landers. The company dispersed at any early hour, and when I parted
from BEWICK that night, I parted from a friend.
A few days after this I received another note from him, which I read
hastily, having with me at the moment many persons examining my drawings.
This note having, as I understood it, intimated his desire that I
should go and dine with him that day, I accordingly went; but judge of
my surprise when, on arriving at his house at 5 o'clock, with an appetite
becoming the occasion, I discovered that I had been invited to tea and
not to dinner. However, the mistake was speedily cleared up to the satisfaction
of all parties, and an abundant supply of eatables was placed on
the table. The Reverend WILLIAM TURNER joined us, and the evening
passed delightfully. At first our conversation was desultory and multifarious,
but when the table was removed, BEWICK took his seat by the
fire, and we talked of our more immediate concerns. In due time we
took leave, and returned to our homes, pleased with each other and with
our host.
Having been invited the previous evening to breakfast with BEWICK
at 8, I revisited him at that hour on the 16th April, and found the whole
family so kind and attentive that I felt quite at home. The good gentleman,
after breakfast, soon betook himself to his labours, and began to
shew me, as he laughingly said, how easy it was to cut wood; but I soon
saw that cutting wood in his style and manner was no joke, although to
him it seemed indeed easy. His delicate and beautiful tools were all
made by himself, and I may with truth say that his shop was the only
artist's " shop" that I ever found perfectly clean and tidy. In the course
of the day BEWICK called upon me again, and put down his name on my
list of subscribers in behalf of the Literary and Philosophical Society of
Newcastle. In this, however, his enthusiasm had misled him, for the
learned body for which he took upon himself to act, did not think proper
to ratify the compact.
Another invitation having come to me from Gatehead, I found my
good friend seated in his usual place. His countenance seemed to me to
beam with pleasure as he shook my hand. " I could not bear the idea,"
said he, " of your going off, without telling you, in written words, what
I think of your Birds of America. Here it is in black and white, and
make of it what use you may, if it be of use at all." I put the unsealed
letter in my pocket, and we chatted on subjects connected with natural
history. Now and then he would start and exclaim, " Oh, that I were
young again ! I would go to America too. Hey! what a country it will
be, Mr AUDUBON." I retorted by exclaiming, " Hey ! what a country it
is already, Mr BEWICK !" In the midst of our conversation on birds and
other animals, he drank my health and the peace of all the world in hot
brandy toddy, and I returned the compliment, wishing, no doubt in accordance
with his own sentiments, the health of all our enemies. His
daughters enjoyed the scene, and remarked, that for years, their father
had not been in such a flow of spirits.
I regret that I have not by me at present the letter which this generous
and worthy man gave me that evening, otherwise, for his sake, I
should have presented you with it. It is in careful keeping, however, as a
memorial of a man whose memory is dear to me ; and be assured I regard
it with quite as much pleasure as a manuscript " Synopsis of the Birds
of America," by ALEXANDER WILSON, which that celebrated individual
gave to me at Louisville in Kentucky, more than twenty years ago.
BEWICK'S letter, however, will be presented to you along with many others,
in connection with some strange facts, which I hope may be useful to the
world. We protracted our conversation beyond our usual time of retiring
to rest, and at his earnest request, and much to my satisfaction, I
promised to spend the next evening with him, as it was to be my last at
Newcastle for some time.
On the 19th of the same month I paid him my last visit, at his house.
When we parted, he repeated three times, " God preserve you, God bless
you !" He must have been sensible of the emotion which I felt, and
which he must have read in my looks, although I refrained from speaking
on the occasion.
A few weeks previous to the death of this fervent admirer of nature,
he and his daughters paid me a visit in London. He looked as well as
when I had seen him at Newcastle. Our interview was short but agreeable,
and when he bade adieu, I was certainly far from thinking that it
might be the last. But so it was, for only a very short time had elapsed
when I saw his death announced in the newspapers.
My opinion of this remarkable man is, that he was purely a son of
nature, to whom alone he owed nearly all that characterized him as an
artist and a man. Warm in his affections, of deep feeling, and possessed
of a vigorous imagination, with correct and penetrating observation, he