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 conjunction with his son, he also commenced a History of British Fishes. The finished specimens of these, on the wood, are now for the first time published in this Memoir. A portion of a series of appropriate Vignettes, also executed by him for the work on Fishes, are now 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.
British Fishes
The Alarm42
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 deputation selected from innumerable hosts of imps from every kingdom and state of the uncivilized as well as the civilized 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 unjustly) lay the blame on them for the loss of his subjects. Old Ignorance was immediately brought to judgment, and at the same time other candidates 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. | SATELLITES. | IMPS. |
| { Vanity. } | ||
| Ignorance. | { Superstition. } | 300,000,000. |
| { Sensuality. } | ||
| { Arrogance. } | ||
| Pride. | { Envy. } | 100,000,000. |
| { Obstinacy. } | ||
| { Blasphemy. } | ||
| { Revenge. } | ||
| Malice. | { Injustice. } | 100,000,000. |
| { Cruelty. } | ||
| Majority for old Ignorance | 200,000,000 |
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 vigilence: 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 vigilence, 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 arrogant 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 innumerable 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, ignited, 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.
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 civilized society, suitable to their natures and befitting 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 consequent 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 envelope 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.
Prints by Means of a Series of Wood Blocks
The Author, at page 249 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 been dedicated to the “Society for the Prevention 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.43
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 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, something like gentlemen; in whose hands his sufferings 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 a 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 sixpence beyond the dog-horse price saved his life, and he became the property of a poor dealer and horse doctor.
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.
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 embellished 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 printing 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.”…
Amongst the many books illustrated by John Bewick, now very scarce, a few may be enumerated:—“The Looking Glass for the Mind,” “Proverbs Exemplified,”44 “The Progress of Man in Society,” “Blossoms of Morality.” The last-named was published by Mr. Newberry, 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 commencement of this edition, owing to a severe indisposition with which the artist was long afflicted, and which unfortunately terminated in his death. And sorry, very sorry, are we to be compelled to state, that this is the last effort of his incomparable genius.”
Correspondence
The following letters are selected from a large correspondence, extending over many years, and, from the matter they contain, may not be thought uninteresting. The first is addressed to T. Bewick, on the occasion of his brother’s death, by Mr. Wm. Bulmer, a native of Newcastle, and who is mentioned at page 70 as the first typographer of his day. A portrait of this gentleman is given in Dr. Dibdin’s “Bibliomania” (?) in connection with the “Bodoni Hum.” Mr. Bulmer died at his villa, Clapham Rise, Surrey, at the close of the year 1828.
WILLIAM BULMER TO THOMAS BEWICK.
Cleveland Row, December 10, 1795.
Dear Bewick,
The death of your brother has hurt me much, I assure you. He was a young man whose private virtues and 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 worth, 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. The blocks for Mr. Way’s work45 have come safe to hand, but he informs me that you have omitted to send the head-piece to Tale Seventh, “The Mantle Made Amiss,” which I must beg you will send along with the first parcel of blocks for the Chase; and, 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 Chase,” I have already told you my situation. I must, therefore, entirely rely on your making a bold effort to finish them in the specified time. The whole number is only twelve blocks, besides the vignette for the title. Many of the tail-pieces are small. I wish fine execution in them, I confess, but yet there must be that happy mixture of engraving in them that will at the same time produce a boldness of effect. Mr. Way particularly requests that I will inform you that the blocks last sent are perfectly to his wishes. Agreeably to your desire, I have sent the death of your brother to the London prints. And believe me,
Yours, very sincerely,
William Bulmer.
THOMAS BEWICK TO —.
Newcastle, 4th October, 1794.
Dear Sir,46
I received yours of the 17th ult., and thank you for the opinion you have given me of America. Before I get the Birds done, I have no 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 forward 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....
MRS. M—47 TO THOMAS BEWICK.
April 4, 1805.
I cannot resist the pleasure of thanking Mr. Bewick for the entertainment I have just experienced in looking over the second volume of the “British Birds.” The vignettes are incomparable. The one with the string of the kite over the poor man’s hat,—who cannot extricate himself, having to conduct his horse through the water,—and that of the man clinging to the arm of the tree, and, still more, the four little boys riding triumphant on the tombstones, without a moment’s reflection on the mementos of death around them, are, I think, excellently done. The little drawing Captain M— presented me with, from Mr. Bewick, will be placed in a book with the others I had given me at Newcastle, which I have the greatest value for, and shall be very happy, if either business or pleasure brought Mr. Bewick to London, to show them to him, in the highest preservation, and also to be introduced to his ingenious son, to whom I beg my compliments; and remain Mr. Bewick’s very great admirer and obliged
S. M—.
THOMAS BEWICK TO MRS. M—.
Newcastle, May 20, 1805.
Madam,
Your very kind and flattering letter of the 4th ult. has reached me, and I am happy to find that the second volume of the Birds meets with your approbation, and that some of my little whimsies put into vignettes have afforded you any entertainment. Could I have forseen that the sketches, which your partiality makes you value, would ever have been thought worthy of your notice, I certainly would have saved more of them for you, and not have put so many of them into the fire. And now, if my time and attention were not so fully taken up with conducting other parts of my business, I could easily furnish such without end; but, when the fancies pop into my head, I have not time even to commit them to paper, and I am often obliged to sketch them at once upon the wood. 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 Aikin’s “Annual Review,” in which he dwells at large, in his criticism, upon the History of the Quadrupeds and the Birds. There are many misstatements, and some mistakes of the printer, but, otherwise, he has gone the utmost lengths in praise of the whole; and, if his praise be just, it is highly flattering to me. I never hoped to have any compliments paid to me as an author. I furnished all the original remarks, &c., for the Quadrupeds, and the first volume of the Birds; but, if I could have got any person to write a book for me, I would never have thought upon writing the second volume myself. Necessity—not choice—set me to work in this way. It was the work of the winter evenings, at my happy fireside, surrounded by my wife and girls at work, and cheered at intervals by many a wild tune on the Northumberland pipes, played by my now stout, healthy boy.
I am, Madam,
With best wishes for your health and happiness,
Your much obliged servant,
Thomas Bewick.
P.S.—Should business take me to London, I will certainly take the liberty to give you a call. My boy thinks himself much obliged to you for your attention and great kindness to him. I would fain indulge him with a visit to London, but I think he is too young yet, and I have some fears that I shall feel awkward at parting with him even for a short time.
Footnotes
1. 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 243, 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.
2. The vignette placed at page 286—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.
3. 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.
4. Christopher Greason, of Apothecaries Hall, London. He died 181—, and was buried at Ovingham.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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 allotments laid to their farms. The wisdom which dictated this change is questionable, but the selfish greediness of it is quite apparent.
8. 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.
9. This old tree was swept away by the great flood of the 17th November, 1771.
10. 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 extremely 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.
11. Afterwards the great Dr. Hutton. He died 27th January, 1823, in the 86th year of his age.
12. Thomas Blackett, silversmith. He was one of my godfathers, and had been foreman to the late John Langlands, by whom he was much noticed as a man of a most intrepid spirit. He was remarkable for his honour, honesty, and punctuality.
13. He died on the 12th February, 1794, in the 86th year of his age.
14. 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 ingenious and enterprising, a tolerably good engraver, and a good mechanic. He was called the “Eloquent Sword-bearer.” He headed the committee of the Burgesses, in 17—, 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 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 16th July, 1791, aged 74, and was buried in St. Nicholas’ Church, Newcastle.
15. Afterwards famous in London as at the head of the “Spenceans.” He was sent to Dorchester gaol for (I believe) some of his publications, 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 one time 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.
16. 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.
17. He died on the 9th December, 1819, aged 61 years, and was buried in St. John’s Church-yard, Newcastle.
18. Afterwards Bishop of St. Asaph.
19. Thomas Hodgson 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 published 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.
20. John Cunningham, the pastoral poet, died September, 1773, aged 43 years, and was buried in St. John’s Church Yard, Newcastle.
21. 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” attracted much notice, and so did many of his other works. He was a keen, satirical writer, and, amongst 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 in January, 1782, aged 50 years, and was buried in St. Andrew’s Church Yard, Newcastle.
22. Now Major Bainbridge, who has been many years in the commission 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 everything for the benefit of Tyneside. While I am writing this (23rd June, 1823) he is living, and in his 87th year. Captain Smith I did not know. Major Bainbridge died 6th December, 1826, in his 91st year.
23. Matthew Prior died June 15, 1800, aged 65, and was buried in St. Nicholas’ Church, Newcastle.
24. On his death, I sent the following notice to Mr. Walker’s newspaper:— “July 15th, 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 predecessors 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 Otterburn, Hedgley Moor, and Flodden Field. For—
‘Whene’er his pipe did silence break
You’d thought the instrument would speak.’”
25. Afterwards curate of Longhorsley.
26. The Rev. Thomas Hornby, son of Alderman Hornby, died in the prime of life, on the 28th August, 1798, and was buried at Gosforth.
27. George Byles came from one of the southern counties, and commenced as a teacher in Newcastle. He was gentlemanly in his manners and conversation, and of a most lively and animated cast of character.
28. Mr. John Rotherham, son of the late Dr. Rotherham, of Newcastle, who had been a pupil of the good and great Linnæus.
29. 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.
30. The 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 17th Dec., 1813. He had been offered the bishopric of Carlisle, but refused it.
31. Ralph Beilby, engraver, Newcastle, died 4th Jan. 1817, aged 73, and was buried at St. Andrew’s.
32. “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.
33. Major Cartwright, died 23rd Sep., 1824, aged 84,—an honour to his country and to human nature—an upright and inflexible patriot.
34. Dr. F. Hutchinson.
35. 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 magistrate of Newcastle on the Town Moor business before mentioned.
36. 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.
37. The very clippings of which (as noticed before) would be healthful fodder for both sheep and cattle.
38. All youths, but especially those who follow sedentary employments, ought to exercise with dumb-bells half-an-hour or so before going to bed, and at other times when convenient. Were this more practised, we should hear of few dying of consumption.
39. 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 surrounded.
40. The Rev. James Murray (before mentioned) 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.
41. 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.
42. This fable was written and illustrated by T. Bewick, for his “Fables of Æsop,” and is now published for the first time.
43. The vignette at page 53, vol. i, last edition of the “History of British Birds,” will be found printed with two additional blocks as a title page to the second edition of the “Quadrupeds,” quarto, without letterpress, 1824.
44. The publisher, Dr. Trussler, quaintly observes, “It is a very proper book to amuse and instruct youth, and the price, viz. 3s., half-bound, will hurt no one.”
45. “Fabliaux, or Tales abridged from French Manuscripts of the 12th and 13th Centuries. By M. Le Grand. Translated into English verse, by G. L. Way, Esq.” 1796.
46. 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.
47. The lady here indicated was the wife of an officer. She was an amateur artist, and was a frequent visitor when at Newcastle.
48. An eminent publisher by whom he had been employed to embellish an extensive work.
NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE:—