"A little glooming light, much like a shade."

Fairy Queen, Bk. I., C. II., St. 14.

THIS book does not pretend to give a list of all Walton's various writings; its chief object is, as before stated, to enamour those who hitherto have known but little of Walton, with his life-character and writings; and at the same time to give some fresh information and ideas to those who already know something about the subject. To the literary Waltonian I hope this chapter may not prove destitute of interest.

66

(a) AS TO THE TREATISE ENTITLED LOVE AND

TRUTH

In 1675 a pamphlet known by the name of The Naked Truth rose "like a comet" over the theological world; its full title was "The Naked Truth; or, The True State of the Primitive Church, by an Humble Moderator." "Although anonymous, its manifest ability at once attracted notice,

H

while the comparative lull in this kind of literature, which had followed upon the Restoration, may perhaps have contributed to the interest which this tractate excited.'

"1

It is supposed to have been written by Herbert Croft, Bishop of Hereford. The chief object of the pamphlet was to suggest a scheme for including the nonconformists within the Established Church. Dr Francis Turner, Master of St John's College, Cambridge (who became successively Bishop of Rochester and Ely, dying in 1700), wrote in 1676 a reply entitled Animadversions on a Pamphlet entitled The Naked Truth, adopting the view that learning and culture were absolutely essential for the clergy. Among other writers on the subject were Bishop Burnet and Andrew Marvell, the latter advising the bishops to correct many abuses that had sprung up, and insisting that a good life is a clergyman's "best syllogism and the quaintest oratory."

"At this critical period," says Dr Zouch, "Walton expressed his solicitude for the real welfare of his country, not with a view to embarrass himself in disputation-for his nature

1 See College Histories: St John's, Cambridge.

2 Edward Stillingfleet (Bishop of Worcester) had in 1662 republished The Irenicum suggesting that the form of Church Government was of little consequence; Dr Croft must have read it, and also probably Henry More's Mystery of Godliness published in 1660 and republished in 1662. It deals with Church matters in these days regarded as indifferent by many.

was totally abhorrent of controversy--but to give an ingenuous and undissembled account of his own faith and practice, as a true son of the Church of England." According to his very confident opinion Walton in 1680 published the treatise entitled Love and Truth, the full title was "Love and Truth in two Modest and Peaceable Letters, concerning the Distempers of the Present Times, written from a Quiet and Conformable Citizen of London, to two Busie and Fractious Shopkeepers in Coventry." The motto to it was, "But let none of you suffer as a busie-body in other men's matters" (1 Peter iv. 15). It is generally considered very doubtful who wrote it.

The authorship has been credited to Walton by many, merely on account of Archbishop Sancroft having in a volume called Miscellanea (Press-mark now 32-2-34, but formerly 14-2-34), in the library of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, with his own hand marked its title thus :-"Is. Walton's 2 letters conc. ye Distemps of ye Times 1680." The author, whoever he was, tries to answer the arguments put forth in the pamphlet The Naked Truth, and specially deprecates schism and resistance to the authority of the Bishops, as regards the Church ceremonies enjoined by them. "Remember," the writer says in his second letter, "you and I are but citizens, and must take much that concerns our religion and salvation upon trust." He refers

to the "Holy life and happy death of George Herbert, as it is plainly and I hope truly writ by Mr Isaac Walton." Of course this reference may possibly have been made in order to deceive the world as to Walton being the writer.

There are only two copies of Love and Truth in the British Museum; one is of the edition of 1680 (Press-mark c. 40. c. 16), and the other is of the edition of 1795 (Press-mark 4105, bb.). The former edition has a MS. note by William Pickering in it, which runs thus: "The present is the only copy I have met with after twenty years' search, excepting the one in Emmanuel College, Cambridge.-W. PICKERING." A copy of Love and Truth is in a volume of tracts, formerly Archbishop Sancroft's, in Emanuel College, Cambridge; in the MS. contents at the beginning of the volume is written, probably by Archbishop Sancroft: "Walton J. two letters on ye distempers of ye times," which is Dr Zouch's authority for attributing them to Walton. The copy described above appears to be the same edition as the present, but has the following variation, after the title-page is printed: "The Author to the Stationer Mr Brome, &c.," and ends with "your friend without the N N which is found in this copy, but what is more remarkable the printed word Author is run through and corrected with a pen and over it written Publisher, which is evidently in the hand

writing of Walton, from which I infer that its advertisement may have been written by Walton and the work probably seen through the Press and the copy given by Walton to Archbishop Sancroft, but I do not believe that the two letters were written by Walton (see his Life by Nicolas, p. 101). Although Dr Zouch has confidently asserted that they are his by him.-W. P."1

It is unlikely that further light will be forthcoming as to who the real author of this treatise was; I will, however, remark that Walton was no resident" citizen " of London in 1680." To judge from internal evidence only it would seem highly probable it was written by Walton, as so many of his words and phrases occur in it, and the style, sentiment and argumentation are similar, as even a cursory perusal of it will show. Lowell writes: "The evidence internal and external that he was the author seems to me conclusive." No help towards solving the difficulty is afforded by the writer of Walton's life in the Dictionary of National Biography, the treatise not being even mentioned or referred to! My difficulty is, that if Walton wrote the work I think he would only have been too glad to tell the world he did so, for the reasons given in Chapter IV., but Dr

1 This manuscript note was most courteously copied out and sent to me by the British Museum authorities.

2 And he was not so in 1668 or 1679, the years in which the letters were respectively written.