To the reader of the present day he presents rare historical pictures of his day, of far greater value than his wit or his burlesque.
IZAAK WALTON.
If men are to be measured by their permanent popularity, Walton deserves an enthusiastic mention in literary annals, not for the greatness of his achievements, but for his having touched a chord in the human heart which still vibrates without hint of cessation wherever English is spoken.
Izaak Walton was born at Stafford, on the 9th of August, 1593.

In his earlier life he was a linen-draper, but he had made enough for his frugal wants by his shop to enable him to retire from business in 1643, and then he quietly assumed a position as _pontifex piscatorum_.

His fishing-rod was a sceptre which he swayed unrivalled for forty years.

He gathered about him in his house and on the borders of fishing streams an admiring and congenial circle, principally of the clergy, who felt it a privilege to honor the retired linen-draper.

There must have been a peculiar charm, a personal magnetism about him, which has also imbued his works.