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 



