A Memoir of Thomas Bewick / Written by himself

Chapter 31: FINAL.

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About This Book

The writer recounts a rural childhood and formative experiences learning to observe and depict nature, describing youthful chores, local customs, and early artistic attempts. He narrates his training in a workshop setting, the development of skill in wood engraving and design, and work producing detailed vignettes and natural-history cuts, including plates of fish; throughout he interweaves practical descriptions of craft, portraits of acquaintances and scenes of country and coastal life, personal anecdotes, and reflective passages on art, industry, and the natural world.

FINAL.

In offering these my sentiments and opinions, derived from the observations I have made in my passage through life, I have never intended to give offence to good men. With these sentiments some may be pleased and others displeased, but, conscious of the rectitude of my intentions, I do not covet the praises of the one nor fear the censures of the other. It is at another tribunal that I, as well as all other men, are to account for their conduct.

THOMAS BEWICK

gently sighed away his last breath

at half-past one

on the morning of the

8th November, 1828.