THOMA S BE WICK. 



49 



that if they bought their seals from him they got superior goods to what 

 Beilby himself could supply. The Jew paid Beilby three shillings and six- 

 pence for what he charged twelve and sixpence, and he sold almost as many 

 as Beilby' s and Bewick's cunning hands could engrave, yet Beilby found it 

 no easy matter to sell the same things in his own shop at five shillings. 

 Hymen, in fact, went on until he had monopolized the entire business, and 

 Beilby had cause to complain that not a few of his former customers went 

 past him, and, by praising his rival's so-called work, even contrived to lessen 

 the little business he did in this way. "Our friend Isaac," says Bewick, 

 " continued long uninterruptedly thus to carry all before him, till some of our 

 old customers became irritated at him and .... took great pains to open 

 out and expose the business;" and he goes on with the reflection that he 

 had " often seen in London ' the pale artist ply his sickly trade ' to keep 

 in affluence such managing, money-making, pretended artists as Isaac 

 Hymen ; and this must continue to be the case so long as gentlemen will 

 not go themselves to the fountain-head, and be at the pains to encourage 

 merit." 



Hymen the Jew saw how much "good stuff" there was in Beilby' s 

 journeyman (" I have no notion of a truly great man that could not be all 

 sorts of men," says Carlyle), so he offered him double the wages he was 

 receiving to go to canvass for orders for jewellery, and also, no doubt, to 

 engrave the seals ; but Bewick had another "notion," and remained for the 

 time in Newcastle with his single guinea a week. 



Bewick spent the remainder of the year, 1775, at Cherryburn, doing 

 piece-work both for Beilby and for Angus, the Newcastle publisher. He 

 usually went to Newcastle once or twice a week, and, returning, executed the 

 orders then given, which consisted of various "jobs," as well as wood 

 engraving. Much of his time was also spent in roving about the country, 

 visiting his neighbours. " This was a time of great enjoyment," he says, 

 " for the charms of the country were highly relished by me, and after so long 



H 



