NOTE TO THE ISSUE OF 1907 



Two YEARS AGO I had the pleasure of being invited by 

 Messrs. Adam and Charles Black to help in preparing 

 a new edition of this work. I did zvhat was wanted, 

 to the best of my ability, with gladness ; but I 

 had a feeling that the publishers and myself were 

 engaged in a dubious enterprise. " ' The Practical 

 Angler J" I reflected, "is a good book; but how are 

 we to make the public realise this ? It wasjirst issued 

 half a century ago : I fear it will be assumed to be 

 out of date." This shyness drew a chiding from" The 

 Morning Post,'' which remarked that the Introduc- 

 tion had " the peculiar quality of being almost an 

 apology for any reissue of the book." To my astonish- 

 ment, however, I found that immediately after deliver- 

 ing this rap over the knuckles, " The Morning Post " 

 itself emphasised my hesitation. " A man who spends 

 his spare time in pursuit of the trout may," the jour- 

 nal said, "produce, if he takes to writing about his 

 hobby, a work which will be among the little classics 

 for all time ;" but Mr. Stewart, " The Morning Post " 

 went on, had not risen to the occasion. The most that 

 could be said of his work was that it " contains a very 

 accurate picture of a bygone state of affairs." It 



