But even there he could not rest! The next morning it was discovered that the body of Sighmon Dumps had been stolen by resurrection men!--_Sharpe's Mag._
Who says that Maria Gray is dead, And that I in this world can see her never? Who says she is laid in her cold death-bed, The prey of the grave and of death for ever? Ah! they know little of my dear maid, Or kindness of her spirit's giver! For every night she is by my side, By the morning bower, or the moonlight river.
Maria was bonny when she was here, When flesh and blood was her mortal dwelling; Her smile was sweet, and her mind was clear, And her form all human forms excelling. But O! if they saw Maria now, With her looks of pathos and of feeling, They would see a cherub's radiant brow, To ravish'd mortal eyes unveiling.
The rose is the fairest of earthly flowers-- It is all of beauty and of sweetness-- So my dear maid, in the heavenly bowers, Excels in beauty and in meetness. She has kiss'd my cheek, she has komb'd my hair, And made a breast of heaven my pillow, And promised her God to take me there, Before the leaf falls from the willow.
Farewell, ye homes of living men! I have no relish for your pleasures-- In the human face I nothing ken That with my spirit's yearning measures. I long for onward bliss to be, A day of joy, a brighter morrow; And from this bondage to be free, Farewell thou world of sin and sorrow!
By a Correspondent of the _Magazine of Natural History_.
Bewick's first tendency to drawing was noticed by his chalking the floors and grave-stones with all manner of fantastic figures, and by sketching the outline of any known character of the village, dogs, or horses, which were instantly recognised as faithful portraits. The halfpence he got were always laid out in chalk or coarse pencils; with which, when taken to church, he scrawled over the ledges of the bench ludicrous caricatures of the parson, clerk, and the more prominent of the congregation. These boards are now in the possession of the Duke of Northumberland, by whom they were replaced; and when his chalk was exhausted, he resorted to a pin or a nail as a substitute. In consequence of this propensity to drawing, some liberal people, of whom he says, there were many in Newcastle, got him bound apprentice to a Mr. Bielby, an engraver on copper and brass. During this period he walked most Sundays to Ovingham (ten miles,) to see his parents; and, if the Tyne was low, crossed it on stilts; but, if high-flowing, hollaed across to inquire their health, and returned. This infant genius (but it was the infant Hercules struggling with the snakes) was bound down by his master to cut clock-faces and door-knockers--ay, clock-faces and door-knockers!--and he actually showed me several in the streets of Newcastle he had cut. At this time he was employed by Bielby to cut on wood the blocks for Dr. Hutton's great work on _Mensuration_. Hutton was then a schoolmaster at Newcastle (1770.)