

CHAPTER XL 



rrovincial Canvass for Subscribe7-s — Visit to London — Sir T/iomai 

 Lazurence — The Great Work ijt Progress — Horrors of London — ■ 

 The Great Work Presented to the Kinsc. 



UITTING Edinburgh with a high heart, the in- 

 domitable naturaUst began his provincial can- 

 vass, meeting, as is usual in such cases, with two 

 kinds of treatment, — very good and very bad. He visited 

 in succession Newcastle, Leeds, York, Shrewsbury, and 

 Manchester, securing a few subscribers at two hundred 

 pounds a head in each place. His diary chronicles mi- 

 nutely all his affairs — dining-out, tea-drinking," receiving,'' 

 • — but none are very interesting. The only incident at all 

 worth recording is a visit i^aid to Bewick the engraver, but 

 as it adds nothing to our knowledge of one who was a 

 real genius in his way, we pass on to metal more attrac- 

 tive, — to London, where Audubon continued his canvass, 

 with great success among the aristocracy. From a con- 

 fused heap of memoranda we take a few notes of this Lon- 

 don visit, suppressing much, and somewhat doubtful of 

 the relevancy even of what we select. 



" Sir Thomas Laiorence. — My first call on this great 

 artist and idolized portrait-painter of Great Britain, whose 

 works are known over the whole world, was at half-past 

 eight in the morning. I was assured he would be as hard 

 at work at that time as I usually am. I took with me my 

 letters and portfolio, with some original drawings. The 

 servant said his master was in ; I gave my name, and 

 waited about five minutes, when he came down from his 

 room. His manner and reception impressed me most 



