THOMAS BEWICK. 



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hat, and the rain descends in torrents on his bald head ; the guiding rail 

 of the bridge is broken, and the old man steps along on the edge of the 

 wood, dragged by his miserable dog. At one time he has seen better days — 

 perhaps he had been in the army, and lost his eyesight in his country's 

 service ; now he is led by a dog, is the sport of wind and rain, and it 

 will be little short of a miracle if he reaches the other side in safety. 

 In another vignette a mad dog is chased by some countrymen armed with 

 pitchforks and sticks; right in the dog's path a helpless old woman comes 

 along unconscious of her danger, and like the novels which purposely permit 

 the most exciting points "to be continued in our next," Bewick leaves the 

 result to the imagination. 



At page 364 a youth holds a cat while the rat he is letting loose obtains 

 a fair start — stag-hunting on a small scale ; farther on an old man, accom- 

 panied by a cur dog, drives a sow to market, the waywardness of the sow 

 held in by a leash. In an inappropriate place — at page 375 — the cut of two 

 boys and an ass is inserted ; in other editions it comes after the mule. This 

 design suggests the likelihood of the gallows being the ultimate portion 

 of the young scapegraces who belabour the immovable ass with all their 

 strength. After a "Bewick bit" — "Among the Ruins" — -there is a design 

 of a man leaping across a stream by a long pole, showing that one bold 

 effort will sometimes overcome what otherwise seems impossible. Another, 

 desiring to cross a half-frozen ford, sends his dog in advance to try the ice 

 before he himself ventures on. A monkey shaving, and a very pretty 

 sketch of a ruined castle (page 426), bring us to the largest vignette 

 in the volume, that of a wolf falling into a trap set with a lamb. This 

 is a complete pictorial representation of the subject, and in all its details 

 is thoughtfully and correctly carried out. The expectation of the wolf to 

 catch a prize has scarcely left its face as it falls into the deftly concealed trap ; 

 the action of the disappointed wolf is admirable, and the bleating of the 

 lamb tells how the hungry animal had been led to the spot. The engraving 



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