyage to Ireland in Burlesque," I do not know that 



