exerted themselves in maintaining the legal rights and liberties of the established Church, were denominated Whigs.' Moft of them were perfons eminent for their learning, and very cordially attached to the established Conftitution : Others, who opposed the Difsenters, and were thought to be more in fear of a republic than a Popish fuccefsor, were diftinguished by the name of Tories.' At this critical period, Ifaac Walton exprefsed his folicitude for the real welfare of his country, not with a view to embarrass himself in disputation, for his nature was totally abhorrent from controverfy,but to give an ingenuous and undifsembled account of his own faith and practice, as a true fon of the Church of England. His modefty precluded him from annexing his name to the treatise, which he compofed at this time; and which appeared, firft, in 1680, under the title of Love and Truth, in two modeft and peaceable Letters, concerning the Diftempers of the prefent Times; written from a quiet and conformable Citizen of London, to two bufie and factious Shopkeepers in Coventry, But let none of you fuffer as a bufie-body in other men's matters,' 1 Pet. iv. 15. 1680." The style, the fentiment, the argumentation, are fuch as might be expected from a plain man, actuated only by an honeft zeal to promote the public peace. And if we confider that it was written by him in the 87th year of his age, a period of life when the faculties of the mind are ufually on the decline, it will be fcarce pofsible not to admire the clearness of his judgment, and the unimpaired vigour of his memory. The real purport of this work, which is not altogether unapplicable to more recent times, and which breathes the genuine fpirit of benevolence and candour, is happily exprefsed in the author's own words to the perfon, whom he addresses in the second letter. "This I beseech you to confider ferioufly: And, good coufin, "let me advise you to be one of the thankful and quiet party; for "it will bring peace at lafti. Let neither your difcourfe nor prac"tice be to encourage, or assist in making a fchifm in that church, "in which you were baptized and adopted a Christian; for you 66 may continue in it with fafety to your foul; you may in it study "fanctification, and practice it to what degree God, by his grace, "hall enable you. You may faft as much as you will; be as "humble as you will; pray both publicly and privately as much as you will; vifit and comfort as many distressed and g The author, in the choice of the title affixed to his tract, might allude to Ephes. iv. 15. "Speaking the Truth in Love." h This tract is afsigned to Mr. Ifaac Walton, on the heft authority, that of Archbishop Sancroft, who, in the volume of Mifcellanies (Miscellanea 14, 2, 34.) in the library of Emanuel College, in Cambridge, has, with his own hand, marked its title thus: "If. Walton's 2 letters conc. ye Ditemps of ye Times, 1680." iSuch kind advice accorded with his usual fentiments. "VEN. This is my purpofe, and fo let every thing that hath breath praise "the Lord. Let the blessing of St. Peter's Mafter be with mine. "PISC. And upon all that are lovers of virtue, and dare truft in his Providence, and be quiet, and go an angling. Study to be quiet,' " 1 Thess. iv. 11. (Complete Angler, P. I. c. 2.) tr "dejected families as you will; be as liberal and charitable to the poor as you think fit and are able. Thefe, and all other of those "undoubted Chriftian graces, that accompany falvation, you may practife either publicly or privately, as much and as often as you think fit; and yet keep in the communion of that church, of "which you were made a member by your baptifm. Thefe graces you may practife, and not be a bufie-body in promoting schism "and faction; as God knows your father's friends, Hugh Peters "and John Lilbourn did, to the ruine of themfelves, and many of "their difciples. Their turbulent lives and uncomfortable deaths are not, I hope, yet worn out of the memory of many. He that "compares them with the holy life and happy death of Mr. George "Herbert, as it is plainly, and, I hope, truly writ by Mr. Isaac "Walton, may in it find a perfect pattern for an humble and de"vout Chriftian to imitate: And he that confiders the restless lives "and uncomfortable deaths of the other two (who always lived like the falamander, in the fire of contention), and confiders the "difmal confequences of fchifm and fedition, will (if prejudice "and a malicious zeal have not fo blinded him that he cannot fee "reafon) be fo convinced, as to beg of God to give him a meek "and quiet fpirit; and that he may, by his grace, be prevented "from being a bufie-body, in what concerns him not.” An edition of "Love and Truth" was published in 1795. Such admonitions as thefe could only proceed from a heart over'flowing with goodness,—a heart, as was faid concerning that of Sir Henry Wotton," in which Peace, Patience, and calm Content did inhabit." His intercourse with learned men, and the frequent and familiar converfations which he held with them, afforded him many opportunities of obtaining feveral valuable anecdotes relative to the hiftory of his contemporaries. The following literary curiofity is preferved in the Afhmolean Museum, at Oxford: "ffor y' ffriends que this: "I only knew Ben Johnfon: But my Lord of Winton knew "him very well; and fays, he was in the 6o, that is, the upper"moft fforme in Weftminfter fcole, at which time his father "dyed, and his mother married a brickelayer, who made him (much against his will) help him in his trade; but in a fhort "time, his fcole-maifter, Mr. Camden, got him a better imployment, which was to atend or acompany a fon of Sir "Walter Rauley's, in his travills. Within a fhort time after their re"turn, they parted (I think not in cole bloud) and with a loue "futable to what they had in their travilles (not to be commended). "And then Ben began to fet up for himfelfe in the trade by which "he got his fubfiftance and fame, of which I need not give any acHe got in time to have a 1001. a yeare from the king, "alfo a penfion from the cittie, and the like from many of the no"bilitie and fome of the gentry, wch was well pay'd, for love or "fere of his railing in verfe, or profe, or boeth. My lord told me, "count. k Dr. Morley, Bishop of Winchester, in the early part of his life, was "one of "Ben Jonfon's fons.” he told him he was (in his long retyrement and ficknes, when he "faw him, which was often) much afflickted, that hee had profained "the fcripture in his playes, and lamented it with horror: yet "that, at that time of his long retyrement, his penfion (fo much as came in) was given to a woman that gouern'd him (with "whome he liu'd and dyed nere the Abie in Weftminster); and "that nether he nor the tooke much care for next weike: and "wood be fure not to want wine: of wch he ufually tooke too "much before he went to bed, if not oftener and foner. My lord "tells me, he knowes not, but thinks he was born in Westminster. The queftion may be put to Mr. Wood very eafily upon what grounds he is pofitive as to his being born their; he is a friendly man, and will refolve it. So much for braue Ben. You will not "think the reft so tedyous as I due this. "ffor yr 2 and 3 que of Mr. Hill, and Bilingsley, I do neither "know nor can learn any thing worth teling you. for y two remaining que of Mr. Warner', and Mr. Harriott this: "Mr. Warner did long and conftantly lodg nere the water ftares, "or market, in Woolftable. Woolftable is a place not far from "Charing-Crofse, and nerer to Northumberland-houfe. My lord "of Winchester tells me, he knew him, and that he fayde, he first "found out the cerculation of the blood, and discouer'd it to Dr. "Haruie (who faid that 'twas he (himfelfe) that found it) for "which he is fo memorally famofe. Warner had a pension of 401. a yeare from that Earle of Northumberland that lay fo long a prifner in the Towre, and fom allowance from Sr. Tho. Aylesbury, and with whom he usually spent his fumer in Windfor Park, "and was welcom, for he was harmles and quet. His winter was "spent at the Woolstable, where he dyed in the time of the par"lement of 1640, of which or whome, he was no louer. "Mr. Herriott, my lord tells me, he knew alfo: That he was a more gentile man than Warner. That he had 120!. a yeare penfion from the faid Farle (who was a louer of their ftudyes), "and his lodgings in Syon-houfe, where he thinks, or believes, he. "dyed. "This is all I know or can learne for your friend; which I wish may be worth the time and trouble of reading it. Nour. 22, 80. I. W." "I forgot to tell, that I heard the fermon preacht for the Lady Danvers, and have it: but thanke your ffriend "." 1 Of this great mathematician, fee "Wood's Ath, Ox." Vol. I. col. 461. m Of Mr. THOMAS HARIOT, or HARRIOT, fee " Wood's Ath. Ox." Vol. I. col. 459. The opinions which have been entertained concerning the infidel principles of Hariot, are fufficiently confuted by the infcription on his monument, erected by his executors, Sir Thomas Aylesbury and Robert Sidney, Vifcount Life, in which he is exprefsly called, " Veritatis Indagator Audiofifsimus, Dei triniunius Cultor piifsimus." This was the fermon preached by Dr. Donne, in the parish church of Chelfey, at the funeral of Lady Danvers, the mother of Mr. George Herbert. See "Walton's Life of Mr. Herbert," p. 331. Annexed to this extract, in Mr. Aubrey's MSS. c 3 66 A life of temperance, fobriety, and cheerfulness, is not feldom rewarded with length of days, with an healthful, honourable, and happy old age. Ifaac Walton retained to the last a conftitution unbroken by difeafe, with the full possession of his mental powers. In a letter to Mr. Cotton from London, April 29, 1676, he writes; Though I be more than a hundred miles from you, and in the "eighty-third year of my age; yet I will forget both, and next "month begin a pilgrimage to beg your pardon." He had written "The Life of Dr. Sanderfon," when he was in his eighty-fifth year. We find him active with his pen, after this period, at a time when, "filvered o'er with age," he had a just claim to a writ of eafe. On the ninetieth anniversary of his birth-day, he declares himself in his will to be of perfect memory. In the very year in which he died, he prefixed a Preface to a work edited by him: "Thealma and Clearchus, a Paftoral Hiftory, in smooth and eafy Verfe; written long fince by John Chalkhill, Efq. an Acquaintant and Friend of Edmund Spenfer." Flatman, who is known both as a poet and a painter, hath in fuch true colours delineated the character of his much-esteemed friend, that it would be injurious not to transcribe the following lines: "TO MY WORTHY FRIEND MR. ISAAC WALTON, ON THE "Long had the bright Thealma lay obfcure: "Her beauteous charms, that might the world allure, 86 Till your kind hand unveil'd her lovely face, Happy old man! whose worth all mankind knows, "The ready road to virtue and to praise, Inspir'd by her he knows no anxious cares, "Through near a century of pleasant years: 66 Easy he lives, and cheerful shall he die, "As long as Spenfer's noble flames fhall burn, MSS. in the Afhmolean Museum, are thefe words: "This account I received "from Mr. Ifaac Walton (who wrote Dr. Donne's Life, &c.) Decemb. 2, 1680, "he being then eighty-feven years of age. This is his own hand-writing, J.A." o" Eft etiam quietè et purè et eleganter actæ ætatis placida ac lenis SenecCic. de Senectute. Non cani, non rugæ, repentè auctoritatem arri pere pofsunt: Sed honeftè acta fuperior ætas fructus capit auctoritatis." Ib. "tus." "As long as Chalkhill's venerable name Ages to come, and fwell the rolls of fame. "And long beyond our fhort-liv'd praise endure; "And shar'd that immortality, he alone could give." The classic reader, when he recollects the ftory of Phidias, will eafily acknowledge the propriety of the encomium passed on Mr. Walton, who fecured immortal fame to himself, while he conferred it upon others. That divine artist, having finished his famous ftatue of Minerva, with the moft confummate exquifitenefs of fkill, afterward impressed his own image fo deeply on her buckler, that it could not be effaced without deftroying the whole work. The beauties of "Thealma and Clearchus," and the character of the author, are not unaptly defcribed in the editor's own language. He intimates in the Preface, that "the reader will find "what the title declares, a Paftoral Hiftory, in fmooth and easy "verfe; and will in it find many hopes and fears finely painted "and feelingly exprefsed. And he will find the first so often difappointed, when fulleft of defire and expectation; and the latter "fo often, fo ftrangely, and fo unexpectedly relieved by an unfore"feen Providence, as may beget in him wonder and amazement.” He adds, that "the reader muft here alfo meet with pafsions heightened by easy and fit defcriptions of joy and sorrow; and "find alfo fuch various events and rewards of innocent truth and "undissembled honefty, as is like to leave in him (if he be a good"natured reader). more fympathizing and virtuous impressions "than ten times fo much time spent in impertinent, critical, and "needlefs difputes about religion." Mr. Chalkhill died before he had perfected even the fable of his poem. He was a man generally known in his time, and as well beloved; for he was humble and obliging in his behaviour, a gentleman, a fcholar, very innocent and prudent; and indeed his whole life was ufeful, quiet, and virtuous P. So amiable were the manners, fo truly excellent the P In a volume, entitled "The Mufes Library, London, 1737," are inferted extracts from this poem, viz. "The Arcadian Golden Age," "A Defcription of the Priestesses of Diana," "The Image of Jealoufy," "A Defcription of the Power of the Witch Orandra, together with her Cave," Dr. Johnson has revived the celebrity of Mr. Chalkhill, by an elegant translation of the following lines: "Or we sometimes pass an hour "Under a green willow, "That defends us from a shower "Where we may "Think or pray, "Before death "Stops our breath. " Other joys "Are but toys "And to be lamented." See WALTON'S COMPLETE ANGLER, P. I. Ch. 16.) |