50 
MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 
life represented before, from the glutton who pre- 
cedes the Great Black-backed Gull, to the youngsters 
flying their kite, the disappointed sportsman who, 
by shooting a magpie, has lost a woodcoc k, the horse 
endeavouring to reach the water, the bull roaring 
near the style, or the poor beggar attacked by the 
rich man’s mastiff. As you turn each successive 
leaf, from beginning to end of his admirable books, 
scenes calculated to excite your admiration every- 
where present themselves. Assuredly you will agree 
with me in thinking that in his peculiar path none 
has equalled him. There may be men now, or some 
may in after years appear, whose works may in some 
respects rival or even excel his, but not the less must 
Thomas Bewick of Newcastle-on-Tyne be considered 
in the art of engraving on wood what Linnaeus will 
ever be in natural history, though not the founder, 
yet the enlightened improver and illustrious pro- 
moter.” 
It was indeed hoped that more might have been 
learned of Bewick from his own pen ; for it is known 
that he had, to fill up the vacant evenings of the last 
two years of his life, devoted his attention to writing 
a memoir of himself, for which he had prepared por- 
traits and profiles of several of his friends, together 
