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The Chronicle of 



than his own pious virtue and unaffected talent. If the 

 fimple-minded angler and writer of plain, artlefs Englifh, could 

 rife from his grave, not all his meeknefs, nor even Major's 

 beautiful edition, could prevent him from giving the man a 

 fillip for thus putting tawdry on his decent garments. Efpe- 

 cially is fuch a folly out of place in a preface to the c Complete 

 Angler,' throughout which, the humble author, unfpoiled by 

 affociation with learned, dignified clergymen and others who 

 had heaped praifes on him, reprefents himfelf as a foot-traveller, 

 content with a wayfide inn . . . nay, ready to fhare his bed 

 with the companion of his walks by the river fide. Cotton was 

 a gentleman, and put his collocutors on horfeback ; Sir Hum- 

 phrey Davy invites his friends to go an angling in a light 

 carriage with him, as befitted a knighted philofopher ; let it be 

 our comfort to know that good father Walton was the ready 

 friend of the angler who goes afoot. Gentleman he was by 

 orthography and fpirit, but gentleman in any other fenfe, he 

 cared not to be. As he himfelf fays, c I would rather prove 

 myfelf a gentleman, by being learned and humble, valiant and 

 inoffenfive, virtuous and communicable, than by any fond 

 orientation of riches, or, wanting thofe virtues myfelf, boaft 

 that thefe were in my anceftors. And yet I grant that where a 

 noble and an ancient defcent and fuch virtues meet in any man, 

 it is a double dignification of that perfon.' We mould not 

 like him more — we could not like him lefs, if he had had f all 

 the blood of all the Howards.'" 1 



1 " The Complete Angler." New York, 1847, pp. Iv-vii of the ' Biblio- 

 graphical Preface.' 



