The Deserted Village. 

 From Poems by Goldsmith and Parnell. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



FIRST VISIT TO LONDON. 



T T AVING been away from his Newcastle business so long, Bewick found 

 a goodly number of orders waiting execution on his return ; but 

 notwithstanding his lengthy sojourn in the north, he was not at all disposed 

 to settle down to work in Northumberland. He got through his engagements 

 as fast as possible, and thus having earned sufficient money to pay his 

 passage to London, he started once more from Newcastle. This was only a 

 month after his arrival from Leith ; and, making for the great metropolis, he 

 landed there on the ist of October, 1776, exactly two years after the 

 expiration of his apprenticeship. 



Here Bewick found many Northumbrian friends who gave him warm 

 welcome. William Gray, the son of Gilbert, whom Bewick so much respected ; 

 Christopher and Philip Gregson, sons of the vicar-teacher at Ovingham ; and 

 Pollard, an old friend and an engraver, the new-comer discovered to be both 

 able and willing to assist him in business and social matters. Through the 



