50 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 



life represented before, from the glutton who pre- 

 cedes the Great Black-backed Gull, to the youngsters 

 flying their kite, the disappointed sportsman who, 

 by shooting a magpie, has lost a woodcock, the horse 

 endeavouring to reach the water, the bull roaring 

 near the style, or the poor beggar attacked by the 

 rich man's mastiff. As you turn each successive 

 leaf, from beginning to end of his admirable books, 

 scenes calculated to excite your admiration every- 

 where present themselves. Assuredly you will agree 

 with me in thinking that in his peculiar path none 

 has equalled him. There may be men now, or some 

 may in after years appear, whose works may in some 

 respects rival or even excel his, but not the less must 

 Thomas Bewick of Newcastle-on-Tyne be considered 

 in the art of engraving on wood what Linnaeus will 

 ever be in natural history, though not the founder, 

 yet the enlightened improver and illustrious pro- 

 moter." 



It was indeed hoped that more might have been 

 learned of Bewick from his own pen ; for it is known 

 that he had, to fill up the vacant evenings of the last 

 two years of his life, devoted his attention to writing 

 a memoir of himself, for which he had prepared por- 

 traits and profiles of several of his friends, together 



