dangers of the Times, and having probably acquired a decent Competence, he retired in 1643 from Business and from LONDON; and afterwards lived sometimes at STAFFORD, but for the most part in the Families of eminent Clergymen, by whom he was much respected and beloved. He died in 1683, in his Ninetieth Year, exhibiting a striking proof how much calm Pursuits, with a Mind pure and at Ease, contribute to prolong the Period of human Existence.

His first Work was a Life of Dr. DONNE *, Dean of St. Paul's, undertaken at the Request of SIR HENRY WOTTON. It was published in 1640, prefixed to a Collection of DONNE's Sermons in Folio.

2. On the Death of SIR HENRY WOTTON in 1639, WALTON was settled, and followed the Trade of a Sempster, in LONDON. Biographical History is generally confined to the Actions of Monarchs or great Personages, it is therefore not surprising that particular Care should be observed in perpetuating the Remembrance of a Person, neither distinguished by Rank, nor remarkable for the Performance of any Public Service; WALTON ever affected a retired Life, and was noted, only for an ingenious, good Man; yet to such a Degree did he possess the Qualities ascribed to him, as to afford just Grounds for endeavouring to impress upon Mankind, by a Collection of many scattered Passages concerning him, a due Sense of their Value and Importance.

WALTON'S Character of him is a very interesting one. "He was (he says) of Stature, moderately tall, of a strait and equally proportioned Body, to which all his Words and Actions gave inexpressible addition of Comeliness. The melancholy and pleasant Humours were in him so contempered, that each gave advantage to the other, and made his Company one of the delights of Mankind. His Fancy was inimitably high, equalled only by his great Wit, both being made useful by a commanding Judg

ment.

His Aspect was cheerful, and such as gave a silent Testimony of a Conscience at

Peace with itself. His melting Eye shewed that he had a soft Heart, full of noble compassion, of too brave a Soul to offer Injuries, and too much of a Christian not to pardon them in others. He was, by Nature, highly passionate; yet so humane, and of so tender a Spirit, that he never beheld the Miseries of Man without Pity and Relief."

published a Collection of his Works, entitled Reliquia Wottonianæ, with his Life prefixed.

3. His next Life was that of the celebrated HOOKER, which he undertook at the Request of his friend DR. GILBERT SHELDON, afterwards Archbishop of CANTERBURY.

4. While under the roof of his Friend and Patron, MORLEY, Bishop of WINCHESTER, he wrote the Life of MR. GEORGE HERBERT. The above were collected and published in a small octavo Volume, 1675, with a Dedication to WINCHESTER.

5. In 1677, he published several Pieces of DR. ROBERT SANDERSON, Bishop of LINCOLN, together with a Sermon of Hooker, in an octavo Volume, with a Life of the Bishop prefixed.

The Work by which he is probably most known, is "The Complete Angler, or Contemplative Man's Recreation;" published in 1653, 12mo, adorned with Cuts of most of the Fish mentioned in it.

In the skilful Management of the Angle, ISAAC WALTON is acknowledged to bear away the Prize from all his Contemporaries; the River which he seems principally to have frequented, for the purpose of pursuing his inoffensive Amusement, was the river Lea, which, rising above the town of Ware, in Hertfordshire, falls into the Thames a little below Blackwall.

The Lovers of Angling, to whom this Treatise is familiar, are apprised, that the Art of fishing with the Fly is not discussed with sufficient Accuracy; the few directions that are given, having been

principally communicated by MR. THOMAS BARKER, who has written a very entertaining Tract on the Subject*. To remedy this Defect, and to give lessons how to Angle for a Trout or Grayling in a clear Stream, a fifth and much improved Edition was published in 1676, with a second Part by CHARLES COTTON †, of Beresford, in

*MR. BARKER has also versified his Instructions.

A Brother of the Angle must, always, be sped
With three black Palmers, and also two red,
And all made with Hackles: in a cloudy day,
Or in windy Weather, Angle you may.

But morning and evening, if the Day be bright,
And the chief Point of all is to keep out of Sight.
"In the Month of MAY, none but the MAY-FLY
"For every Mouth one," is a pitiful lye.

The black HAWTHORN-FLY must be very small,
And the sandy hog's hair, is sure, best of all:
(For the mallard wing MAY-FLY, and Peacock's Train,
Will look like the FLESH-FLY) to kill Trout amain.

The OAK-FLY is good if it have a brown Wing;
So is the Grashopper, that in July doth sing:
With a green Body make him, on a middle-sized Hook;
But when you have catcht Fish, then play the good Cook.

Once more, my good Brother, I'll speak in thy Ear;
Hog's, red Cow's, and Bear's wool, to float best, appear;
And so doth your Fur, if rightly it fall:

But always remember, make two and make all.

Mr. COTTON was born in 1630, and after receiving an Education to qualify him for the University, was sent to CAMBRIDGE, and had for his Tutor, Mr. RALPH RAWSON, who had been ejected from his Fellowship of Brazen Nose College, OXFORD, by the Parliament Visitors, in 1648. At the University, COTTON improved his knowJedge of the Greek and Roman Classics, and became a perfect Master of the French and Italian Languages.

L

Staffordshire, Esq. This Gentleman, who is represented as the most experienced Angler for a Trout and Grayling, that England ever had,

The great Lord FALKLAND was wont to say, that he pitied unlearned Gentlemen in rainy Weather: Mr. COTTON might possibly entertain the same Sentiment, for in this situation we find, that his Employments were, STUDY, for his Delight and Improvement, and FISHING, for his Recreation and Health; for each of which we may suppose he chose the fittest Times and Seasons. But it is rather probable that returning from CAMBRIDGE to his Father's, he addicted himself to the lighter kinds of Study, and the Improvement of a Talent in Poetry, of which he was possessed. A Specimen of his Sportive and Serious Muse will here be seen, the one occasioned by an Incident in his Jouney to IRELAND, the other penned with a View to preserve the Memory of a deceased Friend.

A Guide I had got, who demanded great Vails,
For conducting me over the Mountains of Wales;
Twenty good shillings, which sure very large is,

Yet that would not serve, but I must bear his Charges;

And yet, for all that, rode astride on a Beast

The worst that e'er went on three Legs, I protest:

It certainly was the most ugly of Jades,

His hips and his rump made a right Ace of Spades.
His sides were two ladders, well spur-gall'd withal,
His neck was a Helve, and his head was a Mall:
For his Colour, my pains, and your trouble, I'll spare,

For the Creature was wholly denuded of Hair;

And, except for two things, as bare as my nail,

A tuft of a Mane, and a sprig of a Tail.

Now such as the Beast was, even such was the Rider,

With a Head like a Nutmeg, and Legs like a Spider;

A voice like a Cricket, a look like a Rat,

The brains of a Goose, and the heart of a Cat:

Even such was my Guide, and his Beast; let them pass,

The one for an Horse, and the other an Ass.

On a Monument of ROBERT PORT, Esq. in the Church of Ilam, in the County of Stafford.

Virtue, in those good Times, that bred good Men,

No testimony crav'd, of Tongue or Pen;

to testify his Regard for Mr. WALTON, had caused the words PISCATORIBUS SACRUM, with a Cypher underneath, comprehending the initial Letters of both their Names, to be inscribed on the front of his

No marble Columns, nor engraven Brass,

To tell the World that such a Person was;
For then each pious Act, to fair descent,
Stood for the worthy Owner's Monument;

But in this change of Manners and of States,

Good Names, though writ in Marble, have their Fates;
Such is the barb'rous, and irrev'rent Rage,

That arms the Rabble of this impious Age.

Yet may this happy Stone, that bears a Name
(Such as no bold Survivor dares to claim)
To Ages yet unborn, unblemish'd stand,
Safe from the stroke of an inhuman Hand.
Here, Reader, here a PORT's sad Relics lie,
To teach the careless World Mortality;
Who, while he Mortal was, unrivall'd stood,
The crown and glory of his ancient Blood;
Fit for his Prince's and his Country's Trust;
Pious to GOD, and to his Neighbour just:
A loyal Husband, to his latest end;

A gracious Father, and a faithful Friend:

Belov'd he lived, and died o'ercharged with Years,
Fuller of Honour than of silver Hairs;

And, to sum up his Virtues, this was He,

Who was, what all we should, but cannot be.

We may suppose Mr. COTTON, tempted by the Vicinity of a River plentifully stored with Fish of the best Kinds, to have chosen Angling for his Recreation; and, looking upon it to be, what WALTON rightly terms it, an Art, to have applied himself to the Study of that Branch of it, Fishing with an artificial Fly: to this End he made himself acquainted with the Nature of aquatic Insects, with the Forms and Colours of the several Flies that are found on or near Rivers, the Times of their Appearance and Departure, and the Methods of imitating them with Furs, Silks, Feathers, and other Matein all which Researches he exercised such Patience, Industry, and Ingenuity, and

rials;