INTRODUCTION 



MESSRS. ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK believe that a 

 new edition of lt The Practical Angler; or, The Art 

 of Trout- Fishing, More Particularly Applied to Clear 

 Water" would jind a welcome. All who have read 

 the work, which was Jirst published about fifty years 

 ago, will share this feeling. Most vf these will 'know 

 that serviceable books of instruction in the art of 

 Angling are remarkably rare. Of the many persons 

 who have written on the sport, a few only have had 

 the gift of teaching. Perhaps this is because the 

 subject presents a strong temptation to the lyrical 

 instincts, which are apt to stray into aimlessness ; 

 perhaps it is because, taking Isaac Walton as their 

 exemplar, not a few writers on Angling have, as 

 teachers, been hampered by a desire to excel in form 

 and style. Mr. Stewards essay is an outstanding 

 exception. It is a masterly accomplishment of a diffi- 

 cult task undertaken with engaging modesty. Both 

 the sportsman and the critic of literature will Jind it 

 admirable. Mr. Stewart knew all that was known 

 about trout and the methods of catching them , and, 

 like "A Son of the Marshes" in later years, he was 

 singularly well endowed with the knack of presenting 



