xx INTRODUCTION. 



the_grQsie^and the beggars to be ^ taJ^ 

 of Shakespeare, so vivid is the scene, so life-like the situation; 

 and the occasional humour of the dialogue is always Jn. . fine 

 taste. Wajjmi's humour is that of the man who, to use 

 M. Scherer's words, " does not sever himself from humanity, 

 but who takes his own shortcomings and those of hisjellow- 

 creatures cheerfully." Walton, too, loved poetry, English 

 ballads and songs, " old-fashioned poetry, but choicely 

 good, I think much better than the strong lines that are now 

 in fashion in this critical age;" and one of the attractions 

 of The Compkat Angler is in those angling songs, those rare 

 melodious verses that come as interludes in the prose 

 dialogue. 



Walton wrote good prose, spontaneous and strong, though 

 it is probable that he paid more attention to the excellence of 

 his matter. T]ijseBtnce^ is_o/ten long,_and sometimes he 

 loses the tiller for ajnoment. He doeTn^fntherTgb^back m 

 order to leave an even track, being content to have arrived 

 where he is; but the paragraph, on the other hand, usually 

 comes roundly and satisfactorily to an end, and in the use 

 of words and in the construction of phrases he is now and 

 then delightful. Whether he is talking of fish and the way 

 to catch them, or indulging in a little moral homily, or 

 reflecting some river-side scene upon his pages, he is always 

 singularly pleasant to read, and we cannot but agree with 

 Venator that " his^discourse seems to_bejriusic^aiidcharms 

 one to an attention." 



CHARLES HILL DICK. 



KELVINSIDE, GLASGOW, 

 1895. 



