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, 



