8148 Notices of New Books. 



had at that time a firm belief " in ghosts and boggles." He says " My 

 life, both at school and at home, might be considered a life of warfare, 

 and punishments have been inflicted upon me apparently with little 

 effect." 



On the 1st of October, 1757, Bewick was bound apprentice to Ralph 

 Beilby, an engraver at Newcastle, and here he first saw practised the 

 art of engraving on wood. His master was a great bungler at his craft, 

 but the apprentice immediately excelled him and obtained reputation 

 accordingly. Some of the wood blocks engi-aved for the ' Story Teller,' 

 * Gay's Fables,' &c., were so much approved and admired by his master 

 that he sent impressions of them " to be laid before the Society for the 

 Encouragement of Arts," and these obtained a premium. " This I 

 received shortly after 1 was out of ray apprenticeship," writes Bewick, 

 and it was left to my choice whether I would have it in a gold medal 

 or money, seven guineas : I preferred the latter; and I never in my 

 life felt greater pleasure than in presenting it to my mother." 



We have a very pleasant picture some years later of Bewick's weekly 

 visits to his parents at Cherryburn, he being then located at Newcastle. 

 These visits were never omitted, and the only difference caused by 

 altered season or altered weather was the enjoyment with which the 

 young naturalist viewed the ever-varying face of the earth. Here is a 

 description of the advent of spring. " As soon as the days began to 

 lengthen, and the sprouting herbage had covered the ground, I often 

 stopped with delight by the sides of woods to admire the dangling 

 woodbine and roses, and the grasses powdered or spangled with pearly 

 drops of dew ; and also, week after week, the continued succession of 

 plants and wild flowers. The primrose, the wild hyacinth, the hare- 

 bell, the daisy, the cowslip, &c., — these, altogether, 1 thought no painter 

 ever could imitate. I had not at that time ever heard the name 

 of the great and good Linnaeus, and knew plants only by their common 

 English names. While admiring these beautifully enan)elled spots on 

 my way, I was also charmed with the equally beautiful little songsters, 

 which were constantly pouring out their various notes to proclaim the 

 spring. While this exhilarating season glided on by imperceptible 

 degrees, unfolding its blossoms till they faded into summer, and as the 

 days lengthened, my hours of rising became more and more early. I 

 have often thought that not one half of mankind knew anything of the 

 beauty, the serenity and the stillness of the summer mornings in the 

 coimtry, nor have ever witnessed the rising sun's shining forth upon 

 the new day." 



These visits to his parents were made with the utmost regularity, 



