diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb
index b20da51..952b884 100755
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/base.rb
@@ -566,15 +566,39 @@ module ActiveRecord #:nodoc:
       end
 
       # A convenience wrapper for <tt>find(:first, *args)</tt>. You can pass in all the
-      # same arguments to this method as you can to <tt>find(:first)</tt>.
+      # same arguments to this method as you can to <tt>find(:first)</tt>  If the first
+      # argument is an integer an array of the first n records will be returned.
+      #
+      # ==== Examples
+      #
+      # Person.first                                                  # Equivalent to Person.find(:first)
+      # Person.first(:conditions => [ "user_name = ?", user_name])
+      # Person.first(5)                                               # Equivalent to Person.find(:all, :limit => 5)
+      # Person.first(5, :conditions => [ "user_name = ?", user_name])
       def first(*args)
-        find(:first, *args)
+        if args.first.kind_of?(Integer)
+          find(:all, (args[1] || {}).merge(:limit => args.first))
+        else
+          find(:first, *args)
+        end
       end
 
-      # A convenience wrapper for <tt>find(:last, *args)</tt>. You can pass in all the
-      # same arguments to this method as you can to <tt>find(:last)</tt>.
+      # A convenience wrapper for <tt>find(:first, *args)</tt>. You can pass in all the
+      # same arguments to this method as you can to <tt>find(:first)</tt>  If the first
+      # argument is an integer an array of the last n records will be returned.
+      #
+      # ==== Examples
+      #
+      # Person.last                                                  # Equivalent to Person.find(:last)
+      # Person.last(:conditions => [ "user_name = ?", user_name])
+      # Person.last(5)                                               # Equivalent to Person.find(:all, :limit => 5, :order => 'ID desc').reverse!
+      # Person.last(5, :conditions => [ "user_name = ?", user_name])
       def last(*args)
-        find(:last, *args)
+        if args.first.kind_of?(Integer)
+          find(:all, reverse_order_in_options(args[1] || {}).merge(:limit => args.first)).reverse!
+        else
+          find(:last, *args)
+        end
       end
 
       # This is an alias for find(:all).  You can pass in all the same arguments to this method as you can
@@ -1396,6 +1420,10 @@ module ActiveRecord #:nodoc:
         end
 
         def find_last(options)
+          find_initial(reverse_order_in_options(options))
+        end
+
+        def reverse_order_in_options(options)
           order = options[:order]
 
           if order
@@ -1408,8 +1436,7 @@ module ActiveRecord #:nodoc:
             scoped_order = reverse_sql_order(scope(:find, :order))
             scoped_methods.select { |s| s[:find].update(:order => scoped_order) }
           end
-
-          find_initial(options.merge({ :order => order }))
+          options.merge({ :order => order }) 
         end
 
         def reverse_sql_order(order_query)
diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/named_scope.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/named_scope.rb
index 83043c2..1fbae87 100644
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/named_scope.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/named_scope.rb
@@ -121,7 +121,9 @@ module ActiveRecord
       end
 
       def first(*args)
-        if args.first.kind_of?(Integer) || (@found && !args.first.kind_of?(Hash))
+        if args.first.kind_of?(Integer) && !@found
+          find(:all, (args[1] || {}).merge(:limit => args.first))
+        elsif args.first.kind_of?(Integer) || (@found && !args.first.kind_of?(Hash))
           proxy_found.first(*args)
         else
           find(:first, *args)
@@ -129,7 +131,9 @@ module ActiveRecord
       end
 
       def last(*args)
-        if args.first.kind_of?(Integer) || (@found && !args.first.kind_of?(Hash))
+        if args.first.kind_of?(Integer) && !@found
+          find(:all, reverse_order_in_options({:order => proxy_options.delete(:order)}.merge(args[1] || {})).merge(:limit => args.first)).reverse!
+        elsif args.first.kind_of?(Integer) || (@found && !args.first.kind_of?(Hash))
           proxy_found.last(*args)
         else
           find(:last, *args)
diff --git a/activerecord/test/cases/base_test.rb b/activerecord/test/cases/base_test.rb
index aebcca6..1dde5bf 100644
--- a/activerecord/test/cases/base_test.rb
+++ b/activerecord/test/cases/base_test.rb
@@ -1718,6 +1718,12 @@ class BasicsTest < ActiveRecord::TestCase
 
   def test_last
     assert_equal Developer.find(:first, :order => 'id desc'), Developer.last
+    assert_equal Developer.find(:all, :order => 'id desc', :limit => 2), Developer.last(2)
+  end
+
+  def test_first
+    assert_equal Developer.find(:first, :order => 'id asc'), Developer.first
+    assert_equal Developer.find(:all, :order => 'id asc', :limit => 2), Developer.first(2)
   end
 
   def test_all_with_conditions
diff --git a/activerecord/test/cases/named_scope_test.rb b/activerecord/test/cases/named_scope_test.rb
index 444debd..9059d54 100644
--- a/activerecord/test/cases/named_scope_test.rb
+++ b/activerecord/test/cases/named_scope_test.rb
@@ -169,6 +169,19 @@ class NamedScopeTest < ActiveRecord::TestCase
     assert_equal Topic.base.last(2), Topic.base.to_a.last(2)
   end
 
+  def test_first_and_last_with_integer_uses_query_with_limit_rather_than_loading_all
+    assert_queries(2) do
+      base = Topic.base
+      base.first(2)
+      base.first(3)
+    end
+    assert_queries(2) do
+      base = Topic.base
+      base.last(2)
+      base.last(3)
+    end
+  end
+
   def test_first_and_last_should_not_use_query_when_results_are_loaded
     topics = Topic.base
     topics.reload # force load