Izaak Walton 



Reynard's Cave, Dovedale. 



talent in poetry, of which he found him- 

 self possessed/' 



To a youth thus precariously equipped 

 in the matter of profession, and with a 

 love for the Muse, it might readily be im- 

 agined how strong were the allurements 

 of such a romantic stream as the Dove, 

 with its manifold and varied windings and 

 picturesque pauses, that added such a charm 

 to the family acres. Here, surely, was 

 ample enough inducement to encourage 

 his " talent/' Whatever his actual accom- 

 plishment in that line up to the time of 

 his twenty-sixth year, viz., in 1656, there 

 can be no doubt of the fact that in that 



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