concerned, his active mind now engaged in a search for some better 'material.' He saw that the continental potteries produced a ware of superior quality, and had, therefore, the command of the English market. If earthenware was to become a staple manufacture in England, to compete with the ceramic productions of the French, it was evident that a better clay must be made use of. He accordingly tested the different earths in the neighbouring countryside, and, after a succession of disappointments, happened upon one which was black before it entered the furnace, but quitted the fiery ordeal a lustrous and beautiful white. This earth contained silica. By mixing silica (in the shape of flints reduced to powder) with the red earth employed in the potteries, he produced a compound which became white after calcination. So far he had won success. His next step was to vitrify the white earthenware with a transparent glaze. Thus he obtained a material equal in purity and clearness to the product of the continental potters, while he placed at the disposal of his country a manufacture of the highest commercial value and most extensive utility. English earthenware is now, indeed, in demand all over the world, and has even beaten out of the French markets the staple of the French artisans. 'Its excellent workmanship, its solidity, the advantage which it possesses of sustaining the action of fire, its fine glaze-impenetrable to acids the beauty and convenience of its form, and the cheapness of its price, have given rise to a commerce so active and universal, that in travelling from Paris to Petersburg, from Amsterdam to the furthest point of Sweden, and from Dunkirk to the extremity of the south of France, one is served at every inn with Wedgwood ware. Spain, Portugal, and Italy are supplied with it, and vessels are loaded with it for the East Indies, the West Indies, and the continent of America.' 3. The successful potter now commenced the manufacture of white stoneware on an extensive scale, and still continuing his earnest efforts at further improvement, soon afterwards introduced a cream-coloured ware, which met with many admirers. To assist him in his laborious investigations, he studied chemistry, and carefully prosecuted a series of nice experiments. Increasing wealth and growing fame brought him into contact with men of science and learning, from whom, like a true learner, he managed to extract much of the information he required. Having manufactured for Queen Charlotte a service for the royal table, the first ever made of English ware, he was appointed the Royal Potter: a title more prized by Wedgwood than all the quarterings of a German escutcheon-and the ware was henceforth designated the Queen's Ware.' While chiefly manufacturing articles of utility, his refined taste did not permit him to neglect the beautiful, and he was constantly labouring to improve the designs and enrich the embellishments of his pottery. He succeeded in producing the most exquisite imitations of Greek, Etruscan, and Egyptian vases, and admirable copies of intaglios, cameos, medallions, or ancient tablets. Works of art, hitherto known only to a few, were thus made familiar to the many. Beauty of form and harmony of colour were actually popularised in England, and we doubt whether the full benefit of Wedgwood's patriotic exertions in this way has ever been properly appreciated. Valuable sets of porcelain were frequently placed in his hands for imitation. The copies were often so finely executed as positively to excel the original. Relics of ancient art, brought by Sir William Hamilton from the exhumed city of Pompeii, were imitated with wonderful accuracy and finish. When the famous Barberini Vase was for sale, Wedgwood, desirous of copying it, competed for its purchase with the Duchess of Portland. For this thing of beauty,' which, as the poet says, is truly a joy for ever,' he bid as high as 1,700 guineas, and only desisted on a promise from the duchess that she would lend it to him for the purpose he required. The duchess, having become the possessor of the vase (which is now in the British Museum) for 1,800 guineas, faithfully kept her word, and Wedgwood produced fifty copies of it, which he sold for 50 guineas each, and yet was a considerable loser by the undertaking. 4. He was always on the look-out for talent which he WEDGWOOD AND FLAXMAN. could make use of, and always ready to pay liberally for its use. Having been informed of Flaxman's originality of genius, he sought the obscure student, and addressed him with his usual directness: 'Well, my lad, they tell me that you are a good draughtsman, and a skilful designer. I'm a manufacturer of pots-name Wedgwood. Now, I want you to design some models for me-nothing fantastic, but simple, tasteful, and accurate in drawing. I'll pay you well. Do you think the work beneath you?' By no means, sir,' rejoined the young sculptor, indeed, the work is quite to my taste. Give me a few days. Then call again, and you I will be able to see what I can do.' 'That's right-work away. Mind, I am in want of them at once. They are for pots of all kinds-teapots, jugs, teacups, and saucers. But, especially, I want designs for a table-service. Begin with that. I mean to supply one for the royal table. Now, think of that, young man. What you design is meant for the eyes of royalty! I assure you,' replied the hopeful sculptor. 'I will do my best, sir, He did his best, and Flaxman's best was scarce inferior to the accomplishments of Greek Art. From Homer, and Virgil; from the fantastic mythology of the Old World ; from the spirit-stirring chronicles of Ancient History; from the sublime inspiration of Scripture; the young artist obtained the subjects which he modelled in low reliefsmall groups and single figures of exquisite simplicity and grace. For examples of form he studied the Etruscan vases, or the Greek outlines furnished in Stuart's elaborate work on 'Athens,' and these he adorned with the rich conceptions of his own classic imagination. Wedgwood, who possessed a true artistic sympathy with the pure and beautiful, was delighted with the results of Flaxman's labours, and this connection between them lasted for many years to their mutual benefit, as well as to the great advantage of the million,' who were thus provided, at a cheap rate, with examples of form and colour, with works of fancy and imagination, which insensibly educated their taste, and cultivated their judgment. For no soul can be utterly dead to the influence of the Beautiful, or can live เ 54 A NATIONAL BENEFACTOR. in its presence without becoming purer and happier; without storing up sweet memories and precious fancies for its comfort when the cloud and the shadow fall upon it. A thing of beauty is a joy for ever; -KEATS. 5. By efforts such as these, directed by a taste so judicious and a liberality so princely, Wedgwood elevated the manufacture of pottery from a position of the meanest character to the level of the great staples of England. And instead of importing for our own use the productions of the Continental potteries, we soon obtained the command of the European markets, and supplied them with Wedgwood ware in the face of heavy protective duties. Our potters now dare to compete with the skilled artisans of the native land of porcelain. Their jugs and cups, and their basins and dishes, supply the wants of the American backwoodsman, as well as of the Australian sheep-farmer. You will find them in the cafés of Paris, the huts of Switzerland, and the casas of Mexico. In thirty years after the Burslem potter began his noble labours, the number of hands directly employed in the manufacture rose to 20,000, and probably it now exceeds a quarter of a million! Was not Josiah Wedgwood a benefactor to his country? Is not such a man worthy of the love and admiration of posterity? 6. Wedgwood's life was one of zealous devotion to the manufacture he may be said to have created. By welldirected experiments he discovered the long-lost secret of the Etruscans, the art of painting on articles of porcelain or earthenware. He invented the pyrometer, to ascertain the gradations of heat in a furnace. Mainly through his support and exertions, the Trent and Mersey canal was constructed, which completed the navigable communication between the east and west coasts of the island, and facilitated access to, and transit from, the pottery district. Still further to promote the latter object, he made, at his own expense, an excellent turnpike road ten miles in length, traversing the principal potteries; and always anxious to ensure the comfort and happiness of his work THE LESSONS OF A LIFE. 55 people, he built a village of commodious cottages, which he called Etruria, and in its neighbourhood established his principal factories. After a life of successful industry and honourable perseverance, rich in the love and esteem of his countrymen, Josiah Wedgwood passed away from the world, of which such men as he are verily the savour and vitality, on January 3, 1795, in his sixty-sixth year, leaving an immense fortune as the visible evidence of his industry, perseverance, and prudent enterprise. 7. The mantle of Wedgwood fell worthily upon the late Mr. HERBERT MINTON, who, though neither an inventor nor a discoverer, possessed remarkable powers of businessorganisation, a ceaseless energy, and an indomitable activity. He was a man whom difficulties could not weary, nor obstacles discourage. His steady aim in life was the development of the manufacture he had adopted, and he concentrated all his faculties upon the successful achievement of this particular object. 8. A brief sketch of his life and career is afforded by Mr. Smiles, in his admirable volume on Self Help,' and as an illustration of the maxim which we are endeavouring in these pages to enforce, may here be fitly quoted. 9. 'He possessed a clear head, a strong body, rare powers of observation, and great endurance; he was, besides, possessed by that pride and love of his calling without which so much perseverance and devotion to it could scarcely have been looked for. Withal he was kindly and genial, commanding hosts of friends and cooperators; his rivals themselves regarding him with admiration, and looking up to him as the prince of his order. Like Wedgwood, he employed first-rate artists-painters in enamel, sculptors, designers of flowers and figures-and sparing neither pains nor expense in securing the best workmen, whether English or foreign. The talents of the men employed by him were carefully discriminated and duly recognised, and merit felt stimulated by the hope of promotion and reward. The result soon was, that articles of taste, which had formerly been of altogether exceptional |