362 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. 



necessary, therefore, to suggest the idea of his habits and to 

 make his true character apparent to the mind. 



The engravings of Thomas Bewick have always been cel- 

 ebrated for a quality that seems to have been unattained by 

 any other engraver. I do not know that this quality has 

 ever been precisely defined, or distinctly pointed out. It is 

 sometimes designated as truth to nature, accuracy of detail, 

 the peculiar genius of the artist, but it still wants an expla- 

 nation. All critics unite, however, in the opinion that in point 

 of mere execution, he is surpassed by all the best modern 

 engravers, while nearly all have failed in producing works so 

 attractive and fascinating. It is evident to me that the dis- 

 tinguishing point of excellence in his engravings, is not their 

 greater truth to nature, but that perfect harmony with our 

 ideas of the picturesque, the intuitive comprehension of 

 which constituted his genius. He never overlooked that 

 quality in the bird or animal to be represented which causes 

 it to be allied with picturesque or poetic sentiments. Every 

 picture is rendered highly suggestive by its appurtenances, 

 which, though few and simple, like Burns's * metaphors, 

 cause more delight than pictures more profusely ornamented, 

 or poems with more abundant imagery. 



Among the animals mentioned by certain writers as pos- 

 sessing in an eminent degree those qualities which appertain 

 to tlie picturesque, is the ass. This point in his character is 

 attributed very erroneously to his shaggy and uncouth ap- 

 pearance.. ^It may assist in heightening the picturesque ex- 

 pression of the animal ; but there are various romantic and 

 poetical ideas associated with his figure, to which this quality 

 is mainly attribuftable. If it were owing to his rude and 

 rough exterior, the baboon and the hyena would be as pic- 

 turesque as the ass. No such ideas, however, are associated 

 with these animals. The ass derives much of this character 

 from his connection with the incidents of romance and histo- 

 ry. He is the beast of burden most frequently mentioned 

 in the Old Testament, in the Fables of ^sop, and in the 

 writings of oriental travellers. As Dugald Stewart has ob- 



* Burns's Poems are jemarkahle for their jjaucity of metaphorical language. 



