•

1 ••• '- • •••','

ial (gMfion

OF

THOMAS BEWICK'S WORKS,
VOL. V.

MEMOIR.

o

l

MEMOI R

OF

THOMAS BEWICK,

WRITTEN BY HIMSELF.

EMBELLISHED BY

NUMEROUS WOOD ENGRAVINGS,
DESIGNED BY THE AUTHOR FOR A WORK ON

BRITISH FISHES.

A NEW EDITION,
PREFACED AND ANNOTATED BY

AUSTIN DOB SON,

AUTHOR OF "THOMAS BEWICK AND HIS P

NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE :

PRINTED BY R. WARD AND SONS, FOR

BERNARD QUARITCH, 15 PICCADILLY,
LONDON.

1887.

[The Right of Translation is Reserved.^ . ., , -,

>*'

EDITOR'S PREFACE.

WHEN, in 1884, the Executors of the late Miss
Isabella Bewick were good enough to entrust me
with the family papers which had come into
their custody, it was with the intention that,
in preparing a new edition of the "Memoir
of Thomas Bewick," published by- his eldest
daughter, Miss Jane Bewick, in 1862, I should,
if possible, make use of any information they
might afford. If mere bulk be taken as a
criterion, the Bewick MSS. might certainly
appear to offer an inexhaustible quarry ; and
I confess to having been somewhat dismayed
when I first inspected the various trunks,
boxes, cases, and brown paper parcels which
contained them. In the little house at No.
19, West Street, Gateshead, where the memory
of the old engraver had been so affectionately
cherished, almost everything seemed to have

been religiously preserved, except order, which

b

266196

x EDITOR'S PREFACE.

was conspicuously absent from the papers as
they reached me. The oldest baptismal certifi-
cate lay placidly enshrined in the folds of the
latest invitation to tea, while yellow and ancient
deeds of the last century, and letters with frayed
edges and faded ink, written "when George was
King," elbowed the most recent records of the
laundry, or the offensive blue of the most
modern legal foolscap. Many things had been
begun with which no progress had been made.
There were notes for a collection of corres-
pondence ; there were fragmentary biographies
of members of the family ; there were copious
headings for authentic accounts of business
disputes ; there were sympathetic commentaries
on unsympathetic criticisms ; — but all these, new
and old, were hopelessly jumbled together, and
it was impossible to be sure that the most
unpromising looking packet did not contain the
most precious particulars. After sundry attempts
at classification, and diligent "prospecting" for
two or three weeks, I came to the conclusion
that, as regarded the direct elucidation and
annotation of the "Memoir," the yield would
scarcely be great. Not that the papers were
by any means barren of interest. As might be
anticipated in the case of a collection extending
over so long a period, there was something to

EDITOR'S PREFACE. xi

supply gossip to the antiquary; something there
was, too, which might serve to brighten the
pages of a very leisurely biographer ; but there
was also much from which any interest it may
have originally possessed had wholly evaporated.
Even the correspondence, large as it looked, was
not strong where one most desired it to be
strong — i.e. as regards Bewick himself. His own
letters, addressed to other people, had, except
when the recipients were members of his own
family, naturally passed into other hands, and
although as a rule he had kept rough copies,
these could not with safety be regarded as
faithfully representing the originals. The largest
group emanating from a relative, and in some
respects the most interesting group of all, was
that of the letters written by John Bewick from
London in 1786-95, two of which are reprinted
in the Appendix. Another large bundle of
letters (and, it may be added, letters of the
largest size, since one, now before me, measures
nearly two feet square) was from the William
Gray mentioned at pp. 67-8. But the Bewick
interest of these is comparatively slender, and
although, among the rest, a letter here and
there seemed to possess some permanent quality,
the majority of the correspondence could hardly
be said to deserve the honours of reproduction —

xii EDITOR'S PREFACE.

at all events in the connection for which the
MSS. had been consigned to my hands. I
consequently decided to restrict myself to adding
a few authentic letters to those which Miss
Bewick had printed in 1862, and to use the
rest, as opportunity offered, in verifying and
extending the notes.

There were, however, three documents, of which,
in my task of editing, two were of secondary, and
one of primary interest. The first was a bound
copy of the proofs of the "Memoir" as printed;
the second was the transcript of that "Memoir"
which Miss Bewick had prepared for the press;
the third, and unquestionably the most important,
was the " Memoir " itself in Bewick's autograph,
labelled by Miss Bewick — "Manuscript Copy of
Thomas Bewick's Memoir, uncorrected." It is a
quarto book of some two hundred and sixty pages
of old ribbed paper, closely written up to within
a few leaves from the end. From notes inserted
at different places it appeared that Bewick had
begun it at Tynemouth in November, 1822, and
continued it at that place until December 10.* In
May 1823, during a fit of the gout, which confined
him to the house, he had taken it up again, and
worked at it until June 24, by which time page

* See letter to Mr. Gray at p. 389.

EDITOR'S PREFACE. xiii

133 in the present reprint had been reached.
There is a further record that the portion from
p. 133 to 185 was written at Tynemouth in 1823,
during" Bewick's stay at that place, which ter-
minated on the 22nd December. After this there
is no further account of the progress of the
manuscript, which ends abruptly as at p. 314,
where, in the first edition, another hand, probably
that of Miss Bewick, added the date "November
ist, 1828," a few days before Bewick's death. He
must therefore have been employed upon it almost
to the last.

A very superficial examination of this autograph-
copy served to show that it presented many minor
divergences from the version printed in 1862, and
that considerable portions had, in that version,
been omitted. Part of these omitted portions,
being crossed out in pencil, were at once dis-
tinguishable; but in other cases where large
excisions had been made, there was no indication
of the fact. My first thought was the very
natural one that, if practicable, the book should
be printed as its author had left it, and as,
from the reference at p. 266 in this volume, he
evidently intended it should be printed. But a
very little consideration showed that this was
impossible. Although, as many loose sheets
among the Bewick MSS. proved, it was itself

xiv EDITOR'S PREFACE.

a copy from earlier drafts, it was plain that it
was also, as Miss Bewick said, still, practically,
"uncorjected." In many places three or four
tentative words stood in place of one, and often
the sentences required re-arrangement. This
necessary re-arrangement and selection of epithet
Miss Bewick had undertaken in her transcript of
1862, and I did not feel justified in re-editing,
except in the case of very obvious mcurtaey the
text of one so fully informed of her father's wishes,
and so loyal to his memory. It may be that I
thought she had trimmed and rounded it too
much; it may be, also, that I thought something
of the raciness of the original had disappeared in
the process of revision. But, in the main, I felt
it my duty to take the book as Miss Bewick had
left it, only restoring here and there an epithet
which seemed unusually characteristic, or replac-
ing a passage, for the suppression of which, at
the present date, no adequate reason appeared
to exist. In one or two rare instances where
Miss Bewick had made retrenchments, I found
myself in complete agreement with her; but as
regards the rest, I am inclined to think, from
indications in ,the bound volume of proofs and
elsewhere, that, with respect to many of the
passages withdrawn from publication, she had
acted rather against her own judgment; and

EDITOR'S PREFACE. xv

that, had she lived to issue the second edition
she evidently anticipated, she would have printed
the original manuscript with the fewest possible
alterations. It was clear, too, that over some of
the chapters there had been much argument,
for the "copy" she had prepared for press still
bears the traces of controversy. Once where it
had been objected, with regard to a certain
passage which, as far as I know, has been in
type for five and twenty years without attracting
the slightest hostile comment, that it was "a
disgrace," the old lady had replied that the
disgrace, then, should be hers, — adding haughtily,
(if a little inconsequently,) " Disgrace never
belonged to the name of Bewick."

That the " Opinions " of Thomas Bewick
occupy a somewhat disproportionate space in
his "Life" seems to have been felt as much
by those who were consulted at the first pub-
lication of the "Memoir," as it has been felt
since by many, against \vhom the accusation of
imperfect sympathy with the writer can scarcely
be made. And it may be conceded that there
is something also in the contention of those who
hold that "an artist should rest in art, and
waive a little of his claim" to be heard on things
in general, — that, in short, his utterances are
chiefly valuable inasmuch as they concern the

xvi EDITOR'S PREFACE.

subjects in which he has achieved distinction.
At the same time, the prominence of political
and religious speculation in Bewick's autobio-
graphy is, if not entirely defensible, at least
intelligible ; and without it the picture would
lose much of its reality. His art was an
instinct, concerning which he did not reason :
he went out and looked at things and came
back and drew them, — to use the simple formula
of his daughters. On that subject he had not
needed to analyse the operations of his mind ;
and he had consequently little to say about
it. But upon morality and theology he had
meditated much in his solitary walks, and on
those "red-night-cap days" of which he speaks
in Chapter xxv; he had discussed those themes
repeatedly with his more serious associates ; he
was never tired of discussing them even in his
old age, and when at last he sat down to
write, with something of the garrulity of years,
he naturally found them at the end of his
pen, as soon as his personal recollections were
exhausted. If these things had been omitted,
it is manifest that something distinctive and
individual would have been lost; and, as Miss
Bewick said, the book "would not be her
father/' Nor, in spite of the accusation of
triteness occasionally made against some of the

EDITOR S PREFACE. xvii

philosophic reflections, to which she attached so
much importance, can it be denied that a
sentence which I find among Miss Bewick's
notes, apparently intended for insertion in the
next edition, and therefore reproduced here,
is essentially just : — " Many of the opinions
expressed in the work were long held at a
loss; but are now becoming more and more
the established truths of the day."

It would be difficult to specify in detail the
various additions which have been made to the
present issue of the *' Memoir," or even to say
of how many lines or pages they consist, as the
type has been re-arranged and numerous editorial
notes, (distinguished by square brackets,) have
been added. But a very superficial inspection
of the text will suffice to satisfy the reader
that they have involved the disclosure of none
of those firebrands which, probably from the
fact that something was known to have been
kept back, the original manuscript was supposed
to contain. Most of the longer additions are
simply records of the names of various friends,
and expressions of gratitude for kindness or
encouragement. The most important interpola-
tion is that at pp. 266-78 which gives an
account of Robert Johnson and others of the

pupils. But even this, it is to be feared, will

c

XVlll EDITOR S PREFACE.

disappoint those who look for light upon the
vexed question of the part taken by some
of these assistants in the tailpieces to the
two volumes of the " Birds/' since, though it
does enthusiastic justice to Johnson's remarkable
abilities as a water colour artist, it is entirely
silent as to any aid which may have been
derived from his talents.

This, it must be confessed, is to be regretted,
because a word of denial or admission from
Bewick himself would have laid the subject for
ever, and discussion would have been at an end.
For my own part, after much consideration, I
am disposed to think that the information sup-
plied to Mr. Chatto by those of Bewick's pupils
from whom he obtained it, although greatly
exaggerated, and in part mistaken, is not
without a certain substratum of truth. To treat
it as a wholesale slander to be met by a
wholesale denial, savours too much of unreasoning
partisanship. We have the tailpieces : we have
the acknowledged work of certain of the pupils.
No one denies that the most important designs
for the "Poems of Goldsmith and Parnell" were
by Robert Johnson, because the fact is recorded
upon them ; no one denies that in the " Hive,"
side by side with his master, Luke Clennell
is to be found executing both cuts and designs

EDITOR'S PREFACE. xix

in the Bewick manner. Why then should it
be a thing incredible that Johnson's original
water colours, of which Bewick himself says
that they could " hardly be equalled by any
artists," should now and then have been employed
as tailpieces, or that Clennell should have en-
graved those of them which, to experienced eyes,
reveal the traces of his graver ! But even if it
be admitted that some such assistance was ren-
dered, the fact implies no appreciable diminution
of Bewick's merit. Most of what his pupils
had learned, they had learned from him. He
was the originating and stimulating spirit of the
enterprise ; and his owrn opulence of resource
was so large that a tailpiece more or less is
a matter of little moment to his reputation.
Moreover, it is not contended that his admit-
tedly gifted assistants had any part in what is,
after all, his signal achievement, his wonderfully
engraved birds, — a branch of his work in which,
even to-day, he cannot be said to have been
surpassed.

In concluding, it is only necessary to add that
the Memorial Edition, of which the present forms
the fifth volume, has been printed in Thomas
Bewick's own town, by his relatives, Messrs.
R. Ward and Sons, the owners of the original
blocks, to whom their duty has been a labour

xx EDITOR'S PREFACE.

of love. The "Quadrupeds," the "Birds," and
the "Fables of ^Esop," which it comprises, are
his best work, — since, with the exception of the
"Chillingham Bull," "Waiting for Death," the
cuts to the "Poems of Goldsmith and Parnell,"
and the " Chace," (recently reprinted in Mr.
Robert Robinson's pleasant and gossipping
"Thomas Bewick, His Life and Times,") and
those to Gay and the Select Fables, little else
that he did is worthy of serious study. It is
therefore to be hoped that the present volumes,
including, as they do, in addition to his master-
pieces, his very remarkable and characteristic
autobiography, will prove acceptable to all who
are interested in the revival of wood engraving
in this country.

This preface would be incomplete without a
few words of cordial thanks to my friend, Mr.
J. W. Barnes, F.S.A., of Durham, one of Miss
Isabella Bewick's executors, to whose steadfast
kindness, and intimate knowledge of Bewick and
his work, I have been deeply indebted during
the preparation of this "Memoir" for the press.

AUSTIN DOBSON.

PORTH-Y-FELIN, BALING, W.
September, 1887.

PREFACE,

[TO THE FIRST EDITION OF 1862.]

THE anxiety necessarily attendant upon the
publication of this volume being* now brought to
a close, it only remains to apologise for the delay,
for which many reasons might be adduced, and to
express a hope that it may be received with the
same favour which has for so long a period been
kindly extended to the works of Thomas Bewick.
It may be matter of interest to many of his
admirers to learn that the whole of the wood cuts
now in the hands of the family are in as good
preservation as when they left the graver.*

This volume was considerably advanced at press
before it was decided to append the cuts of the
Fishes; an arrangement which it is hoped may
meet with general approbation — more particularly

* As evidence of which, it is impossible to distinguish the cuts
introduced into the last edition of "Birds" from those previously
published. This is due to the well-known fact, as mentioned at page
260, that an immense number of impressions may be taken from
a wood block; and to the system, peculiar to Thomas Bewick, of
lowering all the more delicate parts. [See note to p. 255].

XXII

PREFACE.

as, by that means, the cuts and the vignettes*
engraved for the History of Fishes will thus go
together. Much additional matter respecting the
Fishes, which had occupied so much time and
attention, would doubtless have found a place in
the pages of the Memoir, had not the hand of
Death so suddenly arrested the labours of the
Author. From the ample materials which exist,
the Appendix might have been greatly extended,
but it is now felt to be desirable to bring the
publication to a termination as speedily as pos-
sible.

J[ane] B[ewick]
Gateshead-on-Tyne, May, 1862.

*The vignette placed at page 286 [316] — a view of Cherryburn, with
Mickley Bank in the distance, and a funeral procession descending
the sloping pasture towards the boat, waiting to convey it across the
Tyne to the last resting-place of the family at Ovingham — appears,
from the date attached, to be the last vignette ever executed by
Thomas Bewick. [It is sometimes said that Bewick intended it for
his own funeral; but Miss Bewick did not accept this view.]

IT is at this period when the full value of a
well-spent life will shine with full effulgence upon
the mind, and spread over it a self-approbation
of more worth than all the riches of the world.
An ill-spent life, on the contrary, will bring
forward its recollections, and send the guilty and
polluted body unregretted to the grave, and the
degraded soul to the Giver of it, to be disposed
of, in the justice and mercy it will be found to
deserve. — Loose Note.

T. B.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

Introductory — Parentage — Birth, 1753 — Mickley School — Ovingham
School — First attempts at drawing — Hunting parties — Sheep
— Shelter for sheep in snow storms — Birds — Border songs and
laments — Earl of Derwentwater — Whins food for cattle i — 14

CHAPTER II.

Employments in spring — Angling — Mischievous pranks — Floggings
at school — Ghosts and Boggles — Change in the mind — Man-
fights, dog-fights, cock-fights — Fear of ghosts entertained by
the bulk of the people — Meet the Devil going a-guising — Miss
Gregson's reproof — Mr. Gregson's Ie6lure — Birds and their
nests — Ants — Bees ....... 15 — 31

d

XX vi CONTENTS.

CHAPTER III.

Description of Cherryburn — The surrounding common — The
peasantry — Will Bewick — Anthony Liddell — Thos. Forster —
John Chapman — Their peculiarities and way of life — The very
old men — Their avidity for news — Old Soldiers — John Cowie
— Ben Garlick — Their enthusiastic description of the battles
they had fought — The Borderers — Their propensity for war
and rapine — Their names — The farmers of Tyneside — The
lairds — The gentry — Plan of the late Duke of Northumber-
land for raising the character of the peasantry — Parish relief
degrading — Proposed iron works at Eltringham — Failure of the
scheme ......... 32 — 49

CHAPTER IV.

Sent on trial to Ralph Beilby, engraver — Day of the binding arrives
— Grief on leaving the country — Call at the parsonage, Oving-
ham — Assembling of the villagers at the church-yard gates —
Betty Kell's luck penny — Journey to Newcastle, accompanied
by the Rev. Mr. Gregson and his son — Lefture — Christopher
Gregson bound on the same day — Scrape at King Jamie's Well
— New master and his discipline — Sketch of the Family — Copy
Copeland's Ornaments — Block out the diagrams for Charles
Hutton's work — Etch sword-blades for W. and N. Oley, of
Shotley Bridge — Coarse work of the shop — Silversmith's work
— Wood cut of George and the Dragon — Cuts for Children's
books— Story Teller— Gay's Fables— Select Fables— Obtain a
premium for the cut of the old hound — Mr. Gregson's con-
gratulations thereupon ...... 50 — 61

CHAPTER V.

Lodge with Mrs. Blackett — Gilbert Gray — His excellent character —
Anthony Taylor — Lodge at Hatfield's — Scamps and tramps —
Rise early and obtain access to my master's books, and to
those at the workshop of Wm. Gray — Religious books — Become
unwell — Dr. Bailes prescribes — Recommends temperance and
exercise — Walks to Elswick Whey-house — Bread and milk diet
— Walks to Cherryburn after shop hours — Reflections on getting
into debt — William Bulmer, printer — Robert Pollard, engraver
— Thomas Spence — His vagaries — George Gray — His worthy

CONTENTS. XXV11

character — Engrave cuts for Dr. Hutton's Mathematical Works,
1773, and for Dr. Horsley's edition of Sir Isaac Newton's works,
1778 — Bird catchers and bird dealers — Profligate men — Serjeant
Hymers — Whittaker Shadforth — Practise the manual exercise —
Miss Beilby — Her death 62 — 81

CHAPTER VI.

Expiration of apprenticeship, 1774 — Return to Cherryburn — Employed
on wood cuts for printers — Remain at Cherryburn till 1776 —
Beauty of Tyneside — Hunting — Angling — Northumberland
pipes — Pedestrian tour to Cumberland — Carlisle — Langholm —
Hawick — Selkirk — Dalkeith — Edinburgh — Border scenery —
Auld Reekie — Walk to Glasgow — To Dumbarton — Smollett's
monument on the side of the Leven — Walk through the High-
lands of Scotland — Grandeur of the scenery — Admiration of the
people — Their dwellings — Their loyalty to Prince Charles —
Their hospitality — Fairs and trysts — Scotch music and dancing
— Leave the Highlands with regret — Walk to Stirling — Thence
by Linlithgow to Edinburgh -- Return to Newcastle by
sea 82 — 94

CHAPTER VII.

Visit London, 1776 — Meeting with friends and schoolfellows —
Execute wood cuts for Isaac Taylor — Meet with Serjeant
Hymers — Wood cuts for Thomas Hodgson — Work for Mr.
Carnan and Mr. Newbery — Fallen women and their misery —
Reverse of the picture — Celebrated preachers — Religions of
different se6ts — Preference for the Church of England — Offer
of procuring employment with Mr. Pingo of the Mint — Surplus
cash, how disposed of — Dislike to London — Determine to leave
it — Mr. Taylor remonstrates on the subject — Mr. Hodgson's
kind offer to furnish employment — His legacy — Leave London
by sea — Arrive at Newcastle, 1777 .... 95 — 107

CHAPTER VIII.

Fit up a work bench at Hatfields — Offer of partnership with Mr.
Beilby — Reflections thereon — Troublesome apprentices — Brother
John Bewick — His amiable disposition — His talent — Visits to
Cherryburn with him — His early death, 1795 — Angling — River-
side scenery — Change of the seasons — Reflections — Hardy
constitution ...... 108 — 118

xxviii CONTEXTS.

CHAPTER IX.

Presentiment of a change at Cherryburn — Death of father, mother,
and sister, 1785 — Sketches of their characters — Visits to Cherry-
burn cease — George Parkin — Diabolical attempt on his life

119 — 126

CHAPTER X.

Isaac Hymen — Mr. Langlands — Matthew Prior — American war —
Alfred the Great — Become acquainted with a society of literary
young men — Their dinners — Their songs — Northumberland
pipes introduced at the Theatre — Peacock — Cant — John Bowman
— His skill on the fife 127 — 137

CHAPTER XI.

Thomas Lawson— Walk to York with Philip Gregson — Return by
Borough Bridge — Darlington — Westward by Bowes — Over
Stainmore — To Penrith and Ainstable — To Cherryburn and
Newcastle — Perambulation to Berwick with Walter Cannaway
— Stop at Elwick — Nearly swept away by the tide in crossing
to Holy Island — Speeches delivered at Alnwick — Swarley's Club
— Wood cuts for Hutchinson's History of Durham — For
Walker, of Hereford — For Nicholson, of Ludlow — For Bulmer's
publications of Parnell's Hermit and Goldsmith's Deserted
Village — Copper plates for Sir Harry Liddell's tour to Lapland
— Canal plates, 1796 138 — 147

CHAPTER XII.

Commence the History of Quadrupeds with the wood cut of the
Dromedary, 1785 — Rev. R. Oliphant — Rev. T. Hornby —
Marriage with Miss Elliot — Her death, 1826 — Visit to Chilling-
ham, 1789 — Large wood cut of the Chillingham Bull — Visit
John Bell at Eslington — Make a drawing there of a Newfound-
land dog — Illness of Rev. C. Gregson — His death, 1790 — His
estimable character — Other friends . . . 148 — 160

CHAPTER XIII.

Commence first volume of the History of Birds — Charmed with the
subject — Ornithological works of that day — Correspondence
with friends and amateurs on the subject — Visit Mr. Tunstal's

CONTENTS. xxix

museum at Wycliffe, 1791 — Make drawings of birds there —
Lodge with John Goundry — Rev. Dr. Zouch — His hospitality
His liberality of sentiment — Christians and Christianity —
Thoughts on the Deity — Man in Society — Genus homo — Canine
race — Their instin6ts — Return from Wycliffe — Visit an old
schoolfellow — Preserved birds superseded by birds newly shot
— Birds sent by General Dalbiac, Lieutenant-Colonel Dalton,
Major Shore, Major H. F. Gibson, and from all parts of the
kingdom — First volume of History of Birds finished at press,
1797 — Mr. Beilby and that book — He retires — Gratitude a rare
virtue — Carelessness in money matters — Second volume of the
Birds published, 1804 — Additions to the first volume — Severe
confinement and application — Motives for labours — Encouraged
by amateurs ........ 161 — 176

CHAPTER XIV.

Natural History retarded by the work of the shop — Writing engraving
— Plates for bank notes — Prevention of forgery — Carlisle bank
note — King George III. approves of this note — Correspondence
with S. Thornton, Esq., 1801 — Ends in nothing — Commission
appointed to investigate the subject of forgery, 1818 — Engrave
p'ates for the Berwick Bank — the Northumberland Bank — Gave
in a plan to the commissioners — The leading objects permanency,
&c. — Correspondence with Sir Joseph Banks on the stfbject —
Fairman, Perkins, and Heath — Their specimens — Opinions of
the commissioners delivered in the House of Commons by Mr.
Pierce — Sir William Congreve a commissioner — His successful
operations . 177 — 182

CHAPTER XV.

Illness, 1812 — ^sop's Fables commenced — An arduous undertaking
— Published, 1818 — David Sivright and other friends — Remarks
on the French Revolution, 1789 — Causes of it — War declared
by England, 1793 — Waste of life and treasure — Apathy of country
gentlemen — Remarks on the loyalty of that day — Valour of
British seamen — Rise in the value of land— Incites to agricul-
tural improvements — Messrs. Bailey and Culley — Their agri-
cultural reports — Mr. Smith's Cheviot sheep — Make a drawing
of a ram — Sagacity of the shepherd's dog — Fat cattle for Durham
report 183—197

XXX CONTEXTS.

CHAPTER XVI.

Further remarks on the measures and supporters of Mr. Pitt —
Witches — Their treatment — Consequences of ignorance — Mr.
Pitt's motives — General Bonaparte's victories — His ambition
and consequent ruin — Reflections on war and its horrors — What
might have been done with the men and the money — The
moss-troopers — Their ferocity . .... 198 — 202

CHAPTER XVII.

Gifts of Omnipotence to the human race — Duty of man to cultivate
these gifts — Consequences of neglecting these duties — Education
to be given to every one — An imperative duty upon the com-
munity— To check the reasoning power a crime — Masters and
servants — Equality impossible — Patriotism a first duty — Alfred
the Great — Foundation of England's glory laid by him — Free
discussion should be encouraged — Review of past transactions —
Foreign despots and demi-oligarchs — Loans wrung from the
people — Jacobins, Levellers, and Radicals — Fears for the safety
of Great Britain — The King can settle this question, and entitle
himself to the gratitude of posterity . . . 203 — 21 1

CHAPTER XVIII.

Major Cartwright — Disaprove of his scheme of universal suffrage —
Elections may be simplified — Wasteful expenditure to be avoided
— Holy Alliance — Spain and Italy — Superstition — Society for
the suppression of Vice — Constitutional Association — Its object
— Betrayers of innocence, robbers of widows — Tattoo their
backs — Criminals — Plan to redeem their characters — Laws of
England — Need of revision — Various friends — The learned pro-
fessions— Preference for medical men — Other friends — Richard
Wingate 212 — 221

CHAPTER XIX.

Remarks on the education of children — Their health and pursuits —
Education of girls — Horticulture and Floriculture recommended
to ladies — Freeholders — Their duties — Oaths — Immorality — Pro-
fligacy— Thoughts on marriage — Education of boys 222 — 231

CONTENTS. xxxi

CHAPTER XX.

The game laws — Riflemen — The fisheries — Grants in feudal times —
A change necessary — The way to effect this — Remuneration to
the present owners — Salmon formerly abundant in the Tyne —
Spawning places — Weirs and dams — Impure water — Appoint-
ment of vigilant guards — Destruction of Salmon by the porpoise
— Suggestions for catching the porpoise — Uses to which they
may be applied — Necessity of protecting the parent fishes —
Incredible number of the fry — The angler — Angling ought to
be unchecked — Preserved waters debar the angler — Formation
of Waltonian Societies recommended — Their duties — Constant
beating of the streams to be discountenanced — Pought nets —
Catching the fry in mill-races, and liming the burns, to be
prohibited — Angling and its delights — Beautiful scenery — Per-
manent pools may be stocked with eels — Further reflections
on the subject — Various friends .... 232 — 246

CHAPTER XXI.

Visit Edinburgh, 1823 — Kind attention shown — Morning walks to
Elswick Lane — Contemplations in church-yards — Thoughts on
monuments — Inscriptions on rocks — Erection of pillars over
copious springs ....... 247 — 253

CHAPTER XXII.

First efforts in engraving on wood — Progress — Difficulties to contend
with — Albert Durer — His cross-hatching and drawings on the
wood — Printing from two or three blocks — Artists of the present
day — Improved methods of printing wood blocks — Attempt at
colour on the wood — Lowering the back-ground — Stronger lines
left to protect the cut — A delicate fac known to have printed
above 900,000 impressions. ..... 254 — 260

CHAPTER XXIII.

Prints from large blocks formerly in use in cottages — Great variety
of the subjects — Blocks printed in colours — Gubitz of Berlin —
Impressions from duplicate and triplicate blocks, by J. B. Jack-
son— Stroke engraving — Its capabilities in landscape — William
Woollett — His unequalled landscapes on copper — His probable

XXXll CONTENTS.

excellence as a wood engraver, so as to rival copper — Further
notice of John Bewick — Other apprentices — John Laws — John
Johnson — Robert Johnson — Charlton Nesbit — John Thurston —
Henry Hole — John Anderson — Edward Willis — John Harrison
Henry White — Luke Clennell — Isaac Nicholson — William
Harvey— William Temple— R. E. Bewick . . 261—278

CHAPTER XXIV.

Advice to artists — Difficulties of choosing a profession — Study of
nature to be preferred — Old masters — Their varied excellences —
Poetry and painting — musical talent — Beauty of wild scenery —
Thomson — Allan Ramsay 279 — 285

CHAPTER XXV.

Red-night-cap days — The Bible — The sublime precepts it contains —
The Israelites — Intentions of Omnipotence — Wonders of the
universe — The deluge — Early history of mankind — The Bible
the first instrument of knowledge — A future state . 286 — 293

CHAPTER XXVI.

Interpretation of the Scriptures — The mind, the soul, and the reason-
ing powers of man — Religion natural and necessary to man — -The
inspired Author of Christianity — His pure and perfect doclrines

294—299

CHAPTER XXVII.

The miracle of creation — Adoration due to the great Author of the
whole — Paganism and succeeding errors — Evils of intolerance —
Good effected by monks of old — The Reformation — American
institutions — Established clergy — Their learning and acquire-
ments— Fanaticism — Ravings of Ranters . . 300 — 306

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Religion and philosophy conjoined necessary to human happiness —
Selection of clergymen — Wonders of the universe — Intended for
the contemplation of every human being — Revenues of the clergy —

CONTENTS.

XXXlll

More equal division recommended — Ireland and the Irish —
Catholic Emancipation — Absentees — Protestants and Catholics
— Reflections on the value of religious education — Colleges for
the purpose — No limit to the improvement of the human mind
— Nor to the capabilities of the human frame . . 307 — 315

FINAL .

APPENDIX

319—393

MEMOIR.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

CHAPTER I.

Tynemouth, November, 1822.

MY DEAR JANE,

It is in compliance with your wish that I
have, after much hesitation and delay, made up my
mind to give you some account of my life, as it
may at a future day amuse you and your brother
and sisters in your passage through the crooked as
well as the pleasant paths of the world. I will
commence by giving you some account of your
pedigree as far back as I can.

My grandfather, Thomas Bewick, farmed the
lands of Painshaw Field and Birches Neuk, near
By well, and also the Colliery on Mickley Bank, or
Mickley Common — how long since I know not, but
it might probably be about the year 1 700. He had
the character of being one of the most intelligent,
active, and best farmers on Tyneside, and it was

2 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

said that, by his good management and great
industry, he became very rich ; but, except his
being an expert angler, I know very little more
about him. My grandmother's maiden name was
Agnes Arthur, the daughter of a laird of that name
at Kirkheaton, at which place my father was born
in the year 1715, while his mother was there (I
believe) on a visit to her friends.

My maternal grandfather, Thomas Wilson, and
my grandmother, whose maiden name was Hannah
Thompson, lived at Ainstable, in Cumberland ; but
whether he was curate of the parish of that place,
or parish clerk, I do not know. It is certain, how-
ever, that he was one or the other, and that he
taught a school there ; and, from the circumstance
of his teaching his sons, and some of his daughters,
Latin, I conclude he taught some of his scholars
the same language. When he died, his eldest son,
Christopher, became possessed of his freehold pro-
perty, consisting of a house, &c., and a few fields
adjoining. The rest of his family were left little
beside a good education, and were spread abroad
in the world to do the best they could for them-
selves. In this state of their affairs, my mother,
Jane, and her youngest sister, Hannah, were taken
by a distant relation, a Mrs. Gregson, of Appleby,
to remain with her until she could get them places
to live at. About this time, the Rev. Christopher
Gregson had been appointed to the curacy of
Ovingham, and wanted a housekeeper ; and my
mother, though young, was thought able to under-
take that office, and accordingly engaged to
perform it.

Your maternal grandfather's name was Robert
Elliot, and your grandmother's Jane Forster. He

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 3

farmed the land of Woodgate, near Bill Quay,
where your mother was born. He afterwards
removed to a farm at Ovingham, where he died
in 1777, leaving the character of a sensible,
honest, and industrious man.

How long my mother lived with Mr. Gregson,
before her marriage, I know not ; but from him I
afterwards learned that she was a valuable servant
to him, both with respect to his house-keeping
concerns, and for the occasional assistance she
afforded him in hearing his pupils their Latin
tasks. From Ovingham, in the year 1752, she
married my father,* and went to live with him at
Cherryburn House, near the small village or hamlet
of Eltringham, where all their family, of which I
was the eldest, were born. The family consisted of
myself and brothers, John and William; and my
sisters Hannah, Agnes, Ann, Sarah, and Jane.
Sarah died at the age of 16; the rest were
reared to maturity, and were sent off, one way
or another, into the world.

In August, 1753, I was born,f and was mostly
entrusted to the care of my aunt Hannah (my
mother's sister), and my grandmother, Agnes
Bewick; and the first thing I can remember was,

[* Jane Wilson was born in 1727, She was John Bewick's second
wife, the first, Ann Topping, having died childless.]

[t Bewick kept his birthday on the I2th, but there is a doubt about
the exact date. He was baptised on the ipth, as appears from the
following certificate : —

"Baptised A:D: 1753

August ipth.
Thomas Son of John & Jane Bewick of Cherryburn."

The above is a true Extract from the parochial Register of Oving-
ham in the County of Northumberland taken this 2Qth day of Novr.,
1798. James Birkett Curate of Ovingham."

(Bewick MSS.)]

4 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

that the latter indulged me in every thing I had a
wish for ; or, in other words, made me a great pet.
I was not to be "snubbed" (as it was called), do
what I would ; and, in consequence of my being thus
suffered to have my own way, I was often scalded
and burnt, or put in danger of breaking my bones
by falls from heights I had clambered up to.

The next circumstance, which I well remember,
was that of my being sent to Mickley School when
very young; and this was not done so much with a
view to my learning, as to keep me out of " harm's
way." I was some time at this school without
making much progress in learning my letters or
spelling small words ; the master, perhaps, was
instructed not to keep me very close at my book ;
but, in process of time, he began to be more and
more severe upon me; and I see clearly at this
day, that he frequently beat me when faultless, and
also for not learning what it was not in my power
to comprehend. Others suffered in the same way.
He was looked upon as a severe or "cross" man,
and did not spare his rod. His name I do not
recollect; but he was nicknamed "Shabby Rowns."
He was a tall, thin man; and, with a countenance
severe and grim, he walked about the school-room,
with the tawse or a switch in his hand. He, no
doubt, thought he was keeping the boys to their
lessons, while the jabbering and noise they made
was enough to stun anyone, and impressed the
people passing by with the idea that Bedlam was
let loose. How long he went on in this way I do
not recollect; but, like many others of his profession,
who were at that time appointed to fill the most
important office of a teacher, no pains had been
taken to enquire whether he possessed the requisite

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 5

qualifications befitting him for it. He went on with
a senseless system of severity, where ignorance and
arrogance were equally conspicuous. Conduct like
this sours the minds of some boys, renders others
stupid, and serves to make all more or less disgusted
with learning. Upon some occasion or other, he
ordered me to be flogged; and this was to be done
by what was called "hugging," that is, by mounting
me upon the back of a stout boy, who kept hold of
my hands over his shoulders, while the posteriors
were laid bare, where he supposed he could do the
business freely. In this instance, however, he was
mistaken ; for, \vith a most indignant rage, I
sprawled, kicked, and flung, and, I was told, bit the
innocent boy on the neck, wThen he instantly roared
out, and threw me down ; and, on my being seized
again by the old man, I rebelled, and broke his
shins with my iron-hooped clogs, and ran off. By
this time, the boy's mother, who was a spirited
woman, and lived close by, attracted by the ferment
that was raised, flew (I understood) into the school-
room, when a fierce scold ensued between-the master
and her. After this I went no more to his school,
but played the truant every day, and amused myself
by making dams, and swimming boats in a small
burn which ran through a place then called the
"Colliers' Close Wood," till the evening, when I
returned home with my more fortunate or more
obedient schoolfellows.*

How long it was before my absence from school
was discovered I know not, but I got many severe
beatings from my father and mother, in the interval

[* Compare the vignette on the title-page of volume ii. of this
edition.]

6 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

between my leaving school and the old master's
death. As soon as another schoolmaster (James
Burn) was appointed, I was sent to him; and he
happened to be of a directly opposite character to
the late one. With him I was quite happy, and
learned as fast as any other of the boys, and with
as great pleasure. After the death of this much
respected young man, who lived only a very few
years after his appointment, my learning any
more at Mickley School was at an end.

Some time after this, my father put me to school
under the care of the Rev. C. Gregson, of Oving-
ham ; and well do I remember the conversation that
passed between them on the occasion. It was little
to my credit; for my father began by telling him
that I was so very unguidable that he could not
manage me, and he begged of my new master that
he would undertake that task, and they both agreed
that "to spare the rod was to spoil the child/'
This precept was, I think, too severely acted upon,
sometimes upon trivial occasions and sometimes
otherwise.

I was for some time kept at reading, writing, and
figures — how long, I know not, but I know that as
soon as my question was done upon my slate, I
spent as much time as I could find in filling with
my pencil all the unoccupied spaces, with represen-
tations of such objects as struck my fancy; and
these were rubbed out, for fear of a beating, before
my question was given in. As soon as I reached
Fractions, Decimals, &c., I was put to learn Latin,
and in this I was for some time complimented by
my master for the great progress I was making;
but, as I never knew for what purpose I had
to learn it, and was wearied out with getting

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 7

off long tasks, I rather flagged in this depart-
ment of my education, and the margins of my
books, and every space of spare and blank paper,
became filled with various kinds of devices or
scenes I had met with ; and these were often
accompanied with wretched rhymes explanatory
of them. As soon as I filled all the blank
spaces in my books, I had recourse, at all spare
times, to the gravestones and the floor of the
church porch, with a bit of chalk, to give vent to
this propensity of mind of figuring whatever I had
seen. At that time I had never heard of the word
"drawing;" nor did I know of any other paintings
beside the king's arms in the church, and the signs
in Ovingham of the Black Bull, the White Horse,
the Salmon, and the Hounds and Hare. I always
thought I could make a far better hunting scene
than the latter : the others were beyond my hand.
I remember once of my master overlooking me
while I was very busy with my chalk in the porch,
and of his putting me very greatly to the blush by
ridiculing and calling me a conjuror. My father,
also, found a deal of fault for "misspending my
time in such idle pursuits ;" but my propensity for
drawing was so rooted that nothing could deter me
from persevering in it ; and many of my evenings
at home were spent in filling the flags of the floor
and the hearth-stone with my chalky designs.*

After I had long scorched my face in this way,
a friend, in compassion, furnished me with some
paper upon which to execute my designs. Here I

[* Bewick's first efforts might easily be paralleled from the lives of
other artists. Hogarth, too, freely ornamented his school-books;
Wilkie and Mulready practiced on floors and walls ; and Wright of
Derby sought inspiration from public-house signs.]

8 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

had more scope. Pen and ink, and the juice of
the brambleberry, made a grand change. These
were succeeded by a camel-hair pencil and shells of
colours ; and, thus supplied, I became completely
set up; but of patterns, or drawings, I had none.
The beasts and birds which enlivened the beautiful
scenery of woods and wilds surrounding my native
hamlet, furnished me with an endless supply of
subjects. I now, in the estimation of my rustic
neighbours, became an eminent painter, and the
walls of their houses were ornamented with an
abundance of my rude productions, at a very cheap
rate. This chiefly consisted of particular hunting
scenes, in which the portraits of the hunters, the
horses, and of every dog in the pack, were, in their
opinion, as well as my own, faithfully delineated.
But while I was proceeding in this way, I was at
the same time deeply engaged in matters nearly
allied to this propensity for drawing ; for I early
became acquainted, not only with the history and
the character of the domestic animals, but also with
those which roamed at large.

The conversations of the Nimrods of that day, in
which the instincts and peculiar properties of the
various wild animals were described in glowing
terms, attracted my keenest attention ; and to their
rude and lengthened narratives I listened with
extreme delight. With me they made a winter's
evening fly fast away. At holiday times, — and at
other times when prevented by the floods of the
Tyne from getting across it to school,* — I was

[* " During storms and floods, those living on the south side of
the river can neither attend the church, nor, as it sometimes happens,
bring their dead to be buried." — (Mackenzie's " Northumberland,"
1825, ii, 362.) A bridge has now (1886) taken the place of the old
ferry between Prudhoe and Ovingham.]

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 9

sure, with the most ardent glee, to make one of
the number in the hunting parties which frequently
took place at that time ; whether it might be in the
chase of the fox or the hare, or in tracing the
foumart in the snow, or hunting the badger at
midnight. The pursuing, baiting, or killing, these
animals, never at that time struck me as being
cruel. The mind had not as yet been impressed
with the feelings of humanity. This, however,
came upon me at last; and the first time I felt the
change happened by my having (in hunting) caught
the hare in my arms, while surrounded by the dogs
and the hunters, when the poor, terrified creature
screamed out so piteously, — like a child, — that I
would have given anything to have saved its life.
In this, however, I was prevented; for a farmer
well known to me, who stood close by, pressed
upon me, and desired I would " give her to him ;"
and, from his being better able (as I thought) to
save its life, I complied with his wish. This was
no sooner done than he proposed to those about
him, "to have a bit more sport with her," and this
was to be done by first breaking one of its legs, and
then again setting the poor animal off a little before
the dogs. I wandered away to a little distance,
oppressed by my own feelings, and could not join
the crew again, but learned with pleasure that their
intended victim had made its escape.

The "musical din3' of the hounds still continued
to have its charms, and I still continued to follow
them; but, from that day forward, I have ever
wished that this poor, persecuted, innocent creature
might escape with its life. The worrying of foxes,
the baiting of foumarts, otters, badgers, &c., did
not awaken in me similar feelings ; for in the fierce

10 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

conflicts between them and the dogs, there was
something like an exchange of retaliation, and not
unfrequently the aggressors were beaten ; and I
have with pleasure seen that wonderfully courage-
ous animal, the badger (with fair play), beat the
dogs of a whole neighbourhood, one after another,
completely off.

In the vermin-hunting excursions, in the depth
of winter, while the whole face of nature was bound
in frost and covered with deep snow, in traversing
through bogs, amidst reeds and rushes, I have
often felt charmed with the sight of birds, — flushed,
and sometimes caught, by the terrier dogs, — which
I had never seen or heard of before ; and I am still
in doubt whether some of them have not escaped
being noticed as British birds.

These were the diversions of the winter months,
which I enjoyed in an extreme degree, amidst the
storm and the tempest. In that season I was also
sometimes better employed in looking after a small
flock of sheep on the fell, a part of which was my
own.* The extremity of the weather had taught
them to seek a place of shelter under a steep but
low " brae," overhung with whins, under which, in
such weather, I was almost certain to find them
and their associates all huddled together. To this
place, through wreaths of snow, I early bent my
way, with a bundle of hay on my back, and my
pockets sometimes filled with oats, which I dis-
tributed amongst them. Upon these occasions,

* They were of the long-legged, black-faced kind, which were
almost the only sort at that time kept in this part of the country.
The improved breed, with their fatting qualities, were then not known.
The mutton of the former eats like dark, juicy venison, while that of
the latter puts one in mind of blubber.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. i i

though at other times extremely wild, they were
quite tame, and seemed to know me.

From my sheep thus drawing into shelter, gave
rise to an opinion I formed, and which has been
confirmed by long reflection, that much may yet be
done to protect the larger flocks from being over-
blown and lost on the bleak moors, in great snow
storms. Were long avenues made by double rows
of whin hedges, planted parallel to each other at
about six feet asunder, and continued in the form
of two sides of a square, with the whins of each
side drawn together, and to grow interplatted at
the tops, so as to form an arched kind of roof, the
sheep would, on instinctively seeing the coming
storm, immediately avail themselves of such
asylums, and particularly in the lambing season.
In the corner of the angle of this square, the
shepherd might have his hovel, thatched with
heather and ling, and his beds for himself and his
dogs, made of the same materials ; and the whole
of this "bield" might be rendered so snug as
greatly to defy the severity of the winter-'-s drifting
blasts and wreaths of snow.

At that time of life, every season had its charms;
and I recollect well of listening with delight, from
the little window at my bed-head, to the murmuring
of the flooded burn which passed my father's house,
and sometimes roused me from my bed, to see what
it was like. On such occasions I would have cut a
" shive " from the black sour rye loaf, and gone
to bed again to eat it. After this, my first and
common employment was to "muck" the byer;
and, when the servant girl did not come soon
enough, I frequently tried my hand at milking the
cows; and I was always particularly keen of being

12 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

there in snow storms. When this was the case,
within the byer door, I snugly watched the appear-
ance of various birds, which passed the little dean
below, and which the severity of the weather drove
from place to place, in search of shelter. With the
sight of my intimate acquaintances, the robins,
wrens, blackbirds, sparrows, a solitary crow, and
some others, I was not much attracted, but always
felt an extreme pleasure and curiosity in seeing the
more rare visitants, — such as the woodcock, the
snipe, and other waders, with the redwings, field-
fares, &c., — make their appearance.

The winter evenings were often spent in listening
to the traditionary tales and songs, relating to men
who had been eminent for their prowess and
bravery in the border wars, and of others who
had been esteemed for better and milder qualities,
such as their having been good landlords, kind
neighbours, and otherwise in every respect bold,
independent, and honest men. I used to be
particularly affected with the warlike music, and
with the songs relative to the former description of
characters; but with the songs regarding the latter,
a different kind of feeling was drawn forth, and I
was greatly distressed, and often gave vent to it in
tears. These songs and " laments " were com-
memorative of many worthies ; but the most
particular ones that I now remember were those
respecting the Earl of Derwentwater, who was
beheaded in the year 1715, and was looked upon as
having been a victim to the cruelty of the reigning
family, and who was venerated as a saint upon
earth. It was said that the light from Heaven
attended his corpse to the vault at Dilston Hall,
and that prosperity would shine no more upon

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 13

Tyneside.* Then followed the sorrowful remem-
brances of those that were dead and gone. To
sigh over them was unavailing ; they had filled the
space allotted to them on this side of Time, and
the winds had blown over their silent graves for
ages past. The predictions that the mansions of
those that remained would soon, for want of heirs,
become desolate — these and such like melancholy
reflections made a deep impression on my mind ;
and I have often since, with feelings of extreme
regret, beheld these mansions, once the seats of
hospitality, dilapidated, and the families which
occupied them now become extinct and forgotten.

When the winter began somewhat to abate of its
rigours, or in the early spring, it was a common
job for me, before setting off to school, to rise
betimes in the morning, — as indeed I was always
accustomed to do, — and equipt with an apron, an
old dyking mitten, and a sharpened broken sickle,
to set off amongst the whin bushes, which were
near at hand, to cut off their last year's sprouts.
These were laid into a corner till the evening, when
I stript, and fell to work to "cree" them with a
wooden "mell," in a stone trough, till the tops of
the whins were beaten to the consistency of soft,
wet grass ; and, with this mess, I fed the horses
before I went to bed, or in the morning as occasion
might require. They were shy about eating this
kind of provender at first, and I was obliged to mix
oats with it; but they soon became so fond of it,

[* There is a rare " Perspective View" of Dilston Hall, engraved
by Spilsbury, in 1766, from a drawing by Thomas Oliver, of
Hexham, under which is one of the "laments" referred to in the
text. The original copper plate, which had passed into Bewick's
possession, was sold at the Bewick sale of August, 1884.]

14 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

alone, that there was no need of any mixture. I
know not whether a scarcity of fodder first gave
rise to the suggestion of using this expedient, or it
was tried as an experiment ; but certain it is that
this kind of food agreed so well with the horses
that they became soon very sleek, and cast their
winter coats of hair long before other horses that
were fed in the common way. Cows would not eat
the whin tops thus prepared, but, in a winter of
scarcity, I have known all hands at work cutting
ivy from the trees, and even small ash twigs, to be
given to the cattle as fodder.

CHAPTER II.

FROM the little window at my bed-head,* I
noticed all the varying seasons of the year; and
when the spring put in, I felt charmed with the
music of birds, which strained their little throats to
proclaim it. The chief business imposed upon me
as a task, at this season, was my being set to work
to " scale " the pastures and meadows ; that is, to
spread the mole-hills over the surface of the
ground. This, with gardening, and such like jobs,
was very hungry work, and often made me think
dinner was long in coming; and, when at last it
was sent to me, be it what it might, I sat down on
the "lown" side of a hedge and eat it with a relish
that needed no sauce.

As soon as the bushes and trees began to put
forth their buds, and make the face of nature .look
gay — this was the signal for the angler to prepare
his fishing tackle. In doing this I was not behind
hand. Fishing rods, set gads, and night lines

[*This, already referred to in chapter i., p. n, is shown in John
Bewick's sketch of 1781 (vide Frontispiece).]

1 6 MI-.MOIK OF THOMAS BEWICK.

were all soon made fit for use, and with them, late
and early, I had a busy time of it, during the
summer months, until the frosts of autumn forbade
me to proceed. The uneasiness which my late
evening wadings by the waterside gave to my
father and mother, I have often since reflected
upon with regret. They could not go to bed with
the hopes of getting to sleep, while haunted with
the apprehension of my being drowned ; and well
do I remember to this day my father's well-known
whistle, which called me home. He went to a
little distance from the house, where nothing
obstructed the sound, and whistled so loud, through
his finger and thumb, that in the still hours of
evening it might be heard echoing up the vale of
the Tyne, to a very great distance. This whistle I
learned to imitate, and answered it as well as I
could, and then posted home.

From early in the morning till night, I was
scarcely ever out of an action either good or bad ;
or, when not kept close at school, or in doing jobs
such as those I have described, I was almost
constantly engaged in some mischievous prank or
other ; but with a detail of these it would be weari-
some to load my narrative : they were occasioned
by the overflowings of an active, wild disposition.
At one time, in imitation of the savages described
in "Robinson Crusoe," — or some other savages, — I
often, in a morning, set off stark naked across the
fell, where I was joined by some associates, who,
in like manner, ran about like mad things, or like
Bedlamites who had escaped. Climbing the tall
trees at Eltringham for rook nests, at the hazard
of breaking our necks or our bones, was another
piece of business which employed our attention. I

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 17

was also engaged in another equally dangerous.
Having formed the resolution of curing a vicious
"runaway" horse belonging to my father, which
no one durst mount, I, however, took the oppor-
tunity, when out of sight of any of the family, to
do so. With my hand entwined in his mane, and
bare-backed, I set him a-going, and let him run
over "sykes" and burns, up hill and down hill,
until he was quite spent. In a short time I
discovered that, to make him run at all, he must
be whipt to it. At other times I swam him in the
river. This, and such like treatment, made him
look ill, and quite tamed him.

I have often since shuddered at the thoughts of
doing these and such like desperate acts, and
wondered how I escaped ; but neither caution nor
fear had at that lime taken a place in the mind ;
on the contrary, any uncommon or frightful exploit
had charms in it that I could not resist. One of
these pranks, however, attracted the attention of
the neighbourhood, brought me into a great
dilemma, and occasioned me a severe- beating.
I engaged a constant associate, Josh. Liddell,
who was ever ready at my command to help
me, as soon as I communicated any design to
him. I had discovered two oxen in a little
savannah or bit of grazing ground, surrounded
with hazel and other bushes, near the brink of
the river. Thither we went in order to enjoy so
tempting a sight as to see them plunge over-
head into the flood. When all was ready, we
suddenly, with long branches in our hands,
sprang upon them from the bushes overhanging
the precipice, the danger of which they did not

see ; and they were plunged, with such a delightful

c

1 8 MKMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

dash, overhead into the river ! They, however,
happened to be no worse for it ; for they were
driven down by the rapid current of the flood, and
landed safely at a distance below. This exploit,
happening on a Sunday forenoon, was an aggra-
vation of the crime.

After this my father mostly took me with him to
church, but while there, except shouting as loud
as I could, while the Psalms were singing, there
was little to engage my attention. I therefore
employed myself in almost constantly drawing
various figures upon the soft, painted bookboard
with a pin. In doing this, no one noticed me,
especially as I held down my head ; and, having
got the church service off, I repeated it the same
as the congregation. This apparently regular
behaviour was not, however, of long duration, and
was broken in upon at last. Sunday after Sunday
a clownish fellow had obtruded himself into our
pew. I did not think this quite right, and wished
to put an end to it ; and this happened in a very
rude way in the end. A dumb man (" Dummy, of
Wylam"), a constant church-goer, had a seat in the
pew before ours, where, regularly during the service,
he fell fast asleep. When in that state, and sitting
right before our obtruder, I reached aside, and
gave "Dummy" a smart blow on the head, and
instantly, as if I knew nothing of the matter, I
seemed to be quite grave, and intent on looking on
my prayer book, while the fellow was putting on a
broad grin. At this poor Dummy was enraged,
and with a distorted countenance, he kept thump-
ing the man on the face and head, at the same time
making a hideous noise, which was heightened by
the fellow's shouting, and calling him "fool/' at

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 19

the same time assuring him that it was I who gave
the blow, and not he. To the deaf man this was a
waste of words. It need not be added that the
congregation was greatly disturbed, while perhaps
none knew or suspected the cause except my father
and my preceptor in the pulpit.

Sometimes the lads in the same class I belonged
to, when we had been doing amiss, were sent to
cut birch rods to whip us with. At other times we
were locked into the belfry, where we often amused
ourselves by drawing* each other up by the bell
ropes to the first floor ; but one of our comrades
having (by the rope slipping too violently through
the hands of those who held it) been precipitated
to the ground, by which he was a good deal hurt,
that mode of punishment was altogether dropped.
It sometimes happened to me to be confined there
alone, and once I got up to the top of the steeple.
Whether I had ventured a little down on the
outside to look for birds' nests I do not remember,
but this was asserted by some of the women in the
village, who upon this occasion found a deal of
fault with the Parson for putting me into a place
where such risks were to be run. Poor man, I think
he had had a troublesome time of it with one or other
of us ; and I remember well, once in particular,
of putting him into very great pain and distress of
mind. After a great flood, a large piece of ice, about
the size of the floor of a room, had been left in a place
called " Ned's Hole," by the side of the river.
This I got upon, and persuaded several others to
do the same, and we then set to work with a "boat-
stower" to push it off shore; and, in this manner,
we got some distance up the river, opposite to the
parsonage garden, where our master happened to

20 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

be, and saw us. I could see by his agitated
motions, and his uplifted hands, that he was put
into a state much easier to be felt than described.
After having been guilty of misdemeanors of this
kind, I did not go back to school for the remainder
of the day ; but waded, or otherwise crossed, the
river, and sat down or amused myself among the
bushes on the water banks, until the rest of the
scholars left school, when I joined them and went
home. But as it would not have been safe for me
to go to bed (if conscious of guilt, or if otherwise
betrayed) for fear of a visit from my father, I
always took up my abode for the night in the byer
loft, among the hay or straw, knowing well that,
when his passion subsided, I should escape a beat-
ing from his hands.

The first cause of my preceptor beginning a
severe system of flogging (beside the quantum I
received for mischievous acts), was for not getting
off my Latin tasks. When this was not done to
his mind, he, by way of punishment, gave me
another still worse to do, and still longer, till at
length I gave up even attempting to get through
them at all, and began to stand a flogging without
being much put about by it. I think (at this day)
my very worthy preceptor, in following this rather
indiscriminate system of severe punishments, was
wrong. He often beat his own son,* a youth of an
uncommonly mild, kind, and cheerful disposition,
whom I felt more distressed at seeing punished

* Christopher Gregson, of Apothecaries Hall, London. He died
[about] :8i[8], and was buried at Ovingham. [During the whole of
his lifetime he preserved an unbroken friendship with Bewick. Many
of his letters, and those of his brother Philip, who had an appointment
in the Custom House, are included in the Bewick MSS.]

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEAVICK. 21

than if it had been myself; for I mostly considered
that I richly deserved the stripes inflicted upon me,
and that he did not.

There was a misdemeanor for which, above all
the rest, I was more severely punished, both at
school and at home, than for any other fault ; and
that was for fighting with other boys. To put a
stop to this practice, was the particular request of
my mother. To her it was odious in the extreme.
Her reasons I do not forget. She quoted Scripture
in support of them. Therein, she said, we were
directed, "if we were struck on one cheek, to turn
the other also" (I forget the exact words) : but it is
a portion of Scripture I did not obey. She also
maintained that the business of fighting was
degrading to human nature, and put a man that
practised it on a level with dogs. I am conscious
that I never sought a quarrel with any one ; but
I found an insult very bad to bear, and generally
in the most secret manner contrived " to fight it
out."

When the floggings inflicted upon me had in a
great measure begun to lose their effect, another
mode of punishment was fallen upon ; and that
was, after the school hours were over, to lock me
into the church, where I was kept till the dusk of
the evening. This solitary confinement was very
irksome to me ; as I had not at that time got
over a belief in ghosts and boggles, for the sight
of which I was constantly upon the look out.
Oppressed with fear, I peeped here and there
into every corner, in dread of seeing some terri-
ble spirit. In time, however, this abated, and I
amused myself, as well as I could, in surveying
the surrounding objects, and in climbing up the

22 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

pillars, with the help of a rope or a handkerchief,
as I used to do in getting up large trees. It
happened one evening, when my master, as usual,
came to let me out, that I was sitting astride upon
the capital of one of the pillars, where he did not
see me. He called on me, but I made no answer,
and he then posted off to see if the door was fast,
and having ascertained that it was, he marched
along the aisles in great perturbation of mind,
frequently exclaiming, " God bless me ! " &c.
When he was gone, I slipped down, and found
the choir door only bolted on the inside, so I
waded the river and posted home, and slept in
my old asylum, the hay loft. I have frequently
bitterly repented of having given a man I after-
wards so highly respected through life so much
pain and trouble.

I have before noticed that the first time I felt
compassion for a dumb animal, was upon my
having' caught a hare in rny arms. The next
occurrence of the kind happened with a bird. I
had no doubt knocked many down with stones
before, but they had escaped being taken. This
time, however, the little victim dropped from the
tree, and I picked it up. Struck with its beauty,
I instantly ran into the house with it. It was
alive, and looked me piteously in the face ; and,
as I thought, could it have spoken, it would have
asked me why I had taken away its life. I felt
greatly hurt at what I had done, and did not
quit it all the afternoon. I turned it over and
over, admiring its plumage, its feet, its bill, and
every part of it. It was a bullfinch. I did not
then know its name, but I was told it was a
"little Matthew Martin." This was the last bird

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 23

I killed ; but many, indeed, have been killed
since on my account.

I had been at man-fights, dog-fights, and cock-
fights, without feeling much compassion. Indeed,
with the last of these exhibitions, I was more
entertained at seeing the wry faces, contortions,
and agitations of the clowns who surrounded the
cock-pit, or circle, than I was with the cocks
fighting.* 'It was long before I felt disgusted at
seeing men fight. This, however, happened at
last. A travelling merchant, or respectable pedlar,
— a slim-made, genteel-looking man, — had perhaps
forgotten himself over a glass, and not minded
what company he was in. He could not, however,
be long in such society without being insulted ;
but, be that as it might, a fight ensued, in which
the stranger was over-matched. I saw only the
concluding part, and was extremely shocked ; for
the stranger was sitting propped up with his arms
behind him, quite spent and speechless, and looked
like a corpse. After sitting a short time in this
helpless state, his opponent walked coolly up to
him, and with a blow on the face or head laid him
flat on the ground. I thought he was killed, at
which I became so frantic with rage and indig-
nation, that I believe, at the moment, if I had
had a pistol at hand, I would have shot the sturdy
barbarian.

In going along with my narrative, I have noticed
some of the first impressions which produced a
change, and left a strong effect on my mind.
In some of these, the change was quick and decisive;
in others of a more tardy nature; and prejudices

[* Some of the facial eccentricities that attracted Bewick may be
studied in Hogarth's famous print of "The Cockpit," 1759.]

24 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

which were early rooted were not easily removed.
Among the worst, was that of a belief in ghosts,
boggles, apparitions, &c. These wrought power-
fully upon the fears of the great bulk of the
people at that time, and, with many, these fears
are not rooted out even at this day. The stories
so circumstantially told respecting these phan-
toms and supernatural things, I listened to with
the dread they inspired, and it took many an
effort, and I suffered much, before it could be
removed. What helped me greatly to conquer
fears of that kind was my knowing that my
father constantly scouted such idle, or, indeed,
such pernicious tales. He would not allow me to
plead fear as any excuse, when he had to send
me an errand at night; and, perhaps, my being
frequently alone in the dark might have the effect
of enabling me greatly to rise superior to such
weakness.

I have known men, both old and young, who
dared to encounter almost any danger, yet were
afraid of their own shadows ; and I remember well
of trying the experiment, one night, upon a servant
man of my father's, who was a kind of village
Caesar, and feared riot to stand the most desperate
battles with others of the same cast, upon any oc-
casion. I began by sneering at his courage, and
then bet him a penny that I durst do what he
dared not. All I intended to do I set about rather
deliberately, and then rose to perform my feat,
which was to walk along the dark passage to the
back door, and to repeat something (rather omin-
ous, indeed) about " Silkey" and " Hedley Kow."
After performing my task, I returned with appar-
ent agitation and fear, and sat down in silence

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 25

close beside him for some time, and then asked him
if he durst do the like. I, however, saw, by his
hesitation, that the performance by him was given
up, and he only remarked that "one may soon
get what one'll never cast."

At another time, in broad day light, I took it
into my head to make another trial of this kind
upon my father's pitmen. For this purpose I
detained our cur dog, until I buckled him up
in a pair of old " sods/' which covered him
beyond both head and tail, and set him off to
the pit, knowing well that he would go straight
there; for he was accustomed every day to leave
the pit lodge, and go home, where he waited until
he saw that dinner was ready, and then his re-
appearance at the pit was as good as telling my
father and his servants to come home. I durst
not have thus amused myself if I had not known
that my father was out of the way. I set off on
the inside of the hedge, keeping pace with the
dog all the way up to the pit heap, near which I
stopped, and peeped to see the effect 'that would
be produced ; and this was really curious. One
of the men, seeing the odd appearance of some-
thing alive, with a long body, without either legs,
head, or tail, moving straight forward towards
him, knew not what to make of it ; and, after rub-
bing his eyes, he ran off to his companions, who,
when they had taken a peep, all set off, with
speed, on their way home.

In a business of a similar kind, which happened
not long after, it was my lot to be the sufferer. A
few companions used to come at nights to our
house to play at cards with me, and I, in turn,

visited them for the same purpose. We wTere,

D

26 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

however, taken to task by a bigoted old woman
in the neighbourhood, who called the cards the
"devil's books." She told me one night before
setting off to play with my companions, as usual,
that, if I looked under the table, I would see the
devil ; and I recollect that I several times peeped
to see if he were indeed there. When we were
done playing, two of the gamesters, as was custo-
mary, set me across part of the fell towards home.
I was, however, much surprised at their suddenly
leaving me without saying good night, or making
any reply to my shouting after them, and they
were soon out of sight. This was at a place called
the " Sand Holes," which I then left, and was
turning towards home, when, behold ! to my utter
amazement, I saw the devil ! It was a clear
moonlight night ; I could not be mistaken — his
horns — his great white, goggle eyes, and teeth,
and tail — his whole person stood fairly before
me ! As I gazed, I thought the hair lifted the
hat on my head. He stood, and I stood, for some
time; and, -I believe, if he had then come up to
me, I must have dropped down. Certain it is,
however, that desperation succeeded fear. I moved
aside, and he did the same. I involuntarily got my
"jackleg knife,"* and, if he had then approached
me, he to a certainty would have been stabbed.
I slipped off my clogs, made a start in a bending

[* Compare Burns on "Captain Grose's Peregrinations": —
"The knife that nicket Abel's craig

He'll prove you fully
It was a faulding jocteleg,

Or lang-kail gullie."

The name "jackleg " or jocteleg is said to be derived from Jacques
de Liege, the cutler who first made or invented it.]

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 27

direction, and at full speed ran home. He pur-
sued me nearly to the door, but I beat him in
the race. I had always understood that any per-
son who had seen a ghost, or evil spirit, would
faint on coming" into a house with a fire in it. I
feared this, but I fainted none ! and when my
father asked me what was the matter, I told him
I had seen the devil. He, perhaps without think-
ing, gave me a slap on the head. It was not
long, however, till the following affair transpired.
The man who personated the devil, when he met
me, had been on his way to a " kirn supper," and
was going in what was called " a guising." When
my father heard the whole transaction, he wrought
himself up into a great rage ; and very shortly
after, meeting the man, (Tom Usher,) in the street
at Corbridge, who had frightened me, he instantly
paid him off by giving him a sound beating.
When the people, who always considered my
father as a remarkably peaceable man, saw him
thus engaged, they expressed their surprise ; but,
as soon as they heard the reason for what had
been done, they were also exasperated, and, I
was given to understand, the man was obliged to
leave the village.

The first time I took notice of any of my female
school-fellows arose from a reproof I met with, and
the manner it was given, from one of them. The
amiable person alluded to, was Miss Betty Greg-
son,* my preceptor's daughter, and somewhere
about my own age. She kept a messet dog,f and

* Betty Gregson, died 2oth April, iy[y6] and was buried at
Ovingham Church.

[f A " messet-dog" is here a pet-dog or lap-dog.]

28 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

the sleek, fat, useless animal was much disliked
by me as well as by some of the other boys.
When it made its appearance in the churchyard,
which it sometimes did, we set about frightening"
it; and, for this purpose, some of us met it at
every gate and outlet, and stopped its retreat till
it became quite distressed. The last time that
this kind of sport was practised on her little dog,
I happened to be the only actor. Having met
with it at a little distance from its home, I had
stopped it from entering the house, and had pur-
sued it about and about, or met it at the end of
every avenue, till it was put into great " bodily
fear !" This behaviour towards her little favourite
was very offensive to Miss Gregson. She could
endure it no longer, and she called me to account
for it. I can never forget her looks upon the occa-
sion. She no doubt intended to scold me, but the
natural sweetness of her disposition soon showed
itself in its true colours. She did not know how
to scold ; for, after some embarrassing attempts
at it, and some hesitation, she put me in mind of
my being related to her, and of her uniform kind-
ness to me, and with irresistible arguments and
persuasions made me see the impropriety of my
conduct. With me this left its mark ; for from
that time forward I never plagued any of the girls
at school, nor did any thing that might give them
offence ; nor has this impression ever been effaced
from my mind, but has been there fostered through
life and settled into a fixed respect and tender
regard for the whole sex.

Hitherto my life at school and at home might
be considered as a life of warfare, and punish-
ments of various kinds had been inflicted upon

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 29

me apparently with little effect. As a cure for my
misdeeds, my worthy master, however, at length
found out a better and more effectual way. He
one day invited me to dine with him, and after
showing me the greatest kindness, he followed
this up in a friendly, plain, and open way, by
remonstrating with me on the impropriety of my
past conduct, the evil tendency of it, and the pain
and trouble it had given him ; urging me, at the
same time, in such a persuasive tone, instantly to
desist from it, that I felt quite overpowered with
his discourse, and fell into a flood of tears. The
result was, I never dared to encounter another of
these friendly meetings ; and, while I remained
at his school, he never again had occasion to find
fault with me.

The transactions in which I afterwards became
engaged, afforded me more real enjoyment. As
silent time stole away, in the varied seasons of
the long-measured years, changes gradually took
place in many of the erroneous notions I had
formed of things. As the mind became more
expanded, curiosity led me to enquire into the
nature of the objects which attracted my attention.
Among the first was that of birds, their nests,
their eggs, and their young. These to me were
long a source of great delight, and many a spring
morning I watched and looked after them. I also
spent many a summer evening, on my way home
from school, lost in wonder in examining the
works going forward among a nation of ants. The
place they occupied was on the top of the "Boat
Hill," near Eltringham, and the colony was the
largest I had ever seen. From it their narrow
roads, through the grass, radiated in various direc-

30 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

tions to a great distance. These were like as
many turnpike roads, and as busily crowded as
any among men, leading to or from a great fair.
I have sometimes with a stick overturned their
accumulated gatherings, when it was curious to
observe the effect produced. The greatest bustle
and confusion ensued ; and yet I have observed
with surprise, that next morning every thing was
restored to the same order as before. I noticed
that they had other enemies that broke in upon
them, and which perhaps injured them more than
I did ; and these were the turkeys from the village,
where great numbers were bred every year. As
soon as the young brood were able to walk abroad,
the mother led them every day to this great ant
hill, where they no doubt made terrible havoc
among the inhabitants and their works.*

Bees also attracted much of my attention. I
could not see into the interior of their works, but
I made every inquiry of those who had long kept
them, and gathered, in this way, as good a know-
ledge of their history and economy as I could.
One of my morning jobs was to sit before the

* The history and economy of these very interesting insects are,
I think, not well known. They appear to manage their affairs with
as much forethought and industry as mankind; but to what degree
their reasoning and instinctive powers extend is yet a mystery.
After they have spent a certain time toiling on earth, they get wings,
and soar aloft into the atmosphere. What change they undergo
before they assume this new character, or what becomes of them
afterwards, seems doubtful. [Bewick's boyish observations recall
Gay's fable of " The Turkey and the Ant," which he must, later, have
illustrated con amore : —

" Draw near, my birds, the mother cries,

This hill delicious fare supplies ;

Behold, the busy Negro race,

See, millions blacken all the place !

Fear not. Like me with freedom eat ;

An Ant is most delightful meat."]

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 31

hives, with a stick like a spatula, to kill the wasps,
as they alighted to enter and rob them. I could
see the bees enter, loaded with what they had
culled from every flower, but never could see them
attack or repel their enemies.

I frequently amused myself in observing the
murders of a large spider, which had placed its
web in the corner of the little window at my bed
head. Being wishful to see how it managed its
affairs, I prevented the servant girl from brushing
the web away. Its proceedings did not excite in
me any favourable opinion. Having seen it seize
every innocent fly that set foot upon its snares, I
had a mind to try how it would conduct itself
towards a more powerful opponent. For this pur-
pose, I caught a wasp, which I held by its wings
upon the web until its feet got entangled, when
out came the hitherto unthwarted tyrant ; and,
after some apparent hesitation, it at length was
tempted to pounce upon the obtruder. The
struggle was, however, very short. I soon per-
ceived the wasp double itself up and daft its sting
into the body of its enemy, which instantly retired,
and never afterwards returned. This is only one
experiment, but further trials of the kind might be
made to come at truth.*

[* Goldsmith seems to have made a like trial. (See "The Bee"
for 27 October, 1759, "The Sagacity of some Insects.") But the
spider in his case was wiser in its generation, for it did all in its
power to release its unwelcome visitor.]

CHAPTER III.

CHERRYBURN House, the place of my nativity,
and which for many years my eyes beheld with
cherished delight, is situated on the south side of
the Tyne, in the county of Northumberland, a
short distance from the river. The house, stables,
&c., stand on the west side of a little dean, at
the foot of which runs a burn.* The dean was
embellished with a number of cherry and plum
trees, which were terminated by a garden on the
north. Near the house were two large ash trees
growing from one root ; and, at a little distance,
stood another of the same kind. At the south end
of the premises was a spring well, overhung by
a large hawthorn bush, behind which was a holly

* This, formerly, was supplied by a copious spring of fine
water, which having found its way into some pit workings and
disappeared, the burn is now only fed by day water from the fields.
[Nothing now [1886] remains of Cherryburn House but the central
portion of the building shown in John Bewick's sketch of 1781.
This is used as a cow shed, over one door of which is the inscrip-
tion— "Thomas Bewick born here, August 1753." The site of the
spring well may still be traced; and the "garden on the north"
remains much as .of old. In the vicinity rises a larger and more
modern dwelling, at present inhabited by Bewick's grandnieces.]

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 33

hedge ; and further away was a little boggy
dean, with underwood and trees of different kinds.
Near the termination of this dean, towards the
river, were a good many remarkably tall ash trees,
and one of oak, supposed to be one of the tallest
and straightest in the kingdom. On the tops of
these was a rookery, the sable inhabitants of
which, by their consultations and cawings, and
the bustle they made when building their nests,
were among the first of the feathered race to pro-
claim the approaching spring. The corn-fields
and pastures to the eastward were surrounded
with very large oak and ash trees. Indeed, at
that time, the country between Wylam and By-
well was beautified with a great deal of wood,
which presented the appearance of a continued
forest ; but these are long since stubbed up.
Needy gentry care little about the beauty of a
country, and part of it is now, comparatively, as
bare as a mole-hill.

To the westward, adjoining the house, lay the
common or fell, which extended some few miles
in length, and was of various breadths. It was
mostly fine greensward or pasturage, broken or
divided, indeed, with clumps of "blossom'd whins/'
foxglove, fern, and some junipers, and with
heather in profusion, sufficient to scent the whole
air. Near the burns, which guttered its sides,
were to be seen the remains of old oaks, hollowed
out by Time, with alders, willows., and birch,
which were often to be met with in the same
state ; and these seemed to me to point out the
length of time that these domains had belonged to
no one. On this common, — the poor man's herit-
age for ages past, where he kept a 'few sheep, or

34 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

a Kyloe cow, perhaps a flock of geese, and mostly
a stock of bee-hives, — it was with infinite pleasure
that I long beheld the beautiful wild scenery which
was there exhibited, and it is with the opposite
feelings of regret that I now find all swept
away.* Here and there on this common were to be
seen the cottage, or rather hovel, of some labouring
man, built at his own expense, and mostly with
his own hands ; and to this he always added a
garth and a garden, upon which great pains and
labour were bestowed to make both productive ;
and for this purpose not a bit of manure was
suffered to be wasted away on the "lonnings" or
public roads. These various concerns excited the
attention and industry of the hardy occupants,
which enabled, them to prosper, and made them
despise being ever numbered with the parish poor.
These men, whose children were neither pampered
nor spoiled, might truly be called —

"A bold peasantry, their country's pride;"

and to this day I think I see their broad shoulders
and their hardy sun-burnt looks, which altogether
bespoke the vigour of their constitutions.

These cottagers (at least those of them I knew)
were of an honest and independent character, while
at the same time they held the neighbouring
gentry in the greatest estimation and respect;

* This fell, or common, containing about 1852 acres, was divided
in 1812. By this division, the poor man was rooted out, and the
various mechanics of the villages deprived of all benefit of it. The
neighbouring farmers who reared their young cattle, and kept as
many sheep upon it as they pleased, must now pay rent for the allot-
ments laid to their; farms. The wisdom which dictated this change
is questionable, but the selfish greediness of it is quite apparent.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 35

and these, again, in return, did not overlook them,
but were interested in knowing that they were
happy and well. Most of these poor men, from
their having little intercourse with the world,
were in all their actions and behaviour truly
original ; and, except reading the Bible, local
histories, and old ballads, their knowledge was
generally limited. And yet one of these — "Will
Bewick" — from being much struck with my per-
formances, which he called pictures, became
exceedingly kind to me, and was the first person
from whom I gathered a sort of general know-
ledge of astronomy and of the magnitude of the
universe. He had, the year through, noticed the
appearances of the stars and the planets, and
would discourse " largely" on the subject. I think
I see him yet, sitting on a mound, or seat, by the
hedge of his garden, regardless of the cold, and
intent upon viewing the heavenly bodies ; pointing
to them with his large hands, and eagerly impart-
ing his knowledge to me with a strong voice such
as one now seldom hears. I well remember being
much struck with his appearance — his stern-
looking brows, high cheek bones, quick eye, and
longish visage; and at his resolution (upon another
occasion) when he determined upon risking his
own life to save that of another man. The latter,
in the employ of my father, while at work as a
pitman, had lost his way in the coal workings,
and was missing for perhaps a day or two, (my
father being from home), when our old neighbour,
just described, who was also a pitman and knew
the workings, equipped himself with everything
he thought necessary for so hazardous an under-
taking ; and, when he was about to go down the

36 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

pit shaft, I felt much distressed at seeing my
mother trembling- in great agitation of mind for
his safety and that of his lost associate. After
traversing through the old workings of the colliery
for a long time, — so long, indeed, that it was
feared he had also lost himself, he found the
man alive, when, with his well-known thundering
voice, he called from the bottom of the shaft,
"all's well/' to the inexpressible joy of all who
crowded the pit's mouth.

Another of our fell-side neighbours, Anthony
Liddell, was a man of a very singular character,
and was noticed as such by the whole neighbour-
hood ; but a full account of him would far exceed
the bounds I wish to set to my narrative. He
might, indeed, -be called the " village Hampden."
The whole cast of his character was formed by
the Bible, which he had read with attention,
through and through. Acts of Parliament which
appeared to him to clash with the laws laid down
in it, as the Word of God, he treated with con-
tempt. He maintained that the fowls of the air
and the fish of the sea were free for all men ;
consequently, game laws, or laws to protect the
fisheries, had no weight with him. He would
not, indeed, take a salmon out of the locks on
any account, but what he could catch with his
"click-hook," in the river, he deemed his own.
As to what he could do in shooting game, he was
so inexpert, that he afforded to sportsmen many a
hearty laugh at his awkwardness ; for he could
shoot none till he fixed a hay-fork in the ground
to rest his piece upon. Indeed, the very birds
themselves might, by a stretch of imagination,
be supposed also to laugh at him; but his de-

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 37

ficiencies did not deter him from traversing over
the country-side as eagerly as other sportsmen,
notwithstanding his want of success. Whatever
he did was always done in open day ; for, as he
feared no man, he scorned to skulk or to do any-
thing by stealth. The gaol had no terrors for him,
for he lived better there than he did at home ;
and, on one occasion of his being confined, when
he returned home he expressed his surprise to his
neighbours, that all the time "he had not had a
single hand's turn to do," and exulted not a little
that the opportunity had thus been given him of
again reading the Bible through. He was a great
reader of history, especially those parts where
wars and battles were described ; and, in any
meetings with his neighbours, he -took the lead
in discourses founded on knowledge of that kind.
After the Bible, "Josephus" was his favourite
author, next the "Holy Wars" — these and "Bishop
Taylor's Sermons" composed his whole library;
and his memory enabled him nearly to repeat
whatever he had read. His deportment and be-
haviour were generally the reverse of anything
like sauciness ; but, except in ability and acquire-
ments,— which, indeed, commanded his respect, —
he treated all men as equals. When full-dressed,
he wore a rusty black coat. In other respects he
was like no other person. In what king's reign
his hat had been made was only to be guessed at,
but the flipes of it were very large. His wig was
of the large curled kind, such as was worn about
the period of the revolution. His waistcoat, or
doublet, was made of the skin of some animal.
His buckskin breeches were black and glossy with
long wear, and of the same antiquated fashion as

38 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

the rest of his apparel. Thus equipt, and with
his fierce look, he made a curious figure when
taken before the justices of the peace ; and this,
together with his always — when summoned before
them — undauntedly pleading his own cause, often
.afforded them so much amusement that it was
difficult for them to keep their gravity. Others
of them of a more grave deportment made use of
threats to make him behave more respectfully.
These he never failed to show that he despised,
and on one occasion of this kind, he told the
Justice that " he was not a bit flaid of him" — that
there was " nobbit yen place that he was flaid of
and that was Hell, and he could not send him
there." After this quarrel he was ordered out of
court. He waited below in expectation of the
Justice's following him to have the matter settled
by a fight, and desired a gentleman to tell the
Justice that he waited for him for that purpose.
When he was told he had behaved insolently to
him — u Oh sir," said he (spitting into his hands)
"tell him to come here, — he does not know what
a fellow aw is (I am)."

Thomas Forster was a man of a different cha-
racter from the last, but singular enough in his
way. He was distinguished for his frugality and
industry, and always showed a wish to be looked
upon in a respectable light. He used to call at
our house on a Sunday afternoon, for the purpose
of having a bit of chat with my father and mother.
He took a liking to me, and would observe that,
though I was mischievous enough, yet he never
could find that I was " parrentory," — that is, im-
pudent or saucy with any one. Besides this part
of the good opinion he had formed, he must have

MP:MOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 39

had confidence as to my keeping any secrets he
might impart to me. He kept a few sheep on the
fell ; but his secret and main business there was
looking after his bees. He had a great number
of hives placed in very hidden and curious situa-
tions. Some of them were concealed under the
boundary hedge of the common, and were sur-
rounded by a great extent of whin bushes. Other
hives were sheltered under the branches of old
thorns, and almost covered or overhung by
brambles, woodbine, and hip briars, which, when
in blossom, looked beautifully picturesque, while
at the same time they served to keep the eye
from viewing the treasures thus concealed beneath.
Others, again, were placed in the midst of a
"whin rush" — that is, a great extent of old whins,
the stems of which were about the thickness of a
man's arm. The entrance to these last was
always by a " smout hole," or small opening,
through which we crept on hands and knees to
the hives, and which, on leaving, was stopped up
by a bushy-topped whin. By way of taking off
the attention of the " over-inquisitive" as to his
stock of honey, he kept hives in his garden at
home, and sold the produce of these to his neigh-
bours ; but the greater part of his stock was sold
at distant parts of the country. In this way,
and by his industry and good management, he
became what was accounted very rich ; and, as
prosperity excites envy, some people, in a kind
of derision (his mother being a midwife), called
him "Tom Howdy."

I might swell the list of such like characters
(among the unnoticed poor) as those I have de-
scribed, but it would perhaps be tedious, although,

40 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

I think it is to be regretted that they are not
better known to some of the unthinking Great ; as
it might serve to take off the hauteur, which is
too often shown towards them.

Another of these uncultivated, singular charac-
ters, which exhibit human nature left to the
guidance of its uncontrolled will, but which,
sometimes, may be found — from the force of
innate natural pride — to soar above every mean-
ness, was John Chapman. This man, though
clothed in rags, was noticed for his honour and
integrity ; and his word was considered to be as
good as a thousand pounds bond. He was one
of my father's workmen, — either as a pitman, a
labourer, or a sinker, — and was of so strong a
constitution that he thought it no hardship, on
a cold, frosty morning, to be let down to the
bottom of a sinking pit, where he was to be up
to the middle, or perhaps to the breast, in water,
wrhich he was to lave into buckets, to be drawn
up to the top. He endured the labour of every
job he undertook without grumbling or thinking
it hard. His living was of the poorest kind.
Bread, potatoes, and oatmeal, was the only pro-
vender he kept by him ; and with milk or water
he finished his repasts. When, by this mode of
living, he had saved the overplus money of his
wages for a month or six weeks, he then posted
off to Newcastle to spend it in beer ; and this he
called "lowsening his skin." I was at this time
located in Newcastle, and when the misguided
man had spent all his money, he commonly bor-
rowed two shillings of me to set him home again.
In this irrational way of life he continued for
many years. On one occasion, when changing

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 41

his beer house, and taking1 up his quarters in
another, he had made no stipulation with his new
landlord as to the place where he was to sleep
at night ; and, judging from his ragged appear-
ance, he was thought unfit to be trusted as an
inmate without inquiry being made into his cha-
racter. I was, therefore, applied to by the
landlord, whom I satisfied by assuring him that,
notwithstanding the outward appearance of his
singular-looking guest, he might be trusted safely
even with untold gold. I further told him that
the man who could sleep upon the fallen leaves
in a wood wanted no bed in his house better than
a wooden seat, which would be as comfortable a
bed as he would wish for. Matters being now
perfectly settled, he was permitted, during his
rambles, to make this house his home. He had
been but a short time in this asylum until he got
a pretty numerous acquaintance amongst the
tradesmen who frequented the house, to whom
his singularity, his droll and witty stories, and
his songs, afforded great entertainment. Old age,
however, overtook him at last, and he was then
obliged to seek parish relief. On this occasion,
a neighbouring laird persuaded him that his settle-
ment was upon Eltringham, and prevailed on him
to swear to it. When he called upon the farmers
there for his pittance, and they convinced him
that he had sworn to what was false, he was much
shocked, and never called upon them again for
his pay. On being asked why he had not done
so, he said, " I would sooner have my hand cut
..off, or be found dead on the highway through
want, than claim or receive money to which I am
not justly entitled." After this he wandered away

42 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

from Eltringham, and took up his abode in the
glass-house at Bill Quay, where he did any little
jobs in his power, and at the same time made
himself very agreeable and often very entertaining
to the workmen, who long remembered "Johnny
Chapman." From this place he set off on a visit
to a friend, at some distance, when he wras rather
unwell, and not very able to undertake the journey,
and was found dead on the road between Morpeth
and Newcastle.*

Before taking leave of these hardy inhabitants
of the fells and wastes, whose cottages were sur-
rounded with whins and heather, I must observe
that they always appeared to me, notwithstanding
their apparent poverty, to enjoy health and
happiness in a degree surpassing that of most
other men. Their daily fare was coarse bread,
potatoes, oatmeal porridge, and milk, only varied
by their boiling the pot with animal food, cab-
bage, or other succulent vegetables, and broth,
on Sundays. When tired at night with labour,
having few cares to perplex them, they lay down
and slept soundly, and arose refreshed from their
hard beds early in the morning. I have always
felt much pleasure in revisiting them, and, over
a tankard of ale, in listening to their discourse.
It was chiefly upon local biography, in which
they sometimes traced the pedigree of their
neighbours a long way back. When good eating
became the subject of their discourse, in telling
what they liked, one man would declare that
"over all fruit that grew he liked potatoes and

[* " Thus far" — says a note in the original MS — " was written at
Tynemouth, 10 December, 1822."]

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 43

cabbage the best," while another would press upon
the audience the deliciousness of potatoes and
onion sauce, and in the warmth of his loyalty
would wish that the King could but know how
good a dish this was, in which case he would
never want it for his supper. With the aged
men I felt much amused. From the avidity with
which they gathered news, they seemed to live
upon it. Several of them met every day at the
lodge,* or earth-built hovel, close by my father's
pit, for the purpose of being gratified in this
way. The carts and wains came in all direc-
tions, and many of them from a great distance,
for coals, the drivers of which imparted to
them all they knew of what was going on in
their several neighbourhoods. In this kind of
treat I often partook with them when I was gin
driver, by slipping in among them between the
drawing up of each cart of coals to the bank. The
information thus obtained was then speedily given
in detail at the smith's shop at Mickley, whence it
was spread over the neighbouring country. One
of these old men, John Newton (the laird of the
Neuk), almost every morning, while I was young,
met me and my schoolfellows at or near the Haly
Well (Holy Well) as we were going to Mickley
School, and he seldom passed me without clapping
my head, accompanied with some good wishes.
Many years after this, while I lived at the Forth,
Newcastle, I met a little boy, one morning coming
to school there, when I clapped his head, and

* This lodge having always a good fire kept on in it, with a
bed of straw on each side, bounded by the trunks of two old
trees, to answer the double purpose of bed-stocks and seats,
often proved a comfortable asylum to the benighted, weary,
shivering traveller wandering on the road.

44 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

hoped he was a good boy. I had not long passed
him, till I was rather struck with the coincident
recollection of his grandfather's grandfather (above
named) so long before having passed me in the
same way.

To these I must add another description of men
scattered about the neighbourhood, with whose
histories and narratives I at that time felt greatly
interested. Their minute account of the battles
they had been engaged in, with the hardships
they had endured, and their hairbreadth escapes,
told with so much enthusiasm and exultation,
imparted the same kind of feeling to me. This
was long before I had reasoned myself into a
detestation of war, its cruelty, its horrors, and the
superlative wickedness of the authors of it. I had
not pictured to my mind the thousands and tens
of thousands of men in their prime being pitted
against a like number of others towards whom
they could have no enmity — to murder each other! !
— for what ? It is foreign to my purpose to enlarge
upon this subject: I must leave that to others; and
there is an abundant scope to dilate upon, and to
depicture, the horrors of war in their true colours.
The old soldiers, above alluded to, were mostly the
descendants of the Borderers, whose propensity for
war might, perhaps, be innate. I think however
that the breed is thinned, from the numbers that
have been killed off in our wars. One of these — a
near relative — \vould describe how he had had his
knapsack, as well as his coat laps and the cocks
of his hat, shot through and through, and yet
had escaped unhurt. Others of them would give
similar descriptive accounts; and, when a party of
them met over their ale, it is not easy to depicture

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 45

the warmth with which they greeted each other,
and prided themselves on the battles they had
won. One of these, during a walk, in which I fell
in with him, from Newcastle to Ovingham,
described the minute particulars of the battle
of Minden; and how, in the absence of Lord
Sackville, they shook hands the whole length of
the line, vowing to stand by each other without
flinching. This tall, stout man, John Cowie,
though old, appeared to be in all the vigour of
youth. He lived at Ovington. His associate,
Ben Garlick, of Prudhoe, appeared as if his
constitution had been broken down. They had
served in a corps called Napier's Grenadiers.
Cowie appeared occasionally in his old military
coat, &c. After he died, this coat, which had been
shot at at Minden and elsewhere, was at last hung
up on a stake on the corn rigs as a scare-crow.*

The ferocious people from whom, as I have
intimated, the above individuals were probably
descended, bore nearly the same names on both
sides of the Border; their character seemed to
have been distinct from both their English and
Scottish neighbours; and war and rapine had
long been their almost constant employment.
Many of these — the retainers of the chieftains of
old, whose feet were swift to shed blood — were
called by names which were descriptive of their

[* Cowie's old coat figures in vol. i. of the Birds, 1847. (See
vol. i. p. 80, of this edition). A couple of these veterans of
Minden were admirably depicted ad vivum by one of Bewick's
contemporaries, T. S. Good of Berwick, in a picture which at
present belongs to Mr. F. Locker-Lampson. It is understood
that Mr. J. W. Barnes, F.S.A., of Durham, who has a large and
an unique collection of Good's paintings and drawings, is con-
templating a critical memoir of this too-little-known artist.]

46 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

characters and persons, and which were mostly
continued by their offspring. These consisted of
a great variety of names of cunning or ferocious
birds and beasts, as well as some others, the
meaning of which is now unknown. There were
among them the Hawk, Glead, Falcon, Fox, Wolf,
Bloodhound, Greyhound, Raven, Crow, Gorfoot,
Crowfoot, &c., &c.

The farmers of the neighbourhood, at the early
period which I have been describing, always
appeared to me to be not of so intelligent a cast
as the poor labouring men. Their minds being
more exclusively occupied with the management
of their farms, they read but little. They were
mostly of a kind and hospitable disposition, and
well-intentioned, plain, plodding men, who went
jogging on in their several occupations as their
fathers had done before them.

The next advance in society were the Lairds,
who lived upon their own lands. I have always,
through life, been of opinion that there is no
business of any kind that can be compared to
that of a man who farms his own land. It
appears to me that every earthly pleasure, with
health, is within his reach. But numbers of
these men were grossly ignorant, and in exact
proportion to that ignorance they were sure
to be offensively proud. This led them to
attempt appearing above their station, which
hastened them on to their ruin; but, indeed, this
disposition and this kind of conduct invariably
leads to such results. There were many of these
lairds on Tyneside ; as well as many who held
their lands on the tenure of "suit and service,"
and were nearly on the same level as the lairds.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 47

Some of the latter lost their lands (not fairly I
think) in a way they could not help ; many of the
former, by their misdirected pride and folly, were
driven into towns, to slide away into nothingness,
and to sink into oblivion, while their "ha' houses"
(halls), that ought to have remained in their
families from generation to generation, have
mouldered away. I have always felt extremely
grieved to see the ancient mansions of many of
the country gentlemen, from somewhat similar
causes, meet with a similar fate. The gentry
should, in an especial manner, prove by their
conduct that they are guarded against showing
any symptom of foolish pride, at the same time
that they soar above every meanness, and that
their conduct is guided by truth, integrity, and
patriotism. If they wish the people to partake
with them in these good qualities, they must set
them the example, without which no real respect
can ever be paid to them. Gentlemen ought
never to forget the respectable station they hold
in society, and that they are the natural guardians
of public morals, and may with propriety be
considered as the head and the heart of the
country, while "a bold peasantry" are, in truth,
the arms, the sinews, and the strength of the
same; but when these last are degraded, they
soon become dispirited and mean, and often
dishonest and useless.

I think the late Duke of Northumberland must
have had an eye to raising the character of the
peasantry when he granted them small portions
of land at a reasonable rate. If so, in my way of
judging, he was an honour to the peerage, and
set an example worthy of himself and worthy of

48 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

imitation. By going a step further, and planting
healthy, strong, men and women on these spots,
his patriotism would have been crowned with im-
mortality; for I cannot help thinking that, if the
same pains were taken in breeding mankind that
gentlemen have bestowed upon the breeding of
horses and dogs, human nature might, as it were,
be new modelled, hereditary diseases banished,
and such a race might people the country as we
can form no conception of. Instead of a nation
of mongrels, there would in time appear a nation
of " Admirable Crichtons." If the lands com-
monly attached to townships had been continued
as such, and let in small portions to mechanics
and labourers (as the late Duke let them), instead
of dividing them by act of Parliament among
those who already had too much, the good effects
to the community at large would have been soon
felt ; and, in addition to this, if savings banks -
and benefit societies were encouraged by every
possible means, there would be little occasion
for poor laws except as a provision for helpless
children, and the lame and the blind. By such
means as these, perhaps, this national evil might
be done away. All men ought to provide for the
necessities of .old age, and be made sensible of
the manly pleasure of being independent. It is
degrading, and in most cases disgraceful, to those
who look to parish assistance after a life spent in
laziness and mismanagement.

I must not omit mentioning a circumstance
that happened to Eltringham while I was a boy.
It was to have been called "Little Birmingham,"
but this was not accomplished. In 17 — , a person
of the name of Laidler, who was said to have

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 49

amassed a large fortune in London, came to the
North, and established the Iron Works at Busy
Cottage, near Newcastle ; and, on his taking a
view of Tyneside, he fixed upon Eltringham as a
place at which he could carry on works to a much
greater extent. He set about this business in
great haste. All kinds of workmen were gathered
together for the purpose of speedily accomplishing
what he had in view ; and, while some of them
were busy in making the mills and machinery,
others were digging a mill-race of about a quarter
of a mile in length. But lo ! when this was done,
—not being permitted to encroach on the bed of
the river, — it was found they had not much more
than a foot of waterfall ; and, as the sides of the
mill-race were cut perpendicularly, about two
yards deep, through the dark fine soil, the first
great flood of the Tyne nearly levelled and filled it
up. The people in and about the place, including
my father, who had got licenses to sell ale, &c.,
were obliged to decline, and the sign of my father's
house, — the Seven Stars, — which hung up between
the two ash trees, was taken down. The projector
made our house his home while the works were
going on, and the men were paid their wrages
there. All was as suddenly sold off as it was
begun, and my father came to some loss after all
the trouble and turmoil he had been put to.

CHAPTER IV.

BEING now nearly fourteen years of age, and a
stout boy, it was thought time to set me off to
business; and my father and mother had long
been planning and consulting, and were greatly
at a loss what it would be best to fix upon. Any
place where I could see pictures, or where I
thought I could have an opportunity of drawing
them, was such only as I could think of. A New-
castle bookseller, whose windows were filled with
prints, had applied to Mr. Gregson for a boy ; and,
when I was asked if I would like to go to him, I
readily expressed my hearty consent ; but, upon
my father making enquiry respecting him, he was
given to understand that he bore a very bad
character : so that business was at an end. The
same year — 1767 — during the summer, William
Beilby and his brother Ralph took a ride to
By well, to see their intimate acquaintance, Mrs.
Simons, who was my godmother, and the widow
of the late vicar there.* She gave them a most
flattering account of me ; so much so, that they,
along with her and her daughter (afterwards Mrs.
Hymers), set off that same afternoon to Cherry-
burn to visit us, and to drink tea. When the
Newcastle visitors had given an account of their
paintings, enamellings, drawings, and engravings,
with which I felt much pleased, I was asked which
of them I should like to be bound to ; and, liking

* Robert Simons.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 51

the look and deportment of Ralph the best, I gave
the preference to him. Matters bearing upon this
business were slightly talked over, and my grand-
mother having left me twenty pounds for an
apprentice fee, it was not long till a good under-
standing between parties took place, and I soon
afterwards went to R. Beilby upon trial.

The first of October was the day fixed upon for
the binding. The eventful day arrived at last,
and a most grievous one it was to me. I liked my
master ; I liked the business ; but to part from the
country, and to leave all its beauties behind me,
with which I had been all my life charmed in an
extreme degree, — and in a way I cannot de-
scribe,— I can only say my heart was "dike to
break; and, as we passed away, I inwardly bade
farewell to the whinny wilds, to Mickley bank, to
the Stob-cross hill, to the water-banks, the woods,
and to particular trees, and even to the large
hollow old elm,* which had lain perhaps for cen-
turies past, on the haugh near the ford we were
about to pass, and which had sheltered the salmon
fishers, while at work there, from many a bitter
blast. We called upon my much esteemed school-
fellow, Kit Gregson, at Ovingham, where he and
his father were waiting to accompany us to New-
castle— all on the same errand — (we were both
bound on that day). While wre were condoling —
comforting each other — I know not what to call

* This old tree was swept away by the great flood of the ijth
November, 1771. [See Sykes's " Local Records," 1833, i., 283-9, f°r a
full account of this catastrophe. Ovingham boat-house was entirely
destroyed, and two only of the ten people it contained survived.
At Byvvell, the horse of Mr. Elliot, Bewick's father-in-law, was saved
by getting on the altar table in the Black church, where, with other
horses, it had been placed for safety.]

52 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

it — at the parsonage gates, many of the old neigh-
bours assembled at the churchyard wall, to see us
set off, and to express their good wishes; and,
amongst the rest, was a good sensible old woman
of the village, named Betty Kell, who gave us her
blessing, and each a penny for good luck. This
being done, our horses were mounted, and we
commenced our journey. The parties kept at a
little distance from each other. I suppose our late
preceptor was lecturing his son, and my father
was equally busied in the same way with me. He
had always set me the example and taken every
opportunity of showing how much he detested
meanness, and of drawing forth every particle of
pride wfthin me, for the purpose of directing it in
the right way. He continued a long while on
subjects of this kind, and on the importance and
inestimable value of honour and honesty ; and he
urgently pressed upon me to do my duty to my
master, in faithfully and obediently fulfilling all
his commands, to be beforehand in meeting his
wishes, and, in particular, to be always upon my
guard against listening to the insinuations and
the wicked advice of worthless persons, who I
would find ever ready to poison my ear against
him. He next turned his discourse on another
topic — new to me from him — of great importance —
religion — and pressed this also upon me in a way
I did not forget. He begged I would never omit,
morning and evening, addressing myself to my
Maker, and said that if I ceased to do so, then
he believed and feared every evil would follow.
I was greatly surprised to hear him dwell on this
subject; for I think it was the first time. He
used, indeed, to go to church ; but I do not recol-

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 53

lect his ever commenting" upon the sermons he
heard there, further than that, the good man's
discourse from the pulpit seemed to him to be
wasted upon the majority of his congregation, and
of his calling some of them " holy professors."
My mother, who was of a religious turn, had,
indeed, all her life endeavoured to make me so
too ; but, as I did not clearly understand her well-
intended lectures, they made little impression.
My father's pithy illustrations, as before hinted at,
were much more forcibly and clearly made out : I
understood them well, and they operated power-
fully upon me.* I have often reflected since upon
the very high importance, and the necessity, of
instilling this species of education into the minds
of youth ; for, were pains taken to draw forth the
pride naturally implanted in their minds for the
wisest and best purposes, if properly directed, it
would exalt human nature, and be of the utmost
importance to individuals and to society. It is
the want of this education, and the want of in-
dustry, that occasions and spreads misery over
the land. How can I doubt that, if my father
had been a thief, I would have been one also, or,
if a highwayman or robber, as expert as himself.
In my opinion, there are two descriptions of per-

* I recollect one instance where I felt the force of this species of
education, I might enumerate some others, but this left its mark
upon me. Having fallen in with, and joined, two untutored lads, in
Prudhoe " lonning," they jumped over the hedge and filled their
pockets with potatoes. The farmer was watching, but they escaped.
Not having followed their example, I did not offer to fly, but he
seized me, and threatened what he would do. At this I was ex-
tremely distressed, and had it not been that I consoled myself with
the certainty that my father and mother would believe me, on my
asserting that I had not stolen any of his potatoes, I believe I would
have drowned myself.

54 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

sons who ought to forbear, or be prevented, from
marrying* — viz., those of a base, wicked, and dis-
honest character, and those who have broken down
their constitutions and debased both mind and
body by dissipation. The latter entail misery
upon their innocent offspring : the children of the
former, by the bad example shown to them,
become a curse to the community in which they
live.

When we arrived at the Cock Inn, Newcastle,
the documents were soon made ready to bind my
companion and myself. He was bound to Messrs.
Doughty and Wiggins, chemists and druggists ;
but Mr. Beilby (perhaps from his having heard
some unfavourable account of me] and my father
not readily agreeing upon the exact terms of my
servitude, some fears were entertained that the
business between us might be broken off. On this
occasion my preceptor interfered very ardently,
spoke warmly in my praise, and dwelt forcibly, in
particular (notwithstanding my wild, boyish beha-
viour at school), upon my never being saucy or
sulky, nor in the least indulging in anything like
revenge. In this business, Mr. Gregson was ably
seconded by his relation and my kind friend, Mr.
Joseph Langstaff, of Newcastle, who was also ac-
quainted with my new master ; and so the business
of binding was settled at last.

My new master, who, I believe, had laid down
plans for the regulation of his own conduct, began
with me upon a system of rigid discipline, from
which he never varied or relaxed, and it was not
long before I gave occasion to his putting it in
force. Having walked out on a Sunday afternoon
to see the environs of the town, the first place that

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 55

attracted my attention was " King Jamie's Well."
There I fell in with bad company, consisting of
three low blackguard 'prentice lads, from the Close.
Having no wish to have anything to say to them,
I endeavoured to shun their company ; but they,
seeing me in a strange and perhaps somewhat
clownish dress, followed and insulted me ; and this
they persisted in till I could bear it no longer,
when, turning upon one of the sauciest of them,
I presently levelled him, and was about serving
the second in the same way, when they all three
fell upon me and showed no mercy, so that, in the
end, I went home to my master's house with a
scratched face and black eyes. This was an
abominable sight to the family, which no excuse
could palliate. After this, I was obliged to attend
my master to church twice a day, every Sunday,
and, at night, to read the Bible, or some other
good book, to old Mrs. Beilby and her daughter,
or others of the family ; and this continued during
the time of the term I boarded in the house with
them.

The father of Mr. Beilby followed the business
of a goldsmith and jeweller in Durham, where he
was greatly respected. He had taken care to give
all his family a good education. His eldest son,
Richard, had served his apprenticeship to a die-
sinker, or seal engraver, in Birmingham. His
second son, William, had learned enamelling and
painting in the same place. The former of these
had taught my master seal-cutting, and the latter
taught his brother Thomas and sister Mary enam-
elling and painting; and, in this way, this most
industrious and respectable family lived together
and maintained themselves. But, prior to this

56 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

state of things, while the family were more de-
pendant upon the industry of their father, he had
failed in business, left Durham, and begun busi-
ness in Gateshead, where he and his eldest son
Richard died.

I have been informed that the family had to
struggle with great difficulties about this period,
and that, by way of helping to get through them,
their mother taught a school in Gateshead. But
this state of things could not have lasted long;
for the industry, ingenuity, and united energies of
the family must soon have enabled them to soar
above every obstacle. My master had wrought
as a jeweller with his father before he went to his
broth r Richard to learn seal-cutting, which was
only for a very short time before his death. He
had also assisted his brother and sister in their
constant employment of enamel painting upon
glass. At this time a circumstance happened
which made an opening for my future master to
get forward in business unopposed by any one.
An engraver of the name of Jameson, who had
the whole stroke of the business in Newcastle,
having been detected in committing a forgery
upon the old bank, he was tried for the crime.
His life was saved by the perjury of a Mrs. Grey;
but Jameson left the town.

For some time after I entered the business, I was
employed in copying " Copeland's Ornaments ;"*
and this was the only kind of drawing upon which
I ever had a lesson given to me from any one. I
was never a pupil to any drawing master, and

[* Either Copeland's "New Book of Ornaments," 1746, or Lock
and Copeland's Do., 1752. Both were in the possession of the
family, and were sold at the Bewick sale of February, 1884.]

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 57

had not even a lesson from William Beilby, or
his brother Thomas, who, along with their other
profession, were also drawing" masters. In the
later years of my apprenticeship, my master kept
me so fully employed that I never had any oppor-
tunity for such a purpose, at which I felt much
grieved and disappointed. The first jobs I was
put to do was blocking-out the wood about the
lines on the diagrams (which my master finished)
for the " Ladies Diary," on which he was em-
ployed by Charles Hutton,* and etching sword
blades for William and Nicholas Oley, sword

* Afterwards the great Dr. Hutton. He died 2yth January, 1823,
in the 86th year of his age. [The " Ladies' Diary" dated as far back
as 1704. It was long edited by Hutton. Another book upon the
diagrams of which Bewick was employed was Huttori's " Treatise on
Mensuration," which first appeared in sixpenny parts, and was pub-
lished in 1770 as a quarto volume. One of the cuts, often referred
to with exaggerated interest, contains a rude representation of the
tower of St. Nicholas's church, later a frequent feature in Bewick's
designs. In that haven of treasure-trove, the "four-penny box,"
the writer of 'his note recently came upon a curious relic of the
Hutton-Bewick connection. It is a copy of the once-famous
" Pursuits of Literature," Seventh Edition, 1798. "To the lines in
Dialogue II : —

" From Bewick's magick wood throw borrow'd rays

O'er many a page in gorgeous Bulmer's blaze,"

the following note, mercifully spared by the binder's plough, is
appended in a contemporary hand: — " I was chiefly instrumental to
this ingenious artist's excellence in this art. I first initiated his
master, Mr. Ra. Beilby (of Newcastle) into the ait, and his first
essay was the execution of the cuts in my Treatise on Mensuration,
printed in 4to, 1770. Soon after I recommended the same artist to
execute the cuts to Dr Horsley's edition of the works of Newton.
Accordingly Mr. B. had the job, who put them into the hands of his
assistant, Mr. Bewick, who executed them as his first work in wood,
and that in a most elegant manner, tho' spoiled in the printing by
John Nichols, the Black-letter printer. C.H. 1798." C.H. is
Charles Hutton. He evidently, in 1798, did not know, or did not
recollect, that Bewick had worked on the " Ladies' Diary" and the
" Mensuration." In 1822 he printed another and slightly different
account of the circumstances, but in both cases he exaggerated his
influence.]

H

58 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

manufacturers, &c., at Shotley Bridge. It was
not long till the diagrams were wholly put into
my hands to finish. After these, I was kept
closely employed upon a variety of other jobs ;
for such was the industry of my master that he
refused nothing, coarse or fine. He undertook
everything, which he did in the best way he could.
He fitted-up and tempered his own tools, and
adapted them to every purpose, and taught me
to do the same. This readiness brought him in
an overflow of work, and the work-place was filled
with the coarsest kind of steel stamps, pipe
moulds, bottle moulds, brass clock faces, door
plates, coffin plates, bookbinders' letters and
stamps, steel, silver, and gold seals, mourning
rings, &c. He also undertook the engraving of
arms, crests, and cyphers, on silver, and every
kind of job from the silversmiths ; also engraving
bills of exchange, bank notes, invoices, account
heads, and cards. These last he executed as well
as did most of the engravers of the time ; but
what he excelled in was ornamental silver en-
graving. In this, as far as I am able to judge,
he was one of the best in the kingdom ; and, I
think, upon the whole, he might be called an
ingenious, self-taught artist. The higher depart-
ment of engraving, such as landscape or historical
plates, I dare say, was hardly ever thought of by
my master; at least not till I was nearly out of
my apprenticeship, when he took it into his head
to leave me in charge of the business at home,
and to go to London for the purpose of taking
lessons in etching and engraving large copper
plates. There was, however, little or no employ-
ment in this way in Newcastle, and he had no

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 59

opportunity of becoming" clever at it ; so he kept
labouring on with such work as before named, in
which I aided him with all my might. I think
he was the best master in the world for teaching
boys, for he obliged them to put their hands to
every variety of work. Every job, coarse or fine,
either in cutting or engraving, I did as well as I
could, cheerfully; but the business of polishing
copper plates, and hardening and polishing steel
seals, was always irksome to me. I had wrought
at such as this a long time, and at the coarser
kind of engraving (such as I have noticed before),
till my hands had become as hard and enlarged
as those of a blacksmith. I, however, in due time,
had a greater share of better and nicer work given
me to execute ; such as the outside and inside
mottoes on rings, and sometimes arms and crests
on silver, and seals of various kinds, for which I
made all the new steel punches and letters. We
had a great deal of seal-cutting, in which my
master was accounted clever, and in this I did
my utmost to surpass him.

While we were going on in this way, we were
occasionally applied to by printers to execute
wrood cuts for them. In this branch my master
was very defective. What he did was wretched.
He did not like such jobs; on which account
they were given to me ; and the opportunity this
afforded of drawing the designs on the wrood was
highly gratifying to me. It happened that one
of these,— a cut of the " George and Dragon" for
a bar bill,* — attracted so much notice, and had

[* Another billhead of this kind was for the Cock Inn, a famous
old hostelry at the Head of the Side, and probably the one referred
to on page 54.]

60 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

so many praises bestowed upon it, that this kind
of work greatly increased, and orders were received
for cuts for children's books; chiefly for Thomas
Saint, printer, Newcastle, and successor of John
White, who had rendered himself famous for his
numerous publications of histories and old ballads.
With the singing of the latter, the streets of
Newcastle were long greatly enlivened ; and, on
market days, visitors, as well as the town's people,
were often highly gratified with it. What a
cheerful, lively time this appeared to me and
many others ! This state of things, however,
changed when public matters cast a surly gloom

over the character of the whole country ; and

*

these singing days, instead of being regulated
by the magistrates, were, in their wisdom, totally
put an end to.

My time now became greatly taken up with
designing and cutting a set of wood blocks for
the "Story-teller," "Gay's Fables," and "Select
Fables," together with cuts of a similar kind,
for printers.* Some of the Fable cuts were
thought so well of by my master that he, in
my name, sent impressions of a few of them to
be laid before the Society for the Encourage-
ment of Arts, &c., and I obtained a premium.!

[* The "Story-Teller" was the "Youth's Instructive and Enter-
taining Story-Teller," published by Saint in 1774. " Fables by the
late Mr. Gay" appeared in 1779. The first instalment of " Select
Fables" was issued by Saint in 1772 at the end of the book called
" Moral Instructions of a Father to his Son," etc. In 1776 he brought
out a volume of "Select Fables" only; and this, in 1784, was
elaborated into the well-known " Select Fables" of that date. It is
probable that Bewick here refers to the earlier forms of the book.]

[f This was in 1775. The Society offered twenty guineas for
the best engraving in wood or type metal, and this sum was dis-
tributed as follows : — " Engraving on wood, — Mr. William Coleman,

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

6l

This I received shortly after I was out of my
apprenticeship, and it was left to my choice
whether I would have it in a gold medal, or
money, (seven guineas). I preferred the latter;
and I never in my life felt greater pleasure
than in presenting it to my mother. On this
occasion, amongst the several congratulations
of kind neighbours, those of Mr. Gregson, my
old master stood pre-eminent. He flew from
Ovingham, where the news first arrived, over to
Eltringham, to congratulate my father and mother;
and the feelings and overflowings of his heart can
be better imagined than described.

£j 75. ; Mr. Thomas Bewick, £j js. ; Mr. Thomas Hodgson,
£6 6s." The cut to "The Hound and the Huntsman" is the only
one of Bewick's contributions which has been identified.]

CHAPTER V.

DURING the time I was an inmate in my mas-
ter's house, along with his mother, brothers, and
sister, I attended his brother's horse, and made
myself as useful to the family as I could. At
that time I had no acquaintances, — at least none
to be very intimate with. I needed none. I
wandered in the fields, and on the Town Moor,
alone, and amused myself with my own thoughts.
When the time arrived that I was to cater for
myself upon four shillings and sixpence per week,
and afterwards upon five shillings a week, I went
to lodge with my aunt Blackett, in the Pudding
Chare, who, being the widow of a freeman,* kept
cows upon the Moor, and I was abundantly sup-
plied with milk, which was the chief thing I
lived upon.

At Mrs. Blackett' s I became acquainted with
Gilbert Gray, bookbinder; and this singular and
worthy man was perhaps the most invaluable ac-
quaintance and friend I ever met with. His
moral lectures and advice to me formed a most
important succedaneum to those imparted by my
parents. His wise remarks, his detestation of
vice, his industry, and his temperance, crowned
with a most lively and cheerful disposition,
altogether made him appear to me as one of the

* Thomas Blackett, silversmith. He was one of my godfathers,
and had been foreman to the late John Lainglands, by whom he was
much noticed as a man of a most intrepid spirit. He was remark-
able for his honour, honesty, and punctuality.

.UKMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 63

best of characters. In his workshop I often spent
my winter evenings. This was also the case with
a number of young men, who might be considered
as his pupils ; many of whom, I have no doubt,
he directed into the paths of truth and integrity,
and who revered his memory through life. He
rose early to work, lay down when he felt weary,
and rose again when refreshed. His diet was of
the simplest kind ; and he eat when hungry, and
drank when dry, without paying regard to meal
times. By steadily pursuing this mode of life, he
was enabled to accumulate sums of money from
ten to thirty pounds. This enabled him to get
books, of an entertaining and moral tendency,
printed and circulated at a cheap rate.* His
great object was, by every possible means, to
promote honourable feelings in the minds of
youth, and to prepare them for becoming good
members of society. I have often discovered that
he did not overlook ingenious mechanics, whose
misfortunes — perhaps mismanagement — had led
them to a lodging in Newgate. To these he
directed his compassionate eye, and for the de-
serving (in his estimation), he paid their debt,
and set them at liberty. He felt hurt at seeing
the hands of an ingenious man tied up in prison,
where they were of no use either to himself or to
the community. This worthy man had been
educated for a priest ; but he would say to me,
" of a ' trouth/ Thomas, I did not like their ways."
So he gave up the thoughts of being a priest, and
bent his way from Aberdeen to Edinburgh, where

[* I.e. "The Countryman's Treasure," " Multum in Parvo," "The
Complete Fabulist," and so forth. These he used to sell to the
people who attended the market on Saturdays.]

64 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

he engaged himself to Allan Ramsay, the poet,
then a bookseller at the latter place, in whose
service he was both shopman and bookbinder.
From Edinburgh he came to Newcastle, and en-
gaged himself, I believe, to Mr. Slack as a
bookbinder, and as a faithful and careful inspector
of the books printed in that office. Mrs. Slack,
who was a woman of uncommon abilities and
great goodness of heart, did not overlook Gilbert,
and he was her right hand man as long as she
lived. He was afterwards employed in the same
way to the end of his life under Solomon Hodgson,
the successor to Thomas Slack. Gilbert had had
a liberal education bestowed upon him. He had
read a great deal, and had reflected upon what he
had read. This, with his retentive memory,
enabled him to be a pleasant and communicative
companion, but something of a prejudice against
priests stuck by him as long as he lived. I lived
in habits of intimacy with him to the end of his
life ; and, when he died, I, with others of his
friends, attended his remains to the grave at the
Ballast Hills.*

In my attendance at the workshop of Gilbert,
I got acquainted with several young men who like
myself admired him, but one of the most singular
of these was Anthony Taylor, a glass maker. He
was a keen admirer of drawings and paintings,
but had no opportunity of showing his talents in
the »arts otherwise than in his paintings and
enamellings upon glass, in which way, considering

* He died on the I2th February, 1794, in the 86th year of his age.
[There is a little oval portrait of " Gilbert Gray, Mi 85," which was
done for private distribution. A copy of it is pasted in the MS. of
the "Memoir" at this place.]

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 65

his situation, he was a proficient, and in other
respects he was a man of genius and observation.
The first interview I had with him was singular
enough, and was owing to his having been told
that I was the best whistler in England, he him-
self being remarkable in this way. We soon tried
our respective powers and had many a meeting
afterwards for that purpose. He expressed himself
highly pleased with the loud and powerful way
in which I performed my double whistle, and I
was equally so at hearing his inimitable shakes
and quavers with which his small shrill pipe was
graced. I came nearly up to the loud shrill tones
of the fife and the deeper ones of the flute, and
improved greatly in imitating him, but he could
make no alteration or amendment in his manner
of performing, and with all his attempts could
never whistle louder or deeper than before. We
sometimes amused ourselves, turn and turn about,
in this way, and both agreed that it was a pitys
whistling was not more countenanced and en-
couraged than it was. We kept up an agreeable
acquaintance for some years, until he went to the
glass works at Leith where he ended his days.
While I remained at my aunt Blackett's she would
never allow me to whistle in her house, or perform
on any instrument; and I could not afterwards
find either time or opportunity to gratify my pro-
pensity in this way, so I was obliged to make
whistling serve for all. I often think that it was
scarcely possible for any one to have a better ear
for music than I had, for whatever tunes I heard
at Fairs or Hoppings, etc., I could next morning
whistle correctly, and not only the tune but the
manner of the various performers.

66 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

How long I remained with my aunt, I have now
forgotten. After I left her house, I went to lodge
with Ned Hatfield, whose wife was an excellent
cook and market woman, and had long lived
in the family of " Willy Scott," the father of the
present Lord Chancellor of England. She was
now chiefly employed in keeping the dancing
school of Neil Stewart clean and in good order,
and sold oranges and fruit to his pupils. Above
the school she had the rooms taken to live in, and
to let out to lodgers, and it happened that the
young man, John McDonald, Mr. Stewart's fiddler,
was lodged with her along \vith me. He was
accounted an excellent performer on the violin,*
and to his performances (the Scottish tunes par-
ticularly) I listened with great delight. When
Neil Stewart declined, or perhaps died, he was
succeeded in this school by Ivey Gregg, and his
fiddler, John Frazier, lodged in the same house
with me, and with his music I was also pleased
as I had been before. After this my landlord
got into a very unfortunate way of doing business.
Being a heckler (flax dresser), his brethren pre-
vailed upon him and 'his wife to permit the tramps
— or scamps — in that line to take up their lodgings
with them. Here I was introduced, or at least had
an opportunity of becoming acquainted with them,
and a pretty set they were. Their conduct was
wicked in the extreme. The proper effect, how-
ever, was produced upon me ; for I looked upon
their behaviour with the utmost disgust. After
poor Ned had for some time been cheated and
defrauded by this set, he at length got done with

* He afterwards was a dancing master of eminence at Perth in
Scotland.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 67

them, and boarded and lodged others of a better
cast of character.

Long before the death of my friend Gilbert, I
had ceased to have the privilege of reading his
books, and what I could save out of my wages
only afforded me a scanty supply. I had, how-
ever, an opportunity, per favour of my master's
servant girl (who admitted me early in the morning
into his parlour), of reading through, with great
attention, the then new publication of " Smollett's
History of England ;" and, for a long time after-
wards, I clearly remembered everything of note
which it contained. With some of the characters
therein depicted, I was greatly pleased, but with
others I was shocked and disgusted. They
appeared to me like fiends obtruded upon the
community, as a curse and a scourge ; and yet
how surprising it is that some of these can be
spoken of, by authors, with complacency. Another
source from whence to obtain a supply of books
presently fell in my way, through the kindness
of William Gray, the son of Gilbert, whose work-
shop became a place of resort to me and others.
He was a bookbinder of some repute, and this
led him into employment of a superior cast to
that of his father, and his workshop was often
filled with works of the best authors. To these,
while binding, I had ready access ; for which
purpose I rose early in the morning; and to him
my well-known whistle in the street was the signal
for his quickly preparing to get to his work, and
I remained with him till my work hour came.*

* William Gray was a most active and industrious man, of an
ardent but changeable temper. He began business in Newcastle
and prospered ; he went to London and did the same. He returned

68 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

I feel it as a misfortune, that a bias, somehow
or other, took place in my mind at this time,
which led me deeply into the chaos of what is
called religious works ; and, for the purpose of
getting into a thorough knowledge of all matters
of this important kind, I spent much time, and took
great pains, to obtain information ; but, instead of
this, I got myself into a labyrinth — bewildered
with dogmas, creeds, and opinions, mostly the
fanatical reveries, or the bigoted inventions, of
interested or designing men, that seemed to me
to be without end ; and, after all my pains, I left
off in a more unsettled state of mind than when
I began. I may be mistaken ; but I think, many
a well-meaning man has spun out his life, and
spent his time, on subjects of this kind in vain.
Waggon loads of sermons have been published —
some of them, perhaps, good — in order to prove
matters (in my opinion) of no importance either
to religion or morality. If it be true that every

to Newcastle, and to the binding business he added that of book-
seller. On this occasion Jonathan Kidd and myself became bound
for him for £60 for the payment of which his goods and books were
left to us to sell. In this freak, for he had no occasion to fail, he
wrote to me begging I would send him the books and goods, and
knowing his integrity I got my fellow bondman (with a good deal of
trouble) to assent to this proposal, and the books were sent off to
him. He commenced auctioneer, and soon paid us every penny of
the money. He afterwards began business in Nottingham, as book-
seller, printer, and stationer, and there he failed. He continued
his auctioneer's [business?] from place to place, and at length
became a soldier. In this his energy and activity became so con-
spicuous that he was employed as an inspector (I believe) of some of
the military hospitals in Ireland, and had a pension settled upon
him. He afterwards commenced the business of bookseller, book-
binder, etc., at Stonehouse, Plymouth, and at the same time followed
that of auctioneering. At length, however, he took entirely to
auctioneering, and that of the shop was turned over to his son, who
knew better than his father had done to conduct himself steadily.
[Several letters from William Gray are included in the Bewick MSS.]

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 69

thing in perfection is simple, so it must be with
religion. There may be many moral and religious
duties for man to fulfil in his passage through
life ; but the rules for doing so are so plain and
easily understood that common sense only is
necessary for all that is required of us in the
performance of them. The beauty and simplicity
of the doctrines laid down by the inspired and
benevolent Author of the Christian Religion,
however they may have been distorted and dis-
figured, are yet in themselves perfect. They may,
indeed, be compared to a mathematical point — a
point of perfection — for all men to aim at, but to
which none can fully attain. The inspired writings
of the prophets of old are also full of simplicity, as
well as of indescribable beauty, and may be read
and considered with ever-increasing delight. The
inspired writers, poets, and moralists, of more
modern times, have also laboured most clearly
to point out the paths which lead to religion, to
virtue, and to happiness. As far as I am able
to judge, all we can do is to commune with and
reverence and adore the Creator, and to yield
with humility and resignation to His will. With
the most serious intention of forming a right-
judgment, all the conclusion I can come to is,
that there is only one God and one religion ;
and I know of no better way of what is called
serving God than that of being good to his
creatures, and of fulfilling the moral duties, as that
of being good sons, brothers, husbands, fathers,
neighbours, and members of society.

At this time, I had few that I could call
intimate acquaintances. My almost only ones
were books, over which I spent my time,

yo MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

mornings and evenings, late and early. This
too intense application to books, together with
my sedentary employment, and being placed at
a very low work bench, took away my healthy
appearance, and I put on a more delicate look,
and became poorly in health. When my master
saw this, he sent for medical aid, and Nathaniel
Bailes,* surgeon, was consulted. But, before he
uttered a word as to my ailment, he took me
to his own house, and there he stripped and
examined me, and, looking me in the face, told
me " I was as strong as a horse/5 He then
made up some medicine to cause expectoration.
This was all soon done, but not so the lecture
he gave my master, whom he addressed in terms
which I thought both long and rude. "What!"
said he, "have you no more sense than to set
a growing, country lad to work, doubled up at a
low bench, which will inevitably destroy him?"

* He was commonly called Dr. Bailes. He was a Newcastle
worthy, and was accounted a man of great skill in his profession, as
well as eminent for his learning and other attainments. He was
called the "Eloquent Sword-bearer." He headed the committee
of the Burgesses, in I7[73], who tried and beat the magistrates of
'Newcastle respecting their exclusive claim to the Town Moor; and
he was active in everything relative to the good of the town. He
was ingenious and enterprising, a tolerably good engraver, and a
good mechanic. He invented a harpoon for killing whales, for which
he got a patent. It was of a triangular shape, or like three razors,
back to back, and brought to a sharp point, and it was strongly
barbed at its termination, towards the socket. By its use, lines and
cords were saved. The price was three guineas, which, being
deemed too high, was probably the cause of a confederacy of harpoon
makers, sea-captains, and others (who knew not how to appreciate
its value) to set their faces against using it. The Doctor, who did
not like to be kept debating with ignorance and prejudice, and was
not actuated by pecuniary motives, suffered the business to go to
neglect. He died i6th July, 1791, aged 74, and was buried in St.
Nicholas's Church, Newcastle.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 71

and, in his passion, he cursed poor Beilby for
his ignorance or for something worse. From this
time the Doctor took a liking to me, and often
criticised my work. He also took great pains to
direct me how to live and manage myself, under
so sedentary an employment ; and an intimacy
commenced between us which lasted as long as
he lived. He urged upon me the necessity of
temperance and exercise. I then began to act
upon his advice, and to live as he directed, both
as to diet and exercise. I had read Lewis
Cornaro, and other books, which treated of
temperance ; and I greatly valued the advice
given in the " Spectator," which strongly
recommended all people to have their days of
abstinence.* Through life I have experienced
the uncommon benefit derived from occasionally
pursuing this plan, which always keeps the
stomach in proper tone. I regularly pursued my
walks, and, whilst thus exercising, my mind was
commonly engaged in devising plans for my
conduct in life.f

For a long time, both in summer and winter,
I went to Elswick three times a day, at the
expense of a penny each time for bread and

[ * A little copy of the fourth edition of Cornaro's "Sure and
Certain Methods of attaining a Long and Healthful Life," etc.,
dated 1727, and roughly rebound in sheep, is in the possession of the
editor, by whom it was purchased at the Bewick sale of February,
1884. It once belonged to Robert Elliot Bewick ; and is possibly
the identical copy which was his father's companion when wander-
ing on the Town Moor, or in the Elswick fields.]

[ f In the centre of this paragraph in the original MS., Bewick
has inserted the tail piece — "Temperance is the grand business of
life" — which appears at p. 198 of the " Fables of >Esop."]

72 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

milk.* I had an hour allowed me for dinner;
and, as to my mornings and evenings, I could
take a much longer time. A very small matter
of animal food, when I missed going to Elswick,
was amply sufficient for me; for I think my
constitution did not require to be stimulated. By
persevering in this system of temperance and
exercise, I was astonished to find how much
I improved in health, strength, and agility. I
thought nothing of leaving Newcastle after I
had done work — 7 o'clock — on a winter's night,
and of setting off to walk to Cherryburn. In
this I was stimulated by an ardent desire to visit
my parents as often as possible ; and the desire
continued to act upon me as long as they lived.

In my solitary walks (as before noticed), the
first resolution made was that of living within my
income ; and another of similar import, was that
of never getting anything upon trust ; but, indeed,
my limited income, at this time, led me carefully
to observe these rules, and I have never since
forgotten them. The train of reflections they
brought along with them has also dwelt upon my
mind. I could not help observing the inevitable
ill consequences which a contrary course (at
first entered upon, perhaps, unthinkingly) led
thousands into, and the misery it entailed. The
more I have thought upon this subject, the more
clearly I have seen its importance. Getting into

[ * One of his companions on these Elswick expeditions was
William Bulmer (see next page). In a letter to Bewick dated
August 20, 1825, he refers to their "former anxious and early visits
to Goody Coxon's to partake of her sour milk and hot brown cake at
a place generally known (in our day) by the polite designation of the
"Hog's Tavern1'" at Elswick."]

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 73

debt is followed by leading people to live beyond
their incomes ; and this makes all who do so,
soon become demoralised and dishonest ; and,
when the mind has been thus blunted, and
degraded, anxiety and trouble must be its
attendants, till vice and misery close the scene.

Amongst the acquaintances I made at the
workshops of Gilbert and William Gray, was
William Bulmer, afterwards rendered famous as
the proprietor of the Shakespeare Printing Office,
in Cleveland Row, London, who was the first
that set the example, and soon led the way, to
fine printing in England. He used, while he
was an apprentice, to prove the cuts I had
executed. In this he was countenanced by his
master, John Thompson, who was himself ex-
tremely curious and eager to see wood engraving
succeed ; for at that time the printing of wood cuts
was very imperfectly known.

About this time I commenced a most intimate
acquaintance and friendship with Robert Pollard,
afterwards an engraver and printseller of eminence
in London. He was bound apprentice to John
Kirkup, a silversmith in Newcastle ; and, from his
being frequently sent to our workshop with crests,
cyphers, &c., to engrave, he took a great liking to
engraving, and was indefatigable in his endeavours
to become master of it. In furtherance of this, we
spent many of our evenings together at his father's
house, which to me was a kind of home. On his
master declining business, my young friend was
engaged for a term of years to learn engraving
with Isaac Taylor, of Holborn, London.

In my frequent visits to the workshops of Gilbert

Gray, and to that of his son William, I first fell

K

74 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

in with Thomas Spence.* He was one of the
warmest philanthropists in the world. The
happiness of mankind seemed with him to absorb
every other consideration. He was of a cheerful
disposition, warm in his attachment to his friends,
and in his patriotism to his country; but he was
violent against people whom he considered of an.
opposite character. With such he kept no bounds.
For the purpose chiefly of making converts to his
opinion " that property in land is everyone's
right," he got a number of young men gathered
together, and formed into a debating society,
which was held in the evenings in his first school-
room, in the Broad Garth, Newcastle. One night
when his favourite question was to be debated, he
reckoned upon me as one of his "backers." In
this, however, he was mistaken ; for, notwithstand-
ing my tacitly assenting in a certain degree to his
plan, — viz., as to the probability of its succeeding
in some uninhabited country or island, — I could

* Afterwards famous in London as at the head of the " Spenceans."
He was sent to Dorchester gaol for (I believe) some of his publica-
tions, promulgating his doctrines. He taught a school at the Broad
Garth, Newcastle; afterwards writing and arithmetic in the great
school at Haydon Bridge; and, lastly, he was master of St. Ann's
public school, Sandgate, Newcastle. At this time his wife kept a
shop at the Black Gate, and by her mismanagement, Spence, who
was a careful sober man, failed, and was led into great difficulties,
on which account he gave up St. Ann's school, and went to London.
Some time before this he was a member of a most respectable
Literary and Philosophical Society in Newcastle, one of the rules of
which required that each member should read in turn a written
lecture on any subject he pleased. Spence's was, of course, on that
of " Property in land," &c. These lectures were, by the rules of
the society, prohibited from publication ; but Spence broke the
rule and was expelled in consequence. [A copy of Spence's pam-
phlet, "price one penny," and headed "Property in Land Every
one's Right, Proved in a Lecture read at the Philosophical Society
in Newcastle, on the 8th of Nov. 1775," is included among*the
Bewick MSS.]

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 75

not at all agree with him in thinking it right to
upset the present state of society, by taking from
people what is their own, and then launching out
upon his speculations. I considered that property
ought to be held sacred, and, besides, that the
honestly obtaining of it was the great stimulant to
.industry, which kept all things in order, and
society in full health and vigour. The question
having been given against him without my having
said a word in its defence, he became swollen with
indignation, which, after the company was gone,
he vented upon me. To reason with him was
useless. He began by calling me — from my
silence — "a Sir Walter Blackett;"* adding, "If I
had been as stout as you are, I would have thrashed
you." "Indeed!" said I, "it is a great pity
you are not.3' "But," said he, "there is another
way in which I can do the business, and have at
you!" He then produced a pair of cudgels, and to
work we fell. He did not know that I was a pro-
ficient in cudgel playing, and I soon found that he
was very defective. After I had blackened the
insides of his thighs and arms, he became quite
outrageous and acted very unfairly, which obliged
me to give him a severe beating. This, however,
did not make a breach between us, for I believe
the respect and kindness for each other was
mutual.

* Sir Walter Blackett, bart., was five times mayor of Newcastle,
and represented the borough in seven Parliaments ; having been
fifty years a member. He died February 8th, 1777, aged 68. As
an orator he made no figure in the House, and having changed
his politics in his later years, he became rather unpopular, His
public and private charities were on a munificent scale; for which,
indeed, he was greatly distinguished.

76 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

I cut the steel punches for Spence's types, and
my master struck them on the matrices for casting
his newly-invented letters of the alphabet, for
his "Spelling and Pronouncing Dictionary." He
published, in London, many curious books in his
peculiar way of spelling, and most of them, I
believe, on his favourite subject of property in land
being everyone's right. However mistaken he
might be in his notions on this subject, I am
clearly of opinion that his intentions were both
sincere and honest.*

The next most eccentric individual, and at the
same time one of the most worthy characters, I
early became acquainted with was George Gray,
son of Gilbert, and half-brother of William Gray.
He was bound apprentice to a man of the name of
Jones, a fruit painter. The latter, who, I believe,
was accounted eminent in his profession, lived
beyond his income, and departed from Newcastle.
George being thus left to himself, commenced in
the same way of business, greatly succeeded in
it, and then also became eminent as a fruit painter;
this he pursued many years, but, from his versa-
tility of disposition, he dipped into almost every
art and science, and excelled in many pursuits.
He was accounted one of the best botanists and
chemists in this part of the country. He was also
a geologist, and was fixed upon as a leader or

[* Spence died in London, September 8, 1814. Many political
admirers followed him to his grave, over which an oration was made.
"Appropriate medallions were distributed, and a pair of scales
preceded his body, indicative of the justice of his views " (Sykes's
"Local Records," 1833, ii, 85-6). Several of his curiously entitled
books — "The Teacher of Common Sense," 1779, "The Rights of
Swine," 1796, and the like — were sold at the Bewick Sale of August,
1884.]

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 77

director to a party employed by Prince Poniat-
owsky, to take a survey of the various strata of
Poland ; but George being slovenly in his dress
and negligent in his person, felt himself slighted,
and left those who put on a more respectable
appearance to profit by his superior knowledge,
and to do the best they could, and he returned
home. Whether it was before or after this time
I have forgotten, but he visited North America,
and travelled in quest of knowledge pretty far
into the interior of that country. On his return
he resumed his old employment, in a room never
cleaned or swept, and surrounded with models,
crucibles, gallipots, brushes, paints, palettes,
bottles, jars, retorts, and distils, in such a chaos
of confusion as no words can describe. From
this Sanctum Sanctorum, he corresponded with
gentlemen of science in London and other parts.
Few men were better liked by private friends —
as well for his knowledge as for his honesty, and
the genuine simplicity of his manners.*

In addition to the various jobs already noticed
as keeping my master and myself fully employed,
I had others which fell exclusively to my lot to
execute; and, amongst these were the mathema-
tical works of Charles Hutton, who frequently
came into the room in which I worked, to inspect
what I was doing. He was always very civil, but

* He died [at his house in the Pudding Chare], on the gth
December, 1819, aged 61 years, and was buried in St. John's
Church-yard, Newcastle. [There is a portrait of him by Parker,
who also etched it. George Gray was a misogynist, until a serious
illness for the moment perverted him to the belief that "man is not
born to live alone." While under the influence of this temporary
change in his opinions he married a shoemaker's widow; but after
her death declared that all the riches of Mexico and Peru should not
tempt him to repeat the experiment.]

7 8 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

seemed to me to be of a grave or shy deportment.
He lived in habits of intimacy with my master,
and used to write pieces for him to engrave from,
particularly for the heads of invoices or bills of
parcels ; and I remember that he wrote them writh
an ink, or preparation, which was easily transferred
to the copper. This was before his appointment
in the royal military academy of Woolwich, in
1773, and long before he had the well-merited
title of LL.D. added to his respected name.
Dr. Hutton was that kind of man, who never
forget old friends ; and, some years after, when
I was in partnership with my old master, he
recommended us to the notice of Dr. Horsley,*
who was commencing his publication of Sir Isaac
Newton's works, the execution of the whole of
the cuts for wThich devolved upon me. This
transaction took place in 1778.

I continued to take up my abode with . Ned
Hatfield, and, the spirits being buoyant, every-
thing pleased me. I cannot help noticing the
happy time I spent there. I was also entertained
with the curious characters who resorted to his
house. These were mostly bird-catchers and
bird-dealers, to whose narratives respecting their
pursuits I listened with some interest while they
were enjoying themselves over a tankard of beer.
Ned was almost constantly busied in rearing a
numerous brood of canaries, which he sold to a
bird merchant, who travelled with them at set
times to Edinburgh, Glasgow, &c., for sale.

* Afterwards Bishop of St. Asaph. [He died in 1806. His
edition of Newton's Philosophical Works was completed in 1784.
See note on page 57.]

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 79

I also, at various periods of the time I remained
under Hatfield's roof, got into a knowledge of the
misguided ways which too many young fellows
pursued ; and I watched, and saw the wretched
consequences of the kind of life they led. I felt
grieved for them, and did all in my power to
dissuade them from pursuing such a course of life.
For this advice they laughed at me, and called
me "the old man." It was not very long, how-
ever, till' two of them sent for me to come and
see them on their death beds. The die was cast,
and I cannot forget their thanks to me, and the
bitterness with which they reproached themselves
for not listening to what I had so sincerely recom-
mended. Such conduct as I have been alluding
to appears to me to be of the very blackest
dye. It is amongst the most shocking of murders.
It is to be regretted that the seducer and the
seduced cannot be obliged to live together for life,
and, while they live, be allowed to herd only with
such as themselves ; for they ought to be banished
from the society of the modest and virtuous part
of the community. I think it a great omission
in parents and teachers not to make unguarded
youth fully apprized of the risks they run in towns
of getting acquainted with the lost and polluted
women of this stamp. Nothing can be so sure
a guard against this vice as that of making young
men see it • in its true light — to be disgusted at
it. Magistrates, no doubt, have it in their power,
in some degree, to lessen this great evil, by pre-
venting abandoned women from appearing in the
streets of a town ; but I have often felt for magis-
trates on account of the great and gratuitous
trouble they take, and the difficulties they must

8o MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

have to encounter, in their endeavours to keep the
wicked within due bounds.

My last fellow-lodgers, before I was out of my
apprenticeship, were John Hymers, who had been
a sergeant in the Life Guards, and had retired
upon his pension, and Whittaker Shadforth, a
watch-maker, and also a musician.* The latter
was of a quite different character from those
before noticed, but was wild, enthusiastic, and
romantic. Among the many whims and fancies
we indulged in, one of them was to learn the
manual exercise. The sergeant, who had often
laughed at our frolics, very readily agreed to
undertake this task, provided we would strictly
obey the rules he prescribed to us. This we agreed
to. He began with a kind of lecture on the
necessity of soldiers being obedient to their
officers, and standing like a brick wall without
flinching; adding that he would not use his cane
upon our backs, but only to put us in mind to be
very attentive. This being settled, we were in the
mornings to appear before him in "bare buffs," that
is, without our shirts and upper-clothing. This
discipline was pursued steadily for some time,
notwithstanding the switches he gave us on our
bare backs with his rod or cane, which we bore
with the utmost sang froid. I think the sergeant,
notwithstanding the entertainment we thus af-
forded him, began to tire first ; for he- at last lay
in bed while he was giving us our lessons, and
at length gave the business up.f

* He left England and went to America before the war broke out
between the two countries, and when this happened he was obliged
to serve in the American army.

[t A copy of the "Memoir" was forwarded by Miss Bewick
to Mr. Gladstone, who, though he acknowledged it formally,

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 8 1

From the length of time I had known and
noticed Miss Beilby, I had formed a strong attach-
ment to her, but could not make this known to
her or to any one else. I could have married her
before I was done with my apprenticeship with-
out any fears on my part, but I felt for her, and
pined and fretted at so many bars being in the
way of our union. One of the greatest was the
supposed contempt in which I was held by the rest
of the family, who, I thought, treated me with
great hauteur, though I had done everything in my
power to oblige them. I had, like a stable boy,
waited upon their horse; and had cheerfully done
everything they wanted at my hands till one of
the brothers grossly affronted me in the business of
the stable. This I instantly resented, and refused
attendance there any more. Before I was out of
my time, Miss Beilby had a paralytic or palsy
stroke, which very greatly altered her look, and
rendered her for some time unhappy. Long after
this she went with her eldest brother into Fifeshire,
where she died.

must have read it attentively, for he subsequently referred to the
above illustration of Sergeant Hymers as to the "brick wall " in one
of his speeches delivered at Greenwich in November, 1871.]

L

CHAPTER VI.

THE first of October, 1774, arrived at last; and,
for the first time in my life, I felt myself at liberty.
I wrought a few weeks with my old master, and
then set off to spend the winter at Cherryburn.
There I had plenty of work to do, chiefly from
Thomas Angus, printer, Newcastle. I continued
there, employed by him and others, till the summer
of 1776. This was a time of great enjoyment, for
the charms of the country were highly relished by
me, and after so long an almost absence from it,
gave even that relish a zest which I have not words
to describe. I continued to execute wood cuts and
other jobs, but often rambled about among my old
neighbours, and became more and more attached
to them, as ,well as to the country.

In the storms of winter, I joined the Nimrods
as of old. In spring and summer, my favourite
sport of angling was pretty closely followed up.
About Christmas, as I had done before when a boy,
I went with my father to a distance to collect the
money due to him for coals. In these rounds, I
had the opportunity of Avitnessing the kindness and
hospitality of the people. The countenances of all,
both high and low, beamed with cheerfulness; and
this was heightened everywhere by the music of old

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 83

tunes, from the well-known, exhilarating, wild
notes of the Northumberland pipes,* amidst the
buzz occasioned by " foulpleughs" (morrice or
sword dancers) from various parts of the country.
This altogether left an impression on my mind
which the cares of the world have never effaced
from it. The gentry, the farmers, and even the
working people, of that day had their Christmas
home-brewed ale, made only from malt and hops.
This was before the pernicious use of chemical
compounds was known, or agricultural improve-
ments had quickened the eyes of landlords,
banished many small farmers, soured their coun-
tenances, and altered for the worse the characters
of the larger ones that remained.

Having all my life, at home, at school, and
during my apprenticeship, lived under perpetual
restraints, when I thus felt myself at liberty, I
became, as I suppose, like a bird which had escaped
from its cage. Even angling, of which I was so
fond, and of which I thought I never could tire,
became rather dull when I found I could take as
much of it as I pleased. While I was pursuing
this sport on a hot day in June, I gave it up; and,
laying down my rod awhile, I then tied it up and
walked home.. Having resolved to see more of the
country, I requested my mother to put me up some
shirts, &c., and I told her I was going to see my
uncle (her brother) in Cumberland. She soon
complied with my request, amidst expressions of
fear for my safety ; showing the natural feelings of

* [A bagpipe, differing from the Scotch, being smaller, and blown,
not with the breath, but by a pair of bellows fixed under the left
arm. — Brockett's Glossary.]

84 MKMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

a good mother. After sewing three guineas in my
breeches waistband, I set off that afternoon, and
walked to Haydon Bridge. There I visited my old
crony, Thomas Spence, then a teacher in Haydon
Bridge school, with whom I was a welcome guest,
and stopped two days. Leave of absence from
school having been given to him, I rambled with
him over the neighbourhood, and visited every-
thing worth notice. When I departed, he ac-
companied me on the road nearly to Haltwhistle.
After this, I met with little to attract notice except
Naworth Castle; and, when I left it, and was pro-
ceeding across the country, I lost my way by
following paths which led only to holes that had
been made by digging peats and turf, and did not
reach my uncle's house at Ainstable till late in the
evening. I remained at Ainstable about a week,
during which time I rambled about the neigh-
bourhood, visited my friends at Kirkoswald and
elsewhere, and spent what time I could spare in
fishing for trout in the Croglin.

After I had seen Armanthwaite and Penrith, I
began to think of moving further abroad ; and my
cousin having occasion to go to Carlisle, I went
with him there, where we parted. I wandered
about the old city; and, in the afternoon, looked
into the shop of Lowry, the watchmaker, to whom
I was known as having been employed, by my
master, to engrave many clock • faces for him,
during my apprenticeship. While I was in his
shop, in came a man — a kind of scamp — of the
name of Graham, who asked me what road I was
going? "To Scotland," I replied. "So am I," said
he; "and, if you can keep foot with me, I will be
glad of your company." We had no sooner set off,

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 85

than I found he was a vapouring fop who was very
vain of his great prowess as a pedestrian. I could
soon see that he wanted to walk me off my foot;
but, having been long practised in that way, he
found himself mistaken, and long before we reached
Longtown he had called in at several public-houses
for refreshment, and invited me to do the same. I,
however, was not thirsty, and not being used to
drink, I sat on the seats at the doors until he came
out. He kept on in this, way till we reached
Langholm, when he surveyed me with an attentive
eye, but said nothing.

At Langholm, my landlord, who was a Cumber-
land man and knew my relatives there, was very
kind to me; and, among many other matters con-
cerning them, told me that my cousin who had
accompanied me to Carlisle had won nine belts
in his wrestling matches in that county. From
Langholm, I set off to Hawick and Selkirk, and
from the latter place, next morning, by Dalkeith,
to Edinburgh. I had been, in this short tramp,
particularly charmed with the Border scenery; the
roads, in places, twined about the bottoms of the
hills, which were beautifully green, like velvet,
spotted over with white sheep, which grazed on
their sides, wratched by the peaceful shepherd and
his dog. I could not help depicturing in my mind
the change which had taken place, and comparing
it with the times of old that had passed away, and
in inwardly rejoicing at the happy reverse. It is
horrid to contemplate the ferocious battles of that
day, between men descended from the same stock,
and bearing the same names on both sides of the
Border, only divided from each other by a river,
a rivulet, a burn, or a strip of ground; — that they

86 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

should have been, at the nod of their chieftains,
called out to the wild foray by the slogan horn, or
the shrill notes of the bugle; that they should have
been led to meet and slaughter each other, to
manure the ground with their blood, amidst the
clash of arms and the thrilling music of the pipes,
which helped to excite them on to close their eyes
in death. These transactions, which are handed
down to their descendants of the present generation
in traditionary tales, and kept in remembrance by
the songs and tunes of old times, serve now only
as food for reflection or amusement.

On entering Edinburgh, having been recom-
mended by Mr. Robertson, silversmith, to the
landlord of the George Inn, Bristoport, I halted
there ; but, being quite unacquainted with the
customs of living in such places, I knew not what
to do, or how to conduct myself. I, however,
called for a pint of beer, — and I think it was the
first I ever called for in my life, — when, lo ! a good-
looking girl, bare-footed and bare-legged, entered
with a pewter pot, almost the size of a half leg of
a boot. This I thought I could not empty in a
week. As I found I could not remain in this place,
I sought for another, and luckily fell in with an old
Newcastle acquaintance, Mrs. Hales, the wife (or
widow) of - - Hales, the coachman to Lord Chief
Baron Ord; and to her I stated my case, went with
her, and felt quite at home in her house. After I
had seen as much of uAuld Reekie" as I could,
and been lost in admiration at the grandeur of its
situation, and of its old buildings, I next day called
upon Hector Gavin, an engraver, in Parliament
Close. This kind man — a stranger to me — after a
bit of chat about the arts, £c., threw by his tools,

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 87

and was quite at my service. The warmth of his
kindness I never can forget. He took me all over
Edinburgh, and gave me a history and explanation
of everything he thought worthy of notice. Having
parted from him with his best and warmest wishes,
I rose early on the next morning and walked to
Glasgow. After leaving my bundle at the inn
there, to which Mr. Robertson had also recom-
mended me, I took a ramble through the city.
There I fell in, by chance, with an old acquaint-
ance, Alexander Steedman, a clever cutler, who
had lodged with me at Ned Hatfield's, and who I
supposed was dead long ago. He was not like
me; he could drink plenty; so that I was at no loss
what to do at this inn, as I had been in Edinburgh.
He called upon me next morning along with a
curious and well-informed man, when they showed
me everything they thought worthy of notice in
Glasgow, which, though a large city, containing
many handsome buildings, I was not so charmed
with as I had been with Edinburgh.

From Glasgow, I set off to Dumbarton; and, on
my way, took as good a survey of the country, and
whatever was new to me, as I could. My landlord
at Dumbarton had seen a deal of the world, either
as a soldier or a gentleman's servant, and was very
communicative; and I think I spent the next day
with him, in walking about and viewing everything
that he could think of that might please or
entertain me. After leaving him, I wished much
to see the printing at the cotton works, and the
print fields, as they were called, on the river
Leven, near Dumbarton. To these, however, I
could not get admission ; so I kept passing onward,
up the Leven, till Smollett's monument, near the

88 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

side of it, arrested my attention.* There I stopped,
for I had read Smollett's works, and almost adored
him as an author. On the pedestal of the monu-
ment, was a long Latin inscription, which I was
endeavouring to translate, but was puzzled to make
out; having never looked into a Latin book since
I had left school ; and, for the first time, I felt
mortified at not having done so. While I was
thus employed, up came a " lish," clever young
man, a Highlander, smartly dressed in the garb of
his country. He jumped down beside me, and we
together made out the translation. When this was
done, on learning from me that my sole object was
to see Scotland, he pressed me to accompany him
to some place or other, the name of which I do not
now remember. We, however, walked a long way
together on the western side of Loch Lomond, and
I know I did not visit Inverary, the seat of Argyle,
but stopped with my companion at a grazier's, or
farmer's, house, not a long way from it.

Having made up my mind not to visit any
town, or put up at any inn, I commenced my
"wild-goose chase," and bent my way, in many
a zig-zag direction, through the interior of part
of the Highlands, by the sides of its lakes and
its mountains. The beauty and serenity of the
former, and the grandeur or terrific aspect of the
latter, I gazed upon with wonder, and with both

[ * Smollett lies buried in the Old English Cemetery at Leghorn,
having found, like Fielding, a foreign grave. The monument here
referred to on the right bank of the Leven is the Tuscan column
erected by his cousin, James Smollett of Bonhill; and the ''long
Latin inscription" (34 lines), of which Bewick speaks, is to be found
at p. 199 of Chambers's "Smollett," 1867. It was written by two
famous scholars of that day, Professor George Stewart and Mr. Ramsay
of Ochtertyre, with a few finishing touches by Dr. Johnson.]

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 89

was charmed to ecstacy. In moving forward, I
was often accompanied or directed to some
farmer's or grazier's house, by the herds or
drovers, whom I fell in with; and, in some of
these houses, I took up my abode, and often, by
the pressing solicitations of my host or hostess,
was prevailed upon to remain with them a day
or two. These kind — these hospitable people — I
have never forgotten. Often the mistress of the
house in these remote places, never having seen
any person from England, examined my dress
from head to foot, and in English — which, it was
easy to discover, had been imperfectly taught her
—made many enquiries respecting the country
from whence I came; while the herds, with their
bare knees, sat listening around, very seldom
knowing what we were talking about. These
herds, or some of the family, generally set or
directed me to the house of some other distant
grazier; and I met with the same kind and
warm reception throughout my wanderings I had
experienced at first. It sometimes" happened
that, by my having stopped too long on my way,
in admiration of the varied prospects I met with,
that I was benighted, and was obliged to take
shelter under some rocky projection, or to lay
myself down amongst the heather, till daylight.
In my traversings and wanderings, I called in
at all the houses on my way, whether situated
in the beautiful little valleys, in the glens, or on
the sides of heathery hills. In these places it
was common to see three houses, one added to
another. The first contained a young married
couple with their healthy-looking children; the

next, or middle one, was occupied by the father

M

QO MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

and mother, and perhaps the brothers and sisters,
of this couple; and, further on, at the end, was
the habitation of the old people. These places
had always garths and gardens adjoining, with
peat stacks and other fuel at hand for the
winter; and the whole was enlivened with
numbers of ducks, chickens, £c. On my getting
some refreshment of whey or milk in such places
as these, I always found it difficult to get
payment made for anything, as it seemed to
give offence; and, when I could get any money
slipped into the hands of the children, I was
sure to be pursued, and obliged to accept of a
pocket full of bannocks and scones.

On one occasion, I was detained all day and
all night at a house of this kind, in listening to
the tunes of a young man of the family who
played well upon the Scottish pipes. I, in turn,
whistled several Tyneside tunes to him; so that
we could hardly get separated. Before my
departure next dav^ I contrived by stealth to
put some money into the hands of the children.
I had not got far from the house till I was
pursued by a beautiful young woman, who
accosted me in "badish" English, which she must
have got off by heart just before she left the house,
the purport of which was to urge my acceptance
of the usual present. This I wished to refuse ;
but, with a face and neck blushed with scarlet,
she pressed it upon me with such sweetness —
while I thought at the same time that she invited
me to return — that (I could not help it) I seized
her, and smacked her lips. She then sprang
away from me, with her bare legs, like a deer,
and left me fixed to the spot, not knowing what

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 91

to do. I was particularly struck with her whole
handsome appearance. It was a compound of
loveliness, health, and agility. Her hair, I think,
had been flaxen or light, but was tanned to a pale
brown by being exposed to the sun. This was
tied behind with a riband, and dangled down her
back ; and, as she bounded along, it flowed in
the air. I had not seen her while I was in the
house, and felt grieved because I could not hope
ever to see her more.

After having wandered about in this way for
some time longer, during which I uniformly met
with the same kind treatment among these un-
polluted, unspoiled, honourable, and kind people,
I began to think of the long way I had to get
over on my return towards home ; for, although
my money was not greatly diminished among the
Highlanders, yet I knew not how much I might
want in or near towns, in the more civilised
districts ; so I turned back in a south-easterly
direction through the country, where I met, in
my various wanderings, the same warm and
friendly reception. From that time to this, I
have ever felt pleased at the name of Highlander.
Were not these people proof against the tempta-
tion of a bribe of thirty thousand pounds, held
out to them to betray the unfortunate Prince
Charles Stuart ? Is it not to be regretted that
agricultural improvements have taught the land-
lords, or chieftains, to turn numerous farms into
one, and to banish thousands of these hardy
descendants of the ancient Britons, — this brave
race of men to whose forefathers they owed so
much, — to seek an asylum in foreign climes ? In
exchange for men, they have filled the country

92 MKMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

with sheep ! Property, in every country, should
be held sacred, but it should also have its bounds ;
and, in my opinion, it should be, in a certain
degree, held in trust, jointly, for the benefit of its
owners, and the good of society. To exercise a
right of property beyond this is despotism, the
offspring of misplaced aristocratic pride.

I have not noticed that I was sometimes, in
passing along, detained at fairs and " trysts."
These, with their merry-makings, were something
like the "hoppings" and "feasts" on Tyneside ;
and the girls had the same ruddy look as the
farmers' servants who are put to do field work in
Xorthumberland and Durham. With the Scotch
music and dancing, I was very much pleased.
They were certainly good dancers, and seemed
quite wild, or exhilarated to excess.

I left the Highlands with regret. The last day's
journey was a very long one, and a very hungry
one ; after which I entered Stirling in the night.
I told the landlord of the public house there that
I was almost famished, not having stopped at any
house on my very long journey to that place ; and
I begged of him to hasten to get me something
to eat. He told me he had nothing left but eggs,
as his company had eaten up everything that had
been in the house. I did not get my eggs till
midnight ; for a quarrel, or an affray, happened
in the house at the time I ought to have had them.
They were brought in to me at last, and were
boiled as hard as eggs could be. With them, in
my eagerness to eat, I was nearly choked.

I remained about two or three days at Stirling,
chiefly on account of my face having been so
blistered by the heat of the sun that I thought

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

93

it best to halt till the effects of it could be removed.
My landlord was very kind. He had seen the
world; and, when he found that I was an engraver,
he expressed his surprise that I had not carried
my tools with me ; for, if I had done so, he said
he had no manner of doubt, with my knowledge
of heraldry, &c., that I could have found plenty
of employment among the gentry and the lairds,
in engraving their arms, crests, and other devices,
besides being handed from chieftain to chieftain,
and seeing the whole country in a very different
way from that which I had, through wildernesses,
so wildly pursued. On my way to Edinburgh,
by Falkirk, I visited Carron Works, and passed
under the canal, where, for the first time, I saw
vessels afloat that had passed over my head. I
was also shown the ground where the Battle of
Bannockburn was fought.

As soon as I could, I made my way, by Lin-
lithgow, to Edinburgh, and took up my abode
again with Mrs. Hales. I engaged a passage by
sea, in a ship belonging to Whitby, which had
to touch at Shields. I attended upon this vessel
every tide, late and early, for several days, not-
withstanding which I missed my time, and was
left behind. In this emergency, I got on board
a Leith sloop, bound for Newcastle, commanded
by Captain Kay, then moving from the pier. We
had no sooner got down the Frith of Forth, to
the open sea, than we met a heavy swell, and
presently encountered a violent gale which soon
tore our sails to shivers, drove us far out of sight
of land, and put our crew in a great bustle and
dilemma. In this small vessel, the crew and
passengers amounted to twenty-six. For these

Q4 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

latter there was no accommodation. The boat
upon deck was full of the sick, covered by an old
sail, and the rest were obliged to sit or lie down
in any corner where they could find room. The
first night was a sickly, suffocating one ; and for
three more nights and three days (the length of
our voyage to Shields), there was little or no
amendment of our situation. On board this sloop
there were only two beds that were not stowed
with goods ; and, from my wanting rest so long
before I left Edinburgh, I crept into one of them
as soon as I could, but found it so low that I
could not lie on my side, or easily turn over. So
I could get no sleep ; and, to mend the matter, I
had not been long in this wretched bed till a
sucking infant was put in beside me, its mother
being dismally sick in the boat upon deck ; and
the child fell exclusively into my charge. I
nursed it as well as I could during the whole
voyage; and I think, had I not done so, it must
have died. After resting a day or two at South
Shields, I set off to Newcastle, where I arrived
(in the assize week), I think, on the i2th of
August, 1776. After my long absence, I found
I had a few shillings left. On this occasion, my
friends in Newcastle quizzed me not a little for
having, as they termed it, begged my way through
Scotland.

CHAPTER VII.

I REMAINED no longer in Newcastle than until
I earned as much money as would pay my way to
London. I then took my passage on board a
collier bound to the great city; and, after beating
about in good weather and bad weather for about
three weeks, -I arrived in London on the first
October, 1776.

The first Cockney I met was the scullerman,
who was engaged to land me and my baggage
at Carnegie's the hairdresser near Temple Bar. I
was amused at his slang and his chatter all the
way to London Bridge ; and, on approaching it,
he asked me if I was tc a -feared ;" but, not know-
ing what I was to be afraid of, I returned the
question, at which he looked queer . — We passed
the gulf about which he wanted to talk, and I
then asked him if he had been "a-feared."

It was not long before I found out my old
school-fellows, Christopher and Philip Gregson,*
my old companion, William Gray,f then a book-
binder in Chancery Lane, and my friend, Robert
Pollard.:}: The first had provided me with a
lodging, and the last — through the kindness and
influence of his master, Isaac Taylor — with plenty
of work. Before commencing work, I thought it
best to take a ramble through the city and its

[* See note p. 20.] [f See note p. 67. ] [t See p. 73. ]

96 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

environs. The first day I went alone, and saw
nobody I knew. On the second day, I fell in — by
chance — with Sergeant Hymers, in the Strand,
who, on seeing me, seemed quite surprised. He
held up both his hands — he looked — he laughed—
shook me by the hand, over and over again,
and seemed not to know how to be kind enough.
He then took me back with him till he got
dressed ; and, when this was done, he made a
very handsome appearance indeed. The rest of
the day he devoted wholly to my service. He
first took me to the blackguard places in London.
I suppose this was done with a view to corroborate
the truth of the stories he had told me before, in
Newcastle. After I had seen enough of these
places, he took me to others better worth notice ;
and, having rambled about till I had seen a good
deal of the exterior as well as the interior of
London — of which it would be superfluous to give
an account — I sat down closely to work until I
got through the wood cuts which, through Isaac
Taylor's kindness, had been provided for me. I
then called upon Thomas Hodgson, printer, George
Court, Clerkenwell, who had also provided work
for me, to meet my arrival in London, and who
had impatiently waited for my assistance.* I was

* Thomas Hodgson [see p. 61] had served his apprenticeship as
a printer to John White, Newcastle (before named) ; and, having
taken a liking to wood engraving, he had 'employed most of his
time in embellishing the endless number of old ballads and histories
printed at that office, with rude devices, as head-pieces to them.
.He was a most assiduous, careful, and recluse man. What he pub-
lished in London, I cannot enumerate ; but I understood he
employed some Germans, as well as myself, to cut blocks for him.
He also employed me to make designs for many of these cuts.
When he died, he left me a legacy of five pounds. This is the only
money that I have ever received that I have not wrought for.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 97

subsequently employed by Mr. Carnan and Mr.
Newbery, of St. Paul's Church Yard.*

Having served my time as a kind of "Jack
of all trades/' I felt desirous to work amongst the
Cockneys, to see if I could find anything amongst
them ; but in this I was disappointed ; for I was
never permitted to see any of them at work. They,
indeed, seemed desirous of seeing what I was
doing, and occasionally peeped in upon me for
that purpose. I thought such of them as did so
were a most saucy, ignorant, and impudent set.
Wherever I went, the ignorant part of the
Cockneys called me " Scotchman." At this I was
not offended ; but, when they added other im-
pudent remarks, I could not endure them ; and this
often led me into quarrels of a kind I wished to
avoid, and had not been used to engage in.

It is not worth while noticing these quarrels,
but only as they served to help out my dislike
to London. They were only trivial compared to
other matters. One of the first things that
struck me, and that constantly htirt my feel-
ings, was the seeing such a number of fine-
looking women engaged in the wretched business
of "street- walking." Of these I often enquired as
to the cause of their becoming so lost to them-

[* Atkinson says, "Sketch of the late T. Bewick," 1831, that he
(Bewick) worked in London " with a person of the name of CoLE,'r
of whom, as a wood-engraver, Chatto could subsequently find no
trace. There were, however, two contemporary engravers on copper
of this name. One of them, B. Cole, executed most of the large
plates for Maitland's " London," and copied for the " Grand
Magazine of Magazines," 1759, the curious frontispiece designed
by Pope himself to the " Essay on Man." It is just possible that
Atkinson's Cole may be a mistake for William Coleman (see p. 60),
who obtained a prize for wood-engraving from the Society of Arts
in 1775, at the same time that Bewick received his seven-guinea
premium for the "Old Hound."]

N

Q 8 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

selves and to the world. Their usual reply was
that they had been basely seduced, and then basely
betrayed. This I believed, and was grieved to
think that they were thus, perhaps, prevented from
becoming the best of mothers to an offspring of
lovely and healthy children. I often told them so;
and this ended in their tears : and, if they were in
poverty, I contributed my mite to relieve them.
What a pity it is that this wretchedness is not
prevented ! Base men treat women as if they were
inferior beings, made only to be used like brutes
and tyrannised over as slaves. I have always
beheld such conduct towards women with abhor-
rence; for my conceptions of this wretched state of
things are of the most soul-harrowing description.
It would be extreme weakness to maintain an
opinion that all women are good, and that the
faults here noticed are always ascribable to the
men only. This is not the case ; for I am obliged
to admit that there are good and bad of each sex.
I have often attempted to make an estimate of
their comparative numbers, in which I have felt
some difficulties. Sometimes my barometer of
estimation has risen to the height of ten to one
in favour of the fair sex ; at other times it has
fluctuated, and has fallen down some degrees lower
in the scale; but, with me, it is now settled, and I
cannot go lower than four good women to one
good man. I have often wondered how any man
could look healthy, beautiful, sensible, and virtuous
women in the face without considering them as the
link between men and angels. For my part, I have
often felt myself so overpowered with reverence
in their presence that I have been almost unable to
speak, and they must often have noticed my

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 99

embarrassment. I could mention the names of
many, but it might offend their delicacy. When
a man can get such a help-mate for life, his
happiness must be secured ; for such a one is
of inestimable value : " Her price is far above
rubies/3

Having now been weaned from taking bread and
milk, I had learned by degrees to call for a pint
of porter, and often spent my evenings at the
" George," in Brook Street, kept by a person of
the name of Darby, whose wife, a very good-
looking woman, from Cumberland, claimed a
distant relationship to me. At this house, I met
with some very respectable and pleasant trades-
men. While I was there one evening, a stranger
to me joined us. I think he was a traveller. He
had, however, been in Scotland, and had a mighty
itch to speak very disrespectfully of that country,
and was vociferous in attempting to entertain the
company with his account of the filth and dirt he
had met with in it. This I could not bear: their
kindness was fresh in my memory; -and I felt re-
sentment rising in me. I, however, quashed that
feeling, and only told him that I believed I had
travelled on foot, perhaps about three hundred
miles through Scotland, and had met with no such
people there, nor such dirtiness as he described.
There might, indeed, be some such in every
country for aught I knew ; but I was confident
such might be found without going much beyond
the street we were in, and who, in addition to
their filthiness, were also the most wretched and
abandoned of the human race. Some of them,
indeed, appeared to me to be scarcely human. I
concluded by observing that I was afraid he had

100 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

been keeping very bad company in Scotland. A
laugh by this was raised against him, and he felt
himself quashed by his own folly.

I very frequently visited Westminster Abbey,
on some part of the Sunday ; and, on the fore-
noons of that day, I mostly went with my friend
Pollard to hear the Rev. - - Harrison, at St.
Andrew's Church, Holborn. I sometimes, also,
went to hear eminent preachers at other places. I
was once invited by my friend William Watson, of
the Treasury, who had married the eldest Miss
Beilby, to go with him to hear the Rev. Dr. Dodd
preach at the Magdalen Chapel. Whether this
was at the time he was arrested for forgery I
am not certain, but I know I did not see him.*
I also went with Mr. Watson to hear the Rev.
- Maxwell, another eminent divine ; but, indeed,
I believe I -did not miss hearing any of the popular
preachers in London.

For many years after I left London, I went to
hear the preachers of various persuasions, and
attempted to find out the general character of their
several congregations. Having been brought up
under the creeds and doctrines of the Church of
England, I may, perhaps, have some partialities
about me respecting that church, but I have ever
considered that its clergy are the most learned
of any, and that, excepting some of the higher
orders of them, they, as well as cheir hearers, are
the most tolerant. I have always felt grieved that

* [Dodd was arrested in February, 1777, for forging the signature
of his late pupil, Lord Chesterfield, to a bond for .£4,000. He was
executed on the 27th June following, a few days after Bewick re-
turned to Newcastle. (See p. 107.) It is probable that Bewick went
to hear him before February, as it is not likely that he would preach
after that date.]

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. IOI

a great number of them should consist of very
learned and good men with curacies or poor liv-
ings that do not afford them a much better income
than the wages of common mechanics ; and that,
however great their abilities may be, it is only by
patronage that they can be advanced, while enor-
mous stipends are lavished upon others, very
often for the most useless, or, perhaps, the most
corrupt purposes. I think it would be much
better if the incomes of the clergy could be
equalized ; for, so long as matters are managed
otherwise, so long will it be considered as a
system of revenue of which religion is only the
pretext.

The Roman Catholic mode of faith is the oldest;
and they seem the most of any sect attached to
it and its old customs and its old creeds, which
they seem obstinately to value and persist in,
and this most likely will continue so long as they
give up their own reason and implicitly obey that
dictated to them by their priests. They are the
strictest of all disciplinarians in their-worship, and
are also generally good members of society. The
next and most numerous sect are the Methodists,
and I fear if they had the upper hand they would
soon shew a persecuting spirit, but which I hope
will never more be suffered to rear its head. This
sect took their rise under the able auspices of John
Wesley, and at that time he did a great deal of
good. In this neighbourhood it was soon made
to appear, for he greatly civilized a numerous host
of semi-barbarians, the pitmen and others em-
ployed in the pit works. There is another sect
growing into great importance as a religious
society, and that is the Quakers — the "Friends''

102 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

as they properly denominate themselves. They
have many excellent rules laid down by which to
regulate their conduct in life, and with all their
peculiarities, their simplicity of manners com-
mands the respect of the thinking part of mankind.
They have, it is true, been characterised as
"English Jews" by some, and others have said
of them that they are not now a religious sect
like the Methodists — "they are an aristocratic
civil community," a trading company, and a set
of respectable, industrious, economical, money-
getting disciplinarians, who profess no more
practical religion than the members of the church
of England. This may no doubt be the opinion
of some, but I could never form such a one of, at
least, the great majority of them, for they appear
to me to deserve a better character. I wish,
indeed, to see them leave off a part of their
Puritanical appearance, and some other stiffnesses
in their deportment. Were all men Quakers, I
think the world would have a very sombre appear-
ance, but this is balanced by their keeping their
word, by their detestation of war, and by their
constant endeavours to live in peace wdth all men.
I have often wondered at their rejecting music.
Music is an emanation from heaven ; it is perfectly
natural to man, to drive away gloom, and to solace
and to cheer him. The beautiful choristers of the
woods and the fields lead the way and set us the
example.

The Unitarians are generally a well informed
and respectable description of men. They think
for themselves, and are not bewildered with
dogmas and creeds. But to swell these opinions
of mine with a further account of the peculiarities

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 103

of each sect, or to attempt to go through the
numerous descriptions of religionists would be an
endless and a dreary task. They ought each of
them to be made welcome to follow their own
opinions ; and I can only observe that if they are
founded in truth, there can be no fear of their
being injured by unreserved discussion. What-
ever the creed may be, there can be no objection
to the religion of a virtuous man ; and it is to
be hoped that the distinctions and bickerings
amongst different denominations of Christians
will cease, and the causes of them be thought of
no more importance than whether a man uses his
quid of tobacco in the right cheek or in the left.*

After this long digression, I must now turn
my attention again to London. My friend Mr.
Watson was very desirous to get me work with
Mr. Pingo, in the Mint ; and, from his being so
well-known and respected by "the gentlemen in
most of the government offices, he thought this
might be easily accomplished. My mind was,
however, bent quite another way, and no more
was done for me in that business. The constant
attention and kindness of my London friends,
whose company I enjoyed, was unabated. They
walked with me everywhere, and the house of
William Gray was a home to me. I met other
Newcastle friends, every Monday night, at the
"Hole-in-the-Wall," Fleet Street, where I went
to see the Newcastle newspapers. Some of these
occasionally wanted assistance, and got my last
sixpence. At this time I earned a deal of money;

[* The illustration is characteristic. Bewick, as may be seen from
his bust by Bailey in the library of the Newcastle Literary and
Philosophical Society, was accustomed to this use of tobacco.]

104 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

and, from my habits of temperance, I spent little
for my own living, and thus discovered what a
small sum was sufficient to make me independent,
and I never lost sight of the inestimable value of
being so. I, however, never had a surplus of cash
long in my possession ; for one or another had
occasion for it, and I could not bear to see distress
without relieving it.

Notwithstanding my being so situated amongst
my friends, and being so much gratified in seeing
such a variety of excellent performances in every
art and science, — painting, statuary, engraving,
carving, &c., — yet I did not like London. It
appeared to me to be a world of itself, where
everything in the extreme might at once be
seen : extreme riches, extreme poverty, extreme
grandeur, and extreme wretchedness — all of which
were such as I had not contemplated before.
Perhaps I might, indeed, take too full a view of
London on its gloomy side. I could not help it.
I tired of it, and determined to return home. The
country of my old friends — the manners of the
people of that day — the scenery of Tyneside —
seemed altogether to form a paradise for me, and
I longed to see it again. While I was thus turn-
ing these matters over in my mind, my warm
friend and patron, Isaac Taylor, waited upon me :
and on my telling him I was going to Newcastle,
he enquired how long it would -be before I re-
turned. "Never," was my reply; at which he
seemed both surprised and displeased. He then
warmly remonstrated with me upon this impro-
priety of my conduct, told me of the prospects
before me, and, amongst many other matters, that
of his having engaged me to draw in the Duke of

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 105

Richmond's Gallery ; and he strenuously urged
me to change my mind. I told him that no
temptation of gain, of honour, or of anything else,
however great, could ever have any weight with
me ; and that I would even enlist for a soldier, or
go and herd sheep at five shillings per week, as
long as I lived, rather than be tied to ' live in
London.* I told him how sensible I was of his
uncommon kindness to me, and thanked him for
it. My kind friend left me in the pet, and I
never saw him more. He afterwards, when an
old man, visited Newcastle, but left it again
without my knowing it till after he was gone.
At this I felt much grieved and disappointed.
I do not remember haw long he lived after

[* Bewick seems to have been perfectly consistent in his antipathy
to the metropolis. " For my Part," he says in a letter to Christopher
Gregson, dated April 1803, " I am still of the same mind that I was
in when in London, and that is, I would rather be herding sheep on
Mickley bank top than remain in London, although for doing so I
was to be made the Premier of England." " Bewick" — says a writer
who knew him within the last ten years of his life — "often dwelt
upon his trip to London, and, with facetious wit tt&d great drollery,
was wont to dilate upon his uncomfortable feelings during this
sojourn from his own calf-yard. ' I was,' said he, 'quite overpowered
by the coldness and selfishness of everything I witnessed. In every
direction there was a hurry-scurry ; and all the softer and more
amiable feelings of man's nature seemed to me to be obliterated from
the scene. I felt my personal pride humbled. I was nothing in the
great mass of moving humanity. The whole affair was contrary to
everything I had felt or thought previously. I never saw a single
recognition of acquaintanceship or friendship in the streets ; every
single unit of humanity was moving in rapid succession as if it had
no connection with anything around it. How different from what I
had all my life been accustomed to ! Why, in Newcastle, I could not
get from my own door to Mr. Charnley's shop in Bigg Market with-
out having twenty enquiries made by friends in my route, about my
health and comfort of my household. But in London life is cheap ;
the hearts of even good men get hardened ; and that mutual regard
and sympathy, which are the real balsams of life, are seldom tasted.
I was delighted beyond measure when I turned my back on the
place.' " ("Memoirs of Dr. Robert Blakey," 1879.)]

O

106 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

this; but a memoir of him was published in the
"Analytical Magazine" at the time, together with
a letter I had written to him sometime before
his death, which he never answered.* He was, in his
day, accounted the best engraver of embellishments
for books, most of which he designed himself. The
frontispiece to the first edition of "Cunningham's
Poems" was one of his early productions; and at
that time my friend Pollard and myself thought
it was the best thing that ever was done.t

[* Either Bewick's memory must have served him ill, or " The
Analytical Magazine " is extremely rare, since it is not to be found
in the British Museum. But there is a memoir of Isaac Taylor,
including the above-mentioned letter (dated 18 April, 1806, and send-
ing a copy of the " British Birds"), in vol. iii. of the " Literary
Panorama" (January, 1808). Stothard's old rival is so nearly for-
gotten that he deserves a note. He was born 13 December, 1730, at
Worcester, in the parish of St. Michael in Bedwardine, where his
father was a brass founder. Like Hogarth, he had been brought up
as a silverplate engraver. But nature, and some of the pictures of
Marcellus Laroon, then resident in Worcester, gave him ambitions as
an artist; and, in 1752, he came to London, walking, like Boydell
before him, by the side of the waggon. His first long engagement
was with Jeffries, the geographer at the corner of St. Martin's Lane,
whose niece he married. While with this master, he worked on
plates for the " Gentleman's Magazine" and other books. After-
wards he supplied engravings for Tooke's " Pantheon" and " Don
Quixote," rapidly, gaining reputation as a facile designer of "embel-
lishments." His frontispieces to Bickerstaffe's " Daphne and
Amyntor," 1766; to the same author's "Love in a Village" and
"The Maid of the Mill," 1767; to Kelly's " False Delicacy," 1768;
and Goldsmith's " Deserted Village," 1770, were all popular in their
day. But his chef d'tziwre was a set of illustrations to " Sir Charles
Grandison," 1778, recently [1886] re-issued by Messrs. Field and
Tuer. These afford an excellent example of his very thorough and
genuine " manner," and his minute attention to costume and acces-
sories. In 1774 he was made secretary to the Incorporated Society
of Artists. For the last twenty years of his life he practically with-
drew from business, dying in retirement at Edmonton, 17 October,
1807, aged 77. His pupil Pollard, above referred to, ended a
chequered career of varied activities, in May, 1838.]

f John Cunningham, the pastoral poet, died September, [18,] 1773,
aged 44 years, and was buried in St. John's Church Yard, Newcastle
[on September 20. His poems were first published in 1766. He

MKMOIK OK THOMAS BKXVITK . 107

The same kind persuasions were urged upon me
by Mr. Hodgson, to remain in London, as had
been used by Mr. Taylor, which ended in a similar
way. The former, however, went further, and told
me that, if I were determined upon leaving London,
and would continue to work for him in Newcastle,
he would furnish me with plenty of it; and that he
would begin by giving me as much as would keep
me employed for two years. This was particularly
pleasing to me, because I could not bear the
thoughts of beginning business in Newcastle in
opposition to my old master, for whom I had the
greatest respect, — this to me appeared like " bring
up chickens to pick out your eyes."

Having spent the evening till a late hour with
my friends at the "George," in Brook Street, and
in the morning taken leave of my landlord and
landlady, Mr. and Mrs. Kendal, and their family,
in Wharton's Court, Holborn, I then posted off to
the Pool, and got on board a collier; and, after a
very short passage, arrived in sight of St. Nicholas's
Church steeple, about the 22nd Juney 1777.

was an actor as well as verse writer, and, at seventeen, had even
written a piece called " Love in a Mist ; or, the Lass of Spirit ;"
which was performed at Newcastle. He had a kind protectress in
clever Mrs. Slack of the " Newcastle Chronicle." (See p. 64.) There
is a good portrait of Cunningham by Bewick, sketched from seeing
him in the streets, as he could not be induced to sit.]

CHAPTER VIII.

THE first thing after my arrival in Newcastle
was to see my old master, and the next to engage
my old lodgings at Ned Hatfield's, and to fit up
a work bench there. I then set to work upon my
wood cuts. This, however, was interrupted by
other jobs ; and the first of the kind was that of
engraving a copper plate of the "Theban Harp,"
for the Rev. James Murray, for some of his pub-
lications.* Some of the silversmiths also began
to press their jobs upon me. I had not, however,
been long at work for myself till proposals were
made to me to join in partnership with my late
master; and this was brought about by a mutual
friend (?), John Robertson, the silversmith. This
proposal — which was to set me down at once in a
well-established business — I did not relish so
warmly as our mutual friend expected. I had
formed a plan of working alone, without appren-
tices, or being interrupted by any one ; and I am
not certain, at this day, whether I would not have
been happier in doing so than in the way I was

* The Rev. James Murray, a Church of Scotland minister, with
whom I had been long acquainted. He was accounted one of the
best Hebrew scholars of his day. His "Sermons to Asses" [1768]
attracted much notice, and so did many of his other works. He was
a keen, satirical writer in some of his controversies. Among his
friends, he was of a lively, witty, and pleasant temper, and greatly
valued by a numerous acquaintance for his humanity and good sense.
He died 28 January, 1782, aged 50 years,' and was buried in St.
Andrew's Church Yard, Newcastle. [The plate of the " Theban
Harp" appeared in the "Pismire Journal," Newcastle, 1777.]

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 1 09

led to pursue. I had often, in my lonely walks,
debated this business over in my mind ; but,
whether it would have been for the better or the
worse, I can now only conjecture. I tried the
one plan, and not the other : perhaps each might
have had advantages and disadvantages. I should
not have experienced the envy and ingratitude of
some of my pupils, neither should I, on the con-
trary, have felt the pride and the pleasure I derived
from so many of them having received medals or
premiums from the Society for the Encouragement
of Arts, and taken the lead, as engravers on wood,
in the Metropolis.

Notwithstanding this pride and this pleasure, I
am inclined to think I should have had — balancing
the good against the bad — more pleasure in work-
ing alone for myself than with such help as
apprentices afforded, for with some of them I had
a deal of turmoil and trouble, and others who
shewed capacity and genius, and perhaps served
out their time without the interchange of a cross
word between us, yet these, from coming under
the guidance of people of an envious and malignant
disposition, perhaps in unison with their own,
were, after every pains and every kindness had
been shown to them, when done, ready to strangle
me. I have much reason to remember on an
occasion of my partner and myself being obliged
to take one of the most impudent, malignant, and
worst apprentices we ever had before the magis-
trates, one of them (John Erasmus Blackett, Esq.)
calling me aside, to enquire if I knew his asso-
ciates. I told him I did, and he sent for some
of them, and in the meantime told me he never
knew of any bad apprentices being brought before

110 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

them who had not been spoiled by the wicked
advice of some worthless person or other. It is
painful to me to dwell upon a subject of this kind,
which indeed I might spin out to a great length,
with much additional matter, but it may be suf-
ficient to observe, that I have taken a boy and
behaved to him uniformly with the kindness of a
father or a brother, and have watched with every
pains in my power to instruct him, been liberal to
him in pecuniary matters, employed the best
physician to attend him when he was unwell, let
him want for nothing, paid him his wages besides,
whether at work or not at work, and in this my
partner contributed his share, and along with
myself, used every endeavour in our power to
advance him in the world, and Avhen all this was
done, he shewed not a particle of gratitude, but
observed that any " cartman would take care of his
Horse," and then put himself under the guidance
and directions of a company or confederacy of
ill-disposed, envious, and malignant persons, who
after having laboured to poison the ears of the
public, and of the jury, to bring us to trial for
the pay for work done without the leave of his
masters while he was our apprentice ! and the
business was so managed that a verdict was given
against us. I did not fail to attack the jury
individually, and to send the confederates a mes-
sage that there was not a man among them who
was not a coward and a scoundrel.

During my absence in London, Mr. Beilby had
taken an apprentice with a premium ; and, to make
us equal, I took my brother John as mine. With
him I was extremely happy. We lodged together.
He rose early in the morning, lighted our fire,

MEMOIR OF THOMAS HE \VICK. in

blacked our shoes, dusted the room, and made
everything clean for breakfast, as Avell as any
servant girl could have done, and he sewed and
mended his own clothes, and to crown all, he was
constantly cheerful, lively, and very active, and my
friends were his friends. Mr. Beilby was as well
pleased with him as I could possibly be; for,
besides his affable temper, he took every kind of
work in hand so pleasantly, and so very soon
learned to execute it well, that he could not miss
giving satisfaction. This he continued to do as
long as he was with us ; but other parts of his
conduct, when he arrived at manhood, was not so
well, and gave me great uneasiness ; for he got
acquainted with companions whom I thought
badly of, and my remonstrances respecting them
proved in vain. He would not, as he called it,
be dictated to by me ; but this I persisted in till
it made us often quarrel, which was distressing to
me, for my regard for him was too deeply rooted
ever to think of suffering him to tread in the paths
which led to ruin, without endeavouring to prevent
it. To the latest day of his life, he repented of
having turned a deaf ear to my advice; and as
bitterly and sincerely did he acknowledge the
slightest obligations he owed me. He rued ; and
that is as painful a word as any in the English
language.

As soon as I thought my brother might be able
to work his way in the world, — he having been,
I think, about five years with me, — I gave him
his liberty, and he set off to London, where, from
his reformed conduct and from every information
I could learn, he \vas much liked and respected.
He was as industrious in London as he had been

I I 2 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

with us, and had plenty of work to do. He was
almost entirely employed by the publishers and
booksellers in designing and cutting an endless
variety of blocks for them. He was extremely
quick at his work, and did it at a very low rate.
His too close confinement, however, impaired his
health. He revisited Cherryburn, where he did
not remain long till he thought himself quite
recovered, and he then returned to London, where
he continued a few years longer, and where the
same kind of confinement affected his health as
before. A similar visit to his native air was found
necessary ; his health was again restored to him :
and again he returned to London. He, however,
found that he could not pursue the same kind
of close confinement, on which account he engaged
to teach drawing at the Hornsey Academy, then
kept by Mr. Nathaniel Norton, which obliged him
to keep a pony to ride backwards and forwards ;
thus dividing his time between his work-office in
London and the school for some years, when his
health began again to decline, and he finally left
London early in the summer of 1795, and returned
once more to the banks of the Tyne. Here he
intended to follow the wood engraving for his
London friends, and particularly for Wm. Bulmer,
for whom he was engaged to execute a number
of blocks for the "Fabliaux" or "Tales of Le
Grand," and for " Somerville's Chace." Many of
the former he had, I believe, finished in London,
and had sketched others on the blocks, which he
finished at Cherryburn. He had also sketched
the designs on the blocks for the " Chace ;" and
to these I put the finishing hand, after his decease,
which happened on the 5th of December, 1795,

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 113

aged 35 years. The last thing I could do for him
was putting up a stone to his memory* at the
west end of Ovingham Church, where I hope,
when my "glass is run out," to be laid down
beside him.*

While my brother was my apprentice, he fre-
quently accompanied me on my weekly visits to
Cherryburn. He was then a clever, springy youth,
and our bounding along together was often com-
pared to the scamperings of a pair of wild colts.
These journeys commenced while I was an ap-
prentice. I then mostly went and returned on the
same day ; but, when I became my own master,
for many years — " in summer's heat and winter's
freezing cold" — I did not miss a single week.
When I was an apprentice, I had a few holydays
at Easter and Whitsuntide allowed me, according
to promise ; and these were wholly employed in
angling ; but, after the time came when I might
do as I pleased, I mostly stopped, when the
weather suited, in spring and summer, and spent
the Mondays in various streams, at this my
favourite — and, indeed, only diversion. In this I
was accompanied by my cheerful associate, "Jack
Roe," with his flies and his tackle ; and, when
we had got a sufficient number, I returned to
Newcastle with my creel well filled with fish,
which I divided amongst my friends. With an
account of these hungry, stream -wading ramblings,
and the days spent in angling, and with a descrip-
tion of the beautiful scenery of water-sides., and the
renovating charms which these altogether inspired,

[* For some further particulars respecting John Bewick, see
Appendix under that head.]

P

I 14 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

a volume might be filled, in imitation of the
patriarch of anglers, Izaak Walton : as might also
one of a descriptive or sentimental journal of these
my weekly visits to my parents. These visits
continued regularly from 1777 till 1785, in which
year my mother, my eldest sister, and my father,
all died.

It will readily be believed that, if I had not felt
uncommon pleasure in these journeys, I would not
have persisted in them ; nor in facing the snow
storms, the floods, and the dark nights of so many
winters. This, to some, appeared like insanity,
but my stimulant, as well as my reward, was in
seeing my father and mother in their happy home.
I always reflected that this would have an end,
and that the time would come when I should
have no feelings of warm regard called up on
their account. Besides these gratifications, I felt
others in observing the weekly changes of the
long-lengthened and varied year, which, by being
so measured out, appeared like living double one's
time. The " Seasons," by the inimitable Thomson,
had charmed me greatly ; but, viewing nature thus
experimentally, pleased me much more. To be
placed in the midst of a wood in the night, in
whirlwinds of snow, while the tempest howled
above my head, was sublimity itself, and drew
forth aspirations to Omnipotence such as had not
warmed my imagination so highly before ; but,
indeed, without being supported by ecstacies of
this kind, the spirits, beset as they were, would
have flagged, and I should have sunk down.

AS soon as the days began to lengthen, and the
sprouting herbage had covered the ground, I often
stopped with delight by the sides of woods, to

MEMOIR ()F THOMAS BEWICK. 115

admire the dangling woodbine and roses, and the
grasses powdered or spangled with pearly drops of
dew ; and also, week after week, the continued suc-
cession of plants and wild flowers. The primrose,
the wild hyacinth, the harebell, the daisy, the
cowslip, &c., — these, altogether, I thought no
painter ever could imitate. I had not, at that
time, ever heard the name of the great and good
Linnaeus, and knew plants only by their common
English names. While admiring these beautifully-
enamelled spots on my way, I was also charmed
with the equally beautiful little songsters, which
were constantly pouring out their various notes to
proclaim the spring. While this exhilarating
season glided on by imperceptible degrees, un-
folding its blossoms till they faded into summer,
and as the days lengthened, my hours of rising
became more and more early. I have often
thought, that not one half of mankind knew any-
thing of the beauty, the serenity, and the stillness
of the summer mornings in the country, nor have
ever witnessed the rising sun's shining forth upon
the new day.

I had often listened with great pleasure and
attention to my father's description of the morn-
ing, with his remarks upon the various wild
quadrupeds and the strange birds he had seen or
heard in these still hours throughout the year; for
he left his bed very early in summer, and seldom
later than four or five o'clock in the winter. The
autumn I viewed as the most interesting season,
and, in its appearance, the most beautiful. It
is then that the yellow harvest of the fields, and
the produce of the orchards, are gathered in, as
the reward of the labours of the year ; while the

Il6 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

picturesque beauties and varying foliage of the
fading woods, with their falling leaves, and the
assembling in flocks of the small birds, put me in
mind of the gloomy months with which the year
is closed.

This is the short account of many years of
uninterrupted health, buoyant spirits, and of great
happiness to me. I had begun betimes, and by
degrees, to habituate myself to temperance and
exercise, which hardened the constitution to such
a pitch that neither wet nor cold had any bad
effect upon me. On setting out upon my weekly
pedestrian "flights" up the Tyne, I never looked
out to see whether it was a good day or a bad
one; the worst that ever fell from the skies
never deterred me from undertaking my journey.
On setting out, I always waded through the first
pool I met with, and had sometimes the river to
wade at the far end. I never changed my
clothes, however they might be soaked with wet,
or stiffened by the frost, on my returning home
at night, till I went to bed. I had inured my-
self to this hardship, by always sleeping with
my windows open, by which a thorough air, as
well as the snow, blew through my room. In
this way, I lay down, stripped into "bare buff"
except being rolled in a blanket, upon a mattress
as hard as I could make it. Notwithstanding this
mode of treating myself, I never had any ailment,
even in the shape of a cold, while I continued to
live in this way ; nor did I experience any differ-
ence until, when I married, I was obliged to alter
my plans, and to live and behave like other folks.
If persons brought up and habituated to the tender
indulgences common in the world, and not trained

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 1 1 7

by degrees to bear the mode of life I have been
describing, were to try it, unprepared, the experi-
ment would be at their peril. My travelling
expenses for the day, were commonly only a penny
or twopence for crossing the water. On the
hottest day, I was never made violently to perspire,
but only felt a dampness on my brow. I carried
no useless weight of fat about me, and the
muscular parts were as hard as it was possible to
be on any human being. On being asked by a
gentleman — an acquaintance whom I met at
Ovingham — what I got to drink on such hot
days, on my road, my reply was — " Nothing."
He had not been used to such doings himself;
and was surprised, and could hardly believe me.
He earnestly persuaded me to try the experiment
of the amazing good a glass of brandy and water
would do me in hot weather. This I took no
notice of for some time.: at length, however, on
a thundery, hot day, on being scorched with heat,
and in danger of being struck writh lightning,
which darted from a sky almost as black as ink,
I stepped into a public house in Crawcrook, and,
for the first time in my life, called for a glass of
brandy and water. I wTas then about 28 years
old, — and surely I thought this brandy and water
was the most delicious beverage in the world.
This would not be worth noticing, but only on
account of its being a beginning to me, and which
I did not, when occasion pressed me, leave off for
some years afterwards. I often called in, almost
every Sunday morning, for my glass, while my
route lay on that side of the river, and until being
quizzed for visiting " Maggy Hay's bonny lasses."
I then left off, and walked up the north side of

n8

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

the Tyne, and crossed at Wylam, Ovingham, or
Eltringham boat ; and now only sometimes at
Scotswood, when I had occasion to visit my friends
at Hedley, but indeed I varied my roundabout
Avays in these journeys, pursuing the one I had
haunted myself to, for perhaps a quarter of a year
to an end, before I left it off, and thus became
known to most of the villages on both banks of
the Tyne, and as nothing can pass unnoticed in
villages, so they noticed me, and set it down for
granted that I was sweethearting some pretty female
on my way. This life of rapturous enjoyment has
its acids, and at length comes to an end ; and so did
my walks, and my contemplations, or reflections,
which passed through the mind while engaged in
them. These, at the time, were mostly commu-
nicated to a moralising, and sensibly religious
friend, Joseph Hubbuck, who waited my return on
the Sunday evenings, when, over our supper of a
pint of ale and a cake, for each, he, in return,
detailed to me the import of the sermons he had
heard through the day.

CHAPTER IX.

IN Christmas week, 1784, while I was on some
errand to Ovingham, amusing myself with sliding
on the ice, as smooth almost as a looking glass,
between Eltringham and that place, — I know not
what came over my mind, but something ominous
haunted it, of a gloomy change impending over
the family. At this I was surprised, for I had
never before felt any such sensation, and presently
scouted it as some whim of the imagination. The
day was to be one of cheerfulness ; for Mr. and
Mrs. Storey — distant relations of my father, and
for whom my parents had the greatest regard —
had been, with other friends, invited to dine with
us at Cherryburn. At dinner all was kindness
and cheerfulness, and my father was, as usual,
full of his jokes, and telling some of -his facetious
stories and anecdotes. For two, or perhaps three
Sundays after this, I was prevented from getting
over the water, by the ice and other floods, and
returned from Ovingham without seeing or hear-
ing how all were at home. The Sunday after,
upon my making my usual call at John Gilchrist's,
the gardener in Ovingham, — where, when at
school, we always left our dinner poke, and
dined, — he informed me, with looks of grief, that
my mother was very unwell. I posted off, in
haste, along with him, and across the river to
see her. Upon my asking her, earnestly, how
she was, she took me apart, and told me it was

120 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

nearly all over with her ; and she described to
me how she had got her death. She had been
called up, on a severe frosty night, to see a young
woman in the hamlet below, who was taken ill ;
and, thinking the bog she had to pass through,
might be frozen hard enough to bear her, she
" slumped" deep into it, and, before she had waded
through it, she got very wet and a "perishment"
of cold ; and, in that state, she went to give her
advice as to what was best to be done with her
patient. I employed my friend, Dr. Bailes, to
visit her; and I ran up from Newcastle two or
three times a week with his medicines for her ;
but all would not do : she died on the 2oth
February, 1785, aged 58 years.* She was pos-
sessed of great innate powers of mind, which
had been cultivated by a good education, as well
as by her own endeavours. For these, and for
her benevolent, humane disposition, and good
sense, she was greatly respected, and, indeed,
revered by the whole neighbourhood. My eldest
sister, Hannah Chambers, who was down from
London on a visit to her home, at the time of
my mother's illness and death, by her over-
exertion and anxiety, brought on an illness ; and,
for the convenience of medical aid, and better
nursing, I brought her to my hitherto little happy
cot, at the Forth, where she died on the 24th June,
1785, aged 30 years. These were gloomy days to
me ! Some short time before my sister died, upon
her requesting me, and my promising her, that I

[* This date appears upon a little memorial stone which serves as
the tailpiece to the "Ass and Lion Hunting" in the " Fables of
AZsop." Another stone at p. 176 bears the date of the death of
Bewick's father, recorded on the following page.]

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 121

would see her buried at Ovingham, she proposed
to sing me a song. I thought this very strange,
and felt both sorrow and surprise at it ; but she
smiled at me, and began her song of " All Things
have but a Time/' I had heard the old song
before, and thought pretty well of it ; but her's was
a later and a very much better version of it.

During this time I observed a great change in
the looks and deportment of my father. He had,
what is called, "never held up his head" since
the death of my mother ; and, upon my anxiously
pressing him to tell me what ailed him, he said
he had felt as if he were shot through from the
breast to the shoulders with a great pain that
hindered him from breathing freely. Upon my
mentioning medical assistance, he rejected it, and
told me, if I sent him any drugs, I might depend
upon it he would throw them all behind the fire.
He wandered about all summer alone, with a kind
of serious look, and took no pleasure in anything,
till near the i5th November, which, I understand,
was his birthday, and on which he completed his
yoth year, and on that day he died. He was
buried beside my mother and sister at Ovingham.
After this, I left off my walks to Cherryburn ; the
main attractions to it were gone ; and it became
a place the thoughts of which now raked up
sorrowful reflections in my mind. Some par-
ticulars respecting my father, and illustrative
of his character, may, perhaps, be thought not
uninteresting. I shall give a few of such as I
recollect them. In his person, he was a stout,
square-made, strong, and active man, and through
life was a pattern of health. I was told by some
of my aunts, who were older than he, that he was

Q

122 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

never ill from a disease in his life ; and I have
heard him say "he wondered how folks felt when
they were bad." He was of a cheerful temper,
and he possessed an uncommon vein of humour
and a fund of anecdote. He was much noticed by
the gentlemen and others of the neighbourhood
for these qualities, as well as for his integrity. He
had, however, some traits that might be deemed
singular, and not in order. He never would pro-
secute any one for theft ; he hated going to law,
but he took it at his own hand, and now and then
gave thieves a severe beating, and sometimes
otherwise punished them in a singular and whim-
sical way. I have known him, on a winter night,
rise suddenly up from his seat, and, with a stick
in his hand, set off to the colliery, in order to
catch the depredators whom he might detect steal-
ing his coals. I remember one instance of his
thus catching a young fellow, a farmer with his
loaded cart, and of his giving him a severe beat-
ing, or, what -was called, a "hideing," and of his
making him leave his booty and go home empty.
The thieves themselves were sure to keep the
business secret, and he himself never spoke of it
beyond his own fireside. In these robberies,
which he saw with his own eyes, he conceived he
did not need the help of either witnesses, judge,
or jury, nor the occasion to employ any attorney
to empty his pockets. I have sometimes heard
Mm make remarks upon people whom he knew
to be hypocrites, and on their loud praying and
holding up their hands at church. After having
noticed that one of these, one Sunday, had acted
thus, and remained to take the Sacrament, some
person called, in the afternoon, with the news that

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 123

this very man had, on his way home, caught the
galloway of poor Tommy Cook the shoemaker, which
had entered through a gap in the hedge into his
field, and had driven it before him into the pinfold.
This was sufficient ; this was the spark which
kindled up and increased to a blaze, which my
father could not muster temper enough to keep
down. Next morning, he set off to the smith's
shop, and sent for this choleric, purse-proud man,
to whom, in rude terms, he opened out upon his
hypocrisy, and at length obliged him to release
the galloway from its hungry imprisonment. He
recommended him to make his peace with the poor
but honest and respected man, and to go no more
to church, nor to take the Sacrament, till a change
had taken place in his mind. He also told him
that he ought that very night, before he slept, to
sit down on his bare knees, and implore forgive-
ness of the God he had offended.

The last transaction I shall mention, on this
subject, — and which bore a more serious com-
plexion than the foregoing, — happened when I
was an apprentice. A pitman, George Parkin,
who had long wrought in the colliery, was highly
valued by my father for his industry, sobriety, and
honesty. He would not do anything unfairly him-
self in working the coal in the boards, nor suffer
others to do so. For this conduct he became
deservedly a great favourite, — so much so that one
of the old lodges had been comfortably fitted up
for him and his family to live in rent free ; and a
garth, besides, was taken off the common for his
use. For these he often expressed himself so
highly pleased that he used to say, he was happier
than a prince. My father, for many years, — ever,

124 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

indeed, since the gin once ran amain, and, in his
attempting to stop it, he got his skull fractured, —
had made it a point, if possible, to let the men
down to their work himself; so that he might see
with his own eyes that all was safe. All passed
on pleasantly in this way for a long while, till one
morning, when thus employed letting the men
down, George, who was always the first at his
work, having fixed himself on the chain, with
his son on his arm, to be both let down together,
had given the signal, " Wise-away," and at the
same time holding up his " low rope/' he observed
the pit rope which was to bear their weight had
been cut near the chain. On this he shouted
" Stop," and started back upon the " seddle
boards," just in time to prevent himself and the
boy from being precipitated to the bottom of the
pit. The poor man was almost overpowered with
the shock, when my father, keeping the "dreg"
upon the " start," caught hold of him and the
boy, and conducted both into the lodge. On
examining the rope, my father found it had
been cut through to the last strand. He then
stopped the working of the pit for that day. Poor
Geordy, in great distress of mind, set off to New-
castle to inform me of what had happened. I was
grieved to hear his tale ; and this was heightened
by his declaring that all his pleasures were at an
end ; for he never could go back to his work, nor
to his happy home again.

For some time, my father seemed lost in ponder-
ing over this mysterious affair. He, however, at
length began to be fixed in his suspicions, and, as
was usual on such occasions, his indignation, step
by step, rose to the greatest height. In this state

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 125

of mind, he set off unusually soon in the morning,
to let the men down to their work ; knowing that
the object of his suspicions, — a wicked, ignorant,
young fellow — would be the first, and alone. He
began by accusing him of the horrid deed, and
instantly to beat and overpower him ; threatening
him that he would drag him to the pit, and throw
him down the shaft, if he did not confess. The
threat succeeded ; he was afraid of his life, and
confessed. My father instantly dismissed him
from his employment. When the rest of the men
came to their work, they saw, by the blood, and
the retaliating blows on my father's face, that
something unusual had occurred. He then told
them the particulars, at which they greatly rejoiced.
In this state of things, the accusing culprit, while
he bore the marks of violence upon him, set
crippling off to lodge his complaint to the justices,
and my father was summoned to appear before
them. When met together, the justices (Captains
Smith and Bainbridge,* of the Riding), heard the
charge of assault, which, from the first appearance
of the complainant before them, they had no
reason to doubt. They both expressed their sur-
prise to find such a charge against my father, with
whom they had been in habits of neighbourly
intimacy, and who was the last man on earth they
could suspect as capable of committing such an
outrage. After laying down the law in such cases,

* Now Major Bainbridge, who has been many years in the com-
mission of the peace, in which he is much respected as a magistrate
and a man. Without knowing what side he took in politics, I have
always considered him as a local patriot, keen of promoting every-
thing for the benefit of Tyneside. While I am writing this (23rd
June, 1823) he is living, and in his 8jth year. Captain Smith I did
not know. (Major Bainbridge died 6th December, 1826, in his
9 ist year.)

126

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

they wished to hear what he had to say for himself.
He readily acknowledged what he had done, and
his reasons for doing so. They seemed much
shocked at the horrid narrative ; and, after con-
ferring together in private a short time, the
business was resumed. " Pray," said one of them
to the culprit, "were not you the man who robbed
By well Lock, and" — looking him sternly in the
face — " was not this master of yours the very
friend by whose unceasing endeavours and in-
fluence you were saved from transportation ?
Begone ! leave the country, and never let us see
you more." The man left the country for many
years, and, on his return, I was both pleased and
surprised to find he was much reformed. In
addition to this long account, I must add, that my
father could not be troubled to harbour ill-will in
his mind, and that, if he were passionate, he was
equally compassionate.

CHAPTER X.

FOR many years, including1 a part of those of
my apprenticeship, my master and self were fully
employed upon such work as I have named before,
from silversmiths, watchmakers, and hardware-
men; but a new customer (Isaac Hymen, a Jew),
came in the way with his seal-cutting1 orders,
which amounted to more, in that way, than all
the rest put together. This man, besides his box
of watches, trinkets, &c., had gathered together
a large collection of impressions of well-cut seals;
and, being a man of good address, and a good
singer, had introduced himself into coffee-rooms
frequented by gentlemen and respectable trades-
men, where he exhibited his impressions as the
work of his own hands; and, by this management
— for he knew nothing whatever of engraving — he
got orders. Somehow or other, it was propagated
throughout the town that his seals surpassed by
far anything we ever did, or could do ; and,
although we had done the whole of his orders,
this was believed, and there seemed to be only
one opinion as to his very superior excellence. I
remember once rising early in the morning, and
working till late at night, and, on that day',
cutting five steel seals with cyphers and initials,
for which our common wholesale charge was
35. 6d., and to our private customers, 55. For
these he charged 125. 6d. each to his friends. He
observed to me, on my remarking to him on his

128 .MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

extravagant charges, " that it was foolish in us to
do as we did;" and, for himself, he said, "you
know, I must live." My wages for the short time
I worked for my master, after I was out of my
apprenticeship, was a guinea per week, but Isaac
offered me two guineas if I would travel with him.
The travelling part I should have liked well
enough, but not to travel with a Jew. He went
on in this way, with his orders, till we had no
other customer in that department ; and my
master then, as well as when I became his partner,
often expressed himself highly chagrined that
some of his old private friends went past him,
and even joined others in lessening our work.
Our friend Isaac continued long uninterruptedly
thus to carry all before him, till some of our old
customers became irritated at him, and par-
ticularly a watchmaker, who took great pains to
open out and expose the business. Isaac then left
Newcastle, and report said he was found dead on
the road between Sunderland and Durham. I
have often seen, in London, — and perhaps the
same may be observed in every large town,—
" The pale artist ply his sickly trade," to keep in
affluence such managing, money-making, pre-
tended artists as Isaac Hymen ; and this must
continue to be the case so long as gentlemen will
not go themselves to the fountain head, and be at
the pains to encourage merit.

Our main supporters in the silver engraving,
were John Langlands and his partner John Robert-
son. Before they entered into partnership, Mr.
Robertson was well known and much respected
in almost every principal town in Britain, and (I
believe) in Ireland, as a travelling silversmith and

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 129

jeweller, and by his superior knowledge of busi-
ness he greatly augmented that of their joint
concern.* Mr. Langlands was of a cheerful, hos-
pitable, and charitable disposition, full of stories
and anecdotes, and that kind of man who greatly
esteemed men of ability, integrity, and industry.
These he never forgot when age or infirmities
brought them down. He then shook hands with
them as he had done before, but his own mostly
concealed his token of respect — a half-guinea. Mr.
Robertson, was also, for many respects, of a
similar disposition to his partner. I spent many
a cheerful evening in Mr. Langlands' house, in
company with others who also partook of his hos-
pitable board. The most remarkable of these was
Matthew Prior, who had the character of being
one of the best mechanics in the kingdom. He
was assay master, a musical instrument maker,
and a turner, in which last he particularly ex-
celled. The many remarkable pieces of dexterous
workmanship he had done in that way drew upon
him the notice of many gentlemen in the two
northern counties, with whom also, as an angler,
a sportsman, and a jovial companion, he was a
welcome guest. It happened, on some pretence or
other, that an attempt was made to take away the
assay business from Newcastle, which occasioned
Prior to be sent for, to be examined by (I believe)
a committee of the House of Commons, as to his
ability in conducting that business. The ease, the
clearness, as well as the straight-forward way in
which he answered all questions excited some sur-
prise, as well as approbation. When questioned

* John Langlands died 10 April, 1783, aged 78, and was buried in
St. Nicholas's Church.

R

130 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

as to the accuracy of his scale-beam, he said a
hair clipped from the back of his hand would turn
his scales either way. For a wager, he turned
two billiard balls of such equal weights that the
difference was as nothing. He was of a most
independent cast of character, and open and frank
in his conversation. It had been reported that
Prior had said of a proud, high-minded gentleman
that " he durst do what neither the gentleman nor
any of his family dared do." Prior had never said
any such thing ; but this gentleman took him to
task about it, and, with great indignation, accused
him of saying so. At this, Prior, in his turn, felt
offended, and told him, though he had never said
so, he would now say so to his face. This produced
a wager between them ; and Matthew told him he
would double the bet if he pleased. "Now," said
the gentleman, in high ill-humour, "what is it
you dare do ?" " Do !" said Prior, " I dare spend
the last shilling I have in the world !"*

During a great part of the time I have been
noticing, the American War was going on. The
"press" broke out just after I landed in London,
and, to escape the gang, one of our crew came and
took refuge with me. This poor fellow, a decent
man, had in his youth been on board a ship of
war; and, as far as concerned himself, he said he
did not mind going again ; but the thoughts of
being dragged from his family threw him into very
great distress. Political writings and debatings
sometimes ran very high between those who were
advocates for a system of corruption, and profited

* Matthew Prior died June 15, 1800, aged 65, and was buried in
St. Nicholas's Church.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 131

by the taxes, and those who were advocates for
the liberties of mankind ; but it always appeared
to me that a very great majority of the people
were decidedly against the war. These writings
and debatings, which the war occasioned, certainly
served greatly to alter the notions and the opinions
of the people respecting the purity of the British
government, and its representative system ; and
this attempt at doing it away altogether in America
seemed a prelude to the same system of misrule,
when, by slower degrees, a future opportunity
offered for doing it away at home. In these
political debatings, the question was often asked,
"Whether the government was made for the
people, or the people for the government ?" Great
numbers, who hoped for the best, still clung to the
government under which they had been brought
up, and had been taught to revere as excellency
itself. While others were contending whether a
kingly government or a republic was best, it was
generally admitted that a deal might be said pro
and con; for many examples might be adduced of
mal-administration under both forms. Some of
these disputants would repeat what Pope had
said —

" For modes of faith let graceless zealots fight,
His can't be wrong whose life is in the right ;
For forms of government, it is confest
That which is best administered is best."

In England the people may boast that their
forefathers had a king, in Alfred the Great, the
wisest, the bravest, and the best the world ever
knew ; by whose excellent conduct was laid the
foundation of the liberties of his country, and

132 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

from the influence of which there can be no doubt
that the English language will be spoken over the
whole Globe. Were kings to endeavour to follow
his example, and ever to keep in mind that they
and their ministers ought to consider themselves
as a royal society for the promotion of arts and
sciences, and of everything that can enlighten the
minds and ameliorate the condition .of mankind,
they would do right. Kings would then reign in
the hearts of the great overwhelming mass of the
people, and no confederacy or conspiracy of nobles
or others could ever upset their rule. But, while
they continue to suffer themselves to be surrounded
by flatterers, sycophants, and selfish knaves, no
good need be expected ; for they are thus brought
up like petted children, and have not the same
chance of becoming wise as other men. Thus
situated, they are to be pitied. One would think
that the respectable part of the old nobility, or
other opulent men of great abilities, might be
found with patriotism enough to perform the
offices of the ministry gratis, scorning high
salaries, and only looking to honourable distinc-
tion. This would of itself put an end to corruption.
Justices of the peace take the very great trouble of
acting their parts gratuitously ; churchwardens
and overseers do the same ; and why do not the
great and rich men of the land follow the praise-
worthy example r

In turning back to take another look at the
American war, one may reckon to a certainty of
its having been made the subject of debatings,
and of furnishing matter for the thinking part of
mankind, over the whole of the civilised world.
George the Third and his advisers did not, per-

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 133

haps, think of this, nor its consequences ; neither
did they ever contemplate the mighty events they
were thus bringing about in rearing and establish-
ing the wisest and greatest republic and nation
the world ever saw. When its immense territory
is filled with an enlightened population, and its
government, like a rock, founded on the liberties
and the rights of man, it is beyond human com-
prehension to foresee the strides the nation will
make towards perfection. It is likely they will
cast a compassionate eye on the rest of the world,
grovelling under arbitrary power, banish it from
the face of the earth, and kill despots with a
frown.* One would fain hope, however, that kings
and their advisers will coolly reflect upon the
improving intellect of mankind, and take measures
to govern in a way more befitting the state of the
people over whom they are called upon to rule.

During the long continuance of this war, and
the debatings as before noticed, I became ac-
quainted with a number of genteel young menf of
a literary turn, who kept a library of books, and
held their meetings in a room at Sam. Alcock's, at
the sign of the Cannon, at the foot of the old Flesh
Market, and I used to frequent this house in the
evenings to get my pint of ale and a cake, and to
hear the news and to have a bit of chat or
conversation with some of them when they ad-
journed from their book society. I did not

* " Thus far," says a note in the original MS, "from p. 35 " (p. 42
in this book) "was written while confined by a fit of the gout at
home from 29 May till 24 June, 1823."

f Joseph Hubbuck, woollen draper (see p. 118), Moses Marshall,
cashier at the bank, John Gale, sword bearer, Gilfrid Ward (of
facetious memory), woollen draper, and many others of an intelligent,
cheerful, and pleasant character.

134 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

join their society, but I sometimes dined with
them at their annual, cheerful dinner. I was
never fond of public dinners or dining parties ;
and I think I would not have partaken with them
had I not been tempted to do so by way of hearing
their songs, with which I felt much charmed, but
particularly with the Scotch songs, with which one
of the members, Walter Cannaway the carver and
gilder, used so highly to delight the company on
these occasions. He, according to my notions,
was the best singer I ever heard. I have always
been more charmed with the human voice, when
well attuned, than with any instrumental music
whatever ; and his voice was extremely good. He
could in a natural tone go to the highest and the
lowest pitch, with his pauses, his shakes or
quavers, all in time. Many others, perhaps, might
have as good a voice, and as correct an ear for
music as he, and would have been equally as
charming had they not been spoiled by the
fashion they had got into to please the surfeited
tastes of coxcombical connoisseurs and a vitiated,
aping public. I have ever been much disgusted
to hear and see these spoiled performers, quaver-
ing and spinning out their unnatural falsetto
voices until almost spent. It showed well how
long-winded these kind of performers were, but
I never could sit to hear any of them ; as it
appeared to me to be anything but music, or
music run mad.

On my first going to business, I had an oppor-
tunity of sometimes hearing musical concerts. My
master belonged to a musical society held at
Moore's in the Close, and when I had any message
to take to him, I was commonly invited to remain.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 135

The two sons of Charles Avison, the great musical
composer,* belonged to this society, and Mr.
Beilby and family were on terms of intimacy
with them. I also occasionally heard the band
at the theatre, but I cannot say I felt much
pleasure in listening to them, and I well remember
on one occasion of setting them aside. The late
Mr. Dibden, who often called upon me, had some
performance to exhibit at our theatre, and had
quarrelled with the theatrical band on account of
their exorbitant demands ; and, in this dilemma,
he expressed himself much disappointed, and knew
not what to do. I told him I thought, if he would
leave the matter to me, I could set all right ; and
I instantly applied to old Wm. Lamshaw, the
Duke of Northumberland's piper, to play at the
theatre. I being well acquainted with the old
man, he readily assented. I then told my friend
Dibden what I had done, and satisfied him as to
the preference the audience would give to the
piper. In this I was not mistaken ; for all went
well off, and everyone expressed both pleasure and
surprise at the change.

Some time before the American war broke out,
there had been a lack of musical performers in our
streets, and in this interval, I used to engage
John Peacock, our inimitable performer, to play
on the Northumberland or small pipes ; and with

[* Avison was organist of St. Nicholas's Church, to which post he
was appointed in 1736. He was born in Newcastle, studied in Italy,
and on his return became a pupil of Geminiani. In 1752 he pub-
lished an " Essay on Musical Expression," in which he depreciated
the German school of music, and involved himself in a controversy
with Dr. Hayes. He died May 10, 1770. Avison, it may be remem-
bered was one of the "Certain People of Importance in their Day"
with whom, Mr. Browning, in his latest volume, recently held parley.
His eldest son showed great talent.]

136 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

his old tunes, his lilts, his pauses, and his varia-
tions, I was always excessively pleased. At one
time I was afraid that these old tunes, and this
ancient instrument, might, from neglect of encour-
agement, get out of use, and I did everything in
my power to prevent this, and to revive it, by
urging Peacock to teach pupils to become masters
of this kind of music ; and I flatter myself that my
efforts were not lost. I was afraid that the
Northumberland family were beginning to feel
indifferent, or to overlook these their ancient
minstrels, who had for ages past been much
esteemed, and kept in attendance by their fore-
fathers. It was, however, with great pleasure I
found that they had appointed William Cant,* a
pupil of old William Lamshaw, to be piper to the
Northumberland Regiment of Militia ; and he kept
up with great spirit and effect this department of
their music while he remained in the regiment.
Nor was the regiment behind in the other depart-
ments of music ; for it was allowed by judges
that their fifers and drummers were inferior to
none in the kingdom. One man, in particular-
John Bowman — it was asserted, was the best per-
former on the fife that was "known in the world/'

* On his death, I sent the following notice to Mr. Walker's news-
paper : — "July I5th, 1821, died, Mr. William Cant, of the Blue Bell
Inn, Newcastle, aged 70 years. He was an excellent performer on
the violin and the Northumberland pipes; and, like his great pre-
decessors on the latter instrument — Turnbull, Gilley, Old Lamshaw,
and Peacock — he kept up the ancient tunes with all their charming
lilts and pauses, unspoiled by the modern improvers of music, with
their ' Idiot notes impertinently long.' He played 'his native wood-
notes wild,' such as pleased the ears of the yeomanry of old at Otter-
burn, Hedgley Moor, and Flodden Field. For —

' Whene'er his pipe did silence break,
You'd thought the instrument would speak.' "

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 137

Certain it is that every year for twenty-two years,
he challenged the fifers of every regiment stationed
in Newcastle, to a trial of skill on that instru-
ment ; but none of them could compete with him.
He could draw out tones from it the most soft
and graceful, as well as the most stunning and
loud, such as the ear could not endure in a room,
and which were only fit to be heard in the open
air.

CHAPTER XI.

I HAVE noticed several of my friends and ac-
quaintances whose characters stood high in my
estimation. I have now another to introduce, the
play-fellow of my youth, Thomas Lawson, as
remarkable as any of them. He left Tyneside, his
and my home, and came to Newcastle about 1777
or '78, to launch out into the world of exertion
and turmoil ; and, from his abilities and integrity,
he seemed well befitted to make a great figure in
it, and, had he been spared, he* would, in my
opinion, have shone out like another Benjamin
Franklin. He was for a short time one of my
schoolfellows at Ovingham ; but, from his father
having been beggared by the failure of a coal-
owner for whom he had been employed many
years, my young friend was obliged to leave
school, and to seek out some employment for
himself, while his mother brought up a large
family with the small profits of a public house,
the sign of the White Horse in Ovingham. The
house was his father's, but the brewer got it for
what was owing to him 'for ale. This brewer,
however, being a generous man, still did not take
the house as his own, but permitted the family
to keep it, for the support of themselves and some
of the younger children. In the interim, he took
up his abode in my father's house as a home,
his mother having been much respected by my
mother, a close intimacy having long subsisted

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 139

between them. The first employment that my
companion got was that of a plough-driver. He
next became a farmer's servant, and afterwards
a manager of a farm and brewery. In all these
departments, he was distinguished for his industry,
good sense, good management, and great integrity,
It happened, however, that he, being handsome
in his person and manly in his deportment, his
employer began to suspect that the young lady
of the house was showing a marked partiality
towards him ; and this having occasioned some
frowns and hints which his spirit could not brook,
he gave up the place. Having seen an advertise-
ment from a gentleman going on his travels, who
wanted a young man as a servant and a manager
of his affairs, poor Lawson was struck with this
as a thing worth looking after, and he immediately
set off to Newcastle to make the necessary en-
quiries. For that purpose he waited upon Mr.
Slack, bookseller and editor of the "Newcastle
Chronicle." As soon as he entered the shop or
office, Mrs. Slack* eyed him from head to foot ;
and, after a short pause, she broke silence and
began by telling him she thought it a great pity
that such a young man, as he appeared to be,
should not do better than putting himself to be a
gentleman's servant, and asked him if he would
not like better to be some trade or business. This
he readily admitted, but at the same time observed,
that he had not the means of doing so. Being a
very sensible clever woman, she told him she
would endeavour to help him to accomplish this,

* She selected and published "The Pleasing Instructor," was the
author of " Fisher's Grammar [and Tutor"] and was quite a literary
character. [She died in Newgate Street, Newcastle, April 26, 1778.]

140 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

and after some bargain-making it was agreed that
he was for a few years to be bound to Mr. Slack
as a pressman, for which he was to be paid eight
shillings per week. At that time and with this
wage, he contrived to maintain himself and to pay
out of it for a night-school education, under the
Rev. John Baillie.* His progress was truly
astonishing in figures, languages, the use of the
globes, &c. ; but his memory was so tenacious
that he retained whatever he learned, and he could
repeat the longest harangue (as far as I was able
to judge) verbatim. I once had an opportunity of
witnessing this, in his repeating the whole of a
charity sermon, preached by the eloquent the Rev.
Dr. Scott, of Simonburn. While he was employed
in the drudgery of the printing press, he, at the
same time, made himself master of the business
of a compositor, and presently became a secondary
foreman or manager under Robert Carr,t who had
long conducted the business in that office. I do
not recollect how long he remained in Mr. Slack's
employment, but shortly after he left him, he
married a young woman of respectable parentage,
who had long been in love with him. It happened
that the printing of a Bible in numbers had been
established ; but the editor, either from mis-
management, or something amiss, was on the
verge of a failure. In this state of affairs, Lawson
turned his attention to the business, and applied to

[* The Rev. John Baillie, author of " Lectures on the Revelations,"
"Impartial History of Newcastle," 1801, etc., died in Gateshead
12 December, 1806, aged 66.]

f Mr. Carr was a man of literary attainments, and was considered
as respectable for his talents as a poet. He was the friend and asso-
ciate of Cunningham. [He died June 4, 1783, JEt. 45.]

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 141

his wife's friends for assistance, but they could, at
that time, only spare him about thirty pounds;
and with this sum in hand, he made a proposal
for purchasing the types, and everything belonging
to the printing office. It is singular enough that
the printer referred to, having left Newcastle, lived
and had his printing office in the governor's house
at Tynemouth, whither I went with my friend when
the bargain was closed between them. He now
commenced business on his own account, but how
long he had to struggle through difficulties, before
he got well established, I have forgotten. It is
remarkable that he met with unsolicited aid from
many friends; for every one who knew him became
interested in his welfare. He lived till he sur-
mounted every obstacle to his prosperity; but, in
doing this, his too great application and exertion
ruined his health. He pined away and died, in a
house close by mine at the Forth, on the yth
March, 1783, aged 31 years. I, with many other
of his friends, accompanied his remains to Oving-
ham, where he was buried. This was the first time
in my life that I felt poignant grief.

My old schoolfellow and friend, Philip Gregson,
of the Custom House, London, being on a visit to
his relatives and friends in the north, in 1780,
I, being fond of rambling, proposed setting him on
his return home, as far as York, if he would walk
with me to that city, to which he agreed ; and, after
spending a day or two with him there, we parted.
On my return, I took the road by Boroughbridge
to Ripon, where I stayed a short time till I had
viewed the country round it, and particularly Stud-
ley Park and its beautiful scenery. I then returned
to Darlington, and changed my route to the west-

142 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

ward, by Barnard Castle, Bowes, over Stainmore to
Brough, Appleby, and Penrith ; and from thence to
my uncle's at Ainstable. On leaving him and his
family, I walked home that day to Cherryburn, and
so on the next to Newcastle.

I have not interlarded this journey with any of
my remarks on the road — on the grandeur of York
Minster — the large upright stones called "The
Devil's Arrows," near Boroughbridge — the exten-
sive prospects from Cross Fell, &c.; and therefore
my dear Jane must regard the whole of this merely
as one of my "tramps," and a description of these
places by others may be referred to.

In another of my perambulations, I prevailed on
my acquaintance, Walter Cannaway, to accompany
me to Berwick. We set off on an Easter Sunday
morning, in 1784, by the seaside, and our first halt
was at Chevington, beyond Widdrington. I had
not broken my fast, and was quite ready to make a
hearty meal upon some dry barley cake and cheese,
whilst my thirsty companion, with equal pleasure,
enjoyed himself with hearty draughts of ale. We
reached Lesbury in the afternoon, and, when my
fellow-traveller sat down, he observed, that I might
go on if I pleased, but he would not move a foot
further that night. Next day, after sauntering
about a little in the villages on our road, we
reached Elwick, the hospitable mansion of my
friend Thomas Younghusband, Esq., where we
stopped that night. Mr. Younghusband happened
to have a few of his friends to spend the evening
with him. We got on to make merry and to sing
songs ; and, when it came to Cannaway's turn, the
party were so agreeably surprised and pleased at
his performance that we did not separate till the

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

143

morning. My companion and I set off to Berwick,
and, after seeing the town, we returned to Elwick
by Holy Island. In the performance of this day's
journey we had to encounter some difficulties which
might have been attended with fatal consequences.
We had been cautioned against attempting, after a
certain hour, to walk across the extensive flat left
bare by the ebb tide. We were beyond the time
named, but resolved to proceed, and had to run the
greatest part of the way; and it was well we did so;
for, before we reached the Island, we found the tide
was rapidly advancing between us and the shore,
and we had to wade deeply before we reached it.
On looking back, over the flat space we had just
left, we were surprised to view it as a sea. My
companion, being rather corpulent, was in a sad
state of perspiration with over exertion, and I think
I was not much better, from the anxiety I felt for
him, while I was constantly urging him to mend
his speed. We now hastened to a public-house,
dripping with wet, where my companion took a
few glasses of gin, and prevailed on me to take
one along with hini; and this is the first glass of
that liquor I ever recollect taking. Our next
business was to get a boat to set us across the arm
of the sea, between the island and the nearest
shore, towards Elwick. It was then nearly dark;
and, before the boatmen got us rowed across, it
was quite so. Where they landed us we knew not,
but we had to wade to the dry beach. In shaping
our course to Elwick, we lost ourselves in the fields,
and it was late before we arrived there. We were
in as dirty a state as wet and mire could make us.
Mrs. Younghusband, however, lost no time in
fitting us up with dry clothes, and in making us

144 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

as comfortable as she could. I remained a day
or two at Elwick, and made some visits along
with Mr. Younghusband in the neighbourhood.
My fellow-traveller had somewhat similar visits
to pay, in collecting some debts due to him, which,
when done, he met me at Alnwick, where Mr.
Younghusband having to attend a meeting of free-
holders, on some election business, at the town
hall, I accompanied him thither. Never having
before heard any speeches, I was much entertained
with those now made. This being about the time
that Mr. Pitt came into the administration, and
being the son of the great Chatham, most people
hoped and expected he would follow the bright,
the patriotic example that had been set him ; but
one gentleman appeared to differ in opinion from
the majority, and, in what I conceived to be an
eloquent speech, foretold that he would turn out,
in character, to be quite a different kind of man.
About the year 1790, I became a member of
"Swarley's Club/' held in the evenings, at the
Black Boy Inn. This was the most rational society
or meeting I ever knew. The few rules which
bound us together were only verbal. The first was
that every member should conduct himself with
decorum, and as a gentleman. If any one trans-
gressed on this point, he was immediately fined,
and if he did not pay, he wras sent to Coventry, or
dismissed. On entering the room, every member
paid fourpence, which was to be spent in beer
only. Any member might introduce his friend
at the same expense. There were no fines for
non-attendance and no regular debatings allowed
on any subject but such as might occasionally
arise out of the passing conversation, and the

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 145

company separated at ten o'clock. George Carlton
was perpetual President, and in that office always
conducted himself in a pleasant and gentlemanly
manner. William Preston, the printer, was
Secretary and Treasurer, and always acquitted
himself in the same agreeable way the president
had done. Conversations amongst the friends
thus associated, — consisting of merchants, or
respectable tradesmen, — were carried on without
restraint, and only interrupted for the moment
while the president claimed attention to any par-
ticular news of the day that might be worth notice.
Such a place of meeting proved convenient and
pleasant to many a stranger who visited the town,
and the expense was as nothing. It may seem
strange that, out of a fourpenny club like this,
there was commonly an overplus left, to give away
at Christmas and Easter to some charitable
purpose. I went to this club when I had time to
spare in an evening, and seldom missed a week
to an end. This happy society was at length
broken up, at the time when war on behalf of
despotism was raging, and the spy system was
set afloat. Some spies, and others of the same
stamp, contrived to get themselves introduced,
and to broach political questions, for the purpose
of exciting debates, and feeling the pulse of the
members, who before this had very seldom touched
upon subjects of that kind.

Besides being kept busy with the routine business
of our work-office, I was often engaged in executing
wood cuts for publishers and printers, at various
times from about the year 1788 to 1790. The
first of any importance was the wood cuts of

Roman altars, and the arms of the Bishops of

T

146 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

Durham, for " Hutchinson's History of Durham,"
in which my friend, the late George fiJlan, Esq.,
of the Grange, Darlington, took a conspicuous
part. A set of cuts was done for " Goldsmith's
Deserted Village," for Mr. Walker, printer of
Hereford. Mr. Nicholson, printer of Ludlow and
Poughnill, the publishers of " Elegant Selections
from Various Authors," employed me to embellish
some of these with wood cuts. My old friend, Air.
Bulmer, of the Shakespeare Printing Office, London,
also employed me to execute the cuts for Parnell's
" Hermit " and Goldsmith's " Deserted Village."
Many other cuts were done, from time to time,
for printers in various parts of the kingdom.
These formed an almost endless variety. I
engraved a series of copper plates, at a low rate,
for Sir Harry Liddell's and Captain Consett's
"Tour to Lapland," in 1786.* My partner and
self were busily engaged in engraving, about the
year 1796, the plan of the proposed canal from
Newcastle to Carlisle, as projected by Mr.
Chapman, engineer, and plans of estates and views
of the mansion houses of a few gentlemen who
opposed the canal, on the north side of the Tyne.
After a great deal of scheming and mancevring,
under the management of Ralph Heron, an
attorney of great ability, the whole of this great,
this important national as well as local undertaking
was baffled and set aside. Most men of discern-
ment were of opinion that the coalowners "below

[ * Hutchinson's " History and Antiquities of the County Palatine
of Durham," was published in 1785 ; Goldsmith's " Poetical Works"
1794; "Literary Miscellany" (Elegant Selections), circa 1799;
Poems by Goldsmith and Parnell, 1795 ; arid Liddell and Consett's
"Tour through Sweden, Swedish Lapland, Finland, and Denmark,"
in 1789.]

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 147

bridge" were the cause of it. The canal, as
projected by Mr. Dodd, in 1795, would have
certainly opened out a territory of coal that might
have affected their interest. It would appear, at
least, that they dreaded it ; and in this, as in
almost every other case, private interest was found
to overpower public good.

CHAPTER XII.

HAVING, from the time that I was a school-
boy, been displeased with most of the figures in
children's books, and particularly with those of the
"Three Hundred Animals," the figures in which,
even at that time, I thought I could depicture
much better; and having afterwards very often
turned the matter over in my mind, of making
improvements in that publication — I at last came
to the determination of making the attempt. The
extreme interest I had always felt in the hope of
administering to the pleasure and amusement of
youth, and judging from the feelings I had ex-
perienced myself that they would be affected in
the same wray as I had been, whetted me up
and stimulated me to proceed. In this, my only
reward besides was the great pleasure I felt in
imitating nature. That I should ever do anything
to attract the notice of the world, in the manner
that has been done, was the farthest thing in
my thoughts, and so far as I was concerned
myself at that time, I minded little about any
self-interested considerations. These intentions I
communicated to my partner; and, though he did
not doubt of my being able to succeed, yet, being
a prudent, cautious, and thinking man, he wished
to be more satisfied as to the probability of such
a publication paying for the labour. On this
occasion, being little acquainted with the nature
of such undertakings, we consulted our friend
Solomon Hodgson, bookseller and editor of the
"Newcastle Chronicle/' as to the probability of

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 149

its success, &c., when he most warmly encouraged
us to proceed.

Such animals as I knew, I drew from memory on
the wood; others which I did not know were copied
from Dr. Smellie's Abridgement of Buffon, and
other naturalists, and also from the animals which
were from time to time exhibited in shows. Of
these last, I made sketches first from memory, and
then corrected and finished the drawings upon the
wood from a second examination of the different
animals. I began this business of cutting the
blocks with the figure of the dromedary, on the
i5th November, 1785, the day on which my father
died.* I then proceeded in copying such figures as
above named as I did not hope to see alive. The
figures which were done from nature or from
memory, so much attracted the notice of our friend
that he ardently insisted upon our making our
work assume a superior character to that of the
"shabby book" we had only been thinking of
surpassing; and from the opinion we had formed of
his being better acquainted with business than we
were, we offered him a third share, free from any
expense for the cuts. A proper agreement was
made, and he became our partner in the " History
of Quadrupeds." While I was busied in drawing
and cutting the figures of animals, and also in
designing and engraving the vignettes, Mr. Beilby,
being of a bookish or reading turn, proposed,
in his evenings at home, to write or compile
the descriptions, but not knowing much about

[ * A memorandum, pasted in the original MS. says — " Novr
1785 29 Begun the Natural History with the Fig of the Drome-
dary Dec 2nd The Camel lOth Elephant i2th Mufflon-Zebu 27
Evng the Zebra'']

150 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

natural history we got books on that subject
to enable him to form a better notion of these
matters. With this I had little more to do
than furnishing him, in many conversations and
by written memoranda, with what I knew of
animals, and blotting out, in his manuscript, what
was not truth. In this way we proceeded till the
book was published in 1790.*

It is worthy of remark that while the title page
was in hands, Mr. Beilby wished to be made the
author of it, and wrote in his name as such "by
R. Beilby." On Mr. Hodgson seeing this, without
saying a word he stroked the name out with a pen,
while Mr. Beilby was looking on. I knew nothing
of this transaction for some time afterwards and it
might have passed so, for anything I cared about
the authorship, or whose name was put to it as
such. It was sufficient for me that I had the
opportunity of giving vent to my feelings and
gratifying my desires in doing my part of the work.
The greater part of these wood cuts were drawn
and engraved at night, after the day's work of the
shop was over. In these evenings, I frequently
had the company of my friend the Rev. Richard
Oliphant,t who took great pleasure in seeing me

[ * The first edition consisted of 1500 copies, Demy 8vo., at 8s. ,
and 100 Royal 8vo., at I2s., and contained 200 figures and 104
tail-pieces. A second and enlarged edition (12 additional figures
and four tail-pieces), appeared in 1791, and a third in 1792. In
1824, an eighth edition was reached.]

t Afterwards curate of Longhorsley. [A note by Miss Bewick
says — " My father said of him [Mr. Oliphant] that ' he was a bundle
of knowledge.' He was a frequent visitor at the Forth when my
father married and when I was born. He ' stood up ' as they say —
as my godfather. He gave me on the occasion a crown piece of
Charles II., which my father engraved, and which I still have. He
afterwards married a lady who had a boarding-school at Longhorsley
where he was curate." (Bewick MSS.)]

MKMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 151

work, and who occasionally read to me the ser-
mons he had composed for the next Sunday. I
was also often attended, from a similar curiosity,
by my friend, the Rev. Thomas Hornby,* lecturer
at St. John's Church. He would not, like my friend
Oliphant, adjourn to a public house, and join in a
tankard of ale, but he had it sent for to my work-
place. We frequently disagreed in our opinions
as to religious matters, he being, as I thought, an
intolerant, high churchman; but, notwithstanding
this, he was a warm well-wisher and kind friend,
and was besides of so charitable a disposition that
his purse was ever open to relieve distress, and he
would occasionally commission me to dispose of a
guinea anonymously to persons in want.

As soon as the "History of Quadrupeds" ap-
peared, I was surprised to find how rapidly it sold.
Several other editions quickly followed, and a glut
of praises was bestowed upon the book. The first
time I was obliged to hear personal praises, on this
account, was from Dr. David Ure, LL.D. of
Glasgow, who called to see me, and not facing used
to such compliments, I blushed over the ears, and
left him talking to Mr. Beilby. These and such like
praises however, excited envy, and were visibly
followed by the balance of an opposite feeling from
many people at home; for they raked together, and
blew up, the embers of envy into a transient blaze ;
but the motives by w^hich I was actuated stood out
of the reach of its sparks, and they returned into
the heap whence they came, and fell into dust. I
was much more afraid to meet the praises which
were gathered around than I was of the sneers

* The Rev. Thomas Hornby, son of Alderman Hornby, died in the
prime of life, on the 28th August, 1798, and was buried at Gosforth.

152 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

which they excited ; and poetry appeared in the
paper, I was obliged on its account, for some time,
to shun " Swarley's Club," of which the writer,
George Byles,* was a member, to avoid the warm
and sincere compliments that awaited me there.

I had long made up my mind not to marry whilst
my father and mother lived, in order that my un-
divided attention might be bestowed upon them.
My mother, had, indeed, recommended a young
person in the neighbourhood to me as a wife.
She did not know the young lady intimately, but
she knew she was modest in her deportment, hand-
some in her person, and had a good fortune ; and,
in compliance with this recommendation, I got
acquainted with her, but was careful not to proceed
further, and soon discovered that, though her
character was innocence itself, she was mentally
one of the weakest of her sex. The smirking lasses
of Tyneside had long thrown out their jibes against
me, as being a woman-hater, but in this they were
greatly mistaken. I had, certainly, been very
guarded in my conduct towards them, as I held it
extremely wrong and cruel to sport with the feel-
ings of any one. In this, which was one of my
resolves, sincerity and truth were my guides. As
I ever considered a matrimonial connection as a
business of the utmost importance, and which was
to last till death made the separation, while looking
about for a partner for life, my anxious attention
was directed to the subject. I had long considered

* George Byles came from one of the southern counties, and com-
menced as a teacher in Newcastle. He was gentlemanly in his
manners and conversation, and of a most lively and animated cast
of character. [A copy of the verses referred to are pasted into the
original MSS. of the " Memoir " ; but they are scarcely worth re-
printing.]

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 153

it to be the duty of every man, on changing his life,
to get a healthy woman for his wife, for the sake of
his children, and a sensible one, as a companion,
for his own happiness and comfort, — that love is
the natural guide in this business, and much misery
is its attendant when that is wanting. This being
the fixed state of my mind, I permitted no
mercenary considerations to interfere. Impressed
with these sentiments, I had long, my dear Jane,
looked upon your mother as a suitable helpmate for
me. I had seen her in prosperity and in adversity;
and in the latter state she appeared to me to the
greatest advantage. In this she soared above her
sex, and my determination was fixed. In due time
we were married, and from that day to this no
cloud, as far as concerned ourselves, has passed
over us, to obscure a life-time of uninterrupted
happiness.*

MY DEAR "BELL" DIED,

AETER A LONG AND PAINFUL ILLNESS,

ON THE IST OF FEBRUARY, 1826,

AGED 72;

THE BEST OF WIVES AND VERY BEST
OF MOTHERS.

[ * Isabella Elliot, of Ovingham, Bewick's wife, was one of the
little girls whom he had " plagued " in his unregenerate boyhood
(vide Chapter ii.) He married her on the 2oth April, 1786, at which
time she was about thirty. The marriage took place at St. John's
Church, West Grainger Street, Newcastle ; and is thus entered in
the register : — " Thomas Bewick & Isabella Elliot both of this
Chapelry were ma'rried in this chapel by Licence this Twentieth Day
of April 1786 by me Jn°. Brown curate. This marriage was
solemnised between us (signed) Thomas Bewick Isabella Elliott In
the Presence of us (signed) Sarah Hunneyman Gilfrid Ward."

U

154 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

During the time I was busied with the figures of
the " History of Quadrupeds," many jobs interfered
to cause delay ; one of which was the wood cut of
the Chillingham wild bull, for the late Marmaduke
Tunstal, Esq., of Wycliffe. This very worthy gen-
tleman and good naturalist honoured me with his
approbation of what I had done, and was one of our
correspondents. He, or my friend George Allan,
Esq., employed me to undertake this job ; and on
Easter Sunday, 1789, I set off on foot to Chilling-
ham, accompanied by my acquaintance, William
Preston, the printer, on this business. After
tarrying a little with friends at Morpeth and Aln-
wick, we took Huln Abbey on our way across the
country to the place of our destination. Besides
seeing the various kinds of pheasants, &c., at the
last-named place, little occurred to attract atten-
tion, except our being surrounded, or beset, in
passing over a moor, by burning heather, and
afterwards passing over the surface of immense old
winter wreaths of frozen snow. Arrived at Chil-

Bewick took his bride home to his "cot, at the Forth " (see p. 120),
which had previously been tenanted by Dr. Hutton, part of whose
furniture he had purchased. It was a " fine, low, old-fashioned build-
ing," situated in what was afterwards known as Circus Lane (probably
so called from the Amphitheatre erected in the Forth in 1789) and
had a long garden extending almost to the old Town Wall. From
its windows could be seen the ancient semi-circular bastions known
respectively as Gunner or Gunnerton Tower and West Spital Tower.
Of Gunnerton Tower there is a picture in one of the Tailpieces to the
" Water Birds," vol. ii., p. 109; and it is stated that the adventurous
youngster who is scaling its crumbling sides for jackdaws' nests (in
the original sketch he has a bright blue coat) is intended for Bewick
himself. West Spital Tower had been turned into a dwelling house
where lived Mr. Beilby and his family. Bewick was an enthusiastic
florist, and especially fond of roses. His garden was a never-ending
pleasure to him ; and, on those " red-night-cap days " whereof mention
is made hereafter, he might frequently be found there encircled
by the fumes of a meditative " churchwarden."]

M'KMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 155

lingham, we took up our abode with my kind old
friend John Bailey, and spent a cheerful evening
with him after our fatigue. Next day, Mr. B.
accompanied me to the park, for the purpose of
seeing the wild cattle. This, however, did not
answer my purpose ; for I could make no drawing
of the bull, while he, along with the rest of the herd,
was wheeling about, and then fronting us, in the
manner described in the "History of Quadrupeds."*
I was therefore obliged to endeavour to see one
which had been conquered by his rival, and driven
to seek shelter alone, in the quarryholes or in the
woods ; and, in order to get a good look at one of
this description, I was under the necessity of creep-
ing on my hands and knees, to leeward, and out of
his sight ; and I thus got my sketch or memoran-
dum, from which I made my drawing on the wood.f
I was sorry my figure was made from one before
he was furnished with his curled or shaggy neck
and mane.

On our return home, my companion and I took
up our abode for two days and nights, at Esling-
ton, in the apartments of our kind and hearty
friend, John Bell, then steward to Sir Harry
Liddell, Bart., and afterwards a merchant at Aln-
mouth. Having made a drawing from the large
Newfoundland dog kept there, and rambled about
visiting some of Mr. Bell's friends, we then bent
our way homewards, highly gratified with the

[* See vol. iii, p. 39.]

[f The " Chillingham Bull" is dated 1789. Bewick is said to
have considered it his masterpiece ; but he excelled it in many of the
Birds. An accident to the block however gave the early impressions
an abnormal value. (See Hugo, " Bewick Collector," 1866, pp. 430-
441 ; and Thompson's " Life and Works of Thomas Bewick" 1882,
ch. xiii.) ]

156 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

journey, crowned as it was with hospitality and
kindness which could not be surpassed.

In the year 1790, I was employed much in the
same way as I had been in other years about that
period; but this was besides marked by an event
which enwarped and dwelt on my mind. Xo doubt
all thinking men in their passage through life must
have experienced feelings of a similar kind. My
old and revered preceptor, the Rev. Christopher
Gregson, died this year. No sooner did the news
of his extreme illness reach me, than I set off, in
my usual way, and with all speed, to Ovingham.
I instantly rushed into his room, and there I
found his niece, Miss Dinah Bell (afterwards Mrs.
Johnson) in close attendance upon him. With her,
being intimately acquainted, I used no ceremony,
but pulled the curtain aside, and then beheld my
friend, in his last moments. He gave me his last
look, but could not speak. Multitudinous reflec-
tions of things that were passed away, hurried on
my mind, and these overpowered me. I knew not
what to say, except " Farewell for ever, farewell ! "
Few men have passed away on Tyneside so much
respected as Mr. Gregson. * When he was
appointed to the curacy of Ovingham, I under-
stand his income was not more than thirty pounds
per* annum. Thus set down, he began by taking
pupils to board and educate, chiefly as Latin
scholars; and Mrs. Gregson (late Miss Longstaff),
after my mother left him, did everything in her
power to make the seminary respectable. He after-
wards, however, commenced teaching on a more

[ * There is a silhouette portrait by Bewick of his old school-
master, the block for which was sold at the Bewick sale of August,
1884.]

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 157

extended scale, by taking in scholars of all kinds,
from their A, B, C's, to the classics. In this, his
task must have been of the most arduous descrip-
tion, which he got through without any usher or
assistant. His assiduity must have attracted the
notice of the late Thomas Charles Bigge, Esq., of
Benton, the lay rector, for he added some land to
the glebe, by way of bettering his condition. Little
as this farm was, as to its magnitude, it enabled
him, by his good management and unceasing
industry, to show himself a good farmer, and he
was not a little vain on being complimented on
this score. As a clergyman, he was not one of
the fittest for that very important office ; but this
was chiefly owing to his defective voice, which
was so low and raucous, that his hearers could not
so well profit by his sensible discourses. In
another way — I mean as a village lawyer — he
stood pre-eminent. His pen was ever ready at the
service of his parishioners, and whatever dispute
arose amongst them there was never any objection
to leave the matter to the decision of Mr. Gregson ;
and I have often heard it asserted that there was
not one lawsuit in the parish while he was minister
there. He set out in life on this poor curacy, upon
a system of great economy, and perhaps, like other
frugal people, it grew upon him till he was accused
of " nearness ;" but, be this as it may, he accumu-
lated, after a life of great good management, a sum
of about nine hundred pounds. If his pen was ever
ready to serve his parishioners, so, on certain
occasions was his purse ; for he eyed with great
attention the situation of such of his neighbours as
were industrious ; and, when he found these were
struggling under untoward circumstances, or unfor-

158 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

seen losses, without being solicited, he lent them
money to ward off the evil, and to serve their need.
The publication of the " Quadrupeds " led me
into a close intimacy with Solomon Hodgson* and
others of his friends, and also with other men of
distinguished abilities, with Andrew Young,
M.D., t Samuel Burton Pearson, M.D., { and
Nathan Surgeon, surgeon. § These men were
eminent in their professions, and were besides of
charitable, humane and noble dispositions. There
were also others \vith whom I occasionally spent
my evenings over a cheerful glass in their
agreeable company, viz., the Revd. John Hogarth
(afterwards Rector of Kirknewton) my friend the
Revd. Richard Oliphant, John Stokoe, Architect,
and John Howard, || the author of a work on
Spherical Geometry. To enumerate one half of
the people with whom I was acquainted would
swell the list to an extent that might be weari-
some to read over; but I may venture to name a
few with whom I was in habits of intimacy, and
who also stood pre-eminent on account of their
great worth, and the estimation in which they were
held by the public. Among the first was William

* Solomon Hodgson, the bold and independent Editor of the
" Newcastle Chronicle," died 4th April 1800, aged 39, and was buried
at St. John's.

t Andrew Young died in March 1806, and was buried at St.
Andrew's.

+ Dr. Pearson, who had left Newcastle, and resided near Penrith,
died there.

§ Nathan Surgeon died November 1817, and was buried at St.
John's.

ii John Howard died 26th March, 1799, and was buried at St.
John's.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 159

Charnley, bookseller.* This intelligent and
honest man, I account as one of the Newcastle
worthies. The Revd. William Turner, Secretary
to the Literary and Philosophical Society in
Newcastle, and Minister of the Unitarian Chapel.
He was in my way of judging a Master of Arts.
His talents were great in various departments of
science and as a lecturer on such subjects, and I
know not how I can say more or less of him than
that his character was composed of everthing
great, good, amiable and praiseworthy. His
friend and associate, Robert Doubleday,f vice-
president of the Literary and Philosophical
Society also partook very greatly of the same
good qualities and attainments as Mr. Turner.
There were others, set after set, with whom I
lived in habits of intimacy, and some of these may
be dated a long way back. Gilfrid Ward, woollen
draper (of facetious memory) ; he died 25th of
January 1798, aged 52 years and was buried at
St. John's ; Joseph Bell, painter, he also displayed
considerable abilities as a painter, poet, and a man
of talents in other respects, but with keeping much
company, he became also much dissipated ; he
died 26th April, 1806, aged 60, and was buried at
St. Andrews. I was also long acquainted with
William Bell, portrait painter, etc. He was, as
a painter accounted eminent in that profession,
and was awarded a gold medal from the Society
of Arts for the best historical painting. He
died in Newcastle Infirmary in the year 1830, aged
60. I was also long afterwards on the most

* William Charnley died loth August, 1803, aged 76, and was
buried at St. John's.

f Robert Doubleday died 2yth January 1823, aged 70.

160 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

friendly terms with James Ramsey, the very
eminent portrait painter. Another worthy with
whom I spent many a pleasant evening was
William Gill.* He had long- been colliery agent
to Lord Windsor (one of the partners of the
Grand Allies in which office he was much
esteemed. He was a man of great reading, and
had reflected upon what he read. He was also,
like all men of sense and spirit, of a patriotic turn,
and foretold the consequences of the late war of
Kings, wThich he considered as an attempt to
destroy the civil liberties of mankind ; and I have
often since wondered to find his predictions unfold
themselves so truly as they have done. In this he
was simple, plain and argumentative, and they
were dictated only by truth and sincerity. He
was of a social turn of mind, and for an old man
was wonderfully clear, sensible and cheerful, and
this prompted him to select such as he thought
were of the same stamp, and these he often invited
to spend the evening with him. He also besides
these pleasing qualities was an attentively judicious
and charitable man, and in this wray did not do
that business by halves, for wherever he found an
honest industrious man with a family, struggling
to get forward, he never lost sight of him until he
placed him in a fair way to prosperity. He how-
ever outlived his faculties and left all his property
past his poor relations, particularly a brother who
was a poor schoolmaster, but who I believe he
was persuaded was dead, as well as others of
his near relations \vhom he once intended to
provide for.

* William Gill died 2oth February 1802, aged 83, and was buried
at Whickham.

CHAPTER XIII.

WHILE the sale of edition after edition of the
" Quadrupeds " was going on with great success,
I turned my thoughts to the " History of British
Birds." I felt greatly charmed with, and had long
paid great attention to, the subject ; and I had
busied myself very much in reading various works.
As far as I can now recollect, the first books I had
become acquainted with were " Brookes and
Miller's Natural History," and " Dr. Smellie's
Abridgement of Buffon." These were now thrown,
as it were, into the back-ground ; having been
succeeded by Pennant's works. I might name
others I had perused, chiefly lent to me by my
kind friend George Allan, Esq. These consisted
of " Albin's History of Birds," Belon's very old
book,* Willoughby and Ray, &c. Mr. John
Rotherhamt gave me " Gesner's Natural History."
With some of these I was in raptures. Willoughby
• and Ray struck me as having led the way to truth,
and to British Ornithology. The late Michael

[*" Belon's very old book," as Bewick styles it, published "at
the Sign of the Fat Hen" ("In Pingui Gallina"), Paris 1555, is
still worthy the pursuit of the collector, and contains a " vast " of
quaint information, ornithological and gastronomic. Much of it is
sound and valuable, although some of the stories are of the Sir
John Mandeville type. For instance, he relates that " the pelican,
which builds its nest on the ground, finding its young stung by a
serpent, weeps bitterly, and piercing its own breast, gives its own
blood to cure them " — a variation on the older myth.]

t Mr. John Rotherham, son of the late Dr. Rotherham, of New-
castle, who had been a pupil of the good and great Linnaeus.

V

1 62 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

Bryan, Esq.,* of London, formerly of New-
castle, lent me the splendid volumes, " Planches
Enluminees," of Buffon, and George Silvertop,
Esq., of Minsteracres, "Edward's Natural History/'
I was much pleased with " White's History of
Selborne." Pennant, however, opened out the
largest field of information, and on his works I
bestowed the most attention. Latham seems to
have wound up the whole, and I have often
lamented that it was not — by being embellished
with correct figures — made a great national work,
like the Count de Buffon's. The last of our
Ornithologists, and one of the most indefatigable,
was the late Col. George Montagu, t author of the
" Ornithological Dictionary."

As soon as it was spread abroad that we were
engaged with the History of Birds and their
Figures, I was in consequence led into a seemingly
endless correspondence with friends and amateurs;
so much so, that I often felt myself unable duly to
acknowledge the obligations I owed them, and
many a letter I have written after so being wearied
out with the labours of the day, that I often forgot
how to spell the commonest words, and I fear the
rest of many of my letters would be of a piece with
this — and not clear nor very intelligible.

At the beginning of this undertaking I made up
my mind to copy nothing from the works of others,
but to stick to nature as closely as I could ; and for

* Michael Bryan, Esq., picture dealer, London, died there on the
28th March, 1821, aged 64 years. [He was the author of Bryan's
Dictionary of Painters and Engravers, 1816, 2 vols. 4-to.]

t George Montagu, Esq., died in July, 1815. I have heard that he
was killed by the overturning of a carriage in which he was travelling,
the horses having taken fright and run away with it.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 163

this purpose, being invited by Mr. Constable, the
then owner of Wycliffe, I visited the extensive
museum there, collected by the late Marmaduke
Tunstal, Esq., to make drawings of the birds.* I
set off from Newcastle on the i6th July, 1791, the
day on which my friend Dr. Bailes died, and
remained at the above beautiful place nearly two
months, drawing1 from the stuffed specimens. I
lodged in the house of John Goundry, the person
who preserved the birds for Mr. Tunstal ; and
boarded at his father's, George Goundry, the old
miller there. Whilst I remained at Wycliffe, I
frequently dined with the Rev. Thomas Zouch,f
the rector of the parish. He watched my going
out of church on the Sundays, where I often
attended, accompanied by old Goundry, to invite
me to dine with him. On these occasions he often
made the character of his late neighbour, Mr.
Tunstal, and of George Goundry, the subject of his
conversation, and dwelt with great pleasure on the
excellence of both. Mr. Tunstal was a Roman
Catholic, and had a chapel in his own house ; Mr.
Zouch was a Church of England minister ; and
George Goundry was a Deist ; and yet these three
uncommonly good men, as neighbours, lived in

[* The Wycliffe collection was purchased by the Newcastle
Literary and Philosophical Society in whose Museum it now is.
Many of the beautiful water colour and other drawings for the
"Birds," etc., were presented by the Executors of Miss Isabella
Bewick, to the Museum of the Natural History Society of Northum-
berland, Durham, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in March, 1884. A
rough list of these will be found in the appendix to " Thomas
Bewick and his Pupils," 1884, pp. 223-7.]

fThe Rev. Thomas Zouch, D.D., F.L.S., prebendary of Durham,
and rector of Scrayingham, Yorkshire. This venerable divine was
born in 1737, at Sandal, and died there on the I7th Dec., 1813. He
had been offered the bishopric of Carlisle, but refused it.

164 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

constant charity and goodwill towards each other.
Mr. Zouch would sometimes say to me, " Do you
know this old man can beat me in argument," and
would then regret that he was not orthodox in his
religious opinions, but setting that aside, as to his
moral conduct, he was one of the best Christians he
knew. Poor Goundry was equally warm in his
praises of these two good men his neighbours, and
with the tear on his cheek would enumerate the
charities and liberality of the late Mr. Tunstal, and
as a proof of the latter he instanced his being at
great expense in privately contributing towards
the pewing of Wycliffe Church. One might dwell
long with pleasure on such singularly good charac-
ters. I wish the world was better stocked with
them.

I have often reflected with pain on the asperity
with which one description of Christians has com-
monly treated others who differed from them in
opinion on religious matters ; or, rather, as to their
different modes of faith ; and I have thought that
the time would come when that cruel, bloody, and
disgusting portion of history would not be believed,
which has recorded the fact that one denomination
of Christians actually burned others alive, who
differed from them in opinion on matters which
ought to have been considered beneath contempt.
But, judging from the past, it is certain that, when
men give up their reason, and substitute faith, or
anything else, in lieu thereof, there is nothing
however absurd that may not be believed, and no
punishments, however cruel, that may not be
resorted to, to enforce that belief. Men thus
degraded may fairly be called man-tigers, being
fitted for any cruel, wicked purpose ; and, under

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 165

equally wicked governments, they have been guided
and commanded to deluge the earth with blood.
It is strange to think that this should have been
the case, when it is considered that the whole of
the authorities are derived from one and the same
pure source ; bewildered, indeed, by the twisted
imaginations of ignorance, bigotry, and super-
stition.

The inspired and benevolent Author of Christi-
anity taught neither intolerance nor persecution.
The doctrines he laid down are plain, pure, and
simple. They hold out mercy to the contrite, aid
to the humble, and eternal happiness to the good.
For my own part, it is long since I left off bewil-
dering myself with dogmas and creeds, and I have
felt pity for those that did so. I am quite clear
and willing to believe and to allow, that, whatever
modes of faith honest and well-meaning people
think best to adopt, they may in sincerity of heart,
and to the best of their judgments, be doing what
is called serving God. They surely ought not to
interfere with the creeds of others, who are equally
as sincere as themselves in the means they pursue
for the same end. However various these modes
of faith may be, there is one rule that ought to
guide the whole, and it appears to me to be simple
and easy to comprehend, — and that one is, that
all men, to the utmost of their power, should
endeavour through life to steer clear of everything
that may degrade their own souls ; that the myste-
rious, incorporated compound may not, when
summoned to leave this world, have to appear
before Omnipotence polluted and debased. The
man who attends to this will fear nothing, but
that of erring and doing wrong. He will fear the

1 66 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

face of no man. The little, strutting authorities
of despotism he will despise, and the virtuous
magistrate will ever be his friend. He will break
no good laws that have been made for the
guidance of man in society ; and, as to his reli-
gion, that is an affair between himself and his
Maker only. With the Author of his Being he
will, with unentangled mind, commune freely, at
all times, when his spirit moves him to do so ; and
no man ever did, or ever will, feel himself happy
that does not pursue this course through life.

Ever since I habituated myself to think, I have
always seen, as clearly as I could see anything,
that, it is the intention of the Deity that mankind
should live in a state of civilised society, and that
no period of human existence can be comfortable
without the pleasures and endearments of social
intercourse. Every object in nature that can be
contemplated shews this ; and the full and exact
fitness of all its component parts clearly prove
that man, from his social' nature, is destined to
live in this state. He has been endowed with
reason, as his guide, for the purpose of regulating
and conducting the whole ; but, when that guide
is neglected, and heu suffers his selfish propensities
and bad passions to w/!ylead him from the path
of rectitude, from that moment, everything, so far
as this reaches, goes wrong. For reasons of this
kind, it is necessary that equitable and just laws
should be made and enforced, to restrain vice from
breaking down the barriers that are erected to
protect virtue and patriotism. To break through
these laws is sin. But, in the present wretched
state of society, it may be difficult to bring about
such a reformation of manners as will ensure the

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 167

accomplishment of so desirable an end ; for it
appears to me that the character of mankind
ought to be new modelled before this can effect-
ually be done.

Having long busied myself in wading through
systems of natural history, — the orders, genera,
species and varieties, — the whim has often struck
me to lay down an imaginary one of classing man-
kind. The genus homo may be made to consist
of three species and their varieties. The first
(including in one, the wise and the good) is honest
men ; the second is knaves ; and the third fools.
These and their gradations and varieties, gliding
into each other, form the present jumbled mass
of society — the community of which we all form
a part. As any of these may happen to predom-
inate in the government of society, so, in exact
proportion, will the good, bad, and indifferent
effects of their management be felt by the whole
people. I think it will be admitted that, out of
the first species ought to be chosen the persons, —
every man according to his mental powers and the
education he may have received to call forth these
powers, — to fill every public office from the con-
stable upwards. Out of the two latter species,
when conjoined, are formed the great mass of the
wicked, gross, vulgar herd (high and low) of
mankind. Amongst these, knaves of great ability
ought to be particularly guarded against. • They
are a kind of splendid devils who have from time
immemorial spread abroad much misery in the
world ; but, notwithstanding their abilities, they
would not have got forward in their public wicked-
ness, nor have formed their majorities, had they
not enlisted, as tools, their ready-made auxiliaries

1 68 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

— the fools ; and, if we take only a slight glance at
individual misery, it will be seen that most of it is
inflicted by one man upon another :—

" Man's inhumanity to Man,
Makes countless thousands mourn."

Could this be remedied, what a beautiful world
would this appear to thousands, instead of their
being obliged to view it through the medium of
an almost perpetual cheerless gloom.

I have often amused myself in considering the
character of the canine species, and of comparing
it, and its varieties, with those of the untutored
part of mankind ; and it is curious and interesting
to observe the similarity between them. To his
master the dog is an uncommonly submissive,
obedient, and faithful servant, and seems to look
upon him as if he were an angel ; and his sagacity
and his courage are equally conspicuous ; and, in
defence of his master, he will suffer death. But
to his own species he is ill-behaved, selfish, cruel,
and unjust; he only associates with his fellows
for the purpose of packing together to destroy
other animals, which cannot be effected otherwise.
He will sometimes, indeed, let a supplicating dog,
into which he has inspired terror, sneak off; and
I have often watched to see the wary, circumspect
plan that a strange dog adopts on his being
obliged to pass through a village, or through
amongst those of his equally ill-behaved brethren,
the butchers' dogs in a town. It is curious to see
the stranger, upon these occasions, view his dan-
ger, and then affect lameness, and go "hirpling"
through amongst them unmolested. I knew their
instinct was surprising, but some of their reason-

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 169

ing powers I had not tried ; and, for this purpose,
when a boy, I cut two thin slices of meat and
plastered the insides with mustard, and then threw
it to one of my father's dogs. This, he being very
apt at "kepping" caught in his mouth, and, as
quickly as he could, got quit of it again ; and, from
that time, he would rather run the risk of losing it
than "kep" any more. To prove how far selfish-
ness and malignity would operate upon him, I
placed twp basins filled with very hot, fat broth,
at a distance from each other, when he ran from
one to the other to prevent a beautiful spaniel
bitch from partaking of either of them. His at-
tention was taken up with thus watching and
preventing her, till at length his patience was
exhausted, by going so often from one basin to
the other, and then, with the utmost vengeance,
he seized her, and tore away his mouthful of skin
from her side.

On my return from Wycliffe, being thoroughly
drenched with an incessant rain, I called upon an
old and much-esteemed schoolfellow, John Forster,
at Bishop Auckland, and spent a day or two with
him, in busy converse about our former transac-
tions at school, &c. Perhaps few have passed
through life without experiencing the pleasure that
a retrospect of the times gone by thus afford to
old cronies, in talking over the recollections of
youthful frolics, and even of the discipline which
followed in consequence of them.

As soon as I arrived in Newcastle, I immediately
began to engrave from the drawings of the birds
I had made at Wycliffe ; but I had not been long
thus engaged till I found the very great difference

between preserved specimens and those from

w

1 70 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

Nature ; no regard having been paid, at that time,
to fix the former in their proper attitudes, nor to
place the different series of the feathers so as to
fall properly upon each other. It has always
given me a great deal of trouble to get at the
markings of the dishevelled plumage ; and, when
done with every pains, I never felt satisfied with
them. I was on this account driven to wait for
birds newly shot, or brought to me alive, and in
the intervals employed my time in designing and
engraving tail-pieces, or vignettes. My sporting
friends, however, supplied me with birds as fast as
they could ; but none more so than my kind friend
the late Major H. F. Gibson, of the 4th Dragoons.*
Lieut.-Col. Dalton, Major Shore, Captain (now
General) Dalbiac, and other officers of the same
regiment, also shewed great attention to our grow-
ing work. George Strickland, Esq., of Ripon, also
interested himself in his contributions for the same
work. Besides these, many birds were sent to
me by friends from various parts of the Kingdom,
but the obligations I owe are mostly acknowledged
in their proper place in the work. After working
many a late hour upon the cuts, the first volume
of the book was at length finished at press in
September, 1797!. Our friend Solomon Hodgson

* Major Henry Forster Gibson died of a fever.

[f The first volume of the " Birds" (" Land Birds") was published
in 1797. It contained 117 figures and 91 tail-pieces. The second
volume ("Water Birds") came out in 1804; and contained 101
figures and 139 tail-pieces. In the text of this the Rev. Mr. Cotes
of Bedlington assisted. Large additions were made in subsequent
issues. In the eighth edition, 1847, the nomenclature and arrange-
ment of Temminck were adopted; and a synoptical table of the
classification was added. This table was the work of Mr. John
Hancock, a distinguished Newcastle naturalist.]

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 171

had no share with us in this work. Mr. Beilby
undertook the writing or compilation of this (the
first) volume, in which I assisted him a great deal
more than I had done with the " Quadrupeds." I
was however surprised to find that in an Introduc-
tion written by him he took occasion to bestow the
most unqualified praises on me for the assistance
I had given him, by which I found he was this
time determined upon being an author. I only
observed that I thought the " Quadrupeds," with
the title of "Beilby and Bewick" as the Editors
had done very well, and I could see no reason for
making any change. I found Mr. Beilby had
imparted his ideas of becoming author to the
Revd. Thomas Hornby, while the latter was at
supper with him, as indeed he often was, when
Mr. Hornby took occasion to express his opinion
of this business, and to advise him not to think
upon doing any such thing, observing that he
would have written a History of Birds for me, and
that some of the Doctors I was so intimate with,
would with pleasure have done the same, perhaps
better than he could have done it, but that in
neither case could they have hoped to sell a single
edition without my cuts. After Mr. Hornby had
slept and turned the business over in his mind, he
called upon me, and with a kind of indignant
feeling advised me not to permit any such thing.
Other friends also did the same, and used the same
kind of reasoning. In this unsettled state of
affairs, Mr. and Mrs. Beilby set off in the pet,
upon a visit to Mr. Wilkinson's at Sleekburn,
where they remained about a fortnight. On Mr.
Beilby's return I asked him if he still persisted in
being named as the author of the book, to which

172 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

he replied in the affirmative. " Then, Sir," said I,
" if you can point out a single sentence from one
end of this volume of the * History of Birds' to the
other of original matter as your own, I shall be
glad to see it." At this he hesitated. I then pro-
posed to him to leave the discussion as to the
authorship to our mutual friends, who knew every-
thing relative to the matter in dispute between us,
adding that if they agreed in thinking that he
ought to be " the author," it should be so, and that
I never would say a \vord more about it. To this
he agreed, and as the work was at a stand, no time
was to be lost, after naming our referees. Mr.
Charnley, the Revd. Wm. Turner, Mr. Sol. Hodg-
son, and Mr. Robert Doubleday were instantly for
that purpose summoned to meet that afternoon.
We both guessed, without saying a word to each
other, that Mr. Charnley would be fixed on as
President; and he being very deaf, we each of us,
without mentioning our intentions, stated our sepa-
rate cases in writing directed to him. As soon as
he and his colleagues had read Mr. Beilby's he
handed it to me, and I read it. Mine was next
given to Mr. C., who, in like manner, showed it
to the others ; and then gave it to Mr. Beilby,
but he declined looking at it, and it was given
to me again. After this we were desired to retire,
when they committed what they had agreed upon
to writing, the whole of which was printed in the
concluding part of the preface to the first volume
of the " Birds," and so the matter was left without
naming either him or myself as authors of the
work, otherwise than as before, and of the wood-
cuts being acknowledged as my own. After this,
Mr. Beilby gave up the engraving business, and

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 173

dedicated his whole time to the watch-crystal
and clock manufactory, in which he had been
long engaged before our separation.

The printing of other editions of the first volume
of the Birds still met with a ready sale ; but some
disputes happening between us and Mrs. Hodgson,
the widow of our much esteemed friend, respecting
the printing of the Quadrupeds, Mr. Beilby, who
now sought repose, and could not be turmoiled
with disputes of any kind, sold me his third share
of that publication. Sometime before the second
volume of the Birds was put to press, he also
sold me his share of this first volume. For his
third share of the Quadrupeds I paid him one
hundred pounds, and for his half share of the first
volume of the Birds I paid him three hundred
pounds. I had no sooner agreed to give this latter
sum than many recollections of the past crowded
upon my mind, and looking at the unfavourable
side, I could not help thinking of the extra labour
and time I had spent in the completion of these
works, wherein he had borne comparatively a
small part — nor even an equivalent as to his time
and labour in the other department of our busi-
ness ; and in this instance I could not help
thinking that he had forgot himself and had
suffered greediness to take possession of his mind ;
but, having promised to pay the sum, I made no
further observations to any one. On the other
side of this account, I called to my remembrance
the many obligations I owed him, for the wise
admonitions he had given, and the example he
had set me, while I was only a wild and giddy
youth. These I never could forget, and they im-
planted so rooted a respect for him that I had

174 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

grudged nothing I could do to promote his hap-
piness. I had noticed, for some time past, that
he had been led under a guidance and influence
that made an alteration in his conduct for the
worse ; and he appeared to me not to be the
Ralph Beilby* he had been, for before this, he
deservedly bore the character of being a sensible
judicious fair-dealing industrious man, and a good
member of society. I used always to think him
careful and sometimes penurious, and this disposi-
tion might indeed have crept and increased upon
him ; but, whatever natural failings might be in
his composition, these had heretofore been checked
and regulated by the rules of morality and religion.
It seemed to me that it must have been a maxim
with him to do justice to all, but not to confer
favours upon any one; and yet he often joined
me in conferring such, in various ways, upon our
apprentices and others of our workpeople, for
which we commonly had dirt thrown in our faces.

It does not require any great stretch of obser-
vation to discover that gratitude is a rare virtue,
and that, whatever favours are conferred upon an
ungrateful man, he will conclude that these would
not have been bestowed upon him had he not
deserved them. In these our gifts to prentices and
others of that stamp, I was to blame in thus
conferring favours that it would have been as well
to let alone. In other charities he was not back-
ward in contributing his mite, but in these matters
he was led by wisdom. In the former case, mine,
by giving vent to my feelings, were led by folly ;
but, indeed, these follies were trivial compared

* Ralph Beilby, engraver, Newcastle, died 4th Jan., 1817, aged 73
and was buried at St. Andrew's.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 175

with others relative to money matters, in which I
had been led away by my feelings, in lending
money to some, and in being bound for the pay-
ment of it for others, which, if I had been more
of his disposition, would not have happened ; and
I now clearly see and feel that, had it not been
for these imprudences, I should at this day, have
found myself in better and very different circum-
stances than those I am in. My partner, indeed,
often watched, and sometimes prevented me, from
engaging in such ruinous concerns, and would
remark to me that it was impossible to serve any
man who would not serve himself. After Mr.
Beilby was done with any concern in the pub-
lications, I found I could not go on pleasantly with
Mrs. Hodgson in the printing of the Quadrupeds,
and I therefore offered either to buy her share or
sell her mine, but this she declined doing, and
sometime after this, she sold hers to Messrs.
Longman and Co., London, and since that time,
the publication, shared in this way, has gone on
between us.

As soon as Mr. Beilby left me, I was obliged,
from necessity, not choice, to commence author.
As soon as each bird was finished on the wood,
I set about describing it from my specimen, and
at the same time consulted every authority I could
meet with, to know what had been said ; and this,
together with what I knew from my own know-
ledge, were then compared ; and, in this way, I
finished as truly as I could the second volume of
the History of British Birds. I also examined the
first volume, with a view to correct its errors, and
to add many new figures and descriptions of them
to it. Although all this could not be done but

176 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

by close, and, indeed, severe confinement and
application, yet I was supported by the extreme
pleasure I felt in depicturing and describing these
beautiful and interesting aerial wanderers of the
British Isles. I also hoped that my labours might
perhaps have the effect of inveigling my youthful
countrymen to be smitten with the charms which
this branch, — and, indeed, every other department
of Natural History, — imparts, and with the endless
pleasures afforded to all who wish to "trace Nature
up to Nature's God."

While I was thus proceeding, I was coun-
tenanced, encouraged and flattered by amateurs,
who took a deep interest in my growing work,
and seemed to partake of the ardour in which I
had long indulged. From them birds were sent
to me from far and near ; but, to give a list of the
names of these friends, and to detail the kindness
I experienced first and last, might indeed be
giving vent to my feelings of gratitude, but it
would far exceed the bounds prescribed to this
Memoir.

CHAPTER XIV.

WHILST I was engaged with figures of the
Water-Birds, and the Vignettes, and writing the
History, I was greatly retarded by being obliged
often to lay that work aside, to do various other
jobs in the wood engraving, and also the work
of the shop, for my customers in the town, par-
ticularly writing engraving, which, I may say, I
was obliged to learn and to pursue after Mr.
Beilby left me. The most interesting part of this
kind of work was plates for bank-notes ; but, as
one of the most important of these was a five
pound note for the Carlisle Bank, which attracted
much notice, it may be right to give some account
of it. It happened, one evening, that, whilst I
was in company with George Losh, Esq., who
was in some way connected with that bank, he
asked me if I could engrave a bank note that
could not be easily forged. In reply, I told him I
thought I could. "Then," said he, "do it imme-
diately;" and I lost no time in beginning upon
it. I had, at that time, never seen a ruling
machine, nor the beautiful engine-turning lately
brought into use by Perkins, Fairman, and Heath,
which was at that time, I believe, utterly unknown.
I however, proceeded with my plate, and my object
was to make the device look like a wood cut ; and
in this, though a first attempt, I succeeded; and
the number of impressions wanted wrere sent to

Carlisle.

x

178 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

Soon after this, I was told by Sir T[homasJ
Ffrankland], Bart., that his brother, who held some
office under government,* and was much with the
King — George III., whose curiosity Avas insatiable
as to everything relative to the arts — had got one
of these bank notes. Sir T. F[rankland]'s brother
showed it to the King, who greatly admired and
approved of it. About two years after this, in the
year 1801, Samuel Thornton, Esq., of the Bank
of England, wrote to me respecting this note, and
wished to know how it was executed, and whether
it was done on wood or copper, &c. I was
strongly advised, by a friend, not to give the
gentlemen of that bank any information whatever
about my plate ; " for," said he, " as soon as they
know the nature of what they are enquiring after,
you will hear no more from them." I did not
take his advice ; and, after a deal of trouble in
writing to them, and stating amongst many other
matters, that, "though my plate would do well
for country banks, it would not do for the great
number wanted for the Bank of England," the
business ended in nothing. It may perhaps be
well, while I am on the subject of bank-notes, to
pass over a number of years, and come down to
the year 1818, when a commission was appointed
to investigate the business of forgery, and to
endeavour to prevent it in future. ' Some time
previous to this, I was employed by my friend,
John Bailey, Esq., of Chillingham, to engrave
plates to prevent a repetition of the pen-and-ink
forgeries which had been committed upon the

[* He was private secretary to the Duke of Portland. (Bewick
MSS.)]

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 179

Berwick Bank, which it was found had been better
imitations than could be made from copper plates.
In this I succeeded ; and also, by a simple process,
on the plates I engraved for the Northumberland
Bank. Immediately on the heel of this, and as
soon as the commissioners above-mentioned had
commenced their enquiries, it seemed as if the
services and abilities of all the artists in the king-
dom were held in requisition, to give in their
specimens and their schemes for this purpose; and,
willing to contribute all in my power to accomplish
so desirable an end, I, amongst many others, gave
in my plan. The leading object with me was per-
manency, or, in other words, to aim at executing a
device that \vould never need either alteration or
repairs ; and the other part of my plan was, that
the device should be of such a nature, that all
men of common discernment could easily recognize
the note as a legitimate one. In my letters to
Sir Joseph Banks, I did not mention anything
about using types, or how highly I approved of
their use, because I knew that others had done
so before, and to point out in which way I con-
ceived they would be of importance would now be
useless ; since the commissioners, or the Bank,
have rejected every scheme (so far as I know) that
has been laid before them. This to me has
always appeared strange ; as, in my opinion,
there have been several proposals laid before
them very efficient for the purpose of preventing*
forgeries, if not for setting that nefarious work
at rest.

The beautiful specimens first produced by Fair-
man, Perkins, and Heath, from their steel plates
or blocks, were, in my opinion, inimitable, and

180 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

quite sufficient to answer the end intended ; and
those afterwards brought forward, under the aus-
pices of Sir William Congreve, are nearly of
the same character and import. If an engine
turner cannot set his lathe, so as to trace or copy
the delicate and truly exact curves, lines, &c.,
which are shown in both, it is not likely that
any forgery would ever be attempted upon either
of them. If they had been less complex, I should
have liked them better ; but, as they are, the best
engravers on either copper, steel, or wood, will
not attempt an imitation. They may, indeed, gaze
at them — but that is all.

It was always surprising to me that none of
the ingenious schemes, — so long under the con-
sideration of the commissioners, — were adopted ;
but, when I read, in a newspaper, that Mr. Pierce
had stood up in the House of Commons, and in
answer to a question put to him there, had said,
in reply, " that the commissioners were of opinion
that nothing better than the old bank note could be
devised to prevent forgery 7" — then, indeed, I could
scarcely believe my own eyes, — my astonishment
was complete, and my opinion of the whole busi-
ness of this " mountain in labour" was fixed.*

During the time that the business of the com-
missioners seemed to me to be hanging in suspense,
I wrote a letter to Sir Joseph Banks, in which
I endeavoured to press upon his attention, and
that of his colleagues, as a means of preventing
forgery, the necessity of having the blank paper
for country bank notes printed with a new device

[* In the original MS. there follows at this point a whimsical
little pen-sketch of two horsemen and a foot-soldier attacking a
mouse.]

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 181

in lieu of the little duty stamp then used, and
which had simply in view the collection of the
government duty. Sometime after this, a long-
account of the inventions of Sir William Congreve,
Bart., were published in the " Repository of Arts,"
for March, 1822, setting forth how much country
banks, and the whole country was obliged to him,
as the inventor of, or the person who first sug-
gested, a scheme so essentially important as this
for preventing forgery. As soon as I read this, I
answered it in the " Monthly Magazine," of May,
1822, in which I quoted my letters to the com-
missioners, with the dates bearing upon this very
subject, and claimed for myself the merit of having
first suggested the scheme. At the same time, I
only requested Sir William Congreve would, on
the word of a gentleman, say whether or not the
scheme was his or mine. Of this neither Sir
William nor any of the commissioners took any
notice, excepting, indeed, something purporting to
be an answer to what I had said, by a person in
the employ of Sir William, as an artist, which,
though it begun very impudently, did not answer
my letter at all. This I could not help treating
with contempt. To enter into a paper war with
such a person, I thought would be great folly.
Sir William appears to be going on prosper-
ously, by furnishing bankers with his stamped
note papers, and printing them in the way above
described.

Sir William Congreve, as a commissioner, had
the advantage of seeing the various devices, and
of knowing the opinions of the various artists
upon these devices, which enabled him to cull
and select such as appeared to him best calculated

182

MEMOIR OK THOMAS BEWICK.

to prevent forgery ; and, I think, as he was no
artist himself, he should not have taken the credit
either of inventor or executor of any of these
devices, nor have turned the profit arising from
them to his own private account. Long before the
commissioners were appointed to investigate the
business of forgeries, I got engaged in another
work on my own account.

CHAPTER XV.

DURING a severe illness with which I was visited
in April 1812, brought on by a violent perspiration
suddenly checked, — the particulars of which I need
not detail to my dear Jane, as the part you and
your mother and sisters took, in nursing me night
and day, for so long a time, must be fresh in all your
memories, I determined, if I recovered, to go on with
a publication of "^Esop's Fables." While I lay
helpless, from weakness, and pined to a skeleton,
without any hopes of recovery being entertained
either by myself or any one else, I became, as it
were, all mind and memory. I readily had pre-
sented to my recollection almost everything that
had passed, through life, both of what I had done
and what I had left undone. After much debating
in my own mind where I should be buried, I fixed
upon Ovingham ; and, when this was settled, I
became quite resigned to the will of Omnipotence,
and felt happy. I could not, however, help re-
gretting that I had not published a book similar
to " CroxalFs ^Esop's Fables," as I had always
intended to do.* I was extremely fond of that

[* Bewick seems here to forget or ignore the "Select Fables" of
1784 (see note p. 60), many of the designs of which are clearly
based on Croxall. Croxall again has affinities with earlier designs
by Sebastian le Clerc and Francis Barlow. (This subject is treated at
some length in "Thomas Bewick and his Pupils," 1884, pp. 57-67.)]

184 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

book ; and, as it had afforded me much pleasure,
I thought, with better executed designs, it would
impart the same kind of delight to others that I
had experienced from attentively reading it. I
was also of opinion, that it had (while admiring
the cuts) led hundreds of young men into the paths
of wisdom and rectitude, and in that way had
materially assisted the pulpit.

As soon as I was so far recovered as to be
able to sit at the window at home, I began to
draw designs upon the wood of the fables and
vignettes; and to me this was a most delightful
task. In impatiently pushing forward to get to
press with the publication, I availed myself of the
help of my pupils — my son, William Harvey, and
William Temple — who were also eager to do their
utmost to forward me in the engraving business,
and in my struggles to get the book ushered into
the world. Notwithstanding the pleasurable busi-
ness of bringing out this publication, I felt it an
arduous undertaking. The execution of the fine
work of the cuts, during day-light, was very trying
to the eyes, and the compiling or writing the book
by candle-light, in my evenings at home, together
injured the optic nerve, and that put all the rest of
the nerves " out of tune ;" so thajt I was obliged,
for a short time, to leave off such intense applica-
tion until I somewhat recovered the proper tone
of memory and of sight. Indeed I found in this
book more difficulties to conquer than I had
experienced with either the " Quadrupeds" or the
" Birds." The work was finished at press on the
first of October, 1818, and was not so well printed
as I expected and wished, the ink for such fine
work being much too strong, black and thick.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 185

I am pleased to find the second edition, December
1823, better printed and managed.*

During the eventful period of the French Revo-
lution, and the wide-spreading war which followed
in consequence of it, and in which our government
became deeply engaged, extending from 1793 to
1814 — a time of blood and slaughter — I frequently,
by way of unbending the mind after the labours
of the day, spent my evenings chiefly at the Blue
Bell, in company with a set of staunch advocates
for the liberties of mankind, who discussed the
passing events mostly with the cool, sensible, and
deliberate attention which the importance of the
subject required. I have already before named
some of these acquaintances to which I may now
add some others, forming altogether a miscel-
laneous group, but over whom some men of sense
and consequence in Newcastle who were commonly
of the party, and from their superior attainments
seemed to preside to set the example of propriety
of conduct to those of a more violent turn of mind ;
but indeed the political enormities of the times
excited the indignation of many, which it was not
easy to keep within bounds. The parties which
frequented the Blue Bell, and the News Room
there, consisted of tradesmen, bankers' clerks,
artizans, and agents of various kinds. But those
with whom I particularly associated there were
Ralph Crawford, shoe maker, Joseph Bulmer,
builder,! Phineas Crowther, founder, Michael
Charlton, white smith, John Mitchell, editor of

* In the original MS. follows here — " Thus far from p. 101 {i.e. p.
133 of this volume] was written during my stay in Tynemouth,
which I left on the 22 December, 1823."

f Joseph Bulmer was a man of talent; he died 23 November, 1817,
aged 69.

Y

1 86 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

the "Tyne Mercury/' Count Raymond, French
teacher and fencing master, and my more constant
companion, David Sivright, gentleman. He was
a man of extraordinary abilities and attainments.
He belonged to an opulent family near Edinburgh,
had been brought up to business in a bank there,
and was afterwards a wine merchant in London,
where he had associated with the highest ranks
of society. I believe he failed, or at least did not
prosper in business. He had been in the West
Indies, and returned home in a merchant ship
in company with Rodney's fleet and the French
ships of war, his prizes, of which so remarkable
a destruction took place in the great storm they
had to encounter on their voyage to England.
Whether he had been a disappointed man in the
world, I know not, but to me he appeared so.
He had a rooted bad opinion of most of the
people in very high life, with respect to whom he
might be called a misanthropist, but to others he
was affable and kind, and felt most poignantly for
the distresses of the unfortunate, and was ever ready
to relieve them. Against the former description
he appeared to me to be too violent, to the latter
I think he showed something of a sickly sensibility.
He could make himself extremely pleasant in com-
pany he liked, but to such as he thought badly of
either as fools or knaves (and in this he was
whimsical) he became quite outrageous. I think I
was the last person he associated with, and
even with me he often showed petulance, and as
often apologized for it. He had long been used to
wander about alone, and took to drinking to
excess. He left Newcastle, and went to Blyth,
where he died, aged 68.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 187

I sometimes dropped in upon other parties of
friends of various political opinions and attain-
ments at Mrs. Jane Elliot's* at the sign of the
Unicorn. These were mostly tradesmen of the
genteel sort, and besides them, this house had been
a kind of rendezvous or house of resort to the
comedians of our Theatre during the season for
many years back, from the time of Heaton and
Austin's Company, down to those conducted by
Charles Whitlock, Jos. Munden, Stephen Kemble,
&c., and still later, comprising a period of the
times of Massey and Jeffries, Plat, Emery, Cook,
Liston, and many others, who made a figure in
their day. With Jos. Munden I often associated,
and still oftener and to a later period with my
friend Stephen Kemblef and his friends. In Mrs.
Elliot's house, and indeed in every house, politics
formed the topic of conversation, and, less or more,
for years back, seemed the order of the day.

In partaking in these debatings, I now find I
spent rather too much time. I fear it was useless;
for it requires little discernment to see that,
where a man's interest is at stake, he is very
unwilling to hear any argument that militates
against it; and people who were well paid were
always very loyal. To argue on any subject,
unless a principle, or what mathematicians would
call a datum, is first laid down to go upon, is only

* Jane Elliot, as a landlady, conducted herself with great pro-
priety. She was sensible, spirited, clever and obliging, and from
these qualifications, and from her handsome and majestic appear-
ance, was called the Queen of Landladies. She died 12 Octr. 1822,
aged 74, and was buried at St. John's, and on the same day with her
friend Mrs. Sarah Hodgson, the widow of Solomon Hodgson.

t Stephen Kemble died 5 June 1822, aged 65, and was buried in
Durham Cathedral.

1 88 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

gabble. It begins and must end in nonsense ;
and I suspect that many of the long, wearisome
speeches and debatings carried on for such a
number of years in the Houses of Lords and
Commons, as well as many of the innumerable
weekly or daily essays, and some of the pamphlets
which the revolution and the war gave rise to,
were devoid of a right principle — a principle of
rectitude to guide them. The causes of this Revo-
lution, and the horrible war which ended it, will
form a most interesting subject for the head and
pen of some future historian of a bold and en-
lightened mind — truly to depicture it in all its
bearings, perhaps long after the animosity of
party feelings and the parties themselves have
passed away.

From the best consideration I have been able
to give to the question, I cannot help viewing it
otherwise than in this way. In the year 1789,
the French Revolution broke out, first of all from
the income of the government not being sufficient
to defray its expenditure, or in other words, from
its finances having become deranged for want of
money, which the people, having been taxed to
the utmost and brought down to poverty, could
no longer supply. The aristocracy and the priest-
hood (the privileged orders, as they were called)
contributed little or nothing to support the state;
and, instead of being the natural guardians or
depositories of the honour and virtue of the nation,
they were chiefly known as its oppressors. By
exaction, cruelty, and tyranny, the people had
long been borne down to the lowest pitch of
degradation. They were considered, not as rational
human beings, equal in mind and intellect to their

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 189

oppressors, but as beings made for the purpose
only of continually labouring1 to support them in
all their real and imaginary wants. This is nearly
the case in all countries where the aristocracy are
kept up and blinded by pride and guided by
ignorance. In this they are supported by what
may be called their satellites — a kind of bastard
breed, who, in aping the worst part of the character
of those exalted above them, show themselves off
as the opulent, aspiring, purse-proud gentry of a
country.

" If aught on earth th' immortal powers deride,
'Tis surely this, — the littleness of pride."

This kind of treatment, so long shown to the
people of France, could be endured no longer.
They, indeed, seemed heartily disposed to settle a
rational and just representative government quietly
themselves ; but this did not suit the views of
the surrounding despots, to whom the very word
liberty was offensive, and it was determined, at
once, that this attempt of the people to resume
their rights should instantly be overwhelmed. For
this purpose, immense armed and well-disciplined
mercenaries were gathered together, and almost
surrounded the country. Thus situated and re-
membering the traditionary tales handed down to
them of the cruelties and oppressions under which
their forefathers had groaned, the French people
could not bear their condition any longer. They
were driven to madness, and instantly retaliated
upon their oppressors, who, they conceived, meant
that they and their children's children should con-
tinue to be doomed for ages to come. In this
state of the public mind, the French people rose
simultaneously, as one man, and with unconquer-

I QO MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEXVICK.

able energy and bravery, like a whirlwind, swept
the advocates and the armies of despotism from off
the face of the earth. Thus roused, this con-
federacy of Legitimates, finding or fearing that
they might be baffled in their attempts, looked to
England for support ; and grieved, indeed, were
the advocates of rational liberty to find that these
enemies to freedom had not looked in vain ; for
the government of this free country and free people
—long veering, indeed, from the line of rectitude-
had readily found pretexts for entering into a war
in support of despotism ; and war was begun, in
the year 1793, against the republican government
of France.

It had long been the settled opinion of many
profound politicians, that corruption had spread,
and was spreading, its baneful influence among
the members of the government of this kingdom ;
and that the majority cared nothing about main-
taining the constitution in its purity, which to
them was become like an old song. In this state
of things, with Mr. Pitt at their head, and the
resources of the British Isles in their hands, it
was calculated upon as a certainty that his weight,
added to the already powerful confederacy, would
soon put a stop to the march of intellect, and,
if found necessary, put an extinguisher upon the
rights of man.

It is horrible to contemplate the immense de-
struction of human beings, and the waste of
treasure, which followed and - supported this
superlatively wicked war. Under the mask of
patriotism, Mr. Pitt had begun his career, but
he soon changed sides, and, blinded perhaps by
ambition, became the powerful advocate of an

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. igi

opposite and perverted order of thing's. Thus
situated, nothing" could to a certainty serve his
purpose so well as corruption ; and the House
of Commons had long been growing into a state
befitting his purpose ; for its members had, in a
great degree, ceased to be the representatives of
the people, and he had now only to begin an
invigorated, new, or more extended system of
place and patronage to have the majority at his
nod ; and, in aid of this, to add an extension of the
peerage. This demi-oligarchy, cemented together
by feelings of rapacious interests, in his hands
was the best organised system of extorting money
that ever had appeared in the world. They met
together to tax — tax — tax ; and, under various
pretexts, to rob the people " according to law,"
and to divide the spoil amongst themselves and
their friends. Arbitrary laws were enacted,
gagging bills were passed, and a system of
espionage spread over the kingdom to keep the
people down, many of whom seemed to have
forgotten the exertions of their forefathers, whose
blood had been spilt to purchase a better order
of things. I felt particularly hurt at the apathy of
country gentlemen in these (politically considered)
worst of times. Their faculties seemed benumbed ;
but, indeed, most of them fell into the vortex of
corruption themselves. They appeared to me to
have lost their former independent character, and
to be now looking out to that evil source as a
provision for the younger branches of their own
families, unmindful of all other ill consequences,
which this selfishness blindly supported and main-
tained. The minions of power were countenanced
and protected, by which they became insolent and

I Q2 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

impudent, and walked in stately array, hand in
hand, in safety. Although the friends of liberty
and the constitution were both numerous and
intrepid, yet, for want of what they termed respect-
able heads, they were widely spread and divided,
and their efforts proved in vain. There was also
an intermediate or neutral race, consisting of those
who had not laid down any principle to guide
them. They were mostly such as advocated the
cause of corruption ; and, in listening to them, I
was disgusted at their senseless arguments. They
were proof against reasoning, and thoroughly
convinced me that " a wise man changes his
opinion, but a fool never does." They, however,
kept on the safe side ; they were loyal ; and the
gist of their arguments, with which they ended all
their disputes, were summed up in this — " If you
do not like your country, leave it. What do you
want? are not we very well off?" Their reflecting
powers reached no further, and they could not see
by what slow degrees the arm of despotism had so
often circumspectly stretched its iron hand over the
liberties of the people, and then crushed them.

While bickerings and debatings were going on
amongst politicians at home, the Continent was
deluged with the blood of many destructive battles.
The sea was also crimsoned in the same way ; and
it was on this element that the tide of affairs was
first turned in favour of Britain, who now, by the
valour of her seamen, reigned complete " mistress
of the deep," and the commerce of the world
seemed to be poured into her lap. Estates rose
in value to an extraordinary height, and the price
of grain, &c., still more so. The shipping interest
wallowed in riches ; the gentry whirled about in

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 193

aristocratic pomposity ; they forgot what their
demeanour and good, kind, behaviour used to be
to those in inferior stations of life ; and seemed
now far too often to look upon them like dirt.
The character of the richer class, of farmers was
also changed. They acted the gentleman very
awrkwardly, and many of them could not, in these
times, drink anything but wine, and even that
was called "humble port." When these upstart
gentlemen left the market, they were ready to ride
over all they met or overtook on the way ; but
this was as nothing compared to the pride and
folly which took possession of their empty or fume-
charged heads, when they got dressed in scarlet.
They were then fitted for any purpose, and were
called "yeomanry cavalry." Pride and folly then
became personified. When peace came, it brought
with it a sudden fall in the price of corn ; but the
taxes continuing the same to them, and rents still
keeping high, they, with few exceptions, suddenly
experienced a woful change. I cannot say, after
seeing so much of their folly, that I was sorry for
them ; for they mostly deserved this reverse of
fortune. Not so with the industrious labourer. His
privations were great, and he was undeservedly
doomed to suffer for want of employment, and
often to waste away and die of hunger aad want.
During the greater portion of the war, the land-
owners may be said to have paid little or nothing
to support it ; for the extra rents paid almost all
their taxes ; but at length the evils brought on by
so long a war fell also heavily upon numbers of
them, who, on account of tithes and taxes with
which the land was loaded, could hardly get any

rent at all.

z

IQ4 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

It will seem a wonder to future ages how the
British people could so long- have supported the
squandered expenditure of the government ; still
they were not like the long-worn-down subjects
of continental despots ; for what the latter can get
from their subjects is like clippings from the back
and sides of swine, while the ingenuity, the indus-
try, and the energy of the British people furnish
the well-grown fleeces of sheep. Pity it is that
they should have been so often wickedly shorn
to the bare skin.

The state of temporary prosperity, to which I
have alluded, incited to agricultural improvements;
and societies for the promotion, and premiums for
the encouragement, of various desiderata blazed
forth over a great part of the kingdom. Cattle,
sheep, horses, and swine, all of which were called
"live stock," occupied a great deal of attention,
and in the improvement of the various breeds
agriculturalists succeeded to a certain, and in
some cases, perhaps, to a great extent. And yet
I cannot help thinking that they often suffered
their whimsies to overshoot the mark, and in many
instances to lead them on to the ridiculous.

After all, — these enquiries having opened the
eyes of the landlords to their own interests, — it is
not unlikely that the man of industry, the plain,
plodding farmer will, without receiving any reward,
have to pay for these improvements. My kind, my
intimate friend, John Bailey, Esq.,* of Chilling-
ham, in conjunction with another friend of mine,

* John Bailey, Esq. died 3 June, 1819, aged 68, and was buried at
Chillingham. [A note by Miss Bewick in the Bewick MSS. says
that he was a celebrated agriculturist, steward to Lord Tankerville,
and afterwaids a banker at Berwick-upon-Tweed. (See chap, xii.)]

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 195

George Culley, Esq., of Fowberry, were the active,
judicious, and sensible authors of many of the
agricultural reports, in which they did not lose
sight of the farmer. They wished to inculcate the
principle of "to live and let live" between landlord
and tenant.

It will readily be supposed, that, where such
exertions were made, and pains taken to breed the
best kinds of all the domestic animals, jealousy
and envy would be excited, and contentions arise
as to which were the best ; but for me to dilate
upon this would only lead me out of the way. I
shall, however, notice an instance, as it happened
to occur between my two friends, Mr. Smith, of
Woodhall, and Mr. Bailey. The latter, in connec-
tion with his report on Cheviot sheep, had given
a bad figure of a ram of that breed. This was
construed into a design =to lessen the character of
Mr. Smith's Cheviot sheep, on which, in April,
1798, the latter sent for me to draw and engrave
a figure of one of his rams, by way of contrasting
it with the figure Mr. Bailey had given. The
colour Mr. Smith gave to the business was, not to
find fault with Mr. Bailey's figure, but to show
how much he (Mr. Smith) had improved the breed
since Mr. Bailey had written his report.

Whilst I was at Woodhall, I was struck with the
sagacity of a dog belonging to Mr. Smith. The
character for sagacity of the Shepherd's Dog was
well-known to me, but this instance of it was ex-
emplified before my own eyes. Mr. Smith wished
to have a particular ram brought out from amongst
the flock, for the purpose of my seeing it. Before
we set out, he observed to the shepherd, that he
thought the old dog (he was grey-headed and

196 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

almost deaf and blind) would do well enough for
what he wanted with him. Before we reached the
down, where the flock was feeding, I observed
that Mr. Smith was talking to the dog before he
ordered him off on his errand ; and, while we were
conversing on some indifferent subject, the dog
brought a ram before us. Mr. Smith found a deal
of fault with the dog, saying, Did I not order you
so and so r and he scolded him for bringing a
wrong sheep, and then, after fresh directions, set
him off again to bring the one he wished me to
see. We then returned home, and shortly after
our arrival there, the dog brought the very ram
wanted, along with a few other sheep, into the
fold, where I took a drawing of him.

Shortly after my return from Woodhall, I was
sent for to Darlington, and thence to Barmpton,
to make drawings of cattle and sheep, to be en-
graved for a Durham report. After I had made
my drawings from the fat sheep, I soon saw that
they were not approved, but that they were to
be made like certain paintings shown to me. I
observed to my employer that the paintings bore
no resemblance to the animals whose figures I
had made my drawings from ; and that I would
not alter mine to suit the paintings that were
shown to me ; but, if it were wished that I should
make engravings from these paintings, I had not
the slightest objection to do so, and I would also
endeavour to makeyfo: similes of them. This pro-
posal would not do ; and my journey, as far as
concerned these fat cattle makers, ended in
nothing. I objected to put lumps of fat here
and there where I could not see it, at least not in
so exaggerated a way as on the painting before

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 197

me ; so " I got my labour for my trouble." Many
of the animals were, during this rage for fat cattle,
fed up to as great a weight and bulk as it was
possible for feeding to make them ; but this was
not enough ; they were to be figured monstrously
fat before the owners of them could be pleased.
Painters were found who were quite subservient
to this guidance, and nothing else would satisfy.
Many of these paintings will mark the times, and,
by the exaggerated productions of the artists,
serve to be laughed at when the folly and the
self-interested motives which gave birth to them
are done away.

CHAPTER XVI.

FROM this time till the peace was concluded,
the political debatings, before noticed, continued,
and were almost the constant subject of all com-
panies. I have often sat and listened with wonder
to the jargon of the protected fools, and heard
them argue, if so it may be called, in defence of
all the measures then pursued; and I have seen
with surprise the impudence of those who lived
upon the taxes. Knaves and their abettors ap-
peared to predominate in the land ; and they
carried their subserviency to such a length that
I think, if Mr. Pitt had proposed to make a law
to transport all men who had pug noses, and to
hang all men above 60 years of age, these persons
(those excepted who came within the meaning of
the act) would have advocated it as a brilliant
thought and a wise measure.

If we examine the history of these times, and
look back to those of old, we shall find that the
inroads of ignorance have ever been the same.
The time was when the magistrates of Newcastle
sent to Scotland for a man who was reputed clever
in discovering witches. He came, and easily con-
victed many a fine woman, as well as those who
were wrinkled by age and wisdom, and they were
by his means tried and put to death.*

* " He was for such like villainie condemned in Scotland, and
upon the gallows he confessed he had been the death of two hundred
and twenty women, in England and Scotland, for the gain of twenty
shillings a-peece, and beseeched forgiveness and was executed. "-
" England's Grievance," by Ralph Gardner, 1665.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 199

I think, if there be a plurality of devils, ignor-
ance must be their king". The wretchedness which
ignorance has, from time to time, spread over the
world is truly appalling. This is a king that
should be deposed without loss of time ; and that
portion of mankind who are under the guidance
of his imps should have nothing to do with the
affairs of society, and should be carefully looked
to and kept out of every kind of command. Even
the poor, innocent, unreasoning animals should,
in mercy, not be allowed to be goaded, and to
suffer under folly and cruelty.

To attempt giving anything like a detail of the
history of this eventful war would, in this place,
be useless : that must be left to the historian. It
appears to me that Mr. Pitt was urged into it
chiefly by ambition, and that disappointment broke
his heart. General Bonaparte, from his un-
paralleled victories, became in his turn blinded
by ambition, which ended in his being conquered
and banished to St. Helena for life. He had
divided and conquered, in victory after victory,
almost all his continental enemies, one after
another, and then mostly reinstated them in their
dominions. But this generosity would not do.
Despotism, urged on and supported by this
country, was rooted too deeply in the governments
of Europe to think of making any change to
better the condition of the people. It would
appear that that is a business they cannot think
of; and the old maxim, that the many are made
only to support the few, seems continually upper-
most in their resolves. If Bonaparte had been
as good a man as he was a great one, he had it
in his power to settle all this, and to have estab-

200 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

lished the happiness of both the governors and
the governed, over all the civilised world, for ages
to come. Although he had the example of the
incomparable Washington before him, he did not
copy it. He ceased to be first consul, managed
to assume the title of emperor, married an
Austrian archduchess, and became one of the
Legitimates. This added to the stock of his
ambition, and from that time he began to decline.
Fortune at length seemed to frown upon him, and
the frost and snow of Russia cut off and destroyed
his immensely large and well-appointed army.
He was baffled in his strenuous efforts to repair
his loss, and his defeat at Waterloo sealed his ruin.
One would think that the gaining of worlds
would not compensate for the misery and the
horrid waste of human life which are the certain
attendants of war ; and one would wonder what
kind of materials men are made of, or what kind
of minds and souls direct the actions of the authors
of it. Were they to reflect, it may be fairly con-
cluded that they could not bear their own thoughts,
and that, after taking a full survey of the
wretchedness they had occasioned, they would
go immediately and hang themselves. But it
would appear that the lives of human beings
weigh little in the scale of great man-killers.
They are perhaps not fitted for reflection, or only
for that kind of it which can look at nothing but
ambition or private gain. It would be well for
the abettors and advocates of war to try to weigh
the profit and loss (setting aside the inhumanity)
attendant upon it. This we should do at home ;
and, instead of celebrating the birthday of the
" Heaven-born minister," ask his admirers how

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BP;\VICK. 2OI

he deserves such a title, and compare it with his
actions. Might not the lives of, say, a million of
men have been saved r Was it necessary that
they should have been sacrificed in such a way ?
Could he have avoided it ? With his consummate
abilities, I humbly think he could. Would not
these men have been sufficient in number to
colonize and to civilize immense unoccupied
territories ? The money wasted would have
accomplished almost anything. The men and
the money would have canaled Britain and Ireland
from end to end, and intersected them from side
to side ; and also made piers, where wanted, at
the mouths of the rivers of the two islands ; and,
besides, would have converted both countries into
gardens. To point out more improvements would
be a waste of words. With such means in hand,
they might have been almost endless. Then,
per contra: — What has been done in exchange
for the millions of lives and the millions of
money thus spent ? They have restored legi-
timacy; they have restored "Louis the Desired,"
and " Ferdinand the Beloved/' and the In-
quisition ! Monarchs are still to be called
" God's vicegerents here on earth ! " When by
their actions they shew themselves deserving of
such titles, mankind will not disturb them in
these their dreams ; but, till then, they will con-
tinue to smile at the conceit, as well as the glitter
they keep up to dazzle the sight of their purblind
"loving subjects/' All wrars, except defensive
ones, are detestable ; and, if governments admitted
morality into their institutions, and were guided
by its precepts, war would, in all probability, grow

into disuse, and cease. But hitherto that treasure

2 A

202 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

of inestimable value, I think, has been discarded
from their councils, and I cannot discover much
difference between them and the lesser banditti of
old ; for each has been guided by the strong
disposition to rob, (as soon as they thought them-
selves able successfully to do so), and to show
that "might is right." From the feuds of the
nobility down to " Rob-in-hood, Will Scarlet, and
Little John ;" and from the ferocious combats of
the Percy and Douglas, on the Borders — of Johnny
Armstrong and his eight score men, down to
"Yeddy (Adam) Bell/' "Clem of the Clough," and
"William of Cloudsley" — and the Mosstroopers, —
the same wicked principle has guided them and
their ferocious retainers to murder each other and
to soak the earth with blood.

CHAPTER XVII.

WITHOUT presuming to scan the intentions of
Omnipotence, in His gifts to the human race,—
or to probe into the nature of His endless works
of wisdom, — or to grope into matters intended to
be out of our reach, and beyond our comprehen-
sion,— yet the reasoning power He has given us,
we cannot doubt, was meant to guide us in our
researches to the extent for which it is capacitated,
and to which its uses are fitted to be applied. In
viewing man as connected with this world, and
with his station in society, I think it will appear
clearly that the various degrees of his intellectual
and reasoning powers are the gift of Providence ;
and, however high this boon may be, the possessor
of it ought to be thankful, but never vain. It is
this innate power drawn forth and acted upon by
observation and industry, that enables the philo-
sopher, the poet, the painter, and tluTmusician, to
arrive at excellence ; and the same remark is more
or less applicable to men bent upon any pursuit
in the whole round of the arts and sciences.
Without using the means to cultivate their powers,
they will remain inert, and be of no use either to
the individual or to society ; and men with innate
qualifications, and men without them, are brought
down to a level of uselessness. It is greatly
owing to the want of effort that originates the
inequalities of rank and fortune of which the.
community is composed. The intelligent and
industrious man, guided by honour, will ever be
aiming to rise in the scale of eminence ; while,

204 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

on the contrary, the lazy, the ignorant, or the
wicked man, influenced by pride, dissipation and
negligence, is whirled into the vortex of disgrace,
and is attended by poverty and misery ; and, if he
cannot redeem his character, becomes abandoned.
He is then in his last stage ; his days will be
full of sorrow ; and, if it be true that " none are
wretched but the wicked," he will have his fill
of it.

But to remedy these evils attendant upon ignor-
ance, as far as possible, and to give every man
a fair chance, his reasoning powers ought to be
drawn forth by a rational and virtuous education?
and it is a first and imperative duty upon the
community either to provide for, or to see that it
is given to, every one as far as his capacity will
permit ; for to the neglect or omission of this kind
of instruction may be traced almost all the wicked-
ness and misrule which disfigure the social compact
and spread misery over the world. To check the
reasoning power is a public crime, which, like
individual crime, follows the perpetrators like a
shadow. To argue against the exercise of this
gift is to attempt to thwart the intentions of
Omnipotence. It is blasphemy. It never will
pollute the tongues of good and wise men, and
could only, like dregs, be reserved to defile
those of tyrants and fools. Men who are not
actuated by the principle of " doing as they would
be done by" — governed by a twisted imagination —
would have their fellow men kept in ignorance,—
to pass away their lives like unreasoning animals,
lest they might not have sufficient homage paid
to themselves, or that they should forget their
duty as servants, and cease to work for, or to

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

205

wait upon, their employers. A sensible servant
will never omit doing his duty, but an ignorant
one will ; and the reciprocal duties between master
and servant ought to be clearly defined. The
former ought not to act the tyrant ; the latter
should be obedient ; and equal and just laws
should guide and govern them.

All men of sound understanding, and who are
capable of reflection, will clearly see that there
is not, and cannot 'be, any such thing as equality.
There must, and ever will be, high and low, rich
and poor ; and this inequality of rank and fortune,
in civilized states, is necessary for the comfort
and happiness of all. A cement is thus formed,
which binds together in union the strength, the
beauty, and the symmetry of the whole. In the
most free state, man must not expect to have the
unrestrained liberty of the savage, but must give
up a part of his own freedom for the good of the
whole ; for liberty consists in this, that every man
may do whatever he pleases, provided he does
nothing to injure his neighbour, or the community
of which he is a member ; and his morality ought
to be guided by the golden rule, of " doing unto
all men as he would they should do unto him."
Were men made sensible of the rectitude of this
order of things ; were they to consider that, in
whatever station in society fortune may have
placed them, it is the will of Providence that it
should be so, this reflection would greatly con-
tribute to their peace of mind and contentment;
for no man should think himself degraded by
following an honest calling.

" Honour and shame from no condition rise ;
Act well your part : there all the honour lies."

206 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

Patriotism ought to direct every man to do
honour to himself and to his country ; and it is in
this that great national power principally consists.
It is also by the good conduct, and consequent
character, of the great mass of the people that a
nation is exalted. The crown — the richest diamond
of our life — is the love of our country ; and the
man who neglects this, and ceases to reverence
and adore his Maker, is good for nothing. "The
country, surrounded by the briny deep, where all
our ancestors lie buried — in which from youth
upwards we have felt the benefit of equal laws,
first acted upon and handed down to us by the
Great Alfred, and maintained from time to time
amidst all the attempts of despotism to overturn
them, — by men famed for matchless wisdom and
virtue, — a country so renowned as England, so
famous for all that most strongly attracts the
admiration of men, — a country whose genius and
power have, for ages, been such as to make her
views and intentions an object of solicitude with
every nation, and with every enlightened individual
in the world, — a country famed for her laws, famed
in arts and arms, famed for the struggles which,
age after age, her sons have held with tyranny
in every form it has assumed, — and, beyond all
these, famed for having given birth to, and reared
to manhood, those men of matchless wisdom and
virtue whose memories will be held up to admira-
tion, and whose example will be followed in ages
to come — who have rendered the very name of
Englishmen respected in every civilized country in
the world " — (may this be eternal !) — should this
country ever sink into despotism, its reputation
will sink also, and with it the high name of its

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 207

once enlightened sons ; for this renown and this
exalted station cannot be stable unless a pure
representation of the people is' kept up : without
that, justice will be perverted, and corruption will
creep in and in time overturn the best and wisest
plans. Government will become omnipotent, in-
stead of being the umpire and standing by, like
a strong man, to see that justice is done. Lord
Bacon says: — "The ultimate object which legis-
lators ought to have in view, and to which all their
enactments and sanctions ought to be subservient,
is, that the citizens may live happy. For this
purpose it is necessary that they should receive
a religious and pious education ; that they should
be trained to good morals ; that they should be
secured from foreign enemies by proper military
arrangements ; that they should be guarded by an
effectual police against seditions and private in-
juries ; that they should be loyal to government,
and obedient to magistrates ; and, finally, that
they should abound in wealth, and other national
resources."

Well-constituted governments, if occasionally
revised, and as often as necessary scrupulously
amended, may be rendered as permanent as time.
If wisely and virtuously administered, they would
be indestructible, and incalculably contribute, by
their vigour and uninterrupted duration, to the
mental and moral aggrandisement of man. It is
a truth confirmed by universal history, that the
happiness or misery of a people almost entirely
depends upon the principles of their government,
and the conduct of their rulers. Where just and
honourable intentions exist, there is nothing to
dread; but, when only the semblance of these are

208 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

put on, to cloak wicked and sinister ends, delusion
and artifice of every kind must be resorted to for
their accomplishment. Thence follows the de-
gradation of man, and the consequent decay of
states and nations. But it is not for want of
knowing better that governments get out of the
path of rectitude; it is by the individuals who
compose its parts becoming dishonest. To the
sage advice of such men as Bacon and Locke they
turn a deaf ear; they are lost in considerations
about their own private, selfish concerns, or are
blinded by a false ambition, regardless of pro-
moting the public good, or the happiness of
mankind; and, until they are checked in this
career, by an enlightened people, it is in vain to
look for any amendment in them. But the great
bulk of the people must be enlightened and
amended, before liberty, peace, and happiness,
can be spread over the world.

The first step preparatory to this desirable order
of things, must be that the people should learn to
respect themselves, as reasoning beings, which is
the noblest privilege bestowed upon them by the
Creator. To slight this gift is to act ungratefully
to the Giver; for it is only by the free exercise of
their understandings that men can see the face of
truth, or can have the full use of all the means of
advancing in knowledge, or are capable of religion,
science, virtue, and rational happiness, or can be
enabled to look backward with comfort or forward
with hope. It is a sure sign that all is not right,
or as it should be, in governments, when they fear
even the fullest investigation of any, and of every,
subject. Truth and honesty fear no discussion,
and good governments will freely encourage,

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 209

instead of checking, them. There ought to be no
libels, but falsehoods. Can any man say, in the
face of the world, that truth ought not to prevail ?
It is owing to inquisitorial checks and restraints,
that two of the most important concerns to man-
kind, Religion and Politics, — on which their
happiness, and everything of importance to them,
so much depends, — is by the community, as a
whole, so imperfectly understood, and so blindly
acted upon at this day. It is only by seeing the
conduct of public men in a clear light, that a just
judgment can be formed of them and their
measures, and of their fitness or unfitness to con-
duct the important concerns entrusted to their
control. It may, indeed, be feared that, if tried
in the balance, they will be found very light.
Wise and honest councils must be resorted to and
adopted before Religion, Morality, and Politics,
Arts and Sciences, and a better knowledge of this
world of wonders, can be developed and appre-
ciated. Till then no amendment need be expected ;
religion will not be freed from superstition and
bigotry, nor political institutions purged from
venality and corruption, and conducted by honesty
and good sense. Those who have fixed them-
selves, like a disease, upon the body politic should
have warning to depart.

In glancing back upon the transactions of the
world, as they have recently passed in review
before us, how can it afford any matter of wonder
that the advocates of liberty should have enter-
tained fears for its safety, and have wished, as a
check, the re-establishment of the British constitu-
tion in its purity. There was, indeed, little hope of

this being acted upon, when foreign despots were

2 B

210 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

leagued to enslave their peoples ; and our own
government, supported by a demi-oligarchy, was
so deeply connected with them. Loan after loan
was wrung from the British people under various
pretexts, but in reality to support despotism under
the disguise of legitimacy. Granted, that an honest
House of Commons might have supported legiti-
macy, they should have openly expressed disap-
probation at the lost liberties of nations of enslaved
people. Protests of this kind, however, did not fit
with the notions of the representatives of borough -
mongers, who composed the majority of the honour-
able House, and who had long been used to treat
the people and their petitions with unblushing
neglect or contempt.

In this state of things, politics ran high ; an
unpleasant ferment soured the minds of a great
majority of the people ; and it cannot be wondered
that they were, with difficulty, kept within bounds.
Those who had been used to batten on the wages
of corruption became excessively alarmed, and,
under the pretence of preserving the constitution,
resorted to a system of espionage, and of gaols
and bastiles, and left no stone unturned to throw
odium upon their opponents, the advocates of
liberty, who were branded with the nicknames of
Jacobins, Levellers, Radicals, &c., &c. The pen of
literature was prostituted to overshade the actions
of good men, and to gloss over the enormities
of the base. . The energies of many members
of both Houses of Parliament were unavailing
against this compact confederacy of undeserving
placemen and pensioners, who were bound to-
gether by fellow feelings of self-interest, in which
all ideas of public trust were lost in private con-

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 2 I I

siderations. They had sinned themselves out of
all shame. This phalanx have kept their ground,
and will do so till, it is to be feared, violence from
an enraged people breaks them up, or, perhaps,
till the growing opinions against such a crooked
order of conducting the affairs of this great nation
becomes quite apparent to an immense majority,
whose frowns may have the power of bringing the
agents of government to pause upon the brink of
the precipice on which they stand, and to provide
in time, by wise and honest measures, to avert the
coming storm. It is appalling to think of matters
of this import being brought to extremities,
especially when the whole might so easily be
settled without any convulsion at all. The king
(whose interests are the same as the people's) if
freed from the advice of evil counsellors, and from
the unfitting trammels by which they have him
bound, might insist upon having the constitution
restored to its purity. This would at once settle
the business, and would cause him to be adored
by his whole people, and his name to be revered,
by the enlightened in every civilised country, to
the latest posterity.

CHAPTER XVIII.

I NEVER could agree in opinion with the
philanthropic, well-intentioned, and honest Major
Cartwright,* in his unqualified scheme of universal
suffrage ; because I conceive that the ignorant and
the wicked ought to be debarred from voting for
anything ; they should neither be honoured Avith
privileges nor employed in any office of public
trust ; a virtual representation is all-sufficient for
them. Could matters be so managed that none
but sensible, honest men should be allowed to
vote, either for members of Parliament, or for
any other public functionary, the country would,
in a short time, put on a very improved appear-
ance. It is quite natural to suppose that, were
elections entrusted to this description of men, they
would elect none but those of similar character to
their own. But, should it be found impracticable
thus to order public matters, then the next best
plan, which might easily be accomplished, would
be to confer the additional elective franchise upon
householders of probity and honour, for it must
be admitted that information and impartiality are
not confined to any class, and the poor are fre-
quently as wise as the rich, and as remarkable
for integrity.

If an overwhelming mass of selfism did not
paralyze every improvement, howr easily and how

* Major John Cartwright died 23rd Sep., 1824, aged 84, — an
honour to himself, his country, and to human nature — an uprght,
unvarying, inflexible patriot.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 213

soon all this might be done. By making elections
simple, candidates would be spared the expense of
a canvass, and drunkenness and the base, wicked
effects consequent thereon might be avoided. This
business through the whole kingdom might be done
in a few days, by summoning the electors (as soon
as the candidates were nominated) to attend at the
several polling places, to vote by ballot or otherwise
as might be determined. The public should only be
addressed through the medium of the newspapers.
What a real honour would it be to be thus elected !
What a saving of expense ! What can any gentle-
man, after spending thousands in the present mode,
say for himself: Does he expect to be repaid,
somehow or other, by the nation ? or, has he
lavished away such sums for the "honour of the
thing," and thus robbed his own family by waste-
ful expenditure ?

While sentiments of patriotism were entertained
in our country, — clouded, indeed, by fears of an
opposite tendency, as noticed before, — the attention
of all was drawn aside to view the confederacy of
despots directed to shackle the understandings of
mankind, and to keep them in slavery and degra-
dation. Would any man in his senses, in the
present enlightened state of the civilized wrorld,
have thought this possible ? And yet, as a finish,
they have called it the " Holy Alliance." My
most fervent prayer is, that no king of the British
Isles \vill ever keep such company ; but that our
sovereigns will ever stand firm, uncontaminated
by the infectious effluvia of arbitrary power, upon
this proud ground — this soil fitly tilled, but only
wanting some weeding to render it perfectly ready
to produce a rich crop of liberty.

214 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

Most men were beginning to hope that emperors
and kings had discovered that, if the people were
not enlightened, it was high time for them to use
their kingly influence to make them so; and that it
is far safer and better, as well as more honourable,
to preside over an intelligent people, than to
govern men brought down to the level of un-
reasoning brutes. The wretchedly bigoted, and
consequently oppressed, people of Spain will, no
doubt, see things in their true light at some
future day, and free their fine country from misrule.
The times in which Galileo lived have passed
away, but we still see the same kind of despotism
and superstition ready as ever to burn such men
alive, and to strew their ashes in the wind. The
affairs of mankind, managed in this way, will be
likely at no distant period to put such kings and
their priests out of fashion. Superstition makes
despots and tyrants of all the sovereigns whom
it influences : they become the confirmed enemies
of knowledge. The die is then cast. Superstition
never did, nor ever will, listen to reason ; for
credulity is the offspring of ignorance, and super-
stition is the child of credulity ; and this breed is
nursed and kept up by despotism, as its mainstay
and darling. The sun of reason may be clouded
for a time. As long as falsehood in the garb
of truth continues to lead the great mass of
mankind, so long will they struggle in vain to
attain the paths which lead to perfection and
happiness.

" We should always repute it as our business in
the world — the end and purpose of our being — our
duty to our kind — the natural use of the powers
we enjoy — and the suitable testimony of gratitude

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 215

to our Maker, to contribute something to the
general good — to the common fund of happiness
to our species."* Benevolent and patriotic senti-
ments of this kind ought always to be kept up,
and the mite of the humblest individual ought to
be received and acknowledged : the reveries of
such ought not to pass without being coolly
examined by men of experience. I well remember
my name having been set down as that of a person
who would, without hesitation, become a member
of a society in Newcastle, " for the suppression
of vice." To this I decidedly objected, and told
my well-meaning neighbour,! who named the
matter to me, that I thought the magistrates were
quite competent to manage that business ; but
that I would have no hesitation in joining their
society if they would change their plan, and make
it " a society for promoting and rewarding virtue."
I have often thought since that, if such a society
as the latter — to be called "The Society of
Honour" — were established in every parish, it
might, if well managed, do great ~good. The
society ought not to annoy any one, by being
over officious, nor to meddle otherwise than by
quietly, and yet publicly, rewarding, or expressing
the good opinion they entertain of the conduct of
the person honoured.

Another society of a very different character to
the last-named is at this time winked at in this
land of liberty. I mean the present great and

* Dr. F. Hutchinson.

f Mr. Benjamin Brunton. He was a popular man, and was often
chairman at patriotic and charitable meetings, and had been one of
the committee who sued the magistrates of Newcastle on the Town
Moor business before mentioned. [See note, p. 70.]

2l6 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

mighty Inquisition, held under the denomination
of "the Constitutional Association." These men —
the secret admirers of " The Holy Alliance" — may
more properly be called the suppressors and
dreaders of truth. Acting, indeed, under the
mask of advocating the cause of religion and
liberty, but in reality in lurking enmity to the
latter, and to all free enquiry and investigation,
they have arrogated to themselves the power of
punishing a man for his unbiased opinions, even
on subjects which do not militate against good
morals, or against the happiness of society ; thus
taking the power out of the hands of the national
authorities, as if they were unfit and insufficient
to do their duty. A House of Commons ought
to see this with indignation, and this self-erected
Inquisition should be invited to answer truth with
truth, as well as they can ; leaving the world to
judge of the question and how it stands between
them and the parties they ruin by their persecu-
tions.

When men break through laws, made with care
for the good government of the community, they
ought, as at present, to forfeit their liberty, and
in some cases their lives. Murderers ought to be
given to the surgeons, and perhaps some other
criminals also, but those, I think, who have be-
trayed the innocent, and robbed the fatherless
children and widow, are no longer fit to live in
civilised society, — they ought to be sent to live
with savages in the back settlements, to have
their backs tatooed with hieroglyphics, expressive
of their crimes.

It has often been a matter of surprise, in the
circle of my friends, that criminals are not trans-

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 217

ported to the West Indies, there to undergo a
purgation till they have redeemed their characters,
in which case they should be allowed to return
home. It has also appeared to us that the law
is defective, in not, somehow or other, protecting
men, who could not be convicted of the crimes
laid to their charge. Some association should be
formed — some friends to them and to humanity
might be invited forth to pass their word, for a
time, for their good behaviour, to prevent their
being thus cast friendless upon an unforgiving and
censorious world ; for it matters not how fervently
a man may wish to redeem his character, no one
will employ him, and he is thereby driven to the
necessity of flying to some villainous scheme to
enable him to live.

It is painful to speak about punishments to be
inflicted upon one's unfortunate fellow men : it is
equally so to contemplate their self-degradation.
But, when it is considered what a voluminous
mass of laws we have, neither understood nor
explained, we cannot wonder that they are broken ;
they are so multifarious and complex, that, as to
the illiterate description of persons they are meant
to keep in order, they are almost useless. An
abridgement of the laws of England would perhaps
fill fifty folio volumes. These laws, at the time
they were made, might be good and proper, but
most of them are now inapplicable and obsolete.
To amend them seems impossible, and an act to
amend or explain an act, by adding confusion to
confusion, is truly farcical. It is a pity that the
whole of them cannot be abolished at once, and
short and clear new ones substituted in their stead.

As they stand at present, few men can understand

2 C

2l8 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

them, and to men of plain, good sense, or of ordi-
nary capacities, they appear altogether a great mass
of unintelligible matter, or a complete uriddle-me-
ree." This may, indeed, be intended or winked at;
for it gives employment to a great number of men
of the law, of all kinds of character, from the basest
up to others who are ornaments to their country.
Indeed, were it not for the latter description, the
rest would not be endurable. They are more to be
dreaded than highwaymen and housebreakers, and
as such are viewed by the thinking part of the
community ; but the former find employment from
clients of their own character, who trust to them
for their ability in twisting, evading, and explaining
the law away.

I have had the honour of being acquainted with
some of the respectables of this learned profession ;
but to enumerate all of those I knew intimately
would swell out an unnecessary list of names.
I therefore think it sufficient first to notice such
only as were held in great public estimation. Of
these, in this neighbourhood, as councillors, stood
Robert Hopper Williamson, Esq., Recorder of this
town, a Newcastle worthy, and Thomas Losh, Esq.,
worthy of the like designation. Among the latter,
as men of the law w7hom I greatly respected, and
with whom I associated on terms of closer and
more social intercourse, were John Davidson,
Esq., Clerk of the Peace for Northumberland,*
and his brother Thomas f who succeeded him in
that office. The character which both these affable

* John Davidson, died at Tynemouth, 21 June, 1818, aged 66, and
was buried at All Saints.

f Thomas Davidson died at Lemington near Alnwick, 29 July,
1823, aged 69, and was buried at All Saints.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 219

and kind gentlemen bore through life was that
they were never known to undertake any dirty job
in hand to steer a villainous client through his
crooked wicked ways. What business I had to do
in law matters was transacted by my two intimates
Thos. Carr and Armorer Donkin, both gentlemen
of such abilities as placed them at the head of their
profession. There were several others for whom I
entertained a high regard, both for their share of
talents as well as for their social and friendly
dispositions. Of these I felt a particularly warm
attachment to my neighbours, Jos. Willis, Esq.,
and Richard Scruton, Esq., of Durham.

In passing* through life it has fortunately been
my lot to have the pleasure to be intimate with
both military and naval gentlemen as well as those
of the learned profession, though several of each
class stood high in the estimation of the world for
their gentlemanly manners and unsullied worth, to
which I may be allowed to add my testimony, as
well as to acknowledge the debt of gratitude I owe
some of them for their kindness and attention —
yet on taking a comparative survey of the whole I
cannot help giving a preference to medical gentle-
men, for besides their learning and attainments in
common with the other professions, they appear
to me generally to be further removed from
prejudices, more enlightened and more liberal in
their sentiments than the other labourers in the
vineyards of science and literature. Some of the
latter description of gentlemen I had occasion to
mention in the earlier part of this memoir — since
that time a succession of them has sprung up to
claim my thanks for their kind attentions. Of this
kind is John Ramsay, Esq., M.D., who watched

220 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

at my bedside, when, from my too close application
to business, and over exertions I needed his advice
and medical aid, as well as his being the humane
and feeling attendant upon my family. I might
swell out a list of the names of medical friends
and thus give vent to my feelings, were it of any
use to them. I cannot however omit acknowledg-
ing the civilities of Dr. Headlam, Dr. McWhirter
and Dr. Thomas Trotter, well known over all
England as physician to the fleet. My thanks
are also due to Mr. Henry Edmonston for his
good wishes to see the "History of British Birds"
appear among the first of publications of the kind.
For this end both he and his brother Mr. Laurence
Edmonston exhausted the ornithological stores of
Zetland, and our other northern isles, which have
enabled me to add some new matter to this Avork.
To these ornithological friends I must add G.
T. Fox, Esq., of Weston, both as a contributor
in rummaging the stores of the metropolis for
specimens, and also as being equally desirous to
see the books appear in perfection. My thanks
are also due to several gentlemen amateurs in
distant parts; but as a friend, the warmest of the
warm and as standing prominently conspicuous, is
J. F. M. Dovaston, Esq., of Westfelton in Shrop-
shire* for his ardent desire to afford his aid to the
"History of British Birds," and his having been
in some instances enabled to do so from his
close observations (by means of his ornithoscope)
of the habits of several of them. In this pursuit
he was cordially joined by his two friends, John
Clavering Wood, Esq., of Marsh Hall, Salop, and

* I was visited by this gentleman in October, 1823.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 221

by — . Bowman, Esq., of Wrexham, both equally
enthusiastic in their admiration of the works of
nature.

To these friends and contributors, I must add a
nearer neighbour, Mr. Richard Routledge Wingate,
whose unceasing attentions I have reason to value
for his having in several cases greatly assisted me
in the last edition, to discriminate by a comparative
view the difference between the doubtful genera,
species and varieties of birds. This he was enabled
to do from the long experience he attained in the
pursuit of collecting their eggs and their nests,
and also from his having in every doubtful case,
dissected his subjects before he gave the appear-
ance of the living birds to their preserved skins.
Among all these contributors and well-wishers I
have to acknowledge the obligations due, in edition
after edition, to my friend Mr. Edward Walker, the
printer of the whole, for his uncommon attention
and assiduity in correcting the press, surveying
the literary complexion of the text, and watching
his compositors lest a single word might escape
their notice and be wrong.

CHAPTER XIX.

IT is of the utmost importance to individuals
and to society that attention should be watchfully
bestowed upon children, both with respect to their
health and their morals. Their future welfare in
life depends upon this, and the important charge
falls greatly upon the mother. Her first lesson —
their talent being only imitation — should be that
of obedience, mildly enforced ; for, reason being
the faculty of comparing ideas already presented
to the mind, it cannot exist in a child, to whom
few or no ideas have been presented. Then follow
lessons of truth, sincerity, industry, honesty. It
ought to be impressed upon their minds that,
though they are young, yet the longest life is
only like a dream ; and, short as it is, it is
rendered shorter by all the time lost in wicked-
ness, contention, and strife. They ought to be
taught that all they can do, while they sojourn
in this world, is to live honourably, and to take
every care that the soul shall return to the Being
who gave it as pure, unpolluted, and spotless as
possible ; and that there can be no happiness
in this life unless they hold converse with God.

With respect to the health of children, I fear the
present management is not right. The mistaken
indulgence of parents, in pampering and spoiling
the appetites of children, lays the foundation of a
permanent train of diseases, which an endless
supply of medicines and nostrums will never

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 223

restore to its pristine vigour. Skilful medical
aid may, indeed, be of use, but nothing is so
sure as a recurrence to a plain diet, temperance,
and exercise. The next obstacle to remedy, I fear,
will not be easily removed ; for it is built upon
the prejudices of mothers themselves, dictated by
notions of fashion and gentility which have taken
a deep root. When folly has given the fashion,
she is a persevering dame, and "folly ever dotes
upon her darling." Instead of impressing upon
the minds of girls the importance of knowing
household affairs, and other useful knowledge, and
cultivating cheerfulness and affability along with
the courtesies of life, they must undergo a training
to befit them for appearing in frivolous company.
To insure this, the mother, or some boarding school
mistress, insists that these delicate young creatures
be tightened up in a shape-destroying dress, and
sit and move in graceful stiffness. They must not
spring about or make use of their limbs, lest it
might be called romping, and might give them so
vulgar, so robust, and so red-cheeked a look that
they would not appear like ladies. The conse-
quence of this is, that they become like hot-house
plants; — the air must not blow upon them; — and,
in this state, they must attend routs and balls,
and midnight assemblies, which send numbers of
them to an untimely grave.* If they survive
these trials, still they leave behind a want of
health and vigour, which hangs upon them
through life, and they become the nerveless
outcasts of nature. They are then unfit to

* If these assemblies must be kept up— by the gentry who can
afford it — they ought to be held in the day time, that those who
attend them may get their natural rest at night.

224 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

become the mothers of Englishmen; they twine
out a life of cnnui\ and their generation dies out.
I have all my life been grieved to find this
description too often realised. It is paying too
dear for female accomplishments. It is surely
desirable that a change should take place, by
which fashionable follies may be narrowed in
their boundaries, and a better line drawn out;
prescribed by propriety, affability, modesty, and
good sense, on which the courtesies of life,
and the invaluable embellishments of civilisation,
and everything graceful and charming in society,
is founded. I wish the ladies of the British Isles
may set the example, and take the lead in this,
so that ignorant rudeness and vulgarity may be
banished from the face of the earth.

If I could influence the fair sex, there is one
thing to which I would draw their attention; and
that is Horticulture ; and, connected with this, I
would recommend them, as far as convenient, to
become Florists, as this delightful and healthy
employment, — which has been long enough in
the rude hands of men — would entice them into
the open air, stimulate them to exertion, and
draw them away from their sedentary mode of
life, mewed up in close rooms, where they are
confined like nuns. This would contribute greatly
to their amusement, and exhilarate their spirits.
Every sensible man should encourage the fair sex
to follow this pursuit. What would this world
be without their help, to alleviate its burdens?
It would appear a barren waste. It would no
longer be a wide-spread garden of Eden, nor
an earthly paradise within the reach of our
enjoyments. May the fruits and flowers of it,

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

225

reared and presented by their fair hands, ever
operate as a charm in ensuring the attentions and
unabating regard of all men! And of all good
men it will. In thus dictating to them, n6 embar-
rassment can follow; and, if they ever know of
the liberty I thus have taken, it will probably be
when all embarrassments are, with me, at an end.
And I can only further leave behind me a wish
that health may eternally blush their cheeks, and
virtue their minds.

Next in consideration to the ladies, — who they
must in courtesy follow, — are the freeholders of this
favoured land. Such of these as, by their attain-
ments, arrive at the degree of gentlemen, are, or
ought to be, the pride and glory of'every civilised
country in the world. Placed in opulence and
independence, they are, and must be looked up
to as, the patrons of every virtue in the people,
who, in their station of life, may need such help
to encourage them. May gentlemen never lose
sight of this important duty, and ever be able
to stem the torrent of gambling and dissipation;
so that their ancient mansions may remain in
their names for ever, as pledges of their worth,
and as ornaments to the country. Without
their countenance, arts and sciences, and artisans,
would languish, industry would be paralysed, and
barbarism again rear its benumbed hands and
stupid head. It is to be hoped that the business
of their wine vaults, their horses, and their dogs,
may cease to be the main business of their lives,
and only be looked to as matters of amusement
wherewith to unbend their minds. And, as no
man can, while he is in possession of his faculties,
rest in happiness unless he is exercising them,

2 D

226 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

and some hobby-horse must engage his atten-
tion, it therefore becomes a question for their
consideration in what way they can best employ
themselves. I would earnestly recommend that
gentlemen should endeavour to improve their
lands, and lay the foundation of fertilising them :
and instead of spending — perhaps squandering —
their money in follies abroad, as far as possible,
spend it at home. The late good and wise first
Lord Ravensworth used to say, there was nothing
grateful but the earth. "You cannot/' said he,
"do too much for it; it will continue to pay tenfold
the pains and labour bestowed upon it." Estates
so managed would then exhibit the appearance
of clean-weeded nurseries. As an act of justice
due to the industrious farmer, he ought, on enter-
ing upon his lease, to have his farm valued, and,
when his lease is out, valued again ; and whatever
improvements he may have made, ought to be
paid for on his leaving. I am well aware that
these remarks may not be relished by those whose
pride, dictated by the wish to domineer, will not
give in to this fair proposal, for fear of the inde-
pendent spirit it might rear; but it must be allowed
that the landlord could come to no loss by it,
and that the community would be greatly benefited
by the adoption of such a plan. Those gentlemen
who have moorlands, however exposed and bleak
they may be, may yet do something to make them
more productive, by enclosing them with dry stone
dykes, beset and bound with ivy, and intersected
with whin hedges ;* and this shelter would form

* The very clippings of which (as noticed before) would be
healthful fodder for both sheep and cattle.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 227

a bield for sheep and cattle, and besides would
produce grass both in quantity and quality such
as never grew there before.

The chief offices which gentlemen and free-
holders are called upon to fulfil are, member of
Parliament, magistrate, and juryman. The first
is the most important; but, indeed, in that as well
as the others, the requisite ingredients are honesty
and intelligence. If we look at the wretched tools
which boroughmongers obtrude upon the nation,
we may anxiously look to the importance of
electing gentlemen who will unceasingly and
boldly oppose such men ever being allowed to
sit as representatives. But these have already
gone far on the road towards paralysing the
British constitution, and establishing on its ruins
an oligarchy, which is the worst and most odious
of all governments.

In the troublesome and gratuitous office of
magistrate, great sagacity and penetration are
requisite to enable the holders, in their political
capacity, to discriminate between stretching too
far the, perhaps, ill-defined, and often arbitrary
laws, beyond the due bounds prescribed by justice
and mercy. They ought to detest being made the
tools of despotic acts of corruption, and being like
Turkish Bashaws spread over the provinces. In
their civil capacities, matters come more nearly
home to them; and in this they have much need
of cool deliberation, as well as extreme vigilance,
for without these there would be no such thing as
living in peace while such numbers of the dregs of
the people remain in ignorance and depravity.
These latter do not know the meaning of either
religion or morality, and it is only the strong arm

228 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

of the law that can keep people of this description
in order. Their evidence ought always to be
suspected. Oaths have little weight: they are so
used to them. One of our poets says, —

" Of all the nauseous complicated crimes
" Which both infect and stigmatise the times,
"There's none which can with impious oaths compare,
" Where vice and folly have an equal share.'1

But, bad as these reprobate oaths are, there are
others which I think are still worse; and these are
the numerous oaths used, and indeed imposed, on
so many and on such improper occasions, where
Omnipotence is impiously appealed to in all the
little dirty transactions between man and man. It
would be well to remember that "an honest man's
wrord is as good as his oath, — and so is a rogue's
too." 'Tis a pity some better way cannot be hit
upon to remedy these evils; — perhaps a tattooing
upon the shaved head might have some effect in
checking swearing vices, especially in perjury,
bearing false witness, and when a man is proved
to have broken his word and his honour.

There is another vice, of an odious complexion,
advancing with rapid strides to enormity, which
cries aloud to be checked. Bad men, with
hardened effrontery, only laugh at their breaking
down every barrier to modesty and virtue, and
thus disrobing innocence, and rendering deformed
that which ought to be the brightest feature of
civilisation. The crime to which I allude needs
only to be examined to convince any one of its
cruelty to the fair sex, and its extensively demoral-
ising influence on society. Let any man ask
himself how he would feel were his daughter or
his sister to be betrayed. This question ought to

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 229

be fairly canvassed. Although it will be allowed
that men, devoid of honour and modesty, who have
let loose their unbridled, bad passions, will not be
easily stopped in their career, yet, notwithstand-
ing, this evil may be, by the strong arm of the
law, greatly banished from the land, and innate
modesty planted in its stead.

All men and women in health, and of good
character, ought to be countenanced in marry-
ing; and it is for them to consider whether they
can properly rear and educate a family; and,
should there be an over-abundant population, then
colonisation might be resorted to at the public
expense; and this globe will be found large enough
to hold additional millions upon millions of people.
There are few contracts between human beings
which should be more delicate than that of
marriage. It is an engagement of the utmost
importance to individuals and to society, and
which of all others ought to be the most un-
biassed ; for it cannot be attended with honour,
nor blessed with happiness, if it has not its origin
in mutual affection. The rules to be observed
in thus selecting and fixing the choice are few,
simple, and easily understood. Both males and
females, if of unsound constitution, ought to
forbear matrimony. It is the duty of every
man to endeavour to get a healthy woman for
the sake of his children, and an amiable one for
his own domestic comfort. The fair sex should
observe the like rules. If a woman marries a
man who has broken down his constitution by
his own dissipation, or has imbibed a tainted one
from his parents, she must not be surprised at
becoming a nurse to him and his nerveless, puny,

230 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

offspring. One cannot help wondering1 at the
uncommon pains a gentleman will take in buying
a horse, to see that the animal is perfectly sound,
and without blemish, and that he should not take
the same pains in choosing a wife, which is of
infinitely more importance to him. He, perhaps
to repair his shattered fortune, will marry any
woman if she has plenty of money. She may,
indeed, be the innocent heir to the full-charged
hereditary diseases of a pair of voluptuous citizens,
just as that may happen to be. No gentleman
need to look far from his home, to be enabled to
meet with an helpmate, possessing every requisite
to make him happy; but, if he cannot meet with
such a one, or cannot please himself in his own
neighbourhood, he had better travel in search of
one from Land's End to John o' Groat's House,
than not get a proper partner as the mother of
his children.

I have often thought that the children of
gentlemen — boys particularly — are too soon put
to school under improper restraints, and harassed
with education before their minds are fit for it.
Were they sent to the edge of some moor, to
scamper about amongst whins and heather, under
the care of some good old man — some mentor —
who would teach them a little every day, without
embarrassing them — they would there, in this
kind of preparatory school, lay in a foundation
of health, as well as education. If they were
thus allowed to run wild by the sides of burns —
to fish, to wade, and to splash in — they would
soon find their minds intently employed in sports
and pleasures of their own choosing. It would
be found that youth so brought up, besides thus

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 231

working out any little hereditary ailments, would
never forget the charms of the country, which
would impart to them a flow of spirits through
life such as very few, or none, brought up in a
town, ever know, and, besides this, lay in a strong
frame-work on which to build a nervous constitu-
tion, befitting the habitation of an energetic mind
and a great soul. Let any one look at the contrast
between men thus brought up, and the generality
of early-matured Lilliputian plants, and he will
soon see, with very few exceptions, the difference,
both in body and mind, between them.

CHAPTER XX.

THE game laws have for ages past been a
miserable source of contention between those
rendered unqualified by severe and even cruel
game laws, and parties who had influence to
get these laws enacted for their own exclusive
privilege of killing the game. To convince the
intelligent poor man that the fowls of the air were
created only for the rich is impossible, and will
for ever remain so. If it be pleaded that, because
the game are fed on the lands of the latter, they
have the exclusive right to them, this would
appear to be carrying the notions of the sacred-
ness of property too far ; for even this ought to
have its bounds; but were this conceded, as pro-
perty is enjoyed by a rental, and as the farmers
feed the game, they would appear to belong to
them more properly than to any one else. I own
I feel great repugnance in saying anything that
might have a tendency to curtail the healthy
enjoyments of the country gentleman, in his field
sports, which his fortune and his leisure enable
him so appropriately to pursue ; at the same time
it is greatly to be regretted that anything — any
overstretched distinctions — should ever happen to
make a breach between the poor and the rich.
It is, however, to be wished that the unqualified
man may find his attention engaged, and his mind
excited in some other way (or by his business)
than that of becoming a poacher. The strange

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 233

propensity, however unaccountable, in almost all
men TO KILL, and the pleasurable excitement to
do so, is equally strong1 in the poacher as in the
gentleman sportsman. This excitement, or an
extreme desire to exhilarate the spirits, and to
give them energy, as well as pleasure, pervades
more or less, the minds of all mankind, and
shows itself in every species of gambling, from
cock-fighting, dog and man fighting, hunting,
horse-racing, and even up to the acme of excite-
ment— or excitement run mad — that of horrid war.
I wish something more rational and better could
be contrived to whet the mind and to rouse its
energies ; for certain it is that " the heart that
nev.er tastes pleasure shuts up, grows stiff, and
incapable of enjoyment." The minds of men
ought therefore, to be unbent at certain times, —
especially in some constitutions, — to prevent their
becoming nerveless and hypochondriacal, the
worst of all diseases, in which the mind sees
everything with an obliquity of intellect, and
creates numberless cruel and imaginary evils
which continually surround and embarrass it.
Only let a man who cannot employ himself with
some hobby or other know that he is provided for,
and has nothing to do, and it will soon be seen
how ennui y with benumbing steps, will thrust
itself upon him, and what a stupid and unhappy
being he is.

If I have reasoned correctly in the foregoing
observations, it is, then, desirable that sports and
pastimes should be resorted to, that might, in many
cases, turn out to public good. For this purpose,
I have often thought that small sums might be
subscribed and collected to be given as a prize to

2 E

234 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

the best shot at a mark. The utility and national
purpose of this scheme may at some time be felt;
for, so long as surrounding despots can gather
together immense mercenary armies, they ought to
be effectually guarded against, and they certainly
might be as effectually checked by hundreds of
thousands of riflemen, (including the militia,) thus
trained for the defence of the kingdom, at a
comparatively small expense. They might have
their bullets made of baked clay, which would
probably be as efficient as those made of lead,
and cost almost nothing.

The last subject I shall notice, as being kept
up by unequal and unjust laws, is the fisheries,
throughout the kingdom. The laws made respect-
ing them originated in the times of feudal tyranny,
when u might was right," and everything was
carried with a high hand. It was then easy for
an overbearing aristocracy, by their influence, to
get grants and charters made entirely on their own
behalf. The rights of the community were set at
nought, or were treated with contempt. But those
days are passed away ; the march of intellect is
spreading over the world; and all public matters
are now viewed with feelings of a very different
kind than when such laws were made, and which
ought to have been repealed long since; but they
are still in force, and will continue so as long as
the potent feelings of overstretched self-interest
are allowed to guide those who have the power
to keep the grasp of this their antiquated hold:
for such can hear no reason against their private
interest, however unanswerable it may be. No
reasonable plea can ever be set up, to show that
the fish of rivers ought to be the private property

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 235

of any one. Can it be pretended that because a
river or a rivulet, passes through an estate,
whether the owner of it will or not, that the fish
which breed in it, or which live in it, ought to be
his? They are not like the game, which are all
fed by the farmer, for fish cost nobody anything;
therefore, in common justice, they ought to belong
to the public, and ought to be preserved for the
public good, in every county through which the
rivers pass, and be let at a rental from the clerk
of the peace, and the money arising therefrom
applied to making bridges and roads, or for
county or other rates. Stewards ought to be
appointed to receive the rents, and a committee
of auditors elected annually, by ballot, as a
check upon the management of the whole. If
the fisheries were not thus rented, the public
would derive little benefit from such an immense
supply of food; for without they were thus
disposed of, each county would soon be over-run
with such numbers of poachers as would become
intolerable. AH this, however, ought to be well
considered; for, notwithstanding the selfish
principle which dictated the original grants of
the fisheries, — long since obtained, — the present
possessors are not to blame, and suddenly to
deprive any man of what he has been accustomed
to receive may be deemed a harsh measure,
and in some cases a cruel one; therefore some
equitable sum should be paid to the owners at
once, as a remuneration in lieu of all future
claims; as fish ought not to be considered as
an inheritance to descend to the heirs of any one.
From about the year 1760 to '67, when a boy, I
was frequently sent by my parents to purchase a

236 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

salmon from the fishers of the "strike" at Eltring-
ham ford. At that time, I never paid more, and
often less, than three-halfpence per pound (mostly
a heavy, guessed weight, about which they were
not exact).* Before, or perhaps about this time,
there had always been an article inserted in
every indenture in Newcastle, that the apprentice
was not to be obliged to eat salmon above twice
a week,t and the like bargain was made upon
hiring ordinary servants. It need not be added
that the salvio tribe then teemed in abundance in
the Tyne, and there can be little doubt that the
same immense numbers would return to it again
were proper measures pursued to facilitate their
passage from the sea to breed. All animals, ex-
cepting fish, only increase, but they multiply, and
that in so extraordinary a degree as to set all
calculation at defiance. It is well known that they
ascend every river, rivulet, and burn, in search
of proper places to deposit their spawn; and this
is the case both with those kinds which quit the
sea, and those which never leave the fresh water.

[* This is confirmed by the following extracts from Sykes's
" Local Records," 1833, i, pp. 221, 246 and 281 : —

" I75^ (Ju^y 2°)- — Upwards of 2,000 salmon were taken in the
river Tyne, and, being brought to Newcastle market, were sold at
one penny and three-halfpence per pound."

"1764 (July 20). — Such a great quantity of salmon was taken
in the river Tyne, that it was sold for a penny farthing per pound."

" I77I (July T5)- — Upwards of 4,000 salmon were exposed to sale
in Newcastle fish-market, which sold for about a penny farthing per
pound, 107 salmon were caught that morning at one fishery above
Tyne bridge."]

[f Vide Mackenzie's "History of Newcastle," 1827, p. 744: — "The
Fisheries on the Tyne were, in ancient time's, of great importance ;
and the salmon (which is the finest of its species) so plentiful, that
apprentices covenanted to be fed with it only twice a week."]

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 237

In their thus instinctively searching" for proper
spawning places, they make their way up to such
shallows as one would think it impossible for any
animal wanting legs and feet ever to crawl up
to; therefore every improper weir or dam that
obstructs their free passage ought to be thrown
down, as they are one great cause of the salmon
quitting the proper spawning places in the river,
to return to spawn in the sea as well as they
can; where, it is fair to conclude, their fry, or
their roe, are swallowed up by other fish, as soon
as they or it, are spread abroad along the shores.

It will readily be perceived, that the fishers'
weirs are made chiefly with a view of preventing
their neighbour fishers from coming in for their due
share; but, were the fisheries let, as before named,
the different fishing places would then be planned
out by the stewards, as well as remedying other
faults, with an impartial hand. There are, besides
weirs and dams, other causes which occasion the
falling off of the breed of salmon, by greatly
preventing them from entering and making their
way up rivers for the purpose of spawning. They
have a great aversion to passing through impure
water, and even snow-water stops them; for they
will lie still, and wait until it runs off. The filth
of manufactories is also very injurious, as well as
the refuse which is washed off the uncleaned
streets of large towns by heavy rains. Were this
filth in all cases led away and laid on the land,
it would be of great value to the farmer, and
persons should be appointed to do that duty, not
in a slovenly or lazy manner, but with punctuality
and despatch. In this the health and comfort of
the inhabitants of towns ought to be considered

238 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

as of great importance to them, as well as that of
keeping the river as pure as possible on account
of the fish.

Should the evils attendant upon weirs and dams,
and other matters, be rectified, then the next neces-
sary step to be taken should be the appointment
of river conservators and vigilant guards to protect
the kipper, or spawning fish, from being killed
while they are in this sickly and imbecile state.
They are then so easily caught, that, notwithstand-
ing they are very unwholesome as food, very great
numbers are taken in the night, which are eaten
by poor people, who do not know how pernicious
they are. But, should all these measures be found
not fully to answer public expectation, the time
now allowed for fishing might be shortened, and
in some years, if ever found necessary, the fishing
might be laid in for a season.

The next important question for consideration,
is respecting what can be done to prevent the
destruction of salmon on their first entering a
river, and while they are in full perfection, by their
most powerful and most conspicuously destructive
enemy, the porpoise.

I have seen a shoal of porpoises, off Tynemouth,
swimming abreast of each other, and thus occupy-
ing a space of apparently more than a hundred
yards from the shore, seawards, and crossing the
mouth of the river, so that no salmon could enter
it. They went backward and forward for more
than a mile, along shore, and with such surprising
rapidity that, in their course, they caused a foam
to arise, like the breakers of the sea in a storm.
Might not a couple of steam packets, with strong
nets, sweep on shore hundreds of these at a time r

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 239

Perhaps by giving premiums for catching them
they might be greatly thinned, and their tough
skins be tanned, or otherwise prepared, so as to be
applied to some use. Oil might be obtained partly
to pay for the trouble of taking this kind of fish;
and, lastly, they might be used as an article of
food. They were eaten formerly even by the
gentry: and why not make the attempt to apply
them to that purpose again ? Perhaps, by pickling
or drying them, and by other aids of cookery,
they might prove good and wholesome; for every
animal in season is so, which, when out of season,
is quite the reverse.

If the parent fishes of the salmo tribe were pro-
tected, the fry would soon be seen to swarm in
incredible numbers, and perhaps a pair of them
would spawn more than all the anglers from .the
source to the mouth of any river could fairly
catch in one season. Having from a boy been an
angler, it is with feelings painfully rankling in
my mind that I live in dread (from hints already
given) of this recreation being abridged or
stopped. Angling has from time immemorial
been followed, and ought to be indulged in un-
checked by arbitrary laws, as the birthright of
everyone, but particularly of the sedentary and
the studious. It is cruel to think of debarring
the fair angler, by any checks whatever; the
salmon fishers may, indeed, begrudge to see such
fill his creel with a few scores of the fry; because
what is taken might in a short time return to them
as full-grown salmon (for all fish, as well as birds,
return to the same places where they were bred);
but, for reasons before-named, this selfishness
should not be attended to for a moment, and

240 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

the fisheries ought to be taken subject to this
kind of toll or imaginary grievance.

I have always felt extremely disgusted at what
is called preserved waters (except fish ponds);
that is, where the fish in these waters are
claimed exclusively as private property. The
disposition which sets up claims of this kind is
the same as would — if it could — sell the sea, and
the use of the sun and the rain. Here the angler
is debarred by the surly, selfish owner of the
adjoining land, the pleasure of enjoying the most
healthful and comparatively the most innocent of
all diversions. It unbends the minds of the
sedentary and the studious, whether it may be
those employed at their desks, or "the pale
artist plying his sickly trade," and enables such
to return to their avocations, or their studies,
with renovated energy, to labour for their own
or for the public good. But as any thing,
however good in itself, may be abused, therefore
some regulations should be laid down as a guide
to the fair angler in this his legitimate right,
and some check imposed upon the poacher, who
might be inclined to stop at nothing, however
unfair. I think Waltonian societies would be
all-sufficient to manage these matters, if composed
of men of good character and good sense. There
ought to be one of these societies established in
the principal town in each district, and to have
its honorary members branched out into the
more distant parts. Perhaps a fine imposed, or
even the frowns of the society, might be
sufficient to deter poachers. The object ought
to be, to regulate the times for angling, and to
discountenance, or send to Coventry, such as

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 241

spend almost the whole of their time in "beating
the streams." They ought also to keep a watch-
ful eye over such as care not how or in what
manner they take fish, so as they may only get
plenty of them. The "Honourable Society of
Waltonians" ought to use every means in their
power to protect the "glittering inhabitants
of the waters" from being unfairly taken or
destroyed. Fought nets ought to be prohibited,
as well as all catching of the salmon fry in mill
races, by putting thorn bushes into them, to stop
their passing through, and then letting off the
water. In this \vay, a cart load of these have
often been known to be taken at once. Another
method, still more destructive than this, is far
too often put in practice; that is, what is called
liming the burns. This ought to be utterly put
a stop to by severe punishments. A clown, from
ignorance, — but, perhaps, from something worse,
—puts a few clots of unslaked, or quick, lime
into a pool, or hole, in a burn, for the sake of
killing a few trouts that he sees in it; and thus
poisons the water running down to the rivulet,
or the river, destroying every living creature to
such a distance as may seem incredible. The
attentive angler must sometimes have observed
the almost invisible, incipient, living spawn in
thousands, appearing only like floating mud,
sunning themselves on a shallow sand-bank,
which, as soon as the water thus poisoned
reaches them, they drop down like mud indeed,
and are no more seen.

How vividly do recollections of the enjoyment
angling has afforded me return to the mind, now

when those days have passed away, never more to

2 F

242 .MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

return. Like the pleasing volume of the patriarch
of anglers — Izaak Walton — volumes might yet be
written to point out and to depicture the beautiful
scenery of woods and water sides, in the midst of
which the pleasures attendant upon this exhila-
rating and health-restoring, hungry, exercise is
pursued. How many narratives of the exploits of
the days thus spent might be raked up to dwell
upon, when they are all over, like a pleasing
dream !

Well do I remember mounting the stile which
gave the first peep of the curling or rapid stream,
over the intervening, dewy, daisy-covered holme —
boundered by the early sloe, and the hawthorn-
blossomed hedge — and hung in succession with
festoons of the wild rose, the tangling woodbine,
and the bramble, with their bewitching foliage
— and the fairy ground — and the enchanting music
of the lark, the blackbird, the throstle, and the
blackcap, rendered soothing and plaintive by the
cooings of the ringdove, which altogether charmed,
but perhaps retarded, the march to the brink of
the scene of action, with its willows, its alders, or
its sallows — where early I commenced the day's
patient campaign. The pleasing excitements of
the angler still follow him, whether he is engaged
in his pursuits amidst scenery such as I have
attempted to describe, or on the heathery moor,
or by burns guttered out by mountain torrents, and
boundered by rocks or grey moss-covered stones,
which form the rapids and the pools in which is
concealed his beautiful yellow and spotted prey.
Here, when tired and alone, I used to open my
wallet and dine on cold meat and coarse rye bread,
with an appetite that made me smile at the trouble

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 243

people put themselves to in preparing the sump-
tuous feast ; the only music in attendance was
perhaps the murmuring burn, the whistling cry
of the curlew, the solitary water ouzel, or the
whirring wing of the moor game. I would, how-
ever, recommend to anglers not to go alone ; a trio
of them is better, and mutual assistance is often
necessary.

It is foreign to my purpose to give any history,
in this place, of the various kinds of fishes which
anglers pursue ; of this there is no need, for, I
think, more treatises on this subject than on any
other have been printed, to direct the angler to
perfection in his art. But I cannot help noticing,
as matter of regret, that more pains have not been
taken to multiply fish, and to increase the breed of
eels, as every permanent pool might so easily be
fully stocked with them ; and the latter are, when
properly cooked, the most delicious of all fish kind.
Walton has been particular in describing his mode
of cooking them ; but, unless he killed them before-
hand, his method is a very cruel one, and is besides
of not much consequence. After being killed, they
then only need to be gutted and cooked unskinned
in an unabating heat till they are done enough, for
if they are cooked on a slow fire they are apt to
turn oily and often disagree with some stomachs.

In thus dwelling on subjects which stimulate
man eagerly to pursue the work of destruction, and
to extend his power over those animals of which he
considers himself as the lord and master, and that
they are destined to contribute to his pleasures or
to his support, yet he ought not totally to forget
that what is sport to him is death to them, and that
the less of cruelty the better.

24-j MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

I think, had I not begun so early to be an
angler, and before feelings of tenderness had
entered the mind, my eagerness for angling might
have been, on this score, somewhat abated ; but I
argued myself into a belief that fish had little
sense, and scarcely any feeling, and they certainly
have very much less of either than any of the
land animals; but we see through all nature that
one kind of animal seems destined to prey upon
another, and fishes are the most voracious of all.

Before concluding this memoir, it would be un-
grateful in me not to acknowledge my obligations
to my well-wishers, who have through life been
steady in their friendships, and also in conferring
their favours in the way of business. But a long
list of names might seem tedious, and many of
them are long ago numbered with the dead. For
several years I had the favours of all the Banks
in Newcastle, as well as those of most of the fitters.
The first of friends to wrhom my thanks are due is
the Corporation of Newcastle for their long and
unabating favours as a body, and from time to time
all its members individually. The most particular
one of these was Alderman Archd. Reed. Among
many of such friends, as I had reason to respect,
both privately and publicly, one of the oldest in
intimacy, affability and kindness was Anthony
Easterley, Esq., of Coxlodge. Another whose eye
of kindness watched my struggles to prosperity,
was Mr. Edmund Robson, patent saddler and
hardware man, who, upon his suspecting that, in
my publications, I might be labouring under diffi-
culties, called kme one night out of Swarley's club
room, to say that he had two hundred pounds at
my service whenever I pleased. This I considered

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 245

as an uncommon thing in the world ; but I startled
at the idea of getting into any kind of debt, so I
thanked him sincerely, and declined his kind offer.
Two other friends of whom I had a high opinion
for their truth and integrity were William Lead-
bitter, saddler and hardware man, and Francis
Coates, bookseller. The former died 3rd August,
1 80 1, aged 38, and the latter on the 24th February,
1803. An intimacy of long standing had subsisted
between the Crawhall family and mine, and I had
a particular regard for two of the brothers, Thomas
and Joseph, the latter was particularly an amateur
of the arts and excelled as a painter, for which
nature had furnished him with the requisite
powers, but in this he was taken off by his business
of a rope maker. I might name others of the like
character, but they have left this world long ago,
a few of such only being left, both as friends and
social companions, and thus noticing them puts me
in mind of its being like creeping out of this world,
or at least out of this kind of society, for excepting
that of my own happy fireside, I think I shall bid
all adieu. My warm friend, Mr. William Maving,
brush manufacturer, his brother Robert, builder,
Mr. Alexander Reid, china dealer, Mr. Adam
Hutton, hardwareman, Mr. William Wilson,
solicitor, Mr. Robert Gruisburn, stationer, (and
occasionally some others) were the last with whom
I spent my social evenings. The full moon was
generally the signal for our assembling, when we
gave full vent to what was uppermost in our
minds. At other times some of my evenings were
spent much in the same way in company with John
Marshall, printer, and others, along writh John
Ambrose Williams, the editor of the "Durham

246 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

Chronicle." It might be tedious to swell out
a list of names or dwell upon the occasional
visits of men of sense and ability who from time
to time spent their evenings with me. Mr.
Anthony Scott, of Southwick Pottery was one
of these, and when he was in Newcastle he
seldom missed this kind of social communica-
tion of our sentiments. On these occasions my
ingenious self-taught friend, Mr. Robert Wilson,
engineer and engine maker, always made one
of our party. In their company the longest
evening seemed very short. I was also often
visited by poor old Mr. John Rastrick, of Mor-
peth, who, in his day, was, by many men of
judgment, accounted one of the most able and
ingenious engineers in the kingdom. He died
June, 1826, aged 88. I also spent much time
(while he remained in Newcastle) with my gallant
friend Colonel Wemyss, of Wemyss Hall in Fife-
shire, formerly of the nth Regiment of Foot,
and afterwards Colonel of the Fifeshire militia.
He was ardent in his pursuit after mechanical
knowledge, and greatly valued ingenious work-
men in that way, and begged I would introduce
him to such — he said "he cared not wrhat kind of
coat they wore," — and I was not long in introduc-
ing him to those, in whose company he gained
the information he wanted, and seemed highly
gratified.

CHAPTER XXI.

NOT having seen Edinburgh since August, 1776,
I longed to see it again, and accompanied with my
Jane and Isabella, we set out on this journey on the
nth August, 1823, and went through by coach on
that day. I always thought highly of Edinburgh
and its bold and commanding situation ; but the
new town, or city of palaces, as it is now sometimes
called, had been added to it since I had seen it.
But all these splendid buildings are of trivial
import compared with the mass of intellect and
science which had taken root and had been
nurtured and grown up to such a height as to
rival, and perhaps to outstrip, every other city in
the world. Our stay in it was only a fortnight ;
and this was a busy time with us, both as to its
being taken up with the kindness and hospitality
we met with everywhere, as well as in visiting its
various scientific and other establishments. It
being at a vacation season, when most of the
learned professors were out of town, we saw only
Professors Jameson and Wallace, and the kindness
of these gentlemen I never can forget. We were
often at the table of the former surrounded by
men of learning and science who visited him, on
which occasions the amiable manners and affability
of his sisters, the Misses Jameson, made every
place appear like a home. The civility of Professor
Wallace was also of the most friendly complexion.
He showed me the use of the Eidograph, an

248 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

instrument which he invented for the purpose of
either reducing or enlarging any drawing or design
most accurately to any size that might be required.
We also visited Patrick Neil, Esq., along with
the Misses Jameson, and were much pleased with
seeing the tamed birds and other curiosities which
embellished his little paradise. His uncommon
kindness will ever remain impressed upon our
memories. We also often called upon my friend,
Mr. Archibald Constable, accounted the first book-
seller in Scotland ; and, although he was unwell
at the time, partook of his kind attentions. Mr.
Robert Miller, bookseller, also did everything in
his power which affability and kindness could
dictate to make us altogether pleased writh Edin-
burgh. Our friend, Mr. William Reid, bookseller,
Leith, did the same, only with this difference, that
his attentions were unceasing, and Mrs. Reid's and
his hospitality made their house a kind of home to
us. Almost constantly accompanied by Mr. Reid
as our guide, we visited every place, and he besides
introduced us to such artists as I did not know.
In this way he took us to Mr. William Allan, the
historical painter, to the rooms of the splendid
exhibition of the paintings of the late Sir Henry
Raeburn, Bart., to Mr. Stewart, the engraver, to
Mr. [James] Howe, the portrait and animal painter,
and to the painting room of others, who were
absent. To some other artists who were known to
me I spent some time in several calls. These
consisted of my old friend Mr. Nasmyth, the
excellent landscape painter ; my townsmen, Mr.
William Nicholson, and' Mr. Ewbank, both of
whom were eminent painters ; and Mr. Thomas
Coulson, distinguished in his line as an ornamental

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 249

and house painter. I also made several calls upon
Mr. James Kirkwood, now up in years, and past
his work, but who had in his prime led the way to
excellence, particularly in writing engraving, in
which he was succeeded by his son and grandson.
I also paid my respects to the son and successor of
my kind friend of former days, the late Mr. Hector
Gavin, and the same to the sons and successors
of the late Mr. D. Lizars. All these, in my
estimation, were doing credit to their instruction
as engravers, and all these artists, as well as the
painters, had attained in their various ways to
that degree of excellence which did honour to
Edinburgh, now the seat of learning, and rendered
brilliant by the gems both of art and science with
which it is adorned. We left Edinburgh on the
23rd August, 1823, and I think I shall see Scotland
no more. I think so well of these, our northern
countrymen, both Scotch and Celtic, that in most
things they may serve as a pattern of both good
sense and good conduct worthy of imitation by the
other less civilised nations of the world. I have
almost forgotten to name my being introduced to
Messrs. Ballantyne and Robertson, lithographic
printers. Whilst I was in their office, the latter
pressed me to make a sketch on the stone for him.
I was then preparing to leave Edinburgh, and the
only time left me was so short that I was obliged
to draw this sketch before breakfast the next
morning, and the proofs were taken from it on
the same day.* In doing this, though very slight,

[* This — Bewick's sole attempt at lithography — is the design
known as "The Cadger's Trot," under which is the inscription
"Sketched by T. B. at Edinburgh, 21 Augt., 1823." It is exceed-
ingly rare, owing to the limited number of copies printed.]

2 G

250 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

I could see what that manner of making prints was
capable of.

After my journeys (long ago) to Cherryburn were
ended, I used, as formerly, seldom to miss going in
the mornings to Elswick Lane, to drink whey, or
buttermilk, and commonly fell in with a party who
went there for the same purpose ; and this kind of
social intercourse continued for many years. I
also, at that time, on the Sunday afternoons, went
to visit and contemplate in the church-yards, and
there give vent to my mind, in feelings of regret,
and in repeating a kind of soliloquy over the graves
of those with whom I had been intimate.

"And then I lov'd to haunt lone burial places,

Pacing the church-yard path with noiseless tread,
To pore on new-made graves for ghastly traces, —
Brown crumbling bones of the forgotten dead."

I recounted in my memory the numbers of my
friends thus put by to be forgotten, amongst the
millions of others who had been for longer or
shorter periods also in this world, and who have
passed away into Eternity. Even the " frail
memorial" — erected to "perpetuate the memory" of
those who had been esteemed — seemed to be of
little avail, and their mementos, as well as those
decked out with ornamented flatteries, would, in
time, all go to decay, and be no longer remembered
than until all who once knew them were also dead ;
and the numbers of both the one and the other
appeared to me to be so immense that to estimate
them seemed impossible, and like attempting to
count the grains of sand on the sea beach. It is
thus that the grave swallows all up without
distinction. The true estimate of their various
merits can only be known to the Creator of all.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 251

It appears clear to those whose souls habitually
adore and commune with Him, while they remain
in this state of probation, that He will, in His
infinite goodness, wisdom, truth, justice, and mercy
—place everyone, on quitting this mortal abode, in
the unknowable worlds befitting their reception.

Besides the temporary mementos dedicated to
private worth, others of a different character may
have their use. Monuments might therefore be
erected to those who have, by their virtues and
patriotism, promoted the happiness of mankind.
It is a debt of gratitude due to the Author of our
being for the loan of departed worth, and may
stimulate others " to do so likewise." The pos-
thumous praise or blame of the world is to them of
no avail ; they are done with all things on this side
of Time, and are out of the reach of both the one
and the other.

While I was pursuing my wild ramblings in the
Highlands, and beheld with admiration the great
projecting rocks so often to be seen holding up
their bare heads to the winds, it struck me that it
was a great pity they could not be converted to
some use : and the best I could think of was, that
the illustrious names of Wallace and Bruce — as
well as those of their other worthies — should be
inscribed upon them, to hold up their heads with
these names to the sun for ever. I have often
thought since, that the bare rocks in other parts
of our islands might with good effect be filled up
in the same way. The first name to be fixed upon
ought to be that of Alfred the Great, followed by
many others — statesmen, patriots, philosophers,
poets, &c. — who have shone out like polished
diamonds, and who have embellished and illumined

252 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

this country, and civilised the world. Their vene-
rated names, with their maxims, or quotations from
their works, would fill up many of these rocks,
which are waiting for them, and might make all
who beheld them inclined to profit by, or to imitate,
their virtues. How many incomparably good, wise,
and beautiful texts from the Bible might also
with great propriety be added to fill up every
vacant spot.* I often lamented that I had not
the means to enable me to be at the expense of
getting such quotations inscribed in this way.
Often, while angling on a hot, sunny day, which
slackened my sport, I have sat down by the water
side, and thought over some of the beautiful lines
of our poets, fit to be applied in this way ; and
remember my having thought of those lines of
Cunningham, which I would, if I could have
afforded it, have committed to the care of a rock.
He says : —

"How smooth that rapid river glides

Progressive to the deep !
The poppies pendent o'er its sides

Have lull'd the waves to sleep.
"Pleasure's intoxicated sons!

Ye indolent! ye gay!
Reflect, — for as the river runs
Time wings his trackless way."

How easy would it be for gentlemen to get the
names of the illustrious dead thus inscribed upon
rocks; or, where that could not be done, to erect

[* Bewick illustrated this idea in several of his designs. See,
for example, the lines inscribed upon a rock at p. 28 of the
" Fables of ALsop," and the tail-pieces at pp. 198 and 370. A
propos of the words at p. 152 — "O God of infinite Wisdom, Truth,
Justice, and Mercy, I thank Thee," Miss Bewick says "My dear
Father once told me that these lines (with the, Lord's prayer)
composed his only prayers to the Great Disposer of events."
(Bewick MSS.)]

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

253

pillars, or small obelisks, over copious springs
(like the holy wells of old), to contain such inscrip-
tions as those I have hinted at, and thus leave
these their marks behind them; and which would
long* continue to put the passing stranger in mind
of some religious, moral, or patriotic sentiment;
and, while he was refreshing himself by quenching
his thirst, he might be put in mind that —

" Man wants but little here below,
Nor wants that little long."

CHAPTER XXII.

Having already noticed my beginnings, or first
efforts, in engraving on wood;* and as at that time
this department of the arts was at the very lowest
ebb in this country, and, I believe, also in every
other country in Europe, it may perhaps be of
some use, or at least may excite some curiosity,
to know the part I took in renewing, or bringing
into use, this to me new art, as far as I was able,
with the slender means in my hands, and the many
difficulties I had to contend with and surmount,
before anything like an approach towards perfec-
tion could be arrived at. I ought first distinctly
to state that, at that time, it never entered into
my head that it was a branch of art that would
stand pre-eminent for utility, or that it could ever
in the least compete with engraving on copper.
I ought also to observe that no vain notions of
my arriving at any eminence ever passed through
my mind, and that the sole stimulant with me
was the pleasure I derived from imitating natural
objects (and I had no other patterns to go by), and
the opportunity it afforded me of making and
drawing my designs on the wood, as the only way
I had in my power of giving vent to a strong
propensity to gratify my feelings in this way. In
process of time, however, as I began to improve,
and seeing the practical use printers were making
of wood cuts, the utility and importance of them

* Vide Chapter iv.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 255

began to be unfolded to my view; and the more I
have since thought upon the subject, the more I
am confirmed in the opinions I have entertained,
that the use of wood cuts will know no end,
or, so long as the importance of printing is
duly appreciated and the liberty of the press held
sacred.

The first difficulty I felt, as I proceeded, was in
getting the cuts I had executed printed so as to
look anything like my drawings on the blocks of
wood, or corresponding to the labour I had be-
stowed upon the cutting of the designs. At that
time pressmen were utterly ignorant as to any
proper effect that was to be produced; or even, if
one of them possessed any notions of excellence
beyond the common run of workmen, his materials
for working were so defective that he could not
execute even what he himself wished to accomplish.
The common pelt balls then in use, so daubed the
cut, and blurred and overlapped its edges, that the
impression looked disgusting. To remedy this
defect, I was obliged carefully to shave down the
edges round about; and this answered the end I
had in view. The next difficulty was worse to
surmount, and required a long time to get over it;
and that was, to lower down the surface on all the
parts I wished to appear pale,* so as to give the
appearance of the required distance; and this
process will always continue to call forth and to
exercise the judgment of every wood engraver,

[* Miss Bewick (vide note to "Preface" of 1862, in the present
volume) thought that this practice of lowering was peculiar to
her father. But it seems to have been well known to some of
the earlier engravers, including the unknown artist of Croxall's
popular "Fables of ^sop and Others," 1722.]

256 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

even after he knows what effect his careful pressman
may be enabled to produce, from this his manner
of cutting. On this all artists must form their
own ideas. I think no exact description can be
laid down as a rule for others to go by: they
will by practice have to find out this themselves.
While I was patiently labouring and contending
with difficulties which I could not overcome, I
was shown some impressions from wood cuts done
long ago, with cross-hatching, such as I thought
I should never be able to execute. These were
wood cuts by Albert Durer, and perhaps some
others of his day, in the collection of the Rev. John
Brand, the Newcastle Historian; and from these
I concluded that Albert Durer must have had some
very easy way of loading his blocks with such
an useless profusion of cross-hatching, or he would
not have done them so, unless, indeed, he had
found out some easy means of etching the wood
(or perhaps metal plates), quite unknown to me;
but, if otherwise, I then, in changing my opinion,
could think of no other way than that he must
have cut his blocks on the plank or side way of the
wood, on which it would be more easy to pick out
the interstices between the squares, or the lozenge-
shaped lines, than as I (at that time) thought it
possible to do on the end way of the wood. One
of these plank blocks, said to have been drawn by
Albert Durer, was shown to me by my kind friend
George Allan, Esq., of the Grange, Darlington.
The drawing, which was done with great accuracy,
seemed to me to have been done by a crow-quill,
with a kind of varnish ink, the strokes of which,
from their regularity, looked as if they had been
printed from a well-executed copper plate, and

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 257

transferred to the block. After labouring for some
time, endeavouring to produce the like effect on
my blocks, on the end way of the wood, not indeed
to my satisfaction, I felt mortified in not succeed-
ing to my wish ; and I then began to think the
impressions must have been printed from two
blocks. This, indeed, I soon found to be quite
easy to do, as well as being beautifully correct;
and any artist may see this in a few minutes, by
cutting parallel lines on a piece of wood, and from
it taking, by his hand, an impression on a piece of
paper, and then again inking the same cut, and
printing it in the same way, either directly in a
cross or in an oblique direction, upon the first
impression. This can also easily be done, from
two cuts, at a printing press, and is much easier
to do, and better than the labour necessarily
bestowed upon one cross-hatched block. When I
had accomplished this, and satisfied myself that
the process was both simple and perfect, as to
obtaining the object I so much wanted, my
curiosity on this score ceased, and I then con-
cluded that in this way the cross-hatching might
be set aside as a thing of no use at all. The
artists indeed of the present day have brought it
to such a pitch of perfection that I do not know
that it can be carried any further; and in this they
have also been so marvellously aided by the
improved methods now used in printing their
cuts, that one would be led to conclude that this
department has also attained to perfection; and,
had this not been the case, the masterly execution
of wood cuts, either by crossed lines, or otherwise,
would have continued to be beheld with disgust

or contempt. I have long been of opinion that

2 H

258 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

the cross-hatching of wood cuts, for book work,
is a waste of time; as every desired effect can be
much easier obtained by plain parallel lines. The
other way is not the legitimate object of wrood
engraving. Instead of imitating the manner of
copper etchings, at a great cost of labour and time,
on the wood, such drawings might have been as
soon etched on the copper at once; and, where
a large impression of any publication was not
required, the copper plate would have cost less,
and lasted long enough for the purpose intended.
I never could discover any additional beauty
or colour that the crossed strokes gave to the
impression, beyond the effect produced by plain
parallel lines. This is very apparent when to a
certainty the plain surface of the wood will print
as black as ink and balls can make it, without any
further labour at all; and it may easily be seen
that the thinnest strokes cut upon the plain surface
will throw some light on the subject or design: and,
if these strokes are made wider and deeper, it will
receive more light ; and if these strokes, again, are
made still wider, or of equal thickness to the black
lines, the colour these produce will be a grey ; and
the more the white strokes are thickened, the
nearer will they, in their varied shadings, approach
to white, and, if quite taken away, then a perfect
white is obtained. The methods I have pursued
appear to me to be the simple and easy per-
fection of wood engraving for book printing, and,
no doubt, will appear better or worse according
to the ability of the artist who executes them.
The first time I ever heard anything about colour
being produced by plain engraving was in the
compliments paid me by Dr. Thomas Stout, for my

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 259

engraving on his large silver box. The device,
or design, I have now forgotten, but never what
he said on the occasion; and from that time I
attempted colour upon the wood ; and, though I felt
much difficulty in my attempts at producing it, yet
the principle is there, and will shine out under the
skill and management of any eminent engraver on
wood who is gifted with a painter's eye ; and his
work will be complete if seconded by a pressman
of ability, who may happen to have a talent and
fellow-feeling for the art.

I have before noticed my lowering down the
surface of the wood, in order to produce the effect
of distance, and the same thing holds good with
every figure where different shades of colour are
desired. Leaving the surface of the block without
being pared down at all, and relying only on the
lines being left thicker or smaller for producing the
requisite depth of shade, this surface thus left acts
as a support to the more delicate lines, which have
been engraved on the lowered part of the cut.
After all the parts are thus lowered, a further
paring down of the edges of the various figures
which the cut contains may be necessary to prevent
their appearing as if surrounded by a white line.
The delicate lines thus lowered, so as to print pale
or distant parts, and thus protected by the stronger
lines left on the surface — a wood cut, with care,
will print an incredible number : how many it may
be difficult exactly to say ; but it once happened
that I had the opportunity given me of guessing
pretty nearly at this, from the calculation of the
late Mr. S. Hodgson, when he called upon me
with a gentleman (a stranger to me), who seemed
extremely curious to know everything respecting

260 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

engraving" on wood. One of his queries was made
with a view of ascertaining how many impressions
a wood cut would print. Not having anything in
mind at the moment, to enable me to satisfy him,
I began to consider, and it then struck me that a
little delicate cut — a view of Newcastle — was done
for Mr. H. many years before, as a fac for his
newspaper. I then turned to the date in my
ledger, when he calculated exactly, and found it
had printed above 900,000. This cut was continued
in the newspaper several years afterwards. It was
protected in the manner before noticed by a
strong black line, or border, surrounding it, within
which the surface was lowered previous to cutting
the view. This cut is still kept ; and, except
being somewhat damaged by being tossed about
amongst other castaway cuts, might, by being a
little repaired, yet print many thousands. This is
mentioned with a view to show the great length of
time that cuts done in this way will last, if they are
carefully adjusted to the height of the type, and
kept out of the hands of ignorant, rude pressmen.
I am of opinion that cuts done in the manner
called surface-cutting cannot stand anything like
so large an impression as when they are lowered
thus ; for the delicate lines, when left on the surface,
must soon break down from the heavy pressure to
which they are exposed.

CHAPTER XXIII.

IT is foreign to my present purpose to criticise
the works of brother artists of the present day. I
behold their excellent productions with pleasure ;
in them there is no falling off: they surpass those
of the artists of the olden times. I cannot, however,
help lamenting that, in all the vicissitudes which
the art of wood engraving has undergone, some
species of it is lost and done away : I mean the
large blocks with the prints from them, so common
to be seen when I was a boy in every cottage and
farm house throughout the country. These blocks,
I suppose, from their size, must have been cut on
the plank way on beech, or some other kind of
close-grained wood ; and from the immense number
of impressions from them, so cheaply and exten-
sively spread over the whole country, must have
given employment to a great number of artists, in
this inferior department of wood cutting ; and must
also have formed to them an important article of
traffic. These prints, which were sold at a very
low price, were commonly illustrative of some
memorable exploits, or were, perhaps, the portraits
of eminent men, who had distinguished themselves
in the service of their country, or in their patriotic
exertions to serve mankind. Besides these, there
were a great variety of other designs, often with
songs added to them of a moral, a patriotic, or a
rural tendency, which served to enliven the circle
in which they were admired. To enumerate the

262 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

great variety of these pictures would be a task. A
constant one in every house, was " King Charles'
Twelve Good Rules/3* Amongst others were
representations of remarkable victories at sea, and
battles on land, often accompanied with portraits
of those who commanded, and others who had
borne a conspicuous part in these contests with the
enemy. The house at Ovingham, where our dinner
poke was taken care of when at school, was hung
round with views or representations of the battles
of ZorndorfF, and several others ; also the portraits
of Tom Brown, the valiant grenadier, t of Admiral
Haddock, Admiral Benbow, and other portraits of
admirals. There was also a representation of the
"Victory" man-of-war, of 100 guns, commanded
by Admiral Sir John Balchen, and fully manned
with 1,100 picked seamen and volunteers, all of
whom, with this uncommonly fine ship, were lost-
sunk to the bottom of the sea. This was accom-

[* Readers of Goldsmith's "Deserted Village" will recall —

"The pictures plac'd for ornament and use,
The twelve good rules, the royal game of goose,"

which decorated the village ale house. The rules were: — "i. Urge
no healths ; 2. Profane no divine ordinances ; 3. Touch no state
matters; 4. Reveal no secrets; 5. Pick no quarrels; 6. Make no
comparisons; 7. Maintain no ill opinions; 8. Keep no bad com-
pany; 9. Encourage no vice; 10. Make no long meals; n. Repeat
no grievances; 12. Lay no wagers." A broadside copy of these
"surmounted by a large and curious woodcut of the King's Execu-
tion," and bearing Bewick's stamp, was sold at the Bewick sale of
February, 1884.]

[t Tom Brown, whose portrait was engraved by L. P. Boitard,
was a private in Eland's dragoons. At the battle of Dettingen he
recaptured the standard single-handed, receiving in that exploit
five wounds in the face, head, and neck, two balls in the back,
and three through his hat.]

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 263

panied by a poetical lament of the catastrophe,
part of which was—

"Ah! hapless Victory, what avails
Thy towering masts, thy spreading sails."*

Some of the portraits, I recollect, now and then
to be met with, were very well done in this way,
on wood. In Mr. Gregson's kitchen, one of this
character hung against the wall many years.
It was a remarkably good likeness of Captain
Coram.f In cottages everywhere were to be seen
the "Sailor's Farewell" and his "Happy Return/'
"Youthful Sports," and the "Feats of Manhood,"
"The Bold Archers Shooting at a Mark," "The
Four Seasons," &c. Some subjects were of a
funny — others of a grave character. I think the
last portraits I remember were of some of the
rebel lords and "Duke Willy." These kind of
wood cut pictures are long since quite gone out
of fashion, which I feel very sorry for, and
most heartily wish they could be revived.* It
is desirable, indeed, that the subjects should be

[* The "Victory" was lost, 8 October, 1744, near the race of
Alderney.]

[f Probably a copy of McArdell's mezzotint of 1749, after Hogarth's
picture in the Foundling Hospital.]

[| Bewick was not singular in deriving inspiration from these
humble sources. "I recollect Sir Joshua Reynolds, — who was
present one evening [at Longford's sale] when a drawing was
knocked down to his pupil and agent, Mr. Score, — after he had
expatiated upon the extraordinary powers of Rembrandt, assuring
a gentleman with whom he was conversing, that the effect which
pleased him most in all his own pictures was that displayed in
the one of Lord Ligonier on horseback, of which there is an
engraving by Fisher, the chiaro-'scuro of which he conceived from
a rude wood-cut upon a halfpenny ballad, which he purchased
from the wall of St. Anne's Church in Princes Street. — "Nollekens
and his Times," 1828, i. 36, 37.]

264 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

well chosen ; for it must be of great importance
that such should be the case ; as, whatever can
serve to instil morality and patriotism into the
minds of the whole people must tend greatly to
promote their own happiness and the good of the
community. All men, however poor they may be,
ought to feel that this is their country, as well as
it is that of the first nobleman of the land ; and,
if so, they will be equally as interested in its
happiness and prosperity.

There is another way, not yet indeed entered
upon, of similar import to the foregoing, in which
prints might with good effect be made of subjects
fit to embellish almost every house throughout our
country: and that is from wood blocks printed in
colours, like paper-hangings. Having seen some
such done by paper-stainers, so as almost to equal
good paintings, leads me to wish that this method
could be pursued — for the same ends as those
already noticed. The most remarkable productions
of art of this kind from blocks done to print in
colours, like beautiful little paintings, were sent
to me by Gubitz, of Berlin ; they might indeed
be said to be perfection. Several impressions
from duplicate or triplicate blocks, printed in this
way, of a very large size, were also given to me,
as well as a drawing of the press from which they
were printed, many years ago, by John Baptist
Jackson,* who had been patronised by the king of

[* These chiaro-'scuros were included in the Bewick sale of Feb-
ruary, 1884. They were published by Jackson in 1742, when he was
residing at Venice. He subsequently returned to England, and in
1754 was employed in a paper-hanging manufactory at Battersea.
In his youth he is said to have been a pupil of Kirkall ; and he had
worked for Papillon, the author of the "Traite historique et pratique
de la Gravure en Bois."]

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 265

France ; but, whether these prints had been done
with the design of embellishing the walls of houses
in that country, I know not. They had been taken
from paintings of eminent old masters, and were
mostly Scripture pieces. They were well drawn,
and perhaps correctly copied from the originals,
yet in my opinion none of them looked well.
Jackson left Newcastle quite enfeebled with age,
and, it was said, ended his days in an asylum,
under the protecting care of Sir Gilbert Elliot,
bart., at some place on the border near the Teviot,
or on Tweedside.

Whether the speculations here noticed may be
thought worthy of being acted upon, I know not,
but it is not to any of the above noticed ways of
wood cutting that my attention is directed: it is,
in my ardent desire to see the stroke engraving on
wood carried to the utmost perfection, that I hope
the world will be gratified; and I trust the time
is not distant when its superior excellence will be
seen, particularly in landscape scenery, so as to
surpass copper-plate engravings. The effect to be
produced by wood engraving has not, in that way,
yet been tried, nor its powers made apparent.
This is, I think, to be attained by two, or even
more, blocks being employed, on one print, so that
a greater and more natural effect — as to colour and
softness — may be produced. I am well aware that
some difficulty may arise, as to bringing off a clear
impression of fine strokes from so large a surface,
but in this age of mechanical improvement and
invention, I think this apparent difficulty will
readily be got over. Perhaps printing from a
roller, instead of an even down pull, may easily

accomplish this business. I have often thought,

2 I

266 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

had William Woollett been a wood engraver, he
would have shown its excellence long ago : his
prints from copper have not been equalled ; but,
from the nature of the wood, and the effect it pro-
duces, he would have advanced a step further, and
on it have outdone his excellence on copper.* If I
live, health and sight continued, I will make the
attempt to show that all this is not a visionary
theory. Should I not live to get this Memoir
printed under my own inspection for the benefit
of yourself, your brother and sisters, — or whether
it will ever be printed at all, I know not, — but at
any rate the manuscript itself which I leave to my
dear Jane will satisfy her, were that necessary, how
ardently I have ever wished well to arts and artists;
and though, in my endeavours to show this, I have
often been thwarted and disappointed, yet I never
lost sight of my object, nor became disheartened in
my struggles to fight through, and surmount num-
berless difficulties and bars thrown in my way.

You know a part of those I met with in the
course of my business, in which my time was
misspent, and also the waste of it bestowed upon
useless and wicked pupils. I know you wish me
to give you a history and description of such;
but to do so would be an irksome task and I
cannot now be troubled to think about it. I shall
however give you a curtailed list (as a whole), and
only speak of such as served out their time. I have

[* Bewick was a great admirer of Woollett. In the parlour at
Gateshead hung, inter alia, impressions of Wilson's "Celadon and
Amelia," a landscape after Poussin, and the "Spanish Pointer" of
Stubbs, which he reproduced for the "Quadrupeds." Another of the
prints, "The Rural Cot," after G. Smith, had written at the back: —
"This print cost 75. 6d., the frame and glass us., iSs. 6d., March,
1787. T. Bewick."]

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 267

already noticed my brother John as my first pupil,*
and therefore have little further to say respecting
him, only adding that nature seemed to have
befitted him for becoming a first-rate wood-
engraver, but, at the time he was with me, the
thoughts of aiming at excellence, did not enter
into our heads, and he left this world at the time
when it was only begun to be looked upon as a
matter of any interest. Our first apprentice was
John Laws, who was brought up as a silver
engraver, and I think he never touched upon the
wood. His turn was directed to the ornamental,
and chiefly in the branch of what is called bright
engraving, and at this kind of work he excelled,
and is perhaps the best at this day. With it
he also follows the business of a farmer, at
Heddon Laws, the place of his nativity. We
greatly respected him for his honesty, sobriety,
civil deportment and attention. The next for
whom we had a great regard, for the like
reasons, was John Johnson,t whom we put to do
engraving on wood as well as other kinds of
work. I think he would have shone out in the
former branch, but he died of a fever, at about
the age of 22 when only beginning to give
great promise of his future excellence. Our next
apprentice was Robert Johnson, who did not
incline to do wrood -cutting, and, preferring copper-
plate engraving, he was almost wholly employed

[* Vide Chapter viii].

[f John Johnson, from a Memorandum among the Bewick MSS.,
was apprenticed to Beilby and Bewick at Christmas, 1782. He is
said to have worked on the "Birds;" and he certainly designed the
wood-cut of "The Hermit," engraved by Thomas Bewick for the
"Poems by Goldsmith and Parnell," 1795. He was Robert John-
son's cousin.]

268 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

in that way, and in it attained to great excellence.
Besides that, he became great as a draughtsman
and colourist ; but as he was of so delicate a
constitution that he could not bear confinement,
we, for that reason, set him to work to make
sketches and views, where he had both air and
exercise. It may be necessary to give a more
detailed history than ordinary of this boy, on
account of the unceasing pains I bestowed upon
his tuition, and my reasons for doing so. His
mother had been long a servant in father's house,
where she became a great favourite, and like one
of our family. When she married, this boy Robert
was her first-born; and when he was christened
I was to have been his godfather. This however
did not happen, for while I was, for that purpose,
on my road near to Ovingham, where the ceremony
was to be performed, being only about 16 or
1 7 years old and exceedingly bashful, I could
not think of appearing before a congregation of
people, and when, on getting to the top of the
"pantin brae," the bells began to ring in for
church, I felt so abashed at the thought of what I
had to do that I " turned tail" — went a little
back, and crossed the river upon the top of the
Fishermen's Weir by stepping from one stob to
another, which are driven in to support the wicker
work and stones of which the weir is formed. I
then went to Cherryburn, and after getting some
refreshment, returned again to Newcastle. In the
meantime my father and mother stood sponsors
for the child. As the boy grew up, he having
been almost constantly told he was to be my
apprentice, he looked up to me as a kind of deity,
and having been, at every opportunity, kept closely

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 269

employed in drawing and making pictures, which
were regularly shewn my father and mother and
through them to myself, he thus came very early
into practice. As soon as he attained somewhere
about his i3th year friends began to act upon the
scheme so long projected, of putting these inten-
tions in force, and in this business my father and
mother stood foremost as the warm friends of the
boy, and begged I would always shew the same
disposition towards him, and to take him under my
fostering care. He was about a year too young
to be bound as an apprentice; but I took him into
the house till the proper time arrived, when he was
bound to my partner and myself for seven years.
He was mostly employed at drawing, and was also
at intervals practising himself in the use of the
graver, and in etching on copper; but being very
delicate in his health we were careful not to confine
himself too closely at anything. It may perhaps
be useful to artists to know how I thought it best
to order and manage such a tender and pampered
boy. The system I began upon was— that of rigid
temperance — he got no medicine from me. My
sister Ann, at that time, kept my house, and to
get her to second me in my plans I experienced
great difficulty, chiefly from her fears "that folks
would raise a report that we hungered him;" but
I resolutely persisted in my plan, and would not
allow her to put in her word against it. I began
by cutting off for him almost every thing he had
given to him to eat. The animal food with which
I helped his plate at dinner, did not exceed in
bulk the size of three of my fingers, to this was
added a portion of vegetables. For breakfast
and supper he got a pint of milk with leavened

270 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

rye bread, to which last article I did not prevent
him from helping himself. He had not been kept
to this kind of temperate or pinched regimen
above two months, till such an alteration for the
better took place in his looks as seemed surpris-
ing, so much so that his mother, when she called
to see him held up her hands in astonishment at
seeing this change from a pale, pasty, sickly look
to that of his having cheeks blushed with health
like a rose, and this same plan was pursued while
he remained under my roof.* The methods I took
to learn him his business wras also of a piece with
his mode of living. I did not keep him so long at
work as to tire him, with whatever job he might be
put to do, especially in drawing, but then whatever
I gave him to copy was to be done perfectly
correct, and he dreaded to show me work that was
not so, although I never scolded him, but only, if I
was not pleased, I put the drawing away from me
without saying a word. Sometimes I remember
saying O fie ! and in this way of treatment he
attained to great accuracy. The next thing I put
him to was that of colouring, chiefly my own
designs, and these occasioned me much time and
labour, for I made it a point of drawing these with
great accuracy, and with a very delicately pencilled
outline. The practical knowledge I had attained in
colouring was imparted to him, and he saved me a
great deal of what I considered a loss of my time
in being taken up in this way, and besides he soon
coloured them in a style superior to my hasty

* Another of my plans was to make growing boys exercise with
dumb-bells half an hour or so before bed time. I believe were
this practiced by the sedentary of both sexes, it would go a great
way to banish consumption.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 271

productions of that kind. Indeed, in this way he
became superexcellent ; and, as I conceived, he
could hardly be equalled in his water colour draw-
ing of views and landscapes by any artist.* For
some time I continued to sketch in his figures,
but at length he needed none of my help in this
way. I remember of his once coming to me, and
begging I would draw or sketch in a tree for him.
"No, Robert/' said I, "but I will direct you to a
place where you will see such a tree as you never
saw painted by any artist in your life," and that
was a tree then growing in Adonis's Grove. He
went and endeavoured to do justice to his pattern,
and I do not know that any one could have made
a better likeness. As soon as the time arrived that
he became entitled to have wages from us, this
tempted his father and mother to leave the country
and to reside in Newcastle, and to have him to board
with them. How he was managed as to his diet
with them I know not, but it soon appeared to have
been a wrong treatment in this respect, for he soon
lost his health and was from that time seldom out
of the hands of the doctor, and at one period of
his apprenticship he was about a year absent from
our employment either in the country or in being

[_* Some of these drawings were afterwards the cause of a lawsuit.
The Earl of Bute, calling at Bewick and Beilby's shop, when passing
through Newcastle, was shown some of Johnson's sketches, and bought
them. Beilby and Bewick appropriated the money, on the ground
that their apprentice's work was their property. The matter ulti-
mately came into court, and was decided against the partners, who,
by two receipts among the Bewick MSS., dated 26th November and
24th December respectively, had to pay £g IDS. yd. costs, and £11
5s. 6d. damages. If, as Miss Bewick states in one of her memoranda,
Johnson was apprenticed to her father in 1786, this suit, which was
commenced in May, 1796, must have taken place after his period of
apprenticeship had terminated, and it was only decided in October,
the month in which he died. (See note infra, p. 272).]

272 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

nursed with watchful care at home. He however
became quite well by the time he was freed from
his servitude with us, and he then commenced
painting and engraving on his own account. In
the former art he seemed to be much patronised,
and had, I believe, turned his attention to oil-
painting. The last of his efforts in this line was
done under the patronage of the Earl of Buchan* by
whom he was employed to copy some portraits and
perhaps some other things at [Kenmore], where he
took ill of a fever and died in the year 1796 and in
the 26th of his age.f It always appeared that he

[* Breadalbane.]

[f Robert Johnson died on the 2gth October, 1796. A few addi-
tional particulars respecting him, from Sykes and other sources, may
be added here. He was born at Shotley in Northumberland, his
father being a joiner and cabinet maker. Besides his successes as a
water-colour artist, some of which are still to be seen in Newcastle,
he obtained considerable popularity about 1793 for certain caricatures
of the Cruikshankian order, his chief butt being an ultra-Tory New-
castle bookseller, Joseph Whitfield. Hugo gives the titles of some
of these performances in his "Bewick Collector," 1866, i., 545: —
"The Asses in Danger," "A Real Friend to His Country Begs," "The
Overthrow ; or, The Crisis is Awful and Momentous." One of
Johnson's best known drawings, that of St. Nicholas's Church, taken
from the north, was engraved on a large scale by Charlton Nesbit,
who obtained for it in 1798 the lesser silver palette of the Society
of Arts. He also made a drawing of Sunderland Bridge, engraved
by himself and Mr. Hunter. The circumstances connected with
Johnson's death are thus related by Sykes, " Local Records," 1833,
i., 381 : — " He was engaged by the Messrs. Morrison, booksellers,
of Perth, to reduce the set of portraits by [George] Jamesone, [the
Scotch Van Dyck,] and was sent to Kenmore, the seat of the Earl of
Breadalbane, to copy them for Pinkerton's, "Gallery of Scottish Por-
traits." He had finished fifteen, and there remained four to copy,
when, by his premature death, the fine arts sustained an irreparable
loss. . . In a letter from the Messrs. Morrison to Mr. Pinkerton,
dated i8th November, 1796, it states, that a few days before [?] they
had received a letter from the man with whom Johnson lodged at the
village of Kenmore, desiring them to send for him, as he was quite
delirious; and by express the day following, they were informed of his

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 273

would have become great as a painter ; but a deli-
cate constitution and want of stamina prevented
this. I have often thought it was a great mistake
in parents, and a very common one, to fix upon
some sedentary employment for their tender deli-
cate boy, when, perhaps, had he been sent to sea,
or some other out-door work, where he would be
exposed to fresh air and exercise, he might have
become a healthy stout and hale man. My friends
having often expressed a wish that I would give
some account of my pupils has occasioned me to
dwell thus long upon that of Robert Johnson ; but I
think it unnecessary to notice others who were not
gifted with talents, and some others again who had
neither one good property nor another, and with
whom I had much vexation and reason to com-
plain. The first of my pupils who made a figure
in London, after my brother, as a wood-engraver,
was Charlton Nesbit.* He went at a nick of time

death. That in his anxiety to complete his labour, he would sit all
day in a room without a fire, a violent cold was' the consequence,
which, neglected, increased to a fever, ' it flew to his brain, and,
terrible to relate, he was bound with ropes, beat, and treated like a
madman.' This treatment was discontinued on the accidental arrival
of a physician, who ordered blisters, and poor Johnson died in peace.
A memorial was cut in wood, from one of his own designs, by his
friend and fellow-apprentice, Mr. Charlton Nesbit. From this wood-
cut a limited number of impressions was taken off, with letter-press,
recording his death, &c., attached. It is a scene in a country church-
yard by moonlight, representing a female in tears leaning on a tomb
inscribed : 'In memory of R. Johnson, 1796.' A stone is erected in
Ovingham church-yard, recording his early fate." A copy of both
stone and memorial are to be found in Chatto's "Treatise on Wood
Engraving.'']

£* Charlton Nesbit was born in 1775, being the son of a keelrnan
at Swalwell in Durham. About 1789 he was apprenticed to Beilby
and Bewick; and he is said to have worked on the "Birds," 1797,

2 K

274 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

when woodcuts seemed to claim something like
universal attention, and, fortunately for that art,
it was under the guidance of the ingenious John
Thurston,* who pencilled his designs, stroke by
stroke on the wood, with the utmost accuracy,
and it would appear that Nesbit was the first,
by his mechanical excellence, to do justice to

and on the "Poems of Goldsmith and Parnell," 1795. His engraving
of Johnson's drawing of St. Nicholas's Church has already been referred
to. He went to London about 1799, was engaged inter alia upon
Craig's "Scripture Illustrated," 1806; Ackermann's "Religious Em-
blems," 1809; " Hudibras," 1811; Puckle's "Club," 1817; and
Northcote's " Fables," 1828-33. He did not remain in London ; but,
becoming possessed of independent means, he returned in 1815 to his
native place, continuing, however, to labour occasionally for the
booksellers. He visited the metropolis again in 1830, and died at
Queen's Elm, Brompton, in November, 1838. His most ambitious
block was " Rinaldoand Armida," from the " Gerusalemme Liberata,"
engraved after Thurston for Savage's " Practical Hints on Decorative
Printing," 1822. He also supplied a portrait of Bewick, after Nichol-
son, to Charnley's "Select Fables" of 1820. As an engraver, he was
the best of Bewick's pupils.]

* John Thurston was reared from a child at a place called the
Leazes, near Newcastle, where a burn separates a large pasture that
goes by that name from the Town Moor. His mother, who lived at
Scarbro', where the boy was born, had married a second husband,
who, it appears, was of a base character, and had married her solely
for her property. This her friends saw, and, to prevent her ruin, sent
her off incog, to the fore-named place, to be out of the way of the
worthless fellow, and my friend, John Anderson, surgeon, was deputed
to advance her the money necessary for her support. The boy was
afterwards sent to the academy of the ingenious Mr. Hornsey at
Scarbro' to finish his education, and with him he also learned to draw.
Mr. Hornsey made the designs for the Copper-plate Magazine and
other things, and was author of " Hornsey's Grammar." When
the youth had finished his' education, he was engaged to Mr.
Heath as an engraver ; but left it off, and wholly devoted his time to
making designs for wood engraving, and drawing them on the wood
for the wood-engravers. [Thurston was born in 1774 at Scarborough.
For a long time he was the chief designer upon wood in London, but
towards the close of his career he found a rival in William Harvey.
He died at Holloway in 1822, aged 48.]

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 275

these designs. Henry Hole* and John Andersonf
preceded Nesbit. The next of my pupils, who
chiefly turned his attention to wood-engraving,
was Edward Willis, who, while he remained
with me, was much upon a par with Nesbit, but
did not equal him in the mechanical excellence
Nesbit had attained to in London. I had a great
regard for Edward Willis, on account of his
regular good behaviour while he was under my
tuition. He has now been long a resident in
London. J My nephew, John Harrison, was chiefly
employed on writing engraving; he died of epileptic
fits, and was buried at North Shields between two
trees near the footpath . Henry White, from London,
was engaged to me to serve out the remainder of his

* Henry Fulke Plantagenet Woolicombe Hole left Newcastle and
went to Liverpool, where he was patronised by Mr. Roscoe, Capel
Lofft, Maccreery the printer, and others, until the death of his
grandfather, — . Hole, Esq., of Ebberley Hall, Devonshire, to whose
very large property he fell heir, and left off pursuing the arts any
longer. [Hole, like Nesbit, worked on Ackermann's "Religious
Emblems," and executed a much-praised vignette to Shepherd's
" Poggio." He is also said to have prepared some of the cuts to
the "British Birds." In 1814, according to Redgrave, he contri-
buted to the Liverpool Academy — "An Attempt to restore the old
Method of Cross-lining on Wood," engraved by himself. He
was the son of a captain in the Lancashire Militia.]

[f John Anderson was the son of Dr. James Anderson of Edin-
burgh, who edited the " Bee." He is said to have engraved the
illustrations to [Dr. Lettsom's] "Grove Hill," and an edition of
"Junius's Letters." He left England and went to South America.
He is often confused with the New York engraver, Dr. Alexander
Anderson (1775-1870), who reproduced several of the works of the
Bewicks. A catalogue of Dr. Anderson's productions appeared at
New York in 1885.]

[j Little is known of Edward Willis, beyond the fact that he

was a cousin of the famous engineer, George Stephenson. From

a letter from William Harvey to R. E. Bewick he was in London
in 1818, and not doing well.]

276 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

apprenticeship, when his master, the late Mr. Lee,
died. When the term of his engagement with me
was ended, he returned to London, and chiefly
turned his attention to the imitation of sketchy
cross-hatching on wood, from the inimitable pencil
of Mr. Cruikshank, and, perhaps, some other artists
in this same way. Henry White appears to have
taken the lead of others who followed that manner
of cutting, which shortly became quite the Ton*
Another of my pupils of distinguished ability, both
as a draftsman and wood-engraver, was Luke
Clennell, whose melancholy history will be well
remembered by the artists of London and else-
where, and the sympathetic feelings which were
drawn forth and shown to him by a generous
public by their subscriptions to a print of the
battle of Waterloo from his painting of the deci-
sive charge of the Guards on that eventful day.f

[* Lee died in March, 1804. Henry White engraved Thurston's
cuts for the Burns of 1808. He worked also for Hone's " Facetiae
and Miscellanies," 1819-22, for Puckle's " Club," 1817, and he en-
graved many of the cuts in Yarrell's "Fishes."]

[f Clennell, who was born at Ulgham near Morpeth in 1781*
was apprenticed to Beilby and Bewick in April, 1797. He is said to
have worked on the second volume of the "Birds;; and he designed
and cut many of the illustrations to Hodgson's " Hive of Ancient and
Modern Literature," ed. 1806. In 1804, he came to London, where he
worked on Wallis and Scholey's " History of England," Beattie's
"Minstrel," 1807, Falconer's "Shipwreck," 1808, and Ackermann's
" Religious Emblems," 1809. He also engraved West's design for the
Diploma of the Highland Society, for which the Society of Arts gave
him their gold medal. Then he cut, excellently, Stothard's pen
and ink sketches to Rogers' " Pleasures of Memory, with Other
Poems," 1810. After this he took to water-colour painting, and
exhibited frequently at the different exhibitions. He gained a
premium in 1816 from the British Institution for a sketch in oil of
the decisive charge at Waterloo. While collecting material for a
subsequent picture of the Banquet of the Allied Sovereigns in the
Guildhall, a commission from the Earl of Bridgeivater, his mind gave
way. From this time (1817) until his death in February, 1840, he

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 277

The next of my pupils was Isaac Nicholson, who
was both a good apprentice and a good artist.
His engravings on wood are clearly or honestly
cut, as well as accurately done from his patterns.
He did not pursue his business in London, but
carries it on in Newcastle.* The next of my
pupils, and one of the first in excellence, was
William Harvey, who, both as an engraver and
designer, stands pre-eminent at this day.f His
fellow-apprentice was William Temple (who left
off wood-engraving, and commenced linen draper
in Newcastle). He w-as a faithful copyist, and his
pieces were honestly or clearly cut.+ The last
apprentice I had was John Armstrong, who is now

never wholly recovered his reason, though he still drew occasionally
and wrote strange semi-intelligible verses. His wife also became
insane shortly after her husband's misfortune. In 1819-21, the
" Waterloo Charge " was engraved for the benefit of Clennell's
children, and Bewick was one of those who received subscriptions.
There is a tablet to Clennell's memory in St. Andrew's Church,
Newcastle.]

[* Cf. Mackenzie's "Newcastle," 1827, p. 588, where he is
classed with the artists then living in that town. He was born at
Melmerby, Cumberland; and illustrated many books in the style
of Bewick. He died 18 October, 1848, aged 59.]

[f Harvey is remembered chiefly as a designer upon wood. He
was born at Newcastle, 13 July, 1796, and was apprenticed to
Bewick at fourteen years of age. As stated in chapter xv., he
worked with Temple on the "Fables" of 1818. In 1817 he came
to London, where he engraved a celebrated cut after Haydon's
"Assassination of Dentatus" — the value of which is vitiated by its
perverse rivalry of copper-plate. After Thurston's death he wholly
abandoned engraving for design ; and for many years was the
most popular, as he was the most prolific of book-illustrators.
His best efforts are to be found in Northcote's "Fables," 1828-33,
and Lane's "Thousand and One Nights," 1838-40. He died at
Richmond, 13 January, 1866. Several of his letters are included
in the Bewick MSS.]

[£ Of Temple nothing further is known. He worked, as men-
tioned above, on the "Fables" of 1818.]

278

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

pursuing his business in London. I have not gone
down in regular succession with my pupils ; but I
have noticed all those who, in my estimation, were
worth notice.* And, now when the time is fast
approaching for my winding up all my labours, I
may be allowed to name my own son and partner,
whose time has been taken up with attending to all
the branches of our business : and who, I trust, will
not let wood-engraving go down ; and, though he
has not shown any partiality towards it, yet the
talent is there, and I hope he will call it forth. t

[* Of John Jackson, 1801-48, the projector of the "Treatise on
Wood Engraving," it will be observed that Bewick says nothing,
and the Bewick MSS. contain many evidences that he was not a
favourite with the family.]

[f Robert Elliot Bewick, Bewick's only son, was born 26 April,
1788, and died unmarried 27 July, 1849. He seems to have suffered
all his life from ill-health, which his sister attributes to the effects of
inoculation with impure matter. He was a minute and accurate
draughtsman, and a mediocre engraver on copper and wood. He
never evinced the talent above referred to. His father took him
into partnership in January, 1812, and at Bewick's death in 1828 he
continued the business. There is an oil-painting of R. E. Bewick
when a boy, by John Bell, in the Museum of the Natural History
Society at Newcastle.]

CHAPTER XXIV.

How far I may venture further to obtrude my
opinions, or advice, on the notice of artists, par-
ticularly engravers on wood, I know not, but they
may readily imagine that I cannot help feeling a
deep interest, and an ardent desire, that the art
may 'long flourish, and that those who follow it
may feel happy in the pursuit. Perhaps what I
have already said may not be uninteresting to
some of them, and, if I knew how I could go
further, in any way that might urge or stimulate
them to feel enthusiasm for this art, it should not
be wanting ; for the wish, though tottering on the
down-hill of life, is extended beyond the grave.

The sedentary artist ought, if possible, to have
his dwelling in the country, where he can follow
his business undisturbed, surrounded by pleasing
rural scenery, and the fresh air. He ought not to
sit at work too long at a time, but to unbend his
mind with some variety of employment ; for which
purpose it is desirable that artists, with their little
cots, shall also have each a garden attached, in
which they may find both exercise and amusement,
and only occasionally visit the city or the smoky
town ; and that chiefly for the purpose of meetings
wdth their brother artists, in which they may make
an interchange of their sentiments, and commune
with each other as to whatever regards the arts.
Were I allowed to become their M.D., my prescrip-

280 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

tion should cost them nothing, and be easily taken
— it being only attentively to observe two or three
rules, the first of which is, that they will contrive to
be very hungry once a day, never to overload the
stomach, nor indulge to satiety in eating anything.
By persisting in this, they will find their reward in
great good health, and a vigorous, unclouded mind :
by a little observation they may clearly see that a
great portion of mankind "live to eat" — not eat to
live. To say more to men of sense and artists,—
which a desire to contribute everything in my
power towards their peace of rnind and happiness
prompts me to do, — I may be allowed to add, that
those of them who have attained to eminence will
find themselves pursued by envy ; for " There is no
species of hatred greater than that which a man
of mediocrity bears to a man of genius ; his reach
of thought, his successful combinations, and his
sudden felicities are never forgiven by those whom
nature has fashioned in a less perfect mould."

It is the duty of parents and guardians to endea-
vour, with the utmost care, to discover the capacities
and fitness of youth for any business before they
engage in it ; for, without they are innately gifted
with the power of becoming artists, the want of
that power will cause the pursuit to be felt by them
as up-hill work, and be productive of unhappiness
to them through life. But the fondness of parents
for their offspring is mostly such as to blind them
in forming a judgment, and disappointment is sure
to follow. It would be well for such parents to read
Gay's fable of "The Owl, the Swan, the Cock, the
Spider, the Ass, and the Farmer." It may indeed
be conceded that there are some rare exceptions to
this general rule ; for a man may be so formed in

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 281

body and mind — with such symmetry and health in
the one, and such energy in the other — that he may
advance a great way towards perfection in anything
he ardently pursues. But an "Admirable Crichton,"
or a vSir Joshua Reynolds, does not often appear.
Men so gifted by nature, whether as artists, or in
any other way where intellectual powers are to be
drawn forth, ought never to despair of rising to
eminence, or to imagine that they can never equal
such men as have excelled all others in their day.
It ought to be kept in mind that the same superin-
tending Providence which gifted those men with
talents to excite wonder and to improve society
from time to time, in all ages, still rules the world
and the affairs of mankind, and will continue to do
so for ever, as often as the services of such men
are wanted ; and this consideration ought to act
as a stimulant to their successors, to endeavour
to surpass in excellence the brilliant luminaries
who have only gone before them to pave the way
and to enlighten their paths. All artists — and
indeed all men — ought to divide their time by
regularly appropriating one portion of it to one
purpose, and another part of it to the varied
business that may be set apart for another. In
this way a deal of work may be got through ; and
the artist, after leaving off his too intense applica-
tion, would see, as it were, what he had been doing
writh new eyes, and would thus be enabled to criticise
the almost endless variety of lights, shades, and
effects, which await his pencil to produce.

Had I been a painter, I never would have copied
the works of "old masters," or others, however
highly they might be esteemed. I would have

gone to nature for all my patterns ; for she exhibits

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282 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

an endless variety not possible to be surpassed, and
scarcely ever to be truly imitated. I would, indeed,
have endeavoured to discover how those artists of
old made or compounded their excellent colours, as
well as the disposition of their lights and shades,
by which they were enabled to accomplish so much
and so well.

The work of the painter may be said to be as
endless as the objects which nature continually
presents to his view ; and it is his judgment that
must direct him in the choice of such as may be
interesting. In this he will see what others have
done before him, and the shoals and quicksands
that have retarded their progress, as well as the
rocks they have at last entirely split upon. On his
taking a proper survey of all this, he will see the
"labour in vain" that has been bestowed upon
useless designs, which have found, and will continue
to find, their way to a garret, while those of an
opposite character will, from their excellence, be
preserved with perhaps increasing value for ages
to come. In performing all this, great industry
will be required, and it ought ever to be kept in
mind, that, as in morals, nothing is worth listening
to but truth, so in arts nothing is worth looking at
but such productions as have been faithfully copied
from nature. Poetry, indeed, may launch out or
take further liberties to charm the intellect of its
votaries. It is only such youths as Providence has
gifted with strong intellectual, innate powers that
are perfectly fit to embark in the fine arts, and the
power and propensity is often found early to bud
out and show itself. This is seen in the young
musician, who, without having even learned his
A B C's, breaks out, with a random kind of unre-

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 283

strained freedom, to whistle and sing. How often
have I been amused at the first essays of the
ploughboy, and how charmed to find him so soon
attempt to equal his whistling and singing master,
at the plough stilts, and who, with avidity unceas-
ing, never stopped till he thought he excelled him.
The future painter is shown by his strong propen-
sity to sketch whatever objects in nature attract his
attention, and excite him to imitate them. The
poet, indeed, has more difficulties to contend with
at first than the others, because he must know
language, or be furnished with words wherewith
to enable him to express himself even in his first
essays in doggrel metre and sing-song rhymes. In
all the varied ways by which men of talent are
befitted to enlighten, to charm, and to embellish
society, as they advance through life, — if they
entertain the true feeling that every production
they behold is created, not by chance, but by
design, — they will find an increasing and endless
pleasure in the exhaustless stores which nature has
provided to attract the attention and promote the
happiness of her votaries during the time of their
sojourning here.

The painter need not roam very far from his
home, in any part of our beautiful isles, to meet
with plenty of charming scenes from which to copy
nature — either on an extended or a limited scale —
and in which he may give full scope to his genius
and to his pencil, either in animate or inanimate
subjects. His search will be crowned with success
in the romantic ravine — the placid holme — the hol-
low dell — or amongst the pendant foliage of the
richly ornamented dean ; or by the sides of burns
which roar or dash along, or run murmuring from

284 MKMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

pool to pool through their pebbly beds : all this
bordered perhaps by a back-ground of ivy-covered,
hollow oaks (thus clothed as if to hide their age), —
of elms, willows, and birch, which seem kindly to
offer shelter to an under-growth of hazel, whins,
broom, juniper, and heather, with the wild rose,
the woodbine, and the bramble, and beset with
clumps of fern and foxglove ; while the edges of
the mossy braes are covered with a profusion of
wild flowers, "born to blush unseen," which peep
out amongst the creeping groundlings— the blea-
berry, the wild strawberry, the harebell, and the
violet ; but I feel a want of words to enable the
pen to give an adequate description of the beauty
and simplicity of these neglected spots, which
nature has planted as if to invite the admiration
of such as have hearts and eyes to appreciate and
enjoy these her exquisite treats, while she may
perhaps smile at the formal, pruning efforts of the
gardener, as well as doubt whether the pencil of
the artist will ever accomplish a correct imitation.
But, be all this as it may, she has spread out her
beauties to feast the eyes, and to invite the admira-
tion of all mankind, and to whet them up to an
ardent love of all her works. How often have I, in
my angling excursions, loitered upon such sunny
braes, lost in extasy, and wishing I could impart
to others the pleasures I felt on such occasions :
but they must see with their own eyes to feel as
I felt, and to form an opinion how far the scenes
depictured by poets fall short of the reality. The
naturalist's poet — Thomson — has done much : so
have others. Allan Ramsay's

" Habbies Howe,
Where a' the sweets of spring and summer grow,"

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 285

may have exhibited such as I have noticed, but the
man endued with a fit turn of mind, and inclined to
search out such "beauty-spots," will not need the
aid of poets to help him on in his enthusiastic
ardour.

CHAPTER XXV.

MY dear Jane will well remember the times when,
on a Sunday morning, I had fixed upon' spending
the day at home, and of my calling it a "Red night-
cap day," because it was set apart for contemplation,
and for this purpose I walked undisturbed in the
garden alone, and, thus employed, it was always a
welcome and a happy, though a short, day to me ;
and yet this was not without its alloy, for when
your mother led you forth all clean and neat with
her to church, I felt grieved at my not making one
of the party ; but you know the first cause which
prevented me, and that was owing to my not being
able to sit in the cold church with my hat off, with-
out my suffering for it when I did so. I often wished
that the different congregations would leave off this
foolish custom, and follow the good sense and the
example of the Quakers in this respect. This,
however, though it was the beginning, was not
the sole cause or objection I had to attending
regularly at church, for I did not like to hippocrise,
—that is indeed wicked folly, for uGod knows the
secrets of our hearts, and our desires are not hid
from Him." I knew of nothing I had to petition
for, and had only to pour out my thanks for His
numerous blessings, which I hoped I would do
better when alone, than when I was surrounded
by a congregation, for I never could be religious
at church. I could not believe in the miracles

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 287

nor dogmas and creeds, which seemed to me to
have been invented by interested men to bewilder
the understanding. With these, preached up Sun-
day after Sunday to arrest the solemn attention
of their hearers, I felt annoyed, and wondered
how any rational being could listen to such absur-
dities.

When very young I read the Bible through and
through, but I, at that time, minded it no more than
other histories with which my scanty library was
furnished. I could not then judge of it, nor properly
estimate the sublime precepts it contains. I felt,
indeed, much pleased and excited by the numerous
battles therein described. Sober reflection, how-
ever, respecting- them quite altered the bent of my
inclination that way, and I began and continued to
consider the political history of the Israelites as
very wicked; for they are so described as under the
direction of Moses, who, it is said, always obtained
the command or sanction of the Lord to set the
people at work in the business of war, at which
they appear to have been very ready and very
expert. It is, however, evident that in the nation
of the Israelites there were men of great intellectual
powers, and inspired with an ardent desire to trace
the Author of Nature through His works, as well
as having a foresight of their future destiny. It
being clear to them that it was the intention of
Omnipotence that men should live in a state of
civilised society, under this impression they set
to work, as well as they could with an uncivilised
people, to bring about such a desirable order of
things, but in which they must have felt great
difficulties ; the first of which was to abolish
Paganism, and to establish the pure religion of

288 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

worshipping one God only ; thus, " Thou shalt
have none other gods but me," was the first
commandment, and which was most strenuously
urged upon the Israelites in every way, and in
every transaction of their lives, while they were
kept together as a nation. Science, and a know-
ledge of nature, on which science is founded, could
not in those early times be expected to be known,
either by Moses or their other governors and
teachers, who could not explain such important
matters to the people otherwise than they did.
The wonders of this world and the magnitude of
the universe were not then contemplated upon ;
neither was it perhaps necessary to attempt any
explanation of them in those dark ages : and,
besides, it appears it was not a leading object :
civilisation seems to have been the first and per-
haps the only important business they had at that
time in view. They therefore, in their endeavours
to accomplish this, and to govern and keep the
people in awe, attempted to personify the Deity,
and to prescribe the boundary of time and space,
as the theatre on which He acted, that they, the
people, might thus understand something of the
meaning of the commands so strenuously laid upon
them ; not a little of which was delivered to them
in allegory and fable. Moses began by telling
them of the beginning of the world, and the length
of time it took to make it, and the manner in which
God created Adam and Eve as the parents of the
whole human race ; of Paradise, or the Garden of
Eden ; of the disobedience of our first parents in
eating forbidden fruit, and that this transgression
entailed misery, sin, and death upon the whole
human race. This "Original Sin," however strange

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEAVICK. 289

it may appear to thinking men, has been kept up
in terrorem, with uncommon pains, for hundreds of
years past, and is continued with unabating fer-
vency to the present time. That mankind should
suffer under this condemnation, for the fault of
these our first parents, seems impiously to set
aside the justice of an All-wise and Benevolent
God.

As to the time it took to create this world,
and the whirling, floating, universe of which it
is comparatively a speck or mote — that is beyond
human comprehension ; and Time, Eternity — a
Beginning and an End — are still much more
beyond the reach of thought ; for the powers of
the mind would soon become bewildered and lost
in attempting to form any conception, by figures,
of what is meant by innumerable millions of
centuries : and here on this subject we must
rest ! This sublime — this amazing — this mighty
work of suns and worlds innumerable is too
much for the vision of a finite, purblind, proud,
little atom of the Creation, strutting, or crawling
about in the shape of man. It is sufficient for
the soul of man in this life to reverence and
adore the Omnipresent, and, except through His
works, the unknowable God, whose wisdom, and
power, and goodness, has no bounds, and who
has been pleased to enable his reasoning creatures
so far to see that everything is made by design,
and nothing by chance ; and, from the display
of His infinite power, that everything in the
universe is systematic ; all is connection, ad-
hesion, affinity: hence we may infer some prin-
ciple of order, some moving power, some mighty

agent — but all this still ends in the name of

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290 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

Deity, and dwells awfully retired beyond the
reach of mortal eye.

What Moses has said about the deluge, and the
destruction it occasioned to every living creature,
we are led to conclude must have been handed
down to him in ancient Eastern traditions, and it
requires no over-stretched credulity to believe that
a deluge happened which destroyed every living
creature on that part of the earth over which its
devastations were spread ; for it cannot be doubted
that this globe has undergone many such deluges,
convulsions, and changes, equally difficult to ac-
count for ; and geologists at this day feel convinced
of this, from the changes which they see matter has
undergone, but of which they are still left greatly to
conjecture as to the cause. They cannot, however,
doubt the power of a comet (if it be the will of the
Mighty Director) to melt the ices from the poles,
and to throw the sea out of its place, or to reduce
this globe instantly to a cinder — a vitrifaction — to
ashes, or to dust ; and that, in its near approach to
this our world, it may have occasioned the various
changes and phenomena which have happened, and
may happen again. The marine productions found
imbedded in the earth so many fathoms below its
surface, supply another source of wonder, and seem
either to confirm the foregoing hypothesis, or to
lead men to conclude that a great portion of the
earth has once been covered by the sea ; and it
may, perhaps, not be carrying conjecture too far
to suppose that nations have been overflowed and
sunk to its bottom, while others have arisen out of
it ; and that, in the apparently slow changes which
are continually operating upon all matter, new
nations may yet arise, and be now in progress to

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 291

take their turn on this globe.* Every mountain
and hill is becoming less and less, and is by little
and little apparently slowly sliding away into the
ocean ; and the same waste may be seen in the
many tons of earthy mud which every flooded river
carries off, and deposits in the sea. The lakes are
also continually operated upon, by the wasting or
wearing away of the outlets that form the barriers
by which their waters were and are at present
stayed, and it is not unlikely that every valley was
once a lake, till they were operated upon like those
still left, preparatory to their change to dry land.
But the early history of mankind, nor the
changes, the wonders, nor the mighty events
which have happened to this globe, cannot be
known ; and we may reasonably suppose men
must have long remained in darkness and ignor-
ance till rescued from such a state first by hiero-
glyphics and then by letters. What they were
before these enabled them to interchange their
thoughts, preparatory to a social intercourse, is
involved in darkness, on which conjecture may
invent and exhaust itself in vain. Nation after
nation, in unknown ages past, may have glided
away, or have been by the accumulation of their
own wickedness, more suddenly hurled into obli-
vion, before the reasoning powers were drawn forth
or men bestowed the least thought upon the duties
they had to perform, or the business they had to
fulfil, as the will of the Creator while they sojourned

* In my brother's colliery at Mickley Bank, about 30 fathoms
below the surface, perfect muscles have been found imbedded in
ironstone. In appearance they differed not from those newly taken
from the muscle scarp. The shells effervesced with acid, but the
insides were ironstone, the same as that with which they were sur-
rounded.

292 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

here. We may, perhaps, reasonably conclude that
mankind, in this savage state of useless ignorance
and indolence, uncontrolled by their innate but
dormant reasoning powers, would, on the slightest
excitement, give vent to, and be guided only by,
their violent and bad passions, which may not
improperly stamp them with the name of human
brutes ; and we may picture to ourselves that we
can (while in this state) see them with a guttural
raucous voice prowling about and contending for
dominion with the scarcely equally ferocious beasts
of prey, or seeking revenge for real or imaginary
wrongs of their fellow men, and giving utterance
to their vengeance in bellowings and horrid yells
against each other, preparatory to murder and
destruction, and that this would end in fiend-like
growlings of satisfaction at having, in this business
of blood, accomplished their purpose. But the
providence of God is over all His creatures, and it
pleased Him that the reasoning powers should not
remain longer dormant, and the provision made for
the change, in the natural order of things, was
placed in the latent intellectual powers gifted to
man, and drawn forth from his inspired mind, which
thus put in action, as it may be presumed, was the
first effort of cause and effect that produced the
Bible, which, as far as we know, seems to have
been the first instrument of knowledge that shed
its rays over and revealed to mankind the account-
able station they were destined to hold on this
globe. Before the religious and moral precepts of
the venerable old Book made their way over a more
civilised world, and taught rational beings to wor-
ship one God, the Father of All, and to consider
each other as brethren, it does not appear that the

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 293

great mass of mankind had bestowed a thought
upon the astonishing miracles of creation by which
they were surrounded, and which were presented
to their understanding and sight in so visible and
tangible a shape that it required no faith to believe
in them, nor any thing to raise doubts in their
minds as to their reality. The brilliantly studded
canopy of suns and worlds above their heads, and,
as a part of these, the equally wonderful globe of
this earth and sea, which is allotted to them, they
could not, with their clouded intellects and want of
science see nor appreciate, till the mind by research
became illumined by degrees, in the varied blaze of
light spread abroad — which will in some degree
enable men to see the perfection of the Omnipotent
Author of the whole. Viewing the Bible as to its
moral and religious contents, in this way, the good
old Book ought to be held in veneration and esteem,
as containing the most unequivocal marks of the
most exalted piety and the purest benevolence.
Give it therefore, my dear children, a place in your
regards, to which it is entitled ; and, amidst the
necessary cares of life, never lose sight of your
destination for another. An infinitely more im-
portant state awaits us beyond the grave. It may
be presumed that this original and sacred document
will continue to arrest the attention of reasoning
beings as long as men continue to reason, and be
an eternal stimulant — together with other stimu-
lants so abundantly presented by the wonders of
the universe — to lead the soul to rest its hopes on
the source from whence it derived its existence.

CHAPTER XXVI.

I HAVE before ventured my opinion on the poli-
tical history of the Israelites and their wars, and I
wish I could not believe in them ; but I fear that
portion of their history is too true. The example
thus set has been followed since by other nations,
to wage the horrid wars in which they have em-
barked on the most trivial pretences, whenever
their rulers found it convenient to give vent to
their bad passions, wantonly to engage in them.
There are many other matters related in the Bible
which operate as stumbling-blocks to those who
otherwise revere it for the clear truths set forth in
its texts. These consist in one part contradicting,
or apparently contradicting, another part ; and,
in some cases, of making assertions which appear
to be derogatory to the Majesty of Omnipotence.
There may, indeed, be two causes assigned as
reasons for these. The first is, in reading many
portions of the Scriptures literally which must have
been intended to be understood allegorically. It
surely could never be meant to be literally under-
stood that the sun and moon stood still by the
command of Joshua, till he was "avenged of his
enemies," and that the regular order of nature and
the universe was set aside to please Joshua in his
man-killing pursuits. That this was the way by
which Omnipotence willed the destruction of whole
nations of people, does not seem to accord with the
reverence with which man ought to view his Maker,

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 295

when, had it been His will that such nations should
no longer inhabit the earth, the whole of such a
people thus devoted might have been annihilated
by a puff of pestilential wind, if Omnipotence had
pleased to do so. Although it does not become us
to scan what was, or what was not, His will, as we
can only judge of all such matters according to our
crude and weak conceptions.

The next cause for suspecting the accuracy of
several parts of the Sacred Book arises from the
supposition that these may not have been cor-
rectly translated.* All these seemingly contradic-
tory passages, not being clearly understood, have
been a most fertile source of employment for self-
interested and bigoted men, who have attempted
giving their explanations and contradictory com-
ments and annotations upon them, and twisted
them into meanings, often to bewilder the common-
sense of mankind, to suit certain selfish purposes
subservient to their own ends. It would, I think,
have been much better to have left people to judge
upon these texts as well as they could themselves,
rather than trust to such explanations, or to pin
their faith on the sleeve of such men. I fear they
have done more harm than good.

But all these and such like doubts seem trivial
and light in the balance when weighed against the
solid, sublime truths and valuable instructions con-
tained in the ancient, venerable Book. The mind
of man thus prepared by the sacred texts laid open
to him by the Bible, as well as by the help of other

* The Rev. James Murray (before mentioned [p. 108]), showed
me a chapter of the book of Job which he had translated. It
was in poetry, as near the original as he was able to make it. The
sense and meaning was clear and easily to be understood, but not so
that of the chapter from which he took it.

296 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

systems of morality, which all lend their help to
lead him in the paths of rectitude — in this state he
sees himself surrounded by the wonders of crea-
tion, and furnished with passions given him for
the wisest purposes, to spur him on to exertions
without which the affairs of this beautiful wrorld
would soon be at a stand-still, and he would then
soon revert to unintellectual apathy or savage bar-
barity, and would cease to adore God, and seek His
providential care and protection. But, when the
passions are not fully kept under by the reasoning
guide, man feels himself to be a strange compound
— a heterogeneous mixture of pure metal and base
alloy, and placed in the infancy of an endless, and
therefore an infinitely important and mysterious,
but conscious existence. " Wonderfully and fear-
fully made," he views with amazement " this
pleasing, anxious being" — this spirit confined in
mortality with Heaven's own pilot placed within as
its guide, and a soul, fed like the flame of a lamp,
to enlighten his path to eternity. Thus prepared
by the hand of Omnipotence, his reasoning powers
commence their operations ; his mind is then his
kingdom, and his will his law as to his deeds in
this life, but for which he must render an account
before the justice of his Maker, in another state of
existence — in another world ; otherwise he has lived
in vain in this. If he avails himself of the reasoning
power, — the choicest gift of his Maker, and by wrhich
He has revealed Himself to man, — then will he feel
something of a foretaste of the future happiness he
is preparing for himself in eternity. But if he will
perversely cease to commune with his own soul, or
reject its admonitions, and turn away from them,
he thus puts himself under another guide, and must

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 297

then become debased, degraded, and associated
with sin ; for he then suffers his bad passions and
gross appetites to overpower his reason, and thus
creates for himself an evil spirit, or a devil and a
hell in his own breast, that consumes or annihilates
his good spiritual guide, and disfigures the image
of God within him, before it returns to whence it
came. Thus to appear before his Maker must be a
hell of itself of fearful import — not to be endured —
and the greatest possible punishment the debased
and polluted soul can undergo ; and it may be well
for us all to keep in remembrance that a year of
pleasure can be outbalanced by a day of pain. To
judge simply of all this, it may be concluded that
those who, from pure motives, have shed abroad
the greatest quantum of happiness to mankind, and
to all God's creatures, while they sojourned here,
will, according to our notions of justice (beside the
pleasure derived from self-approbation in this life),
be rewarded, and entitled to such-like but more
exalted happiness to all eternity.

Whatever weight these opinions of mine may
have upon others, I know not ; they are given with
the best intentions, and they concern all men.
They are on a subject which, in its own nature,
forms a more sublime and important object of
enquiry than any to which our intellectual powers
can be applied. It is on them that religion, the life
of the soul, is built. Religion is both natural and
necessary to man. Those who reject this primary
sentiment of veneration for the Supreme Being,
only show their inferiority to other men : like those
born blind, they cannot perfectly understand the
nature of vision, and thence conclude there is no
such thing as light in existence.

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298 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

Religion is of a pure and spotless nature ; it is
uniform, consistent, and of the same complexion
and character in all nations. Languages and cus-
toms may greatly differ, but the language of the
pure devotion of the heart to its Maker is the same
over the face of the whole earth. Religion, there-
fore, demands our utmost reverence ; and, as such,
that which was taught by Jesus of Nazareth. I
revere the sublime, and yet simple, plain doctrines
and truly charitable principles which Christ laid
down, and enforced by His own example. His life
was a continued scene of active benevolence : no
fatigue was too hard to be borne, no inconvenience
too great to be submitted to, provided He could
instruct the ignorant, reclaim the vicious, relieve
the destitute, and comfort the mournful. Such was
the religion of Jesus Christ, "who went about doing
good!" He spoke only of one God, and of Him
with the utmost reverence, as his Heavenly Father
and the Father of all mankind. Christianity, in its
purity, is the most liberal and best religion in the
world. Its inspired Author preached up the cheer-
ful doctrine of man's reviving again after death,
and of the certainty of his afterwards living to
eternity, and did His utmost to persuade all man-
kind to live godly lives, that their souls might
thereby be prepared to return to God, the Author
and the Giver of all Good, as unblemished as pos-
sible ; and thus, so far as His influence reached,
and His commands were acted upon, He may truly
be said to be the Saviour of Mankind. But, there
are questions connected with this subject which
none but the Almighty God can solve. It was by
the divine will, and by the providence of God,
that He appeared on earth. Gifted with inspired

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 299

powers, His immaculate mind thus made Him the
instrument befitting1 the mission He held, to teach
mankind, then lost and grovelling in wickedness
and corruption, the important lessons of religion
and morality, and to reclaim such of the lost flock,
high and IOWT, as had grown up and established
themselves in iniquity.

CHAPTER XXVII.

I NEVER read Hume on miracles ; I did not need
to do so ; but I have always thought that the man
must be very difficult to please who could not be
thoroughly satisfied with the one — the unutterably
great one — the miracle of the universe : made up,
indeed, of millions of other miracles of its compo-
nent parts, which wrill for ever excite the astonish-
ment of reasoning creatures, and draw forth their
adoration to the Great Author of the whole, as long
as it shall please Him to gift them with the power
to do so.

Those who think for themselves, and can believe
in one God, and reverence, adore, and worship Him,
must ever feel disgusted to dwell on the endless
modes of faith with which mankind have been
pestered and stultified for ages past, and also feel
grieved to think upon the evils — the persecutions —
the wars — and the miseries, these have from time
to time inflicted upon the half-civilised world.
Brother has been set in enmity against brother,
neighbour against neighbour, and nation against
nation, fully charged with vengeance to destroy
each other, and by which rivers of blood have been
spilt. Jesus Christ, I believe, never said one word
that could be construed into any such meaning, or
to countenance any such doings ; neither did any
man possessed of the spirit of the Christian religion
and its attendant humanity ever view all this other-
wise than with horror.

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 301

It would be a tedious and an irksome task to give
even a list of all the religions, as they are called,
from the days of Paganism, down to the present
time. Truth long struggled with error, before sys-
tem after system passed away. Notwithstanding
the exertions of power to keep them up, they exist
now only in story. But do the laws of nature ever
alter ? Do the sun, moon, and stars shine in any
other way than they did to the votaries of Jupiter r
Do the human passions operate in any other man-
ner than they did thousands of years ago r No,
indeed ! Let us, then, rejoice that true religion is
independent of human caprice ; it is founded upon
the immutable principles of truth, reason, and com-
mon sense, and therefore must be durable as nature
itself. It is not vague and mutable : it is acquired
by experience, not merely the creature of chance,
habit, and prejudice: it is capable of demonstration
like the principles of mathematics, and its necessity
is evinced by the very nature of man in society.
There is a rational and an irrational belief, and
how can we distinguish the one from the other
without reference to the reason of the thing ? If
reason be abandoned, then sense and nonsense are
just the same : religion becomes a chaos, and faith
has no merit. I therefore believe that no faith can
be acceptable to God which is not grounded on
reason ; nothing but truth brings us lasting and
solid advantage.

But it would appear that the teachers of mankind,
in this important concern, have too seldom been
actuated by these pure principles, and the " caring
for men's souls " has been made only a secondary
consideration. Their leading objects have been the
establishment of a system of revenue and aggran-

302 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

disement ; and, to ensure the accomplishment of
these ends, they began with children, well knowing
that, when creeds and catechisms were once in-
stilled into the infant mind, they would grow with
their growth, and would acquire a firm-rooted foot-
ing ; for, when early impressions and prejudices
are once fixed in the mind by ignorance, they can
seldom or ever be eradicated. In this state, these
victims to deception might have been made Pagans
in India, Mahometans in Turkey, or disciples of
Confucius in China : or, have been moulded into
any of the various sects of misled Christians which
have, like wens and carbuncles, often disfigured the
comely face of religion, and the pure and plain doc-
trines of Christianity.

The next important step taken by these teachers,
was to get this their religion, of whatever kind it
might be, interwoven deeply into all the various
governments of the different countries under their
influence ; but, preparatory to their religion becom-
ing firmly established, the heads of it, who were
called "saints" and "fathers of the Church," were
gathered together to judge and determine upon
the creeds and doctrines which were to be obeyed.
Some of them might, indeed, be actuated by good
and others of them by impure motives, but it always
appeared to me like their own "act of parliament,"
to oblige people to offer to Omnipotence that kind
of worship only which they had been pleased to
dictate, and which by many is considered as arro-
gant presumption. But, when these doctrines were
thus interwoven into all the different governments,
they then became "part and parcel of the law of the
land;" and, thus fenced, barricaded, and fortified,
few ever dared to say that anything these laws pro-

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 303

mulgated was wrong ; and, if any man whose mind
happened to rise superior to superstition, ventured
to publish his opinions of any of them, to show that
they were absurd, then racks, tortures, inquisitions,
and death, or line and imprisonment, with attendant
ruin, stared him in the face in this world, and threat-
enings of eternal misery in the next. It is thus that
the free exercise of the understanding, and the full
use of all the means of advancing in religion, virtue,
and knowledge, is checked and debarred ; for, unless
the free use of waiting and publishing the well-
digested opinions and plans of the lovers of man-
kind is allowed to go on without risk, all public
improvement, which is or ought to be the chief end
of every government to promote, is for want of this
liberty, taken away. But in this business, govern-
ment itself being entangled and bound by oaths to
support present establishments, may perhaps be
afraid to meddle with or countenance any writing
tending to a reform, or that may have the appear-
ance of militating against this order of things.

But to dwell on this, the gloomy side of the pic-
ture, without noticing the other side, may be unfair;
for the framers of unaccountable creeds set mankind
a-thinking generally upon these and many other
matters, which perhaps they would not otherwise
have done ; and, besides this, it is on all hands
allowed that the monks and friars of old, amidst all
their superstitions, preserved in their monasteries
many records and much valuable knowledge, which,
without their care, would have been lost to the
world. Add to these, their charities to the destitute
and their constant best endeavours to teach the
grossly ignorant, and to reclaim the equally grossly
wicked, part of the community, and in examining

304 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

impartially into the change effected by the Refor-
mation,— it amounts only to a lessening or setting
aside a portion of the bigotry and superstition by
which the old doctrines were enforced. Although
one may lament that a more rational view of
religion, and its very important concerns, had not
been fully contemplated upon, yet even under its
guidance, and with all its defects before the mighty
change of the Reformation was effected, it would
appear that the moral conduct of the common
people was generally good, and they were in some
respects happier and better off than they have ever
been since. The Romish clergy, or priests, in those
times, though they took the tithes (according to an
old Jewish custom), yet these were more usefully
and justly divided than they are in the present time;
for they in their day took only a third part of these
to themselves, and the other two-thirds were ex-
pended in building and repairing their churches
and supporting all the poor. There were then no
church cesses, nor poor laws, nor the sickening,
harassing, and continual gathering of the enormous
sums of the poor-rate.

The established clergy are also bound, in a
similar way, by old laws and oaths w^hich have
been imposed upon them, to swear to their belief
in a certain string of creeds before they are
allowed to enter upon the clerical office; and all
this, backed and encouraged by the lures of
enormous stipends or livings attached to their
church, which is furthermore made sure of by
these livings being, as it were, held out as a pro-
vision for the unprovided part of the younger
branches of the families of all the poor gentry
of the land. Thus situated, any alteration or

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 305

improvement may be looked for in vain, while
self-interest and pride continue so powerfully to
guide the actions of mankind.

Time, indeed, may bring about wonders, and
the example and influence of North America can
perhaps alone be looked up to to lead the way as
the regenerator of the Old World. There they
have none of the old protecting laws, nor the old
prejudices of Europe, Asia, and South America,
to contend against, and must see the errors these
have fallen into, and may move forward upon
clear ground. "The Rites and Ceremonies of all
Nations" will serve them as a kind of text, and
also as a beacon and a guide-post, to show them
the way they ought to pursue, so as to steer clear
of the absurdities — to say no worse of them —
by which mankind have been so long led, hood-
winked, into so many egregious follies.

It must, furthermore, be observed and conceded
on behalf of the present religious establishment
of this enlightened and comparatively happy land,
notwithstanding the spots and blemishes which
bar the approach to rationality and perfection,
that the regular clergy, with few exceptions, and
taken as a whole — from their learning, their ac-
quirements, and their piety — are real and valuable
ornaments to our country, without whose help and
the example they set, it is to be feared the people
would soon retrograde into barbarism, or, into what
is nearly as bad — fanaticism. To keep down or
prevent this latter growing evil from rising to a
height will require the utmost exertions of the
regular clergy, as well as the united wisdom and
prudence of the legislature to discountenance it.
To attempt using force would only serve to unite

2 o

306

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

its votaries and increase their numbers ; for as long
as ignorance is stalking abroad, multitudes will be
found in every country who see things with an
obliquity of intellect, and are thus ready prepared
to adopt anything new, however stupid ; and the
reveries of Johanna Southcote, and the ravings of
Ranters, do not appear to them sufficiently absurd.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

I HAVE, with all the consideration I have been
able coolly to bestow upon the subject, become
clearly of opinion, that the highest character a
man can hope to attain to in this life is that of
being a religious philosopher ; and he cannot be
the latter without religion being deeply impressed
upon his mind; and, without the aid of religion and
philosophy conjointly, he need not hope to feel all
the happiness in this world attendant upon his
approach towards perfection. The happiness de-
rived from ignorance is like that of unreasoning
animals ; and, in carrying this a little further, or
to the extreme, it is, comparatively, like the happi-
ness enjoyed by a gate-post.

It is from amongst men of this enlightened
character only that all and every clergyman ought
to be selected, without permitting the least inter-
ference of private patronage ; for that has been,
and will continue to be, an evil of the most be-
numbing magnitude, which will — if not stopped —
upset the best laid plans, and render such nuga-
tory, or null and void. Could such a stride as this
towards purity ever be accomplished, then every
village ought to have its church, and would thus
become a religious, a moral, and a patriotic little
community, in which its preceptors ought to teach
youth the usual routine of their education five days
in the week and those of all ages on the Sunday.
This clergy ought not to be sworn to any belief, nor

308 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

trammelled with any creeds, but only to promise,
with the help of God, to instil into the minds of
their hearers the purest religious adoration of the
Omnipotent, and the best maxims of morality. In
this the Scriptures would supply them with its pure
and sublime precepts, and, above all, the still more
sublime and amazing works contained in the great
Book of the Creation are amply spread out before
them, and made up of the living, the visible, words
of God, so plainly to be seen, read, and felt, that
howsoever miraculous and astonishing they are, it
would require no stretch of faith to believe in them
all. From these, such a clergy, one after another
in succession for ages, might take their texts, ever
new, and preach from them to all eternity ; for, as
to the number of subjects to preach from and ex-
plain, they would be found to be endless even on
this globe we dwell upon, without soaring to those
in the regions of immensity ; and, if its wonders
were productive of disease, enlightened men would
die of wondering !

Were a clergy of this description established,
there could be no fears entertained of their teach-
ing anything wrong; they would, on the contrary,
from their knowledge and virtue, be the pillars of
the state and the mainstays and ornaments of
civilisation. Every church ought to have its
library of good books, and its philosophical ap-
paratus, to illustrate or explain the various
phenomena of nature, and the amazing magnitude
and distances of the "Heavenly bodies;" or,
rather, the incalculable number of suns and worlds
floating about with the velocity of light, in im-
measurable, endless space. It is from these
contemplations that something like the truest

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

conception of the Adorable Author of the whole
can be formed; and it would soon be found that
men of common capacities, and without having
even been taught to read and write, would be at no
loss to understand the clear lectures delivered on
this latter subject. I think it would be folly, or
worse than folly, to entertain any suspicion that
poor men, thus enlightened, would forget the
station in which they are placed, and cease to
work honestly to maintain themselves, or be-
come bad members of society. On the contrary,
it is reasonable to conclude that such a universal
spread of knowledge as would follow this system
of education, and this kind of religious worship,
would stamp the character of a whole people as
intelligent, good, subjects; and it appears to me
certain that, until such a mode of enlightened
religion is adopted and acted upon, mankind will
continue to be torn asunder, as they have too long
been, and that, if it could quickly be spread over
the partly civilised world, there would never more
be any religious bickerings or animosities on that
score, and that then, but not till then, all mankind
would become as brethren.

I am well aware that the pride and the fears of
what are called the dignified clergy, might operate
powerfully against the purity and simplicity of
such a change. If so, they will then thus clearly
and decisively show that it is a system of revenue
only, and not religion, that they can be fearful of
upsetting; but, if none of these are deprived of
their present livings (or an equivalent to their
value), which they hold only during their lives,
what have they to be afraid of? To sell their
present enormous revenues, and fund the amount,

310 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

and then divide the interest equally amongst the
newly-established clergy, would be only fair and
just; and they, above all other men, ought to be
perfectly independent, — amply provided for, with-
out being obliged to collect any other revenue, —
and made as happy as men can be in this world;
and, whatever might be deemed sufficient, a
certain sum taken from this income ought also to
be funded as a provision to support them in their
declining years. Such a body of men as this
clergy could not fail of being revered and held in
the greatest respect and estimation by all good
and wise men ; and what more any good and wise
man can wish for in this \vorld, I am at a loss to
know.

It is from government, with the aid of our own
enlightened and liberal-minded clergy, and other
such-like men, that this important business, in my
opinion, ought to be openly and boldly taken up.
They ought to have the honour to show the way,
and not leave any other nation to take the lead of
them in such a mighty and momentous concern,
in which the happiness of the whole human race
would become most deeply interested; and, from
the change in men's minds which is now taking
place, and widely spreading, this change, by its
own weight, will most assuredly happen, perhaps
at no very distant day.

Were our own government inclined to make this
improvement in religion and politics, they would
assuredly see the happiest results from it; it would
soon be found that there would then be no need
to keep Ireland in subjection, like a conquered
country, by an expensive military force. The
Irish, naturally acute, lively, generous, and brave,

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 311

would soon feel themselves, under our excellent
constitution, as happy and loyal a people as any
in the world, and as much attached to their
country, which, for its healthy climate and fertile
soil, may match with any other on this globe.
One would hope that the native gentry would at
length see the very reprehensible injustice of be-
coming absentees. Landowners in all countries,
as well as in Ireland, ought as far as possible to
spend their rents where they receive them. Where
they do not do so, any country is certain to become
poor.* The people of Ireland ought instantly to be
put upon a par, in every respect, with their fellow
subjects of the British Isles. To withhold Catholic
emancipation from Ireland appears to me to be
invidious and unjust ; and, if emancipated, it
would be found at no very distant period that they
would, under the foregoing tuition, individually
become enlightened, think for themselves, adopt
a rational religious belief, and throw off the
bigotry and superstition taught them with such
sedulous care from their infancy, and by which
they have so long been led blindfold. If they
could be brought to think, and to muster up so
much of the reasoning power as to do all this,
they would soon emancipate themselves. But
even on this business it must be observed that the
Protestant Establishment does not interfere with
the Catholic modes of faith; they may preach up

* In my ardent wish for the perfect happiness and union of the
sister Isles, I have suffered my sanguine imagination to wish and
hope that some great convulsion of nature might some day happen
to throw up the bed of the sea between them, so as to unite them
both in one ; and present a south-western rocky front to the ocean.
I see no harm in indulging in such reveries ! they may, indeed, be
visionary, but they are innocent ones.

312 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

and believe in what they please. In this they are
not only fully tolerated, but are also protected in
their worship, so that on this score they can have
nothing to complain of. But beyond this the
Protestant ascendancy, having all the rich church
livings secured to themselves, are fearful that the
Catholics, ever watchful, and never ceasing in
their struggles to be at the head of all church
affairs — they, the Protestants, have become ex-
tremely jealous lest the emancipation now so
eagerly wished for may, if granted, be a prelude
to further future strides, and that the latent objects
the Catholics have in view is to partake in these
rich livings, or to get them wholly to themselves.
To dwell longer on these matters seems to me use-
less; for, so long as rich livings are set apart as
a provision for those whose creeds continue in
fashion, all the various numerous sects who dissent
will always be barking at them, until the purity
and simplicity of worshipping one God only can be
established, and which to a certainty will one day
happen. Till then, all arguments on this subject
may seem to be in vain.

Having given my opinion on religious matters
freely and sincerely, and with the best intentions,
in which I do not wish to dictate, but only wish
mankind to think for themselves on such a mo-
mentous and important affair as that of their
present and their future eternal happiness, I leave
them to their own reflections, and shall only fur-
thermore attempt to show some of the salutary
effects which I suppose would follow from mine.
I first picture to myself that I see such a body of
learned, rationally religious, moral, and patriotic
men as this clergy spread over our already match-

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 313

less country: and that the effects of their tuition
and example, founded on honour and virtue, would
very soon be seen and felt amongst all ranks of
society, and would further exalt the character of
our countrymen over the whole globe, as patterns
for imitation to the rest of mankind. It is only
by an education like this, that any country can
hope that its institutions can remain unbroken up,
and endure as a nation for ever; but so it will be,
if the government is founded on wisdom and virtue,
and backed by a whole people of the same character.
To rear up and establish such a renovated order
of things as I have with diffidence recommended,
and coolly and deliberately to do away with old
errors, will not, perhaps, be soon or easily done;
for there are so many interests to consult, and so
many men of the character to doubt and despair
of accomplishing anything, however good, that, if
they have influence over weak minds to help them
out in this disposition to despondency, it will have
the direct tendency to realise such doubts, and to
throw a cold damp over the best and wisest plans.
But we ought never to despair of accomplishing
anything where our objects in view are good ones.
To minds thus gifted, and such as this clergy it is
hoped would possess, there could be little need to
dictate. Their own good sense, aided by the
gentry of the land, would constantly enable them
to see when anything was going wrong in each
little community, and speedily to rectify it. Such
a number of little colleges spread over the land
would excellently prepare such youths as might be
intended to finish their education in colleges of a
higher character, so as to fit them to fulfil the

various offices of the state, in any of its several

2 P

314 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

departments, as well as the many other employ-
ments they might be destined to pursue; and in
this the teachers would have it greatly in their
power to discover the talents or innate powers of
mind of their pupils, as well as the bent of their
inclinations, so as to be enabled to advise or direct
inexperienced youths as to what might best suit
their several capacities ; and to point out to them
the proper course of education that might lead to
the calling or occupation in wrhich they might
make the most respectable figure wrhen they were
launched into the world. This duty of every
teacher is an important one, and would require
the keenest observation to make the true dis-
covery; for, after all, we maybe assured of this,
that it is impossible to set bounds to the improve-
ment of the human mind, and it is also equally
so to limit the capabilities of the human frame
when duly cultivated

[Here ends the manuscript of Bewick's "Memoir/'
In the first edition, the date, "November ist, 1828,"
was added, probably by Miss Jane Bewick. If cor-
rect, he must therefore have been engaged upon it
until within a few days of his death. Among his
papers is a page of memoranda respecting a journey
made to London in the previous August and Sep-
tember. He set off with his two daughters, ma York,
on the 1 3th of the former month, reaching London
on the 1 4th,* and lodging in Norfolk Street, Strand.

[* This is quick travelling for the year of grace, 1828. But the
dates are Bewick's, and are correctly given from his notes. He
says he left Newcastle on Wednesday morning, and arrived at the
"George and Blue Boar," Holborn, on Thursday evening, having
slept at York.]

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 315

He saw, or called upon, Mr. Baily (Baily the sculp-
tor), Mr. Pickering the publisher, Mr. Ramsay, Mr.
Bulmer, his friend Pollard, and others. He also
visited the Ornithological Museum. But he com-
plains that he was "weary and could not attend to
it," and elsewhere that he was "buzzed and fati-
gued " — a statement which accounts for the story
told in Chatto's "Treatise on Wood Engraving,"
that, when Bulmer drove him round the Regent's
Park, he declined to alight to see the animals in
the Zoological Gardens. He left London on the
3rd September for Buxton, which he reached next
day. He returned to Newcastle on the 25th Sep-
tember. His memoranda continue to chronicle
his daily doings until October 16. On the 8th of
November he died at his house, 19, West Street,
Gateshead, after a few days' illness. A character-
istic incident of his last hours is related by
Mr. Robert Robinson, of Newcastle. His mind
wandered repeatedly to the green fields and brooks
of his birth-place by the Tyne ; and being asked in
a waking moment what had occupied his thoughts,
he replied with a faint smile, "that he had been
devising subjects for some new tail-pieces." He
was buried at Ovingham, beside his wife, on the
1 3th November. A stone on the wall of the church
records the dates of birth and death ; but a tablet
in the chancel gives fuller particulars. His
daughter Jane survived him until the yth April,
1881; his daughter Isabella until the 8th June,
1883.]

MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.

FINAL.

IN offering these my sentiments and opinions,
derived from the observations I have made in my
passage through life, I have never intended to
give offence to good men. With these sentiments
some may be pleased and others displeased, but,
conscious of the rectitude of my intentions, I do
not covet the praises of the one nor fear the cen-
sures of the other. It is at another tribunal that
I, in common with all other men, am to account for
my conduct.

THOMAS BEWICK

GENTLY SIGHED AWAY HIS LAST BREATH

AT HALF-PAST ONE
ON THE MORNING OF THE

STH NOVEMBER, 1828.

APPENDIX,

AFTER Thomas Bewick retired from business in
favour of his son, he continued, till his death, to
employ himself closely, at home, in filling-up gaps,
in his History of British Birds; and, in conjunc-
tion with his son, he also commenced a History of
British Fishes. The finished specimens of these,
on the wood, are published in this Memoir. A
portion of a series of appropriate Vignettes,
executed by him for the work on Fishes, are also
employed as embellishments in the preceding
pages. About twenty of the set, together with
six new birds, were printed in the last edition of
the History of Birds. It may be proper to add,
that the late Robert Elliot Bewick left about fifty
highly-finished and accurately-coloured drawings
of fishes from nature, together with a portion of
the descriptive matter relating to the work.*

[* These drawings are now in the Print Room of the British
Museum, to which institution they were presented in 1882 by Miss
Isabella Bewick, as part of a collection of water colours and wood-
cuts by her father, uncle, and brother. Many of them, — e.g., the
John Dory, the Gurnard, the Lump Sucker, are extremely skilful,
and characterised by great delicacy of handling.]

APPENDIX.

321

BRITISH FISHES

BASSE.

(Perca Labrax. — LINNAEUS.)

2 Q

APPENDIX.

323

FIFTEEN-SPINED STICKLEBACK.

(Gasterosteus spinachia. — LINNAEUS.)

APPENDIX.

325

BREAM.

(Sparus Raii. — BLOCH.)

APPENDIX.

327

JOHN DORY.

(Zeus faber. — LINNAEUS.)

APPENDIX.

329

BLACK GOBY.

(Gobius niger. — LINN/EUS.)

2 R

APPENDIX.

331

BALLAN WRASSE.

(Ballan Wrasse. — PENNANT.)

APPENDIX.

333

BARBEL.

(Cyprinus barbus. — LINNAEUS.)

APPENDIX.

335

GUDGEON.

(Cyprinus gobio. — LINNAEUS.)

APPENDIX.

337

TENCH.

(Cyprinus Tinea. — BLOCH.)

2 S

APPENDIX.

339

DACE OR DARE.

(Cyprinus leuciscus. — B LOCH.)

APPENDIX.

341

SAURY.

(Esox Saurus. — PENNANT.)

APPENDIX.

343

GAR FISH.

(Esox Belone. — LINNAEUS.)

APPENDIX.

345

SAMLET OR BRANDLING.

(Salmo Fario. — LINNAEUS.)

2 T

APPENDIX.

347

LUMP SUCKER.

(Cy dopier us lumpus. — L I N N/E u s . )

APPENDIX.

349

DOG FISH.

(Sgualtts Acanthias. — LINN^US.)

APPENDIX.

351

WEEVER.

(Trachinus draco. — PENNANT.)

APPENDIX.

353

2 U

APPENDIX.

355

THE ALARM.*

THE hollow grumblings of the devils on earth
having reached the infernal regions, Satan ordered
an enquiry immediately to be made into the cause
of their outcry, and commanded a trio of his
choicest associates forthwith to fly with the velocity
of light to see, and to report to him, what was the
matter. On their arrival on earth, they were met,
during the night, when men were asleep, by a de-
putation selected from innumerable hosts of imps

* This fable was written and illustrated by T. Bewick, for his
" Fables of ^sop," and is now published for the first time. [So
wrote Miss Bewick in 1862. A copy of the above woodcut had,
however, appeared in the "Treatise on Wood Engraving," 1839, where
it is stated that the letterpress was omitted from the "Fables" at the
request of the printer, Mr. Edward Walker, to whose valuable ser-
vices Bewick makes grateful reference at p. 221.]

356

APPENDIX.

from every kingdom and state of the uncivilised
as well as the civilised world. They soon were
given to understand, that an outrageous mutiny,
amounting to rebellion, had been going on for
some time against their old king, Ignorance, who
was accused of having become very remiss and
negligent of his duty. For this they resolved to
have him hurled from his high station, and to have
another ruler appointed in his stead. It was
alleged that, owing to his neglect, mankind had
lately begun to use their intellectual faculties to
such a degree, that it was feared, if they were
suffered to go on, Satan would (though very un-
justly) lay the blame on them for the loss of his
subjects. Old Ignorance was immediately brought
to judgment, and at the same time other candi-
dates for his office offered their services to succeed
him. The voting instantly took place, and was
decided in the twinkling of an eye, when it was
found that old Ignorance was re-elected by a great
majority; for, on casting up the votes, they stood
thus: —

PRINCIPALS.

Ignorance.

Pride.

Malice.

SATELLITES.

Vanity.

Superstition.

Sensuality.

Arrogance.

Envy.
Obstinacy.
Blasphemy.

Revenge.
Injustice.
Cruelty.

IMPS.

300,000,000.

100,000,000.

100,000,000

Majority for old Ignorance 200,000,000

APPENDIX. 357

The candidates who had lately contended with
him in aspiring to supreme command, having been
appointed his chief ministers, he was sworn to
redouble his vigilance : in return for which it was
finally decreed that he should, in future, have seven
links added to his tail, and his head adorned with
six horns, instead of two. His infernal honour
being thus pledged, the work of mischief was
instantly begun, by his commanding his ministers
and their satellites to redouble their vigilance, by
throwing the mists of ignorance over the minds of
the rulers and teachers of mankind, and to fill their
minds with superstition, bigotry, pride, and arro-
gant zeal. All the imps of minor consideration
were also ordered to direct the unreasoning, lazy,
envious, wicked, gross, vulgar herd of mankind,
high and low, into the paths which lead to misery.
Having thus concluded their mission, the innumer-
able host set off, like a whirlwind, amidst the glare
of lightning and the roar of thunder, to take up
their abode in the minds of men, where they had
been nursed before ; but millions of their number,
who had been dismissed from the minds of good
men, dropped behind, and, in their fall through
endless space, by the violence of their motion, ig-
nited, were whirled into balls of fire, and gravitated
to the sun. The rest proceeded ; their numbers
eclipsed the moon, and the effluvia which exhaled
from them in their flight caused plague, pestilence,
and famine in the countries they passed over, and
the concussion they made in the air is said to have
shaken the ices from the poles.

APPENDIX.

APPLICATION.

If there be a plurality of devils, Ignorance must
be their king ; and through his influence only men
are wicked ; and, under him and his satellites, the
wretchedness they have dealt out to mankind ever
since their chequered reign began has disfigured
the fair face of nature ; and they have too often
succeeded, in the struggles between virtue and
vice, in obscuring the reasoning powers of man,
and bringing him down to the level of the brute.
For no sooner was it decreed by Omnipotence that
his reasoning creatures should live in a state of
civilised society, suitable to their natures and befit-
ting so high a behest, than these enemies to this
good order of things obtruded themselves upon
it, and have too long and too often succeeded in
baffling the efforts of good men in their aims at
approaching towards perfection, and in thwarting
the progress of mental improvement, and the con-
sequent happiness of the human race. They have,
with the glimmering light of their ignis fatuus, led
their devotees in zig-zag, backward and forward
paths, through misty bogs and quagmires, into
the midnight glooms and chaotic darkness which
envelop their wretched dens. The bloody pages
of history have in part recorded some of the many
miseries which have from time to time been inflicted
upon their victims ; but to enumerate only a portion
would be an irksome as well as an endless task.

APPENDIX. 359

PRINTS BY MEANS OF A SERIES OF
WOOD BLOCKS.

THE Author, at page 266 of this Memoir, in
stating what he believes may be done by the
printing of large wood-cuts from two or more
blocks, so as to rival the landscapes of William
Woollett on copper, intimates his intention of
making the attempt, to show that it is not a
visionary theory. With this view, he executed
a large wood-cut, the subject being an old horse
"waiting for death." A first proof was taken a
few days before his death. An impression at the
same time was transferred to a second block, the
exact size of the first, and was intended to have
been engraved to heighten and improve the effect
of the print ; and a third was prepared to be
used if necessary. A few impressions of the first
of the series were printed in London in 1832,
and were accompanied by a descriptive history
of the horse, written so far back as 1785.* The
print (in a finished state) was intended to have

[* The issue of 1832, printed for R. E. Bewick by Vizetelly and
Branston, bore the inscription — "Waiting for Death : Bewick's Last
Work, left unfinished, and intended to have been completed by a
Series of Impressions from Separate Blocks printed over each other "
In recent years "Waiting for Death" has been republished on parch-
ment and paper for Mr. Robert Robinson, of Pilgrim Street, Newcastle,
who has also included it (by permission of the present owner of the
block, Thomas Gow, Esq., of Cambo, Northumberland) in his "Thomas
Bewick : His Life and Times," 1887.]

360 APPENDIX.

been dedicated to the " Society for the Preven-
tion of Cruelty to Animals," and was also meant
to serve as one of a set of cheap embellishments
for the walls of cottages. The history of the old
horse "waiting for death" is subjoined.*

WAITING FOR DEATH.

IN the morning of his days he was handsome,
sleek as a raven, sprightly and spirited, and was
then much caressed and happy. When he grew to
perfection, in his performances, even on the turf,
and afterwards in the chase, and in the field, he was
equalled by few of his kind. At one time of his life
he saved that of his master, whom he bore, in safety,
across the rapid flood ; but having, in climbing the
opposite rocky shore, received a blemish, it was
thought prudent to dispose of him ; after which he
fell into the hands of different masters, but from
none of them did he ever eat the bread of idleness ;
and, as he grew in years, his cup of misery was still
augmented with bitterness.

It was once his hard lot to fall into the hands of
Skinflint, a horse-keeper, an authorised wholesale
and retail dealer in cruelty, who employed him
alternately, but closely, as a hack, both in the
chaise and for the saddle ; for when the traces
and trappings, used in the former, had peeled the
skin from off his breast, shoulders, and sides, he

* The vignette at page 5, vol. i., last edition of the "History of
British Birds," [1847] will be found printed with two additional blocks
as a title page to the second edition of the "Quadrupeds," quarto,
without letterpress, 1824. [See vol. i., p. 5, of this edition for the
first vignette mentioned by Miss Bewick.]

APPENDIX. 361

was then, as his back was whole, thought fit for
the latter ; indeed, his exertions, in this service of
unfeeling avarice and folly ', were great beyond belief.
He was always, late and early, made ready for
action ; he was never allowed to rest, even on
the Sabbath day, because he could trot well, had a
good bottom, and was the best hack in town ; and,
it being a day of pleasure and pastime, he was
much sought after by beings, in appearance, some-
thing like gentlemen ; in whose hands his suffer-
ings were greater than his nature could bear. Has
not the compassionate eye beheld him whipped,
spurred, and galloped beyond his strength, in order
to accomplish double the length of the journey that
he was engaged to perform, till, by the inward grief
expressed in his countenance, he seemed to plead
for mercy, one would have thought most powerfully,
but, alas, in vain ! In the whole load which he bore
(as was often the case), not an ounce of humanity
could be found ; and his rider being determined to
have pennyworths for his money, the ribs of this
silent slave, where not a hair had for long been
suffered to grow, were still ripped up. He was
pushed forward through a stony rivulet, then on
hard road against the hill, and having lost his shoe,
split his hoof, and being quite spent with hunger
and fatigue, he fell, broke his nose and his knees,
and was unable to proceed; — and becoming greased,
spavined, ringboned, blind of an eye, and the skin,
by repeated friction, being worn off all the large
prominences of his body, he was judged to be only
fit for the dogs : — however, one shilling and six-
pence beyond the dog-horse price saved his life,
and he became the property of a poor dealer and

horse doctor.

2 V

362 APPENDIX.

It is amazing to think upon the vicissitudes of
his life: he had often been burnished up, his teeth
defaced by art, peppered under his tail; having
been the property of a general, a gentleman, a
farmer, a miller, a butcher, a higgler, and a maker
of brooms. A hard winter coming on, a want of
money, and a want of meat, obliged his poor
owner to turn him out to shift for himself. His
former fame and great value are now, to him, not
worth a handful of oats. But his days and nights
of misery are now drawing to an end; so that,
after having faithfully dedicated the whole of his
powers and his time to the service of unfeeling
man, he is at last turned out, unsheltered and
unprotected, to starve of hunger and of cold.

1785-

APPENDIX. 363

JOHN BEWICK.

THAT rare old book, "A Collection of all the
Ancient Poems, Songs, and Ballads, relative to
Robin Hood/' published by Ritson, 1795, was em-
bellished by John Bewick. Three of the cuts are
introduced in the following" pages. A comparison
of them with the book itself, will show the great
improvement which has taken place in the print-
ing of wood cuts since that day.* It may not,
perhaps, be out of place to insert an extract from
a letter, on the subject of these cuts, written by
the antiquary to the artist, more than half a
century ago.

"Gray's Inn.

"J. Ritson is sorry he was gone out when Mr.
Bewick called; but hopes he will proceed with the
other cuts, which shall be left entirely to his own
fancy, and in which he will undoubtedly consult
his own reputation."

[* These three cuts, as, from a memorandum among the Bewick
MSS, Miss Bewick seems to have herself discovered, are not in-
cluded in Ritson's " Robin Hood." Her supposition was that they
were executed by her father, and " were probably rejected by Ritson
on account of the border not having been approved of." " Our
possession of them (she adds) cannot otherwise be accounted for,
as all Cuts ordered were invariably sent to the person ordering them.
My Father always approved of Borders round Woodcuts. He and
Northcote had a discussion on the subject in London. They agreed
that Woodcuts with borders looked best." It may be added that
Bewick regarded borders as a protection (see p. 260.) An edition
de luxe of Ritson's "Robin Hood" has lately been reprinted by
Mr. Nimmo of King William Street, Strand, from the edition of
1832, with illustrations from the original Bewick blocks, long in
the possession of another firm of London publishers. A few of them
are by Thomas Bewick ; the rest are by John.]

364 APPENDIX.

Amongst the many books illustrated by John
Bewick, now very scarce, a few may be enu-
merated:— "The Looking Glass for the Mind,"
" Proverbs Exemplified,"* " The Progress of Man
in Society," [" Tales for Youth,"] " Blossoms of
Morality." The last-named was published by
Mr. [E.] Newbery, to whom, for his charming
little books, the rising generation of that day
was under great obligation. In his preface,
dated October 6th, 1796, Mr. N. says: —

" Much time has elapsed since the commence-
ment' of this edition, owing to a severe indisposi-
tion with which the artist was long afflicted, and
which unfortunately terminated in his death. f

* The publisher, Dr. Trusler, quaintly observes, "It is a very
proper book to amuse and instruct youth, and the price, viz. 35.,
half-bound, will hurt no one."

[f John Bewick was born in 1760. In 1777, he was apprenticed to
his brother, as stated at p. 1 10 ; and he is said to have assisted in " Gay's
Fables," 1779, and the "Select Fables," 1784. He removed to London
in August, 1786, and found employment with Hodgson and others,
chiefly on cuts for ch'ldren's books. "The Children's Miscellany,"
1787, "The History of a Schoolboy," 1788, "The Honours of the
Table," 1788 — are some of these. Many of the illustrations in an-
other book, the "New Robinson Crusoe," 1788, bear his name. In
1789, under the title of "Emblems of Mortality," Hodgson published a
series of copies by John Bewick of Lutzelburger's famous renderings of
Holbein's "Imagines Mortis." They preserve much of the spirit of
the originals; but in these days can scarcely contend with the careful
copies of Schlotthauer, or the absolutely faithful reproductions in the
"Liebhaber-Bibliothek." His more individual efforts are to be found
in the books enumerated by his niece, — the "Proverbs Exemplified,"
1790; the "Progress of Man and Society," 1791 ; the "Looking Glass
for the Mind," 1792 (recently republished (1885), with a Preface by Mr.
Charles Welsh); the "Tales for Youth," 1794; and the "Blossoms of
Morality," 1796. In the "Poems of Goldsmith and Parnell," 1795,
he can scarcely claim much part, as he only contributed to that
book one plate — "The Sad Historian," and though he designed the
illustrations to Somerville's "Chase" 1796, they were finished on the
block and engraved by his brother. Other of his works were the
"Robin Hood" mentioned above, the "Fabliaux" of Le Grand, 1796,

APPENDIX. 365

And sorry, very sorry, are we to be compelled to
state, that this is the last effort of his incompar-
able genius/'

and the sketch of Cherryburn which forms the frontispiece to this
volume. As an artist and engraver John is far behind Thomas Bewick.
Much of his work is hasty and ill-considered, violent in its contrast of
black and white, and at times frankly reminiscent of other illustrators.
Hogarth (whom he studied under his commentator Trusler), Stothard,
and Blake seem to have influenced him, and one of his cuts in the
"Progress of Man" is plainly adapted from the " GratuHrende Kinder"
of Chodowiecki. His bent was more to human nature than natural
history; and his differentia is a certain grace, (unknown to his elder,)
which often gives a charming naivete and old-world seduction to his
pictures of the "little Masters and Misses" in frill collars and mob
caps who frequented Mr. Stockdale's shop in Piccadilly, or that of
Mr. E. Newbery at the corner of St. Paul's Churchyard. As a man
he was amiable and popular, rather a dandy in his dress, and fond
of pleasure. He was also something of a musician; and a
hautboy-cum-walking-stick, with which he had been wont to solace
himself at Hornsey, was sold in the Bewick sale of February, 1884.
At Cherryburn, his grand-nieces still preserve his punch-ladle and
glass, with other relics of their "uncle John." A few of his drawings
are to be found in the British Museum, one being a pathetic little
sketch, dated the year of his death, of his "intended house" on the
river bank at Eltringham. He died at Ovingham, where he is
buried. There is a crayon portrait of him by George Gray in
the Museum of the Natural History Society at Newcastle, and the
Bewick MSS. include many of his letters from London, some of
which are printed in the ensuing "Correspondence."]

366

APPENDIX.

APPENDIX. 367

CORRESPONDENCE.

[In the " Memoir " of 1862, Miss Bewick
printed five letters from the Bewick MSS. To
these in the present edition have been added
twelve others, all selected because they are, more
or less, characteristic of the writers, or serve in
some way to illustrate the pages to which they
form an appendix. Had space permitted, their
number might easily have been increased. Those
which appeared in the "Memoir" of 1862 are dis-
tinguished by an asterisk. Three of these, which
had been considerably edited upon their first
publication, are here printed, like all the new
ones, direct from the original MSS.]

THOMAS BEWICK TO FENWICK BEWICK.

NEWCASTLE 6 January 1786
FRIEND FENWICK,

I have herewith sent a Tobacco Box,
which, please to accept of from me, for your New
Year's Gift : I cou'd think of nothing else so pro-
per to present you with, as a small Token of the
grateful sense I entertain of your Civility, and also
as a small Recompence for the Trouble you have
taken to oblige me. — If care is taken of this
Present it may perhaps be a Tobacco Box in
the Hands of your Childrens Children, a Century
hence — and when nobody then living will know
any thing of either the Giver or the Receiver of
it.

368 APPENDIX.

I have drawn the Likeness of the Foumart,
for the purpose that I spoke of to you,* and have
cut several other kinds of Figs of Animals, the
Proof prints of which I will shew you the next
Time I am in the Country— I am rather suspicious
that I have not represented the otter, upon your
Box, so well and exactly as it ought to be, but
as I never saw one alive, or any thing that coud
give me the true Idea of that Creature, but the
stuffd Skin of yours — I coud not do it better —

I am

Fd Fenwick

Yours &c.

THOMAS BEWICK

Fenwick Bewick
Stocksfield

, JOHN BEWICK TO THOMAS BEWICK.

LONDON i6th Augt. ij86.
DR. BROTHER,

I am happy to inform you that I have got
safe to London, and in good Health bless God,
after an agreable passage of about 6 Days.

We sail'd about \ past 1 1 O'Clock on the Sun-
day morning after I left Newcastle ; in company
with about 40 Sail, It blow'd pretty fresh so that
we were well heav'd a going over the barr but I
did not get a puke, tho I was rather sick all the
afternoon for I kept much upon Deck. — the remain-
ing part of the voyage was quite calm & pleasant
I was highly pleas' d with the beautifull Country

[* " The History of Quadrupeds," — see note to p. 149.]

APPENDIX. 369

on each side the river it being the hight of the
Hervest, & every thing so delightfull and pleasant
but that I suppose you are no stranger to.

We were oblidg'd to Anchor at Wollage* on
account of contrary winds so the Capt. & I
took an Afternoon's pleasure on shore which was
delightfull & saw both the Town & the Country
around it.

We got safe into the pool on Saturday but it
being a wet day, I did not go on shore that night,
but on Sunday morning the Capt. & I took a round
turn through London, we call'd upon Mr. Hodgson
but he was gone to Church so that we did not see
him till the afternoon. — he was exceeding kind. —
I've got my meet with him yet, & works in the
House & sleeps in a House Opposit, — He was very
much disappointed in not receiv"g the Cuts as they
are much wanted you must sind immediately what's
done but I suppos the whole will be done by this
time I call'd upon Mr. Chas'. Story yesterday
with Mr. L & R's parcell he very kindly enquird
after you.

I have not had an opportunity to call upon Mr.
Gregson as yet, nor I have not seen Mr. Pollard he
had been enquiring two or three times at Hodgson's
if I had come. — My Comps. to Mr. & Miss Hitchen
I liverd their Letters but I did not see their Aunt
My Gomps. to Tommy Dobson Nancy and Jinney
inform them I am well & shall write to them all
soon as I get setteld, & you'l be so good to inform
Willy that I've got safe hear &c. for I have not had
time to write to any Boddy yet I got to work yester-
day afternoon as much as I can set my fase to.

[* Woolwich?]

2 w

370 APPENDIX.

I like London exceedingly well, I hardly dare go
out into the streets for their is so much entertain-
ment at the shop windows &c. that I never can get
Home in time to my work.

YouT excuse my hurry at present.

My Comps' to Bella and except the same yourself

from

Your loving Brother

JNO. BEWICK.

JOHN BEWICK TO THOMAS BEWICK.

LONDON, 4th Jany. 1789.
DR. BROTHER,

I reed, yours by favour of Mattw.
Williamson, with the Plates for Sr. H. Liddle's
work which pleased me much indeed, I im-
mediately shew'd them to Mr. Pollard who was
not a little Puzzled to think where you had got
hold of all the different methods of Engraving, —
he desires his Comps & will with thanks except
of a set of them the first convenent oppertunity
you finde. — the only fault that has been found
with them is want of proper relief, which is look'd
upon here as the first & grand art, to produce a
good effect. — the first sheet of your natural History
I think beautiful indeed & wish much to see it
finish' d I do not think you can better the Paper
t'is printed on, if your language & description be
equal to the cuts & Paper I think t'will be a most

beautiful work. Dr. Trusler very kindly thank's

you for your subscription to his Habite world,* I
have designed some few of the Plates but being

[* " The Habitable World Described." John Bewick designed
cuts for vol. ii. (1788), and some later volumes.]

APPENDIX. 371

my first performances in that way you'l think
them but so so, but the best of my designs (in my
opinion) he has got done by a Chap that has
neither attended to drawing or effect, & entirely
spoild it, t'is a fishing scene, Mr. Pollard's young

man is doing one of mine. If it is obliging

you or any of your employers I should wish to
take in Sr. H. Liddle Tour, likewise Mattw.
Brown's Bible which you did the Plates for, I
suppose t'will be as good a one & as cheap as any

Published. 1 have 13 Numbers of the Habitable

world with some .more proofs of the Provs.* &c.
ready pack'd up to send you the first oppertunity,
on which I shall be happy to hear your opinion &
advice the Dr. likes them so well that he has
given me orders to do 100 of them but their are
some so intellectual that t'wou'd puzzel the Devil's
oneself to devise a subject of any kind, such as, —
to forget a wrong is the best revenge what's bred in
the Bone will never come out of the flesh Custom
is second nature &c. such mental Ideas will
hardly admit of a design unless being farr fetch'd
but however I have wrote you the Proverb under
the cut on each Proof which is all the subject I
have to study from, & then the Dr. Moralizes on

them. Mr. Pollard begs you may not trouble

yourselvs about your Copper-plates he pays regu-
larly for his twice a year & yours are or will be

paid accordingly. You did not mention in your

last whether you had rec'd the tracing Paper, or

whether or not it was the right sort. 1 was last

Sunday Introduced by a Friend to see all the
Paintings in the Queen's Pallace at Buckingham

[* I.e. Dr. Trusler's " Proverbs Exemplified," — see note to p. 364.]

372 APPENDIX.

House which was a very great treet indeed to see
the works of all the old Artists, but unfortunately
the Cartoons had just been removed to KLew* so
that I lost that sight I have been to hear the
Lectures at the Royal Academyf where I had the
Pleasure of seeing Sr. Joshua Reynolds & all the
Head Artists and have since by favour of Mr.
Pollard been made a member of the Artists Club
which meet once in a month.

On Christmas day I dined with Mr. P. Gregson
they are all very well but no visible sign's of any
increase in Family Mr. Christr. desires his Coms
& hopes you wou'd excuse the liberty he had taken
in directing to your care, a Parcel for his Father

at Ovingham. 1 shall be glad to hear from you

the first oppertunity so conclude with best resps.
to all Friends wishing you all the Mirth & Hap-
piness that the times & seasons aford.

I am Dr. Brother

JNO. BEWICK.

MARMADUKE TUNSTALL TO BEILBY AND
BEWICK.

WYCLIFFE, July 75, i?8g.
GENTLEMEN,

I duely received the 6 irripressions of the
Chillingham bull on vellum, they were rather re-
laxed & a little rumpled in the coming, the
figure is well engraved & has much expression ;
would have, I think, 50 impressions taken off,

[* They are now at the South Kensington Museum, to which they
were removed from Kew in 1865.]

[f John Bewick probably heard "Discourse XIV.," — on Gains-
borough,— delivered December 10, 1788.]

APPENDIX. 373

half with & half without the border, all on
strong good paper, should be glad to have printed
under them, Bull of the Ancient Caledonian breed,
now at Chillingham Castle, Northumberland. I
understood by your last, that both bull & cow
were to be in one plate, which would have made
the expence much less, can say nothing about
the cow, till I know the price of this engraving,
which I desire you will send me, as also of the
specimens taken of both on vellum & paper,
which I will then send a note for the payment
of remain till then, Gent11

Your most obedt. humble servant

MAR. TUNSTALL.

When will your work on quadrupeds be com-
pleated ?

On again looking at the engraving, I think
the shading of the muzzle rather too faint &
there seems to be a white line streight down
from the mouth, but this last may probably have
happened in the taking of, tho' observable in all ;
can it be meant to shew the foam ?

Messrs. Beilby and Bewick
Engravers

Newcastle

THOMAS BEWICK TO ISABELLA BEWICK.

WYCLIFFE Friday 22 July i?gi
MY DEAR BELL,

I am very well, & and glad of meeting
with an opportunity of having this quickly con-
veyed to you, from this remote corner of the
world, by a Servant of Mr. Sanderson's of Healy,
who will take it to Durham to-morrow — it might

374 APPENDIX.

have been along while in going ffl the Post —
I did not get my Box 'till Wednesday night; you
may besure I was as dirty as the ground before
it arrived — Mr. Marshall thro' his kindness con-
trived to cheat me out of the Coach on Sunday
morning by which means I spent that day with
him at Durham — and set of on Monday ffl the
Mercury Coach to Darlington — Mr. Allan being
from home, I set off on Foot and arrived at this
place in the same Evening J fryed with heat
Thunder & lightning — I shall not give you a
detail of this curious place, 'till / see my Bell
again — I shall only say that I am kept very
busy, & that I have more work before me (coud
I stay to do it) than woud keep me close em-
ploy'd for 12 Months — The Family at Wycliffe
Hall are all Roman Catholicks — have prayers (in
a Chappell within the House) twice a day — the
doors a lock'd and all is quiet during the time
of service — but they don't mind me I am left alone
at my employment — The Stewart, Mr. Collier is
as civil to me as possible — & so is Mrs. New-
comb, the Houskeeper — but there is no drinking —
no excess — a single glass of Wine or so is all —
I believe I shall be quite weaned by the time
that I return to NC again — but I believe if I
was at home, again it wou'd not be long before
I shou'd have a wetting of nebs with my hearty
friend Mr. Joseph Bell, who I often think about
— when I am surrounded with Buckram Canvass
& Stay tape — I sleep at 'one house, get my
Victuals at another, — and have to go backwards
& forwards to the Hall to work — it is rather
inconvenient but I must make it do — I am also
obliged to shave myself — there is no Barbers

APPENDIX. 375

here — this puts me sadly about — my dear Bell,
from what I have said, will be enabled to judge
how quietly my situation must be. while I remain
here — how anxiously desirous am I to hear as
good an Account of you & how glad wou'd I
be to hear that all were as well with my treasures
at home — let me know as soon as you can,
exactly, how you all are, my dear little Boy — I
wou'd fain hope is better — let me once more beg
that you wou'd be attentive to his health — let
him lie cool & take him often to play at the
sea side — I hope also that my little darlings are
well, & that Esther is also finely of her Eyes—
When you write say what other news you please,
but tell me particularly how all of you are — Give
my Compts to Mrs. Grieves, Mrs. Brown, &
Miss Grieves. — I am

My dear Bell

THOMAS BEWICK (kiss)

Mrs. Bewick

To the care of Mrs. Greives

Greenland Fishery

So. Shields

THOMAS BEWICK TO RALPH BEILBY.

WYCLIFFE 24 Augt.
DR. SIR,

I arrived at this remote corner of the
Earth on monday night last, and was kept busy
for two or three days, 'till my Box arrived, in
looking thro part of the very rare and curious
Books on natural Hisy with which this valuable
Library I believe is more amply furnished than
any other, I think one may venture to Say in
the Kingdom - - you would be amazed at M

376 APPENDIX.

Tunstals industry — to skim over only his own
remarks wou'd take a much longer time than I
can possibly spare — he has not only put down
every thing that came under his own observation
on the habits & propensities of Animals &c. with
numberless Anecdotes — but he has also quoted
every thing that he thou't curious from other
Authors — he has not even forgot Beilby &
Bewicks Quads. & has discover'd all that we call
new in our Book — & has placed the Cuts along
with his remarks : — What a treasure woud his
remarks be of to us — we wou'd nead but little
besides to enable us to give a new Hisfy of
Birds if we cou'd get the loan of them — I shall
do every thing in my power to get them — he
has also a great number of well colour'd Birds
placed in along with his own observations — I
have look'd thro' Edwards, Buffon, Albin, Pennant,
Lewen, Catesby, Brown & many others the grandest
Editions — all colour'd — and I find that Edwards &
Buffon are the only Books that will be worth any
thing to us — I mean for the figures, which are
generally extreemly well done, & indeed I think
better to copy than the stufifd Birds here. I can
only pay attention to the Beak & plumage — they
are so distorted & unnaturaley stuck up that, as
faithfull representations of them as I can do, appear
stiff as a poker* — (as the Museum is to be soldf
I wou'd not like to have it said that we said any
thing slighting of it.) The Museum besides being
stock'd with above 800 Birds, contains also a num-
ber of other things Beasts, Reptiles, Fishes, Insects

[* Here in the letter follows a characteristic little sketch of a bird.]
[f See note to p. 163.]

APPENDIX. 377

&c. Mr. T spared no expence in obtaining every
thing that he thout curious especially on Nat.' Histy

—I think he has been fondest of Birds, but perhaps,
I may think so, from my paying more attention in
that way than any other. Pennants Folio Brit.
Zoology — discribes about 220 — all British — Ed-
wards with his gleanings contains 365 large Quarto
plates, with severl Figs on some of them, amountg
in the whole to 660 articles ; all " strictly drawn &
colour'd from nature" — he says he was upwards of
20 years in collecting them — The number of Birds
treated of by Linneus amounted to a few above goo
— 30 or 40 of which were new — Latham describes
about 1000 — 5 or 6 hundred of which he says are

only to be found treated of in his work Thus

have I given you a hasty outline of the business
which I am upon — I shall get as many of the rarest
British Birds as I can — I think we cannot in one
Volume do more — I am rather inconveniently situa-
ted I lodge at one house — victual at another & have
to go backwards and forwards to the Hall — they are
strickt Roman Catholicks & have prayers twice a
day — during which all the doors are lock'd — &
those who are out must stay till they are done — this
is the soberest corner in the world. / am quite
weaned, & find Milk & twatter a midling good
beverage — at least for the present I am obliged to
think so — give my best respects to Mr. Hodgson
PS I would like to hear from you.

I am

T BEWICK

direct for me to the Care of Mr. Collier, Wycliffe

Mr R: Beilby
Engraver

Newcastle

2 X

378 APPENDIX.

THOMAS BEWICK TO OBADIAH WESTWOOD.

NEWCASTLE 30 October 1793.

SIR

On my return from the Country I reed,
your letter of the 24 Inst. containing some patterns
which you wish to have closely copied on Wood or
Metal &c. — It would require a good deal of pains
and exactness to execute them so faithfully as to
pass for real Assignats, yet I think I cou'd copy
the Impressions you sent me with such fidelity as
to defy any attempt to discover a difference, if I
cou'd prevail upon myself to undertake a job of
that kind. — I have hitherto lived in the world
without deviating from the Paths of honour &
integrity, and I trust that no temptation however
great will ever induce me to depart from the line
of rectitude which I have mark'd out to steer my

course by thro' life.

I am

Sir yours &c

THOMAS BEWICK.

To

Mr Obedh. Westwood
Engraver

Birmingham.

THOMAS BEWICK TO

NEWCASTLE, 4th October,

DEAR SiR,f

I received yours of the iyth ult., and
thank you for the opinion you have given me of
America. Before I get the Birds done, I have no

* It appears from the autograph letter here copied, that Thomas
Bewick at one time contemplated emigrating to America. The name
of his correspondent is not known.

APPENDIX. 379

doubt of matters being brought to such a crisis as
will enable me to see clearly what course to steer.
My fears are not at what you think will happen in
America: it is my own much-loved country that I
fear will be involved in the anarchy you speak of;
for I think there is not virtue enough left in the
country gentlemen to prevent it. I cannot hope for
anything good from the violent on either side;
that can only be expected from (I hope) the great
majority of moderate men stepping manfully for-
ward to check the despotism of the one party and
the licentiousness of the other. A reform of abuses,
in my opinion, is wanted, and I wish that could
be done with justice and moderation; but it is
because I do not hope or expect that will take
place in the way I wish it that makes me bend my
mind towards America.

* WILLIAM BULMER TO THOMAS BEWICK.

CLEVELAND Row, Dec. loth, 1795.
DEAR BEWICK

The death of your Brother has hurt me
much I assure you. — He was a young man whose
private virtues & professional talents I equally
admired: so much so indeed, that as a grateful
tribute to his memory, I have this day clothed
myself in mourning. His death has affected me
in a manner that has much depressed my spirits.
If my opinion or assistance in your intended record
of his merits on the melancholy tombstone that is
intended to mark the place of his interment can be
of any use, I beg you will command me.

380 APPENDIX.

The blocks for Mr. Way's work* have come safe
to hand; but he informs me that you have omitted
to send the head piece to Tale yth, "The Mantle
made amiss," which I must beg you will send along
with the first parcel of the blocks for the Chase;
& in cutting the remainder of Mr Way's work
you will cut head and tail piece in the regular
succession agreeable to the Numbers on the different
Sketches, as any omission on this head causes an
interruption in the printing.

As to the Blocks for the Chases, I have already
told you my situation, & must therefore entirely
rely on your making a bold effort to finish them in
the specified time. The whole number is only 12
blocks, besides the Vignette for the Title, a sketch
for which I will send you. Many of the tail-pieces
are small; I wish fine execution in them I con-
fess; but yet their must be that happy mixture of
engraving in them that will at the same time
produce a boldness of effect. — Mr. Way par-
ticularly requests that I would inform you that
the blocks last sent are perfectly agreeable to his
wishes. — Agreeable to yr desire I have sent the
death of yr Brother to the London prints, — Adieu
& believe me yrs very sincerely

W. BULMER.

§£jj* Remember me to all friends.

Mr. Thos Bewick
Engraver

Newcastle upon Tyne

* " Fabliaux, or Tales abridged from French Manuscripts of the
1 2th and I3th Centuries. By M. Le Grand. Translated into English
verse by G. L. Way, Esq." 1796.

APPENDIX. 381

ROBERT ELIOT BEWICK TO JANE BEWICK.

NEWCASTLE, July gth, i^gg.
DEAR SISTER,

Since I saw you last I have been at
Ovingham and Eltringham Where I met with
the finest fun that Ever I had in my life I have
learned to walk upon stilts and can almost cross
the Tyne upon them I expect a pair at the Forth
soon Where I expect plenty of plodging with
them when wet weather comes. My word Jane
I have got some nice new tunes from Jemmy
Mafnn [Maughan] my father likes the one called
What would a Lassie do wi' an auld Man the best of
any of them and I have jingled them up since I
came home and when I was in the Country I
played all my Tunes at Eltringham and Mount
Hooly and I would have been glad to go to
Shields to play all my Tunes at Betsey Skipsey's
Birth Day but my father dare not trust me out of
his sight but when you come Home Jane where
I will be very glad to see you I will tell you far
more news than I have room to relate in this
Letter, be sure Jane to write to me soon and tell
us all the news at Shields & How all Friends are
their but particularly Mrs Bell

I am your loving Brother

R E BEWICK

Jane Bewick

At Mr. Robson's
Boat Builder

South Shields

382 APPENDIX.

* MRS. MACKENZIE TO THOMAS BEWICK.

NEW BROAD STREET NEAR THE EXCHANGE
April 4 1805

I can not resist the pleasure of thanking
Mr. Bewick for the entertainment I have just
experienced in looking over the second Vol. of
the British Birds, which is universally, & justly
admired, the vegnetts are incomparable, they will
be admired by me very often, the one with the
string of the Kite over the poor mans hat, who
can not extricate himself at the moment, having
to conduct his horse through the water ; & that
of the man clinging to the arm of a tree that
with himself are nearly precipitated into a very
unpleasant part of the water, & still more the
four little Boys riding triumphant on the tomb-
stones armed at all points, without a moments
reflection on the mementos of death arround
them, one I think most excellently well done,
& all must agree that Mr. Bewick catches "the
manners living as they rise"-— The little drawing
Capn Mitchell presented me from Mr. Bewick,
will be placed in a book with the others I had
at Newcastle, which I have the greatest value
for, & should be very happy if either business
or pleasure brought Mr. Bewick to London to
shew them to him in the highest preservation,
& also to be introduced to his ingenious Son, to
whom I beg my compliments

& remain Mr. Bewicks

very great admirer & obliged

SOPHIA MACKENZIE.

APPENDIX. 383

* THOMAS BEWICK TO MRS. MACKENZIE.

NEWCASTLE May 1805
MADAM,

Your very kind & flattering letter of
the 4 ulto. reached me in due time & by it I
am happy to find that the 26. Volume of the
Birds meets with your approbation and that
some of the little whimsies, put into vignettes
has afforded you any entertainment — Cou'd I have
foreseen that the sketches which your partiality
makes you value, woud ever have been thought
worthy of your notice, I certainly woud have
saved them for you but now if my time & atten-
tion were not so fully taken up with conductin the
other parts of my birds I cou'd easily furnish many
such — but when the fancies hop into my head, I
have not time even to commit the roughest sketch
of them upon paper — I am obliged to ^phrase
unfinished^ A second Edition of both Volumes
of the Birds is now at Press, and as I believe
you wish me success, I cannot help informing
you that in my opinion Mr. Walker (the printer)
is doing the work to look better than either of
the Volumes now before the public he has seen
some defects in his former mode of printing which
he is remedying in this — I have just seen Aikins
"Annual Review5' in which he dwells at large
in his criticism upon the History of the Quad-
rupeds & the Birds — there are many misstatements
& some mistakes of the printer, but otherwise he
has gone the utmosts lengths in praise of the
whole and if his praises be just it is highly
flattering to me — I never hoped to have any

384 APPENDIX.

compts. paid to me as an author — I furnished
many original remarks &c. for the Quads & first
Volume of Birds but if I cou'd have got any
person to write a Book for me I wou'd never
have thout upon doing it myself — necessity not
choice set me to work in this way — it was the
work of the winter Evenings at my happy fire
side surrounded by my Wife and my Girls at
work & cheered at intervals by ma[n]y a wild
Tune from the Northumberland pipes play'd upon
by my now stout healthy Boy.

I am madam with best wishes

for your health & happiness

your much obliged servt.

THOMAS BEWICK

Shou'd business call me to London, I will cer-
tainly take the liberty of giving you a call my Boy
thinks himself much obliged to you for your atten-
tion & great kindness to him, I wou'd fain indulge
him with a visit to London but I think he is too
young yet & I have some fears that I shall feel
awkward at parting with him even for a short time.

Mrs. Mackenzie

1 1 New Broad Street
London

THOMAS BEWICK TO JANE BEWICK.

FORTH 4 Sepr. 1807
MY DEAR JANE

The wet morning, has cast the scale, &
this Sunday must be a Red-night-cap-Day—
along with the Newspapers, I hasten to drop these

APPENDIX. 385

few lines to supply the place of a bit chat by your
fire side — In the first place I must tell you that
my cold is mending, and that I am determined
to live temperately and to come to the sea per-
fectly cool and prepared for bathing, if the weather
ever intends to mend, & I have no doubt a fit of
fine weather will' soon come on — you must not be
impatient I will come, as soon as I can, and am
doing my utmost to put matters so as that I shall
not be interrupted while I stay at Tynemouth —
let my Boy stay until I come down I hope the
bathing is agreeing with you all & that you are
happy at Tynemouth — write me a letter full of
news &c — Ask mother what she thinks of Dr.
Surgeon as a Tenant for the offices — he I find is
fond of them and thinks 10 Guineas a very
reasonable Rent — he called to view them yester-
day— & I have now no hopes of letting them as
offices, for from the uncommon breakings on the
Quay their is now & will be plenty of empty ones
to spare — Aunty is seized with a fit of carcfillity
& is brewing treacle beer — I fear I shall lose the
Coach so

I am

my Dear Jane

^Signature omitted*~\

Miss Jane Bewick

at Willy Deans House
Tynemouth

[* In the left-hand corner are three hearts foi " kisses," labelled
respectively "mother," "J" and "I" (Jane and Isabella), and two
clasped hands with " R." for "Robert" over them.]

2 Y

386 APPENDIX.

* THOMAS BEWICK TO

NEWCASTLE, isth Nov., 1808.
DEAR SIR,

Your letter of the fourth inst., enclosing
your promissory note at six months, came safe to
hand. Having calculated upon being sooner paid,
I was, I confess disappointed; but, however, on
thinking all matters over respecting your present
expenses in, as yet, an unproductive publication,
and remembering your continual good wishes
towards me, I now see that I have to thank you
for the above remittance. You make me smile
when you talk of my "accumulated wealth." I
might, indeed, have been, by this time, as rich
as I ever wished to be, if my publications had

been

but that not being the case, that day must be
longer put off. It may, indeed, happen in all
good time, viz., when I am unable in the line of
my business to be longer useful to the world. I
may then, indeed, in the down hill of life, have it
in my power to attain to the summit of my wishes,
in retiring to a cottage, by a burn side, surrounded
with woods and wilds, such as I was dragged from
when young to exhibit myself upon the stage of
the busy world. To such a place as this I hope
to retire; and, if I am enabled to show kindness
to old friends, and to be a good neighbour to those
around me, and at the same time to fill up my

f An eminent publisher by whom he had been employed to
embellish an extensive work.

APPENDIX. 387

leisure time in contemplation, and in the amuse-
ments of fishing and gardening, then I shall think
that Providence has been pleased to single me out
to be one of the happiest of men. I intend to go
to press in the spring with a new edition of the
Birds, printed with the same kind of small type as
the Quadrupeds: the two volumes in one volume
demy. I wish much to have one of your books,
but I cannot engage in the sale of them, being
sufficiently embarrassed with my own publications.

T. B.

THOMAS BEWICK TO ROBERT ELIOT BEWICK.

CHILLINGHAM 23 June, 1814
DEAR ROBERT

I was disappointed at not seeing you
before I left home, I had missed you in Gates-
head on my way to dinner — After running about
various pieces of Business I called upon Mr.
Bailey at the Hour appointed & we immediately
set oif. It was a dull, dark, wet, Evng. &
not much to see from the Chaise window
— few hawthorns in blow, but abundance of
" Blossom'd Whins unprofitably gay " — I as
usual kept myself busied with my own thout's
while Mr. B. most of the way, slept comfort-
ably in the corner beside me — We put up at
Mrs. Sunderland, who was very kind — but told us
she was much aifraid she had not a spare Bed for
each of us, for she had the whole of the North-
umberland officers in her house at the time, on
their march to Alnwick to be broke up — I think

388 APPENDIX.

she said 2 1 of them, she expected, would sleep in
her house — before Bed time, however, she called
in to tell me that I would not be obliged to sleep
out for Mr. Ward meant to sleep at his Aunt
Trotters and that I shou'd sleep in the Bed she
had. intended for him — Morpeth, on the Night pre-
ceeding their market for Cattle, is a very noisy
Place, the shepherds were busy penning their
sheep at Midnight & continued till I fell asleep,
in spite of the noise they made, till perhaps about
3 o'Clock in the morning — The Militia paraded
before my window at 6 o'Clock & I dressed and
saw them march off. — We set off again about ten,
and arrived at Chillingham about J past 3 at the
time Miss Bailey & her Visitors were nearly done
dinner — they consisted of the three Misses Cullys
of Akeld & a Miss McKane from Glasgow — they
had been accompanying Miss Bailey, for some
time, during her Fathers absence — the Miss
Cullys made many kind enquiries after my Jane
Bell, who they call their old schoolfellows, and
they have invited me to spend sometime with
them at Akeld — but I am not over fond of visiting
abroad and shall avoid it as much as I can — they
are exceedingly affable free and agreeable young
Ladies & have no mollet aboztt them- — were I to set
about describing the Country & what I saw and
have seen of it this morning it wou'd only be a
repetition of what I told you last year — every
thing appears the same as when I left Chil so
much so that I cannot help reflecting that 'tho a
year has passed away, it seems as if I had slept
it out like one night & found in the morning
every thing the same as when I went to bed — I
was, however, a good deal pleased with my

APPENDIX. 389

morn^ walk thro one of the woods in the park, in
rambling" thro which, all quiet still, & alone, I
found a young Fawn which had been hindden by
its Dam — it was coild up & squatted close down
among the Grass underneath a shelter of Haw-
thorn bushes — it looked exceedingly pretty, and
eyed me with a very timid look & I dare say was
very glad when I left it alone. — If Mr. Steele call
to pay you £6 175 6d — say — "Reed, of Mr. Wm.
Davison by the paymt. of Mr. Steele" &c & if this
part of Mr. Davison's balance is this far settled,
let me know when you write to me — When I left
my dear Jane & Bell, one of my kindness Fits
came upon me & I thout they both looked very
thin — and I have been thinking, if their mother
approves of it, that they during my abseence,
ought to be each indulged with a jill of Beer and
piece of Bread to it every night before they go to
Bed — As I suppose, from your being kept busy,
my Jane will ansr this, desire her after she has
told me how you all are — to tell me also of every
thing worth notice that may have happened since
I left home — with best and anxious good wishes
to all there —

I am
my dear Robert

your loving Father

THOMAS BEWICK.

Mr. R. E. Bewick
Engraver

St. Nicholas Church yard
Newcastle

3QO APPENDIX.

THOMAS BEWICK TO - - GRAY.

Dec. 14, 1822.
MR. GRAY.

Dr SIR,

We returned from Tynemouth on Wed.
last 1 1 Inst. after having been there 9 weeks, the
warm bath has certainly acted very powerfully upon
my wife, & I think has done her much good tho' she
is still far from being well — while I was there I kept
myself busy in day light with cutting Birds on the
wood for the next & perhaps the last Edition I shall
live to see printed — you will see in the book of Birds
many descriptions without any figures of them,
these gaps I am anxious to fill up, to be ready for
another Edition when it may be wanted — At Tyne-
mouth I Engraved 5 new Birds & one vignette — &
by Candle light I filled above 33 pritty close written
4to. pages of a memoir of my own Life* this has not
extended beyond the time that I was at school, but
even this contains a good deal of biographical mat-
ter concerning the Characters of the people I knew
—I intend as I go on to notice others, who I deem
deserving notice, & none more so than your grand-
father, & your uncle, f & my plan is to continue my
observations of men & things in the same kind of
way — of course some will be long & some short, —
These will be (if I live) interlarded with moral re-
marks as to character, those I can say no good of
will be short, & I hope pithy, but without ever men-
tioning their names.

You may be sure that I felt much flattered by the
remarks of some very warm friend in the "annals of

[* See note to p. 42.]
[f Probably Gilbert and William Gray, — see pp. 62 and 67.]

APPENDIX. 391

Philosophy" he has not been sparing of his praises
— As soon as I can get done with the new Birds I
have within reach & these I expect to get — I shall
then resume the task of getting through with the
Fishes, & hope with the help of my son to
make rapid progress — I long to hear again from
my friend Mr. Couch of Polperro & I expect
much assistance in the same kind of way as his
from Gentlemen in various parts of the Country
—You will find your Acct. I believe correctly
stated on the other side — I do not now look
at any Accts — this is now done in so masterly
a way for me that I have no occasion to trouble
myself about them & this enables me to pursue
my proper business without interruption.

When I see Mr. Parker again I shall deliver your
Messuages to him. I am quite rejoiced to find that
he has finished his very beautiful little Picture of
"Dumbiedikes" &c & has sent it off to the British
Institution, when I most earnestly hope it will
attract much attention, but indeed I do not doubt
this. Our Exhibition promises to do well, there
were many good paintings in it & many of Mr.
Parkers I think were deservedly rated amongst the
first of them, his Industry claims every encourage-
ment, & his abilities deserve it.

I am Dr. Sir

With Compts of the Season
Yours &c

T BEWICK

3Q2 APPENDIX.

THOMAS BEWICK TO EMERSON CHARNLEY.

GATESHEAD 28 May 1826

Mr CHARNLEY
DR. SIR

After the severe illness with which I have
been visited, I am order' d to drink the waters &c
of Buxton, or those of some other watering place
in hope of their restoring health & vigor — how
this may answer I know not, but I intend to try
& am now preparing to sett off for that purpose
— I am aware of the heavy, & at this time in-
convenient expense this will bring upon me, and
am using every exertion to come at the means to
enable me to meet it, and it is on this account I
now solicit payment of your Christmas account
which I hope it will be convenient to you to settle
— while I was beset with grief & disease Mr.
Roxby's pretty little "Fisher Garland" was put
into my hands, and this as far as it went, threw
in upon me its proportion of vexation, this I
never expected from Mr. Charnley, who I had
fondly considered as my friend — & who ought to
have known better than to get my design copied
to embellish the little book — the copy-right of
every artists designs is secured to him by an
express law & the punishment for copying them
or imitating them is quick short & summary, both
upon the person who employs an artist and the
artist himself who executes them. — I trust you
will see this in its proper light, & in future not
attempt to act so improperly — I suppose Mr.
Nicholson is the artist who was employed in this

APPENDIX. 393

business if so, I shall be obliged to convince him of
the impropriety of his conduct — he knows per-
fectly well how easy it is to make a fac simile of
any design in wood & that an impression from
any wood cut, can line by line be transferred to a
plain block, so that there is no difficulty in cutting
the lines so distinctly thus burnished on. If I do
not put a stop to this kind of work then I may
expect the next move will be to copy the Quad-
rupeds Birds & tale pieces & every original design
I have done

I am

Dr. Sir yours &c

T. BEWICK

2 z

R. WARD AND SONS, PRINTERS, NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE.

(> & V- J

en)

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY,
BERKELEY

THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE
STAMPED BELOW

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to $1.00 per volume after the sixth day. Books not in
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RETURNED
SEP 2 6 1S95

" ntaCruz

>50m-8,'26

266196,

Q

BIO- !

LIBRARY

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY