as for the words in which I beg this mercy, they be the litany and collects of the church, composed by those learned and devout men, whom you and I have trusted to tell us which is and which is not the written word of God, and trusted also to translate those Scriptures into English. And, in these collects, you may note, that I pray absolutely for pardon of sin, and for grace to believe and serve God. But I pray for health and peace and plenty, conditionally; even so far as may tend to his glory and the good of my soul, and not further. And this confessing my sins, and begging mercy and pardon for them, I do in my adoring my God, and by the humble posture of kneeling on my knees before him. And, in this manner, and by reverend sitting to hear some chosen parts of God's word read in the public assembly, I spend one hour of the Lord's day every forenoon, and half so much time every evening. And since this uniform and devout custom of joining together in public confession and praise and adoration of God, and in one manner, hath been neglected, the power of Christianity and humble piety is so much decayed, that it ought not to be thought on but with sorrow and lamentation; and I think, especially by the Nonconformists."

The reasons which he has assigned for his uninterrupted attention to the discharge of another duty will afford satisfaction to every candid reader. "Now for preaching, I praise God, I understand my duty both to him and my neighbour the better, by hearing of sermons. And though I be defective in the performance, of both (for which I beseech Ak

mighty God to pardon me), yet I had been a much worse Christian, if I had not frequented the blessed ordinance of preaching; which has convinced me of my many sins past, and begot such terrors of conscience, as have begot in me holy resolutions. This benefit, and many other like benefits, I and other Christians have had by preaching; and God forbid that we should ever use it so, or so provoke him by our other sins, as to withdraw this blessed ordinance from us, or turn it into a curse, by preaching heresy and schism; which too many have done in the late time of rebellion, and indeed now do in many conventicles; and their auditors think such preaching is serving God, when God knows it is contrary." Such were the rational grounds on which he founded his faith and practice.

No excuse is pleaded for again noticing the opportunities of improvement, which he experienced from his appropriated intimacy with the most eminent divines of the church of England. Genuine friendship exists but among the virtuous. A friend is emphatically styled "the medicine of life," the sovereign remedy that softens the pangs of sorrow, and alleviates the anguish of the heart. We cannot therefore sufficiently felicitate the condition of Izaak Walton, who imbibed the very spirit of friendship; and that with men renowned for their wisdom and learning, for the sanctity of their manners, and the unsullied purity of their lives. "If," to use the words of one of his biographers, 66 we can entertain

a doubt that Walton was one of the happiest of men, we show ourselves ignorant of the nature of that fe

e

licity, to which it is possible even in this life for virtuous and good men, with the blessing of God, to arrive."

The features of the countenance often enable us to form a judgment, not very fallible, of the disposition of the mind. In few portraits can this discovery be more successfully pursued than in that of Izaak Walton. Lavater, the acute master of physiognomy, would, I think, instantly acknowledge in it the decisive traits of the original ;· mild complaisance, forbearance, mature consideration, calm activity, peace, sound understanding, power of thought, discerning attention, and secretly active friendship. Happy in his unblemished integrity, happy in the approbation and esteem of others, he inwraps himself in his own virtue. The exultation of a good conscience eminently shines forth in the looks of this venerable person.

"Candida semper

Gaudia, et in vultu curarum ignara voluptas."

Hacket, Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, used this motto, "Serve God, and be cheerful." Our biographer seems to have adhered to this golden maxim during the whole tenor of his life. His innocence and the inoffensive plainness of his manners, his love of truth, his piety, and the unbiassed rectitude of his conduct diffused over his mind a serenity and complacency which never forsook him. Let no one, however elevated in rank or station, however accomplished with learning, or exalted in genius, esteem himself undervalued, when it shall

be pronounced concerning him, that his religious and moral qualities are placed in the balance, or compared with those of Izaak Walton.

[For the purpose of rendering the biography of Walton as complete as possible, it has been deemed expedient to append to the preceding account such parts of Sir John Hawkins's Life of Walton, prefixed to "The Complete Angler," as treat on matters not touched upon by Zouch.]

THE excellent Lord Verulam has noted it as one of the great deficiencies of biographical history, that it is, for the most part, confined to the actions of kings, princes, and great personages, who are necessarily few; while the memory of less conspicuous, though good men, has been no better preserved than by vague reports and barren elogies.

It is not therefore to be wondered at, if little care has been taken to perpetuate the remembrance of the person who is the subject of the present inquiry: and, indeed, there are many circumstances that seem to account for such an omission: for neither was he distinguished by his rank, or eminent for his learning, or remarkable for the performance of any public service; but as he ever affected a retired life, so was he noted, only, for an ingenious, humble, good

man.

However, to so eminent a degree did he possess the qualities above ascribed to him, as to afford a

very justifiable reason for endeavouring to impress upon the minds of mankind, by a collection of many scattered passages concerning him, a due sense of their value and importance.

ISAAC, or, as he used to write it, IZAAK WAlton, was born at Stafford, in the month of August, 1593. The Oxford Antiquary, who has thus fixed the place and year of his nativity, has left us no memorials of his family, nor even hinted where or how he was educated; but has only told us, that before the year 1643 Walton was settled, and followed the trade of a sempster, in London.

From his own writings, then, it must be, that the circumstances attending his life must, in a great measure, come; and, as occasions offer, a proper use will be made of them; nevertheless a due regard will be paid to some traditional memoirs, which (besides that they contain nothing improbable) the authority of those, to whom we stand indebted for em, will not allow us to question.

His first settlement in London, as a shopkeeper, was in the Royal Burse in Cornhill, built by Sir Thomas Gresham, and finished in 1567. In this situation he could scarcely be said to have had elbow-room; for the shops over the Burse were but seven feet and a half long, and five wide; yet here did he carry on his trade till some time before the year 1624; when "he dwelt on the north side of Fleet Street, in a house two doors west of the end of Chancery Lane, and abutting on a messuage known by the sign of the Harrow." Now the old timber-house at the south-west corner of Chancery