JOSIAH

WEDGWOOD

SMILES

o

.

JOSIAH WEDGWOOD, F.R.S.

JOSIAH
WEDGWOOD

RR.S.

HIS PERSONAL HISTOEY

BY SAMUEL SMILES, LL.D.

u

Author of ' Lives of the Engineers,' ' Self- Help,' ' Character,' etc.

Never hasting, never resting,
With a firm and joyous heart,

Ever onward slowly tending,
Acting, aye, a brave man's part.

Undepressed by seeming failure,

Undated by success ;
Heights attained, revealing higher,

Onward, upward, ever press.

LONDON
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET

1894

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PREFACE

SEVERAL lives of Josiah Wedgwood have already been
published, and it is therefore necessary to give an apology
for the appearance of the present volume.

Mr. Charles T. Gatty had been requested by the
Wedgwood family to undertake the composition of the
life of their illustrious ancestor; but, after numerous
interruptions, he was unable to proceed with the work.
I had already made some progress with a popular Life
of Wedgwood, and when he found that I was engaged
upon it, he kindly lent me the materials derived direct
from the Wedgwood family manuscripts.

These documents, I found, consisted for the most
part of materials which had not been investigated by
former biographers. Many of them were calculated to
throw a new light upon the personal history of the
Master Potter of Staffordshire. They show how he
converted a rude art into one of the most important
articles of British Commerce. They contain his diaries,

M181674

VI

Josiah Wedgwood

commonplace books, and experiments 011 clays, kilns,
and colours.

They show his untiring industry and enterprise in
all that he undertook during his active business life.
They continue, in many shapes and forms, from 1759 to
1794, — giving way at the end to that last recipe of all :
"Dr. Darwin's prescription for Mr. Wedgwood/' dated
a few weeks before Mr. Wedgwood's death.

The family manuscripts contain much of Wedg-
wood's correspondence with his wife, his children, his
artists, his agents, and his partners. We have invoices,
statements of accounts, extracts from scientific journals,
notes of experiments on air, minerals, coals, clays,
colours, and glass ; and mixed with these are notes on
building, canal navigation, fossils, gardening, farriery,
turnpikes, thermometers, vases, travels, and all manner
of subjects.

Of his many letters and manuscripts, no small
portion was obtained from Etruria many years ago,
being doubtless regarded as no better than waste paper.
Some of these got into the possession of Joseph Mayer,
silversmith and antiquary, and were bequeathed by him,
with his collection of Wedgwood pottery, to the Free
Public Museum in the city of Liverpool.

Through the kindness of the Chairman of the Mayer
Collection, I was permitted to take home with me the

Preface vii

letters, to examine them at my leisure. I found many
letters of Wedgwood, but none of Bentley, his most
intimate friend and correspondent. Wedgwood thought
so much of Bentley's letters, that he had them bound
into a volume, that he might read them at his leisure.
The probability is that they are still in existence, but
to the present time they are not forthcoming. At the
same time it must be said, that apart from his work as
a partner and salesman in London, Bentley had little to
do with the great enterprises of Wedgwood.

I have also been enabled, through the kindness of
Miss Goddard, of Little Ashton, near Sutton Lichfield,
to insert a number of letters which she obtained from a
selection of the Wedgwood manuscripts. Some of these
are important, more particularly as regards his discovery
of the Thermometer or Pyrometer for testing the highest
degrees of heat, in respect of which Wedgwood was
elected a member of the Eoyal Society.

I have not inserted any Illustrations of Wedgwood's
works. These have already been published by Llewellyn
Jewitt, Miss Meteyard, Professor Church, and others.
But the most splendid illustrations, which are about to
be published, are those by Mr. Quaritch, on account of
Frederick Eathbone, a leading expert in Wedgwood's
works. These have been executed by M. F. Appel of
Paris, and leave nothing to be desired. The pieces to

viii Josiah Wedgwood

be illustrated will be vases, plaques, medallions, portraits,
intaglios, and cameos, produced by Wedgwood between
1760 and 1795.

I conclude this brief preface by quoting the words
which Novalis employed when comparing the works of
Goethe with those of Wedgwood : " Goethe is truly a
practical poet. He is in his works what the Englishman
is in his wares, perfectly simple, neat, fit, and durable.
He has played in the German world of literature the
same part that Wedgwood has played in the English
world of art."

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

PAGE

JOSIAH WEDGWOOD — BIRTH AND EDUCATION . .1

CHAPTER II

THE WEDGWOOD FAMILY ' . • . • - ^

CHAPTER III

JOSIAH WEDGWOOD LEARNS HIS TRADE . 20

CHAPTER IV

PARTNERSHIP WITH HARRISON AND WHIELDON . . 31

CHAPTER V

WEDGWOOD BEGINS BUSINESS FOR HIMSELF . .40

CHAPTER VI

IMPROVEMENT OF WARE— FRIENDSHIP WITH BENTLEY . 54

Josiah Wedgwood

CHAPTER VII

PAGE:

WEDGWOOD'S MARRIAGE. 64

CHAPTER VIII

WEDGWOOD APPOINTED QUEEN'S POTTER . . . 72

CHAPTER IX

FOUNDING OF ETRURIA — PARTNERSHIP WITH BENTLEY . 84

CHAPTER X
ROADS AND CANALS THROUGH STAFFORDSHIRE . . 91

CHAPTER XI

IMPROVEMENT OF MODELS — CHEMISTRY . . . 105

CHAPTER XII

AMPUTATION OF WEDGWOOD'S RIGHT LEG . .118

CHAPTER XIII

WEDGWOOD'S ARTISTIC WORK ... . 129-

CHAPTER XIV
PORTRAITS, MEDALLIONS, ARTISTIC WORK . . .148.

Contents

CHAPTER XV

PAGE

GROW AN CLAY — KAOLIN — BOTTGHER — COOKWORTHY — MANU-
FACTURE OF PORCELAIN . . . .167

CHAPTER XVI

WEDGWOOD'S JOURNEY INTO CORNWALL . . . 180

CHAPTER XVII
WEDGWOOD AND FLAXMAX . . . .195

CHAPTER XVIII
WEDGWOOD AT WORK AGAIN — DEATH OF BENTLEY . . 228

CHAPTER XIX
WEDGWOOD'S PYROMETER OR THERMOMETER . . 243

CHAPTER XX

THE BARBERINI OR PORTLAND VASE .... 259

CHAPTER XXI

WEDGWOOD'S PERSONAL HISTORY — His SONS' EDUCATION . 273

CHAPTER XXII

CHARACTER OF WEDGWOOD 289

CHAPTEE I

JOSIAH WEDGWOOD — BIRTH AND EDUCATION

JOSIAH WEDGWOOD was born in the house adjoining the
Churchyard Works at Burslem, Staffordshire, in 1730.
The actual date of his birth is not known; but his
baptism is recorded in the parish register of St. John's,
Burslem, in these words : — " Josiah, son of Thomas and
Mary Wedgwood, baptized 12th July 1730." 1

Josiah's father was a potter, like his forefathers before
him. He possessed a small estate, including a pottery,
adjoining the Burslem Churchyard. His mother's
maiden name was Mary Stringer, the daughter, it is
said, of a nonconformist minister. She was a small and
delicately organised woman, quick and sensible, and
kindly in her disposition.

Thomas and Mary Wedgwood had thirteen children
in all — seven sons and six daughters. Josiah was the

1 It is carved on his monument at Stoke-upon-Trent that he was
"born in August 1730"; but this must be a mistake, as he was
baptized in the previous month.

B

Josiah Wedgwood

CHAP.

youngest of the family. In that respect he resembled
his contemporary Sir Eichard Arkwright, who was the
youngest of thirteen children.

From the year 1710 to 1715, Bursleni was the
principal seat of the pottery manufacture in Stafford-
shire. There were few potworks anywhere else in that
county. Of the fifty small potters in Burslem, many
were named Wedgwood. They and their ancestors had
been manufacturers of earthenware for more than two
hundred years.

Burslem used to be called the Butter Pottery,
meaning the place where butter pots were principally
made. The other earthenware produced in Burslem
was for the most part coarse in texture, clumsy in
design, and very liable to fracture; yet it was not
totally devoid of taste, either in form or ornament.

It may also be mentioned that at the beginning of
the eighteenth century there were seven small potters
at Hanley (now a place of some 40,000 inhabitants) ;
but there was only one horse and one mule in the
hamlet. There was neither cart nor carriage of any
kind in Hanley, the roads being almost impassable for
even pack-horses. The coals used in the place were
carried on men's or women's backs. There were only
two houses at Stoke — Ward's and Poulson's — but no
potworks as yet existed there.

Very little is known of Josiah's childhood. There
are, unfortunately, no family letters or journals of the
period to refer to ; and biographical material of any

f

j *

Birth and Education

description is not to be depended on. There have indeed
been traditions and surmises printed from time to time,
but these are not to be relied upon for accuracy.

It was, on the whole, a good thing for Josiah that he
was one of a numerous family. On entering life he
found a little world of boys and girls about him. The
child in a large family receives a kind of social educa-
tion by contact with his brothers and sisters. The
little corners of his temperament are rubbed off and
smoothed down, as with boys in a public school. If
he wishes to pass comfortably through life, he finds
that he must give and take, especially when, like Josiah,
he has to make his own way in the world.

Not much is recorded about his boyhood. He
played about the fields and strips of waste ground
near the Churchyard Works. There were occasionally
pack-horses at the pottery waiting for their loads of
ware. As riding was one of his early ambitions, he
occasionally bestrode the pack-horses, held on by the
willing packmen.

The mother had of course plenty to do in bringing
up such a "long family." She had to feed, to
clothe, and maintain them. But she never was found
wanting. She was, as we have said, lively, quick,
and sensible, with a soul full of kindness. She was
anything but selfish or hardened by the number of her
children. With a heart opened to them all, young as well
as old, she proved herself one of the best of mothers.
She taught her children the value of industry; for,

4 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

indeed, the greater part of them had little else to look
forward to; together with those good rules of life —
integrity, self-help, self-restraint, and perseverance.

Little is known about the school education of her
youngest son. When able to toddle about, Josiah
was sent to a dame's school to learn his A.B.C. This
was at that time the only school in Burslem, and he
was sent there more to keep him out of the way of the
other children, or perhaps out of mischief, than for any
learning he received.

The local historian, Simeon Shaw, says that scarcely
any person in Burslem learned more than reading and
writing until about 1750; when some individuals en-
dowed the free school for instructing young persons to
read the Bible, write a fair hand, and know the primary
rules of arithmetic. Josiah's early education was thus
limited to reading and writing.

When seven years old he was sent across the moors
to a school at Newcastle-under-Lyme, kept by a Mr.
Blunt. The school was about three and a half miles from
Burslem, and in fine weather his walks across the fields
and commons were joyous and healthful. Among his
schoolfellows were several who afterwards achieved
considerable distinction ; though none proved so great
as Wedgwood himself.

He remained, however, only a short time at that
school. He was taken away at his father's death,
which occurred in June 1739, when Josiah was only
nine years old. All that he had learned up to this time

Birth and Education

were the beginnings of reading, writing, and arithmetic.
The rest of his knowledge and learning he accomplished
by himself. Like many men of action and enterprise,
like Brindley and Stephenson, he was, for the most
part, his own educator.

Josiah's father, Thomas Wedgwood, did not leave
much money or property behind him. By his will,
dated 26th June 1739, he left to his eldest son Thomas
the Churchyard Pottery, and all his real estate, with a
provision for his wife for her maintenance and "the
proper bringing up of her younger children." Twenty
pounds were to be paid to six of them on their reaching
twenty years of age. The eldest daughter Ann was
omitted, from which it may be inferred that she had
done something displeasing to her father ; and he could
not forgive her, even in his dying hours.

Josiah was included amongst those who were to
receive twenty pounds on his coming of age ; and this
was the entire capital on which he began his industrial
and artistic career. As he himself afterwards said of
his fortunes : " I myself began at the lowest round
of the ladder."

To recur again to Josiah's early education. Mr.
Leslie, afterwards Sir John Leslie, Professor of Natural
Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh, was, in the
early part of his career, the tutor of Wedgwood's eldest
sons. He knew much of the history of the proprietor of
Etruria, and after his death, collected materials for his
biography. He says that Wedgwood's early education

6 Josiah Wedgwood

CHAP. I

was confined to the usual routine of a country school,
where he learnt no language but his own, and that
imperfectly. Although deprived of the advantage of a
liberal education, by diligence and perseverance he found
his own way to useful knowledge and the rightful
application of it.

Mr. Leslie records that Josiah himself attributed
much of his success in after life to the opportunity
which was given him during a long illness, to repair, by
reading, the deficiencies of his mental training. His
anxiety to accomplish this end as he grew up, and
also the urgent way in which he advised his children
to gain all the knowledge they could in their early life,
show how keenly he felt the disadvantages from which
he himself had suffered.

The manner in which Josiah accomplished not
only his own but his children's education, will be found
set forth in the following chapters.

CHAPTEE II

THE WEDGWOOD FAMILY

So numerous are the Wedgwoods in Staffordshire, that
they might almost be described as a clan. They
resided principally in Burslem and the neighbour-
hood; but they spread from thence into Yorkshire,
Cheshire, Cumberland, Westmoreland, and other
counties, where many of them continued to work at the
pottery trade.

The surname of Wedgwood half fills the parish
registers of Burslem in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries. It is said that one-third of the inhabitants of
the parish then bore the name. According to old
deeds and charters, the first Wedgwood resided at a
place called Weggewood, a hamlet in Staffordshire,
about four miles west of Newcastle-under-Lyme. As
far back as 1370, in the 13th of Edward III., Thomas
de Weggewood was frank pledge, or head borough of
the hamlet of Weggewood.

The family accumulated property, not only by their
industry, but partly by their marriages to ladies of

8 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

distinction. In 1470, John Wedgwood married Mary,
the daughter and heiress of John Shaw, and thus
possessed the estate of Harracles, in the parish of
Norton, near Leek. The property was inherited by the
elder branch of their descendants, which, for want of
issue, shortly became extinct.

The second branch of the family removed to Burslem ;
and the first of them we find mentioned is Gilbert
Wedgwood, who about the year 1600 married Margaret,
daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Burslem, Esq. ; and
by her he had Burslem Wedgwood and Thomas Wedg-
wood.

Thomas, the second surviving son of Gilbert and
Margaret, was a man of considerable property. He
owned a large part of Burslem, including three or
four potworks. He married Margaret Shaw, and had
by her a family of several sons and daughters. He died
in 1679. Thomas was the ancestor of the families
known as the "Overhouse Wedgwoods" and the "Church-
yard Wedgwoods " ; the latter were so called because
their potworks were close to the Burslem Churchyard.

Another son of Gilbert Wedgwood and Margaret
Shaw married in 1684 Mary Leigh, another small
proprietress. They had four sons and five daughters.
The eldest son Thomas inherited from his father the
Churchyard potworks. On arriving at maturity, he
married Mary Stringer, by whom he had thirteen
children, seven sons and six daughters. Josiah, the
great potter, was the youngest of the family.

The Wedgwood Family

To return to the origin of the Wedgwoods as
potters. We find that Gilbert Wedgwood settled at
Burslem in 1612, and became the ancestor of a long
line of potters. He manufactured most of the varieties
of earthenware in ordinary use. The ware was of a
common description, mostly butter- pots, basins, jugs,
porringers, and such like. Timber or wooden ware,
for spoons and dishes, continued to be used.

The best earthenware was imported from abroad,
mostly from Delft in Holland. The Staffordshire potters
tried to imitate the foreigners, and eventually succeeded.
Before long they equalled them, and obtained part
possession of the home market. Delft ware was manu-
factured in Burslem towards the end of the seventeenth
century. In 1691, one John Wedgwood made a Puzzle-
Jug in the style of Delft ware. It was called a
Puzzle-Jug, because it was so contrived with perfora-
tions in various parts of the jug, that it was almost
impossible to drink from it without spilling a portion.
There were imprinted on it the following lines : —

Here, gentlemen, come try your skill,
I'll hold a wager, if you will,
That you don't drink the liquor all,
Without you spill, or let some fall.

The Wedgwoods continued to be potters, and their
numbers in Burslem increased. At the same time
they did not subsist entirely by the consumption of
their pottery ware. One of them, Dr. Thomas Wedg-
wood, at the end of the seventeenth century, combined

io Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

farming with potmaking. His son, of the same name,
resided at the "Bed Lyon," and was an innkeeper as
well as a potter, though whence the title of doctor was
derived, we do not know.

As the profits of potters were then very small, so
were the wages of their workmen. Wedgwood's grand-
father had, in 1*715, three workmen, to whom he paid
four shillings a week, and three others to whom he paid
six shillings a week.

Apprentices were still more poorly paid. Aaron
Wood was apprenticed to Dr. Thomas Wedgwood in
1731. During the first three years of his apprentice-
ship he was paid one shilling weekly. During the
next three years he was paid one shilling and sixpence
weekly ; and in the last and seventh year he was paid
four shillings weekly. Besides his wages, Aaron Wood
had annually a pair of new shoes. When Aaron's
apprenticeship expired, he was engaged for five years as
a journeyman at five shillings a week.

Dr. Thomas Wedgwood junior, the innkeeper, did
something to improve the manufacture of pottery.
Besides manufacturing imitation agates, marbles, and
coffee and tea pots, he eventually succeeded in pro-
ducing a pure white stoneware. His workmen also
made baking dishes, milkpans, pots, jugs, porringers,
pitchers, and other sorts of crockery.

The chief hindrance to the expansion of the trade of
Burslem and the neighbourhood was the horrible state
of the roads and byways. At the beginning of last

ii The Wedgwood Family 1 1

century Burslem was a poor struggling little village
of thatched houses. When the Kev. Mr. Middleton,
incumbent of Stone, was enforcing upon his hearers the
duty of humility, he said they might be compared to
so many sparrows, as all of them had been hatched
under the thatch. The Big House, with the adjacent
earthenware manufactory, erected by Thomas and
John Wedgwood in 1750, was the only building in
Burslem covered with slates.

Hanley, Shelton, Lane, and Stoke were of still less
importance than Burslem. Longport did not exist until
the construction of the Trent and Mersey Canal. The
original potters scattered themselves over the districts
in which clay, wood, and coal were found. The primi-
tive pottery works were widely spread over an area of
some ten miles in extent.

The houses in which the families of the workers
lived were only thatched hovels, sometimes covered
with mud. The midden was a conspicuous object before
every door. In many places there were mounds of
ashes and shard-rucks, consisting of broken pots and
spoilt earthenware. Beside them were the hollows
from which the potters had dug their clay. These
were usually filled with stagnant water. Everything
was coarse, rude, and unwholesome.

Yet alehouses abounded, for the people were greatly
given to drink. As an excuse, it may be said that the
earthenware was usually sold in the public -houses.
The potters had their sports too — miserable remnants

12 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

of " Merry England " ! In the centre of Burslem was a
high Maypole, at the place where the Town Hall now
stands, around which the jolly potters held their
festivals. They had many so-called amusements —
cock -throwing, goose -riding, bull and bear baiting.
Bull-baiting was continued down to about sixty years
since, Each pottery had its special wake, which was
usually a saturnalia of drunkenness.

The morals and manners of the people were of
course brutal and vicious. When John Wesley visited
the potteries about the middle of last century a crowd
of people assembled to laugh and jeer at him, and
proceeded to pelt him with mud. The following is
from his diary, on the 8th of March 1760 : —

" Went from Wolverhampton to Burslem, a scattered
town on the top of a hill, inhabited almost entirely by
potters, a multitude of whom assembled at five in the
evening. Deep attention sat on every face, though as
yet accompanied with deep ignorance ; but if the heart
be moved toward God, He will in due time enlighten
the understanding.

"Sunday, 9th. — I preached at night to near double
the number, some quite innocent of thought. Five or
six were laughing and talking till I had nearly done ;
and one of them threw a clod of earth, which struck me
on the side of the head, but it neither disturbed me
nor the congregation."

A few years later John Wesley preached at the
same place, and entered in his journal these words : " I

ii The Wedgwood Family 13

began preaching at Burslem. Even the poor potters
here are a more civilised people than the better sort (so
called) at Congleton." The women who attended his
preaching assumed to a certain extent the garb of men,
and were quite as ready with their oaths. Everything
was rude, barbarous, and uncivilised.

In most cases an ordinary potwork was carried
on by a man and a labourer. When the potter had
sons and daughters they helped in the work. The sons
dug the clay, the man fashioned and fired the ware ; and
when the goods were ready the mother and daughters
filled the panniers, swung across the backs of horses or
donkeys. Their drivers then drove them through the
lanes to fairs and markets in order to sell the manufac-
tured goods. The poor brutes were driven on with
whip or cudgel, the men and women mostly with pipes
in their mouths.

The roads in the neighbourhood of Burslem were
of the worst description. The lanes were known as
" hollow ways," and in wet weather they were streams
of muddy water. When the poor brutes, laden with
their panniers of crockery, could not toil through the
deep and sticky mud, they often fell down and smashed
the ware. Sometimes they broke their legs, and were
either shot or left to die — a happy release for the poor
overworked animals.

These muddy lanes were unenclosed. When the
horses and donkeys could not pass through the hollow
ways, they were driven on to the adjoining commons

14 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

or moorland, and went along in single file by the steep
escarpments of the road. It was long before carts or
waggons could be used at Burslem. Even at the be-
ginning of last century they were very rare in the
potteries.

But in course of time the earthenware manufactured
in Staffordshire improved. The black-glazed or ruddy-
coloured articles were gradually replaced by brighter
and yellower ware, although, as has already been
stated, wooden spoons, plates, and dishes long continued
to be used. A great impulse was given to the manu-
facture of improved earthenware by the immigration
and settlement of Dutchmen and Germans in Stafford-
shire. They introduced the manufacture of Delft ware.
The native manufacturers vied with the foreigners,
and they were soon able to export their ware to foreign
markets.

Towards the end of the seventeenth century, the
two brothers Elers, from Delft, followed the Prince of
Orange to England, and settled in Staffordshire for the
purpose of manufacturing stoneware. They hired an
old thatched farmhouse, with some adjoining land, in
a secluded spot near Bradwell. The small potwork
which they erected was scarcely discernible from Burs-
lem. The ware which they turned out was found to
be of a finer description than any manufactured in the
neighbourhood.

The Elers made the greatest improvement in the
potter's art of England by introducing the Salt Glaze —

ii The Wedgwood Family 15

that is, by firing their ware with the .vapour of common
salt at a high temperature. They washed, and levigated,
and in various ways prepared the clays, giving the ware
a fineness, durability, and solidity, which were entirely
new. The ornaments and mouldings were sharp in
execution and graceful in design, far beyond the efforts
of the Staffordshire potters at that time.

The Elers discovered a vein of clay, which they found
suitable for their purposes, near Bradwell Wood. This
clay, carefully levigated, and covered with an excellent
glaze, yielded a red ware, like the Etruscan or Japanese ;
hard and compact in texture, and admirable in design.
The Elers, besides their red ware, also produced an
Egyptian black, by the mixture of Manganese with the
clay before it was fired. They were thus the precursors,
or, it may be, the originators, of the fine black bodies
of Josiah Wedgwood and other Staffordshire manu-
facturers.

The Elers conducted their operations with perfect
secrecy. No strangers were admitted to their pottery.
The windows were blinded. Only the stupidest work-
men were employed to turn the thrower's wheel. Even
idiots were preferred, while those workmen who appeared
more than ordinarily skilful were sworn to secrecy.
They were locked up while at work, and were carefully
examined when they left the premises.

These measures excited the prying inquisitiveness
of the Burslem potters. The men were foreigners ; any-
thing was lawful against foreigners. They manufactured

1 6 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

their fine wares in secret; the secret must be dis-
covered. Two Burslem potters, Astbury and Twyford,
set their wits to work. Astbury pretended to be an
idiot. He applied at the pottery for work; obtained
it, and was set to turn the wheel. To maintain his
character of idiot, he made numerous mistakes; he
quietly submitted to the kicks and cuffs which the
other workmen bestowed upon him.

But all the while Astbury's eyes were very wide
open. In turning the wheel he carefully witnessed
every process, and examined particularly every utensil
which was employed. " The ass," as he was supposed
to be, was allowed to go through every department of
the work, and on returning home at night he made
models of the various implements employed. He also
preserved careful memoranda of the various processes
he had seen. He remained in the works for two years,
and at the end of that time he was master of the
" secrets " of the Elers' manufactory.

About the same time, Twyford, another Burslem
potter, discovered the same secrets, but it is unnecessary
to describe his pretences of idiocy. On their discharge,
both began business on their own account at Shelton.
They made red ware, crouch ware, and white stoneware
from the native clays, — using salt glaze for some of the
vessels and lead ore for others. Astbury seems to have
been the more successful of the two. He made journeys
to London, where he sold his ware, and obtained further
orders.

ii The Wedgwood Family 17

The Elers were disgusted with the treatment which
they had received at Burslem. They eventually left
the place, and in 1710 removed to Chelsea, where
they connected themselves with a party of Venetian
glass -makers, who had established themselves under
the auspices of the Duke of Buckingham. The Elers
also started a manufactory of pottery. Their porcelain
achieved a very high reputation, and until the time of
Josiah Wedgwood their pottery ware was considered to
be the best in the country.

By whatever means Astbury had mastered the secrets
of the Elers, he was a man of invention and originality,
and did much to accelerate the improvement of stone-
ware in Staffordshire. When he commenced business
at Shelton, he began to use pipeclay for coating over
and washing the insides of vessels. Tobacco-pipe clays
are found all over the country. In the reign of Eliza-
beth, the pipes were so small and of such a peculiar
shape that they were known as "fairy pipes" — the
same sort of pipes that the late Charles Keene used to
smoke. In course of time they were made larger, but
always of white clay. Astbury, by constant improve-
ments, eventually produced his white-dipped ware, and
white stoneware, which became an important article of
commerce.

Astbury was also the first to discover, though it was
by accident, the uses of burnt flint in the manufacture
of stoneware. While travelling on horseback — the
usual method of travelling in those days — he found, on

c

1 8 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

arriving at Banbury, that the horse on which he had
ridden was so much affected in the eyes that Astbury
feared that blindness would result. He conversed with
the ostler at the inn on the subject, and the latter
recommended the employment of burnt flint. This
was quite a new idea to Astbury. However, a piece of
flint was put into the fire, and allowed to become red
hot. After the flint had cooled it was reduced to
powder, some of which was blown into the horse's eyes,
producing such immediate and effectual relief that
Astbury was enabled to proceed on his journey. He
was an observant man, and was much struck by the
pure whiteness which the flint attained on being
burnt, and the ease with which it might be reduced
to powder.

On returning to Shelton he obtained some flints,
burnt them, and introduced them into his clay. The
result was a finer and whiter kind of ware than any
that had yet been produced. He shortly obtained a
preference for his ware, and when the secret became
known — for nothing can be long kept a secret in the
pottery district — ground flint soon became a general
ingredient in the potter's materials.

One of the earliest connections of Brindley with
Staffordshire was the erection by him of an improved
flint-grinding mill, near Burslem, in 1758. The flint
was eventually ground and used in water, so as to
avoid the lung diseases to which potters were subject
when flint was ground in its dry state. It must also

ii The Wedgwood Family 19

be stated that one Thomas Benson was the first to make
the discovery of grinding flints in water.

Samuel Astbury, son of the eminent potter, married
Miss Elizabeth Wedgwood, sister of Thomas Wedgwood,
father of Josiah, and thus the ability of the Astburys
was united to the genius of the Wedgwoods and their
descendants.

CHAPTER III

JOSIAH WEDGWOOD LEARNS HIS TRADE

ON the death of Thomas Wedgwood, in June 1*739, his
youngest son Josiah, who was only nine years old, was
taken from Mr. Blunt's school at Newcastle-under-
Lyme, and was shortly after employed at his brother's
pottery. Thomas, the eldest son, had succeeded to the
small estate and the pottery business, with provision
for the maintenance of his mother and her large
family.

Josiah early displayed a taste for modelling. While
at school he showed some knowledge of cutting out
designs on paper. He had the run of his brother's
factory, and soon after he left school he distinguished
himself by his readiness to imitate in clay whatever
objects struck his fancy. He seems to have had a
natural bent towards modelling. He often amused
his acquaintances with imitations in clay of toy figures.
His clay model of a mountebank's stage, with the
doctor and his suite, and all the usual accompaniments,
excited much admiration amongst his friends.

CHAP, in Learns his Trade 2 1

The next event of which we have positive know-
ledge is, that Josiah was apprenticed to his brother
Thomas at the age of fourteen. The deed of his
apprenticeship is still preserved in the Hanley Museum.
Five years is the term of apprenticeship mentioned
in the indenture, but as seven years was the usual
period allowed in such agreements, it is inferred that
Josiah had already served for some time in the pottery
when his apprenticeship commenced. Shaw, the local
historian, states that he worked as a thrower at the
early age of eleven years ; and he adds that a workman
of his day, named John Fletcher, could remember
making balls of clay for Josiah and his elder brother
Eichard, both throwers, when they were seated at two
corners of a small room, and he was placed between
them.

The pottery turned out at the Churchyard Works
was of a common description, consisting chiefly of
black and mottled ware, baking dishes, pitchers, milk-
pans, porringers, and such like. Butter -pots were
made in large numbers. The butter-pot was a coarse
cylindrical vessel, about fourteen inches high, made
from the clay found in the neighbourhood of Burslem.
These pots were glazed before firing, with a mixture of
lead and manganese, and were sent on the cratemen's
backs to every part of the adjoining country, or sold
to the higglers, who carried them from village to village
in the panniers of their donkeys.

Josiah continued to apply himself to the art of

22 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

throwing. The thrower is the person who sits in his
shed, near the potter's wheel, and forms by hand from
the moist clay, as it revolves, the crock, the butter-
pot, the porringer, and such like wares. A work-
man weighs a portion of clay, and hands it to the
thrower, who is seated at his revolving disc. The boy
or girl employed for the purpose turns the wheel,
which is attached to the disc by a band. The disc is
made to rotate horizontally, while the thrower, who is
seated, fashions the vessel by his hands and fingers, after
the patterns or guides before him, which have been pre-
pared for the purpose. Thus the throwing is the first and
most important operation in forming the shape of vessels.
There are other workmen employed in finishing the
ware. For instance, the Stouker, in another shed,
forms the handles of the vessels, and attaches them
while moist to the cup or porringer ; while in another
shed the ware is ornamented with various coloured
slips. Thomas, to a slight extent, improved the manu-
facture, as, for example, by making moulded ware, which
was a somewhat higher branch of his business. But it
was only when Josiah began to achieve distinction that
this part of the manufacture attracted attention.
Several of his early pieces were designed chiefly for the
tea-table and the dessert service ; they were moulded
very neatly in the form of pine-apples, leaves, shells,
and other natural productions. This talent he after-
wards applied in the extensive manufacture of his
famous Jasper models.

Ill

Learns his Trade 23

It was observed that, though very young, Josiah
made rapid progress as a thrower. He had a remark-
able e}^e for proportioning the clay under his hands;
and his skill in forming the vessel on the potter's
wheel soon attracted the admiration of his fellow-
workmen. But an unfortunate attack of a malignant
disease compelled him for a time to abandon this
department of his trade.

In 1741, when Josiah was over eleven years old,
virulent smallpox broke out in Burslem. The house in
which the Wedgwoods lived was close to the church-
yard, and the children of the family were mostly
attacked by that horrible disease. One of the worst
cases was that of the young thrower, who was covered
with confluent pustules from head to foot. He was
almost at death's door, but, though he fortunately
escaped with his life, he was, long after his partial
recovery, left in a state of almost utter prostration.

One of the worst effects of the disease was the agon-
izing pain which he suffered in his right knee. Doctors
were consulted, but no application — no fomentation,
liniment, or leeching — could alleviate his suffering.
After many weeks of agony he tried to rise from his
bed, but fell back again helpless. At length he got
up and tried crutches, but found he could scarcely
walk. The pain, it is true, abated, but the knee was
comparatively useless through stiffness and deadness.
By and by, as his strength increased, he was able to
return to his work.

24 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

His brother Thomas having already observed his
efficiency as a thrower, which had attracted the atten-
tion of his fellow- workmen, determined to attach Josiah
to his work by binding him as his apprentice. Three
years had elapsed since his entering the works, but in
his fourteenth year (llth November 1744) the ceremony
of permanently securing him was performed. The
indenture was drawn up, signed, and witnessed by him-
self, his mother, his eldest brother (the head of the
pottery works), and his two uncles, Samuel Astbury
and Abner Wedgwood.

The indenture provided that Josiah Wedgwood was
to be apprenticed to his brother for five years, and that
he was to " learn the Art, Mystery, Occupation or Im-
ployment of Throwing and Handling, which he, the
said Thomas Wedgwood, now useth, and with him as an
Apprentice, to Dwell, Continue, and Serve," until the
expiration of the term agreed on. The apprentice was
to be allowed his meat, drink, washing and lodging,
with suitable apparel "of all kinds, both linen and
woollen, and all other necessaries, both in sickness and
in health"; in return for which his master was to teach,
or cause him to be taught, "the art of throwing and
handling " ; but nothing was said in the indenture as to
any wages to be paid to the apprentice.

The year after Josiah's indenture was signed, in
1745, the Highland Eebellion broke out, and Prince
Charlie, at the head of a small army, had the hardihood
to invade England. They passed through Cumberland

Ill

Learns his Trade 25

and the northern counties, and entering North Stafford-
shire, halted at Leek, and when they reached Bagnall
the Pretender and his staff, uninvited, breakfasted
at Justice Marshall's. The rebels plundered the
house, and made the Justice pay a fine of £300.
Ward, in his History of Stoke-upon- Trent,1 relates the
incredible story of Justice Marshall having afterwards
caught a sick Highlander, had him flayed, and sent his
hide to be tanned for a drumhead !

The Pretender and his army reached Derby, but
proceeded no further. In all haste they retreated to
the North. The Duke of Cumberland, with an increas-
ing army, lay for a time at Shelton and Stone. The
people of the county were apathetic, though they could
not but feel excited by the invasion of the wild moun-
taineers. The country was, however, soon cleared, and
the poor unfortunate Highlanders were eventually
trodden down at Culloden.

To return to the apprenticeship of Wedgwood. He
was now fifteen years old. His right knee still con-
tinued stiff and painful. Eemedies were applied and
rest taken, but without avail. He could only sit while
at work with his right leg extended before him on
a stool. This attitude so hampered his position at
the wheel and interfered with his efficiency that
he was under the necessity of altogether abandoning
the thrower's bench. It might be supposed by some
that this was a calamity, but in reality it proved a

1 P. 230.

26 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

blessing. We often repine at what we call our "ill-
luck," when, in truth, a mercy has been vouchsafed to
us. This inability to continue at the thrower's bench
proved the turning-point of Wedgwood's career.

The Eight Honourable W. E. Gladstone, in his address
at Burslem on the founding of the Wedgwood Memorial
Institute,1 feelingly observed : " Then comes the well-
known smallpox, the settling of the dregs of the disease
in the lower part of the leg, and the eventual amputa-
tion of the limb, rendering him lame for life. It is not
often that we have such palpable occasion to record our
obligations to the smallpox. But, in the wonderful
ways of Providence, that disease, which came to him as
a twofold scourge, was probably the occasion of his
subsequent excellence. It prevented him from growing
up to be the active vigorous workman, possessed of all
his limbs, and knowing right well the use of them ; but
it put him upon considering whether, as he could not
be that, he might not be something else, and something
greater. It sent his mind inwards; it drove him to
meditate upon the laws and secrets of his art. The
result was, that he arrived at a perception and grasp of
them which might, perhaps, have been envied, certainly
have been owned, by an Athenian potter. Relentless
criticism has long since torn to pieces the old legend of
King Numa receiving in a cavern, from the Nymph
Egeria, the laws which were to govern Rome. But no

1 Wedgwood : an Address delivered at Burslem, Staffordshire, 26th
October 1863.

Ill

Learns his Trade 27

criticism can shake the record of that illness, and that
mutilation of the boy Josiah Wedgwood, which made
for him a cavern of his bedroom, and an oracle of his
own inquiring, searching, meditative, fruitful mind."

Many years, however, elapsed before the amputation
of his right leg. In the interval he suffered severely,
yet he never relaxed his efforts to improve himself,
being still courageous, patient, and valiant, even in the
midst of tormenting pain. Being unable to pursue the
work of a Thrower, he went to the Moulder's board.
He first turned his attention to improvements in minor
points of detail ; but in course of time, as his experi-
ence became enlarged, he devised and sought out new
methods of manufacture. One of his earliest efforts
was an ornamented teapot, formed from the ochreous
clay of the district. It is still carefully preserved at
Burslem, and is known as "Josiah Wedgwood's first
teapot."

He next proceeded to the manufacture of ornamental
small wares, such as plates, pickle-leaves, knife-hafts,
and snuff-boxes in imitation of agate, marble, tortoise-
shell, and porphyry, which were readily disposed of to
the cutlers and hardwaremen of Sheffield and Birming-
ham. In the preparation of these objects, Wedgwood
analysed and made experiments with the various clays
of the neighbourhood ; and he endeavoured to find out
new methods of colouring them with metallic calces.
Indeed, he spent so much time on his experiments, that
his brother, who was also his master, expostulated with

28 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

him, and exhorted him to confine himself to the beaten
track of the trade. Nevertheless, Josiah continued to
pursue his experiments as before. It was not so much
that he desired to be original, as that he resolved to
pursue his profession to the furthest limits of efficiency
and beauty.

While still in his apprenticeship, Josiah's mother
died in 1748, and was laid beside her husband in
the churchyard at Burslem, adjoining the pottery
works. Josiah, who was now about eighteen years old,
continued to live in the same house with his brothers
and sisters, who were all older than himself, but
Josiah was the only one of the thirteen children who
arrived at any distinction. His brother Eichard, who
was five years his senior, was a thrower, and had
worked in the same room as Josiah; but, becoming
tired of the pottery trade, he left the works and enlisted
as a soldier. He went away and never returned to
Burslem. It is not altogether surprising that Richard
Wedgwood thought he could do as well as a soldier,
for the wages paid to young men at the potteries were
very small. William Fletcher, who made balls of clay
for the two brothers, was paid fourpence a week for
the first year, sixpence for the second, and ninepence
for the third.

Besides what we have said as to Josiah's progress,
comparatively little is known of him during his ap-
prenticeship. Mr. Llewellyn Jewitt, however, says of
him : " I have heard it from those best able to know —

Ill

Learns his Trade 29

from some of the oldest inhabitants of the place — that
in their boyhood, at the end of last century, they were
continually admonished by their parents and grand-
parents to be good, as Wedgwood had been, and to lead
such a life as he, as a youth, had done before them.
It is pleasant to put this fact on record, and to hear this
kind of testimony given to the character of this great
man even when young — that he was held up to the
youth of his native place as a pattern for emulation."

There is no doubt that during his apprenticeship he
contracted a great fondness for his business, and that
he followed it through life with an alacrity which
rendered it more like an amusement than a matter of
labour. He made himself minutely acquainted with
all the branches of the then existing art, both of those
which had, as well as those which had not as yet been
introduced into his brother's manufactory. He not only
grounded himself in all the chemical and mechanical
parts of the potter's art then known, but he showed a
desire to extend and develop their application. Even
at this early period he made several curious improve-
ments, and produced the first pieces, though only small
ones by way of specimen, of the afterwards celebrated
cream-coloured or Queen's Ware.

To us, who look back on Josiah Wedgwood's suc-
cessful career in early life, it is surprising that his own
family should have failed to recognise the value of his
energy and perseverance, and that he should have been
driven to seek encouragement for his talents at the

30 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP, m

hands of strangers. But it must be remembered that
at the time when Thomas Wedgwood succeeded to his
father's business the pottery trade of Staffordshire was
an insignificant manufacture compared with what it
became during Josiah's lifetime.

Nor was it any fault of Thomas Wedgwood's that
he could not look into the future and foretell the value
of his brother's abilities, or foresee the rising tide of
success in the pottery trade. He knew the modest but
fairly sure lines upon which his ancestors had worked,
and he was doubtless influenced by older relatives in
the determination he arrived at, not to risk in uncertain
ventures the slender provision left to help so large a
family out into the world. Josiah was, therefore, in-
formed that he must take his speculative schemes
elsewhere, as the family property was not to be placed
by him in any sort of jeopardy.

CHAPTER IV

PARTNERSHIP WITH HARRISON AND WHIELDON

JOSIAH'S apprenticeship ended in November 1749.
He had now nearly arrived at man's estate. As his
brother would not have him for a partner, being greatly
opposed to Josiah's " flights of fancy," the latter had to
wait for some other opportunity. He was of course
disappointed, but he was satisfied to wait. His mother
having died in the previous year, Thomas was left to
maintain her numerous family.

Josiah continued to work with his brother for two
years as journeyman, at small wages ; but on arriving
at maturity, he was paid the £20 which had been
bequeathed to him by his father. It was a very small
capital on which to begin the operations of his life;
but with Josiah's skill, energy, and perseverance, it
proved to be enough.

Wedgwood removed from Burslem to Stoke in 1752
when he was twenty-two years old. He then entered into
partnership with John Harrison of Cliffe Bank Pottery,
near Stoke -upon -Trent. Harrison, who was not a

32 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

practical potter, but had been a tradesman at Newcastle-
under-Lyrne, supplied the capital, while Wedgwood
supplied the brains. The principal wares he made were
mottled earthenware, knife-handles in imitation of agate
and various kinds of tortoise-shell and marble. These
were mostly sold to hardware-makers at Sheffield and
Birmingham.

The arrangement did not last very long, for after
two years, Harrison, who wished to appropriate to
himself the larger share of the profits, went out of
the firm, and Thomas Whieldon came in. The manu-
factory had been carried on at the top of Stoke, in
what had been Mr. Alferson's pottery. After the
separation of Wedgwood and Harrison, the latter failed.
His cupidity had not served him. Mr. Josiah Spode
bought his works at Stoke, pulled them down, and
erected cottages in their stead.

Mr. Whieldon, with whom Wedgwood now entered
into partnership, was one of the most eminent potters
of his day. It was of great advantage to Wedgwood
to be connected with a man of so excellent a character
and of such superior business habits. Whieldon's
works were situated at Fenton Hall, near Stoke. The
partnership began in 1754, and was to last for five
years. Wedgwood was bound to introduce the secrets
of the trade, and to practise them for the benefit of the
firm.

One of his principal productions was a new Green
earthenware, having the smoothness and appearance of

iv Partnership with Harrison & Whieldon 33

glass. Dessert services were made of this ware ; the
plates were moulded in the form of leaves, and were
beautifully ornamented.

Wedgwood also made toilet vessels, snuff-boxes, and
other articles coloured in imitation of precious stones
for mounting on metal. The London jewellers, regarding
these articles as entirely original, and the production of
some new and valuable discovery, appreciated them
accordingly, and sold them in considerable quantities.

Wedgwood's right leg and knee still tormented him.
He was often confined to his room, and quite unable to
attend to the business of the manufactory. But the
work must necessarily go forward, and as he was
the managing partner, and the men must be occu-
pied in manufacturing the earthenware so much in
demand, he was under the necessity of revealing the
knowledge of his mixtures and glazes to the principal
foreman of the works. Thus the secret of his inven-
tions became known, and the production of the green
earthenware soon became a general manufacture in the
neighbourhood.

Josiah Spode, afterwards a distinguished potter, was
apprenticed in his boyhood to Whieldon and Wedg-
wood. In accordance with the low rate of wages which
then prevailed he was at first paid 2s. 6d. a week ; and
when he became a journeyman, he was paid Vs. a week.
The turners, and throwers, and firers, were paid 8s. a
week.

Very few manuscripts are preserved relating to the

34 Josiah Wedgwood CHAR

period of Josiah's partnership with Harrison and
Whieldon. There is, however, a small green pocket-
book containing memoranda in Josiah's writing, of
orders under the dates 1752-1753, from which may be
gathered a notion of the wares then produced. These
are chiefly of the useful kind, such as blue-flowered
cups and saucers, — ash colour, cream colour, or tortoise-
shell teapots, — bason bowls, plates, and image toys.
There is also in the same notebook a list of debts due
in London, and dated 9th April 1753, amounting to
£291:12:7.

Another set of balance-sheets for the year 1757 is
also in existence, which refers only to a portion of the
firm's sales ; and it shows a steady increase in business
throughout the year. In the month of January the
profits are entered at £3 : 16 : 7 ; in the month of May
they amount to £28 odd ; and in the month of October
to £36 odd. The expenses of production are entered
on one side of the book, such as clay, coals, wages,
saggers, painting, journeys, postage, and such like ;
and on the opposite sheet is a list of the tradesmen
who bought the ware.

Among the Wedgwood manuscripts are a series of
books, some being rough memoranda in the handwriting
of Josiah "Wedgwood, and others, fair copies by Mr.
Chisholm, in which are recorded a series of Wedgwood's
experiments in pottery fabrics. The first volume opens
thus : — " This suite of experiments was begun at
Fenton Hall, in the parish of Stoke-upon-Trent, about

iv Partnership with Harrison & Whieldon 35

the beginning of the year 1759, in my partnership with
Mr. Whieldon, for the improvement of our manufacture
of earthenware, which at that time stood in great need
of it, — the demand for our goods decreasing daily, and
the trade being universally complained of as being bad
and in a declining condition.

"White stoneware (viz. with salt glaze) was the
principal article of our manufacture ; but this had been
made a long time, and the prices were now reduced
so low that the potters could not afford to bestow
much expense upon it, or make it so good in any re-
spect as the ware would otherwise admit of; and with
regard to elegance of form, that was an object very little
attended to.

" The article next in consequence to stoneware was
an imitation of tortoise-shell, but as no improvement
had been made in this branch for several years, the con-
sumer had grown nearly tired of it; and though the
price had been lowered from time to time in order to
increase the sale, the expedient did not answer, and
something new was wanted to give a little spirit to the
business.

" I had already made an imitation of Agate which
was esteemed beautiful, and made a considerable im-
provement, but people were surfeited with wares of these
various colours. These considerations induced me to
try for some more solid improvement, as well in the
body as the glazes, the colours, and the forms of the
articles of our manufacture. I saw the field was

36 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

spacious, and the soil so good as to promise ample
recompense to any one who should labour diligently in
its cultivation.

" In the following experiments I have expressed the
materials by numbers, which in this instance are a
species of shorthand, and saved much writing. They
have also the advantage of not being intelligible, with-
out the key, to any person who might happen to take
up the book, which is often, in the course of making
the experiments, unavoidably exposed to such an acci-
dent."

Then follows the key to the cipher, giving the
numbers and letters employed in noting the experi-
ments. These represent the nature and quantity of the
materials, the degrees of heat to which they had been
exposed, together with miscellaneous observations, con-
clusions, and hints for further inquiry.

"The degrees of heat," says Wedgwood, "in my
former books, were expressed by the different ovens, and
the different parts of them where the experiment pieces
had been fired in. G. 0. signifies the gloss oven ; B. 0.
the biscuit oven ; W. 0. the white oven ; and the letters
B. M. T. prefixed to these mean the bottom, middle, and
top of the respective ovens. T. B. 0. means the highest
part of the biscuit oven in which we put ware. It is
below the top of the chimneys or flues, called lags by
the potters ; and T. T. B. 0. signifies the uppermost
sagger of the pile, except the one with which it is
covered.

IV

Partnership with Harrison & Whieldon 37

" No other means than the above were at that time
known, not only of communicating to any other person,
but of preserving to myself, any idea of that very
essential circumstance in experiments of this kind, the
degree of heat to which the materials were exposed.
But having lately invented a thermometer for measuring
the higher degrees of heat, as far as we can go above
ignition, the heats made use of in the several experi-
ments are now expressed in the degrees of that ther-
mometer."

The first record of experiments bears the date of
15th February 1759, and continues for several years.
They are systematically and minutely set down in the
beautiful handwriting of Mr. Chisholm, and would
doubtless be of great interest to any scientific potter.
Sometimes observations are introduced at the sides of
the record, such as : — " This merits further trial ; Try
it again " ; " Coloured clays often proved in knife
handles " ; " Colours to paint agate on the outside of
the glaze after it is laid on the ware and before it is
fired " ; " The crucible broke, try it again."

Under the date of 13th February 1759, at Fenton,
Wedgwood writes : — " Trial for a blue to lay upon the
biscuit ware along with other colours to imitate agate
and tortoise-shell." Again, on the 23rd March 1759,
while trying for glazes, he writes : " This is the com-
position of Bow China, but I am not certain of the
proportions." Also : " This is the result of many experi-
ments which I have made in order to introduce a new

38 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

species of coloured ware, to be fired along with the
tortoise-shell and agate in our common gloss ovens."
He also records, at Fenton, 28th March 1760 :— " Trial
for a cutting colour to trace flower, etc., upon plain
biscuit ware and to bear a lead gloss laid over it." And
again : " Trials for red China. Agate paint for spouts
and handles to prevent colour from running down the
teapot ; very good results."

In another portion of his record, Wedgwood refers to
his green glaze, which, he says, "is to be laid on
common or cream colour biscuit ware. This is the
ordinary copper green glaze of the dessert services." In
the remarks column, he says: "This is the result of
many experiments which I made in order to introduce
a new species of coloured ware to be fired along with
the tortoise-shell or agate ware in our common gloss
ovens, to be of an even self colour, and laid upon the
ware in the form of a coloured glaze."

We have been thus particular in recording the early
experiments of Wedgwood while a partner with
Harrison and Whieldon. They will doubtless be found
tedious reading to many, but it is necessary to give the
extracts from his record books in order to show the
pains which he took, by his early and careful experi-
ments, to revive the pottery trade, then in a state of
great depression. They will show that Josiah's future
prosperity was not the result of " chance," but of steady
and persevering application. Every experiment was
carefully recorded. He would not trust to his memory,

iv Partnership with Harrison & Whieldon 39

but only to the written record ; and it may be added
that the result of his skill and perseverance gradually
led to the general improvement of the pottery trade.

The five years' partnership with Whieldon expired in
1759, and Wedgwood was then left to his own devices.
Whieldon retired from the pottery manufacture with a
considerable fortune. He built a handsome house near
Stoke, where he long continued to enjoy the fruits of
his industry. He was greatly esteemed for his charity
and benevolence ; was made sheriff of the county
of Stafford in 1786, and he died twelve years after at a
very advanced age.

CHAPTEK V

WEDGWOOD BEGINS BUSINESS FOR HIMSELF

ON the conclusion of his partnership with Whieldon,
Wedgwood set up for himself a small manufactory at
his native village of Burslem, in a pottery known as The
Ivy Works. The site of these works is now partly occu-
pied by the Burslem Market Place and Municipal
offices. The exact date of Wedgwood's commencing
business on his own account is not known ; but it
must have been after the month of March 1760, as
the record of experiments above cited contains an entry
dated " Fenton, 28th March 1*760."

However this may be, it is clear that Wedgwood
had started in business at Burslem in 1760, and the
probability is, that he was enabled to do so by means
of the savings he had made in the partnership with
Whieldon, as well as of the small legacy which he
had inherited from his father. He was now thirty
years of age. We have seen how careful and observ-
ant he had been as a young man, and how desirous
he was of advancing the manufacture to which he

CHAP, v Wedgwood begins Business for Himself 4 1

had devoted himself. Though his means were incon-
siderable, he thought that he might not only make the
ends meet, but perhaps he might eventually make a
mark during his lifetime in the development of the art
of pottery.

The constant pain he had suffered from his injured
knee had in many respects been a sore hindrance and
disadvantage ; but by curtailing his bodily powers,
and keeping him often confined to his bed, it had
produced increased activity of mind. He never allowed
himself to be idle, and he had read much, and thought
more.

He borrowed books from his friends, and read them
assiduously, — especially those which bore upon his
favourite art. He also improved himself in arithmetic,
geography, and the knowledge of English. Some of
the books which he borrowed, especially those upon
chemistry and the mixture and combination of clays,
he copied in his own hand, for purposes of reference.
When he had gained some strength and found himself
sufficiently well to be able to rise and move about,
he began a series of experiments with the clays of the
neighbourhood ; and he thus commenced a course of
technical practical education, which proved of the
greatest value to him in after life.

When he commenced business for himself at Burs-
lem, Wedgwood rented a portion of the Ivy House and
Works from his distant cousins John and Thomas
Wedgwood. The rental was only £10 a year, — the

42 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

working premises consisting of two kilns, a few tile-
covered sheds and rooms, and the adjoining Ivy-covered
cottage.

Among the hands whom he employed was his
second cousin Thomas Wedgwood, who was engaged as
a journeyman for five years at the wages of £22 a
year, or at the rate of about 8s. 6d. a week. Thomas
had been a potter at the Worcester works, and brought
with him the knowledge of the art which he had ac-
quired at that important manufactory.

Wedgwood had other workmen, though they were
comparatively few in number. Indeed, he had con-
siderable difficulty with these workmen, who were
wedded to their own ways, and could scarcely be
brought into conformity with their new master's modes
of workmanship. It was only by his own personal in-
fluence that Wedgwood succeeded in moulding them to
his own methods, for he himself conducted in person
the production of every article that proceeded from his
works. He made his own models, superintended the
firing of the ware, and was constantly employed in
the various departments of the pottery manufacture.
In doing so, he overcame to a large extent the
trammels of his bodily afflictions.

At first he devoted himself more particularly to the
ordinary classes of ware which formed the staple pro-
ductions of the district; but by carefulness in the
manufacture, he gradually acquired a reputation which
led to a considerable increase in his trade. He con-

v Wedgwood begins B^l sine ss for Himself 43

tinned also to make his green glazed ware, his tortoise-
shell and tinted snuff-boxes, his perforated dessert plates,
which soon obtained considerable celebrity. He in-
troduced his white medallions, in which he eventually
achieved great celebrity, and began to ornament his
ware with flowers and foliage, sometimes gilt and some-
times coloured, always striving at something new and
original.

He prided himself upon his own specially-designed
tea-services, in which the different vessels were formed
and coloured to represent joints and vegetables, just
as Bernard Palissy had done in France at an early
period of his earthenware manufacture. These novelties
proved so attractive that they had a very large sale ;
and the other pottery manufacturers — always watching
with interest the new designs of Wedgwood — at once
imitated them, and they very soon led to a large in-
crease in the trade of the district. Wedgwood also
began his works in relief, such as storks fishing, or
ducks casting water into a fountain from their bills,
and many other devices.

His connection and reputation rapidly increasing, he
found it necessary to increase his establishment, and to
employ additional hands. He hired some new works
and furnaces not far from the Ivy House, on the site now
partly occupied by the Wedgwood Institute. As his
health improved, he was able to devote himself more
zealously to his rapidly-growing enterprises. The land-
lord of his new premises was Mr. John Bourne, and

44 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

Wedgwood continued to be his tenant until his removal
from Burslem.

The new premises were called the Brickhouse Works,
though they were afterwards known among the work-
men as the Bell Works. The reason of this sobriquet
was as follows : — The potters had been summoned to
their labours by sounding a blast on a cow's
horn. The sound did not travel very far ; and
the workmen used to loiter lazily into the works
just as they pleased, — everything apparently going
on in a very indifferent manner. But Wedgwood
adopted a better plan. He erected a cupola contain-
ing a loud Bell, the sound of which travelled very
far, and thus the working people were called more
rapidly together.

One of Wedgwood's principal difficulties, as with all
employers in those days, was the management and dis-
cipline of his workmen. They were irregular in their
habits, disposed to be lazy, and there was a consequent
want of order in the workrooms. Their drunkenness
was one of the greatest difficulties he had to contend
against. But Wedgwood had infinite patience. He
made himself the workmen's friend in many ways. He
counselled them to save their earnings for the benefit
of themselves and their families. By slow degrees he
won their gratitude and affection. He enlightened
their judgment, and the wisest of them became his best
friends. One of his best arguments was the success of
his undertakings. The men saw his fresh enterprises

v Wedgwood begins Business far Himself 45

turning into gold, and they were not likely to hinder
what was obviously to their advantage as well as his
own. Thus order and discipline at length prevailed in
the management of the works.

At the period when Wedgwood began business for
himself, the workmanship of the potters was in a very
low condition as to style. The machinery used con-
sisted mainly of the potter's wheel and the common
turning lathe ; while the chief tools used were little
better than a few cutting-knives. Wedgwood, with his
nicety . of feeling, and his determination to do every
piece of work in the best possible manner, introduced
many new tools and appliances. He instructed his
men individually in their use, and sought to form them,
as it were, after his own model. He taught them the
use of the new tools, and personally superintended
everything, from the clay on the wheel to the final
firing and decoration of the ware. His workmen had
been brought up on the old lines, making rude pottery,
with insufficient appliances. Compare the refinement
of materials, the delicate accuracy of form, and the soft
texture of one of Wedgwood's Queen's ware pieces,
with the rough pansion-mug wares generally in vogue
when he commenced his operations, and it will at once
be apparent that vast strides had been made amongst
his workpeople while passing from the old style to
the new.

One of Wedgwood's greatest difficulties was in con-
structing his firing kilns. Eepeated failures were most

4.6 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

disheartening, and he was almost as much distressed
as . Bernard Palissy was in his search for the enamel,
though he did not, like him, require to burn up his
furniture in order to keep his furnaces in sufficient
heat. The precarious activity of fire, and the inequality
of its force, even in different parts of the same kiln, are
formidable impediments. Common wares admit of con-
siderable latitude in the heat, and in an established
manufactory, experience enables an attentive workman
to regulate the fire pretty successfully.

But in wares of an improved kind this cannot be
done. In all the porcelains and fine wares, whose
qualities depend essentially upon a certain degree of
semi-vitrif action, the hazard is very great. Even in the
heat that is just sufficient for the perfection of the ware,
it receives such a softness and flexibility, that large
vessels, necessary for the use of the dining-table, bend
and alter their form in the kiln by their own weight,
and a little increase of fire runs the whole into a
vitreous mass.

When Wedgwood began to make fine ware for the
table, his repeated failures with his furnaces were most
disastrous. The labour and expense of a month were
destroyed in a few hours. One kiln had to be pulled
down, and another built up ; the new one also found
defective, from circumstances which could not have been
foreseen; the correction of an error in one quarter
followed by another elsewhere. Yet he conquered by
dint of observation and experience ; after losing much

v Wedgwood begins Biisiness for Himself 47

money, time, and labour, it is true ; but he would not
be baulked. The improvement of pottery became his
passion; and at length success crowned his indomit-
able efforts.

He spent his evenings, and a considerable portion of
his nights, in scheming and designing the works of the
succeeding day. Like Napoleon, he held that nothing
was "impossible." After contriving everything, he
declared that it " must be done," let what might stand
in the way. His workmen began to believe in him;
and eventually succeeded in fulfilling his strongly-
desired objects. They helped him with his kilns, his
drying pans, his tools, and the other apparatus which
he contrived from time to time, to carry out the
improvements in his new manufactures. His decision
of mind was ready to encounter and overcome any
situation of difficulty, while his indomitable persever-
ance and unfailing resource communicated themselves
to his subordinates and inspired them with a genuine
interest in their work.

But it was not his evenings only that occupied his
mind with designing and contriving the methods of
work for the ensuing day. He contracted a habit of
thinking during the night over all that had occurred
during the day that had passed ; and of all that he had
to accomplish in the coming day — his kilns, his tools,
his wares, or his models. He usually surmounted his
difficulties before the return of the morning, when he
was up and ready to go on with his labours. When

48 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

his friend Brindley, the engineer, had a difficult problem
to solve, he lay in bed for one, two, or even three days,
until he had effectually designed his plan, and then he
would rise and carry out his work, from memory only ;
but Wedgwood could not leave his workmen for days
together. He must rise, proceed to the works, and
superintend their daily operations.

But he felt the inconvenience of this custom of
thinking during the night in the advanced period of his
life ; because if any matter of business occupied his
mind before he went to rest, it was sure to deprive him
of sleep for the greater part of the night. Wedgwood
had always a very active mind ; but this activity
eventually proved an obstacle to his bodily health,
which was never very robust nor vigorous.

One of Wedgwood's early friends was Matthew
Boulton of Soho, near Birmingham. Wedgwood was
accustomed to supply Boulton with vases, snuff-boxes,
and other articles to be mounted by the mechanics of
Birmingham, and made ready for the market. On one
occasion Boulton wrote to Wedgwood that he admired
his vases so much that he " almost wished to be a
potter " ; but he was satisfied with mounting in metal
the vases which Wedgwood had made.

Boulton was a man of great practical genius, as
well as an excellent organiser. By his skill and energy
he had completed and organised a splendid manufactory
at Soho, which was the admiration of every man of
business. Wedgwood, knowing this, had consulted

v Wedgwood begins Business for Himself 49

Boulton as to the management of his own rapidly ex-
tending business, not only at Burslem, but afterwards
at Etruria ; and the two became, as will afterwards be
seen, exceedingly intimate friends and correspondents.

With every day's reflection and experience, Wedg-
wood's industry, energy, and taste improved. His great
ambition was to rival the works of the Etruscans, and
to raise the Staffordshire potters' art far above the then
standard of excellence, and to rival not only the costly
earthenware of foreign countries, but that of long past
ages. Hence the extreme skill, intelligence, and taste
which he brought to bear upon every branch of his
native and favourite art.

It was not merely in objects of taste that Wedg-
wood endeavoured to excel, but also in objects of com-
mon use. It was at the Bell Works that he turned his
attention more especially to the fine and delicate
descriptions of earthenware which shortly after earned
for him the proud distinction of " Queen's Potter."
The results of his close and incessant occupation, and of
his endless experiments as to the properties of clays,
kaolin, carbonate of barytes, and such like, led to the
production of many marvellous kinds of ware, and to
the beauty of finish which characterised them, such as
are to be rarely equalled at the present day.

Mr. Gladstone truly said, in his doge of Wedgwood
at Burslem, that his specialty lay in the adaptation of
every object to its proper end. " His most signal and
characteristic merit lay in the firmness and fulness

E

50 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

with which he perceived the true law of what we term
Industrial Art, or, in other words, of the application of
the higher Art to Industry ; the law which teaches us
to aim first at giving to every object the greatest
possible degree of fitness and convenience for its pur-
pose, and next at making it the vehicle of the highest
degree of Beauty which, compatibly with that of fitness
and convenience, it will bear ; which does not substitute
the secondary for the primary end, but which re-
cognises, as part of the business of production, the study
to harmonise the two. To have a strong grasp of the
principle, and to work it out to its results in the details
of a vast and varied manufacture, is a praise high
enough for any man at any time and at any place. But
it was higher and more peculiar, as I think, in the
case of Wedgwood, than in almost any other case
it could be. For that truth of Art, which he saw
so clearly, and which lies at the root of excellence,
was one of which England, his country, has not usually
had a perception at all corresponding in strength and
fulness with her other rare endowments. She has long
taken a lead among the nations of Europe for the
cheapness of her manufactures : not so for their beauty.
And if the day shall ever come, when she shall be
as eminent in true taste, as she is now in economy
of production, my belief is that that result will prob-
ably be due to no other single man in so great a
degree as to Wedgwood." x

1 Wedgwood : an Address, by the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone.

v Wedgwood begins Business for Himself 5 1

Though Wedgwood's time was almost fully occupied
with his own concerns, he yet found leisure to attend
to the improvement of the roads leading to and from
Burslem, which were then in a villainous condition.
It was before the days of Macadam, and the hollow
lanes were narrow, tortuous, miry, and in all ways
abominable. Stones were thrown in by passers-by at
the deepest places ; but there was no such thing as
local superintendence. The trade of the district, it is
true, was not very great ; but, under the influence of
Wedgwood, it was rapidly increasing. The population
of the pottery districts was only about 7000 in 1760,
the year when Wedgwood began business on his own
account ; but the growing and expanding trade could
only be encouraged by improving the condition of the
roads and byways.

The principal materials used iu the manufacture
of the best kinds of pottery were brought from con-
siderable distances ; flint stones from the south-eastern
parts of England, and the best kinds of porcelain
clay from Devonshire and Cornwall. The flints were
brought by sea to Hull, and the finer clay to Liver-
pool. Considerable quantities of clay were also con-
veyed in boats up the Severn to Bridgnorth and
Bewdley, whence the materials were conveyed, chiefly
on pack-horses, to the villages in the potteries, where
they were worked up into earthenware.

The manufactured articles were returned for con-
sumption and export in the same rude manner. Crates

52 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

of earthenware were slung across the backs of horses or
donkeys, and sent off to their respective destinations.
They were subject to breakage and pilferage ; and often
the poor brutes fell down in the miry and narrow ways,
and a whole crateful of ware was smashed. Even
when the ware reached its destination, the cost of
transport was very heavy. The lowest charge was
eight shillings a ton for ten miles. The result of this
difficulty of transporting the ware was to restrict in
an immense degree the distribution and consumption
of the lower-priced articles in common use. The same
obstacles prevented the conveyance of salt, an indis-
pensable article, which reached almost a fabulous
price by the time it was sold some two or three
counties distant. All other articles of consumption —
woollen, corn, coal, lime, and ironstone — were con-
veyed in the same way, on the backs of pack-horses,
and thus living was rendered very expensive, and
agriculture and industry of all kinds were seriously im-
peded and hindered.

This great evil of the want of road communica-
tion weighed heavily, not only upon the industry,
but upon the civilisation of the district ; and this fact,
recognised by Wedgwood at an early period of his
career, drew his attention to the state of the highways.
He took the leading part in promoting an application
to Parliament for powers to repair and widen the road
from the Red Bull at Lawton in Cheshire to the Cliff
Bank in Staffordshire. Such a line of road, if formed,

v Wedgwood begins Business for Himself 53

would run right through the centre of the potteries,
and fall at either end into a turnpike road.

The bill was not, however, obtained without con-
siderable difficulty. It was violently opposed by the
inhabitants of Newcastle-under-Lyme, on the ground
that the proposed new road would enable the pack-
horses and carts to travel north and south without
passing through their town. The public-house keepers
acted as if they had a vested interest in the atrocious
badness of the roads and lanes. Their business would
be destroyed, and hence they opposed the bill. The
bill was passed in a modified form, whereby the road was
curtailed at the south end, and stopped short at
Burslem. This was, no doubt, something gained, but
it was not enough ; and through communication must
be established in some way between the north and
south. It was not until the Grand Trunk Canal was
projected — in the promotion of which Wedgwood took
a leading part — that he was able to carry out his
intentions to the fullest extent. But the descrip-
tion of this great enterprise is reserved to a succeeding
chapter.

CHAPTEE YI

IMPROVEMENT OF WARE — FRIENDSHIP WITH BENTLEY

WEDGWOOD continued to improve his useful ware
with his usual insight and perseverance. His most
important manufacture was his cream ware, which
was greatly in demand. He improved its body, its
glaze, and its form, and was indefatigable in his
efforts to obtain the best specimens of eastern and
continental ware, as models for imitation, as well as
to improve their form and ornamentation.

It is hardly to be wondered at that he paid the
penalty of most original minds, and that his products
were imitated by Boulton of Soho and by other workers
in metal. They were sought for with eagerness by the
porcelain manufacturers on the continent, and were
even sent to China as patterns for the potters there.
Wedgwood did not approve of this exportation ; he
was of opinion that if the oriental porcelain was
made in forms better suited for European tables, it
would materially injure the sale of English earthen-
ware in home as well as foreign markets.

CHAP. VI

Improvement of Ware 55

About this time Wedgwood adapted that curious
machine, the Engine lathe, for the improvement of
pottery. Before his time the potter's lathe was very
primitive in its construction ; it was merely used for
paring down any inequalities of surface. Wedgwood's
attention was first drawn to the engine lathe by
Plumier's L'Art ch Tourner ; he had the book translated
for him. The machine had hitherto been employed for
turning in wood, ivory, and metal. The possessor of
one in London refused to admit Wedgwood for a few
minutes where one of them was at work, without pay-
ment of five guineas.

This, however, was not sufficient. Wedgwood had the
good fortune to meet with the celebrated Mr. Taylor of
Birmingham, who had made the lathe instrumental in
greatly improving various branches of metallic manufac-
tures. Wedgwood and he had many conferences together,
and the Burslem potter profited greatly by Taylor's
mastery in practical detail. The latter undertook to
make a machine turning lathe for Wedgwood, who
was so ardent in the business that he would not quit
the place until he had got the machine finished ; and
he brought it home with him, together with a person
instructed in the manner of using it. This was in the
year 1763. Under Wedgwood's hands this machine be-
came a most important tool. His first application of it
was to the red porcelain, which, being of a close texture
and without glaze, was well suited to receive and
retain a sharpness in the work. He afterwards applied

56 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

it to decorate the vases which he made in Queen's
ware.

In the same year (1763) Wedgwood invented a
species of earthenware for the table, of a fine and dur-
able body, covered with a rich and brilliant glaze, and
able to bear sudden vicissitudes of heat and cold with-
out injury. As it was manufactured with ease and
expedition, it was sold cheap, and as it possessed, with
the novelty of its appearance, every requisite quality
for the purposes intended, it came quickly into general
estimation and use. To this manufacture the Queen
was pleased to give her name and patronage, command-
ing it to be called " Queen's Ware," and honouring the
inventor by appointing him Her Majesty's potter.
The ware is composed of the whitest clays from Dorset,
Devon, Cornwall, and other places, mixed with a due
proportion of ground flint. The pieces are fired twice,
and the glaze is applied after the first firing, in the
same manner as on porcelain. The glaze is a vitreous
composition of flint and other white earthy bodies, with
an addition of white lead for the flux, analogous to
common flint glass ; so that when prepared in per-
fection, the vase may be considered as covered over
with real flint glass. " The compound," says the author
of the Art of Pottery, " being mixed with water to a
proper consistence, the pieces after the first firing are
separately dipped in it. Being somewhat bibulous they
drink in a quantity of mere water ; and the powder
which was united with that portion of the water

vi Improvement of Ware 57

remains adherent, uniformly all over their surface, so
as to become, by the second firing, a coat of perfect
glass."

In order to supply the increasing demand for his
wares, Wedgwood opened an office in London, and
appointed his elder brother John to conduct the
business. He had also an agent in Liverpool, to whom
the flints and clay from Dorset and Devon were con-
signed, and who also superintended the export of
Wedgwood's manufactured ware to foreign countries,
especially to North America, where he found a rapidly-
increasing market. Wedgwood had occasionally to
visit Liverpool in order to see his agent, and inspect
the import and export of his goods.

While at Liverpool on one occasion, he became
aware of a device recently invented there, by which the
decoration of his cream ware might be greatly im-
proved. The history of this accidental invention may
be thus briefly stated. Mr. John Sadler had com-
menced business as a printer at Liverpool in 1743, and
it is said that the first idea of applying the art of print-
ing to the manufacture of pottery occurred to him when
seeing some children sticking waste prints upon their
dolls' houses. He adopted the same method, fired some
pottery and found the prints burnt into the ware.
The application of 'this discovery led to a partnership
between Sadler and Green, and they took steps for
taking out a patent.

It is not known at what date they became acquainted

58 Josiah Wedgzvood CHAP.

with Wedgwood, but it is certain that they were in
active business communication with him in 1761-2.
The system pursued was, that Wedgwood forwarded by
carrier to the partner's print works at Liverpool a large
quantity of his cream-coloured pottery, which they
bought from him out and out ; and they subsequently
resold it to him after they had decorated the ware with
their transfer designs. This complicated mode of pro-
cedure could not go on for long, and at length Wedg-
wood bought the right of making the transfers about
the year 1763.

One of Sadler's letters to Wedgwood, dated 27th
March 1763, shows that he possessed some knowledge
of his art. " We have now," he said, " which you have
not seen, a fine landscape, a new Queen, a Mason's
Arms, with Pitt and Granby engraved on paper for
quarto. ... A landscape, for instance, has the fore-
ground very strong, buildings and distance a little
lighter." After Wedgwood was able to transfer the
engravings to his ware, his name found its way into
some of the political lampoons and squibs which the wits
of the day threw off unmercifully at the leading members
of the government. One of them, alluding to spittoons
and other vessels bearing the head of William Pitt,1 is
to be found in the " Asylum for Fugitive Pieces," got
together by John Almon, where an irregular ode, said

1 This must have been in 1763 when Pitt was virtually Prime
Minister, and before he was created Earl of Chatham. Thurlow was
then in opposition, but was afterwards appointed Lord High Chancellor
in 1778.

vi Improvement of Ware 59

to be by Edward Lord Thurlow, afterwards Lord High
Chancellor of Great Britain, is contained :

" Lo ! Wedgwood, too, waves his Pitt-pots on high !
Exposing the points where the bottoms, yet dry,
The visage immaculate bear !

Let Wedgwood be d d, and his ware.

"I am told that a scoundrel of a potter, one Mr.
Wedgwood, is making 10,000 spitting-pots, and other
vile utensils, with a figure of Mr. Pitt in the bottom.
Bound the head is to be a motto—

We will spit
On Mr. Pitt.

And other such d d rhymes suited to the uses of the

different vessels."

In the midst of all these occupations and growing
responsibilities, Wedgwood was incessantly tormented
by the old and incurable ailment in his knee, which
had never left him since his attack of smallpox.
Though a most active man, he was always distressed
when moving about. A skilful surgeon was called
in, and applied some sedative poultices ; but the relief
given proved only temporary.

At length Wedgwood, notwithstanding the pain which
it caused him, felt that he must make one of his journeys
to Liverpool. He set out on horseback, but while passing
through one of the narrow lanes his knee was crushed
while trying to avoid one of the wheels of a cart com-

60 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

ing from the opposite direction. He nevertheless rode
on to Liverpool, but when he arrived there, although
scarcely able to stand, he somehow contrived, with help,
to stumble up to his bedroom. Inflammation set in,
and threatened a prolonged illness. A surgeon was
sent for, and after giving him some relief, and reducing
the inflammation, ordered him to remain in bed. This
enforced inactivity was a sore trial to one who anxiously
desired to be at Burslem looking after his various works
and workmen.

Dr. Turner, who attended Wedgwood, was himself a
man of accomplishments. Besides being a good surgeon,
he was an excellent chemist, a classical scholar, and a
man of artistic taste. His interest in his patient led
him, when he had sufficiently recovered, to bring to his
room and introduce to him many of his own personal
friends. Among those who were thus introduced to
Wedgwood, was a gentleman of much intelligence, an
excellent conversationist, and of a most agreeable
manner. This was Thomas Bentley, then a Liverpool
agent and merchant, who had travelled on the con-
tinent, and knew many foreign languages, especially
French and Italian. On his return to England he
settled at Liverpool, and married Hannah Gates, but
she died within two years, and her elder sister managed
Bentley's household. Eventually he took Mr. James
Boardman as a partner into his firm. Wedgwood was
attracted by him from the first. Their acquaintance
ripened into friendship, then into brotherly affection.

vi Friendship with Bent ley 61

Wedgwood envied Bentley's remarkable powers — his
knowledge, his intellect, and his artistic attainments.

Bentley visited Wedgwood as long as he remained
at the Dale Street Inn in Liverpool. He cheered him
up, and endeavoured to console him for his temporary
loss of liberty. They used the pipe of peace and
smoked together. They talked about science, religion,
politics, pottery, the improvement of the roads and
canals, and, indeed, upon all manner of subjects.
Even poetry was not neglected. Bentley was a great
admirer of Thomson's poems, and infected Wedgwood
with his love of nature, and especially with his poem
on " Liberty." Bentley was himself of a literary turn,
and had contributed articles to the Gentleman's Magazine
and the Monthly Review. He had written out an essay
on "Female Education," still in manuscript, part of
which he read aloud to the infinite satisfaction of his
friend the master potter.

So soon as Wedgwood could move about with the
help of his crutches, Bentley introduced him to some of
his more intimate friends, — to the Heywoods, always a
potent name in Liverpool, — to Dr. Priestley, then residing
at Warrington, — to Dr. Aikin and his accomplished and
beautiful daughter Laetitia, afterwards Mrs. Barbauld, —
to the Seddons, the Percivals, and the Eyes, with other
notabilities of Liverpool.

In due course Wedgwood was able to travel; he
returned to Burslem in a chaise, the roads being now
sufficiently improved to allow him to travel by that

62 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

means of conveyance. Then his correspondence with
Bentley began, and it lasted as long as Beutley lived.
The two unbosomed themselves to each other. Their
hearts beat in unison. Every thought that passed
through their minds was set down in writing, and duly
communicated by post. Their friendship and affection
grew rapidly. Every sorrow and joy, every difficulty
and success, were imparted to each other with manly
frankness.

The first letter that Wedgwood wrote to Bentley on
his arrival at Burslem was the following (15th May
1762) : — "There is not a day that passes but I reflect
with a pleasing gratitude upon the many kind offices
I received in my confinement in your hospitable town.
My good doctor, and you in particular, have my warmest
gratitude for the share you both had in promoting my
recovery, and I know he is too well acquainted with
the influence of a good flow of spirits upon the whole
animal economy to refuse you your share of merit in
this instance."

Amongst other things that occurred during Wedg-
wood's stay in Liverpool was the appointment of
Bentley as Wedgwood's agent, to superintend the arrival
of the potter's material for conveyance to Burslem, and
the export of his wares to foreign countries. Hence the
letters between them are full of instruction and advice
as to the business in hand. Every letter was full
of gratitude and hearty friendship. As we shall after-
wards see from their correspondence, this intercourse

vi Friendship with Bent ley 63

was honourable to both ; and perhaps there is nothing-
finer in commercial communications than the warm and
cordial intercourse between these two memorable men.

Wedgwood was very busy after his return to Burslem.
There were long arrears of correspondence to overtake ;
there were still many orders to execute, and in their
fulfilment Wedgwood's presence was quite indispensable.
There were the experiments on various clays to con-
tinue with a view to further improvement, and there
was all manner of chemical analyses to pursue in order
to test the knowledge he had acquired at Liverpool.
He could not leave Burslem even for a day. To his
friend Bentley he wrote : " I am tied down to this
rugged potmaking spot of earth, and cannot leave at
present without suffering for it."

Wedgwood took no important step without con-
sulting Bentley, who on his side was always ready to
reply to him with confidence and zeal. He many times
visited Burslem, and Wedgwood returned his visits to
Liverpool. At length he insisted on Bentley becoming
his partner. On removing his works from Burslem,
Wedgwood built a house for Bentley's accommodation.
But Bentley never occupied it, as his services were
found to be more valuable in London, the most im-
portant centre of Wedgwood's business arrangements.

CHAPTEE VII

WEDGWOOD'S MARRIAGE

WEDGWOOD had arrived at the age of thirty-four before
he united himself to a woman who was well worthy of
his noble character. Yet he had long loved her. The
lady was Sarah Wedgwood, daughter of Eichard Wedg-
wood, who had settled at Spen Green in Cheshire, and
made a considerable fortune as a cheese-factor. Eichard
had two children, a son and a daughter. The son died
early, and the daughter became his heiress.

The families were remotely connected. Eichard
occasionally visited Burslem, taking his daughter on a
pillion behind him after the old fashion. His purpose
on those occasions was to see his brothers, the sons of
Aaron Wedgwood of the Big House. Thus the ac-
quaintance of Josiah and Sarah began, and grew until
it became a true love affair.

The young lady had received an excellent education.
She was agreeable, cheerful, handsome, and beautiful.
No wonder that Josiah was attracted by her, not only by
her personal appearance, but by her keen and accurate

CHAP, vir Wedgwood's Marriage 65

judgment, and her propriety in word, thought, and
deed. She was one of those happily - constituted
women who can rise to superior fortune, as well as adorn
the ordinary domestic life to which she had been born.
She was still her father's housekeeper, looking after his
comfort, and filling up her spare time with the spinning-
wheel, which she used with skill.

Wedgwood was now in a prosperous condition, and
the father of the young lady had no objections to his
engagement with his daughter. They corresponded
with each other, and Wedgwood occasionally visited
her on his way to and from Liverpool. Their court-
ship, however, was weary work, and Wedgwood longed
eagerly for the day when he could bring his "dear
Sally " to the home he had prepared for her.

The father was very particular as to the terms and
conditions of his daughter's marriage. Wedgwood wrote
to Bentley as follows on the 9th of January 1764 : —
" My dear Friend — I would have acknowledged the
receipt of your very kind letter before now, but hoped
by waiting a post or two to be able either to let
you know of my happiness, or at least of the time
when I expected to be made so ; but oh, grief of griefs,
that pleasure is still denied me, and I cannot bear to
keep my friend in suspense any longer, though I own
myself somewhat ashamed and greatly mortified to be
still kept at bay from those exalted pleasures you have
often told me of — and I am very willing to believe —
which attend the married state.

F

66 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

" If you know my temper and sentiments on these
affairs, you will be sensible how I am mortified when I
tell you I have gone through a long series of bargain-
making, of settlements, reversions, provisions, and so on.
' Gone through it,' did I say ? Would to Hymen that I
had. No ! I am still in the attorney's hands, from which
I hope it is no harm to pray, ' Good Lord, deliver me ! '
Miss W. and I are perfectly agreed, and would settle
the whole affair in three lines and in as many minutes ;
but our papa, over-careful of his daughter's interest,
would by some demands which I cannot comply with
go near to separate us if we were not better determined.
On Friday next, Mr. W. and I are to meet in great
form, with each of us our attorney, which I hope will
prove conclusive. You shall then hear further from
your obliged and very affectionate friend, — JOSIAH
WEDGWOOD."

Again he wrote to the same correspondent, 23rd
January 1764: "All matters being amicably settled
between my pappa (elect) and myself, I yesterday pre-
vailed upon my dear girl to name the day, the blissful
day, when she will reward all my faithful services. . . .
In three words, we are to be married on Wednesday
next. On that auspicious day think it no sin to wash
your philosophic evening pipe with a glass or two
extraordinary, to hail your friend and wish him good
speed into the realms of matrimony. Adieu, my
good friend! I am very busy to-day, in order that
no business may intrude on my pleasures for the rest

vii Wedgwood's Marriage 67

of the week. Can you write two letters of congratula-
tion on one joyful occasion ? "

The long-awaited marriage took place at the parish
church of Astbury, in the county of Chester, on the
29th of January 1764. Four months later Wedgwood
wrote to Bentley : " Accept the best respects of
two married lovers, who are as happy as this world
can make them." The marriage indeed proved a
very happy one. Sarah Wedgwood was one of the
tenderest and best of wives. She was a woman of
whom any husband might well be proud. She was
beautiful and gentle, and the two loved each other with
depth and fidelity. Her mind unfolded itself leaf by
leaf in the society of her husband, always displaying
new sweetness.

She was not only tender but helpful. The rectitude
of her mind was intuitive. Though gentle, she was
active and strong. While Wedgwood was ill, as he
often was through the pain in his diseased knee, she
was his devoted nurse. None other cherished and
helped him in his anguish as she did ; and this con-
tinued until the amputation of his leg some four years
after their marriage.

During Wedgwood's occasional illnesses, she learnt
his system of cipher or shorthand, took down notes of
his thoughts and ideas, and conducted his correspond-
ence. What a noble wife she was ! Her time was too
useful now to be occupied in spinning, and her
spinning-wheel was banished to the garret. Other

68 JosiaJi Wedgwood CHAP.

domestic and maternal duties occupied her attention
henceforth.

In January 1765, Mrs. Wedgwood became the mother
of a girl-baby. Writing to her brother Tom in London,
who was ill of a cold, but was earnestly invited to come
down to Staffordshire with his wife for the benefit of
his health, Wedgwood said : " We have now got a pretty
employment for you. Sukey is a fine sprightly lass,
and will bear a good deal of dandling. You can sing
'lullaby-baby' whilst I rock the cradle. But I shall
hardly find time for nursing, as we have another Turn-
pike broken out amongst us here, betwixt Leek and New-
castle, and they have vi et armis mounted me upon my
hobby-horse again, and a prancing rogue he is at present."

Wedgwood was at this time one of the busiest men
in the kingdom. He was especially active in the pro-
motion and construction of turnpike roads, so as to open
up the pottery district to the world at large. Besides
the road between Leek and Newcastle, there were others
between Uttoxeter and Burslem, and Buxton and Bake-
well, towards the construction of which Wedgwood
offered to subscribe. He was also busily engaged with
a still more important subject, the arrangements pre-
paratory to the survey and construction of the Grand
Trunk Canal. He had numerous conferences with Lord
Gower the chairman, and Mr. Brindley the engineer of
the canal. After the scheme was launched and sub-
scriptions were required, Wedgwood was appointed
treasurer.

VII

Wedgwood's Marriage 69

Meanwhile the duties of his own business were in-
creasing, and he was very much occupied with the engine
lathe, so as to adapt it to the improvement of the
pottery manufacture. He had, as we have said, ob-
tained a copy of Plumier's work entitled E Art de
Tourner. He could understand the diagrams, but it
was also necessary to understand the words which
described them. He accordingly wrote to his friend
Bentley, 28th May 1764, as follows :—

" I have sent you a sample of our hobby-horse
(engine-turning), which, if Miss Gates ( Bentley 's sister)
will make use of, she will do me honour. This branch
hath cost me a great deal of time and thought, and will
cost me more. I am afraid some of my best friends
will hardly escape. I have got an excellent book on
the subject in French and Latin. I have enclosed one
chapter which, if you can get translated for me, it will
oblige me much, and I will pay any expense attending it."

On another occasion, when Wedgwood was engaged
in superintending the construction of his new works on
the property he had purchased, he wrote to Bentley :
" I scarcely know, without a good deal of recollection,
whether I am a landed gentleman, an engineer, or a
potter ; for indeed, I am all three, and many other
characters by turns. Pray heaven I may settle to some-
thing in earnest at last."

His principal business, of course, was a potter. He
was constantly engaged in making experiments on clay
and the materials of glaze, for the purpose of holding

7O Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

his ground and improving his manufacture. To his
brother John in London he wrote : " I have just begun
a course of experiments for a white body and glaze,
which promiseth well. Sally is my chief help in this
as well as other things, and that she may not be
hurried by having too many irons in the fire, I have
ordered the spinning-wheel into the lumber room. . . .
I do not intend to make this ware at Burslem, and am
therefore looking out for an agreeable and convenient
situation elsewhere."

On 2nd March 1765 Wedgwood took the oppor-
tunity of informing Sir William Meredith, who had
sent him some elegant Vases to imitate, with many
other specimens of ancient pottery, of his operations.
The bulk of the manufactures at Burslem wras ex-
ported to foreign markets ; for the home consumption
was very trifling in comparison to that which was sent
abroad. The principal markets were on the continent
and in North America. To the continent he sent an
amazing quantity of ordinary white stoneware, as well
as some of the finer kinds. He was afraid that the
trade to the colonies would soon be lost, as potworks
were already being established there.

" They have at this time," said Wedgwood to Mere-
dith, "an agent amongst us hiring a number of our
hands for establishing new potworks in South Carolina,
having got one of our insolvent master potters to con-
duct them. They have every material there equal, if
not superior, to our own, for carrying on the manufac-

vii Wedgwood's Marriage 71

ture. Therefore we cannot help apprehending the
untoward consequences to our own home commerce."
Wedgwood continued to make many improvements
in his manufactures. In 1766 he introduced the black
ware ; the jasper and cane ware ; and was making
experiments upon mortars for chemists and druggists,
in which he eventually succeeded, and did a very ex-
tensive business in that material.

CHAPTER VIII

WEDGWOOD APPOINTED QUEEN'S POTTER

IN the course of Wedgwood's business connected with
the construction of the Grand Trunk Canal, he had
frequent opportunities of meeting the Duke of Bridge-
water, the proprietor of the Bridgewater Canal between
Manchester and Liverpool. On the 6th of July 1765,
he wrote to John Wedgwood, then his London agent,
as follows : —

" I have been waiting upon his Grace the Duke of
Bridgewater with plans respecting inland navigation.
Mr. Sparrow went along with me. We were most
graciously received ; we spent about eight hours in his
Grace's company, and had all the assurances of his
concurrence in our designs that we could wish. His
Grace gave me an order for the completest set of table
service of cream-colour that I could make. 'He showed
us a Roman urn, 1500 years old at least, made of red
china, which had been found by his workmen in Castle
Field, near Manchester. After his Grace had dismissed
us, we had the honour and pleasure of sailing on his

CHAP, vin Wedgwood appointed Queens Potter 73

gondola some nine miles along his canal, through a most
delightful vale, to Manchester. The next day we waited
upon the Cheshire gentlemen at a meeting of the Com-
missioners for the Weaver Navigation at Northwick.
They also promised to use their interest in favour of
our design, provided we fell into their navigation."

Thus Wedgwood was fully occupied, not only with
executing his orders for cream ware, but with his exer-
tions to open up the navigation of the country by means
of the Grand Trunk Canal. At the same time the
manufacture of pottery occupied the greatest share of
his attention, inasmuch as it was by that occupation
that he lived and flourished, and employed so large a
number of working people in his neighbourhood.

It was a matter of great satisfaction to him to be
employed to make the completest service of cream-
colour ware for the Duke of Bridgewater ; but his prin-
cipal object was to be employed by the highest people
in England — their Majesties the King and Queen, and
the Eoyal Family. George III. succeeded to the British
throne in 1760, and in the following year he married
the Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

Their Majesties were great friends of British manu-
factures, and anxiously desired to patronise its principal
promoters. It is not improbable that the Queen was
first induced to order a cream service from Wedgwood
through the instrumentality of the Honourable Deborah
Chetwynd, one of her Majesty's maids of honour. She
was a Staffordshire lady, daughter of the Master of the

74 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

Mint, W. E. Chetwynd, afterwards Viscount Chetwynd.
Miss Chetwynd was proud of the rising fame of her
countryman Wedgwood. She knew of his intimate
connection with Lord Gower of Trentham, the Duke of
Bridgewater, the Egertons, the De Greys, and other
noblemen ; and being herself a lady of taste and judg-
ment, she took the opportunity of recommending Wedg-
wood's ware to the patronage of the Queen.

The first royal order that Wedgwood received came
through Miss Deborah Chetwynd. It was a complete
tea service in cream ware, decorated with green and
gold. Wedgwood wrote to his brother in London, re-
questing him to wait upon Miss Chetwynd and obtain
her further instructions as to the manufacture and
decoration of the service.

" I am much obliged to you," he said (6th July 1765),
" for your good offices with Miss Chetwynd. You may
be sure my best endeavours will not be wanting to
make the articles she orders as complete and elegant as
possible ; but suppose we fail in burning the gold on,
must we in that case stove it on, and make the ware
green withinside ? Must the saucers and other articles
be gilt any further on the outside than from the top edge
to the foot ?

" I shall be very proud of the honour of sending a
box of patterns to the Queen, amongst which I intend
sending two sets of vases, cream-coloured, engine-turned
and printed, for which purpose nothing could be more
suitable than some copper plates I have by me. I can

viii Wedgwood appointed Queen s Potter 75

adapt the vases so that the designs will appear to
be made for each other and intended for royalty, nor
must you trust to the contrary. But I am one group
or design short, which I have sketched out and enclose,
and desire you get it done by Wale, unless you know
a better hand."

Wedgwood was most careful in his execution of this
first royal order. He himself superintended the whole
proceeding, the burning in of the gold and the illumina-
tion of the borders with flowers. In his early years,
while passing across the moors to school at Newcastle,
he had observed with delight the wild flowers which
grew upon the waste ground, and vividly remembered
them. As in the case of many a successful man his early
intimacy with nature developed his talent for keen
observation, and the faculty which he had cultivated
from the beginning of his life for taking pains in all
that he did, became his strongest discipline, and
eventually led to his remarkable conquest over all his
difficulties and misfortunes.

He had indeed many troubles at this time. One of
the greatest was the incompetence of his workmen. " I
am just teased out of my life," he wrote to his brother in
London, " with dilatory, drunken, idle, worthless work-
men ; they prevent my proceeding with the tea service,
to which more sorts of workmen are necessary than
one would imagine." The uncertain element of fire
was, as has already been stated, a serious obstacle.
This is one of the enemies which the potter has to en-

76 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

counter and overcome. It' not helped by the assiduity
of his workmen, he is put to constant anxiety and ex-
pense. Sometimes the labour of a month is destroyed
in an hour. The kiln has to be pulled down, and
another erected in its stead. That, too, may be found
imperfect, and has to be altered at a considerable loss.

Yet Wedgwood's troubles were to a considerable
extent alleviated by his many encouragements. " I
have just had the honour," he said (7th August 1765),
" of a visit from the Duke of Marlborough, Lord Gower,
Lord Spencer, and others, over my works. They
seemed much interested and pleased, and wonder that
I have not a warehouse in London where patterns of
all the sorts I make may be seen." Indeed Wedg-
wood's works were an institution in the county; and
men of the highest rank were proud of his industry and
enterprise.

The Queen was greatly pleased with the breakfast
service when presented to her. She was so much
gratified with this tribute of an infant art that she at
once expressed a wish to have a complete table service
of the same material. Wedgwood submitted patterns
of the several pieces of ware, which were amended and
finally approved. It was her unsolicited desire that
the service should bear the name of " The Queen's
Ware," and that the manufacturer should be appointed
" Potter to Her Majesty."

Under this powerful patronage, the ware found its
way at once to the tables of persons of rank and

viii Wedgwood appointed Qiteens Potter 7 7

influence, and came rapidly into general estimation
and use. Indeed, it was of a quality so far superior
to everything which had before been made in this
kingdom, and at the same time so moderate in price,
that it could not fail to be favourably received. The
other potters, availing themselves of his successful
invention, with the advantage of being exempt from
the anxieties and expenses which it had cost the
inventor, soon set up works of the same kind, and
Queen's ware became the staple pottery of England.

On the Queen's service being finished and delivered,
the King gave Wedgwood his immediate patronage by
ordering a similar service for himself, but without
bands or ribs : this was called " The Eoyal Pattern."
Their Majesties' patronage, by drawing public atten-
tion to the Staffordshire potters, opened up a source
of wealth to many thousands of people, and extended
commerce to a marvellous extent, not only at home
but abroad. The tide of fortune which had thus
set in was greatly increased by Wedgwood's sub-
sequent inventions, and he emerged from his small
manufactory at Burslem to the colony which he after-
wards established at Etruria, a few miles distant.

The forms of the vessels in use were greatly im-
proved by Wedgwood. Other manufacturers followed
his example ; they adopted his models, for he took out
no patent (with only one exception, of no special
importance), and all his efforts and inventions virtually
became the property of his competitors. His forms

78 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

were copied by the manufacturers in his neighbour-
hood, both by silversmiths, bronze-makers, and other
workers in metal. Boulton of Birmingham admired
Wedgwood's vases so much that he almost wished to
be a potter ; but, as we have said, he was satisfied
with mounting in metal the vases which Wedgwood
had made. "The mounting of vases," said Boulton,
" is a large field for fancy, in which I shall indulge, as
I perceive it possible to convert even a very ugly
vessel into a beautiful vase."

The engine lathe, although no patent had been taken
out for its application to the manufacture of pottery,
became in the hands of Wedgwood an ever-increasing
power. It was soon applied to the decoration of vases
made in the green ware after the antique, and also to
carry out the designs of several ingenious ladies and
gentlemen who furnished him with proper models, both
original and Etruscan.

But Wedgwood left every potter free to imitate his
designs. As he himself said, a patent would have
greatly limited its public utility. Instead of one
hundred manufacturers, there would only have been
one; and instead of exporting to all quarters of the
world, a few pretty things would have been made for
the amusement of the people of fashion in England.

In the last century, Burslem and some other villages
in Staffordshire were famous for their milk-pans and
butter-pots. About a hundred people were then occu-
pied in their production ; while now there are about ten

VIII

Wedgwood appointed Queens Potter 79

thousand workmen employed in manufacturing useful
and ornamental wares, and besides the home consump-
tion, an annual export takes place to the amount of
nearly £200,000. This surely is greatly to the credit
of the industry and enterprise of Staffordshire.

Wedgwood eventually did what Lord Gower and his
other friends had so strongly advised him to do : he
opened a warehouse in London for the exhibition of his
Queen's ware, Etruscan vases, arid other useful and
artistic works. He had before a small storehouse in
Cateaton Street for shop and exported goods ; but in
August 1765, he hired an establishment in Newport
Street, which he afterwards removed to Greek Street
for larger accommodation ; and there his brother John
exhibited his works to numerous admiring visitors. In
fact, his showrooms were as much crowded as exhibi-
tions of the Eoyal Academy.

Wedgwood also hired works at Chelsea, where he
employed enamellers, modellers, and artists. He was
under the necessity of frequently visiting London, to
superintend their important operations. His mind
was thus constantly occupied, what with his own
special responsibilities at Burslem, his efforts to im-
prove the roads and canals through Staffordshire, and
his endeavours to advance the manufacture of vases
and earthenware. When asked whether he had read the
review of Mr. Priestley's work, he answered : " Indeed
the truth is, I have scarcely read anything at all, or
thought of anything at all, but potmaking and navigat-

8o Josiak Wedgwood CHAP.

ing; and when it will be otherwise with me, I really
cannot tell."

It was one of Wedgwood's great objects to revive
the classical works of the Greeks. He imitated the fine
vases which he found in the Montfaucon and other
collections, and in the best works of his own time.
He was under the impression that the improvement of
pottery, while exciting the public attention to these
beautiful works, would contribute to lay the foundation
of a school of modelling and artistic manufacture.
At the same time, notwithstanding all that he had
done to improve this branch of industry, he used to
declare, even in his later days, that he considered
pottery as still but in its infancy. He was enabled to
carry his designs into effect, to a certain extent, by the
liberal and patriotic disposition of their Majesties ; by
the nobility, and others, who opened their cabinets, and
permitted him to take copies of the finest pieces they
had purchased in the course of their travels.

About the year 1766, he first produced the unglazed
black porcelain, to which he gave the name of Basaltes
from its possessing the properties of that stone; a
variegated terra-cotta ; a white wax-like porcelain, and
other inventions, adapted to different purposes. In
ancient times the Etruscans painted their vases with
durable colours, which were burnt in by fire. Even in
the time of Pliny these vases, so prepared, were re-
garded as one of the lost arts of preceding ages.
Wedgwood, by his experimental skill and his extreme

vin Wedgwood appointed Qiieens Potter 81

perseverance, revived this lost art. The colours he
burnt in were fully as beautiful as the originals, and
susceptible of greater variety. These revivals, in the
newly-invented materials, soon caught the public eye
and occasioned a rapid demand for Wedgwood's pro-
ductions, as well as for those of the manufacturers who
so eagerly followed his example.

Wedgwood was at Newport Street, London, at the
end of 1765 ; he then wrote to Bentley, still at Liver-
pool, on the subject of his occupations : " An epidemical
madness," he said, " reigns for Vases, which must be
gratified. I have five or six modellers and carvers at
work upon different branches, and a moulder constantly
in my house. I have seen the Italian vases, and like
them vastly ; have also seen some better prints of vases
than any I have, particularly for Bas-reliefs, and a
friend has promised to lend them to me."

And again, in February 1766 : "Let all the hands
that can be spared and can work at Vases be employed
on them .... that the great demand for them here
may not be baulked. I could sell £50 or £100 worth
per day if I had them."

At this time Wedgwood was patronised by some
of the principal artistic members of the aristocracy
— by Lord Rockingham, Lord March, the Duke of
Northumberland, the Duke of Montagu, Sir Thomas
Gascoigne, and others, and was honoured with an
extraordinary commission from Catherine, Empress of
Russia. He was directed to make a very large service

82 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

of Queen's ware for Her Majesty's use, and to paint in
black enamel, upon every piece, a different view of the
palaces, seats of the nobility, and other remarkable
places in the British kingdom. The idea was worthy
of the mind of a sovereign, but the undertaking seemed
a great one for the powers of a private manufacturer.
The number of views necessary for avoiding repetition
of the same subjects, was about twelve hundred, and a
considerable proportion of them must necessarily be
original drawings. Some three years were spent in
making the collection of drawings, and painting them
on the ware, which was done with correctness of design,
so that each piece was a good picture.

On the 14th of February 1766, Wedgwood wrote to
Her Majesty's representative in London : "We shall send
you the Eussian table and dessert service faster than you
can get them enamelled. I can promise with certainty,
that no part of it can wait for us, if you'll be so good
as to push Mr. Coward with his carving." Wedgwood
was greatly indebted to Lord Cathcart, the British
Ambassador to Eussia, for his kindly help, and most
probably his recommendation to the Eussian Empress.
The preparation of her table service occupied about
eight years, principally on account of the large variety
of different patterns that had to be enamelled; but
at length it was exhibited in London in 1774. The
service was shortly after presented to the Empress,
and received by her with entire satisfaction. It is
supposed that Her Majesty paid for Wedgwood's work

viii Wedgwood appointed Queen s Potter 83

as much as £3000. But it consisted of 952 pieces,
and had involved an immense amount of labour. When
exhibited at the rooms in Greek Street, it was one of
the most popular sights in London. The money that
Wedgwood received for the service scarcely paid its
expenses ; but it acted as a splendid advertisement
throughout Britain, and indeed throughout Europe,
and its appearance largely increased the demand for
Wedgwood's manufactures.

CHAPTEE IX

FOUNDING OF ETRUKIA — PARTNERSHIP WITH BENTLEY

THE great demand for the Queen's ware and the other
productions of Josiah Wedgwood led to a large
increase in the population of Burslem. Houses could
scarcely be built soon enough for the accommodation
of the people. The demand for Vases also brought
a considerable number of artists and superior workmen
into the neighbourhood ; and not only was the dwelling
accommodation insufficient, but the factories also be-
came overcrowded. The numerous hands could scarcely
find room enough for the proper elaboration of their
wares.

It was therefore necessary that Wedgwood should
make some arrangements for their proper accommoda-
tion. He did not like to leave his native town. He
endeavoured in the first place to ascertain whether he
could not purchase and enlarge the manufactories in
which he carried on his operations, and erect new dwell-
ings for his work-people. Having by this time accumu-
lated some savings, as well as increased his means by

CHAP, ix Founding of Etruria 85

the fortune of his wife, he made a proposal to Thomas
and John Wedgwood to purchase the Ivy House and
the Big House, which belonged to them, for the purpose
of extending his works. But they declined his applica-
tion, and he was obliged to look elsewhere for the
necessary site. He still continued, however, to carry on
his manufactory at the Brick House works, which had
for some time been in his possession as tenant.

Having been foiled in his endeavours to confine his
pottery works to Burslem, he made inquiries for an
estate on which to erect improved buildings, as well as
dwellings for himself and family, and for his work-
people and their families. He had no desire to remove
his buildings far from Burslem, for he took a great
interest in the well-being of the population. Being
greatly attached to the cause of education, he subscribed
liberally to a public school, and he never ceased to
devote himself to the opening up of the turnpike roads
and canals of Staffordshire.

At length he fixed his mind upon a suitable
estate about two miles from Burslem, nearly in the
centre of the potteries. It lay near the course of the
Grand Trunk Canal, then in course of survey ; so that
a branch might easily be constructed to bring the pro-
posed new works into communication with the canal.
The place was originally called the "Bidgehouse
Estate." It was in the possession of a life tenant, and
the reversion was with a gentleman then in Ireland.
With his usual prompt decision, Wedgwood deter-

86 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

mined immediately to put himself into communication
with this gentleman, though entirely unknown to him.
He despatched a confidential professional friend to
Ireland, who found out the reversionary proprietor,
and satisfactorily completed the purchase. The rent
was changed into an annuity for the life of the tenant,
and thus immediate possession of the estate was
ohtained.

The land had little to recommend it besides the
convenience of its situation. It was naturally an un-
productive clayey soil, and was thought to be of little
other value than furnishing clay for the use of the
potters. But the spirit and enterprise of Wedgwood
soon altered the appearance of the estate. He pro-
ceeded to build a large manufactory on the banks of
the proposed canal ; he laid out the grounds with great
taste, assisted by Capability Brown ; and contiguous to
the works, he raised a new village for the accommoda-
tion of the workmen and their families.

What was the place to be called ? With the pro-
spects he entertained, his skill and taste in endeavouring
to infuse art into the manufactures of his country, and
his intense admiration of the vases of antiquity, he
determined to call the estate and its buildings Etruria,
after the beautiful works of the famous Etruscans. In
the course of a few years, this formerly barren estate
was converted into a garden of beauty, and the manu-
factories built thereon became the source of works
of art which did so much for the improvement of

ix Founding of Etruria 87

public taste, as well as for the extension of British
commerce.

We have already referred to the accident on the
road to Liverpool, which first led to Wedgwood's
acquaintance with Dr. Turner, and through him, with
Bentley, and have related how the friendship thus
formed rapidly led to an almost brotherly intimacy.
When Wedgwood purchased the Eidgehouse estate,
he urgently requested Bentley to come over to Burslem
and confer with him and his wife as to the laying out
of the property.

"My Sally," wrote Wedgwood, 15th September
1766, "says your fat sides require a good deal of
shaking, and she would recommend a journey on horse-
back, not in the coach, to Burslem. She is half angry
with me for coming home without you ; but your last
letter hath brought her into a little better temper, as
she expects not only the pleasure of seeing you here in
a little time, but likewise a jaunt to Liverpool in con-
sequence of your visit. Besides, she will not fix upon a
spot for either house or gardens, nor even the stables,
'till you have viewed and given your opinion of the
premises ; so now, my dear sir, you are invited to the
Kidgehouse estate in the quality of a Capability Brown."

The invitation was accepted, but Bentley did not
" shake his fat sides " by riding on horseback, but by
using the machine, or coach. He inspected the estate,
and the site of his probable dwelling. It had been
arranged towards the close of the year that Bentley

88 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

was to become a partner with Wedgwood in a certain
portion of his manufactures. The arrangement up to
this time had been of considerable advantage to Bentley
in his business at Liverpool. Instead of being a general
agent, he now confined himself to earthenware only.
He superintended the import of clay from Dorsetshire,
Cornwall, and Devonshire, and the export of Wedg-
wood's goods to America and other countries. The
arrangement between the two was an equal division of
the profits on the earthenware exports. Bentley took
a partner — James Boardman, — and his firm was after-
wards known as that of Bentley and Boardman.

The partnership between Wedgwood and Bentley
took place shortly after Wedgwood's letter to Bentley
(November 1766), which was very encouraging. He
proposed to build a house for Bentley at Etruria ; but
he said that it would be twelve months at least before
the works could be built. He also mentioned the orna-
mental works that Bentley would have to superintend
— vases of many sorts, toilet furniture, elegant tea-
chests, snuff and other boxes. " If all these good things
should fail us," wrote Wedgwood, " I hope your good
genius will direct us in the choice of others."

Wedgwood still carried on assiduously his experi-
ments on the raw materials of pottery. It will readily
be understood that a thorough knowledge of the many
kinds of earth upon the surface of the world, comprises
in its highest sense the power of the potter over his
clay. It is truly the groundwork of his art. Such

ix Partnership with Bent ley 89

knowledge is an education in itself — the knowledge of
clays, how they will bend, and how they will burn.

Let us look at a few of the records concerning these
years, and see what kind of attention Wedgwood gave
to this branch of his work. He possessed himself, at
no small expense, of such different earths, stones, and
clays in this island, as were then known ; and also
of those that could be procured from foreign countries.
Upon these specimens he experimented, analysing to
the best of his power their chemical constituents, and
testing by practical experiment how far they might be
made serviceable to his needs.

The results of his experiments were duly registered
and set out in cabinets, so that they could be referred
to and taken up for use at any time. It may be added
that the specimens left at his death amounted to more
than seven thousand, arranged in classes and subdivisions
according to the purposes they were capable of answer-
ing, or the views with which they were made. His
note-books give one a fair notion of his enterprise in
this direction. They contain long extracts from both
English and Continental authors on mineralogy. Books
of travel were ransacked to observe what the authors
related as to the various kinds of earth in the lands
they had visited ; and they also contain copious ex-
tracts from English topographical works. So much for
Wedgwood's enterprise and industry in regard to earths
and clays.

In one of his letters to Bentley, with whom he

90 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP, ix

became more and more familiar in his communications, lie
said : "The fox-hunter does not enjoy more pleasure from
the chase, than I do from the prosecution of my experi-
ments when I am fairly entered into the field ; and the
further I go, the wider this field extends before me."
And in the same letter he says : " I have not been on
horseback for a week. This morning some business
calls me from my books and vases and trumpery ; and
I am very thankful for it, for I have scarcely power of
my own mere motion to quit my present pursuits for a
few hours."

CHAPTEE X

HO ADS AND CANALS THROUGH STAFFORDSHIRE

WE have had frequent occasion to allude to the roads,
or the absence of roads, which in those days existed in
central England, to the inconvenience and restriction
which difficulty of communication imposed upon trade
and manufacture, and to the eager interest which
Wedgwood took in the subject, not from personal
motives alone, but for the public good.

In his early years the roads of Staffordshire were
no better than those of England generally. In some
respects they were worse. In Dr. Plot's time, "the
poor cratemen carried the wares on their backs all
over the country." The people were as rough as
the roads. When Charles Wesley visited South
Staffordshire in 1743, he records his visit to Walsall
as follows : — " The street was full of fierce Ephesian
beasts (the principal men setting them on), who
roared and shouted, and threw stones incessantly.
At the conclusion, a stream of ruffians was suffered
to beat me down from the steps. I rose, and having

92 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

given the blessing, was beat down again, and so a
third time."

We have already related how his elder brother
John Wesley was received at Burslem a few years
later ; how he was pelted with mud, and had no one to
protect him ; and how, at Congleton, he was even worse
received than at Burslem. All this, as Wesley admitted,
was the result of intense ignorance. There had been
no schools for the rising generation, and consequently
no education. The Midland Counties were for the most
part uncivilised, and still in the Dark Ages.

There was no other cure for it than by opening up
the district by better roads to the influences of civilisa-
tion. There were no roads as yet. They were merely
lanes or trackways marked by upright stones. Arthur
Young, on his tour in the North of England in 1768,
describes them as " most execrable " and " infernal."
He could not help swearing as he passed along them,
or round them. The lanes were scarcely sufficient
for the slumpering along of pack-horses, let alone for
carts or carriages. The people of Burslem were often
short of coal in consequence of the badness of the ways.
The poor horses, though urged by lashing, could not
drag themselves or their carts through the deep mud.
They often fell, upset their loads of coal or crates of
earthenware, frequently broke a leg, and had to be shot
on the spot.

The inland situation of Burslem, with its few pottery
villages, was thus exceedingly inconvenient. While

x Roads and Canals through Staffordshire 93

the potters employed only the clays in their own
neighbourhood, and their trade was of but small extent,
their situation was tolerable ; but when the trade
increased, and they began to draw their heavy raw
materials — clays, flint stones, and porcelain earth — from
remote parts of the kingdom, and to send back their
bulky manufactured goods in great quantities, the
expenses of the conveyance and reconveyance, together
with the carriage of coal, became a heavy import tax,
and tended to retard the consumption of stoneware in
most parts of the kingdom.

To redress this great inconvenience, Wedgwood en-
deavoured to get some of the worst parts of the roads
improved, and placed in connection with the adjoining
turnpike roads. A public meeting was held for the
purpose, but the proposal was strongly resisted. When
it was proposed to improve the chief road from Liver-
pool to the potteries, the inhabitants of Newcastle-
under-Lyme bitterly opposed it. The innkeepers
believed that the new road would take the drinking
and other traffic away from their town.

When Wedgwood first proposed, at a public meeting
at Burslem, to make four miles of road from that village
towards Liverpool, he could not carry his resolution.
Yet the road or lane, in its then state, was so bad that
the common carriers used to make the distance double
by making a wide circuit so as to get round the muddy
holes and ruts, and avoid miscarriages and upsets during
their journey. The old and stupid objection was brought

94 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

up by the opponents : " Why, the road has served us
and our fathers for many generations, and it will con-
tinue to serve us still."

But Wedgwood had the sterling gift of perseverance.
He continued to urge the necessity of opening up the
country by means of new communications. He possessed
a clear and forcible manner of expressing his thoughts,
and slowly and by degrees he produced conviction in
others, until at length he carried his point, and bene-
fited those who had been most persistently opposed to
him. He was aided also by men of rank and character,
who espoused his cause ; and in the course of a few
years, an Act of Parliament was obtained to make a
turnpike road, though only to a limited extent, and also
to improve the paving of the pottery villages. In
course of time, as the advantage of the new roads began
to be ascertained, other turnpikes were successfully
established wherever they were found to be necessary.

The inland situation of Burslem and the pottery
villages was more and more felt as the trade of the
country increased. The great ports most commodious
for Burslem were Liverpool, Bristol, and Hull. Liver-
pool was the nearest. Goods for that port had a land
carriage of eighteen miles to the nearest part of the
river Mersey. Goods for Bristol were carried by land
to Bridgnorth, about forty miles ; and to Willington on
the Trent, where the navigation to Hull began, about
the same distance. It soon became clear to the obser-
vant and comprehensive mind of Wedgwood, how

x Roads and Canals through Staffordshire 95

infinitely convenient it would be to have an inland
navigation established to bring Burslem and the pottery
villages in connection with the nearest port of Liver-
pool.

The idea of such a navigation had long been mooted ;
but it was not until the Duke of Bridgewater had con-
structed and opened his canal between Worsley and
Manchester in July 1761, that active measures began
to be adopted to set on foot the proposed new naviga-
tion through the potteries. Wedgwood was the leading
spirit, together with his friend Brindley the engineer.

Wedgwood had known Brindley for some time. He
had known him as a millwright, mechanic, mirie-
drainer,and tunnel-maker; indeed, Brindley was so ready
to undertake any kind of work, that he was generally
known as " The Schemer." Among his various con-
structions was that of a mill near Burslem for the
purpose of grinding flint — so much used by the potters
for the manufacture of white ware. He had been
informed of the distressing consequences to the work-
men of inhaling the fine particles of dry flint ; so that,
in constructing the flint mill for John Wedgwood at
the Jenkins's, he suggested that the flints should be
ground in water. This was done, and the result was
that waste was prevented, the operation of grinding was
facilitated, and the purity of the air was preserved to
the advantage of the work-people.

Brindley was thus brought into direct connection with
the Wedgwoods of Burslem ; and when the contemplated

96 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

inland navigation through the potteries was proposed,
it was natural that James Biindley and Josiah Wedg-
wood should be brought into close communication.
The manner in which Brindley had conquered the
difficulties of the Duke's Canal, and successfully accom-
plished the erection of his " Castle in the Air " — that is,
the crossing of the Irwell by the Barton Viaduct — led
to his being proposed as the only possible engineer for
the new Staffordshire Canal.1

The opening of a water communication through the
potteries had long been the subject of discussion, and a
survey was made by Brindley in 1760 at the expense
of Earl Gower and Lord Anson ; but many years elapsed
before anything practical was attempted. The first
public movement in support of Brindley's survey
occurred in December 1765, when an open-air meeting
was held at Wolseley Bridge. Earl Gower, Lord Lieu-
tenant of the county, occupied the chair ; and Lord Gray,
and Mr. Bagot, Mr. Anson, Mr. Gilbert, Mr. Wedgwood,
and many more, were present. Brindley submitted his
plans. They were fully discussed and finally adopted ;
and it was resolved that a bill should be applied for in
the next session of Parliament, to obtain powers to
construct a canal from the Mersey to the Trent. Wedg-
wood, with his usual generosity, subscribed £1000 to-
wards the preliminary expenses, and also promised to
subscribe largely for shares in the undertaking.

3 The full account of Brindley is given in Lives of the Engineers,
vol. i.

x Roads and Canals through Staffordshire 97

The principal promoters of the measure proposed to
designate the work as " The Canal from the Trent to
the Mersey," but Brindley, with sagacious foresight,
urged that it should be called "The Grand Trunk
Canal," because, in his judgment, numerous other
canals would eventually branch out from it at various
points of its course, just as the arteries of the human
system branch out from the aorta. Brindley's views
were adopted, and before many years had passed, his
anticipations were fully realised.

The Staffordshire potters were greatly delighted with
the decision of the public meeting, and on the following
evening they assembled round a large bonfire at Burs-
lem, where they wished every prosperity to the Grand
Trunk Canal, and drank the health of Earl Gower, Mr.
Wedgwood, Mr. Gilbert, and the other promoters of the
scheme, with fervent demonstrations of joy.

Of course the proposal to make a canal through
the potteries was bitterly opposed. Brindley's Grand
Trunk line was intended to join the Duke of Bridge -
water's canal at Preston- on- the-Hill, not far from Eun-
corn. As the Duke was desirous of placing his naviga-
tion in connection with the Cheshire Wiches and the
Staffordshire Potteries, and already had been at the
expense of making a preliminary survey, he at once
threw the whole weight of his support on the side of
Brindley's Grand Trunk Canal.

The owners of the Eiver Weaver Navigation Company
were the principal opponents of the measure. They

H

98 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

held that the new scheme would place a monopoly of
the Cheshire and Staffordshire traffic in the hands of
the Duke ; though they concealed the fact that their
opposition to the Grand Trunk would continue their
own monopoly in the hands of the Eiver Weaver Canal
Company, whose navigation, so far as it went, was
tedious, irregular, and expensive. Both parties mus-
tered their forces for a Parliamentary struggle. Wedg-
wood, with his usual enthusiasm, entered the lists as a
pamphleteer, and in conjunction with Bentley of
Liverpool, afterwards his partner, published an able
statement, showing the advantages likely to be derived
from the construction of the proposed new canal. This
pamphlet was circulated by thousands.1

In the course of his correspondence with Bentley,
Wedgwood wrote to him from London about certain
corrections and alterations which he had made in the
pamphlet: — "Must the uniting of seas and distant
countries depend upon the choice of a phrase or mono-
syllable ? Away with such hypercriticisms ! Let the
press go on. A pamphlet we must have, or our design
may be defeated. So, make the best of the present ;
and correct, refine^ and sublimate if you please, in the
next edition."

The opponents of the measure also held their meet-
ings and published their pamphlets. Brindley's plan

1 "A View of the Advantages of Inland Navigation, with a plan of
a Navigable Canal intended for a communication between the ports of
Liverpool and Hull."

x Roads and Canals through Staffordshire 99

was, on the whole, considered the best. The Grand
Trunk would pass through important districts, greatly
in need of improved communication with the port of
Liverpool on the one hand, and with Hull on the other.
The principal difficulty was in getting over or through
the summit at Harecastle. It was alleged by the oppo-
nents of the measure that the long tunnel at that point,
or the immense series of locks, was a mere " chimerical
idea," and could never be carried into effect. Brindley,
however, insisted that if the necessary powers were
granted, he would certainly drive the tunnel through
the hill. His idea was to make as long stretches of flat
canal as possible ; just as George Stephenson afterwards,
before the powers of the locomotive had been fully
developed, preferred to go round a hill rather than
surmount it or tunnel under it. Brindley avoided
rivers as much as possible. He likened water in a
river to a furious giant running down and overturning
everything ; whereas, " if you lay the giant flat upon
his back, he lost all his force, and became completely
passive, whatever his size might be."

It is quite unnecessary to describe the Parliamentary
contest on the Grand Trunk bill. Wedgwood, in spite
of his many important avocations — his purchase of
Etruria, his business in Liverpool and London, and
the management of his works at Burslem — often
went to London to give his evidence in support of the
measure; and most of the landed gentlemen of his
neighbourhood appeared on the same side.

ioo Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

At length, after prolonged opposition, the Grand
Trunk bill was passed ; first through the Commons ;
then through the Lords ; and on the 14th of May 1766,
it received the royal assent, and became an Act of Parlia-
ment. About the same time another important Act was
passed empowering the construction of the Wolver-
hampton Canal from the river Trent near Haywood
Mill and the river Severn near Bewdley ; thus uniting
the navigation of the three rivers which had their
termini at the ports of Liverpool, Hull, and Bristol, on
the opposite sides of the island.

Of course there were great rejoicings at Burslem on
the triumph of Brindley, Wedgwood, and their friends.
Shortly after the passing of the Act, on the 26th of July
1766, a general holiday was held at Burslem and the
neighbouring pottery villages. The first sod of the
new canal was dug by Josiah Wedgwood on the
declivity of Brownhills. It was placed in a barrow
close at hand, and, Wedgwood being lame, it was
wheeled away by Brindley amidst deafening cheers. A
barrel of old Staffordshire ale was broached, and the
healths of Earl Gower, Lord Anson, Lord Gray, and
others, were drunk ; and Mr. Wedgwood was thanked, in
the name of the assembled potters, for his indefatigable
services in the cause. Lunches and dinners followed.
Mrs. Wedgwood entertained many guests. In the after-
noon a sheep was roasted whole for the benefit of the
poorer potters. After sunset bonfires were lighted in
various parts of Burslem. A feu de joie was fired in

x Roads and Canals through Staffordshire ibi

front of Wedgwood's house, and sundry other demon-
strations of rejoicing wound up the day's proceedings.

At a meeting of the proprietors of the canal, Mr.
Wedgwood was unanimously appointed treasurer of the
undertaking. This was a great honour. It proved the
estimation in which he was held by those who knew
him best, and the faith reposed in his spotless integrity.
At a future meeting of the company, the salaries of the
officers were fixed : £200 per annum was the salary
of James Brindley, the surveyor-general of the under-
taking,— very different indeed from the salaries paid to
engineers nowadays. The committee ordered 150
guineas to be paid to Wedgwood, and £90 to Bentley,
besides a balance which remained in his hands, for the
printing, publishing, and distribution of the pamphlets
in support of the undertaking.

Wedgwood had the greatest possible admiration for
Brindley. He wrote to Bentley in March 1767 : "I am
afraid Brindley is endeavouring to do too much, and
that he will leave us before his vast designs are
accomplished. He is so incessantly harassed on every
side, that he hath no rest for either mind or body, and
will not be prevailed upon to take proper care of his
health."

And again, in March 1768, he wrote to Bentley :
"Mr. Brindley and his lady called here on their
way home. They spent the day with us and have
just left this morning. We, my wife and myself, are
to spend to-morrow with Mr. and Mrs. Brindley at

IO2 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

Newchapel; and as I always edify full as much in
that man's company as at church, I promise myself to
be much wiser the day following. It is an old adage
that a man is either a fool or a physician at fifty, and
considering the opportunities I have had with the
Brindleys and Bentleys of the age, if I am not a very
wise mortal before that time, I must be a veritable
blockhead in grain."

In answer to a letter of Bentley's on Projectors in
March 1767, Wedgwood replied : " I most cordially
join in your benevolent sentiments respecting Pro-
jectors, but do not allow either of your exceptions, for I
think Mr. Brindley — THE GREAT. The fortunate, money-
getting Brindley may be an object of pity and a real
sufferer for the benefit of the 'public. He may get a
few thousands, but what does he give in exchange ?
His Health, and I fear his Life too, unless he grows
wiser, and takes the advice of his friends before it is
too late.1

"The other Projector (Wedgwood himself) you are
pleased to compliment with an exception, is very
sensible of how much he owes to your partiality, but he
is in no danger of making a Plunk, or what would be
esteemed a Fortune by any other than a little Country
Manufacturer ; and as to his projections — those at least
that are sacred to Mammon — he would rather not hear
them named seriously. Do you think, my friend, that

1 Wedgwood was right. Brindley died of Diabetes at the com-
paratively early age of fifty-six.

x Roads and Canals through Staffordshire 103

the outline of a jug (even a Bolingbroke) or the fine
turn of a teapot are synonymous with the creating of a
canal or the building of a city ? No, no ! my friend ;
let us speak softly, or rather be silent, on such
fribling performances. Your friend shall endeavour to
please the ladies for the good of his family and friends,
but he must not be vain of such trifles or mistake them
for great actions."

The committee, at one of their first meetings of the
Canal Company, ordered that the works should at once
be proceeded with at both ends of the Harecastle Tunnel
and also at Wilden Ferry. But many years passed
before the Harecastle Tunnel was finished. Brindley
died at the age of fifty-six, and the works were con-
tinued and finished by his brother-in-law, Henshall.
Harecastle Tunnel was not opened until 1777 — that is,
it had been no less than eleven years in construction.

At the same time it must be said that the Grand
Trunk Canal was the most formidable undertaking that
had up to that time been constructed in England. Its
whole length, including the junctions with the Birming-
ham Canal and the Eiver Severn, was 139J miles.
Wedgwood stuck closely to the canal during its long
progress. None knew better than he the difficulties
occasioned to the commerce of Staffordshire by the
defective communications by road and canal to the ports
of Liverpool and Hull ; and none rejoiced more strongly
than he did on the final completion of the works.

He had by this time bought and built Etruria, and

iO4 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP, x

brought a branch of the canal to an adjoining platform
for the accommodation of the boats and the transport of
his goods. He had removed his manufactory thither
from Burslem, partially in 1769, and wholly in 1771,
before the construction of the canal had been com-
pleted.

And now we must follow his career into an entirely
new branch of his undertaking.

CHAPTEE XI

IMPROVEMENT OF MODELS — CHEMISTRY

MR. WEDGWOOD, having now firmly established the
manufacture of Queen's Ware, and vigorously assisted
in the organisation of the Grand Trunk Canal, felt it
necessary to attend to his own special business. He
was still anxious to devote himself to the study of
chemistry as applied to clays and mineral substances,
with a view to the production of a higher class of goods.
His cousin Thomas, who had been foreman in his
manufactory, attended to his London business, and
became a partner in the sale of his useful class of
goods.

Josiah Wedgwood proceeded with great industry in
the study of chemistry. In course of time he produced
a number of different kinds of ware unknown before,
and which soon gained for him a lasting and honourable
fame. The Queen's Ware was greatly improved, and
eventually caused an immense demand, not only in
England, but throughout the Continent. This ware was
composed of the whitest clays from Devonshire, Dorset-

io6 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

shire, and Cornwall. It was mixed with a due propor-
tion of ground flint. The pieces were fired twice, and
the glaze was applied after the first firing, in the same
manner as on porcelain. The glaze was a vitreous
composition of flint and other white earthy bodies, with
an addition of white lead for the flux analogous to
common flint glass; so that, when prepared in per-
fection, the ware might be considered as coated over
with real flint glass.

The entirely new pieces of earthenware and porcelain
which Wedgwood produced, as the result of his chemical
investigations, were the following : —

1. A Terra-Cotta, resembling porphyry, Egyptian
pebble, and other beautiful stones of the silicious or
crystalline order.

2. Basaltcs or Egyptian, a black porcelain biscuit of
nearly the same properties with the natural stone. It
bears without injury a strong fire, stronger indeed than
the basalt itself.

3. White Porcelain Biscuit, of a smooth, wax-like
surface, of the same properties as the preceding, except
in what depends upon colour.

4. Jasper, a white porcelain biscuit, of exquisite
beauty and delicacy, possessing the general properties
of the preceding, together with the singular one of
receiving through the whole substance, from the admix-
ture of metallic calces with the other ingredients, the
same colours which those calces communicate to glasses
or enamels in fusion, a property which no other porce-

xi Improvement of Models — Chemistry 107

lain or earthenware body, of ancient or modern times,
has been found to possess. This renders it peculiarly
fit for cameos, portraits, and all subjects in bas-relief, as
the ground may be of any peculiar colour, while the
raised figures are of a pure white.

5. Bamboo, a cane-coloured biscuit porcelain, of the
same nature as No. 3.

6. A Porcelain Biscuit, remarkable for its great hard-
ness, little inferior to that of Agate. This property,
together with its resistance to the strongest acids and
corrosives and its impenetrability by every known
liquid, adapts it for the mortars of druggists and
chemists, and many different kinds of chemical vessels.

These six distinct kinds of manufactures, together
with the Queen's Ware already mentioned, were de-
veloped by the ingenuity and industry of the different
manufacturers into an infinity of forms, both for orna-
ment and use, variously painted and embellished.
These constitute nearly the whole of the fine earthen-
ware and porcelains which have by this time become
the source of a very extensive trade, and which, con-
sidered as an object of national art, industry, and
commerce, may be ranked as amongst the most im-
portant manufactures of the kingdom.

When Wedgwood finally entered into his partnership
with Bentley, it was intended that the latter should fix
his abode at Etruria for purposes of convenience, and
the erection of a house was begun for him after a design
of his own, but before it was finished it was judged best

io8 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

that he should reside in London, and take charge of the
warehouse which Wedgwood had found it necessary to
establish there a few years before. A house was then
taken for Bentley at Chelsea, near the Chelsea China
Works, where Wedgwood established works of his own,
which his new partner superintended.

The Queen's Potter was probably the first person in
this country who conceived the design, already hinted
at, of leading the public mind to the contemplation of
the arts of antiquity, and of diffusing and perpetuating
their glorious works by multiplying copies of them, just
as literature has been diffused by the printing-press.
The correct taste and the accuracy of discrimination
which Wedgwood had already shown, and which had
been improved by his study of the ancient Greek works,
and the extreme perseverance of his chemical researches,
which enabled him to discover the black basaltes, the
variegated terra -cotta, the white, wax -like porcelain,
and other substances, and the purpose to which he
applied them, soon caught the public eye, and occasioned
a rapid demand for his productions in the artistic line.
Though many scientific potters may have since excelled
Wedgwood, having his formulas to direct and guide
them, he alone must be considered as the pioneer of
artistic pottery in England.

He was enabled to carry his designs into effect by
the liberal and patriotic disposition of the nobility and
gentry, who opened their cabinets to his uses, and per-
mitted him to make copies of the fine pieces of work

xi Improvement of Models — Chemistry 109

which they had purchased in the course of their travels
in foreign countries. " I have been three days hard and
close at work," Wedgwood wrote to Bentley in October
1765, "taking patterns from a set of French China at
the Duke of Bedford's, worth at least £1500 — the
most elegant things I have ever seen — and I am this
evening to wait and be waited on by designers and
modellers."

The artists of various kinds whom Wedgwood
employed were very numerous. Whenever he found a
young man with artistic taste, he took him up, and
helped him forward. He even founded a school for the
instruction of young men and women in drawing,
painting, and modelling.

Coward seems to have been one of the earliest artists
employed by Wedgwood. In November 1765, we find
him writing to his brother in London, to send to Burslem
Coward's carvings of "Ich Dien" for the Queen's
Service ; " Satyr's head " and " Laurel festoons " for
Lady Holland ; and " Swan's head " and handles for
Lord Eockingham's vase. Ornaments of various kinds
were required from Coward for orders from Lord March,
the Duke of Northumberland, Lord Coventry, the Duke
of Montague, Sir T. Gascoigne, and others. It may be
mentioned that Coward, in conjunction with Hoskins,
modelled from the antique the Somnus or Sleeping Boy
— one of the finest and largest works ever executed for
Wedgwood. Coward was found so useful, that while
other artists were paid so much for executing a piece of

1 1 o Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

work, Coward was permanently retained by Wedgwood
at £200 per annum.

John Bacon, afterwards the famous sculptor, was
another of Wedgwood's principal artists at one period
of his life. Bacon was originally a clothworker with
his father, but showing a taste for drawing and design-
ing, he determined to follow the bent of his genius.
" Happiness," he said to himself when a youth, " is in
every man's power who can learn to discipline his own
mind " — a bold but true thought — and on this plan he
made a philosophical attempt to secure his own happi-
ness.

When about fourteen years of age Bacon apprenticed
himself to one Crispe of Bow Churchyard, an eminent
maker of porcelain. His master observed his talents as
a designer, and thus Bacon was soon promoted by his
employer. Bacon learnt under him not only drawing
but modelling. He also painted figures on plates and
dishes. At that early age, this helpful fellow princi-
pally supported his parents by the produce of his labours.

Bacon became fascinated by the pursuit of model-
ling. His models were sent to the pottery furnace in
Lambeth to be fired. With a hopeful and willing spirit,
his work gradually improved. His ambition was stimu-
lated, and he gave all his leisure hours to his new
pursuit. He next proceeded to discipline his hand
and eye in the severe school of sculpture. With such
determination, he could not but succeed ; and, at the
age of nineteen, he presented his first model in clay

xi Improvement of Models — Chemistry 111

to the Society of Arts, for which he received a pre-
mium of ten guineas.

Bacon continued to labour in the pottery shop of
Crispe for some years, gathering knowledge and ex-
perience. One of his first successful efforts was a
small figure of Peace, after the antique style. He
modelled some eight works for the Society of Arts, for
which he received premiums — for one, a human figure
as large as life, a premium of as much as fifty-two
pounds ten shillings.

He removed from Crispe's workshop, and became a
successful labourer in Coade's Artificial Stone Manu-
factory, in Lambeth, shortly after its establishment in
1769. It must have been about this time, when he was
looking out for a new employer, that Wedgwood became
acquainted with him, and employed him on his new
cameos and intaglios, which so greatly enhanced the
reputation of his firm.

It is unnecessary to follow the further career of John
Bacon ; but it may be mentioned, that when the Eoyal
Academy was instituted, Bacon was twenty-eight years
old, and in the year 1769 he had the honour of receiving
from the hands of Sir Joshua Eeynolds the first gold
medal ever given for sculpture by the Eoyal Academy.
The subject was ^Eneas bearing Anchises from the
burning of Troy. After this, his reputation became
distinguished ; and his works are still famous. His
statue of Mars was copied in a reduced form by Wedg-
wood, and still remains one of his finest intaglios.

1 1 2 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

Bacon supplied Wedgwood with many other models
— amongst others, with Apollo and Daphne, and several
important patterns of Yases and Candelabra. He
enamelled for Wedgwood a reduced copy of the bas-relief
for which he had gained the gold medal of the Eoyal
Academy. This was beautifully executed in Jasper.

One of Wedgwood's cleverest artists was James
Tassie. Born at Glasgow, he was originally destined
for the business of a stone-mason. Going to Dublin in
search of employment, he was brought into connection
with Dr. Quin, the physician, whose hobby was the
imitation of gems in coloured glass or paste. Dr. Quin
engaged Tassie, and by their united labours great
improvements were effected in that art. Tassie was
encouraged by his patron to proceed to London to
follow this art as his profession, and although he had
many difficulties to encounter, owing to his extreme
diffidence, he eventually emerged from obscurity, and
established such a reputation that the principal cabinets
of Europe were thrown open to him. In 1767 he
obtained a prize of ten guineas for his imitation of an
ancient onyx. He modelled gems and cameos for
Wedgwood, and his works were always admired for their
brightness and beauty. One of his finest heads was
that of James Watt in wax. The author possessed one
of them, a wonderful piece of work for delicacy and
accuracy.

John Voyez was an excellent carver and enameller.
Wedgwood was at the expense of removing him and his

xi Improvement of Models — Chemistry 113

wife from London to Burslem, and there he worked under
his master's eye, executing some beautiful bas-reliefs.
But Voyez's morals were not equal to his artistic work.
Under the influence of drink, he committed some crime,
for which the magistrates sentenced him to be whipped
with a cat -o'- nine -tails, and imprisoned for three
months. Yet the kind and forgiving Wedgwood, after his
release, resolved to give him another chance. He again
took him into his employment at the wage of two
pounds a week. But badness must have been rooted
in Voyez's nature. He was found betraying Wedg-
wood's secrets to one of his competitors ; and eventually
he fled from Burslem, involved in debt.

It is not necessary to enumerate all the artists who
worked for Wedgwood. Among them are found the names
of Stothard, who in his early life furnished several
beautiful designs ; Pingo, an Italian artist, who at an
early period of Wedgwood's career modelled for him re-
presentations of the battles of Plassey and Pondicherry.
Webber and Hackwood were constantly employed.
Hackwood was a splendid modeller of portraits, some of
which are classical. The magnificent portrait of Newton,
after Eoubilliac, is by him. Wedgwood called upon
Eoubilliac's widow, and she presented him with her
husband's sketches, many of which Wedgwood after-
wards turned to account.

Stringer, the painter of Knutsford, was employed by
Wedgwood to take views of English country seats for
the Eussian Service. Stringer also visited Burslem.

I

ii4 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

He painted figures, and arranged sphinxes to support a
beautiful column which Wedgwood had modelled.
"Stringer," wrote Wedgwood to Bentley (Nov. 1767), " is
now here ; he is good-natured, modest, and ingenious ;
and as he has a ready hand at drawing, we can sketch
out a vast number of pretty things, which may be laid
by to mature, till we can bring them into use. A manu-
facturer of ornamentals cannot have too great a store
of that sort."

Burdett, a Liverpool artist, drew dead game for
Wedgwood; but he proved quarrelsome, and was
discharged. Theodore Parker, Spilsbury, and Shaw,
were amongst the decorative artists. Joseph Simon
was an excellent London enameller, and was employed
to decorate the Eussian Service. David Ehodes was,
however, Wedgwood's principal enameller. Chitaqua,
a Chinese modeller, took a likeness of Wedgwood, but
it does not appear that he was afterwards employed by
the firm. Wright, the Derby painter, assisted Wedgwood
with his pictures and illustrations ; he suggested, and
drew, or painted, " The Corinthian Maid," " Penelope un-
ravelling her Web," " Ulysses and Young Telemachus,"
" The Lady in Comus," and other illustrations.

Among Wedgwood's good enamellers were Denby
of Derby, who worked both at Etruria and Chelsea ;
and David Cooper of London, a flower - painter of
considerable merit. Wilcox, from the Worcester
porcelain works, together with his clever and in-
genious wife, was employed at Etruria, and gave every

xi Improvement of Models — Chemistry 115

satisfaction. They were afterwards removed to Chelsea,
to take rank with the body of enamellers and decorators
employed at Wedgwood and Bentley's manufactory.

Sufficient workmen and workwomen could not be
hired to supply the demand for Wedgwood's vases and
enamelled work. Art does not come by nature. Men
and women must be taught, and work hard before they
can attain success; and many, many are the failures.
We know of artists who have descended from landscape
painting to the selling of butter and cheese. "We
could not live by art," they said, " but we can make a
living by this humbler occupation." Wedgwood could
not find a Vase -maker, without careful training.
" Nay," said he, " I could not get a hand through the
whole Pottery to make a table-plate, without training
him up for that purpose."

Again, Wedgwood writes to his friend : " A waking
notion haunts me very much of late, which is the
beginning of a regular drawing and modelling school to
train up artists for ourselves. I would pick up some
likely boys of about twelve years old, and take them as
apprentices until they are twenty or twenty-one, and
when they had made some tolerable proficiency, they
should practise with outlines of figures upon Vases
which I should send you to be filled up. . . . When you
wanted any hands, you could draft them out of this
School."

Mrs. Wilcox, a very good painter of flowers, as well
as of figures, groups, and landscapes, was sent from

1 1 6 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

Burslem to Newport Street in London when the show-
rooms were opened there, and was one of the principal
supports of Wedgwood's Art School in Chelsea. Mr.
and Mrs. Wilcox travelled to London in 1769 by waggon,
and were a week on the road. They were met at the
" Coach and Horses " by some of the people from New-
port Street, and were conveyed to their lodgings until
accommodation could be provided for them at Chelsea.
Mrs. Wilcox was a brave and valiant woman. She
brought her pencils and brushes tied in a bundle,
carefully preserved from the tread of the waggon folk.
She brought her tools, but, still more important, she
brought herself. Her husband always admitted that
she was much greater than he himself was. She
long worked for Wedgwood, and indeed died in his
service.

Among the women workers for Wedgwood, Mrs. Laridre
stood pre-eminent. She modelled Tritons, Sea-nymphs,
Sphinxes, Naiads, Bacchantes, and draped figures male
and female. She also modelled Candelabra on a large
scale. Miss Pars and Miss Glesson were also amongst
those who were employed in the decoration of the
Kussian Service. Wedgwood was much indebted to
Mrs. Southwell, who visited his works at Etruria.
"She knows," he wrote to his partners, "the Art of
disposing the most beautiful productions of Nature in
the most agreeable, picturesque, and striking manner."
... He again adds, "Mrs. Southwell is a charming
woman. I am more and more in love with her every

xi Improvement of Models — Chemistry 117

time I see her, — aud having such a Mistress in the
science of flower-drawing, I hope that our future pro-
ductions will show that I have profited accordingly."

Wedgwood engaged the best artists, wherever he
could find them. He sought them out amongst the
London fan-painters, coach-painters, and fresco-painters.
It did not matter whether they were men or women.
Both were alike employed. One Croft struck out a
scheme for employing faint white outlines on the Vases ;
this was followed by Hutchins from Soho. The border
lines were traced at Etruria, and the colours were
afterwards laid on at Chelsea. Bakewell of Liverpool,
and Ealph Unwin of Burslem, were employed on this
work ; for there continued to be — to use Wedgwood's
words — " an epidemical madness for Vases."

CHAPTEE XII

AMPUTATION OF WEDGWOOD'S RIGHT LEG

IN narrating the life of Josiah Wedgwood frequent
reference has been made to the attack of virulent small-
pox from which he suffered, as a boy of eleven years
old, in 1741, and to the legacy of incessant and fre-
quently excruciating pain which it entailed on him.
In addition to this, however, the disease left other
sequelae in an impaired constitution, and partial blind-
ness, as well as other ailments, from which he never
completely recovered.

It is necessary to bear in mind the terrible affliction
thus caused to a nature so active and energetic as
Josiah Wedgwood's. The enforced idleness of body
could not subdue his indomitable perseverance, but
only afforded the opportunity for that cultivation of
mind which had been denied him in earlier years. The
accident on his journey to Liverpool brought about his
introduction to Dr. Turner, and through him his ac-
quaintance with Bentley, and such men as Dr. Priestley,
Dr. Aikin, the Heywoods, the Percivals, Mr. Wyke the

CH. xii Amputation of Wedgwood's Right Leg 119

clever watchmaker, and the Eev. William Willet, who
afterwards married Catherine, Wedgwood's youngest
sister.

His affliction, therefore, was not altogether without
recompense, but it was an ever-present source of bodily
pain and commercial hindrance.

While in London on the navigation business, in
November 1765, Wedgwood had a brief but alarming
attack of illness which greatly prostrated him. His
wife and cousin were happily near. They helped him
to conduct the business he had come to London about ;
and in a short time he was again at work, though far
from convalescent.

The bilious attacks to which he was liable returned
in July 1767, and, as usual, depressed his spirits and
greatly disheartened him. His friend Dr. Darwin recom-
mended exercise ; and he rode on horseback from ten to
twenty miles a day. A month later, his unfortunate knee
again troubled him. He had intended to visit Bentley
at Liverpool, but he felt quite unable to ride so far. He
wrote to his friend : " I cannot do much longer without
seeing you, but I am at present disabled for travelling
far from home by a sprain of my bad knee, which will,
T fear, confine me some time near home."

It was so constantly with him. He was sometimes
better, sometimes worse. At one time it was his liver,
at another time it was his disabled knee. It seemed to
be a case of metastasis, a change of the disease from one
part of the body to another. He wrote to Cox of

I2O Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

London, who was hiring new showrooms for him,
saying that he had over-walked and over-worked his
leg, and the result was intense pain. He again con-
sulted Mr. Bent, the surgeon of Newcastle-under-Lyme,
who tried embrocations externally and emetics internally.
He thus described the results to Bentley : " The pain
had no sooner left my knee than I was very ill in other
respects; I suffered from great heat and difficulty
of breathing, insomuch that I was glad to feel the
pain again returning to the knee, and as the pain
again returned into that part, the other symptoms
left me."

Though Wedgwood was now a comparatively
thriving and prosperous man — master of a large
pottery establishment, treasurer of the Grand Trunk
Canal, and interested in many public undertakings —
the disease in his knee was constantly returning. It
was a constant source of pain and worry. It inter-
fered with his sleep — " kind Nature's sweet restorer,
balmy sleep." It hindered his peace of mind. It
prevented him attending to his business. He could
not even conduct his correspondence. He began to
contemplate the idea of getting rid of this terrible
incumbrance.

On the advice of his friend Dr. Darwin, he determined
to consult a surgeon. Had conservative surgery ex-
isted in those days, perhaps his limb might have
been saved. But Wedgwood had to accommodate
himself to the then condition of surgery. He was

xii Amputation of Wedgwood's Right Leg 1 2 1

now making up his mind to a capital cure, which
might for ever rid him of his tormenting knee. It
was no doubt a heroic remedy, and it might prove
a dangerous one. It was no other than the am-
putation of his right limb. He finally resolved
upon the operation, and the amputation took place
upon the 28th May 1768, about four years after his
marriage.

Mr. Bent, assisted by a local surgeon, performed the
operation. The faithful Bentley came over from Liver-
pool to support Wedgwood's courage. But, so far as
that went, he had courage enough. There were no
ansesthetics in those days, but he would not have the
operation hidden from his view, but deliberately
watched the surgeons. There were the tourniquet, the
knife, the saw, the forceps, the ligatures, the sewing of
the flaps, and the strapping. He was thus finally
relieved from the knee which had tormented him so
long; and during the operation, the brave Wedgwood
never shrank nor uttered a murmur. Yet, for many
years, the severed nerves continued to convey sensations
to the brain or to the nervous system which had been
affected, so that he continued to feel the remains of
the pain in what he called his " no-leg."

During Wedgwood's illness, his wife's conduct was
admirable. Although she had to attend the sufferings
of her dying boy, she never ceased to pay her loving
attentions to her " dear Joss." She conducted his corre-
spondence, and did everything she could, by her alacrity

122 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

and cheerfulness, to keep his mind as free as possible
from the cares and troubles of ordinary life. When the
surgeons saw that the operation had been successful,
they left the case to the care of his wife. She dressed
the wound from day to day, until the patient was finally
cured.

When Bentley found that Wedgwood was out of
danger, he returned to Liverpool to execute his friend's
orders. He and his partner Boardman were for some
time exceedingly busy with despatching crates of
earthenware to foreign ports. During Wedgwood's
illness, many inquiries were made by distinguished
persons after his welfare, — by Lord Gower of Trentham,
by the Duke of Bridgewater of Worsley, and by the
Dukes of Bedford and Marlborough, Lords Cathcart and
Bessborough, Sir William Meredith, Sir George Saville,
and many others. Dr. Darwin was also a frequent
visitor while Wedgwood was confined to his room. If
good wishes could have cured him, he must soon have
been happy upon his solitary leg.

While Wedgwood lay in bed, after the amputation,
Peter Swift, of the Burslem Works, wrote an invoice of
cream ware to Cox in London, dated 28th May 1768,
to which he appended this note : " Mr. Wedgwood has
this day had his leg taken of (sic\ and is as well as can
be expected after such an execution ! "

Bentley's correspondence continued to be most loving
and affectionate. It was one of Wedgwood's greatest
pleasures to receive, read, and study his kind communica-

xii Amputation of Wedgwood's Right Leg 123

tions. In one of Wedgwood's replies, written about a
month after the operation, he said : " My dear friend — I
have many, very many, most kind and affectionate
letters from you to be thankful for, with a thousand
other instances of your esteem ; but that is too cool a
term to express the feelings of my heart. . . . You know,
indeed, that I could not for a moment cease to love and
be grateful to you, now I am recovered so far as to be
able to write. I find myself over head and ears in debt
as to replies to your communications, and every post is
increasing the heavy load. It is this that confines me
to the house, and retards my perfect recovery."

"At present I am well, even beyond my most sanguine
expectations. My leg is almost healed. The wound is
not quite two inches by one and a half. I measured it
with the compasses this morning when I dressed it.
Yes ! when I dressed it ; for I have turned my surgeon
adrift, and Sally and I are sole managers now. Only,
we give him leave to peep at it now and then, when he
lifts up his hands and eyes, and will scarcely believe
that it is the wound he dressed before."

Wedgwood continued to take his usual interest in the
building of the works at Etruria, and showed his kind-
ness to the workmen employed. On the 20th of June,
less than a month after the operation, he wrote to
Bentley : " I am pleased with your feeling so much for
the poor mortar-maker, and I will endeavour to set his
mind at rest. Mr. Pickford (the master builder) has
much of the Bashaw in his treatment of workmen, and

124 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

does not consider that they have any feelings at all. I
have seen many instances of this, and may perhaps
some time or other find a mode of conveying to him a
lecture upon the proper treatment of our inferiors, and
to prove that our ' humble friends,' as some one beauti-
fully calls them, have like passions with ourselves, and
are capable of feeling pain or pleasure in the same
manner as their masters."

After this amputation of his leg, Wedgwood had to
walk with the aid of crutches, for cork legs had not
been invented, and he had to wait for a proper firm
leg until his next visit to London. Some months after
the amputation, he wrote to Dr. Darwin : " My first
wooden leg was made by Mr. Addison, lay-figure maker
in Hanover Street, Longacre." But Wedgwood was so
active and spirited a fellow that he required a constant
succession of wooden legs.

On the 14th of July 1768 he wrote to Bentley from
Burslem : " My London modeller has come, and we are,
sketching out some employment for him. I have acci-
dentally met with another artist who is like enough to
stick by me if you can send a good, sober, honest
account of him. He is a mathematical instrument
maker, a wooden leg maker, a caster of printer's types,
and, in short, a jack of all trades. He has been at
Liverpool about half a year, working with a mathe-
matical instrument maker near the Change. He has
also done some letters for Mr. Perry. His name is
Brown, and he wears a wooden leg. At present he is

xii Amputation of Wedgwood's Right Leg 125

making me some wooden legs. As lie can forge iron,
file extremely well, and cast in various metals, I shall
employ him in making and repairing engine lathes,
punched by tools of various sorts. If his character be
good, he is just the very man I want."

In writing to her agents in London, Mrs. Wedgwood
says : " The peg leg is much wanted." In February
1769, he writes that he cannot attend the Grand Trunk
Canal meeting, because his leg was repairing ! He had
an immense deal of trouble indeed with his pin leg !
In a letter to Mr. Steward, written by Wedgwood him-
self at a later date, he regrets that he had met with a
slight hurt, which rendered him unable to wear his
artificial leg, and thereby confined himself at home;
but he added : " I have now got well, and go abroad
again, though I am not fond of doing so in frosty
weather, being not so expert a footman as I have been,
and a slip or accident to my better leg might lay me
up for good and all."

There was a great deal of trouble about the " spare
leg." In a letter to his brother in London, Wedgwood
said : " Send me by the next waggon a spare leg, which
you will find, I believe, in the closet. ... I shall make
a wretched walker in the dark with a wooden leg." At
the same time there was a large demand for Vases,
which Wedgwood did his best to supply. He went to
London in February 1769, and superintended the opera-
tions there for six weeks. After his return to Burslem,
he wrote to Bentley at Liverpool, who had just re-

126 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

turned from Newport Street, London, and said that
there was " no getting to the door of the showroom for
coaches nor into the rooms for ladies. Vases are still
the cry." We add another part of Wedgwood's letter :
" Be so good as let us know what is going forward in
the great world ; how many Lords and Dukes visit your
rooms, praise your beauties, thin your shelves, and fill
your purses ; and if you will take the trouble to ac-
quaint us with the daily ravages in your stores, we will
endeavour to replenish them."

But still worse than Wedgwood's pin leg were the
attacks of blindness, with which he was threatened
towards the end of 1769. He had an inflammation in his
eyes, which partly blinded him. Spectra and atoms
shut out the light. " My eyes," he wrote to Bentley in
December, "continue the same. It is just dark, and I
am absolutely forbidden to write or read by candle-light.
Clouds and atoms are before me. I fear, indeed, about
my brain becoming affected. I intend to go to London
for advice. I am advised to have a perpetual seton
placed behind my neck."

To save his eyes, Mrs. Wedgwood, his faithful wife,
wrote a long letter to Bentley : " The complaint in Mr.
Wedgwood's eyes," she begins, " which he mentioned to
you in London, is growing worse. He has consulted
Mr. Bent, who advises him to use them as little as
possible, and not to write by candle-light at all, for
which reason he knows you will excuse him for not
writing. Mr. Bent has ordered him to take some pukes

xii Amputation of Wedgwood's Right Leg 127

(emetics). He has already taken one, and thinks he is
something better, and is to take another to-night."
Then she goes into business matters, which occupy
several pages quarto.

It was a great privation for Wedgwood to be debarred
from reading, as he desired to use his confinement
for the opportunity of repairing the deficiencies of
an education which had unavoidably been narrow.
Indeed, he took so much delight in reading that he
often declared that the height of his ambition was to
earn a small competence, such as might enable
him to spend the remainder of his life in literary
studies.

But business had, in the meantime, to be attended
to. In June 1779, we find him writing to Lord Paget,
stating his concern at not being able to wait upon his
lordship at Etruria, because of his being unable to start
at that time without crutches. But he proceeded to
give Lord Paget written information as to the ideas he
had been inquiring about.

After his eyes had recovered, he could both read and
write about models of The Muses, Hercules, Omphale,
The Piping Faun, The Vestals, Esculapius, and other
artistic products. At the same time he added : " I believe
it would do me a great deal of good to have my head
quite clear of all business for a fortnight."

To show the kindly feeling that existed between
Wedgwood and Bentley, we quote the following further
letter, on the occasion of Bentley being invited to Etruria

128 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP, xn

at Christmas time : " How happy should I be in
spending a few weeks or even days with my dear
friend ! His letters console and comfort me greatly ;
but his cheerful and enlivening company, with the
visible emanations of his sympathetic heart, would be
a cordial indeed. . . . But there is a gulf between us,
which neither one nor the other can pass with any
degree of propriety, prudence, or convenience.

" I am equally engaged and tied down to this spot.
The frost has now nearly left us, and we are going to
set out the buildings. . . . The price Mr. Pickford has
given us in his estimate is much higher than that I can
agree to ... but we are to try what we can do to-
morrow. . . .

" All our little folks are jumping and skipping about
us. We have had one high day, concluding with a
dance. We had a second day with the non-dancers.
If you arrive in time we shall have a third."

CHAPTEE XIII

WEDGWOOD'S ARTISTIC WORK

THE erection of the works at Etruria was now nearly
finished. Bentley's house was ready for his reception.
He was now Wedgwood's partner in artistic and orna-
mental ware. Wedgwood was anxious to see him at
Burslem about an extension of his London showrooms.
" Pail-Mall," he said, " is the best situation in London.
There is now an auction room occupied by the artists
for their exhibition. I should like to have your opinion
about it. ... Besides room for my ware, I must have
more room for my ladies, for they sometimes come in
such very large shoals together, that one party are often
obliged to wait until another have done their business.
... I have now about some five hundred things to do.
I am preparing designs, models, moulds, clays, colours,
and such like for the Vase work, by which means we
shall be able to do business."

In a subsequent letter he says : " I am going on with
my experiments upon various earths, clays, etc., for
different bodies, and shall next go upon glazes. Many

K

130 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

of my experiments turn out to my wishes, and convince
me more and more of the extensive capability of our
manufacture for further improvements. It is at present
in a rude uncultivated state, and may easily be brought
to much greater perfection. Such a revolution is, I
believe, at hand, and you must assist me and profit
by it. ... Why, you never knew so busy a mortal
as I am — highways, canals, surveying, engine lathe
making, experiments for porcelain, or at least a
new earthenware, fill lip about every moment of my
time."

From a very early period, Wedgwood had desired to
obtain Bentley as a partner. His object was to secure
the aid and counsel of a man of sound judgment, upon
whose fidelity and ability he could thoroughly rely.
He had not been satisfied with his London agents ; and
as he became better acquainted with Bentley, he believed
in him more and more, and became increasingly anxious
to obtain his services. The two became so intimate
that Bentley was the only friend that had been present
at the amputation of Wedgwood's limb. Yet Bentley
was a modest man : he was not ambitious, nor desirous
of accumulating wealth.

At first he declined Wedgwood's offer. He was
satisfied with his position at Liverpool, where he and
his partner had for some years been carrying on a large
exporting and importing trade for Wedgwood and
others. But Wedgwood would not be denied. He
pressed the matter of the partnership again and again ;

xin Wedgwood's Artistic Work 131

and at length Bentley resigned his position at Liverpool
in favour of Boardman.

Wedgwood desired Bentley to reside at Etruria, in
order that he should become thoroughly initiated in the
affairs of the firm. Bentley went first to London to
look after the state of the agency there ; and meanwhile
his house at Etruria was proceeded with, until it was
nearly ready for occupation. But Bentley never took
possession of the house ; his presence in London being
considered more necessary for the progress of the firm.

From the date of his recovery, Wedgwood became
more and more absorbed in the details of his business.
He strove to introduce the highest art in the production
of earthenware. The drawings burnt in upon the
edges of the plates and dishes were greatly improved.
Wedgwood desired to foster and create a taste for
works of art. He employed Stothard and other artists
to design for him, and some of their works were of a
very superior character.

At the same time Wedgwood made many improve-
ments in the form and material of his productions,
especially in his vases, the demand for which became
very great. He was constantly making inquiries about
new clays for the improvement of his wares.

In 1768, Wedgwood despatched his traveller Griffiths
to South Carolina, for the purpose of procuring some
very precious white porcelain clay which, he under-
stood, was to be obtained in that quarter. The voyage
proved a perilous one. Violent storms pursued the

132 fosiah Wedgwood CHAP.

ship. An Algerine cruiser attempted to overhaul them.
At length they reached Charleston in safety. But
more danger had to be encountered. Griffiths and his
party had to travel some 300 miles into the heart of
the country, which was beset by thieves and robbers.
When they reached the Ayoree and Chikoree country,
the savage Indians threatened to kill them because of
their trespass on the hunting grounds. At length, after
being protected by the squaws, Griffiths succeeded in
filling five rough waggons with five tons of pure white
earth or clay, and conveying the waggons, amid con-
siderable peril, to Charleston. From thence the stuff
was forthwith shipped for England.

Wedgwood also despatched another messenger to
obtain some other notable clay from Pensacola in
Florida. Wherever suitable clay was to be had
throughout the world, he invariably contrived to make
diligent search for it. He obtained, near at hand,
from Anglesark in Lancashire, Terra ponderosa — what
the French potters term Spath fusible — and of this also
he made diligent use. He continued to model from
antique forms, especially from the Etruscan ; and he
made every inquiry of his distinguished friends, for tlie
purpose of obtaining new models for the antique vases.
Lord Gower, Lord Cathcart, the Duke of Bedford, and
Sir William Hamilton, were in this way of the greatest
assistance to him.

In order to exhibit his artistic works, it was neces-
sary that they should be shown in some well-frequented

xin Wedgwood 's Artistic Work 133

district. Wedgwood found some excellent showrooms
at the corner of Newport Street and St. Martin's Lane.
There he exhibited his best vases and other works of
art. No person could have exhibited these artistic
wares with better address than Bentley. He was hand-
some in person, and polished in manners and conversa-
tion. He entertained his morning audiences of dukes,
duchesses, and other noble personages, with great
suavity and grace. He could speak most European
languages, and descant to his hearers on Greek and
Etruscan art, or converse in French or Italian with
foreign ambassadors on the progress of artistic manu-
factures in Paris or Koine.

Among Wedgwood's numerous friends was Matthew
Boulton of Birmingham. Boulton was a public-spirited
man. He was one of the early promoters of the Grand
Trunk Canal, of which Wedgwood was treasurer. He
was one of the men who faced and overcame many
difficulties. When James Watt's condensing steam-
engine was in such a state that no mechanical en -ineer
would even look at it, Boulton took it up, and after
many years of trials and heavy losses, he eventually,
with the assistance of Watt and Murdock, established
the engine as a novel and extraordinary working power.

Before his partnership with Watt, Boulton had been
better known in connection with the inlaying of steel
and the manufacture of bronze ornaments. As his
business increased he desired to extend his works. He
could not find premises in Birmingham to suit his

134 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

purposes ; but he found a large rabbit warren at Soho,
about two miles off, which he leased for a lengthened
period, and proceeded to erect thereon extensive works.
These, soon after, became the home of the condensing
steam-engine, and the great mint of British coin.

Josiah Wedgwood had been in a similar position
at Burslein when he proceeded to buy the comparatively
barren Kidgehouse estate about two miles off. He, too,
converted an unfruitful region into a mine of wealth.
While the works at Etruria were in course of erection,
no one was better able to advise Wedgwood as to the
organised system of details, than Matthew Boulton of
Soho. The two friends often met together, and Boulton
revealed to Wedgwood the entire series of his operations
— his bookkeeping, his method of finance, his agencies,
his system of accounts, and all the other details of a
large and increasing trade.

Wedgwood had the highest opinion of Boulton's
business genius. " He is, I believe," wrote Wedgwood
to Bentley, "the first most complete manufacturer of
metal in England. He is very ingenious, philosophical,
and agreeable." Wedgwood's success had been so great
that Boulton told his friend that he admired his vases
so much that he almost wished to be a potter. At one
time, indeed, he had serious thoughts of beginning the
fictile manufacture ; but eventually he was satisfied
to mount in metal the vases which Wedgwood had
made.

In view of the probable encounters in pottery, Wedg-

xni Wedgwood's Artistic Work 135

wood wrote to Bentley in 1769 : " It doubles iny
courage to have the first manufacturer in England to
encounter. The match likes me well. I like the man ; I
like his spirit. He will not be a mere drivelling copyist
like the antagonists I have hitherto had, but will venture
to step out of the lines upon occasion, and afford us
diversion in the combat. ... If we must fall, if Etruria
cannot stand its ground but must give way to Soho, and
fall before her, let us not sell the victory too cheap, but
maintain our ground like men, and endeavour even in
our defeat to share the laurels with our conquerors."

Boulton and Wedgwood, however, never waged war-
fare with each other. They remained sincere friends
during the rest of their lives. Wedgwood paid a
visit to London, accompanied by his wife and Mr.
Bentley, in October 1768. The apartments above
the warehouse were prepared for their reception,
and they spent many happy days there. Matthew
Boulton, from Soho, was in London at the same time,
and he and Wedgwood went about searching for antique
vases; the one to reproduce them in bronze, and the
other in jasper or basalt.

After a month's stay in London, Wedgwood, his wife,
and Bentley returned to Burslem. Bentley was the
guest of Wedgwood at the Brick House. During the
first six months of 1769, Bentley passed from London
through Burslem to Liverpool to wind up his affairs at
the latter town, and to counsel his friend as to the new
buildings at Etruria. At length the ornamental works

136 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

at Etruria were ready for occupation on the 13th of
June 1769. The other buildings, called the Useful
Works — that is, for the manufacture of ware for com-
mercial purposes — were only in progress. The canal in
front of the buildings was far advanced. The mansion
intended for the accommodation of Wedgwood and his
family was also in progress, but by no means ready for
occupation.

It was a great day for Etruria. Mrs. Wedgwood,
with her two children, and other friends, had come over
from Burslem to see the beginning of the works.
Wedgwood and Bentley were the first operators.
Wedgwood threw off his coat and hat, turned up his
shirt -sleeves, and putting on a workman's apron,
sat down at the thrower's board, whilst Bentley
turned the wheel, making the disc to revolve, while
Wedgwood modelled the six three -handled vases in
black basalt. After this had been done, there was an
adjournment to the turners' room, where Wedgwood
pared down the inequalities by the lathe, after which
they were ready for firing. Then followed a luncheon
and a banquet to drink success to the new undertaking.
The vases were described by Wedgwood as " the first
fruits of Etruria." After being burnt, they were sent
to London to be painted in encaustic colours by one of
Wedgwood's artists. The subject was, " Hercules and his
Companions in the Gardens of the Hesperides," taken
from one of the Etruscan antiquities belonging to Sir
William Hamilton.

Wedgwood's Artistic Work 137

In August 1769, Bentley proceeded to London, where
he remained for a time at the warehouse in Newport
Street, and afterwards to the dwelling at Chelsea, which
had been taken for his Accommodation. Wedgwood
had already an establishment at Chelsea where he
manufactured some of his ornamental wares. The
place was more convenient for his London artists and
enamellers. Bentley's house was situated in Little
Cheyne Row, within about a stone's throw of the manu-
factory.

The demand for Wedgwood's vases still continued
more brisk even than before. It broke out ' in
Dublin as well as in London. In one of his letters to
Bentley, Wedgwood said : " Sir William Chambers, the
architect, would not stop to tell me the difference
between urns and vases, as he was going to wait upon
the Queen, and he was so obliging as to take a piece of
my ware with him, — a covered dish enamelled after his
own drawing."

With respect to his drawing-book of vases, to be
inspected at the London showroom by the visitors,
Wedgwood said : " I need not tell you that it will be to
our interest to amuse, and divert, and please, and
astonish, nay, and even ravish the ladies ; but who am
I writing to ? not to my wife, I hope. No, she must
wink here ; this is all under the rose. It is to my good
friend — vase-maker general to the universe." Again
he says to Bentley : " I have really more business cut
out for me than I well know how to execute."

138 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

At the beginning of 1770, Wedgwood proposed to
Bentley that he should leave the London rooms, and go
down to Etruria to learn the secrets of the art of
pottery. " I would just mention to you," said Wedg-
wood, " that when you have settled matters in the best
manner, you can return to London and Chelsea. I
could wish you to be at the manufactory awhile to
learn the art of potmaking whilst I am able to go
through that branch with you, which I shall do with
great pleasure, and I hope you will carry on to great
perfection those improvements which I have been
endeavouring to lay a foundation for, and shall be
happy in leaving them with you, my good and worthy
friend, who neither wants ability nor spirit to pursue
the task, — may it be a pleasing and successful one ;
indeed I have no doubt but that it will ; and so long as
my eyes and my health will permit, I shall gladly
assist you in it."

All the artists were at work, Bacon, Tassie, Mrs.
Landre, Mrs. Wilcox from Worcester, and others.
Wedgwood was still busy with the improvement of
the lathe for manufacturing purposes. He wrote to
Bentley : " I believe we shall make an engine lathe or
two here, and can do it better than at Liverpool. We
have an ingenious and indefatigable Smith amongst us
who, ever since engine lathes were first introduced here,
has been constantly employed in that business ; and he
promises me very faithfully that whatever improve-
ments I may instruct him in, he will make them

xni Wedgwood1 s Artistic Work 139

for no one else. But that, you know, is a superfluous
engagement, as we have renounced those narrow selfish
views, and are to let our improvements take a free
course for the benefit of our brethren and our country."

We give another passage from one of his letters to
Bentley : " I would propose for this winter's sale of vases
four species only, viz. Blue Pebble, Variegated Pebble,
Black Etruscan, and Etruscan Encaustic. These, with the
variations of sizes, forms, and ornaments, gilding, vein-
ing, bas-reliefs, etc., will produce business enough for
all the hands we can possibly get together. . . I shall
be glad to have your thoughts upon this subject.
You'll easily observe the foundation of my arguments is
money-getting. Take that away, and they all drop to
the ground. Instead of this, if you substitute Fame
(and my bosom begins to glow with a generous warmth
at the idea) — I say if instead of money-getting you
substitute Fame and the good of the manufacture at
large for our principles of action, then we should do
just the contrary of what I have been recommending.

"Make all the good, fine, and new things we can
immediately, and so far from being afraid of other
people getting our patterns, we should glory in it, throw
out all the hints we can, and if possible have all the
Artists in Europe working after our models. This
would be noble, and suit both our dispositions and
sentiments much better than all the narrow, mercenary,
selfish trammels — the coats of mail we are forging for
our reluctant hearts, to case and hamper them in their

140 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

journey through life, and prevent all benevolent over-
flowings for the good of their fellow-citizens. . . .

"When the public are witnesses to our bestowing
so much pains and expense in the improvement of a
capital manufacture — nay, in creating a new one — and
that not for our particular emolument only, but that
we generously lay our works open to be imitated by
other artists and manufacturers for the good of the
community at large, this would certainly place us in a
very advantageous light in the public estimation."

In another letter to Bentley, Wedgwood says : " A
German has called and says, ' They have some excellent
Fayence and Porcelain manufactures in Germany, but
the English forms and glazes are so much superior that
they sell before them all.' I have indeed rather too
much business upon my hands, especially now that you
have left me, for when we have been together some
time, I feel but like liolf myself when we are separated ;
but I am much comforted with the thought of having
you here for good and altogether. We shall then do
something to be talked of. ... Poor Ben [Byerley], I
hope he has repented and is forgiven by this time.
Love has very different effects upon different subjects ;
but all follies arising from that cause will meet with
every possible indulgence from you, who have the
justest and most elevated notions of that sublime
passion which leads us, even the strongest of us,
captives at its will."

" I have just returned," he says, " from Etruria, where

xin Wedgwood's Artistic Work 141

the workmen are busy with Vases. I have enough to
do to make the pots and manage the potmakers, though
man for man I would rather have to do with a shop of
potters than painters. Whilst I have been at Etruria,
they have had here (at Burslem) Lady Gower, Lady
Pembroke, Lord Eobert Spencer, arid others to breakfast.
This is the second time the Trentham family have been
here while I was absent, but it cannot be helped."

In an appendix to the same letter to Bentley, in
London, Wedgwood says : " Trouble me indeed !
You cannot think how happy you make me with these
good, long, affectionate and instructive letters. They
inspire me with taste, emulation, and everything that
is necessary for the production of fine things, and I
hope in a few weeks to show you some of the effects of
your excellent advice. ... Oh ! what a feast I have by
this post. Thank you for it, my dear and well-beloved
friend. . . . Farewell, and believe me evermore, — Yours,
J. W."

" I think pride, a certain kind of it and to a certain
degree, is productive of a world of good amongst us
mortals, who stand in need of every incentive to great
and good actions. ... I will engage to supply you
with vases enough for all the good painters in England.
You say you can sell a waggon-load a week. If you
sell that quantity during the season, you must have
ten waggon-loads of painters to finish them."

Towards the end of 1769, Wedgwood was so busy
with the manufacture of Vases that he declined to

142 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

accept any more orders. He directed Bentley, then in
London, to refuse or postpone them until the works at
Etruria could be properly finished for their execution.
William Wood and Denby were engaged in making
medallions and bas-reliefs from the gems and intaglios.
Bentley would have a share of them ; but they must
proceed methodically.

Wedgwood paid another visit to Bentley to arrange
some matter concerning the house at Chelsea ; and after
the agreement had been settled, he returned to Burslem,
or rather to Etruria, at the beginning of November
1769. Wedgwood thus cheerfully communicated his
reception at his new house to his friend Bentley :

" We were three days upon the road . . . but at the
last stage, Etruria, I was rewarded for all the risk and
pains I had undergone during a tedious, long and dirty
journey. I found my Sally and family at Etruria!
just come there to take possession of the Etruscan
plains and sleep upon them for the first night ! Was
not this very clever now, of my own dear Girl's con-
triving ? She expected her Joss on the very evening
he arrived ; had got the disagreeable business of remov-
ing all over, and I would not have been another night
from home, for the Indies !

" To-night we are to sup 120 of our workmen in
the Town-Hall, and shall take up our lodgings at
Burslem. ... I do not know when I shall write again.
The settling of these new hands will find me a world
of employment."

xin Wedgwood's Artistic Work 143

Wedgwood desires Bentley to send him gold pre-
cipitate for rose colour, and gold powder. " I am in
immediate want of fine smalts and ultramarine."

A great deal of work had to be done, and money
spent, at Etruria, before the works and the houses for
the accommodation of the workmen and their families
were completed. Wedgwood increased the number
of his lathes. " I have committed," he said, " a sad
robbery upon my works at Burslem. I have taken
James Brown to Etruria, the only turner of good things
I had at Burslem. We have not an engine-turner left
there now. Poor Burslem ! poor cream colour ! They
tell me I sacrifice all to Etruria and Vases ! " But
Wedgwood had no alternative. He had received
legal notice to quit the Brick House premises ; the
landlord himself intended to occupy them.

Then about money. Of course the estimates were
greatly exceeded. Wedgwood wrote to Beritley that
he required more money, materials, and hands to finish
the buildings. " I want at least £3000 for the purpose
— not a farthing less; so you must either collect, or
take a place for me in the Gazette" After the build-
ings for the manufactory, and the houses for the work-
men and their families, there was his own mansion,
Etruria Hall, to be erected. His family had for some
time occupied the house intended for Mr. Bentley, but
which he never occupied. In the meantime the
other buildings went forward, and the kilns were built
by degrees.

144 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

Money, however, was found ; houses were built ;
Etruria Hall was proceeded with, the grounds being
under the direction of Capability Brown. The mansion,
when completed, was a fine and roomy building, looking
to the south, with a lake in front, and surrounded with
a true English garden. Dr. Darwin, when writing to
Wedgwood, said that Captain Keir of Birmingham
admired the plan of the house and grounds, and said
it was fit for the dwelling of a prince.

But the manufactures conducted at Etruria were
the prime consideration. The first works used there
were the "Black Works," so called from the manu-
facture of the Black Basalts. But Wedgwood went on
from one ornamental work to another. The demand
for vases continued to increase, in various forms —
original as well as copied from the antique ; medallion
bas-reliefs : intaglios of many descriptions, and portraits
of distinguished persons, some of which, those for
instance executed by Hackwood, are quite historical.

Wedgwood and Bentley were great opponents of
the Slave Trade, and one of their earliest productions
at Etruria, most probably modelled by Hackwood, was
a chained Negro in a supplicatory attitude with a
motto round it of : " Am I not a man and a brother ? "
This was one of their most popular productions at the
time it was issued.

Wedgwood occasionally went to London to see
and interview his partner as to the state of affairs.
Bentley drove Wedgwood about in the chariot and

xiii Wedgwood's Artistic Work 145

pair which he now possessed. Among the visits which
they paid was one to their Majesties the King and
Queen, in order to present some bas-reliefs which the
Queen had ordered, and to show some of their recent
improvements in the manufacture of vases. The
interview was satisfactory in every respect. Bentley
wrote from Chelsea to his Liverpool partner (17th
December 1770): "The King is well acquainted with
business, and with the characters of the principal
manufacturers, merchants, and artists ; he seems to
have the success of our manufactures much at heart,
and to understand the importance of them. The Queen
has more sensibility, true politeness, engaging affability,
and sweetness of temper, than any great lady I ever
had the honour of speaking to."

Wedgwood, however, did not rely much upon
Eoyal Favours. He depended mostly upon himself
and his constant efforts to improve his manufactures.
He would not tolerate indifference or idleness. Every-
thing must be done in the best style. " In my first
essays upon vases," he said, "I had many things to
learn myself, and everything to teach the workmen,
who had not the least idea of beauty or proportion in
what they did." When he went through his workshops,
and found a plate, a teapot, or a vase or candlestick,
not properly made, he would take up the stick on
which he usually leaned, and break it to pieces, saying,
" This won't do for Josiah Wedgwood ! "

With him the ruling motive was intense persever-
L

146 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

ance. He studied chemistry with a view to the improve-
ment of his manufactures. He tried experiments on
clays of all sorts, mixing them with earths of different
colours. And yet during this period he was labouring
under illness which might have depressed his spirits.
But he bore up against everything. He employed new
artists, and arranged new models of Greek statues
and medallions from ancient gems.

At the beginning of 1770, he was building new
ovens. He had thirty men employed in making vases,
and they had to be constantly superintended. There
was also the modelling of Day as a Companion to Night,
and the finishing of Apollo and Daphne, of which
works Bacon was the modeller. While giving instruc-
tions to his many artists and workmen, Wedgwood
himself was suffering from the complaint in his eyes.
" It is just dark," he once said, " and I am absolutely
forbidden to write or read by candle-light." He began
to fear continual darkness, he was even afraid of his
brain becoming affected. Still he held on his way, and
" steered right onward."

In case of his worst fears being realised, he wrote to
Bentley, stating that he wished him to learn the art
of potmaking under him, so that in the event of his
death the Art might not die with him. When he
ought to have gone to London for an oculist's advice
about his eyes, he had to postpone the journey on
account of his workmen. "I have 150 hands at
Etruria as well as others at Burslem, and how to leave

xiii Wedgwood's Artistic Work 147

them without a head, I do not know. I have £500
worth of vases in the oven. I packed upwards of
£1200 worth at Burslem last year, and am nevertheless
as poor as a church mouse."

In the midst of his troubles, his faithful and devoted
wife went to Speu Green in Cheshire to nurse her
father during an attack of fever, and the loss of his
companion tried him sorely. He went, however, to
join her there during a few days, in the depth of winter.
On the 10th of January he was at Spen Green, weather-
bound, while the snow was falling very heavily, but ere
long the recovery of the invalid enabled Wedgwood
and his wife to return to Etruria.

At the same time, apart from these drawbacks, the
business had been very prosperous. Continuous orders
were coming in ; there was still the rage for vases ;
the demands for the Queen's ware were steadily rising ;
and there seemed, provided his health were preserved,
a sure prospect of an eventual fortune.

CHAPTEK XIV

PORTRAITS, MEDALLIONS, ARTISTIC WORK

IN the pre-Wedgwood days, when England was for the
most part dependent for its supply upon the earthen-
ware manufacturers of Delft in Holland, and the porce-
lain manufacturers of Limoges and Sevres in France,
this country had comparatively little market for its
fictile ware in any foreign country. But now there
was a large and increasing demand for English
pottery.

"And do you really think," "Wedgwood wrote to
Bentley in September 1770, "that we might make a
complete conquest of France ? Conquer France in
Burslem ! My blood moves quicker ; I feel my strength
increases for this conquest. Conquer France by pottery
ware ! Pots," continues Wedgwood, " how vulgar it
sounds ! " Yet he was supported by Boulton of Soho,
who told him how the French were buying vases in
London — how they took them over to Paris, mounted
and ornamented them with metal, and sold them to
Milords Anglais as the greatest rarities. "You re-

CH. xiv Portraits, Medallions, Artistic Work 149

member," says Boulton, " we saw many such things at
Lord Bolingbroke's, which he brought over with him
from France."

With respect to ordinary ware, the demands for
Wedgwood's manufactures were constantly increasing
in France, Italy, and over the continent generally,
as well as in North America and the West Indian
islands. See what Faujas de Saint Fond, Professor
of Geology in the Museum of Natural History, Paris,
says of the superior merits of Wedgwood's ware
in his Travels in England : " Its excellent work-
manship, its solidity, the advantage which it pos-
sesses of withstanding the action of fire ; its fine glaze
impenetrable to acids; the beauty, convenience, and
variety of its forms, and its moderate price, have created
a commerce so active and so universal, that in travelling
from Paris to St. Petersburg, from Amsterdam to the
farthest point of Sweden, from Dunkirk to the southern
extremity of France, one is served at every inn from
English earthenware. The same fine article adorns the
tables of Spain, Portugal, and Italy; and it provides
the cargoes of ships to the East Indies, the West Indies,
and America."

Wedgwood was also greatly indebted to Sir William
Hamilton for his researches and discoveries in connec-
tion with ancient art. While Ambassador at Naples
he encouraged and supported the investigations at the
buried city of Herculaneum. In 1766-67 he published
his AntiqidUs Utrusques, which furnished Wedgwood

150 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

with many of his patterns for Etruscan vases. At a
future period of his life, Hamilton was a frequent
correspondent with Wedgwood in his efforts to improve
English art. Sir William's first publication will remain
a monument of his patriotism and his taste ; but it
could not have been productive of its full and proper
advantages in improving the general taste without a
multiplication and diffusion of accurate copies of the
beautiful originals. And this Wedgwood, by his in-
dustry and discoveries, was enabled to perform with
advantage to himself and the public.

The execution of such a work presented difficulties
which were at that time believed to be insurmountable.
The vases of ancient Etruria were painted with durable
colours burnt in by fire, but perfectly free from the
glossy or shining aspect of enamel paintings ; and the
application of these colours appears to have been, even
in the time of Pliny, one of the lost arts of preceding
ages. Wedgwood never would have attempted the
rediscovery of the lost art, if some previous experi-
ments of his own had not given him a glimpse of
success, which was at length, by perseverance, com-
pletely attained. His colours were fully as beautiful
as the originals, and susceptible of greater variety;
like these also, they possessed the advantage of never
spreading in the fire, or running out of drawing, as all
enamel colours must do, in a greater or less degree, in
consequence of their vitrifying and melting upon the
piece.

XIV

Portraits, Medallions, Artistic Work 151

For this discovery, Wedgwood took out a patent —
the only patent he ever registered. He had a dislike
to patents, for the defence of patents against pirates
required the expenditure of more money than they
were worth. His object was to go ahead, and keep in
advance of the pirates by his new improvements and
discoveries. It was more by the advice of his friends,
than from his own unbiassed judgment, that he took
out this special patent. He was content with the
advantages he had already acquired, and was better
pleased to see thousands made happy by following him
in the same career of industry, than he could be by
any exclusive enjoyment for himself. He was opposed
to patents on another account ; because, in most cases,
while they tied up the hands of our own countrymen,
they laid the discovery open to any foreigners who
might think it worth their while to take them up, and
propagate them to their own advantage, and to our loss.
Nevertheless, Wedgwood took out this his only patent,
and he was afterwards called upon to defend it.

Of the " first fruits of Etruria "—formed by Wedg-
wood on the potter's wheel, and the wheel turned by
Bentley — some were deposited in the foundation of
Etruria Hall, and the rest were sent to London, but not
for sale. When the vases were called for by the public
in large quantities, a work was established at Chelsea
under the direction of Bentley, who collected a large
number of artists for their preparation. An immense
number of the vases were sold, both at home and

152 Josiak Wedgwood CHAP.

abroad, and nearly every museum possesses specimens,
showing the state of the fictile art in England at that
period.

The painted Etruscan ornaments were becoming
familiar to the public eye, as the large demands for
vases made them comparatively common, and as then-
sale began to decline, Wedgwood availed himself of his
large supply of artists to start a new manufacture. His
discovery of the Jasper porcelain enabled him to copy
another branch of ancient art — that of modelling
Cameos, or heads, and artistic figures engraved in relief.

Professor Church, in his admirable paper on Josiah
Wedgwood, in Hamerton's Portfolio for March 1894,
says that it was Wedgwood's " appreciation of antique
gems cut in onyx and niccolo that led him to invent
the most original and the most beautiful of all the
ceramic materials with which he worked. This was
the jasper body, or jasper paste. Though it may be
roughly described, when in its simplest form, as opaque
and white, its opacity ; and whiteness were susceptible
of considerable variation. Sometimes it has the dead-
ness of chalk, but the finer varieties possess the delicate
hue and faint translucency of ivory or vellum. Wedg-
wood and his artists took advantage of this translucent
character of the white jasper, as it allowed the colour
of the ground to appear in a slight degree through the
thinner parts of the cameo reliefs, and thus suggested,
as in some draperies, the idea of a fine and light texture.
On the other hand, there were many subjects and styles

xiv Portraits, Medallions, Artistic Work 153

of treatment where any marked degree of translucency
in the material used for the reliefs was of decided
disadvantage ; here the more opaque varieties of the
jasper body were preferred. The smoothness of surface
which this ware, as made by Josiah Wedgwood, almost
invariably possessed, is delightful at once to the senses
of touch and sight, and, moreover, it affords one of the
best criteria for distinguishing old work from new. It
was caused chiefly by the extreme fineness to which
the components of the jasper body were reduced, but
the exact adjustment of the temperature of firing the
ware to its composition doubtless influenced the result."

This material was called jasper from its resemblance
to that stone. The jasper ware was made of white
porcelain bisque, and was susceptible of receiving
colours throughout its whole substance, but more
especially of being stained with fine mazarine blue.
This property of receiving colours, which no other
body, either ancient or. modern, has been known to
possess, rendered it peculiarly fit for cameos, portraits,
and all subjects in bas-reliefs, as the ground may be
made of any colour throughout, the raised figures being
of a pure white.

"The peculiarity in chemical composition," says
Professor Church, " which marks out the jasper ware
body from all other ceramic pastes, was brought about
by the introduction of a compound of the element
barium." This is chiefly found in the form of sulphate,
the mineral being found abundantly in Derbyshire,

154 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

where it is known as cawk, heavy spar, and barytes.
Wedgwood had been experimenting on the mineral as
early as the year 1773. By successive experiments,
he perfected his invention. He afterwards invented
his "jasper-dip," in 1777, in order to economise the
costly use of cobalt; though by its employment, the
most delicate and refined effects were produced.

Nothing can long remain secret in the potteries.
The workmen soon spread about any new mode of manu-
facture. Wedgwood preserved his secret for about
twelve years ; but it was at last imitated by one Turner,
though from different materials ; and it was in the end
generally adopted in Staffordshire, though with very
inferior results, by other manufacturers. It is rather
remarkable that this manufacture was carried on success-
fully for more than twelve years before anything of the
kind had been executed by any other person. Wedg-
wood seemed to have been more attached to this than
to any other part of his productions, and to have had
its success more thoroughly at heart ; probably from
the early bent of his genius, which led him to imi-
tate in clay whatever object happened to engage his
attention. He had made considerable advances in it
before he had access to the models still to be found
in modern Eome, and while he had no other assist-
ance than that of the artists whom he himself had
taught ; but when, at considerable expense, he had
procured copies or casts of the most celebrated bas-
reliefs, he made vases and other artistic works, which

xiv Portraits, Medallions, Artistic Work 155

obtained for his productions a distinguished rank
amongst the fine arts of the age.

The amount and variety of work done by Wedg-
wood almost exceed belief. He never absolutely
copied. Though obtaining his first idea from the an-
tique, his was for the most part original. He varied
his forms, adding many beautiful variations in the
flowers and festoons which ornamented his jars and
vases. He produced candlesticks, buttons, flowerpots,
sphinxes, tritons, dolphins, crouching lions; at first in
black basalt, and afterwards in jasper. He went on
from one ware to another, always improving them. John
Coward was his principal modeller, and David Ehodes
his principal enameller, the latter remaining with the
firm until his death in 1777. Hack wood was principal
modeller of the heads of men of distinction and genius.

In his Jasper ware he produced many works of great
artistic merit. In a future chapter the medallions of
Flaxman, perhaps the greatest of English sculptors,
will be referred to. Wedgwood's aim was to produce
not only the largest quantity, but the best quality of
the goods which he offered for sale. He went over his
workshops and watched the workmen carefully. They
knew the peculiar thud of his wooden leg as he mounted
the stairs leading to the workshops. He always carried
a stick because of his lameness. When any vessel
failed to satisfy him, because of its want of geometrical
proportions, he would take up his stick and at once
break it to pieces.

156 Josiak Wedgwood CHAP.

He was greatly influenced by the advice of his lady
friends. While producing his pyramidal flowerpots, he
consulted Miss Fothergill, the eminent botanist's sister,
as to their ornamental decoration. She was almost as
good a botanist as her brother. " I speak from experi-
ence in Female taste," he wrote to Bentley, " without
which I should have made but a poor figure amongst
my pots, not one of which, of any consequence, is
finished without the approbation of my Sally."

Wedgwood was also greatly indebted to Mrs. South-
well for her excellent hints about the decoration of his
ornamental flowerpots. " She is a charming woman,"
he wrote to Bentley ; " I am more and more in love
with her every time I see her ; and having such a mis-
tress in the science of flowerpot-dressing, I hope our
future productions will show that I have profited ac-
cordingly." He was also helped by older and more
illustrious patrons : Lady Dover and Lady Teignham
were ladies of great taste, and cheerfully assisted Wedg-
wood in his efforts in flowerpot and brooch decoration.

To forward his views as to decorative improvement,
he requested Ehodes to advertise again, and invite any
hands that had been employed in painting figures,
flowers, jars, or other decoration on china, to apply to
him in Little Cheyne Eow, Chelsea, where they would
find profitable employment. "What has become," he
wrote to Bentley, " of your scheme for taking in girls
to paint? Have you spoken to Mrs. Wright? Mr.
Coward, too, said he could tell you of some fan-painters.

xiv Portraits, Medallions, Artistic Work 157

You observe very justly that few hands can be got to
paint flowers in the style we wish them to be done — I
may add, nor any other work we do. We must make
them. There is no other way. We have stepped forward
before the other manufacturers, and we must strive to
train up hands to suit our purposes. Where, amongst
our potters, could I get a complete Vase-maker ? Nay,
I could not get a hand through the whole pottery to
make a table plate, without training him up for that
purpose ; and you must be content to train up such
painters as offer, and not turn them adrift because they
cannot immediately form their hands to our new style,
which, if we consider what they have been doing all
their life, we ought not to expect from them."

Wedgwood proceeded to press Bentley about his
proposed drawing and modelling school for the purpose
of training up artists. He would employ young boys
and girls, and set them drawing and modelling until
they were proficient ; and when any new modellers
were wanted, draft them out of this school. In the
meanwhile, Wedgwood sent some new painters to Lon-
don from Etruria. Some of them went by waggon ;
Mr. and Mrs. Wilcox were a week on the road, with
their pencils and brushes tied in a bundle. Those who
went by the lumbering coach were three days on the
road. What a difference in the rate of travelling
nowadays !

We have already said that Wedgwood aimed at pro-
ducing the largest quantity, as well as the best quality,

158 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

of the goods which he offered for sale. In one of his
catalogues he said : " A competition for cheapness, and
not for excellence of workmanship, is the most frequent
and certain cause of the rapid decay and entire destruc-
tion of arts and manufactures. . . . This observation
is equally applicable to manufactures and to the pro-
ductions of the fine arts ; but the degradation is more
fatal to the latter than the former, for, though an ordi-
nary piece of goods for common use is always dearer
than the best of the kind, yet an ordinary and tasteless
piece of ornament is not only dear at any price, but
absolutely useless and ridiculous. . . . The proprietors of
this manufactory do not produce works for those who
estimate them by their magnitude, and who would buy
pictures at so much a foot. They have been happy in
the encouragement and support of many illustrious
persons who judge of the works of art by better prin-
ciples ; and so long as they have the honour of being
thus patronised, they will endeavour to support and
improve the quality and taste of their manufactures."

Down to the discovery of the Jasper ware by
Wedgwood, his goods were mostly earthenware, and
this was shortly after changed for its superior, porce-
lain. In a future chapter we shall describe soft and
hard porcelain ; because Wedgwood afterwards made a
journey to Cornwall in search of the material. He
continued employing modellers — Tassie on Apollo and
Daphne ; Bacon on Night and the God of Day ; Mrs.
Landre on Neptune and a large Sea Nymph for a pair

xiv Portraits, Medallions, Artistic Work 159

of Candelabra. He contrived many of these inventions
in order to provide employment for his artists, on the de-
clining demand for the Etruscan vases. The public, he
said, were becoming surfeited. He was satisfied, however,
as a large demand continued to exist for his useful ware.

On the 31st of May he wrote to Bentley of what he
called St. Amputation Day. He must have been mis-
taken, as his leg was amputated on the eighth of the
month. Some of his ornamental ware failed. " I con-
dole with you (Bentley) on the return of your Elephant,
and will send you no more of such cumbrous animals.
For, as the lady said, I fear we made a Bull when we
first made an Elephant. I have given over the thought
of making any other colour but Queen's ware. The
White ware would be much dearer, and, I apprehend, not
much better liked. The Queen's ware, while it continues
to sell, gives quite as much business as I can manage."

Notwithstanding the failure of the Ornamental
ware, Wedgwood wrote to Bentley on the 2nd August
1770 : "In Ireland there seems to be a violent Vase
Mania breaking out. We must take a room in Dublin,
and conquer the Irish by our Vases. The Duke of
Leinster is in raptures with a pair of our Vases given to
him by the Duke of Kichmond." " We are making two
or three Eockingham Vases. They are enormous things
— a yard high, and will be thirty-one inches when fired.
Pray for our success, for they are perilous goods, and
have many chances against them. But they are a
Sacrifice to Fame, and we must not look back."

160 Josiak Wedgwood CHAP.

Wedgwood got another order from the King for a
new Table Service, and was allowed to exhibit it for a
month. This improved his reputation and his business.
He was not insensible to reputation. To Bentley he
said, " Let us make all the Good, Fine, and New things
we can ; and so far from being afraid of other people
getting our patterns, we should glory in it, throw out
all the hints we can, and if possible have all the
artists in Europe working after our models. This
would be noble, and would suit both our dispositions
and sentiments much better than all the narrow,
mercenary, selfish trammels. . . . Have you forgotten
how our hearts burned within us, when we con-
versed upon this subject on our way from Liverpool
to Prescot ? We were then persuaded that this
open, generous plan would not only be most congenial
to our hearts and best feelings, but in all probability
might best answer our wishes in pecuniary advan-
tages. . . .

" When the Nobility witness our bestowing so much
pains and expense in the improvement of a capital Manu-
facture, nay, in creating a new one, and that not for our
particular emolument only, but that we generously lay
our works open to be imitated by other artists and
manufacturers for the good of the community at large ;
this would certainly procure us the good will of our
best customers, and place us in an advantageous light
in the public eye. . . . With respect to Eivalship, we
will cast all dread of that behind our back, treat it as a

xiv Portraits, Medallions, Artistic Work 161

base and vanquished enemy, and not bestow another
serious thought upon it."

This was really a noble and generous mode of action.
It was agreed to by Bentley, as well as by Matthew
Boulton of Soho; and it was in this spirit that the
manufactures of Etruria and Soho were carried on.

In 1770, we find Wedgwood bringing out the Infant
Hercules and the Somnus or Sleeping Boy, an exquisite
subject modelled by Coward from the antique; and the
Autumn (a boy) and Neptune, modelled by Hoskins.
These were mostly in Black Basalts. Wedgwood was
still troubled with his eyesight. He could not write
by candle-light, and every moment of the daylight was
absorbed in overseeing the Vase-makers, the Statuaries,
the Potters, and the other workmen at the manufactory.
He was still busy with the Service for his Majesty ; and
with the large Eockingham Vases.

" Do not think," he wrote to Bentley, " by what I
have said, that my eyes are worse, but I am sensible of
my danger, and the last attack may be sudden and not
give me an opportunity of communicating many things
which I would not have to die with me. I know how
ill you can be spared from the rooms, but I think it
will be better to suffer a little inconvenience for the
present, than leave you immersed in a business, and
not master of the principal part of it." Wedgwood
still wished Bentley to be at Etruria, to learn the
secrets of the trade. But Wedgwood's gloomy fore-
boding remained unfulfilled. His wife returned to

M

1 62 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

him from Spen Green. His old surgeon Dr. Bent
removed his disease — which was, it seems, a liver
affection — and he was able before long to resume his
usual business career.

Wedgwood was not only troubled with his eyes, but
with his artificial leg. He could not attend a meeting
with Boulton and Keir at Birmingham because of some
injury to his pin leg. Wedgwood wrote to Athenian
Stuart — one of his intimate friends — that he was able
to go abroad again, though, he added, " I am not fond
of doing so in frosty weather, being not so expert a
footman as I have been, and a slip or accident to my
better leg might lay me up for good and all"

His business avocations never interfered with Wedg-
wood's love for his family. In April 1771 was born
his fourth and last son, Thomas. To amuse his children,
he bought a barrel organ, which played many tunes.
" The organ arrived safe," he wrote to Bentley, " and a
most joyful opening of it we have had. About twenty
young sprigs were made as happy as mortals could be,
and danced and lilted away. It would have done your
heart good to have seen them. I wish we had had your
sprightly niece with us; but give my love to her. When
we send the organ to town again, it shall be sent
to Chelsea for a week or two, for her amusement."

Sir William Hamilton, British Ambassador at
Naples, a great friend and promoter of art, published a
series of splendid volumes on Etruscan, Greek, and
Eoman antiquities, from which Wedgwood copied

XIV

Portraits, Medallions, Artistic Work 163

many of his Etruscan vases. In June 1773 Sir
William addressed a letter from Naples to Wedgwood
and Bentley, as follows : —

" Gentlemen — As I have nothing more at heart
than to contribute, as far as I can, towards the ad-
vancement of the Fine Arts in Great Britain, and as
your manufacture has indeed already done great honour
to my poor endeavours, I have the pleasure of sending
you a few drawings of most elegant formed vases which
are in the Great Duke of Tuscany's collection, and
differ from those found in my collection. They are
truly worthy of your imitation, and as the originals are
simply black with the ornaments in relief, your ware is
capable of imitating them exactly."

Wedgwood proceeded to copy the vases. It may be
added that Sir William Hamilton's valuable collection
of Greek and Etruscan vases is now in the British
Museum, together with many of the marbles dug up
from Herculaneum, now in the Townley Gallery of the
same museum.

Hackwood, the modeller, was now busily employed.
" I hope," said Wedgwood to Bentley, " that you have
read Mr. Elers' fine letter. We are preparing to send
down the heads of all the illustrious men in all the
Courts and Countries of Europe to be immortalised in
our artificial Jasper."

The Paul Elers referred to was the father of
Ptichard Lovell Edgworth's first wife. He was also the
son of one of the brothers Elers, who came into

164 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

Staffordshire from Germany at the close of the seven-
teenth century.

The first heads produced were those of the King and
Queen. These were followed by portraits of Sir Philip
Sidney, the Empress of Kussia, the King of Prussia,
Earl Gower, Lord Mansfield, Lord Chatham, the King
and Queen of Portugal, the Duke of Bridgewater,
Athenian Stuart, and many others.

Domestic troubles intervened. Mrs. Wedgwood
had a severe attack of rheumatism. She was bled and
blistered. When she was well enough to leave Etruria,
she was sent to Buxton. She was very ill on her
return, and was " wasted almost to a skeleton, scarcely
able to walk a few yards." Dr. Darwin saw her from
time to time, when passing on his rounds of visits.
Besides the illness at home, Wedgwood was inexpress-
ibly sorry to hear of Bentley's illness in London.
Wedgwood urged that he should be sent into the
country as soon as possible.

Wedgwood was exceedingly provoked and humili-
ated by the war between England and America. I am
ashamed, he said, of the absurdity, folly, and wicked-
ness, of the whole proceedings with America. The
King and the House of Commons are entirely to blame
for it. "Somebody," he added, "should be made to
say distinctly what is the object of the present most
wicked and preposterous war with our brethren and
best friends." At a later period (April 1778) he
wrote to Bentley : " How could you frighten me so in

xiv Portraits, Medallions, Artistic Work 165

your last letter? It was very naughty of you. I
thought of nothing less than some shelves or perhaps a
whole floor of vases and crockeries had given way, and
that you had been carried down with them ! But on
reading a little further I found that it was only the
nation that was likely to flounder into a French war ; and
having been fully persuaded of this event for a long
time past, I recovered from my shock, and blessed my
stars and Lord North, that America was free}- I rejoice
most sincerely that it is so, and the pleasing ideas of a
refuge being provided for those who choose jather to
fly from than submit to an iron hand of tyranny. This
has raised so much hilarity in my mind, that I do , not
at present feel for our own situation as I may do the
next rainy day. We must have more war, and perhaps
continue to be beaten — to what degree is in the womb
of time. If our drubbing keeps pace with our deserts,
the Lord have mercy upon us ! "

Here is the state of Staffordshire in 1778. Wedg-
wood writes to Bentley as follows : — " For some time
past the environs of Newcastle have rivalled those of
London for the number and audacity of highway
robberies, and Etruria does not yield at all to Turnham
Green. The workmen dare not go to their houses in
the evenings but in troops, and armed with clubs. On
Monday night last, there were three highway robberies

1 This probably refers to the defeat of the British army — Burgoyne
surrounded and capitulated at Saratoga — thus thwarting the policy
of Lord North.

1 66 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP, xiv

between this place [Etruria] and Newcastle. I got
some knowledge of the gentlemen on Tuesday morning,
and sent some of my people in pursuit of them,
who brought me in two of the robbers ; a third
is brought in this morning, and we have sent out
in pursuit of two more. Those we have in custody
have confessed various robberies, and those of their
accomplices." At Stafford, where the robbers were
tried, two of them were sentenced to be hanged,
and the others were acquitted for want of sufficient
evidence.

In May 1778 Wedgwood's brother-in-law, the Eev.
Mr. Willett, died after a loDg illness. He was calm,
serene, and sensible to the last moment. Wedgwood
wrote to his friend Bentley : " The decline and weak-
ness of old age afford but a melancholy prospect to
those who feel themselves approaching just to the same
state ; and from the observations I have made, I find
the oldest men, philosophers, nay, even Christians, and
the firmest believers, cling as fast to this wicked
world, as younger folks and those who have their
doubts concerning futurity. Well, since it is so and
will be so, let us, my dear Bentley, enjoy and diffuse
amongst our friends every real happiness within our
power, and not torment ourselves with useless anxieties,
nor waste an hour of the very small portion of time
allotted to us here. I know those are your sentiments,
and I will endeavour to make them more and more those
of your ever affectionate friend, — Jos. WEDGWOOD."

CHAPTER XV

GROW AN CLAY — KAOLIN — BO'TTGHER — COOKWORTHY —
MANUFACTURE OF PORCELAIN

THE rooms in Newport Street were too small for the
exhibition of Wedgwood's more important works.
The principal part of them were accordingly removed
to Portland House, Greek Street, Soho — then an
important west-end quarter. There Bentley was in his
glory. " Be so good," wrote Wedgwood to him, " as to
let me know what is going forward in the Great World.
How many lords and dukes visit your rooms, praise
your beauties, thin your shelves, and fill your purses ;
and if you will take the trouble to acquaint us with
the daily ravages in your stores, we will endeavour to
replenish them." Besides his dukes and duchesses,
Bentley was visited by more distinguished persons.
The King and Queen inspected his storeroom; and
among his other visitors were " Athenian Stuart," Dr.
Solander, and Sir Joseph Banks.

Bentley was a most courtly man. He was hand-
some in person, genial in manner, a good scholar, and

1 68 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

knew many languages. None could, better than he,
set off Wedgwood's ornamental ware, tell anecdotes of
the vases, bas-reliefs, and cameos, with which the rooms
were stored ; and he thus delighted the ladies, who not
only admired the relater, but bought his ornamental
wares.

"Mrs. Byerley," again wrote Wedgwood from
Etruria, " has just returned from London, and brings a
strange account of the goings on in Newport Street;
no getting to the door for coaches, nor getting into the
rooms for ladies and gentlemen; .and vases, she says,
are all the rage." The rage for vases as well as for
Queen's ware fell off; but Wedgwood endeavoured to
find markets for the new productions. He even
thought of employing a rider to go about the country
and tout for orders. One of the wares he thought of
producing was a new variety of basaltes. " I am well
assured," he wrote to Bentley, "that painted black
ware with encaustic colours will have a great run."

The painted black ware, however, was not very
successful. Wedgwood continued his efforts to dis-
cover the clay most suitable for crucibles, retorts,
mortars and pestles. His experiments occupied a con-
siderable time, and it was not until he ascertained that
the clay from Cornwall was the most suitable, that his
mortars obtained the preference over all others. From
the tests which they withstood at the Apothecaries'
Hall they acquired a reputation which has lasted to
the present day.

XV

Grow an Clay — Kaolin 169

The Cornish Clay — called also the Porcelain or
Growan Clay — was suitable for many purposes for
which the Staffordshire clays were unsuitable. It
was sent by sea from Saint Austell to Liverpool, and
from thence the materials for hard porcelain, mortars,
crucibles, and pyrometers, were sent on to Etruria, to
be worked into their proper forms. Hard porcelain was
of so much importance in the manufacture of china that
it is necessary to make some special reference to it.
Moreover, Wedgwood afterwards made a driving tour to
the West of England in search of this porcelain clay.

Porcelain was manufactured in China — from which
country it obtained the name which it still retains —
long before it was known in Europe. Hard porcelain is
said to have been invented at Sin-ping in China, as
long ago as 185 years before Christ. It was imported
into Europe through means of the Arabs, and was sold
at very high prices. Kaolin was the name given by
the Chinese to the fine white clay which they use in
making their porcelain. It is produced by the decom-
position of a granite rock, the constituents of which are
quartz, mica, and felspar — the whole having gradually
mouldered into kaolin by the joint action of air and
water.

A very similar clay occurs in the south of Cornwall,
produced by the decomposition of Pegmatite — a granite
in which there is scarcely any mica and very little
quartz. A similar clay is found at St. Yrieux la Perche,
near Limoges, in France ; at La Doccia, near Florence ;

170 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

at Capo di Monte, near Naples, in Italy; and near
Madrid and Oporto, in Spain and Portugal. Another
discovery of white kaolin was made at Aue in Saxony,
in 1709, to which a very remarkable story is attached.

Porcelain is soft or hard, but the latter is the more
important. Soft porcelain was first manufactured at
St. Cloud in 1695, but after the discovery of hard
porcelain by Bottgher at Meissen near Dresden, the
manufacture of soft porcelain was discontinued in
France, and nothing but hard porcelain was thereafter
manufactured at Sevres. The story to which we refer
is as follows : —

John Frederic Bottgher was born at Schleiz in 1685,
and at twelve years of age he was bound apprentice
to an apothecary at Berlin. He occupied many of his
leisure hours in chemical experiments. Alchemy was
then in vogue, and after several years Bottgher pre-
tended that he had been able to convert Copper into
Gold. The news spread abroad that the apothecary's
apprentice had discovered the grand secret, of which
every alchemist was in search, and crowds came from
all quarters to see the " Young Gold-Cook." Perhaps it
may have been to the apothecary's advantage to notice
the wonder excited by his apprentice.

Frederick I., King of Prussia, was very much in want
of money at the time. He desired to appropriate at
once the great converter of copper into gold. The King
had an interview with Bottgher, who presented him
with a piece of gold which he pretended had been con-

XV

Bbttgher 1 7 1

verted from copper. The King proposed to secure the
apprentice and imprison him in the strong fortress of
Spandau, in order that he might continue his alchemical
operations in favour of His Majesty's needs. Bottgher
heard of the project, and probably fearing detection, he
fled from Berlin and took refuge in Saxony.

A reward of a thousand thalers was offered for
Bottgher's apprehension, but on arriving at Wittenberg,
he placed himself under the protection of Frederick
Augustus I., Elector of Saxony and King of Poland.
The Elector was quite as much in need of money as the
King of Prussia, and he would not surrender his young
alchemist. Bottgher was accordingly held a prisoner.
He was conveyed to Dresden under charge of a royal
escort and kept under strict guard.

After many attempts, Bottgher failed to supply the
wants of the Elector. The copper he employed remained
copper, and could not be converted into gold. In his
despair he escaped and fled to Ems in Austria, but
the pursuers were close at his heels ; they arrested him
in his bed, and carried him back to Saxony. He was
imprisoned in the strong fortress of Konigstein. The
Elector was now in great distress for money. Ten
regiments of Poles were clamouring for their arrears of
pay. The young alchemist was told that unless he
could make gold, he would be hanged !

But he was not hanged. He went on making experi-
ments, but with no success. At length one of his wise
friends came to him— Walter von Tschinhaus, a maker

1 72 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

of optical instruments and also an alchemist — and said
to Bottgher, still in fear of the gallows, " If you can't
make gold, try and do something else ; make porcelain ! "
Some rare specimens of this ware had been brought from
China by the Portuguese, and were sold for more than
their weight in gold.

Bottgher at once acted on his friend's hint. He
began his experiments on clay, working night and day.
After many failures, some red clay was brought to him
for the purpose of making his crucibles, and then he
was set on the right track. This clay, when submitted
to a high temperature, became vitrified and retained its
shape. In texture it resembled porcelain, except in
colour and opacity. He had, in fact, accidentally dis-
covered red porcelain, and he manufactured and sold it
as porcelain.

He was aware, however, that the transparent white
colour was an essential property of true porcelain.
Years passed, when another happy accident came to his
help. One day — in the year 1707 — he found his peruke
very heavy and asked his valet " what was the reason."
The valet said that the powder with which the wig was
dressed consisted of a kind of earth that was much used
for hair-powder. Bottgher at once thought that this
might be the very earth of which he was in search !
He at once experimented, and found that the principal
ingredient of the hair-powder was kaolin, the want of
which had so long formed an apparently insuperable
difficulty in the way of his investigations.

xv Bottgher and Porcelain 173

This discovery proved of much greater importance
than the young alchemist's proposal to convert copper
into gold. Bottgher presented the first piece of hard
porcelain to the Elector in October 1707. The Elector
was greatly pleased with it, and he resolved that the
discoverer should be furnished with the means for per-
fecting his invention. Bottgher abandoned alchemy for
pottery, and placed over the door of his workshop these
words : —

Almighty God, the Great Creator,
Has changed a Goldmaker to a Potter.

The porcelain which Bottgher manufactured being
found to sell for large prices, the Elector determined to
establish a Royal Manufactory of Porcelain. Accord-
ingly a large series of buildings was erected at the
Albrectsburg in Meissen. The porcelain manufactory
was very successful, and the large profits soon pro-
vided the Elector with the gold of which he was in
search.

It is pitiful to think of the treatment to which
Bottgher was subjected. He was always under strict
guard. Soldiers were constantly about him. Two
royal officials were put over him at the factory. He
was treated as the King's prisoner. He was locked up
nightly in his room, with a guard of soldiers outside to
prevent his escape. In short, he was enslaved. No
more inhuman treatment was ever awarded to an im-
portant discoverer. At last the poor fellow took to

174 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

drinking, and eventually he died, quite broken down,
in March 1719, in the thirty-fifth year of his age.1

The merits of this great inventor were only publicly
recognised a few years ago. On the 17th of October
1891, a monument was erected to the memory of
Bottgher at Meissen ; yet 182 years before, in 1709, he
had established the first hard porcelain manufactory in
Saxony. We are late in recognising the memory of our
benefactors. In the same year a statue to Bernard
Palissy was unveiled at his birthplace, Villeneuve-sur-
Lot, on the 6th of July 1891. Three hundred years
before, he died in the Bastille at the age of eighty. He
was a Protestant, which was the cause of his imprison-
ment. The valiant, persevering old man died a martyr
to his faith, though he was not burnt at the stake.

The porcelain manufacture became so productive to
the Elector of Saxony that his example was shortly
after followed by European monarchs. Every care was
taken at Meissen to preserve the secret ; but where many
workmen are employed no secret is safe. A workman
named Stofzel carried it to Vienna in 1722, where an
imperial manufactory for the manufacture of hard
porcelain was afterwards established. Eoyal works
were founded at Berlin, St. Petersburg, Munich, and at
Sevres in 1755, under Louis XV., when the manu-
facture of soft porcelain was almost entirely discon-
tinued.

The introduction of hard porcelain into England was

1 A much fuller account of Bottgher is given in Self-Help.

XV

Cookworthy 175

due entirely to individual enterprise. No royal powers
were conferred upon its first makers. Yet the narrative
of its introduction is not without interest. Kaolin, or
China Clay, was discovered in Cornwall by William
Cookworthy, a chemist and druggist at Plymouth. As
early as 1*745 his attention was directed to the subject
of porcelain. He made experiments on the clays of
Cornwall and Devon. He scientifically and carefully
examined them. After long and varied experiments he
discovered, in 1768, that the materials for the manu-
facture of genuine porcelain existed at Tregonnin Hill,
in the parish of Germo, between Helston and Penzance ;
and also in the parish of St. Stephens, between Truro,
St. Austell, and St. Columb ; as well as at Boconnoc,
near the family seat of Thomas Pitt, Lord Camelford.1

There is a traditional belief, says Mr. Jewitt, that
Cookworthy first found the stone he was anxious to
discover in the tower of St. Columb church, which is
built of stone from St. Stephens, and this led him to
the spot where the stone was to be procured.2 At all
events, having made the important discovery, Cookworthy
at once resolved to carry out his intention of making
porcelain, and endeavoured to secure the material for
himself. For this purpose he went to London to see
the proprietors of the land, and to arrange for purchas-
ing the royalty. In this he succeeded ; and ultimately

1 Lord Camelford was the elder brother of William Pitt, Earl of
Chatham.

2 Jewitt's Life of Wedgwood.

176 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

Lord Camelford joined him in the manufacture of
china. It appears from a letter from that nobleman to
Polwhele, the historian of Cornwall, that the two ex-
pended about £3000 in prosecuting the work.

It may be mentioned that the Cornish clay resembles
the Chinese kaolin. It is locally known as Growan. It
is found in the granite of several districts ; sometimes
it contains talc in place of mica, and is characterised
by the partial decomposition of the felspar. The China
clay or porcelain earth requires- to be carefully and
constantly washed with running water, until it is
perfectly white. It is afterwards consolidated, dried,
and cut into oblong blocks, when it is sent to the
nearest port and shipped to the potteries, — there to be
manufactured into china and the finer kinds of earthen-
ware.

The materials from the kaolin of St. Stephens, said
Cookworthy when speaking of his manufacture, " burn
to a degree of transparency without the addition of
Petunse.1 Indeed, the materials from this place make
a body much whiter than the ascatea, and, I think, full
as white as the ancient china ware or that of Dresden."
Cookworthy established himself as a china manufacturer
at Plymouth, where the buildings, called "China House,"
are still to be seen.

Cookworthy, being an experienced chemist, paid
much attention to the production of a good blue. He

1 The fine clay used by the Chinese with the kaolin, in their manu-
facture of porcelain.

XV

Cookworthy at Plymouth 177

was the first in this country who succeeded in manu-
facturing Cobalt blue direct from the ore. Some of the
articles he produced were beautifully modelled from
nature — such as salt-cellars, pickle -cups, and toilet
pieces, in the form of shells and corals. The china
manufacture was tolerably successful in Cookworthy's
hands, but it was very expensive. Coal being very
dear, only wood was used for the heating of the kilns.
And wood, too, was very costly.

The ware manufactured by Cookworthy at Plymouth
consisted of dinner services, tea and coffee services,
vases, mugs, jugs, trinket and toilet stands, busts, single
figures and groups, animals, flowers, birds, madonnas,
and various other figures copied from foreign models.
But however beautiful Cookworthy's works were, as we
have said, they were by no means profitable. After a
few years, Cookworthy took out a patent for the
manufacture of a " kind of porcelain newly invented by
himself, composed of moor - stone or growan, and
growan clay." The patent was dated the 17th March
1768.

Cookworthy was resolved to make his porcelain
equal to that of Sevres and Dresden, both in body
(which he himself mixed) and in ornamentation. For
the latter purpose he procured the services of such
artists as were available; and with the assistance of
M. Saqui from Sevres, an excellent painter and
enameller, and Henry Bone, a native of Plymouth, he
was enabled to turn out some very beautiful and

N

1 78 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

excellently painted and enamelled specimens of
Plymouth porcelain.

Cookworthy shortly after removed his works to
Bristol, in order to be nearer the coal. There he
carried on the manufacture of porcelain, but under
considerable difficulties. He still continued to lose
money. He and one of his partners, Lord Camelford,
lost about £3000 in the prosecution of the under-
taking. Cookworthy was about seventy years old when
he resolved to give up his manufacture. With the
willing consent of his partners, he made over, in May
1.7*74, the business and his patent rights to Eichard
Champion of Bristol; Cookworthy only reserving for
himself a share of profit from the China clay used
in the works.

In order to extend the period of the patent right, a
petition was presented to Parliament in February 1775,
applying for an Act to extend the term of Cookworthy's
patent for a period of fourteen years. The potters of
Staffordshire strongly opposed the extension of the
patent. Josiah Wedgwood was appointed their leader.
He was opposed to patents generally. In the case of
the growan clay of Cornwall, he was of opinion that the
extension of commerce, and especially of earthenware
and china, depended upon the free use of the various
raw materials which were the natural products of the
country.

Notwithstanding Wedgwood's opposition, and the
pamphlets and cases which he published against the

xv Champion at Bristol 1 79

extension of patent rights, the bill passed the House of
Commons, through the influence of Edmund Burke,
almost unaltered. But when it reached the House of
Lords, Lord Gower and several other noble lords having
met and specially considered the bill, determined to
oppose it. The result was the introduction of two
clauses — the first making it imperative on Champion to
enrol anew his specification of both body and glaze
within four months, and the second throwing open the
use of the raw materials for potters for any purposes
except the manufacture of porcelain. These modifica-
tions, though limited, proved of much advantage to the
Staffordshire potters.

Champion spared no pains or expense in turning
out the best quality of work, and he succeeded in pro-
ducing an excellent body and a remarkably fine glaze.
He produced some truly exquisite specimens of porce-
lain, both in design, in modelling, and in painting. But
the Bristol manufactory was by no means a success.
In about two years after obtaining the Act of Parlia-
ment, Champion closed his works, and sold his patent
right to a company of Staffordshire potters. They were
men of good standing, and carried on their works at
New Hall, Shelton. Champion himself removed for a
time into Staffordshire. He then emigrated to South
Carolina, United States, where he died.

CHAPTER XVI

WEDGWOOD'S JOURNEY INTO CORNWALL

THE introduction of the manufacture of china ware into
Staffordshire was mainly due to the exertions of Josiah
Wedgwood, in taking means for throwing open the use
of the raw materials found in Devonshire and Corn-
wall to manufacturers of pottery in every part of the
kingdom.

In order to make personal inquiries as to the places
where growan stone or growan clay was found in
Devonshire and Cornwall, Wedgwood resolved in 17*75
to make a journey into the south-western counties of
England. He was accompanied by Mr. Turner, one of
the earthenware manufacturers of Lane End ; as well as
by Mr. T. Griffiths, who was to be their agent, should
it be found necessary to leave him behind them.

" As the country was new to me," says Wedgwood
in his Commonplace Book, " I took a few short minutes,
in the chaise, of the various appearances of the country
we passed through, which afforded a little amusement
at the time, and may serve perhaps as an agreeable

CHAP, xvi Wedgwood's Journey into Cornwall 181

companion iii any future journey into the same
places."

The Memorandum Book and Commonplace Book,
from which we select the following extracts, seem not to
have been examined by any of Wedgwood's biographers.
At least no notices of them have been published. Yet
they are very curious documents, throwing considerable
light upon the character of the great potter. Careful
and cautious observation was his principal characteristic.
The Commonplace Book gives, in his handwriting, a
long account of the horse's foot ; he describes its sole,
its treatment, its proper shoeing, and so on.

He gives Mr. Smeaton's views on the expansion of
metals; and Dr. Priestley's account of the different
kinds of air. He records experiments on different kinds
of cobalt ; with observations on glazes, clays, zaffre, and
nickel ; and the method of producing various colours
after firing.

In his Memorandum Book, Wedgwood devotes whole
pages to experiments on Thermometers. His object
was to ascertain the principle of certain clays diminish-
ing in bulk by fire; his trials were very elaborate.
He tried various mixtures of clays, from red heat up to
the strongest that vessels made of clay can support.
He records that " some of the present Cornish porce-
lain clays seem to be the best adapted, both for sup-
porting the intensity and measuring the degrees of
heat." Eventually, Wedgwood published the results of
his experiments ; and he was elected a Fellow of the

1 82 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

Koyal Society, while under the Presidency of Sir Joseph
Banks.

Wedgwood records many experiments " with a view
to remedy the imperfections of flint glass for achromatic
instruments." He published An attempt to discover
the cords and waviness in Flint Glass, and the most
probable means of removing them. He made many
experiments on the artificial crystallisation of alabaster.
Being always a close observer, he took up the study of
geology. He could never be idle, even on his journeys
from London to Etruria.

In his Commonplace Book he records the geological
strata between London and Birmingham ; as well as
the nature and character of the vegetation through
which he passed. At his own works he tested every-
thing. He would not accept the dogmas of others, but
observed for himself. He possessed great power as
an organiser. He kept receipts, for reference, on all
manner of subjects — glazes, tinning of iron plates,
varnish, plasters, and such like. He recorded in his
Commonplace Book all the conversations of importance
he had with distinguished persons — legislators, artists,
and men of science. The potters of Staffordshire
looked up to him as their head. They appointed him
their chairman, to watch over their interests in the
commercial negotiation with foreign countries as well
as at home. ,

To return to Wedgwood's driving tour into Cornwall,
to ascertain the places where the growan stone or clay

xvi Wedgwood's Journey into Cornwall 183

was to be met with. No more agreeable journey could
have been made. Such tours are out of date now. We
rush rapidly through the country. The railway train
passes through tunnels, deep cuttings, and the pass-
enger sees little of the adjoining landscape. Wedg-
wood and his party left London on the 29th May 1775.
Their journey was through a beautiful country, and they
made their observations as they passed along. They
went through Guildford to Farnham; then into a
richly cultivated country, through Blackwater village,
over heaths and through woods, with charming resi-
dences in sight.

" It is impossible," says Wedgwood in his notes,
" to pass through those finely varied scenes, and com-
fortable haunts of men, without wishing to spend more
time amongst them than these hurrying chaises will
permit. . . . The fine picture is like a panorama ; it is
all round us — woods of every character, lawns, chases,
farms, and hop-gardens." The towns and villages
passed through were Hartley Bridge and Hartley Eow
(a venerable -looking village) ; Morrel Green, where
there was a good inn, and they rested; Newnham,
where a view was taken opposite the church ; then to
Basingstoke, celebrated for its siege during the Civil
Wars ; the Downs then opened upon the travellers —
" a noble feast " ; they passed Stockbridge and Old
Sarum, and slept at Salisbury.

In passing through Wiltshire, Wedgwood was sur-
prised by the numerous remains of the dwellings, en-

184 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

trenchments, tumuli, and graves of the Ancient British.
All round the great plain of Salisbury were the remains
of these ancient people ; and in the centre of the plain
was Stonehenge, their great sacrificial temple. On the
Downs were camps and entrenchments. At Chatties
Doun, near Charborough, there were tumuli to the
right and left. At Whitchurch, an old camp was seen
on the side of a hill, and two barrows were observed
close to the road. There were short barrows and long
barrows — the former being the more ancient — raised
over the dead, long before the invasion of the Eomans.

The party of travellers passed on to Dorchester — a
station of the Eomans, as its name indicates. But
before the Eornan invasion the place seems to have
been of importance. There is a round Amphitheatre
near the town, capable of containing some twelve
thousand spectators. Some think it to be Eoman, but
others suppose it to be Ancient British, as it closely
resembles the British " rounds." But the most remark-
able monument of the Ancient British is Maiden Castle,
a few miles south-west of Dorchester, one of the finest
and largest old camps in England. The outworks enclose
an area of forty -four acres, and three lofty earthen
ramparts surround it on the south. At Bridport, on
the west, says Wedgwood, " every hill seems to have its
camp." The barrows were innumerable. At Slatt " the
first rock stone was seen."

The travellers passed through Stapleton, where there
were "plenty of orchards," Charmouth, Axminster,

xvi Wedgwood 's Journey into Cornwall 185

Off well, and Honiton celebrated for its lace. No carts
or waggons were to be seen here ; everything was
carried on horseback. Then Exeter was entered, "a
lovely neighbourhood." Passing on through other
villages, Wedgwood went to see a potwork at Bovey
Tracey. He discusses the difficulty of making pottery
at that place, where the coal was bad and the workmen
were clumsy. He describes the beauty of the country
at Ivy Bridge. At a place called Eidgeway, Wedgwood
first saw the Petunse or Growan Stone.

At Plymouth Wedgwood visited an old friend, Mr.
Tolcher, who had sent him some specimens of cobalt.
The party visited Mount Edgecumbe, and in a letter to
Bentley (1st June 1775) Wedgwood thus describes it :
" We were upon the water several hours yesterday
afternoon. Have you ever seen Mount Edgecumbe ?
If you have not seen Mount Edgecumbe, you have
seen nothing. We sailed twice past the terrestrial
paradise, and such a sun-setting I have never beheld."

The travelling party could not long remain at
Plymouth, and on the 2nd of June they set out in
search of the Growan. They went by Burland Downs
and Eubarrow Downs, when Growan Stone was again
seen. They crossed the stream of water brought to
supply Plymouth by Sir Francis Drake. As they pro-
ceeded into Cornwall, they had some difficulty in
understanding the dialect of the people. At Kettington
they found the farmers ploughing with oxen. Barrows
were still plentiful. At Liskeard the landscape views

1 86 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

were splendid. Then they entered Boconnoc Down,
near Lostwithiel. The estate of Boconnoc belonged to
Mr. Pitt, afterwards Lord Camelford, elder brother of
the Earl of Chatham, who was born here. Here we
must quote from the notes of Mr. Wedgwood :

" We now come to Mr. Pitt's seat, which is extremely
rural and retired. We found him at home, and he
took us a walk before dinner, down a sweet valley,
with hanging woods on either side, and a clear purling
stream below. . . . When we came to a fine old beech
tree in the bottom, by the side of the brook, the roots
of which were visible in various folds above the surface,
Mr. Pitt laid himself down and repeated those fine lines
from Gray's Elegy written in a country churchyard :

" There at the foot of yonder nodding beech,

That wreathes its old fantastic roots so high,
His listless length at noon-tide would he stretch,
And pore upon the brook that babbles by.

" The dinner bell awoke us from our agreeable reverie,
and raised in us sensations of another kind, which we
made haste to satisfy. After being entertained at Mr.
Pitt's hospitable mansion for a few hours, with great
hilarity and classic elegance, we parted in high good
humour, and proceeded on our journey."

Wedgwood proceeds to describe the neighbourhood of
Lostwithiel as " a charming country, full of fine hills and
fruitful valleys, an arm of the sea running up between
a chain of hills, which altogether conspire to compose one

xvi Wedgwood's Joz^rney into Cornwall 187

of the finest scenes a traveller can wish to pass through."
They were now in the midst of the Growan Stone
district. Near St. Austell they found large quantities,
and observed the white kaolin obtained by washing
from the raw materials. They also went to St. Stephens,
where the Growan Stone was prepared to supply the
Bristol porcelain manufactory. At St. Columb they
went to see the collection of Mr. Soper, apothecary,
a very intelligent man, but they were disappointed.
Earths, stones, and clays were too mean to find a place
in the museums of Cornish collectors.

At Truro the travelling party witnessed what they
considered an extraordinary sight. Wedgwood thus
relates it : " In one of our walks through the town we
met a very numerous procession of females, all dressed
out in their best garments. We were much struck
with such a troop of young women marching in regular
order. We inquired as to the cause of the procession,
and were told that it was the annual meeting of two
female clubs, who had associated for the same purpose
as men do in this and other parts of the island — that
is, to lay by a little money whilst they are in health
and can spare it, to receive it again in time of sickness.
I am sorry I cannot say much in favour of the beauty
of the fair sex. Indeed, there were scarcely three faces
in the two clubs that were tolerable."

At Redruth Wedgwood found Growan clay in great
abundance, and of a very white colour. He obtained
some specimens for experiment, believing the clay to

1 88 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

be of the right sort. Being so near the Land's End,
he and his companions determined to visit it, but the
two chaises containing them were almost swamped by
the drenching rain before they reached Penzance. On
the 6th of June they went to the Land's End, about
three miles distant. Grow an clay was found on the way.
A large quantity had been shipped from Penzance for
Bristol and South Wales, where it was used for fur-
naces. It was not white enough to be used for the
manufacture of porcelain.

At the Land's End, says Wedgwood, " we gazed for
some time, with a kind of silent awe, veneration, and
astonishment, at the immense expanse of ocean before
us. It was indeed sublime. The weather was clear
enough to enable us to see the Scilly Isles, about nine
leagues distant. After a long and exciting view, we
left the spot. It was with a transport of joy that I
now set my face homewards towards Etruria."

The travelling party, however, did not go directly
homewards. Wedgwood having still to make inquiries
as to the white clay which he had heard was in the
neighbourhood, they started again from Penzance, and
journeyed westward. They saw Marazion (or Market
Jew), crossed the sands, and climbed up to St. Michael's
Mount. From the summit of the castle they had a
magnificent view, landwards and seawards. They
descended and went to Ludgvan, then higher up to
Treasso, higher still to Castle Andennis, in search of
white clay, which they eventually found, with the help

xvi Wedgwood's Journey into Cornwall 189

of Mr. Edwards of Treasso. They then passed Wheal
Prosper, and obtained some of the white clay on Lord
Godolphin's property. Samples of the various clays
were obtained for the purpose of future experiments.

Being near the Lizard, they made a detour to see
that wonderful geological formation. It is unneces-
sary to detail their visit to Kynance Cove, on the
west shore of the bay, and Cadge with, on the east.
The Lizard, observes Wedgwood, " was an extra-
ordinary sight." But he was here on business as well
as pleasure. He made inquiries as to the soap rock
on Lord Falmouth's property, which at that time was
leased to the Worcester China Company. However,
several other landlords had soap rock on their property,
and Wedgwood took some specimens away "in a
pocket-handkerchief."

From the Lizard they returned by Kedruth and Truro,
examining for soap rock all the way. On the 10th of
June they found a farmer, a Mr. Trethaway, who
possessed a little estate adjoining Mr. Pitt's manor, and
Wedgwood agreed with him for a lease. To use his
words : " The farmer said he would lease us the stone
and clay on the estate for so many years. He asked
twenty guineas a year rent. I offered ten. He accepted
it, and we had articles of agreement drawn up accord-
ingly by Mr. Carthew, an attorney in St. Austell. This
gentleman, when the business with Trethaway was
finished, offered us more of the same materials on the
same terms, or to sell us twenty or thirty acres of land

Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

with them in, on our own terms. We ordered some of
his materials to be sent to us, and when we have tried
them we are to write him on the subject."

" Having now completed our business in Cornwall,
by having got a firm and secure hold of the raw
materials upon reasonable terms, we left Mr. Griffiths,
our agent, to conduct the business. We left St. Austell
after dinner, and slept that night at Liskeard, and the
next day we set Mr. Tolcher down at his own house at
Plymouth. The old gentleman was in general cheerful
and good company, but notwithstanding his age (he
was in his eighty-seventh year) he had a good deal of
the spoilt child in him, for if he had not his own way
in everything there was no peace with him, either in
the chaise or at the inns. . . . But when we came to
Plymouth, he talked so much of accompanying us into
Staffordshire, that I believe a single invitation would
have brought him with us.

"Mr. Tolcher enjoys a remarkable share of health
and spirits for a man of his great age, and nothing
flatters him so much as telling him how young he
looks, and how many years he may yet expect to live.
Indeed, he used to say that he had no notion of dying :
he did not think he should die, for he had never felt
anything like it yet, having never had a day's sickness
in his life ; but he added, ' Neither have I ever been
once intoxicated with spirituous liquors.' "

While at Plymouth, Wedgwood took another look at
Mount Edgecumbe, which he so much admired. He

xvi Wedgwood's Journey into Cornwall 191

also examined the Isle of St. Nicholas, or Drake's Island,
a strongly -fortified rock at the entrance of the river
Tamar ; the harbour, the docks, the ships, the hospital,
and whatever there was to be seen. He went to the
Hoe to enjoy the unrivalled view from that lofty
promenade. But time pressed, and Wedgwood must
hasten back to Etruria. Yet he desired to see so much
that was novel on his way homeward. Instead of
returning to London, he went northward through
Wellington, Taunton, Bridgewater, and Glastonbury in
Somerset. Nothing pleased him more than the cathe-
dral city of Wells, the fine old cathedral with its
precincts and other buildings constituting a perfectly
unique English city.

Wedgwood went northward through Bath and
Gloucester, calling upon his friend Boulton at Bir-
mingham on his way home, and thus finishing a very
pleasant and profitable journey. He was of course
received with joy and welcome by his loving wife and
family at Etruria. He had long arrears to make up
with his boys and girls, to whom he was deeply
attached. We have already referred to his affection for
his devoted wife, who not only cherished him during
illnesses, but conducted his correspondence while he
was unable to attend to his ordinary business.

We may refer to some of his written intercourse
with his children. When in London, on one occasion,
he wrote a long history of an imaginary journey to the
metropolis to his "Dear Kitty." It was entitled

1 92 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

" A short history of a long journey to London, from a
Papa in Town to his good child at home." The history,
which is written in the style of a loving father to his
playful child, separated from her by several hundred
miles, extends to six chapters in length. Some of it
is very interesting. Not less interesting were his
communications with his boys, over whose education
he watched, encouraging them, and assisting them with
his immense information. We may quote one of his
letters to his eldest son John, or as his father called
him " Dear Jackey." The boy was at school at Bolton
in Lancashire in 1774, and his father enclosed with the
following letter a long and minute account of "The
Natural History and Uses of Lead" in its various
forms : —

" My dear Boy — Having a parcel to send to your
good master, I take the opportunity of enclosing a few
lines to you, well knowing that you will be glad to hear
that your mamma, your brothers and sisters are well,
and continue their good will and affections to you.
Your brothers often talk of you, and seldom omit
drinking your health at dinner. Joss wants much to
go to school with his brother Jackey, that he may
learn to read, and learn so many things out of books
which he is very earnest to know, but finds there is no
other way of gaining the knowledge he wants but by
becoming a scholar and reading and studying for him-
self ; for, if he prevails upon his cousin Jackey or anybody
else who is at leisure, to read a little for him, they are

xvi Wedgwood's Journey into Cornwall 193

no sooner got into the midst of an entertaining story, or
something he wishes to learn, but they are called away to
other business, and leave him unsatisfied and distressed :
' Oh ! I wish I could take up the book and read the
story out myself, papa ! ' But finding he is not able to
do this at present, and being convinced that a little
application will enable him to read for himself, he is
determined to be more attentive to his learning, to
say double lessons, and, if it were possible, to overtake
even his brother Jackey in scholarship. I do not know
how this may end, but am persuaded he will find it no
easy matter to overtake one who is so active and steady
at learning, as I am told you are.

" I suppose you have received two samples of red ore,
with some flowerpots, etc. I sent you the ores, and
now send you some account of them, because I find you
are attentive to what I told you of them, and of some
other natural bodies, and because I wish you to know a
great deal of some things and not be quite ignorant of
anything you may meet with in your journey through
life. You must therefore begin to learn early; but
more of this in some future letter. — Believe me,
my dear boy, your truly affectionate father, — Joss
WEDGWOOD."

We may mention the number of the Wedgwood
family. Susannah, the eldest, was born 3rd January
1765. John, 28th March 1766. Eichard, llth July
1767, but died in June 1768. Josiah, 3rd August 1769.
Thomas, 14th April 1771/ Catherine, 30th November

o

1 94 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP, xvi

1774. Sarah, 25th September 1776. Mary-Anne, 18th
August 1778, but died in the following April.

No one loved children more than Wedgwood. As
his wife was a model mother, so was he a model father.
Though often engrossed by business, he was always
true and faithful to his children, who were all alike
in his eyes and heart ; each receiving their share of his
affection. He was firm yet tender. He gave them his
love, and they repaid him with their obedience. As the
boys grew up into men, and the girls into women, he
was proud of their handsome presence and their
intellectual attainments.

Wedgwood was most careful as to their training and
education. There were governesses for the daughters,
and tutors for the sons. One of the tutors who resided
for some time in Wedgwood's family, was John Leslie,
afterwards Professor of Natural Philosophy in the
University of Edinburgh, one of the most distinguished
scientific men of his age. Wedgwood, with his usual
liberality, conferred an annuity of £150 on John Leslie
for the careful instruction he had given to his sons.
It is not improbable that Leslie's investigations into
light and heat had some influence in determining
Thomas Wedgwood's studies, and leading him to become
the inventor of heliotype — in other words, of photo-
graphic science, before Daguerre turned his attention
to the subject.

CHAPTEE XVII

WEDGWOOD AND FLAXMAN

WEDGWOOD was fortunate, as well as wise, in associating
with himself, in the production of his wares, perhaps
the greatest sculptor whom England has as yet pro-
duced. Born on the 6th July 1755, John Flaxman
entered life with no special advantages. His father
sold plaster of Paris casts in New Street, Covent
Garden, and afterwards at a little shop in the Strand.

The boy was very weakly, and slightly deformed
from his birth. As he grew in years, he used to sit in
a little stuffed chair behind his father's counter, over
which he could just see ; and there he read and made
drawings in black and white from the casts before him.
When customers came he got down from his seat and,
with the help of crutches, went to the shelves and
selected the required articles.

Flaxman's mother died when he was seven years
old. His father married again, but his stepmother was
very kind to him, as much so indeed as his own mother
had been. The customers who came to the shop took

196 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

an interest in the invalid boy. One of the most
benevolent was the Eev. Mr. Matthew, a man of fine
taste, who took an interest in art and artists. " I went,"
said Mr. Matthew, " to the shop of old Flaxman to have
a figure repaired, and whilst I was standing, I heard a
child cough behind the counter. I looked over, and
there I saw a little boy seated on a small chair, with a
larger chair before him, on which lay a book he was
reading. His pure eyes and beautiful forehead interested
me, and I said, ' What book is that ? ' He raised him-
self on his crutches, bowed, and said, ' Sir, it is a Latin
book, and I am trying to read it.' ' Ay, indeed ? ' I
answered ; ' you are a fine boy ; but this is not the
proper book, I will bring you a right one to-morrow.' I
did as I promised, and the acquaintance thus casually
begun ripened into one of the best friendships of my
life."

The book the boy had before him was a Cornelius
Nepos, which his father had picked up for a few pence
at a bookstall. Next day Mr. Matthew called with
translations of Homer and Don Quixote, which the
boy proceeded to read with avidity. He even went
about Hyde Park, with the help of his crutches, trying
to find some distressed damsel whom he might proceed
to deliver from bondage, by the help of his little French
sword, which he had girded about him; but in vain.
There was no Dulcinea del Toboso, or forlorn damsel, to
be found even in Hyde Park or Kensington Gardens.

He was more fortunate with Homer. His mind

xvii Wedgwood and Flaxman 1 9 7

became filled with the heroism which breathed through
its pages, and the ambition took possession of him that
he too would design and embody in poetic forms the
majestic Ajaxes and Achilleses. He began to draw and
model in plaster of Paris, wax, and clay. Of course his
first designs were very crude, though some of them are
still preserved. After he had become famous, a friend
asked him how he had accomplished these early works.
" Sir," said he, " we are never too young to learn what
is useful, or too old to grow wise and good."

When he arrived at his tenth year, his health
improved. His limbs gained strength, he began to
move about more freely and was able to throw away
his crutches. He continued to model figures as before,
and rapidly" improved. Mr. Matthew not only patron-
ised him, and gave him commissions, but also invited
him to his house, where he made the acquaintance of
some artists, amongst others of Eomney, Stothard, and
Blake the poet - painter. Mrs. Matthew and Mrs.
Barbauld were amongst his advisers and counsellors.
They encouraged him to read Greek and foreign
languages. He repaired to Mrs. Matthew's house in
the evenings, to hear her read Homer and Virgil, and
discourse upon Latin verse and sculpture. While she
read Homer, Flaxman by her side endeavoured to
embody in drawings such passages as caught his fancy.
This was, as he afterwards said, one of the happiest
periods of his life.

He obtained from Mr. Crutch ely what was to him

198 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

an important commission, for a set of drawings
illustrative of Homer. These were executed to
Crutchely's satisfaction, and Flaxman's commissions
soon increased. Friends now foretold his future emin-
ence as a designer and sculptor. At eleven years old,
and again at thirteen, he won prizes from the Society
of Arts for his models of figures in clay. At fifteen he
exhibited models at the Koyal Academy, then in the
second year of its existence. In the same year, 1770,
he entered as an Academy student and won the silver
medal. Next year, he tried for the gold one, the
reward of the highest merit.

All his fellow-students made sure that the assiduous
and enthusiastic Flaxman would win the prize. Perhaps
he himself was too cocksure of the result. But Sir
Joshua Eeynolds, the President, adjudged the gold
medal to another student called Engleheart, who was
never afterwards heard of. Flaxman, however, was not
discouraged : he knew he deserved the prize, and
the defeat, such as it was, merely roused his courage.
" Give me time," he said to his father, " and I will yet
produce works which the Academy will be proud to
acknowledge."

Flaxman thought his defeat was due to the slight of
Sir Joshua. But perhaps he was too vain of his powers.
This would appear from a letter of Wedgwood's to
Bentley (14th January 1775) : — " I am glad you have
met with a modeller, and that Flaxman is so valuable
an artist. It is but a few years since he was a most

xvn Wedgwood and Flaxman 1 99

supreme coxcomb, but a little more experience may
have cured him of this foible." This allusion to Flax-
man no doubt refers to his defeat by Engleheart at the
Academy. Although Wedgwood thus referred to the
sculptor, he very soon became one of his most attached
and generous patrons. Bentley was the first who dis-
covered Flaxman, most probably through the introduc-
tion of the latter to him by Mrs. Matthew and Mrs.
Barbauld, — as they all belonged to the same religious
community.

Wedgwood proceeded to order some works from
Flaxman. The first was a model for a Chimneypiece,
two models for Vases, four Bas-reliefs of the Seasons,
and several models of the ancient gods and god-
desses— Jupiter, Juno, Minerva, Apollo, and others.
His charges were not great : £3 : 3s. for the pair of
vases, one with a Satyr and the other with a Triton
handle ; £2 : 2s. for the four Bas-reliefs of the Seasons ;
£1 : 15s. for an antique Vase sculptured with figures ;
and 10s. for each of the ancient gods and goddesses.
£2 : 2s. was paid for two statues, and 8s. 6d. for two
cups and saucers. These works were done in March
and April 1775, and the whole were paid for — amount-
ing to £12 : 18s.— in January 1776.

Some may think it a descent for a draughtsman and
sculptor like Flaxman to have designed for Wedgwood
such common things as cups and saucers. But it was
not really so. An artist may be a true educator in
taste while designing a common teapot or water-jug.

2OO Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

Articles in daily use amongst the people, which are
before their eyes at every meal, may become the
vehicles of art education to all, and minister to their
highest culture. Before Wedgwood's time, the designs
which figured upon our stoneware and china were often
hideous. He determined to improve both designs and
ornamentation ; and Flaxman willingly and cheerfully
endeavoured to carry the manufacturer's views into
effect. The subjects of his art were principally small
groups in low relief, from ancient verse and history.
Some of them were equal in beauty and simplicity to
his finished designs for marble.

Young Flaxman continued to ply his art diligently,
both as a draughtsman from his father's stock-in-trade,
as a student in the schools, and as an exhibitor at the
Eoyal Academy. One of the friends of the Matthew
family — a Mr. Knight of Portland Place — gave him a
commission to make a statue of Alexander the Great in
marble. Flaxman designed the figure in clay, and
Smith executed the work in marble. The statue was
exhibited, and met with considerable praise.

But Flaxman could not make a regular livelihood by
accepting such commissions. He had to rely princi-
pally upon the income which he derived from Wedg-
wood. For many years we find him modelling classic
friezes, plaques, vases, ornamental vessels, and medallion
portraits of distinguished men, in various combinations
of Jasper and Basalt. In July 1*7 75, we find Wedg-
wood requesting Flaxman to model the portraits of Sir

xvii Wedgwood and Flaxman 201

Joseph Banks and Dr. Solander. Hoskins, Grant,
Hack wood, and Mrs. Landre were modelling at the
same time. Though Hackwood's portraits were ex-
cellent, Flaxman's were considered superior, because
of their artistic value. This was especially the
case in the Greek heads and the classical designs
after the antique. Some of these were so exquisite,
that Wedgwood had a great difficulty in parting with
them.

" Some Anthonies and Cleopatras are very fine," he
wrote to Bentley (5th November 1775), " and a few
bas-reliefs, all of which I wish you to look at before
they go into the rooms [for sale]. The blue grounds
are out of the last kiln, and the Cleopatras, both of
which are the finest things imaginable. It really hurts
me to think of Carting with these gems, the fruit of
twenty years' toil, for the trifle we shall receive, to make
the business worthy of our notice."

The new body called Jasper, because of its likeness
to the stone of that name, was first used in November
1775. It was composed of a mixture of flint, potters'
clay, carbonate of barytes, zaffre, sulphate of barytes,
and Terra ponder osa. Wedgwood kept this combination
very secret. To Bentley he wrote : " I have tried my
new mixing of Jasper, and find it very good. Indeed
I have not much fear of it ; but it is a satisfaction to be
certain, and I am now absolute in this precious article,
and can make it with as much facility and certainty as
black ware. Sell what quantity you please. I would

2O2 Josiak Wedgwood CHAP.

as readily engage to furnish you with this, as any
pottery I make. We have only now to push it forward
with the world and keep our secret." Of his large and
very fine Medusa, he wrote to Bentley, " it is too fine
to sell." He had always the greatest difficulty in part-
ing with his beautiful bas-reliefs.

In this Jasper ware Flaxman executed some of his
finest and most classical works, and helped forward the
enterprise of his munificent patron. Flaxman con-
tinued to exhibit at the Royal Academy, — several
models in clay from the ancient Greeks and Eomans,
some portraits in wax, and a sketch for a monument to
Chatterton — and to make drawings and designs from the
poets, from the Bible, and from the Pilgrim's Progress.
He led a quiet, simple life, though he was always full
of pleasant occupation.

Flaxman, feeling himself sufficiently enriched by the
remuneration he received from Wedgwood, removed
from his paternal roof towards the end of 1781 ; leaving
there his father, the seller of plaster of Paris casts, and
his brother William, a frame-maker and wood-carver,

Flaxman hired a small house and studio at 27
Wardour Street ; and there he brought home his young
wife, Ann Denham by name, whom he had long loved.
He was then twenty-five years of age. Some thought
it foolish of him to marry without any secured means,
but it proved to be the greatest joy and blessing of his
life. Ann Denham worshipped her young, cheerful,
and accomplished husband. This was a good begin-

xvn Wedgwood and Flaxman 203

ning. She had a taste for art and literature, under-
stood French and Italian, and had acquired some
knowledge of Greek. She was, nevertheless, a good
domestic manager. She arranged her husband's draw-
ings, and encouraged and cheered him in his occasional
moments of despondency.

Some time after their marriage, Sir Joshua Keynolds
happened to meet Flaxman in the street. " Ha ! " said
the President, " I have heard you have married." " It
is true," replied Flaxman. " Then," said Sir Joshua, " I
tell you, you are ruined for an artist. You cannot now
go to Borne and study the works of the great sculptors
of antiquity." " I am sorry for that," said Flaxman,
who returned home somewhat dispirited. He sat down
beside his wife, took her hand, and said with a smile,
" Ann, you have ruined me for an artist." " How is
that ? " she asked. " It happened," replied Flaxman,
" in the church, and Ann Denham has done it. I met
Sir Joshua Reynolds just now, and he said my marriage
had ruined me in my profession."

It is possible that Sir Joshua bore a grudge against
Flaxman, for what reason is not known. He had
adjudged the gold medal for sculpture to Engleheart,
when every other artist thought that it should have been
awarded to Flaxman. Sir Joshua was the first portrait
painter of his day, but he knew comparatively little
about sculpture. Hence his spiteful remark to Flax-
man, that he had ruined himself as an artist by marry-
ing Ann Denham. His wife, as usual, consoled him.

2O4 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP-

"You will e'en go to Kome," she said, "and I will
accompany you." " But how ? " asked Flaxman. " We
must work and economise," was her answer.

Flaxman accordingly set to work with increased
vigour. He was willing to do anything, so as to earn
the necessary money for the purpose of enabling him
to make the journey to Eome. He even undertook to
collect the watch rate for the parish of St. Anne, and
was occasionally seen going about with an ink-bottle in
his buttonhole collecting the rates. He worked harder
than ever for Wedgwood. Cameos, intaglios, busts,
portraits, plaques of all kinds, proceeded from his fertile
brain and hand. Amongst the other works he pro-
duced were the Apotheosis of Homer, the Muses with
Apollo, the Dancing Hours, Priam begging the body of
Hector from Achilles, Julius Csesar, Fauns, Bacchantes,
the Nine Muses, and other works. Wedgwood was as
proud of the Muses as Flaxman himself. He styled
Flaxman " the Genius of Sculpture." Several beautiful
tablets for chimneypieces were also produced by him.
In fact, never did Flaxman work harder than at this
period of his life.

He worked for others besides Wedgwood. He began
to make monuments to the departed. His first was in
memory of a man of genius similar to his own — that of
Collins, the poet, for Chichester Cathedral. Another,
of a still higher order, was that of Mrs. Morley for
Gloucester Cathedral. The lady perished with her
child at sea, and she is represented called up by angels,

xvn Wedgwood and Flaxman 205

with her babe, from the waves, and ascending into
heaven. "The effect," says Allan Cunningham, "is
inexpressibly touching; it elevates the mind, and not
without tears." Another of his monuments was in
memory of Miss Cromwell, in illustration of the passage
" Come, ye blessed."

Of a very different character was the group of Venus
and Cupid, which he executed for his early patron, Mr.
Knight of Portland Place. Flaxman preferred it to his
monumental figures. Besides these works of sculpture
were his numerous drawings, mostly after the antique,
a large collection of which is still carefully preserved
at the University College, Gower Street.

It is believed that Flaxman, before his marriage,
visited Wedgwood at Etruria. The room is still shown
in which he did his work. In one of Wedgwood's
letters to Bentley, dated from Etruria (1st July 1778),
Wedgwood says : " Mr. Flaxman called to tell me that
he was modelling a bas-relief of Lord Chatham in order
to sell copies in wax. I told him that we should be
glad of a cast, and he knew what we should make of it.
I do not know what he means to charge other people,
but you know we are to pay a price below casts and
models."

During the year 1779, on Flaxman's return to
London, he was engaged upon some of his most
beautiful models, such as his Boys and Goat, his
Triumph of Ariadne, his Homer and Hesiod, his Offering
to Flora, and his Bacchanalian Sacrifices for a chimney-

206 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

piece tablet. He also modelled his own likeness in
wax, and a copy was sent down to Etruria for the
purpose of being transferred into the jasper body.
Flaxman took the greatest pains in beautifying the
commonest objects of utility. His inkstands, chimney-
pieces, candlesticks, seals, tureens, vases, lamps, cups,
and teapots were most artistic.

It is not improbable that Flaxman was consulted by
Wedgwood during his temporary stay at Etruria about
the decoration of his house. On his return to London,
he wrote the following letter to Wedgwood : —

"No. 27 Wardour Street, 12th November 1781.—
Sir — As soon as Mr. Byerley [Wedgwood's agent in
London] communicated to me your workmen's want of
the drawings at large for the cornices, etc., in the saloon
and vestibule, I began them immediately to prevent
delay ; but as some of the mouldings will be enriched
in a manner not very likely to be well executed by a
country plasterer from a drawing only, I will, if you
please, send two or three patterns cut in plaster for
ostrich eggs and dock water leaf, etc.1

"You will probably have an ornamental frieze for
the saloon ; if that is not already determined on, I
would recommend the lions and foliage you admired

1 The hall at Etruria has been converted into the offices of the
Shelton Bar Ironworks. Besides the cornices designed by Flaxman
the ceilings were ornamented by drawings in Oil by Angelica Kaufmann.
These were removed by the agents of the Duchy of Lancaster, to whom
the place belongs, to one of their offices in the North, probably in
Yorkshire.

xvn Wedgwood and Flaxman 207

so much in the chinmeypiece I am carving for Mr.
Knight, and particularly because you will have a new
production without the expense of a new model. In
the meantime I shall proceed diligently with your
drawings until I have further instructions, the expedi-
tion of which will add to the favours conferred on, sir,
with great respect and gratitude, your much obliged
servant, — JOHN FLAXMAN, jun.

" My wife joins with me in hopes for the health and
happiness of Mrs. Wedgwood and your family."

Wedgwood had been so much indebted to Sir William
Hamilton, Ambassador to the Court of Naples, for his
casts from the antique, discovered during his researches
at Herculaneum, and for his fine collection of Etruscan
vases, that when Flaxman had finished his Apotheosis of
Homer, he offered to send Sir WTilliarn one of the
finest copies of the tablet. On receiving it, he replied
as follows (Naples, 22nd June 1779) : " I have had the
pleasure of receiving safe your delightful bas-relief of
the Apotheosis of Homer, or some other poet. Indeed,
it is far superior to my most sanguine expectation. I
was sure that your industry would produce in time
something excellent in the way of bas-reliefs from the
specimens I saw before I left England, but I really am
surprised and delighted in the highest degree with this
proof of the hasty strides you have made towards per-
fection in your art. I only wish you may continue to
meet the encouragement which you so richly deserve.
. Your bas-relief astonishes all the artists here. It

208 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

is more pure, and in a truer antique Taste than any of
their performances, though they have so many fine
models before them."

For twelve years of his life, from his twentieth to
his thirty-second year (1775-1787), Flaxman principally
subsisted through his employment for the firm of Wedg-
wood and Company. He did some of their most exqui-
site works, for which they paid him liberally. His
portraits included those of Benjamin Franklin and Dr.
Johnson ; the latter is said to be one of the finest ever
perfected by Wedgwood. In 1781 he finished two
busts of Eousseau and Sterne, and modelled a bust
of Dr. Fothergill. In the following year (1782) he
modelled a very fine bust of Mrs. Siddons, and finished
the cast of a fragment of Phidias. In that year he had
the two sons of Wedgwood as pupils ; but Flaxman,
because of the munificence of Wedgwood, did not desire
to receive any remuneration for the lessons he gave
them. A correspondence took place on the subject.
Flaxman's first letter was as follows : —

"27 Wardour Street, 8th July 1782.— Sir— As you
desire a list of the orders you have given me, which
are not yet completed, I have taken the liberty to
trouble you, as I should be deficient in gratitude to
your Liberality and Friendship if I permitted you to
receive them by any other means, especially as my
absence whilst you were in London requires an apology.
This I could not avoid, because the time was appointed
that I should settle some particular chimneypieces for

XVII

Wedgwood and Flaxman 209

a friend who is going to rebuild his seat in Berkshire,
and I thought to return before your departure. Mr.
Byerley required me to set a value on my instructions
to the young gentlemen, which I cannot comply with,
because I fear in so short a time they could not profit
much, and because I shall be well satisfied with what-
ever you think sufficient for those lessons, which were
thirty- three in number. Mr. Byerley also observed
that it would be agreeable to you for me to employ my
leisure on your work. This he need not have men-
tioned, for I surely cannot do better than employ my
small abilities in the service of so worthy a friend.

"I would have sent the drawing for the frieze of
your saloon, but I do not remember that you determined
on any design; so that, when I have received your
instructions, I will either send sketches for your appro-
bation, or a drawing from any idea you may communi-
cate.

"With this letter I have sent the size of Sir J.
Banks's tablet. Before I conclude I must beg, as soon
as you have set a price on the ostrich's egg teapot in
the fine white bisque, that you will let me have one,
which my wife intends presenting to a lady at Cam-
bridge. Mrs. Flaxman desires your acceptance of her
best wishes ; and with mine, for the happiness of your-
self, Mrs. Wedgwood, and the young lady and gentle-
man, I remain, your much obliged servant, — JOHN
FLAXMAN, jun.

" P.S. — The orders are, six wax medals of eminent
p

2io Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

Hollanders, which I am now working on, and intend
soon to finish.

" Psyche on a Flower-Pot — a companion to Venus
Adolescens. Several bas-reliefs of boys for teapot sides,
and the wax profiles of several distinguished persons —
these last to be done as opportunity shall permit."

It is not known what remuneration Wedgwood sent
to Flaxman, but the latter seems to have been greatly
pleased with it in his letter of the 22nd August 1782.
This letter is very valuable as authenticating as Flax-
man's work the magnificent bust of Mercury, after-
wards produced by Wedgwood : —

"27 Wardour Street. — Sir — I would have thanked
you for the princely present you gave me for the few
instructions your sons had from me before now, if thanks
had been adequate to such generosity, but their only
rewards are the elevated reflections arising from such
actions themselves. I did not therefore write until I
had prepared a small token of gratitude — two small
reliefs of Jupiter and Mercury, which you may copy
in your excellent bisque* for your manufactory if you
think them worthy. You did me the honour to praise
my bust of Mercury, the cast of which you will favour
with a place in your study, as one of the highest grati-
fications you can bestow on its sculptor.

"As I know your kindness interests itself in my
welfare, I have the pleasure to inform you that I am
nobly employed in modelling four Cristos, large as life,
and a group of four figures from this passage in the

xvii Wedgwood and Flaxman 211

prologue to Henry ike Fifth, ' Then should the warlike
Harry, like himself, assume the port of Mars, whilst
Famine, Sword, and Fire (leashed in like hounds) crouch
for employment at his heels.'

"My wife and self desire our best compliments to
Mrs. Wedgwood, Miss, and the young gentlemen ; and I
have the honour to remain, sir, your most obliged and
humble servant, — J. FLAXMAN.

" P.S. — I am much obliged to you for the order given
that the egg teapot should be delivered to me, but the
gentleman who officiates for Mr. Byerley says it will
not hold water ; so that I shall be glad if you will let
rne have one as soon as more are made, as Mrs. Flax-
man has deferred writing to her friend for some months
with intention to send a teapot at the same time."

Flaxman was perhaps happiest in his beautiful
designs of children — romping, skipping, playing blind-
man's-buff, and other groups of them. Flaxman, ad-
dressing Wedgwood from Wardour Street, October 28th,
1782, writes: "According to the desire you expressed
in the last letter you favoured me with, I have designed
some groups of children proper for bas-reliefs, to deco-
rate the sides of teapots. Nos. 1 and 2 are intended
to go entirely round a teapot of a flat shape, except
where the handle and spout interrupt them. I have,
therefore, made separate stories for each side. The
first is Blindman's - Buff ; the second is the Game of
Marbles. Nos. 3 and 4 are the Triumph of Cupid, to be
disposed in a similar manner on the sides of round and

212 Josiak Wedgwood CHAP.

upright teapots. When you return the sketches to be
modelled from, be pleased to give instructions concern-
ing the size and other necessary particulars. Mrs.
Flaxman presents her respects to Mrs. and Miss Wedg-
wood and yourself, and I have the honour to remain,
sir, your obliged servant, — JOHN FLAXMAN."

In 1783-84 Flaxman was engaged in various works
for Wredgwood, principally in chimneypieces and por-
traits. The marble chimneypieces were charged from
£8 : 11 : 6 to £11 : 4s. ; but the masonry, polishing, and
carving were charged nearly double. Among the por-
traits were those of Herschel, Dr. Buchan, Captain Cook,
and C. Jenkinson. In 1784 he modelled a bas-relief of
boys in wax, for which he charged £11 :0 : 6. Flax-
man was also busy with the models of the celebrated
Chessmen. The following letter relates to the decora-
tion of Wedgwood's drawing-roorn at Etruria : —

"Ward our Street, 5th February 1784.— Sir— I was
last night honoured by Mr. Byerley with your inquiry
concerning the pictures you employed me to paint for
the drawing-room ceiling.1 The four Divinities' heads
for the corners have been nearly finished, and the
Allegory for the centre has had the effect roughly laid
in some months since, and would have been entirely
completed long before this, but that I waited for your
opinion on them, as you were expected in town almost

1 It would appear from this letter that Flaxman painted some of the
figures on Wedgwood's drawing-room, besides Angelica Kaufmann, as
explained in a previous note.

xvii Wedgwood and Flaxman 2 1 3

daily for some time past. However, I have now sent
two of the Corners and Centre, accompanied with the
difficulties I am under, for your contemplation and
decision. I think, when you have fastened them with
pins in their places, and considered the effect, you will
find either the heads are too large for the Centre, or
that the figures in the Centre are disproportionately
small for the heads. If you think the heads have a
proper effect, and are not too large when seen in their
proper places, I must reduce the number of figures in
the centre, and place them upright in the long way of
the oval, retaining the allegory; or make them Genii
children telling the same story ; by which means also
the whole will have a better proportion. If you think
the figures in the centre of a proper height and the
heads too large and heavy, I will alter the Corner to
whole figures of children (Genii) sitting with the same
attitude the heads have now ; and in this case I shall
reduce the number of figures in the centre to show the
outlines more distinctly, like paintings on the Etruscan
vases, as this manner has the best effect. When you
have determined these matters and sent back the paint-
ings, they shall be finished with all possible despatch.

" I wish you may soon come to town to see Sir
William Hamilton's Vase (Barberini or Portland Vase).
It is the finest production of art that has been brought
to England, and seems to be the very apex of perfec-
tion to which you are endeavouring to bring your
Bisque and Jasper. It is of the kind called ' Murrinan '

214 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

by Pliny, made of dark blue glass with white enamel
figures. The vase is about a foot high, and the figures
between five and six inches, engraved in the same
manner as a cameo, and of the grandest and most per-
fect Greek sculpture.

" Since I repaired the bust of Mrs. Siddons after
moulding, a friend of mine, J. B. Burgess, Esq., of Bed-
ford Square, has been very desirous to purchase it, to
set it with the model of Mercury and several other
models he has of mine. As you have the mould of the
model, I think it cannot be of much use. To let Mr.
Burgess have it will oblige him, and be of some little
advantage to me. You may depend on this, no other
use will be made of it than being placed in his study,
and if I have your permission to sell it to him, I shall
take off half my charge for it in your bill.

" I return you many thanks for the liberal praise you
bestowed on my Chess-figures ; and with best and most
respectful wishes to Mrs. Wedgwood and your family
from Mrs. Flaxman and myself, I have the honour to
be, sir, your most obliged servant, — J. FLAXMAN."

Mr. Wedgwood answered the above letter as follows :
" Etruria, 20th February 1784. — Dear Sir — I duly re-
ceived your favour of the 5th inst., with the observations
you were so kind as to make upon the paintings for
my drawing-room ceiling, stating some difficulties you
were under, and desiring my decision upon them.

" The two heads of Divinities, and a sketch of the
Allegory for the centre, came to my hands last night.

xvn Wedgwood and Flaxman 2 1 5

I have hastily looked them over, but am obliged to put
them by for the present, having neither time to consider
them, nor the hints you give me in your letter, with
the attention they deserve. When I can take them up
again I will write you further. Mr. Byerley will tell
you something of my situation.

" I can only add that you have my free consent, as it
will so much oblige your friend Mr. Burgess, to let him
have the bust of Mrs. Siddons ; the mould will serve
my purposes. I am much obliged to you for the infor-
mation you give me respecting Sir William Hamilton's
fine Vase, and promise myself an exquisite treat when
I do come to town, but the time is at present unavoid-
ably uncertain.

" We are getting forward with the Chessmen, and
hope soon to send a complete set to Greek Street. Mrs.
Wedgwood and my young folks unite in most respectful
compliments to Mrs. Flaxman and yourself, with, dear
sir, your faithful and obedient servant, — Jos. WEDG-
WOOD."

Our next document is an account from William
Flaxman (John's brother), the frame-maker and wood-
carver, for frames supplied, amounting to £35 : 6 : 6,
the principal item being £27 for frames supplied to
Master Thomas Wedgwood for Mr. De Loutherberg's
pictures. Flaxman informed Wedgwood in the follow-
ing year of the new works he is preparing for Etruria.

"Wardour Street, 20th October 1785.— Sir— Mr.
Byerley favoured me with your orders concerning the

216 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

three tablets, i.e. two of Hercules and his companions
in the Hesperian Gardens, and Coriolanus's mother
persuading him to return to Rome. The figures in
the print are 4f th inches high, and I have modelled my
figures 5|th inches, which allows one-seventh for
shrinking in the bisque*. I should be greatly obliged
to you for information if you would like to have the
other tablets modelled in the same proportion. With
respects to Mrs. Wedgwood and family, I have the
honour to be, etc. — J. FLAXMAN, jun."

Besides these works, Flaxman designed a bas-relief
of the Birth of Achilles, and a matchless bronze vase,
called by Wedgwood a " Bronze Encaustic," in imita-
tion of real bronze ; both of which were greatly ad-
mired. The next letter relates to his other works.
Flaxman also furnished (12th December) a Bas-relief
in wax of Venturia and Volumnia entreating Corio-
lanus.

" Wardour Street, 13th December 1785.— Sir— I am
concerned that I could not send this Bas-relief sooner,
upon which I have been chiefly obliged to work at
night ; and now and then I have taken a day for some
large monuments I have in hand, which are in great
haste. I hope, however, on comparing this model with
that of Homer and Hesiod, you will find it very supe-
rior. I shall take great pleasure in modelling Hercules
in the Hesperian Gardens ; and I think I can make it
equal to Sir William Hamilton's Vase. If you are willing,
I should do my utmost, but then I cannot set an exact

xvn Wedgwood and Flaxman 217

price on it until it is finished. I should also be par-
ticularly obliged to you for instructions respecting the
thickness. If it might be done as thin as the work on
the before-mentioned vase, it would be more perfect, and
the blue ground might show through the thin parts of
the drapery, which several Artists and other Persons of
taste have remarked to me is a great advantage where
it can be done ; but if it must be thicker, you will be
so kind as to let me have a pattern. Your answer when
leisure will permit will add to the obligations already
conferred on, sir, your much obliged and humble ser-
vant,—J. FLAXMAN, jun."

Wedgwood's next letter to Flaxman related to the
designs for the famous plaques which the sculptor was
preparing, to represent Peace between England and
France.

" Etruria, 2nd November 1*786.— Dear Sir— I should
have returned you the enclosed drawing with a few
lines upon it before now, but have been to visit a sick
friend at Buxton, which, with other necessary matters,
has taken up almost the whole of my time since my
return home.

" Nothing in my opinion can more properly or more
forcibly express the ideas we wish to bring forward
than the group of figures you gave me, and which I
now enclose ; but as it will be necessary to have them
divided into two parts, in order to have a pair of me-
dallions, that circumstance will call for a little altera-
tion in the disposal of the figures. The three middle

218 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

figures will make one medallion, which I will call
No. 1. The burning of the implements of War, and the
figure of Peace, must then form another group for
medallion No. 2.

" Montfaucon in his Antiquities (vol. i. part ii. p.
349), speaking of the manner in which Virtue is repre-
sented, says, ' In Gordiano virtus Augusti exprimi-
tur per Herculem exuvias leonis gestantem et clavae
innexum.' I have got Mr. Webber to sketch me this
Hercules to represent Virtue, and the implements of
war sacrificing upon an altar sacred to Commerce ; but
this is not meant by any means to preclude any altera-
tion or better mode of expressing the same thing, which
will probably occur to you. I only mean to make a
separate group for my own convenience, and leave it to
you to make that group what you please.

"We must take care not to show that these re-
presentations were invented by an Englishman ; as
they are meant to be conciliatory, they should be
scrupulously impartial. The figures, for instance, which
represent the two nations, should be equally magnificent
and important, in their dress, attitude, character, and
attributes ; and Mercury should not perhaps seem more
inclined to one than to the other, but show a full front
face between them, and if you think there is no
impropriety in it, I should wish France to have her
helmet and shield as well as Britannia, and the fleur
de lis upon the latter.

"The figures must be modelled 8 inches high,

xvii Wedgwood and Flaxman 219

and you know upon this occasion expedition is of great
consequence, so I will detain you no longer than whilst
I beg your pardon for this exercise of your patience,
and that you will believe me, with compliments to
Mrs. Flaxman, dear sir, yours, etc. — Jos. WEDGWOOD.

" I have some doubt of Hercules being a proper re-
presentation of Virtue. A female figure may perhaps be
better, but this is left to your better judgment, — J. W."

In 1785, Flaxman had finished his drawings of
the Chessmen, had modelled the King of Sweden, a
portrait of Governor Hastings, and designed Mr. and
Mrs. Meerman's portraits. During the two next years,
he was mainly occupied with the plaques, some of
which embodied his finest works. There was Mercury
joining the hands of England and France ; and Peace
preventing Mars from bursting the door of Janus's
Temple. He also finished the bas-relief of Hercules in
the Gardens of the Hesperides, and he was now able to
mention the cost of the work, which was £23. In
the following letter, Flaxman refers to two of these
designs : —

"Wardour Street, 12th January 1787. — Sir — I
have the honour to trouble you with my bas-relief of
Mars and Peace, which I hope you will like. I have
sent the model without any mould, because I ap-
prehend, on second thoughts, your people will make a
model better and fitter for your purpose than I can;
and it will be some advantage for them to see the taste
of finishing before it undergoes that operation; which

220 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

will be attended with no more difficulty than the two
last wax models I sent, the casts from which were
made at your factory. I am going on with the other
bas - relief and the chimneypiece. I return my
grateful thanks for the kind inquiries after Mrs.
Flaxman, who desires her respectful compliments to
Mrs. and Miss Wedgwood and yourself, together with,
sir, your most obliged servant, — J. FLAXMAN."

This is the last letter I possess, from Flaxman to
Wedgwood, before the former left London for Eorne.
I find that Wedgwood paid Flaxman, between July
1773 and August 1787, £196 : 15 : 8 at different times.
These sums included Flaxman's drawings and models,
together with mason's charges, packing-cases, bookings,
and such like. After Flaxman, with the help of his
economical wife, had accumulated sufficient means to
enable them to set out on their journey, they left
London in the autumn of 1787. Flaxman could now
look back upon the time when he showed his drawing
of a human eye to Mortimer, who asked, " Is that an
oyster ? " ; to the refusal of Sir Joshua Eeynolds to
award him the gold medal, because he preferred his
inglorious opponent Engleheart ; and also to Sir
Joshua's still more recent censure upon Flaxman that
he was " ruined for an artist," because he had married
Ann Denham. And now Flaxman was setting out
for Eome, accompanied by his wife, to show, in the
sculptor's own words, " that wedlock is for a man's
good rather than for his harm."

XVII

Wedgwood and Flaxman 221

Wedgwood furnished Flaxman with letters of intro-
duction to his friends at Eome. To Micali of Leghorn
he wrote as to the bill of lading of Flaxman's chest,
" It is the property of Mr. Flaxman, an artist of this
country, and a much valued friend of mine, who is
going to make some residence in Italy. . . . Whatever
expenses may be incurred, you will please charge to
my account, and favour me with a line of advice."

Flaxman and his wife went by Paris, and stayed a
few days there. He was visited by the Due de Bouillon,
who gave him a few commissions for Wedgwood. The
travellers went forward to Eome, and arrived there
safely. Wedgwood's eldest son, accompanied by Webber,
was in Eome at the time of his arrival, and visited him
frequently. Flaxman continued to do work for Wedg-
wood. Many letters may have passed between them ;
but the first I possess is dated 24th December 1788,
about a year after his arrival in Eome. In that letter
Flaxman says : " I am concerned you have not received
the wax model of the Prince of Piedmont's portrait.
... It was sent in Mr. J. Wedgwood's baggage, with
the snuff-box from which it was copied. ... I am
finishing a bas-relief restored from the antique, of the
birth of Bacchus, for Mr. Wedgwood." Flaxman also
sent a finished model of Mercury from Eome; and
another of Shakespeare.

Canova had the greatest respect and admiration for
the works of Flaxman. He made an express visit from
Venice to Eome for the purpose of seeing and making

222 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

the acquaintance of the English sculptor. It was on
this occasion, says the Magazine of Art, that he made
his well-known apophthegm as to the English method of
judging ; for when asked by one of the fashionable
celebrities who buzzed about him in swarms, to what
circumstance they were indebted for the honour of his
visit, he told him he had come to see their sculptor
Flaxman. " Flaxman ! " replied the magnate, " we think
very little of him here." "You in England," said
Canova, "judge through your ears, and not by your
eyes."

While at Rome, Flaxman had much intercourse
with Mr. Deveare, one of Wedgwood's designers and
agents. He was a man of much ability. In a letter
to Byerley, London, written in the spring of 1788,
Flaxman says : " When you write to Mr. Wedgwood,
you will be so kind as to inform him that Mr. Deveare
has been at work with the utmost diligence, ever since
he has been here, on the bas-relief of the Borghese Vase,
in which he has succeeded very well, but it will still
take him some weeks to finish, and after he has done
I also shall have something to do with it. Mr. Wedg-
wood will easily concur, as this is new work to Mr.
Deveare, that he must needs be slow at first, especially
as he takes so much pains."

Whilst in Rome, Deveare (afterwards, when he came
to Etruria, known as John de Vere) did his work in Flax-
man's studio, and thus his modelling was open to the sug-
gestions and improvements of the English sculptor, who

XVII

Wedgwood and Flaxman 223

was never wanting in his praise. Thus, in the following
year, Flaxman informed Wedgwood that " Mr. Deveare
had finished the bas-relief of Proserpine in the most
beautiful manner." Wedgwood returned his thanks to
Flaxman in the most cordial manner, — especially for
Deveare's model of the Discovery of Achilles. In the
meantime Flaxman mostly worked at the statues and
monuments, for which purpose he had come to Home.
He continued his drawings after the ancient classics,
always showing his fine sense of the harmony of com-
position; he executed his illustrations of Homer,
^Eschylus, and Dante, saturating his fancy with the
spirit of the days of old. After spending several years
in Home, he returned to London, where he was duly
recognised as the greatest sculptor of his time.

We have already given some account of the relation
between Flaxman and Deveare in regard to the bas-
reliefs. We now give another, and the last, letter from
Flaxman to Wedgwood : —

" Eome, 20th January 1790. — Sir — During my resi-
dence here, I have troubled you with two or three short
letters, chiefly relating to Mr. Deveare, and as I shall
leave this place in less than three months it is necessary
for me to add another, that everything relating to him
as far as concerns me may be settled before my depart-
ure. Mr. Deveare and myself felt particular uneasi-
ness at the information contained in your two last
letters, that the two last bas-reliefs he sent to you
were so much broken and spoiled. We both earnestly

224 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

hope the damage is not irreparable, but if it is, and was
my concern, I should certainly desire your permission
to make the loss good, and I am sure Mr. Deveare will
be as desirous to do this as myself. When he packed
the first bas-relief I superintended him, and saw that
it was packed in the same manner with those I have
sent from London to Etruria. I saw the second packed
in the same manner ; but for the third and fourth I do
not remember seeing them packed, or if I did, my mind
has since been engaged so much on other objects that
it has escaped my memory, yet Mr. Deveare assures
me they were packed exactly in the same manner as
the first, except as to the width of the paper, and there-
fore I am at a loss to account for the misfortune.
However, we have determined on a method for packing
for the future which cannot fail to convey your work
safely, unless the packing-box itself should be broken
to pieces. In addition to the directions for packing
given in your two last letters, which shall be carefully
attended to, the box itself shall be well wrapped in
straw, and tightly sewed in coarse cloth. I likewise
desired Mr. D. to propose in his letter to you,
that he should mould the work he does for you, and
send the mould by another ship, or keep the mould
until he receives advice from you of the safe arrival of
the model, when it shall be immediately destroyed.
This scheme was suggested by me merely for your
security, and you will of course accept or reject it as
shall seem most convenient.

XVII

Wedgwood and Flaxman 225

"The bas-relief of the Discovery of Achilles which
Mr. D. has just finished (of which he has enclosed
a sketch in his letter, and which only waits your
instructions to be sent to England) is, in my opinion,
a sufficient evidence of his attention and improvement.
We fixed on this subject for its beauty and expression,
and notwithstanding the original is much mutilated by
time, Mr. D.'s copy is full of the sentiment of the
fine antique, and some parts particularly are so well
executed that it would be difficult to exceed them.

" As I shall quit Eome in so short a time, I must
beg your attention to the following particulars. There
is a clause in the agreement between you and Mr.
Deveare which stipulates that his weekly salary shall
be raised the second year of his engagement, and that
it shall be again raised the third year, on condition that
you shall be satisfied with his studies and productions.
I wish it were possible for you to see his last work
immediately, which would enable you to decide with
more certainty ; but as this cannot be, you must rely
partly on the truth of my representation, and for the
rest judge from what you have seen. It is very
certain that the expense of Mr. D.'s journey was a
considerable sum, entirely owing to you, and it is also
certain that your expense in each of the works he has
done has been very great ; but it is equally certain that
no man can be more industrious or zealous to improve,
that he had a new profession to study, and I believe, of
the bas-reliefs he has sent to England, the last will

Q

CHAP.

226 Josiah Wedgwood

always be found the best, and least expensive in pro-
portion to the labour. You will favour me with your
determination on this subject, which I shall communi-
cate to Mr. D. ; and whatever it may be, I am sure
he will consider it as proceeding from that justice
and generosity which he has already so amply ex-
perienced.

"Mr. Deveare desires me to inform you that he
should be willing to continue his present employment
for you in Eome after the expiration of his agreement,
upon the following conditions : that he will take up no
money on his work until he delivers the bas-reliefs into
the hands of Mr. Jenkins for conveyance to England,
that he will then receive half the payment of his time,
that he will send the account of his time with the work
to you, and he will then for the remaining moiety
receive so much as you, upon inspection, shall think
the labour deserves.

" I shall conclude my letter with a few words con-
cerning myself. I hope the choice of subjects which I
have given to Mr. Deveare is such as will do no
discredit to your bisque, and will please the discerning
connoisseur. They are at least such as I should have
chosen for myself. I had the double desire of doing
that which would be agreeable to you, and at the same
time of serving Mr. Deveare in such small matters as
these. Only I have been his friend ; it is you that
have been his patron and his essential friend, and he is
sensible of his obligations.

xvii Wedgwood and Flaxman 227

" I am concerned that I have not entirely finished
the bas-relief of the Birth of Bacchus, which I began
for you so long ago. It is nearly finished. I shall
bring it to England with me, and about three weeks
after my arrival will end it. The studies I have made,
so absolutely necessary to my improvement, one con-
siderable work which I have finished, and another I
am engaged in, have engrossed my time and thoughts.
You will, I am sure, be well convinced that I ought to
lose no time or opportunity, whilst I remain here, for
furnishing my mind with information for my future
employment. My career here now draws towards a
conclusion. I have refused some considerable business
that I might not be detained longer than the time I
had appointed, from my friends and country ; and with
the permission of God we shall see each other in June
next. Mrs. Flaxman unites with me in respectful
remembrance and best wishes to yourself, Mrs. Wedg-
wood, and all your family. We also beg our loves to
our good friends, Mr. and Mrs. Byerley, and are im-
patient to see them, as well as our other friends. I
have the honour to remain, sir, your much obliged
friend, — JOHN FLAXMAN, jun."

CHAPTER XVIII

WEDGWOOD AT WORK AGAIN — DEATH OF BENTLEY

HAVING already occupied so much space with the
history of Flaxman and his work for the great potter,
it is necessary that we should return to the personal
history of Wedgwood himself.

For him there was no finality in the development of
his profession. It was not enough that he had achieved
success. He went forward with improvements on what
he had already done, and his fame steadily grew. His
works at Etruria became a point of attraction to numer-
ous visitors from all parts of Europe.

"The importance of the manufacture which he
brought to so prosperous a state/' says Marryat in his
History of Pottery and Porcelain, "is proved by the
fact that, although many of the states of Europe had
prohibited the admission of British earthenware, and
others had loaded it with very high duties, five-sixths
of the quantity which he made were exported ; and his
earthenware cameos were so esteemed by foreigners
that they were eagerly purchased by them, and may be

CHAP, xvni Wedgwood at Work again 229

found in many cabinets abroad, amidst the most
splendid specimens of Sevres and Dresden porcelain.
Wedgwood succeeded completely in giving to hard
pottery the vivid colours and brilliant glaze which,
until that period, had been seen only upon porcelain.
His ware was sold at a price, too, which brought it
within the means of general consumption, both at home
and abroad."

It may also be added that the beautiful set of Chess-
men, designed by Flaxman, were the first in modern
times executed in pottery. The author of the article
" Flaxman," in the ninth edition of the Encyclopaedia
Britannica, observes that the extreme refinements of
figure, outline, and modelling, which "Wedgwood aimed
at in his ware, were not the qualities best suited to
such a material ; or it might be regretted that the gifts
of one of the greatest figure-designers who ever lived
should have been employed in such a minor and half-
mechanical art of household decoration ; but the beauty
of the product it would be idle to deny, or the value of
the training which the sculptor by this practice acquired
in the delicacies, the very utmost delicacies, of modelling
in low relief, and on a minute scale.

But the sculptor, in his early days, must necessarily
support himself and his noble wife by his earnings from
those who had the courage and munificence to employ
him. Besides, his drawings after the ancient Greeks,
and his practice in modelling figures for Wedgwood's
plaques, and his designs of playful children with which

230 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

he ornamented the teapots and other wares, were but the
earnests of his future career as the greatest sculptor of
his time. The remarkable series of drawings published
through the enterprise of Mr. F. Eathbone — a worshipper
of Wedgwood x — and executed by M. F. Appel of Paris,
under the title of Old Wedgwood, the Ceramic Relief
Art of the Eighteenth Century, will serve to show
what an influence the sculptor's early practice, as well
as the munificent potter's enterprise, had upon advanc-
ing the art of the century he lived in. The drawings
consist of vases, plaques, medallions, portraits, intaglios,
and cameos, produced by the famous potter during the
years between 1760 and 1795. Not satisfied with his
knowledge of English, Wedgwood was learning French.
He also proceeded with his study of chemistry, botany,
drawing, designing, and conchology. He endeavoured
to get to the bottom of everything. His knowledge
and apprehension involved the entire study of natural
science. And the results were seen in the admirable
works which he executed. " My tablets," he said in
one of his letters, " only want age and scarcity to be
worth any price." This prophecy proved entirely true.
While occupied with his plaques, cameos, seals, and
ornamental teapots, Wedgwood did not neglect his
useful ware, which was the foundation of his prosperity.
The Queen patronised his beautiful pearl-white tea-
ware, which soon became popular. Her Majesty also
visited Wedgwood's collection of works in Greek

1 The Drawings are published by Mr. Quaritch, Piccadilly.

xvm Wedgwood at Work again 231

Street on IDth June 1779. " I thank Her Majesty,"
wrote Wedgwood to Bentley, " for the honour she has
done to the pearl-white, and I hope it will have due
influence upon her loyal subjects. The Dishes to
complete the service have gone to-day." On the follow-
ing day Wedgwood wrote to Bentley, "The box sent
last night contained a head of the Queen and another
of the King."

But most important of all was the new composi-
tion of Mortars, which Wedgwood, with his complete
knowledge of clay, contrived for the use of the apothe-
caries of Great Britain, and indeed of all the world.
He had been accustomed to supply Dr. Priestley with
crucibles and retorts before he left Leeds, and they
were now in considerable demand by philosophers and
chemists in this and foreign countries ; but the intro-
duction and general use of his mortars came later in
his life. At first, the surface of the mortar blistered ;
but by constant experiments he entirely obviated this
great defect. By the use of Cornish clay he was
enabled to make the entire mortar and pestle perfect.
Wedgwood's invention was taken up at the Apothe-
caries' Hall, and from the tests which they withstood
there, his mortars and pestles acquired a fame which
has lasted to the present day.

These were happy years for Josiah Wedgwood :
there were lights and shadows, as there must be in every
life, but in the main he was prosperous in every respect ;
his chief joy was in his wife and children, whom he

232 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

dearly loved. Bentley, in London, had been very un-
well, and "Wedgwood advised him to take a ramble.
Have you got a horse ? he asked, " for a good horse, with
its consequences, are first-rate blessings. . . . Sukey
(his eldest daughter) is now very well, and pretty strong,
which I attribute very much to her riding on horseback.
We sally forth, half a dozen of us, by six or seven in
the morning, and return with appetites scarcely to be
satisfied. Then we are busy with our hay, and we
have just made a new garden. Sometimes we make
experiments, then read and draw a little, so that
altogether we are very busy folks. . . . Sukey is quite
out of patience with her old spinet, until her new one
arrives, with its double keys. . . . My girl is quite
tired out with her miserable hum-strum ; it takes half
her master's time to put it in tune."

Wedgwood told Bentley that he spent his holidays
with his boys at home. It must have been a happy
family. He regretted that he could not go to London —
having a bad cold — and could not accept Bentley 's
invitation to smoke a pipe with him at Turnham Green.
Bentley had removed to that quarter of London,
against the advice of Wedgwood, who thought it too
low, and too near the river. Wedgwood continued
happily engaged with his boys at home. They were
very busy with chemistry and chemical combinations.
To Bentley he wrote (17th March 1779) :—

" We want nothing just now, my dear friend, but a
little more time ; and in that article we find ourselves

Wedgwood at Work again 233

greatly limited. We husband what little portion is
allotted to us with tolerable economy. We rise before
the sun, often before daylight, and pursue our experi-
ments until supper calls us away, and even some time
after, and yet all is too little for the studies before us.
The boys drink in knowledge like water, with great
avidity, and quite to my satisfaction. Jack is very
deep in chemical affinities, and I have no fear of his
making a tolerable progress in the science, for it is
much pleasanter to him than grammar! Indeed, I
have some fears of the latter being neglected for his
new study." Wedgwood gives in his letter some
painted colours effected by Prussian lixivium, as being
calculated to make the study pleasanter for young
people, and easier to be stored up in the memory.
Besides, Dr. Darwin and Mr. Walton (the lecturer on
chemistry) quite approved of the method.

In May 1779, Wedgwood had two family pictures
modelled by Stubbs, the animal painter, in the following
manner : — "Sukey playing on her harpsichord with Kitty
singing to her, which she often does ; and Sally and her
younger sister on the carpet, in some employment suit-
able to their ages. This to be one picture. The pen-
dant to be Jack standing at a table making fixable air
with his glass apparatus, and his two brothers accom-
panying him. Tom jumping up and clapping his hands
in joy and surprise at seeing the stream of bubbles rise
up, just as Jack has put a little chalk to the acid. Joss
with the Chemical Dictionary before him in a thought-

234 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

ful mood, which actions will be descriptive of their
respective characters."

Stubbs painted another picture, including Wedgwood
and his family, but no portrait of Wedgwood surpassed
that by Sir Joshua Eeynolds, which is copied as the
frontispiece to this book. Another portrait was painted
by Wright of Derby, but that by Sir Joshua stands
unrivalled.

Wedgwood had two of his sons at Bolton, for educa-
tion. He began to think that he was giving them
education that would be of little use to them in after-
life, and thought it would be better to give them some
athletic exercises which would establish their health
and improve their constitution. He consulted his
devoted friend Dr. Darwin, who approved of his views,
and thought it a very idle waste of time for the boys,
who were intended for trade, to learn Latin, as they
did not learn it to any tolerable degree, or retain
what they learnt. Much better, he thought, that they
should learn modern languages — French and German —
as well as make them proficient in accounts. The boys
were accordingly taken from the boarding school at
Bolton, and sent to a school in the immediate neigh-
bourhood of Etruria.

During these pleasant family meetings, Wedgwood
was sedulously pursuing his own profession. He was
in constant communication with Sir William Hamilton,
who supplied him with casts from bas-reliefs and other
antique subjects. Sir William in acknowledging his

xviii Wedgwood at Work again 235

bas-relief of the Apotheosis of Homer, a veritable
masterpiece, said it was far superior to his most
sanguine expectations. " I am really surprised and
delighted," he said, "in the highest degree with this
proof of the hasty strides you have made towards
perfection in your art. . . . Your Bas-relief astonishes
all the artists here ; it is more pure and in a truer
antique taste than any of their performances, though
they have so many fine models before them."

Wedgwood was also devoting himself to portraits
of distinguished men, living and dead. One of his best
was his cameo medallion of Sir William Hamilton. It
was crisp, sharp, and an excellent likeness. His
portraits of the De Witts, Boerhaave, and De Kuyter.
were greatly admired by the Dutch. Among the
portraits which he executed were those of Dr. Priestley,
his devoted friend; of Dr. Darwin, his admirer and
physician ; of Dr. Johnson (modelled by Flaxman) ;
of Admiral Keppel, an immense favourite ; of Prince
William Henry (afterwards William IV.); of Dr.
Franklin, the American philosopher ; and of John
Philip Elers, one of Wedgwood's predecessors in the
manufacture of Staffordshire earthenware.

"We propose," Wedgwood wrote to Bentley, "to
have more portraits prepared for sale abroad, such as
Voltaire, Eousseau, Linnaeus, the King of Prussia, and
the Hereditary Prince. The Italian poets by Flaxman
may, perhaps, by undressing them, and putting their
hair in order, be made fashionable. Among others in

236 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

preparation are Peter the Great, Lord Bacon, Mr. and
Mrs. Wedgwood ; Mr. Stubbs, the modeller of the
tablets ; Edward Bourne, my old Bricklayer, a study."

Wedgwood was also paying great attention to orna-
mental chimneypieces, which were more eagerly bought
up in Ireland than in England. He introduced his best
compositions into those ornaments, which were truly
works of art. His bas-relief medallions, from four to
six inches in height, were of the highest class of
workmanship ; they were simply beautiful. His life-
size busts of distinguished men were admirable, and
in great demand.

Wedgwood wrote to Bentley in August 1778, and
informed him what he was making for next year's
exhibition. There are Dancing Hours for tablets or
friezes ; Etruscan vases with Apotheosis of Homer ;
Choice of Hercules, in different sizes ; Triumph of
Bacchus, of the largest size, with attending Fauns ; the
Sacrifice to Flora, new and large; the Sacrifice to
Bacchus, new and very large ; and the Triumph of
Ariadne, which was then in hand, together with other
new works.

" We cannot," he added, " master Achilles. I have
had him demolished more than once, but he still rises
again, the same heavy, unmeaning figure, and I rather
think we shall be obliged to drop him, but not without
another trial when opportunity occurs. We are under
the same difficulty in attaining the character of the
genii of Virgil in his bust, which is now modelling. . . .

xvrii Wedgwood at Work again 237

It has been twice finished to moulding, but not satis-
factorily. I this morning (1st August 1779) resumed
my old employment, took the modelling tools into my
own hands, and made one side of the head, pretty near
like the genii, and I will take another stroke at him
this afternoon. I have opened his mouth, and I shall
send him to you singing some of his own divine poems."
It may be added that the head of Virgil was satis-
factorily finished, and was regarded as one of Wedgwood's
finest works.

In the summer of 1779 Wedgwood made a friendly
visit to Sir William Hamilton at his property at Blithe-
field, near Lichfield. "His new room, he wrote to
Bentley, "is hung round with Correggios, Eaphaels,
Guercinos, Bassanos, and the works of many superb
masters. . . . Amongst other great works of art Sir
William particularly pointed out the chimneypiece to
my attention, assuring me at the same time that he
esteemed it the best piece in his room, and showed it as
such to all his visitors. You know the pieces, Homer
and Hesiod for the tablet, and the Muses for the frieze.
The statuarist has done them justice, and they look
charmingly, and do more than support themselves in the
very fine company into which he has introduced them.
... In looking at the tablet, I lamented a little chip
off the edge, which misfortune, I suppose, had befallen
it in the hands of the workman. We esteem it a happy
accident, said Sir William, it shows the merit, the fine
texture of the composition, which might otherwise have

238 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

passed for a painted surface. My visit was a most
happy one."

Bentley, in a friendly way, complained of the length
of Wedgwood's letters. They were so elaborate that he
proposed to send him a condensing engine. Not less
astonished was Mrs. Wedgwood with the enormous
increase of his library. " My wife tells me I must buy
no more books until I build another house. She also
advises me to read some of those I already have, before
I buy more," — an advice that would suit many other
librarians besides the great potter.

Towards the end of 1779 Wedgwood went to Bolton
to bring back one of his boys, whom he had sent to
school again. He found the cotton districts in a state
of turmoil. The workmen had struck and were going
about breaking steam-engines and machinery. At a
mill near Chowbent the mob were fired upon, and
several were killed, but without much effect. A mob
collected again, broke into a mill, and destroyed over
£10,000 worth of property. There was war abroad and
war at home. Wedgwood considered the war with
America disgusting. He was in great fear about the
invasion of England by the French. " The docks and
magazines at Plymouth might be destroyed. We are
defenceless," he said. "It is all the fault of the
Ministry : they are our worst enemies."

Nevertheless he stuck to business. At the end of
1779 he undertook the manufacture of earthen water-
pipes, " first for London, and then for all the world. We

Wedgwood at Work again 239

will finish the bargain," he wrote to Bentley, " over our
next pipe. Fifteen dozen brown ink-pots were packed
for you yesterday." Wedgwood was now engaged in
superior work. He was making gems and cameos for
rings, bracelets, and tablets. They were greatly superior
to everything of the kind before made. Indeed, no one
had heretofore attempted to compete with him. To
Bentley he said : " They appear so distinct and so
pleasant to look at, with their coloured grounds. The
whole assemblage of white, blue, gold, and black have a
striking effect. . . . They are really a most liberal and
noble collection of objects, very rare and most difficult
to come at. The white Muses seem to me even finer
things than those with blue grounds."

A few days later Wedgwood said : " I am in a course
of experiments for coloured grounds for the white
figures, which shall take a polish and be like some fine
natural stone. The bloodstone, if it can be accom-
plished, will be admirable for the purpose."

In the same year Wedgwood began to make China
or Porcelain, having by this time secured a sufficient
supply of kaolin from Cornwall. This was another step
in his great enterprise. His traveller (Byerley) writes
to his employer: "I have sold all your Garricks and
Shakespeares, framed in black, at York. I could sell
thousands of Keppels at any price. Oh! Keppel,
Keppel ! Why will you not send me Keppels ? Next
month?"

Wedgwood's sons were now attending the lectures of

240 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

Mr. Walton on chemistry. Dr. Priestley's last discovery
was described as not only quite new, but exceedingly
interesting. Walton described the Doctor as "the
Newton of the Age." Wedgwood made haste to have
the model of Priestley's portrait finished, so as to supply
the general demand. No doubt these studies of the
young Wedgwoods ended in the discovery of photo-
graphy, principally by Thomas Wedgwood.

Wedgwood enters in his diary : " Much trouble, yet
many blessings." One of the greatest of these troubles
was the death of his dear friend Bentley, who had
long been ailing, but no one thought of his illness
as fatal. He was only forty-nine, comparatively a
young, or at least a middle-aged man. Wedgwood was
constantly telling him, when he felt unwell, to take a
ramble somewhere. On the 30th of June 1780 — the
year of his death — Wedgwood wrote to him : " Come to
Etruria, I will willingly go with you to Buxton, Matlock,
or any other place. ... I have blamed myself for not
going oftener to Buxton. The air of that calcareous
country is always grateful to my animal frame. The
ride does me a great deal of good, and I generally excite
some attention after my pots and pipkins, and draw
some of the company after me to Etruria."

Bentley, however, did not go to Buxton, but to
Margate, for the benefit of the sea air. While there,
Wedgwood requested him to collect some shells for
him, as he had begun the study of conchology. Bentley
sent him many select shells, which Wedgwood copied

xviii Death of Bent ley 241

on the ware which he afterwards made. Bentley after-
wards went to Etruria with his wife, and spent a few
pleasant weeks there, but derived no permanent benefit,
for on his return to London he became worse than usual.
Wedgwood had no idea that his partner was so ill, and
continued his correspondence to the end. But to his last
letter there was no reply. Bentley died on the 26th
November 1780, at the age of forty-nine.

There were universal lamentations at his death.
Mr. Griffiths wrote to Wedgwood: "Turnham Green,
25th November. — My dear Sir — Our poor friend yet
breathes, but alas ! it is such breathing as promises but
a short continuance. Almost every hope seems to have
forsaken us ! I dread the thought of what will be the
contents of my next ! Adieu. — E. G."

There is no record of the disease of which Bentley
died. It may have been of apoplexy, as he often com-
plained of his head. Wedgwood was on his way to
Turnham Green when he heard of his friend's fatal
illness. Bentley was buried in a vault within Chiswick
Church. Many friends gathered together at his funeral.
They deplored the sudden death of one who was so
bright, so gifted, and so intelligent. Wedgwood, who
was almost overwhelmed by his loss, had a tablet
erected over his remains by Scheemaker the sculptor.

Sam Boardman, his partner at Liverpool, wrote :
" 31st December 1780. — It would be hard to submit to
this fate of Providence were we not convinced that some
wise end is answered by every event in Life, and that

R

242 Josiak Wedgwood CHAP, xvm

our esteemed Friend has, for the short time he was
amongst us, spent a happy and useful life. He has left
us a noble example of virtue and goodness, which I
hope will not be forgotten in our actions, both in public
and private life."

Athenian Stuart composed a record of his life. The
last words were these : " His extensive abilities, guided
by the most expanded philanthropy, were employed in
forming and executing plans for the public good. He
thought with the freedom of a philosopher, he acted
with the integrity of a virtuous citizen."

Chiswick Church has been recently rebuilt, but the
monument, with its inscription to Bentley, is still to
be seen over the south door of the interior of the
church.

Immediately after the death of Bentley, the London
stock, so far as related to the partnership of Wedgwood
and Bentley, was sold at Christie's, — the sale occupying
twelve days. "The Sacrifice to Hymen," made in 1787
after the design of Flaxman, sold for £415. At the
sale of Dr. Sitson's collection, eight years later, the
large "Apotheosis of Homer," designed also by Flax-
man, sold for the enormous sum of £735 ! It has now
passed into the collection of Lord Tweedmouth. Wedg-
wood's statement proved true, that his ornamental works
only wanted time and scarcity to make them worth
any price.

CHAPTEE XIX

WEDGWOOD'S PYROMETER OR THERMOMETER

EVER since Wedgwood had begun the manufacture of
earthenware, his attention had been attracted to the
heat of his kilns. He pulled down one after another
in order to find the furnace that would bake his earthen-
ware and melt his glazes. This cost him a great deal
of money, but he conquered the difficulty by his usual
perseverance.

He experimented constantly, in the endeavour to
find the necessary gradations of heat up to the very
highest point ; and this led him to the invention of his
pyrometer — that is, a machine for measuring tempera-
ture by the expansion of solid bodies by heat. He
began from the commencement of redness up to the
highest temperature that can be produced in the
furnaces of the chemist. The celebrated Bergmann, in
his Sciagraphia, reckoned the heat at which silver
melts to be less than that which makes iron red hot.
This, however, was afterwards found to be a mistake.

244 ' Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

Muschenbrock, Desaguliers, Ellicot, and Smeaton
the engineer, made experiments with the pyrometer,
but they never reached so intense a degree of heat as
that attained by Wedgwood. The advantages of an
accurate measure of the heats of metals, furnaces, and
other objects, are obvious to every one concerned in
operations by fire, and Wedgwood's invention for
supplying this grand desideratum was as simple as it
was ingenious.

All clays are contracted, or have their bulk dimin-
ished, by fire, more and more in proportion to the
intensity of the heat ; e.g. little masses of the same clay
are adjusted to enter the wider end of a graduated
canal ; so that, after passing through fire they will
go further into the canal, the point at which they
stop showing their quantity of diminution. This
point is numbered, and exhibits the heat which the
clay has undergone. This instrument Wedgwood first
called a Pyrometer, or heat-measurer ; but that name
having previously been appropriated to a machine
of a different kind, for measuring the expansion of
bodies, he thought it better to retain the name of
" Thermometer." l

Wedgwood sent his first paper to the Eoyal Society
on the 9th of May 1782. His paper was entitled, " An
attempt to make a Thermometer for measuring the
higher degrees of Heat, from a red heat up to the

1 Wedgwood explained his views to the Royal Society (Philosophical
Transactions, vol. Ixxii., and afterwards in vols. Ixxiv. and Ixxvi.).

xix Pyrometer or Thermometer 245

strongest that vessels of clay can support." A few
months after his paper had been read at the Eoyal
Society, Mr. William Playfair, an Edinburgh Professor,
wrote to Mr. Wedgwood the following letter (London,
12th September 1782) :— " Sir— I had the pleasure of
being present at the reading of your very ingenious
paper on your newly-invented Thermometer before the
Eoyal Society last spring, and of joining in the general
satisfaction that such an acquisition to Art gave all
present. I have never conversed with anybody on the
subject who did not admire your Thermometer, and
considered it as being as perfect as the nature of things
will admit of for great heat; but I have joined with
several in wishing that the scale of your Thermometer
were compared with that of Fahrenheit's (so universally
used for small degrees of heat), that without learning a
new signification, or affixing a new idea, to the term
Degree of Heat, we might avail ourselves of your useful
invention. The method proposed in the enclosed paper
occurred to me as one applicable to this purpose, and I
lay it before you with all deference to your better
judgment of the subject. I should be glad to know
where I could purchase some of your Thermometers,
as I can get none here in town. — I am, sir, with
much regard, your most humble servant, — WILLIAM
PLAYFAIR."

Wedgwood followed Mr. Playfair's advice. In his
next papers, sent to the Eoyal Society, he gave a re-
duction of the degrees of his Thermometer to Fahren-

246 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

belt's scale, from which it appeared that the greatest
heat he could generate in a small furnace coincided
with many thousands of degrees of Fahrenheit, — the
scale of heat which was registered by his Thermometer
being about thirty-four times as extensive as that to
which the common Thermometers could be applied.

In another paper (Phil. Travis. Ixxvi.) he described
the manner of forming the clay pieces and of adjusting
the quality of the clay itself, with the divisions of the
measuring gauge or scale, so that the same circum-
stances might constantly give the same results. The
clay he had employed at first was the small remainder
of a parcel from Cornwall, which was soon exhausted.
Fresh parcels, even from the same pit, differed con-
siderably in the degree of their diminution by fire.
He therefore found it necessary to add to the best clays
he could procure a large proportion of Alum earth, in
the gelatinous state in which it was precipitated by
alkalies from the solution of alum, and well washed by
boiling water. By these and other experiments, Wedg-
wood was at length enabled to bring his clay to the
proper degree of compression, so as to be duly measured
by his heat gauge.

Wedgwood had much correspondence with Sir Joseph
Banks, President of the Koyal Society. Many of Sir
Joseph's early letters consisted of introductions of
distinguished foreigners to Wedgwood, whose works
at Etruria were considered one of the shows of the
kingdom. One of the most interesting was the letter

xix Pyrometer or Thermometer 247

to Wedgwood, announcing that he had been elected a
Fellow of the Eoyal Society on the 16th of January
1783. In a later letter Sir Joseph requested Wedgwood
to select some person skilled in the mystery of potteries,
to accompany Lord Macartney to the Emperor of
China, to acquaint himself with any mode of manu-
facture used by the Chinese, and of which the artists
of this country were as yet ignorant. " To you, sir,"
he added, "who have always practised Pottery as a
Science instead of an Art, we naturally look up for
advice where to meet with such a person."

Sir Joseph's letter of the 6th of April 1784 relates
to Wedgwood's Thermometer, and other affairs : " Dear
Sir — Your paper proposing a mode of connecting the
scale of your Thermometer with Fahrenheit's I have
received and read with care. The whole meets with
my entire approbation, and I shall take the first oppor-
tunity in my power to read it to the Eoyal Society.
One thing, however, I must remark, which is, that you
seem not to hare heard of the experiments made last
winter at Hudson's Bay, by which the point at which
mercury congeals into a malleable metal is fixed to be
40° below zero on Fahrenheit's Thermometer. All
points of cold, therefore, below that which have been
observed by a mercurial Thermometer must be set aside.
It is a matter of no consequence to you, only will cause
a trifling alteration in the notes on the scale of your
Thermometer.

" You are, believe me, good sir, much wanted here.

248 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

We attend the Club (Athenian1) with tolerable regu-
larity. Hodgson makes punch and talks politics ;
Griffiths drinks it and makes jokes ; but we all look
out for your assistance.

"We have had a series of disputes at the Eoyal
Society, which have employed us fully from Christmas
to Easter. Now, however, the disaffected, at least the
active ones, who were at first forty-seven, are reduced
to two. I think we have a fair prospect of peace
returning, which, too, is likely to be permanent.

" We have no signs of spring here, not a shade of
green on a hedge or a gooseberry bush unfolded. This
day, however, cloudy and rainy with wind ; never-
theless, the thermometer rises — a good symptom. —
Yours faithfully, — Jos. BANKS."

In a letter to Dr. Priestley, then at Paris, Wedgwood
says (2nd September 1791): "M. Lavoisier has sent
for two of my thermometers, which I have accordingly
forwarded to him. M. Seguin says : We find this
instrument of the greatest use, and at this moment we
feel more than ever its indispensability, because we are
employing ourselves (M. Lavoisier and I) in completing
the theory of furnaces of fusion, but we are still in
need of some instructions, which we pray you to be
pleased to give us."

Wedgwood's papers to the Eoyal Society were trans-
lated into French, Dutch, and other foreign languages.
Indeed, Wedgwood had as great a scientific and artistic

1 Of which Mr. Wedgwood was the father, or oldest member.

xix Pyrometer or Thermometer 249

reputation abroad as he had at home. In Sweden
his papers were voluminously reprinted. The Eoyal
Academy of Sciences at Upsala (the Swedish University
near Stockholm) not only possess the Transactions of
Josiah Wedgwood, with a copious table of contents,
in five volumes; but also his Chemical Collections,
consisting of many valuable articles and memoranda on
assaying, metallurgy, dyeing, painting on glass, glazing
for porcelain earths, cements, colouring matter, fur-
naces, and so on, with tables of specific gravities, also
in five volumes. Both of these series (according to the
Catalogue in the British Museum) have been translated
from the Swedish and German, with some pieces from
original sources, by Dr. W. Lewis, author of Experi-
mental History of the Materia Medica. These docu-
ments are very neatly written, and illustrated with
drawings. Ten vols. Eoyal Svo.1

Considerable progress has inevitably been made in
the measuring of intense heat. A new method was
invented by Mr. Gurney, which he employed in his
chemical lectures, for ascertaining the relative expan-
sibility of the various metals that can be drawn into
wire. But the most important improvement in the
pyrometer was that invented by Professor Daniell in
1821, which has, for the most part, superseded all
others ; though Wedgwood's use of clay, in the form of

1 The Wedgwood MSS. collection in the British Museum. The
Press marks are —

Additional MSS. 28,309-313.
Do. do. 28,314-318.

250 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

porcelain, is still used in his invention. Mr. Ericsson,
a great inventor, has also exerted his genius in en-
deavouring to form another description of pyrometer.
But here we must leave the subject, having shown the
part which "Wedgwood took in advancing the science
of the intense-heat-measurer.

Wedgwood, ever inventing and ever improving,
introduced, in 1785, a "jasper dip," in which the clay
vessels were dipped and received a coating of jasper,
instead of being formed of that body throughout.
This enabled the jasper ware to be sold at a much
cheaper rate ; yet without any decrease in the beauty
of the manufacture. Wedgwood's ordinary trade con-
tinued to increase. He sent large consignments of
goods to Eussia ; and notwithstanding the almost pro-
hibitory duties, he received many orders from Germany,
Italy, and even France. He continued to add orna-
mentation to utility. Even in his chimneypieces he
introduced some of his most artistic designs.

Wedgwood was of opinion that the fireplace should
be the most cheerful part of the house. There the
family assembled and indulged in their homely talk.
Here strangers were admitted and joined in the con-
versation. Why should not the chimneypiece, to
which they all gazed, be made bright, cheerful, and
represent artistic objects ? This was the reason
why he devoted so much attention to his chimney-
pieces, and invited Flaxman to assist him with
his beautiful designs of cameos and bas-reliefs, from

xix Pyrometer or Thermometer 251

the antique, as well as from his own imaginative
handicraft.

Wedgwood had the greatest difficulty in retaining
his best workmen. Foreigners prowled about his
works, got into conversation with the men, and en-
deavoured to bribe them to take service in foreign
countries. Boulton and Watt of Birmingham were also
besieged by the same adventurers, so that they were
forced to close their gates against all piratical foreign
workmen.

A good deal of lawlessness prevailed in the manu-
facturing districts about that time. The cotton-spinners
in Lancashire went from mill to mill to break down the
machinery by which they earned their living. The
working people thought that when any of their own
number founded an industry and made it profitable,
it was all for their own advantage, and tended to the
misery of the poor. Their capital was all stolen from
the workpeople ! Troops were brought out to put an
end to the cotton-spinners' strike. The same lawless-
ness prevailed in Staffordshire. The men who worked
at the potteries could only go home in bands to protect
themselves against the highwaymen who paraded the
roads. The men who worked at Etruria dared not quit
the works singly or unarmed. The police were set upon
the highwaymen ; some of whom were arrested, com-
mitted, and tried at Stafford, but the depredations
continued. A mob seized one of Wedgwood's boats,

O

filled with goods for Manchester ; it was rifled of its

252 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

contents, which were sold at any prices they would
fetch. We find among the Wedgwood papers a letter
from Ashton Lever (27th September 1781) as to the
fragments of the Holophuricon, which had been blown
to pieces by a waggon-load of gunpowder at Talk-o'-th'-
Hill.

Wedgwood was under the impression that his works
were threatened. He despatched messengers to New-
castle-under-Lyme, and the result was that a company
of the Welsh Fusiliers and a detachment of the
Staffordshire Militia arrived at Etruria. Several of the
highwaymen were seized and tried; one of them was
hanged, and the turmoil was thus put an end to. No
doubt great distress existed. The war with America
was on foot, and everything was thrown into confusion
at home. Factories were closed, and many men, both
in Lancashire and the Potteries, were thrown out of
work. Yet Etruria was always ready to give employ-
ment to those who were willing to give their industry
for good wages.

When everything had in a manner settled down,
Wedgwood published a small pamphlet on the folly
of such outbreaks for the redress of social wrongs,
entitled An Address to the Young Inhabitants of the
Pottery, which he distributed amongst his work-people.
In the course of this pamphlet he said : " I would request
you to ask your parents for a description of the country
we inhabit, when they first knew it ; and they will tell
you that the inhabitants bore all the signs of poverty to

xix Pyrometer or Thermometer 253

a much greater degree than they do now. Their houses
were miserable huts ; the lands were poorly cultivated,
and yielded little of value for the food of man or beast ;
and these disadvantages, with roads almost impassable,
might be said to have cut off our part of the country
from the rest of the world, besides not rendering it
very comfortable to ourselves. Compare this picture,
which I know to be a true one, with the present state
of the same country. The workmen earning nearly
double their former wages, their houses mostly new
and comfortable, and the lands, roads, and every other
circumstance bearing evident marks of the most pleas-
ing and rapid improvements. . . . Industry has been
the parent of this happy change. A well-directed and
long-continued series of industrious exertions, both in
masters and servants, has so changed for the better
the face of our country, its buildings, lands, roads (he
might have added canals), and, notwithstanding the
present unfavourable appearances, I must say the
manner and deportment of its inhabitants too, have
been such as to attract the notice and admiration of
countries which had scarcely heard of us before ; and
how far these improvements may still be carried on by
the same laudable means which have brought us thus
far, has been one of the most pleasing contemplations
of my life."

Wedgwood had still another pamphlet to issue. It
has already been said that many efforts were made by
foreigners and others to induce the best workmen to

254 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

leave their employment in Staffordshire. A Mr.
Bartlem induced some potters to follow him into South
Carolina, but the result was very unsuccessful. Others
went to Pennsylvania. A few went to France and
Germany, but they did not succeed. Wedgwood pro-
ceeded to address the Staffordshire men on the subject
of entering into the service of foreign manufacturers.
He pleaded with them that they should not wantonly
throw into the hands of foreigners, perhaps of enemies,
the superiority the potters of Staffordshire had laboured
for and achieved.

A Chamber of Commerce was established in 1785
for the purpose of maintaining the interests of British
manufacturers. Wedgwood and Boulton were the
leaders of this movement. The first meeting was held
in London at the close of the year, and many of the
leading manufacturers of England were present. Ire-
land had then Home Eule ; but the Irish Parliament
legislated in a hostile spirit towards English commerce.
They imposed heavy taxes upon all manufactures im-
ported into Ireland from England ; whilst Irish manu-
factures were not only sent into England duty free,
but their own Parliament encouraged their constituents
by giving a bounty upon exportation.

The Chamber of Commerce expostulated against
the partial and unjust spirit of this legislation, and
petitioned the British Parliament for free interchange
on equal terms. James Watt, inventor of the con-
densing steam-engine, though averse to taking part in

xix Pyrometer or Thermometer 255

political movements, now came forward as a pamph-
leteer. He endeavoured to show that the true way of
encouraging manufacturers in Ireland was, not by
bounties, nor by prohibitions, but by an entire freedom
of industry between the two countries. He held that
the best mode of giving the Irish manufacturers vigour
was by having recourse to British manufacturers,
possessed of capital, industry, and knowledge of trade.
" It is contemptible nonsense," he said, " to argue that
because Ireland has never had manufactories, she can-
not have them now. One hundred years ago the Irish
had no linen manufactories ; they imported linen, and
now they sell us to the extent of a million annually !
How came this about ? The tyranny of the Scotch
Privy Council under Charles II. chased the people
out of Scotland because they were Presbyterians. Ire-
land received and protected them; they peopled the
northern provinces ; many of them were weavers ; they
followed their business in Ireland, and taught others.
Philip II. chased the inhabitants out of Flanders on
account of religion. Queen Elizabeth received and
protected them." Then came the large importation of
the Huguenots through the persecution of Louis XIV. ;
and large manufactories were established, both in
England and Ireland.

Towards the end of his statement Watt asks :
" Would it not be more manly and proper at once to
invite the Irish to come into a perfect Union with
Britain, and to pay the same duties and excise that

256 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

we do ? Then every distinction of country might
with justice be done away with, and they would have
a fair claim to all the advantages which we enjoy."

The result of the agitation of the Chamber of
Commerce was, that most of the proposals to impose
new taxes on the raw materials of manufacture were
withdrawn by the ministry, and the Irish resolutions
were considerably modified. The delegates separated,
with the resolution to extend and maintain their
organisation in the manufacturing districts.

To return to Wedgwood's career. His foreign trade
continued to increase, especially after the Commercial
Treaty with France had been entered into in September
1*786 — a few years before the French Ee volution took
place. Eussia was one of his best customers for
ornamental wares ; but Holland, Germany, Italy, and
even Spain, were alive to the merits of his manu-
factures. After the departure of Flaxman for Eome,
Wedgwood had several excellent modellers. Amongst
these, Webber was one of the best. He had also the
assistance of Westmacott and Wyatt, then very young
men. Lochee, great in modelling gems and small
objects, was another admirable artist employed by
Wedgwood.

As old friends passed away, new ones made their
appearance. Sir Joshua Eeynolds painted Wedgwood's
portrait, as well as that of his wife, in 1*783 ; and
Wedgwood produced a medallion of the artist, modelled
by Flaxman. After the death of Sir Joshua, a few

xix Pyrometer or Thermometer 257

years later, this medallion became very popular. Eomney
was another of Wedgwood's friends. We find him thank-
ing the potter " for his very kind and obliging offer to
let him have any of his elegant ware to sketch from,
when Mr. Eomney is in want of ornaments. I will call
upon you on the first opportunity."

Lady Templeton must have been a very good friend
of Wedgwood. She admired his works so much that on
several occasions she lent him some of her charming
groups of children; which Wedgwood copied in his
beautiful jasper Bas-reliefs. The first was sent on the
27th June 1783, and the second some months later.
The Bas-reliefs on this occasion were used on the
Queen's Opera-Glass. They were made by Wedgwood
after the designs of Lady Templeton. One represented
Sterne's Maria, the other a Bourbonnais Shepherdess.
Another of her examples was a ring of great beauty —
the subject Jupiter. Had Lady Templeton been a
poorer woman, she might have made a fortune by her
wonderful gifts.

Wedgwood was also a friend, as well as a good
customer, of Wright of Derby. We find him in 1784
receiving from Wright a picture of the Maid of Corinth,
as well as a portrait of Erasmus Darwin. Wright had
before spoken of it as " a sweet subject," and it was
painted to Wedgwood's satisfaction. He had before sent
a sketch of Penelope and several other works. Hopp-
ner must also have been a friend, because we find him
in January 1785, when he was a young man struggling

3

258 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP, xix

for a position as a portrait painter, requesting a loan of
£30 from Wedgwood ; which the potter, with his gener-
ous disposition, immediately sent him. Hoppner at
length struggled up the hill of difficulty, and was made
a Eoyal Academician in 1795.

Amongst Wedgwood's other correspondents about
1785, were Mr. Pitt, at Downing Street (making an
appointment), Mr. Wilberforce, Mr. Sheridan, John
Hunter, Granville Sharp, Sir Eichard Arkwright, and
Thomas Day ; but their letters convey no special in-
formation. Before we conclude this chapter, we may
append the copy of a letter from Benjamin Franklin
to Wedgwood, in acknowledging one of his valuable
presents : —

Philadelphia, 15th May 1787.— Sir— I received the
letter you did me the honour of writing to me on the
29th of February past, with your valuable present of
Cameos, which I am distributing among my friends ; in
whose countenances I have seen such marks of being
affected by contemplating the figure of the Suppliant
(which is admirably executed) * that I am persuaded it
may have an effect equal to that of the best written
Pamphlet in procuring favour to these oppressed people.
Please to accept my hearty thanks, and believe me to be,
with great esteem, sir, your most obedient servant, —
B. FRANKLIN."

1 The Suppliant, "Am I not a man and a brother?" was designed
by that admirable artist Hackwood, for the benefit of the Society for
the Abolition of Slavery.

CHAPTEE XX

THE BARBERINI OR PORTLAND VASE

THE Barberini or Portland Vase, now in the British
Museum, is perhaps the finest work of the kind made
by the Ancient Greeks. It was found deposited in a
marble urn within a sepulchral monument, under the
Monte del Grano, two and a half miles from Eorne on the
road to Erascati. Thence it came into the possession
of the Barberini family ; and when they desired in
1770 to raise money by the sale of their works of art,
it was purchased by the antiquary Byres, and afterwards
sold by him to Sir William Hamilton.

Hamilton, in writing to Wedgwood about the pur-
chase of the Vase, said : " The person I bought it of at
Eome will do me the justice to say that the superior
excellence of this exquisite masterpiece of ancient art
struck me so much at first sight, that I eagerly asked,
' Is this yours ? Will you sell it ? ' He answered, ' Yes,
but never under £1000.' 'I will give you £1000,' and
so I did, though God knows it was not very convenient
for me, and the business was concluded in a moment.

260 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

" Except the Apollo Belvedere, the Niobe, and two
or three others of the first- class marbles, I do not
believe that there are any monuments of antiquity
existing that were executed by so great an artist ; and
I have no doubt of this being a work of the time of
Alexander the Great, and was probably brought out of
Asia by Alexander Severus, whose ashes were deposited
therein after his death."

We find from the Memoirs of Captain Rapin, a
gallant Huguenot, who fought at the Boyne, Athlone,
and the two sieges of Limerick, that he was recalled to
London for the purpose of being appointed governor
and tutor to Lord Woodstock, son of Bentinck, Earl of
Portland. The two, tutor and pupil, travelled through
Holland, Germany, France, Spain, and Italy. It was
while in Italy that the Earl of Portland requested Eapin
to have copies made for him of the rarest medals in
point of historic interest ; and also to purchase for him
objects of ancient workmanship. It was in this way
that Kapin persuaded the Earl to purchase from Sir
William Hamilton the Barberini, now called the
Portland Vase, and thus to secure for England one of the
most exquisite specimens of Grecian Ceramic art. On
resigning his office as tutor to Lord Woodstock, Eapin
retired to Wesel, on the Lower Rhine, where he wrote
his History of England; which was afterwards trans-
lated by Mr. N. Tindal and achieved a great reputation.1

1 Raoul do Cazenove published a handsome volume entitled Eapin-
Thoyras, sa Famille, sa Vie, et ses (Euvres, which contains the fullest
information as to the Huguenot hero.

XX

The Barberini or Portland Vase 261

This world-renowned Barberini vase was the identical
urn in which the ashes of the Eoman Emperor
Alexander Severus and his mother Julia Mammsea
were deposited. It was placed under the monument on
Monte del Grano about 235 years after Christ, and it
was dug up by order of Pope Barberini, or Urban VIII.,
between the years 1623 and 1644. The materials of
which the vase is composed resemble an Agate — some
say an Onyx. The ground of the vase is of a rich
transparent, dark amethystine colour, and the Bas-relief
white figures which adorn it are of the most exquisite
workmanship. The vase is 9f inches high, 7j inches in
diameter, and 2 If inches in circumference ; and has two
handles.

The probability is, that the artistic manufacture of
the vase was much more ancient than the date of its
interment at Monte del Grano. The Emperor Alexander
Severus was an enthusiastic collector of the finest
specimens of ancient Greek art, and he desired that at
the time of his death his ashes should be deposited in
one of the finest of the Greek urns. The figures engraved
in bas-relief on the urn in question have no reference
to the life or deeds of the Emperor.

There is Leda with the swan, before her Jupiter, a
Cupid holding a bow, and on the outside of the bottom
of the vase is a man (supposed to be Paris) with a
Phrygian bonnet. This seems to have no connection
with the Emperor's history, or of his mother Mammsea.
Some think it is a satire upon the vices of Heliogabalus ;

262 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

others consider it a eulogium on the virtues of his
immediate successor Alexander Severus. But the whole
subject is involved in mystery.

Mr. Marryat supposed that the cameos were porcelain,
applied as a paste and burnt to due hardness ; and that
with more heat it would become glossy like the Dresden
porcelain. . . . Applied to the glass when it came out
of the mould, — then passed with the glass vessel into
the fire, after which the cameos would be amalgamated
or soldered on. The glass foot is thought to have been
cemented on, after the bones or ashes had been placed
in the urn.

The vase was bought by Sir William Hamilton from
Byres the antiquary for £1000, and was afterwards sold
by him to the Duchess of Portland (the Earl having
died) for 1800 guineas, — so that Sir William must have
realised a considerable profit by his purchase. At the
sale of her Grace's property after her decease in 1786,
the vase was "bought in by the Portland family for
£1029.

When Wedgwood heard that this splendid example
of Grecian or Etruscan art was to be sold, he determined
to possess the ancient gem. The young Duke of Portland
also desired to retain its possession. It was put up for
sale at the rooms of Skinner and Company. The bidding
went on with spirit. Wedgwood bid to upwards of a
thousand pounds. Then the Duke overbid him. At
last the Duke, seeing that there were only two bidders,
stepped across the room and asked Wedgwood what was

xx The Barberini or Portland Vase 263

his object in endeavouring to possess the vase. " I wish
to copy it," answered Wedgwood. " Then, if you will
give over bidding," said the Duke, " I will let you have
the vase as long as you like, that you may effect your
object." This proposal was as frankly accepted as it was
frankly offered. The Duke became the purchaser of
the vase for £1029, and Wedgwood took with him to
Etruria the priceless gem.

Then came the serious difficulty of copying the
Portland vase. He studied the work with minute
attention. He came to the conclusion that the figures
on the vase could not have been moulded separately,
and applied afterwards upon the body; but that the
body, which is a deep blue glass, had been coated over,
in part at least, while red hot, with a semi-transparent
white enamel, and the figures formed by cutting through
the coat down to the blue ground in the manner of real
cameos ; and that, by this mode of working, the artist
had been enabled to superadd to the exquisite beauty
of the sculpture, the effect of light and shade, by cutting
down the parts to greater or less thickness, according as
the shade was required to be deeper or lighter. By this
means the blue underneath was more or less visible
through the semi-transparent white relief. To work in
this manner a vase of such magnitude, so much time,
labour, and skill would be required for the production
of a single piece, that no modern artist, however capable
of the execution, would engage to perform the operation.
Some thought that Wedgwood's endeavour to produce

264 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

the same effect was a presumptous attempt, especially in
his own jasper compositions.

Wedgwood took a vast amount of advice before he
proceeded with the work. While still busy studying
the Portland Vase, he wrote to Lord Auckland, then
Ambassador at Madrid. In the course of his letter,
Wedgwood said : " I employ several modellers constantly
in Koine, and get what I can from Paris, and am very
happy when I can have anything done by my own
artists in England; but my works are too small and
delicate for them, so that little assistance can be ob-
tained in England, except what is done under my own
eye at Etruria. You will perhaps wonder at your not
having heard something of the Barberini Vase. I was
always very sensible of the difficulty of attempting to
copy so exquisite a piece of workmanship ; but in the
progress of the undertaking, difficulties have occurred
which nothing but practice could have discovered to
me. The prospect, however, brightens before me, and
after having made several defective copies, I think I
begin to see my way to the final completion of it. I
shall take the liberty of troubling your Excellency with
a further account of my progress in this great work —
for such you must permit me to call it — as I advance
nearer to the end."

Wedgwood also took the advice of Sir William
Hamilton, at one time the possessor of the Portland
Vase. Sir William replied :— " Naples, 24th July 1786.
— Sir — I will not delay answering, as well as I am able,

xx The Barberini or Portland Vase 265

your letter of the 22nd of last month. It gives me
much satisfaction to find that the Barberini Vase not
only remains in England, but is in your hands, as I
well know that no one can make a better use of it. ...
You have seen so well into the difficulties you will
have to encounter, if you attempt an exact copy of this
Vase, that I really have nothing to add to the reflec-
tions you have made on the subject, and I much
approve of your beginning with the most simple copies.
I much approve likewise of your making copies of
single figures and even of the heads. In short, you
cannot multiply this wonderful performance too much ;
but I am convinced, as you say, that an exact copy of
the Vase finished by the engraver would be too expen-
sive to find a purchaser in Europe.

" I admire your enthusiasm on the frequent and
close examination of the Vase, and am happy that its
superior merit is felt by some few in England. I saw
it every day for above a year, and protest that I
admired it more and more. You are very right in
there being some little defects in the drawing. It
would, however, be dangerous to touch that, but I
should highly approve of your restoring in your copies
what has been damaged by the hand of Time. The
side where the female figure has a torch reversed is
perfectly preserved, and the other should be made as
like it as possible.

"I should have thought that my friend Flaxman
would have been of use to you in your present under-

266 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

taking, for I must do him the justice to say that I
never saw a bas-relief executed in the true simple
antique style half so well as that he did of the
Apotheose of Homer from one of my Vases, and one of
which you were so good as send to me.

"Your ornamental Flowerpots and other pieces of
work are much admired here, but for a piece you sell
for twelve shillings they ask at least two guineas ; so
that there are few purchasers. If you could, instead
of sky-blue, make your ground look like an onyx as
in the Vase itself, it would be better ; for there is no
natural stone of the sky-blue colour. Unless you hold
up the Barberini Vase to the light, it appears to be
of a real onyx, and was long mistaken for one.

" I most heartily wish you success in your present
arduous task. Follow your own judgment, for I am
sure no one can see clearer into the merit of the
original, and the difficulty of copying it, than you do.
I think, with you, the form might be more elegant,
and I would try to make one more elegant, but it must
be simple. — Your most obedient, — WM. HAMILTON."

"Wedgwood replied to this letter, thanking Sir
William for his great efforts to advance the arts in
his native country, and for the splendid vases which
he had placed in the British Museum. He also
thanked him for the models in clay taken from the
statues he had dug up at Herculaneum. He promised
to inform Sir William of the excellent new modellers
he had employed — principally Mr. Webber on the re-

xx The Barberini or Portland Vase 267

commendation of Sir Joshua Keynolds and Sir William
Chambers.

"Thus you see, sir," Wedgwood continued, "I am
laying foundations, and in some measure sacrificing the
present for the future ; but I shall not in the mean-
time leave myself altogether without resources. I have
an excellent modeller here, who has been some years
under Mr. Webber's instructions. And Mr. Banks, a
very able statuary in London, whom you must have
known in Italy, and another artist in town, both of
whom have promised to employ all the time they
can spare for me. . . .

"I have likewise many chimneypieces in hand,
some of which, with the vases and figures that are
to go along with them, will be very tedious and ex-
pensive. But my great work is the Portland Vase.
I have now finished a third and last edition of the
figures ; the two first being suppressed in hopes of
making the third still more perfect. In this I have
certainly succeeded, but how far I have done so upon
the whole, and with what success, others must deter-
mine. My present difficulty is to give those beauti-
ful shades to the thin and distant parts of the figures,
for which the original artist availed himself of the semi-
transparency of the white glass, cutting it down nearer
and nearer to the blue ground, in proportion as he
wished to increase the depth of shade. But the case is
very different with me. I must depend upon an agent,
whose effects are neither at my command, nor to be per-

268 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

ceived at the time they are produced, viz. the action
of fire on my compositions ; a little more or a little
less fire, and even the length of time employed in
producing the same degree, will make a very material
difference in this delicate operation. I am now en-
gaged in a course of experiments for determining these
points with as much precision as the nature of the
case will admit of, and this is now the only thing
that retards the completion of this grand object.

" I long much to see the copies you are so good as
to send me of those fine works of antiquity, and you
may depend upon seeing the first productions from
them with all the despatch I am able to make. My
best thanks, accompanied as they are with the sincerest
gratitude and highest respect to your Excellency, are
a poor return for these repeated instances of your
goodness to me."

At length, by introducing other expedients where
the hand of the modeller was insufficient, Wedgwood
in 1790, after many unsuccessful trials, produced
copies of the Portland Vase which, after a strict
comparison with the original, gave perfect satisfac-
tion to the most distinguished artists in Great Britain.
For the satisfaction of those who could not have
an opportunity of making such comparison them-
selves, he thought it necessary to have the accuracy
of some of the copies authenticated in the fullest
manner by men of the highest distinction ; in the first
place by the possessor of the Vase itself, the Duke of

xx The Barberini or Portland Vase 269

Portland ; then by Sir Joseph Banks, President of the
Koyal Society ; by the Earl of Leicester, President of the
Society of Antiquaries ; and by Sir Joshua Reynolds,
President of the Eoyal Academy of Arts. Sir Joshua
was pleased to add that he " can venture to declare it a
correct and faithful imitation, both in regard to the
general effect and the most minute detail of the parts."

Wedgwood had the Portland Vase in his posses-
sion for more than twelve months, and during that
time he made fifty copies, which were subscribed for
at fifty guineas each; yet the sum thus realised fell
far short of his actual outlay in making them. Wedg-
wood himself regarded it as his chef-d'oeuvre. Like his
other works, his copy of the Vase greatly increased
in value after his death. At Mr. Eoger's sale, one of
them was sold for 127 guineas; and on the 24th of
March 1892 another copy, belonging to the late Mr.
Holt of Liverpool, was sold at Christie's for 205
guineas.

When Sir William Hamilton next visited England,
it was partly for the purpose of seeing the copy of the
Portland Vase. After his visit to Etruria, he sent the
following letter to Wedgwood : —

" Newcastle-under-Lyme, 23rd July 1790.— Sir —
Not having had the good fortune to meet with you in
London, I determined to take Etruria on my way to
Derbyshire, where I am going to make a visit. I am
now just returned from your house, and much dis-
appointed at not having had the pleasure of finding

270 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

either you or my Naples acquaintance at home. How-
ever, I have accomplished one of my great objects,
which was the seeing your wonderful copy of the
Portland Vase. I am so well acquainted with the
original, and the difficulties you must have met with,
that I really think it is so. The sublime character of
the original is wonderfully preserved in your copy,
and little more is wanting than the sort of transparency
which your materials could not imitate, to induce those,
not quite so knowing as you and I are, to mistake it for
the original. In short, I am wonderfully pleased with
it, and give you the greatest credit for having arrived so
near the imitation of what I believe to be the first
specimen of the excellence of the Arts of the Ancients
existing. ... I saw the models of some bas-reliefs that
the young man you employ at Eome has done for you,
and I think them excellent. Flaxman goes on im-
proving daily, and is in my opinion the greatest genius
we have at Koine. He is attempting a marble group
as big as the Laocoon, and I think will succeed wonder-
fully. . . . — I am, sir, etc., — WM. HAMILTON."

In the course of the same year, Wedgwood published
his Dissertation on the Portland Vase, in which he
detailed the results of his observations as to the pro-
cesses employed in its original manufacture; and he
explained his views as to the meaning of the groups of
figures which embellished it. Several of these explana-
tions are manifestly erroneous, having probably been
formed from inaccurate drawings, in which the right

xx The Barberini or Portland Vase 2 7 1

hand is often mistaken for the left, and the male
figures for female. All of them, indeed, are merely
conjectural ; and it is not to be wondered at that the
warm imagination of Wedgwood, with the beautiful
original before his eyes, should have made mistakes ;
yet his Dissertation, we believe, will do no discredit
either to his genius or his taste.

Wedgwood's enterprise, notwithstanding his increas-
ing years, was not upon the wane. In 1790, he went to
Meissen, near Dresden, to visit the Eoyal Factory,
maintained by the king of Saxony. It had become
unable to pay its expenses, and was a heavy drain upon
the Sovereign's privy purse. After visiting the factory,
Wedgwood was so convinced of its capabilities, if under
good management, that he offered a payment of £3000
a year to be allowed to take it entirely upon himself,
but his offer was refused.1

At length the king became tired of the annual ex-
pense, and ceded the porcelain factory to the Finance
Department, who continued it to their loss. The
kaolin at Aue had been nearly exhausted. The factory
is now reduced to a low ebb, and produces only inferior
articles. It was well for Wedgwood that his offer was
refused, and that he was under the necessity of return-
ing to England, and carrying on his still prosperous
business at Etruria.

Long after the Portland vase had passed out

1 History of Pottery and Porcelain. By Joseph Manyat. Murray,
1868.

272 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP, xx

of Wedgwood's hands, and been deposited in the
British Museum, a lunatic named William Lloyd
smashed the vase to pieces in 1845. The man was
apprehended, and paid the fine imposed by the magis-
trates rather than undergo imprisonment. The pieces
of the vase were carefully gathered together, and joined
so perfectly by Mr. Doubleday that a blemish can
scarcely be detected ; and the restored vase, with one
of Wedgwood's copies, is now deposited in the medal
room of the museum.

CHAPTER XXI

WEDGWOOD'S PERSONAL HISTORY — HIS SONS'
EDUCATION

NOTWITHSTANDING the various works in which he was
engaged, Wedgwood never neglected the interests of
his family. The most complete domestic happiness
was added to the general prosperity with which his
days were blessed. He was happy in his wife, to whom
he necessarily left the infancy of his children and, to a
certain extent, the training of his daughters ; but to
the education of his sons, after they had emerged from
the period of childhood, he paid especial attention.

From the age at which the mind begins to unfold
its powers, and becomes sensible of having a part to
maintain among men, the training of his sons was in
the main his own. He lived with his children as with
friends, in an easy and unrestrained manner. He
showed them entire confidence, which they faithfully
returned. He permitted no deception or imposition to
be practised by them, even in jocularity, thus preclud-
ing all falsehood and dissimulation.

T

274 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

In short, he treated his children, from infancy to
manhood, as rational beings. Another important point
in his treatment of his boys and girls was to give them
habits of inquiring and examining for themselves, thus
elucidating the valuable talent of impartial judgment.
More happy and respected, and perhaps less restrained
at home than elsewhere, they had no inducement to
seek further intercourse with the world, until their
judgment and habits were fully formed.

We have already referred to the ardour with which
Wedgwood, in the company of his sons, carried on his
chemical experiments on gas, on clay, and all manner
of materials. In October 1785, Wedgwood sent his
eldest son John to the University of Edinburgh. There
he was introduced by Dr. Darwin to Dr. Joseph Black,
Lecturer on Chemistry, and the discoverer of latent heat,
which so much helped James Watt in his development
of the condensing steam-engine. Young Wedgwood made
many other friends in Edinburgh. He was introduced
to the Principal, "who seemed very much pleased with
Josiah Wedgwood's bas-reliefs." He also made friends
with Drs. Eutherford, Duncan, Hutton, and Eobison,
whose lectures he attended.

After John's session, he went with Mr. Byerley to
Paris, in order to perfect himself in the French
language, and there he lived with M. Teulierc. Wedg-
wood wrote to his son from Etruria that he had been
told by Mr. Byerley that there was no good water in
Paris to drink, and that he was obliged to depart from

xxi Wedgwood' s Personal History 275

his usual regimen and drink wine, by which his health
has suffered considerably. "He tells me," said the
father, " that you are obliged to do the same. I have
explained myself fully to Mr. Byerley on this subject,
both with respect to himself and to you. In three
words, nothing, no advantage whatever, can in my
mind compensate to either of you for being in such a
situation. You know my rooted and well - founded
objections to young people accustoming themselves to
the use of fermented liquors. Habits of this kind are
soon formed. They increase, and rivet themselves im-
perceptibly both on body and mind. They cannot be too
soon or too earnestly guarded against. May God pre-
serve my dear son from this and all other evil habits, is
the prayer of your affectionate father, — J. W."

In a future letter, John said he had visited the Due
de la Eochefoucauld, by whom he was kindly received,
and also M. Lavoisier, the chemist, with whom he dined.
Lavoisier was one of the most distinguished philosophers
in France, whose head was afterwards cut off by the
guillotine, because the Eevolutionists " had no need of
Philosophers in Paris."

After visiting the Sevres manufactory, in 1786, in
the company of Boulton and Watt, of Birmingham,
young Wedgwood proposed to make a residence in the
country, where the people spoke good French, and
where he would not be distracted by the amusements
and revels of Paris. His father agreed, and requested
him to keep a diary or commonplace book, in which he

276 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

might note down all that he saw of interest or im-
portance.

The next letter we have from young Wedgwood is
dated from the house of M. Pictet, Professor of Philo-
sophy at Geneva (28th November 1787). He expresses
his warmest gratitude to his father for sending his
brother Tom to the University of Edinburgh ; and also
for his intention to send him to join his brothers at
Geneva, to be instructed by M. Pictet. Josiah Wedg-
wood seems to have been most grateful for the in-
tellectual training his sons had received from the good
philosopher.

Young Wedgwood's next journey with his brother
was to Kome, whither they went to see the ancient
Greek sculptures. His father wrote to Sir William
Hamilton : — " Dear Sir — After acquainting you with
my sons' going to Eome, accompanied by Webber, my
principal artist, and after the experience I have had of
your goodness on former occasions, you will not be
surprised if I request your protection of them. I know
you will embrace every opportunity that may happen
for promoting the studies of these two young men, who
travel, as I hope they do, mainly for improvement. I
have the honour to be, etc., yours, — Jos. WEDGWOOD."

The young men went to Naples, and were graciously
received by Sir William, who exhibited to them all his
collection of antiquities.

"Naples, 29th April 1788— Flaxman has drawn
some of my Vases, which were dug up near Naples, but

xxi Wedgwood' s Personal History 277

his health did not permit him to stay long in this
neighbourhood. Your sons liked the country so well
as to make a second visit, and I was really glad to see
them, as I can assure you that their behaviour was
such as to give universal satisfaction. You will prob-
ably have heard of them since their return to Borne.
. . » I most sincerely wish you a continuance of health
and success in your noble efforts in propagating a good
taste in our country. — Yours ever, etc., — WM. HAMILTON."

After his return to England, before settling down to
business at Etruria, young Wedgwood made a home
tour. Josiah Wedgwood wrote to Lord Auckland,
then ambassador at Madrid (5th July 1789) : "My son
has been at home nearly six months. He is now on a
tour of discovery in his own country — Wales, the west
of England as far as the Land's End — along with a Mr.
Hawkins, an excellent mineralogist of Cornwall, with
whom he became acquainted abroad, — otherwise he
would gladly have embraced the opportunity of thank-
ing you for your friendly notice of him."

After his return from the Land's End, young Josiah
began to be of use to his father in the business at
Etruria. He conducted the correspondence in the
absence of his senior, and made himself acquainted
when in London with the various commercial and
manufacturing affairs of the home factory. It was in a
manner necessary for him to do this, as John Wedg-
wood, his father's relative and partner (so far as the
useful wares were concerned), died in the course of the

278 Josiah Wedgivood CHAP.

same year, 1788, and thus the elder Josiah was left
sole proprietor of the great establishment he had
founded.

This, however, could soon be remedied. In January
1790, Wedgwood took into partnership his three sons,
John, Josiah, and Thomas, — and his nephew Byerley,—
the latter having an eighth share of the profits. He had
already for a time managed the London business, and
eventually took an active share in the commercial part
of the concern at Etruria. John and Thomas Wedg-
wood afterwards retired, the one to become a junior
partner in the London and Middlesex Bank, and the
other to devote himself to chemical and scientific pur-
suits— among others, to heliotype or photography.
After that, the firm was known as that of Josiah
Wedgwood, Sons, and Byerley.

Wedgwood had constant correspondence with Dr.
Darwin. On one occasion we find Dr. Darwin asking
for information about his first wooden leg. It had been
first made by Addison, a lay-figure-maker in Hanover
Street, Longacre, about eighteen years ago ; but since
then, an ingenious joiner had made them at home.
" He is making me a new one now, which, I believe, is
nearly finished. He has made me one or two before,
and has had the care of the old one for many years.
It has received so many repairs from him, that it has
now become almost like the sailor's knife which had so
many new blades and so many new hafts. He is will-
ing to make one for the gentleman you mention."

xxi Wedgwood's Personal History 279

Wedgwood, for many long years, was much troubled
by his wooden leg. It was always in the way, and
often interfered with his health. By preventing him
taking exercise, he thought it made him bilious. He
was often prevented walking, except on crutches, even
to serve his most noble customers. When he was
requisitioned to serve as an overseer of the poor in
the parish of St. Ann's, Soho (in which his warehouse in
Greek Street was situated), on the advice of J. Balgeny,
his counsel, he declined the office on the ground that
he did not live in London, and also because of " having
been deprived of a leg, and being obliged to use a
wooden one." His pleas were admitted.

Dr. Darwin again wrote to Wedgwood when writing
his Botanic Garden. "If you wish the speech of Hope *
longer, send me what materials you would have added,
as suppose —

" Here future Newtons shall explore the skies,
Here future Priestleys, future "Wedgwoods rise.

Now, in return, remember you are to send me a drawing
of Cupid Warming a Butterfly."

On the 22nd of February 1*789, Dr. Darwin wrote
to Wedgwood : — " Herewith you will receive the Botanic
Garden, of which I am the supposed, not the avowed
author. I intend to scold you for not making Derby
on your way to and from London. This I shall, how-

1 "Hope " was modelled by Webber.

280 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

ever, postpone till we have the pleasure of seeing you
here."

On a future occasion, Dr. Darwin asked Wedgwood
as to his merits as a potter. His reply was : — " To your
first question, I only pretend to have attempted to copy
the fine antique forms, but not with absolute servility ;
I have endeavoured to preserve the style and spirit — or,
if you please, the elegant simplicity of the antique
forms, and, in so doing, to introduce all the variety I am
able ; and this Sir William Hamilton assures me that I
may venture to do, and that it is the true way of copy-
ing the antique.

" To your second, viz. 'Was anything of consequence
done in the Medallion or Cameo kind before you, in
real stones, or in imitation of real stones, in paste or
soft coloured glasses ? ' — Much has formerly been done.
Witness the Portland Vase, and numberless pieces of
inferior note. Bas-reliefs of various sizes have like-
wise been made of a coarse brown earth of one colour.
But of the improved kind of two or more colours, and a
true peculiar texture, none were made by the ancients,
or attempted by the moderns that I could hear of, till
some of them began to copy, in an inferior manner, my
jasper cameos. But this sounds so like blowing my
own trumpet, that I shall say no more."

Wedgwood might have written a better answer to
Dr. Darwin had he copied his statement to the Court
(27th July 17*71) when he defended his action against
the persons who desired to infringe his solitary patent.

xxi Wedgwood's Personal History 281

He then averred that he " has been brought up to the
business of a potter in Staffordshire, where he practised
this art, along with that of enamelling, as a master for
upwards of twenty years. ... He has enriched the
pottery of his country with many inventions and im-
provements, whereby pottery has been raised from a
low and declining state to its present condition of one
of the most flourishing manufactures in His Majesty's
dominions.

" He first invented the art of ornamenting ware with
coloured glazes of various kinds.

" He first adapted the engine lathe to the working
upon clay, and introduced the use of it into the pottery
manufacture.

" He introduced the Queen's ware, which banished
the French ware from our markets and tables.

" His experiments on clays enabled him to introduce
many new ornaments of many kinds, especially vases,
cameos, tablets, portraits, and classical models in jasper,
etc.

"The object of the action is to prohibit a London
manufacturer infringing Wedgwood's patent for pro-
ducing Etruscan vases in a certain manner."

Meanwhile Wedgwood carried on his business at
Etruria in the old way. Wherever he could make an
improvement, he introduced it. Flaxman sent him
new casts and drawings from Eome. Deveare sent him
a Bas-relief of Proserpine from the Borghese Vase,
executed in the most beautiful manner. Webber fol-

282 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

lowed him to Eome and sent to Greek Street some
exquisite models. But Wedgwood had other assistants,
in Italy, the chief of whom was Dalmazzoni. He also
had several excellent artists under him ; Flaxman being
principally engaged upon his own works in sculpture.
Pacetti and Angelini also modelled for Wedgwood.
Fradotti and Mangiarotti were his chief cameo engravers,
as well as Angelini. The models sent to Wedgwood
from Italy were very numerous.

But now his active life seemed coming to a close, for
though his mind was still as active as ever, his physique
was failing. He took frequent holidays, and occasion-
ally went to Buxton and Blackpool, sometimes making
a tour in the Lake district. When at home he took to
gardening, and we find him writing a long letter to Dr.
Darwin about the qualities of a gardener. Dr. Darwin
continued to be one of his most intimate friends, and
they often met for the purpose of renewing the old
scientific discussions.

Wedgwood did not confine himself to his own
domestic concerns. He had long correspondences
with Miss Anna Seward and Thomas Clarkson about
the Abolition of the Slave Trade. On one occasion
Clarkson wrote a long letter to Wedgwood about " the
cause in which we are mutually engaged." Clarkson
was then considering whether he ought to continue his
efforts or retire into private life. He had been engaged
in the agitation for seven years. His mind and body
had been greatly injured ; and though comparatively a

xxi Wedgwood' s Personal History 283

poor man, he had expended not less than £1500. If he
had to meet the numerous calls made upon him, he must
be " inevitably ruined." Upon this statement, Wedg-
wood helped Clarkson liberally, and the prime mover of
Slavery Abolition pursued his course with cheerfulness.
Had not Wedgwood produced the kneeling suppliant
with the appeal, " Am I not a Man and a Brother ? "

Wedgwood did not confine his generosity to the
black slaves of the East Indies : he also subscribed (in
January 1792) £100 " towards the succour of the People
of Poland," and his three sons subscribed £50 each.

At one time, Wedgwood spoke of spending the
summer in Germany, and after seeing Florence and
Venice, returning with his son directly to England ;
but, after making a journey to Meissen, with the
object of looking over the manufactory there, he
did not go on to Italy. In 1790, Wedgwood wrote
to his agent Deveare in Eome : " I am rejoiced, with
the rest of your friends here, in the hopes of seeing
you and Mr. Flaxman returning safe to your native
country. . . . You say I pointed out to you not to lose
time. If I did so, I had no other meaning in it, than
when I told Mr. Flaxman that you might send the
model without loss of time." Deveare afterwards went
to Etruria as a modeller for Wedgwood, where he was
known as John de Vere.

Wedgwood was gradually withdrawing from the
active part of his business. Yet he could not entirely
withdraw. To Dr. Darwin he wrote in 1788 : " I sigh

284 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

that I am becoming an old man, — that age and in-
firmities overtake me, and more than whisper in my
ear that it is time to diminish rather than increase the
objects of my attention." And yet he was only fifty-
eight years old, an age at which many men consider
themselves in the prime of life.

Wedgwood did not forget his old friends. He
specially remembered Dr. Priestley, his bosom friend
next to Darwin. He had long admired and followed
Priestley's enthusiasm for chemistry ; and knowing that
the Doctor's salary from his congregation was small,
Boulton, Wedgwood, and Darwin took private counsel
together as to the best means of providing him with
funds to carry on what Dr. Darwin called his "fine
vein of experiments."

Wedgwood had an interview with Priestley, who
communicated to him that he never thought of receiving
any pecuniary advantage from any of his experiments,
but gave them to the public with the results, just as
they happened ; and he should continue to do so with-
out ever attempting to make any private emolument
for himself. This was an excellent idea — pursuing
science for science's sake. Nevertheless he could not
deny that he required some help ; and the matter was
arranged to the great credit of all concerned. The
members of the Lunar Society l subscribed, and several

1 The Lunar Society was a coterie of literary and scientific men
who met at Birmingham monthly, at full moon, to enable distant
members to drive home by moonlight.

xxi Wedgwood's Personal History 285

other private friends of Priestley. Wedgwood subscribed
twenty-five guineas a year ; and the subscription was
continued, after Wedgwood's death, by his son Josiah
to the end of Dr. Priestley's life.

Wedgwood, notwithstanding his declining health,
continued to take some interest in science. In 1790
he sent his last paper to the Philosophical Transactions.1
It related to a mineral substance which had been sent
to him from New South Wales. It consisted of pure
plumbago or black lead. With this mineral Sir Joseph
Banks had sent him some clay from the same colony,
which he found to be of excellent quality. Webber
modelled a medallion from it, — representing the figure
of Hope standing on a rock, with three typical personages
before her, exquisitely finished.

Wedgwood was still far from well. He went to
Buxton and Blackpool for the benefit of his health.
He again suffered from spectra in his eyes. He was
seized with asthma, and the pain in his amputated limb
greatly affected him. On his return home, he amused
himself with his garden, accompanied by his daughters.
His grounds were laid out in the most beautiful manner ;
and everything, except their owner, was bright and
cheerful. Downes, the gardener, was most successful
in his production of hot-house grapes, and a bowling-
green was laid down for the use of his neighbours,
though his wooden leg prevented his playing with them.

Guests still came to Etruria Hall, and were hospitably

1 Philosophical Transactions, vols. 74 and 76.

286 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

entertained. Foreigners from every country were frequent
visitors, and were for the time made happy in the survey
of the beautiful works of art which the Hall contained.
All Wedgwood's best productions were there — vases,
bas-reliefs, cameos, medallions, and his other famous
works of art. But though Wedgwood strove to entertain
his swarms of visitors, nothing could cure the proprietor
of this casket of learning and art.

His generous contributions to the aid of all good
measures remained the same as before, or were even
increased. His subscriptions to philanthropic and
benevolent societies, to the struggling Poles, for the
Abolition of the Slave Trade, and for the relief of the
loyalist French emigrants who flooded England after
the outbreak of the French Revolution, were large and
bountiful. He started a free library and sick fund
for the benefit of his work-people, when such help was
very unusual. He was the great friend of Parliamentary
Reform, and entertained the opinion that all measures
of improvement should be argued out and established
by Parliament. To his son Josiah he wrote : " A real
Parliamentary Reform is therefore what we most stand
in need of, and for this I would willingly devote rny
time, the most precious thing I have, or anything else
by which I could serve so noble a cause."

As another instance of Wedgwood's liberality in
respect of the advancement of Art, it may be mentioned
that in 1792 he offered £1000 towards the establish-
ment of a National Gallery of Sculpture, which was

xxi Wedgwood's Personal History 287

declined. Professor Cockerell, when examined before
a committee of the House of Commons on the establish-
ment of schools of art in 1836, thus spoke of Wedg-
wood's offer : " I beg leave to mention an anecdote of
the late Mr. Wedgwood, related to me by Mr. Cumber-
land of Bristol, who wrote a pamphlet in 1*792 recom-
mending a National Gallery of Sculpture, Casts from
the Antique, etc., viz. that Mr. Wedgwood made a
tender of £1000 in aid of such an institution. I beg
further to state that I have found Wedgwood's works
esteemed in all parts of Europe, and placed in the most
precious collections of this description of works."

Wedgwood was occupied by experiments on a cheaper
glaze for ordinary pottery, when he was again prostrated
by illness. His health was evidently failing. Asthma
returned in an aggravated form. The pain returned
in the nerves of the amputated leg. His debility was
greater than usual. What was a new thing was a pain
in his right jaw. He went to Buxton as usual, and on
his return, he felt so much better that his son and him-
self wrote cheerfully to Dr. Darwin as to his amend-
ment. The doctor replied in a letter dated the 9th
December 1794, in which he said —

" Your letter gives me great pleasure in assuring me,
what your son Josiah had before mentioned, that you
have become free from your complaint ; the ceasing of
the palpitation of your heart and of the intermission of
your pulse is another proof of your increase of strength.
In respect to your breath being less free in walking up

288 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP, xxi

hill, I ascribe to the distant approach of age, and not
to asthma. You know how unwilling we all are to
grow old. As you are so well, I advise you to leave off
the bark, and take no medicine at present."

A few days after the date of the doctor's letter,
Wedgwood's right cheek began to swell. Thinking it
was caused by toothache, he sent for Mr. Bent to draw
the tooth. On inspecting the interior of his mouth,
the surgeon, to his dismay, found the beginnings of
gangrene. Dr. Darwin came over from Derby, and
called in two other physicians, but nothing could be
done. The patient gradually grew worse. The inflam-
mation extended into his throat. The fever increased,
he became insensible, and he unconsciously passed
away on the 3rd of January 1795, in the sixty-fifth year
of his age. Three days after, he was buried in the
porchway of the old parish church of Stoke.

CHAPTEE XXII

CHAKACTER OF WEDGWOOD

WEDGWOOD died nearly a century ago, but the seed
which he sowed did not perish with him : his character
and the spirit of his work survive to the present
day. He was a man to impress the minds of the
generation he lived in, and to hand down an example of
goodness and probity to the generations which followed
him.

There is no need again to recapitulate the disadvan-
tages of his childhood, the terrible trials of his early
sickness and the consequent injury to his bodily powers,
nor the vicissitudes of his active career.

He had lived a life of self -improvement. The handi-
craft of pottery at the beginning of his career was rude
and empirical, but he rapidly raised it to the condition
of an art. He introduced the turning lathe, and the
forms of the articles produced by him were greatly
improved. It was not, however, without the greatest
struggle and effort that he achieved his fame. He de-
termined to secure efficiency in his trade. He pulled

u

2 go Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

down kiln after kiln to correct defects or to make the
necessary improvements.

He was constantly inventing new tools and machines
to improve the manufacture. He instructed his work-
men individually, and himself made the first pattern of
any original piece made in his pottery. He spent his
evenings chiefly in contriving tools and instruments to
effect some novel process, or in making chemical experi-
ments. He never lay down to rest without thinking
and planning the new work of the morrow.

All these efforts led him to the verge of poverty,
like his predecessor Palissy; but though his poverty
and struggle were great, his will and dignity proved
greater and stronger. He never ceased to have faith in
his future. Not a moment was given to doubt, hesita-
tion, or discouragement. He believed that his assiduity
and perseverance could triumph.

Another characteristic of Wedgwood was his keen
insight into the characters of men and women. It is
not always by what a man does with his own head
and hands, but through the persons whom he selects to
carry out his instructions, that he achieves success.
Wedgwood's workmen began to love and respect their
master, because they knew that he had his special in-
sight into their characters. It was for this reason
that Wedgwood selected Bentley for his London part-
ner— a gentleman of great intelligence, excellent business
habits, and unsullied integrity.

Wedgwood was also helped by his wife. In one of

xxii Character of Wedgwood 291

his letters to Bentley, he said that he never entered on
any new plan without first consulting his wife. She
was indeed his true helpmeet. To quote Wordsworth's
lines, she was the perfect wife —

The reason firm, the temperate will,
Endurance, foresight, strength, and skill ;
A perfect Woman, nobly planned,
To warn, to comfort, and command ;
And yet a Spirit still, and bright
With something of angelic light.

Wedgwood was never satisfied with permitting
things to remain as they were. He must have constant
improvements. In his early years England was mainly
supplied with its best earthenware from abroad — from
Holland, France, and Germany. Why should not
England, with its teeming population, manufacture
earthenware for itself? The clay and other materials
were as good here as elsewhere. These only wanted
the master manufacturers to give an impulse to the
home trade. Wedgwood was the leading man to give
that impulse, and by his indomitable perseverance to
open a road in which other manufacturers followed
him, and thus the production of Staffordshire pottery
and the employment of Staffordshire people were pro-
digiously increased.

Wedgwood was not satisfied with the manufacture
of ordinary pottery. His desire was to add beauty to
utility, and to render his works artistic as well as suit-
able for domestic use. It was not enough for him to

292 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

supply the market with increasing orders for Queen's
ware, he also desired to add to his reputation by
connecting his manufacture with art, and increasing
the taste of the people who every day used, while con-
templating, his useful ware.

In the eloquent address delivered by the Eight Hon.
W. E. Gladstone, on the laying of the foundation stone
of the Wedgwood Institute at Burslem, on the 26th
October 1863, many pregnant remarks were made on
the association of Beauty and Utility, because (as the
Chancellor of the Exchequer remarked), "it is in this
department, I conceive, that we are to look for the
peculiar pre-eminence, I will not scruple to say the
peculiar greatness, of Wedgwood. . . . The pursuit of
the element of Beauty, in the business of production,
will be found to act with a genial, chastening, and
refining influence on the commercial spirit ; that, up to
a certain point, it is in the nature of a preservative
against some of the moral dangers that beset trading
and manufacturing enterprise ; and that we are justified
in regarding it not merely as an economical benefit ;
not merely as that which contributes to our works an
element of value; not merely as that which supplies a par-
ticular faculty of human nature with its proper food, but
as a liberalising and civilising power, and an instrument,
in its own sphere, of moral and social improvement."

And again, in the same address on the achievements
of Wedgwood, Mr. Gladstone said : " His most original
and characteristic merit lay, as I have said, in the

Character of Wedgwood 293

firmness and fulness with which he perceived the true
law of what we may call Industrial Art, or, in other
words, of the application of the higher Art to Industry ;
the law which teaches us to aim first at giving to every
object the greatest possible degree of fitness and con-
venience for its purpose, and next of making it the
vehicle of the highest degree of Beauty which, com-
patibly with that fitness and convenience, it will bear ;
which does not, I need hardly say, substitute the
secondary for the primary end, but which recognises,
as part of the business of production, the studies to
harmonise the two. To have a strong grasp of this
principle, and to work it out to its results in the details
of a vast and varied manufacture, is a praise, high
enough for any man, at any time, and in any place.
But it was higher and more peculiar, as I think, in the
case of Wedgwood, than in almost any other case it
could be. For that truth of Art, which he saw so
clearly, and which lies at the root of excellence, was
one of which England, his country, has not usually
had a perception at all corresponding in strength and
fulness with her other rare endowments. She has long
taken a lead among the nations of Europe for the
cheapness of her manufactures ; not so for their beauty.
And if the day shall ever come, when she shall be as
eminent in true taste, as she now is in economy of
production, my belief is that that result will probably
be clue to no other single man in so great a degree
as to Wedgwood."

294 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

There are some critics who aver that the manufac-
turers of modern Staffordshire pottery turn out better
plaques and better vases than Wedgwood ever made.
No wonder ! Wedgwood turned out his best works about
a hundred years ago. It would be strange if, in the
course of the century which succeeded his death, the
Staffordshire potters had not made many excellent im-
provements in the manufacture of earthenware and
porcelain. But no doubt can be entertained that he was
the precursor of all that has since been accomplished.
He was the man who, by laborious efforts extending over
many years, introduced Greek and Etruscan Art into the
British potteries. He completely revolutionised the
character of the fabrics made in England up to the
period of his decease. Though his productions recall
Greek Art, they are not mere reproductions. He did
not revive classical forms in a servile spirit ; his style
is strikingly original. And because other manu-
facturers may have excelled him, through the course
of years, in the excellence of his works, shall we
deprive him of the honour of being the Pioneer and
Founder of the artistic productions of Burslem and
Etruria ?

It was truthfully recorded on his tombstone that he
" converted a rude and inconsiderable Manufacture into
an elegant Art and an important part of National
Commerce." When Wedgwood was born at Burslem
there were about fifty potters, of whom several were
Wedgwoods; but the wares they made were all of a

xxii Character of Wedgwood 295

rude description. Hanley, now of considerable im-
portance, had then seven small potters. The village
had only one horse and one mule. There was neither
cart nor carriage of any description in the place. The
coals were carried on men's or women's backs. There
were only two houses at Stoke — Ward's and Poulson's
— but no potteries.

When Wedgwood had fairly established himself,
and obtained a large increase of trade, he was of course
imitated by other manufacturers, and this . led to a
still larger increase. The total annual amount of the
whole manufacture of earthenware in the Staffordshire
Potteries in 1725 was under £15,000 in value ; whereas
in 1777, about fifty years later, it had increased more
than fivefold. In 1785 there were 200 master manu-
facturers, and from 15,000 to 20,000 persons employed
in earning bread by their daily work. Of course, at
the same time there was a large proportionate increase
in the population of the Potteries generally.1

Wedgwood was a large and public spirited man.
Besides attending to the building up of his own special
trade, he did all that he could to open up the district
to the trade of the world. He exerted himself to make
turnpikes and highways through Staffordshire ; and
when the Grand Trunk Canal was projected, he devoted
himself, heart and soul, to its success. He also

1 According to the census of 1871, Hanley contained 40,000
inhabitants. The population of the Staffordshire potteries then
numbered 166,625.

296 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

developed to the utmost extent the commerce of the
district, and took the lead, with the cordial approval
of his neighbours, in all measures for the spread of the
productions of Staffordshire.

He made a fortune, but he used his wealth nobly.
He supported all measures connected with the educa- >
tion of the people. As early as 1760, when he was in
comparatively straitened means, he strongly supported
the proposal to found a school in Burslem, and sub-
scribed £10 for its erection. He induced his eldest
brother, Thomas, of the Overhouse, and his distant
cousin, Burslem Wedgwood, to do the same. The
school was erected on the piece of ground on which the
Maypole formerly stood. It was afterwards pulled
down, and the Town-Hall of Burslem was erected on
the site. Another more complete school was sub-
stituted for the former.

To his own workmen he was the kindest friend. A
free library and sick fund were instituted at the works
for the benefit of all. He subscribed liberally for every
good work that wanted support, for Clarkson and the
Abolition of the Slave Trade, for the help of the Polish
patriots, for the relief of the British residents in
America, for the support of the emigrant French clergy
residing in this country, and for most philanthropic and
benevolent societies.

We have already referred to his annuity to Leslie
(afterwards Professor) for his assistance in the education
of his sons ; and to the delicate manner in which he,

XXII

Character of Wedgwood 297

in conjunction with Boulton of Birmingham, assisted
the great Dr. Priestley in the prosecution of his chemical
experiments. But he assisted all who needed help,
artists as well as others.

"I never knew an instance of a man," said Dr.
Darwin, "raising himself to such opulence and dis-
tinction who excited so little envy; and this in a
great measure arose from his prudent and modest
acquisition of riches, and also from the circumstance
that he was free from the failing which frequently
attends easily-acquired riches, of neglecting his poor
relations. He kindly attended to his, and was of
essential service to many of them."

A man may be known to a certain extent by his
chosen friends, and Wedgwood's were, for the most
part, men of distinction. Perhaps his dearest friend
was Erasmus Darwin, poet and physician. Darwin
knew Wedgwood in all conditions, in his joys and his
sorrows. He was a great admirer of Wedgwood's art,
and supported him in all his projects. He was with
Wedgwood at the amputation of his leg, and with
him on his deathbed. The Darwins and Wedgwoods
were very intimately connected. The greatest of the
Darwins — the late Charles Darwin, F.K.S., author of the
Origin of Species, married a Miss Wedgwood ; and the
race of Darwins is not extinct.

Among Wedgwood's other eminent friends were
James Watt, inventor of the condensing steam-engine ;
Matthew Boulton, the Birmingham manufacturer ; Sir

298 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP.

Joseph Banks, President of the Eoyal Society ; Thomas
Day, author of Sandford and Merton ; Sir William
Hamilton ; " Athenian " Stuart ; Clarkson and Wilber-
force ; and many artists and sculptors, referred to in
the previous chapters.

Wedgwood received many honours. He was a
Fellow of the Eoyal Society, in consequence of his
invention of the Pyrometer and his many scientific
papers contributed to the Society. He was a Fellow of
the Antiquarian Society, because of his knowledge of
Greek and Etruscan art; besides being member of a
large number of Foreign Societies.

His influence, his example, and his works at
Burslem and Etruria, had a wonderful power in im-
proving the moral and intellectual character of the
inhabitants of the Potteries. We have already referred
to the first visit of John Wesley to Burslem in 1760,
when he was pelted with mud. He visited the same
place in 1781 after Wedgwood had established his
splendid pottery works. Wesley's words were these :
" I returned to Burslem. How is the whole face of the
country improved in about twenty years ! Inhabitants
have continuously flowed in from every side. Hence
the wilderness is literally become a fruitful field.
Houses, villages, towns, have sprung up, and the
country is not more improved than the people." After
these words of John Wesley, further eulogy is un-
necessary.

From the time when he first turned the lumbering

xxn Character of Wedgwood 299

potter's wheel in the Old Churchyard Works at Burslem,
to the time when he lay on his deathbed in his fine
mansion at Etruria Hall, Wedgwood's mind had ever
been active, ever thinking, ever working, ever seeking
out fresh scientific truths, and ever busying himself
in benefiting his fellow-men. During his busy life, he
was always simple, patient, and steadfast. His per-
sonal sufferings may perhaps have restrained and
sweetened his moral nature.

The dowry of suffering pursued him through life.
His virulent attack of smallpox, the constant pain in
his knee until its amputation, the scoriae in his eyes
which threatened blindness, rendered his life a struggle
with physical ills, and amounted to a long dying.

Yet how much he accomplished, for the benefit of
English art and commerce, as well as for the advantage
of his fellow-countrymen, during his comparatively
brief career.

He did not fear death : he regarded it as the com-
plement of life. He had done his work ; and death
was a release from the pains and sufferings which
had so long afflicted his existence.

INDEX

ALEHOUSES, Burslem, 11, 12

America, war with, 164

Ancient British, 184

Anson, Lord, 100

Artistic works, 148

Artists employed by Wedgwood,

109
Astbury at Bradwell, 16 ; his

improvement of pottery, 17 ;

introduces burnt flint, 18 ;

Astbury and Wedgwood, 19, 24
Auckland, Lord, 264, 277
Austell, St., Cornwall, 169

BACON, sculptor, 110, 146

Barbauld, Mrs., 61, 197

Barberini or Portland Vase, 213,

259, 271
Basalts, 144
Bell Works, 44, 49
Bentley, friendship with, 60 ;

partner, 88 ; correspondence with,

107, 127-31 ; death of, 240-42
Black porcelain introduced, 80
Blindness, Wedgwood's, 126, 146
Blunt, Wedgwood's teacher, 4, 20
Boardman, Liverpool, 60
Bottgher, the 'Gold-Cook,' 170 ;

maker of porcelain, 172 ; at

Meissen, 173

Boulton, Matthew, 48, 54, 78, 133
Brickhouse Works, 44, 49
Bridgewater, Duke of, 72, 97
Brindley, engineer, 18, 48, 95 ;

of Grand Trunk Canal, 53, 68,

97, 100, 102 ; death of, 103
Bristol porcelain, 178

British, Ancient, 184

Burslem — Churchyard Works, 18,

21 ; pottery at, 2 ; education at,

4 ; poor condition of, 11 ;

increase of population, 84 ;

John Wesley at, 12, 92
Busts, favourite, 235
Byerley, agent in London, 206 ;

with young Wedgwoods at Paris,

274 ; at Geneva, 276 ; at Naples,

276 ; partner, 278

CAMELFORD, Lord, 175, 186
Canal, Grand Trunk, 53, 68, 97, 103
Canova and Flaxman, 221
Carriage, expense of, 52, 93
Cathcart, Lord, 82
Champion, Bristol, 178
Chelsea, works at, 79, 108
Chemistry, Wedgwood and, 105
Chessmen, Flaxman's, 212, 214,

229

Chetwynd, Lady Deborah, 73
Chimneypieces, Flaxman's, 208,

212, 236, 250

Chiswick Church, Bentley's monu-
ment in, 242
Church, Professor, 152
Churchyard Works, Burslem, 1, 8,

21

Cookworthy and kaolin, 175
Cornwall, Wedgwood's journey into,

180

Coward, artist, 109, 155
Crispe, potter, 110

DARWIN, Dr., 119, 122, 257, 283,

302

Josiah Wedgwood

284 ; Botanic Garden, 279 ; at
Wedgwood's deathbed, 288

Delft ware, 9, 14

Deveare at Home, 222

Dorchester, 184

Dover, Lady, 156

Drunkenness of workmen, 44

EARTHEN pipes, Wedgwood's, 238
Edinburgh University, sons at, 274
Education at Burslem, 4
Education, Josiah Wedgwood's, 5
Education of his sons, 234, 239, 273
Elers, from Delft, 14 ; their diffi-
culties at Bradwell, 15 ; remove
to Chelsea, 17

Engine lathe for pottery, 55, 69
Engleheart and Flaxmau, 198
Etruscan vases, 150. (See Vases)
Etruria founded, 86, 104 ; first

fruits of, 136

Experiments, Wedgwood's many,
89, 129

FAMILY of Wedgwood, 191, 193,
232

Fame, forebodings of, 230

Faujas de Saint Fond on Wedgwood's
ware, 149

Fireplaces, Wedgwood on, 250

Fire, an uncertain element, 46, 75

Flaxman's history, 195 ; marriage
to Ann Denham, 202 ; works for
Wedgwood, 202 ; ruined ^for an
artist, 203 ; proceeds in sculp-
ture, 204 ; his numerous works,
205 ; Flaxman's groups of chil-
dren, 211 ; paints ceiling at
Etruria Hall, 212 ; departs for
Home, 220 ; his work there, 223 ;
still works for Wedgwood, 229

Flaxman, William, carver, 215

Fothergill, Miss, 156

Franklin, Benjamin, 258

GLADSTONE, W. E., 'eloge on Wedg

wood, 49, 292
Gower, Lord, 76, 100, 132
Grand Trunk Canal, 53, 68, 97, 103
Greek works copied, 80

Green earthenware, 32 ; glaze, 38,

43
riffiths in South Carolina. 131 ;

in Cornwall, 180
rowan in Cornwall, 176, 187

HACKWOOD, modeller, 155, 258 note

Hamilton, Sir W., 132. 136, 149,
235, 237 ; letters from, 163, 207 ;
on the Barberini Vase, 213, 262,
264 ; on Portland Vase, 269

Hanley, pottery at, 2 ; poor condi-
tion of, 11 ; museum, Josiah's
apprenticeship deed at, 21

Harecastle Tunnel, 99

Harrison, partnership with, 31

Hercules and Virtue, 218

Highland Rebellion, 24

Home Kule in Ireland, 254

Hoppner, artist, 257

Hoskins, artist, 109

IVY HOUSE and Works, Burslem,
41

JASPER-DIP, 154, 250
Jasper ware, 152, 201
Journey into Cornwall, 180

KAOLIN, 169, 172, 176
King George III., 73
Knight and Flaxman, 205

LANDRE, Mrs., modeller, 116
Lanes near Burslem, 13, 51
Lathe, engine, for pottery, 55, 69
Leslie, Sir John, 5
Lizard Rock, the, 189
London warehouses, 57, 79
Lunar Society, 284

MAIDEN CASTLE, 184

Matthew and Flaxman, 196

Medallions, Wedgwood's, 148

Meredith, Sir W., 70

Money scarce with Wedgwood, 147

Mortars for druggists, 231

GATES, Miss, 69
Old age, 166, 284

Index

303

PACK-HORSES at Burslem, 3
Palissy, monument to, 174
Pingo, modeller, 113
Pitt, Thurlow's burlesque on, 58
Pitt, Lord Camelford, 175, 186
Plumier's VArt de Tourner, 69
Plymouth porcelain, 177
Plymouth, Wedgwood at, 185
Porcelain, history of, 169, 174
Portraits, execution of, 148
Potworks, country, 13
Prices of Wedgwood ware, 242, 269
Priestley and Wedgwood, 284
Prints on pottery, 57
Puzzle-jug, 9
Pyrometer, 243

QUEEN'S ware, 56

Queen's visit to Wedgwood's rooms,
230

RATHBONE'S tribute to Wedgwood,

230

Reynolds, Sir J., 256
Rhodes, euameller, 114, 155
Ridgehouse estate, 85
Riots in cotton districts, 238 ; at

Etruria, 251
Roads and highways, 10, 13, 51 ;

improvements, 68, 91, 93
Romney, artist, 257
Russia, Empress's order, 82

SADDLER employs prints for pottery,

57

Shaws and Wedgwoods, 8
Showrooms in London, 57, 79, 133,

167

Southwell, Mrs., 116
Spode, Josiah, apprentice, 33
Staffordshire in 1778, 165
Stouker, the, 22
Stringer, artist, 113
Stringer, Wedgwood's mother, 1

TABLE-SERVICES for the King and

Queen, 76, 77
Tassie, modeller, 112
Taylor, Birmingham, 55
Tea-services, 43 ; for Queen, 74

Teignham, Lady, 156
Templeton, Lady, 257
Thermometer, 243-50
Thrower's occupation, 22
Tolcher, old, teetotaller, 190
Turner, Dr., Liverpool, 60
Turner, Lane End, 180
Twyford, idiot at Bradwell, 16

VASES, rage for, 74, 81, 115, 117,

137
Voyez, enameller, 112

WAGES of potters, 10, 28, 33

Warehouses in Newport Street, 137 ;
in Greek Street, Soho, 167

Watt, James, 133 ; on commerce,
254

Weaver navigation, 73, 97

Webber, modeller, 256

Wedgwood, Thomas, Josiah's father,
1 ; death of, 4, 20 ; his will, 5 ;
death of Josiah's mother, 28

Wedgwood family, the, 7 ; their
origin, 7 ; Burslem Wedgwood,
8 ; the doctors Wedgwood, 9, 10

Wedgwood, Josiah, birth and educa-
tion, 1 ; youngest of thirteen
children, 1,2; taste for modelling,
20 ; apprenticed as thrower, 21 ;
effects improvement in moulded
ware, 22 ; attacked by smallpox,
23 ; left severe pain in knee, 25 ;
sent to the moulder's board, 27 ;
his first teapot, 27 ; manufacture
of ornamental wares, 27 ; begins
making experiments, 27 ; brother
refuses to take him as partner,
30 ; partnership with Harrison
and Whieldon, 31 ; Wedgwood's
experiments, 34-38 ; begins busi-
ness, 40 ; cultivation of mind,
41 ; extends his premises, 43 ;
difficulties with workmen, 42, 44,
75 ; firing kilns, 45 ; reflections
at night, 47 ; improves the roads,
51 ; cost of transport, 52 ; in-
vents the engine lathe for pottery,
55 ; made potter to the Queen,
56, 76 ; burlesque on Pitt, 58 ;

304

Josiah Wedgwood

accident to his right knee, 59 ;
makes acquaintance with Beutley,
60 ; friends at Liverpool, 61 ;
correspondence with Bentley, 62 ;
Wedgwood's marriage, 64 ; merits
of his wife, 64, 67, 70, 121,
126, 142, 156, 290 ; trade of
Wedgwood, 70 ; patronised by
King and Queen, 73 ; rage for
vases, 74, 81 ; service for Empress
of Eussia, 82 ; buys Ridgehouse
estate, afterwards Etruria, 85 ;
Etruria established, 86 ; partner-
ship with Bentley, 88 ; continuous
experiments, 89 ; Grand Trunk
Canal, 97 ; first sod cut, 100 ;
appointed treasurer, 101 ; new
earthenware introduced, 106 ;
artists employed by Wedgwood,
109 ; starts a School of Art, 115 ;
amputation of leg, 121 ; his many
wooden legs, 124 ; attacks of
blindness, 126, 146 ; first fruits
of Etruria, 136 ; want of money,

143 ; opponent of slave trade,

144 ; executes portraits, medal-
lions and plaques, 148 ; opposes
renewal of Cookworthy's patent,
178 ; journey into Cornwall,
180 ; thermometers, 181 ; elected
Fellow of the Koyal Society, 181 ;
experiments on flint glass, 182 ;
a geologist, 182 ; his Common-
place Book, 181-82 ; the ancient
British, 184 ; Mount Edgecumbe,
185 ; Land's End, 188 ; pur-
chases an estate with Growan

stone, 189 ; journeys homeward,
191 ; his family, 193 ; Wedgwood
and Flaxman, 195 ; sons of
Wedgwood his pupils, 208 ; his
letters, 238 ; death of Bentley,
240-42 : member of Royal Society,
247 ; a pamphleteer, 252 ; Cham-
ber of Commerce, 254 ; Portland
Vase, 259 ; Wedgwood's imita-
tion, 263 ; difficulties in copying
Portland Vase, 266-70 ; journey
to Meissen, 271 ; Portland vase
broken by a lunatic, 272 ; sons
with Byerley in Paris, 274 ;
Byerley a partner, 278 ; Wedg-
wood's many accomplishments,
280 ; assistants in Italy, 282 ; life
coining to an end, 282 ; Wedg-
wood and Priestley, 284 ; declin-
ing health, 285 ; his generosity,
286 ; offers £1000 to National
Gallery of Sculpture, 287 ; death
from gangrene, 288 ; Wedgwood's
character, 289-99
Wesley, Charles, at Walsall, 91
Wesley, John, at Burslem, 12, 92
Westmacott, sculptor, 256
Whieldon, partnership with, 32
Wilcox and wife, 114-116
Willet, death of Mr., 166
Wolverhampton Canal, 100
Workmen, difficulties with, 42, 44,

75

Wright of Derby, artist, 114, 257
Wyatt, sculptor, 256

YOUNG, Arthur, on roads, 92

THE END

Printed by R. & R. CLARK, Edinburgh.

WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR

JASMIN

BARBER, POET, PHILANTHROPIST. Post 8vo. 6s.

" What Jasmin did for himself in poetry Dr. Smiles has now done for him in
prose, doing full justice to that part of his life which Jasmin's simple modesty for-
bade him to record, namely, his unceasing philanthropic efforts. The story is
noble as well as touching, and is told by Dr. Smiles with abundance of sympathy
and appreciation." — The Times.

"In 'Jasmin' Dr. Smiles introduces the English reading public to an indi-
viduality of which, till now, it had but the vaguest of impressions. Most people
have come across Longfellow's translation of Jasmin's ' Blind Girl of Castel-
Cuille' ; but how many had formed any clear idea of the French 'barber, poet,
philanthropist,' of whom Dr. Smiles submits so fresh and fascinating a portrayal? "
— The Globe.

"Dr. Samuel Smiles has given to the world a graceful and sympathetic record
of a pure and beautiful human life, teeming with the poetry of action as well as of
thought, and redolent throughout of good deeds and loving - kindness. "—Daily
Telegraph.

"Jasmin wrote his early verses on slips of curl-paper, and ruthlessly employed
the paper used in dressing ladies' heads. From this circumstance he named his
two earliest volumes Papillotes, ' Curl-papers.' He at once received honour in his own
country, and his fame spread even to Paris, whence he was visited by various
literary men, to whom he talked of poetry while he shaved them with ' touch of
velvet.' " — Literary World.

" A delightful book. Jasmin, the barber-poet of Agen, ' the last of the Trouba-
dours,' as he termed himself, was just the kind of man the history of whose life
was likely to have a peculiar charm for Dr. Smiles. And in justice to the author
it must be said that he has the happy knack of making his readers interested in
the subject of his biography." — Manchester Examiner.

" It was rather a hazardous undertaking to attempt to interest English readers
in a local Gascon poet, but Dr Smiles will deserve all the more credit if it turns
out that he has succeeded ; and a book such as this has the additional advantage
of widening our sympathies, and showing that there are good Christians and self-
made men who are neither Protestants nor citizens of the most favoured nation."
— Glasgow Herald.

"When famine or hunger made its appearance amongst the poor people— where
a creche, or orphanage, or school, or even a church had to be helped and supported
— Jasmin was usually called upon to assist with his recitations. He travelled
thoiisands of miles for such purposes, during which he collected about a million-
and-a-half of francs, and gave the whole of his hard-earned money over to the
public charities, returning after his long journeys to pursue his humble occupa
tion at Agen."— The, Speaker.

" The story of such a life is well worth telling, and it has been admirably and
sympathetically told by Dr. Smiles in a book which, to our mind, is one of the
most attractive of all his works."— John Bull.

WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR

LIFE AND LABOUR

CHARACTERISTICS OF MEN OF TALENT AND GENIUS
Post 8vo. 6s.

" Dr. Smiles's new work is on the lines of ' Self-Help,' ' Duty,' and ' Thrift,' which
have obtained an extraordinary popularity, not merely in the United Kingdom, but
abroad, especially among the Latin nations. ... It cannot be gainsaid that works
which meet with such a reception as this answer to a real need, and must do a
large amount of good."— Athetueum.

"As years roll on the author's store of apt illustrations becomes ampler, while
in the case of Dr. Smiles, his skill in dealing with them shows no failure. ' Life
and Labour ' is a companion volume to ' Self-Help ' and ' Character ' and its pub-
lication at this season will be regarded as opportune. ... No more suitable
volume could be found (for a prize book) to bear the inscription, Laboris prcemium."
— Academy.

" Any book from the pen of Dr. Smiles is certain to contain useful and instruc-
tive matter, and to be pleasant reading. This new one is not likely to remain
unobserved, and in our opinion it should be placed in the hands of as many young
people as possible. The industry of the author in collecting illustrative facts is as
remarkable as his facility for arranging and displaying them. The ten chapters of
which it consists are full of facts and examples, and though we have mentioned
young people, we believe people of all ages and in all conditions of life may read
them with pleasure and advantage." — Queen.

" All Dr. Smiles's books have relation to man's destiny— his life, his work, his
duty, and his achievements. Each book, singular to say, while possessing a char-
acteristic peculiarly its own, forms a companion volume or connecting link to the
whole series of works he has given to the world. After the production of that
incomparable book ' Self-Help,' one would have thought it difficult to have written
another work bearing upon the same subject without largely trenching upon the
thought and matter of his first effort. But Dr. Smiles has astonished his friends
and admirers by the fertility of his mind in the large stores of knowledge which he
has drawn upon in the production of so many works of such surpassing worth and
interest. 'Life and Labour' surprises us by its freshness and originality. The
author shows no lack of mental vigour or terseness of style. There is a brightness
and beauty that places the volume on a par with his best productions. The interest
of the book is sustained from first to last, without the least indication of flagging.
The subject is not only interesting, but highly instructive to young men who wish
to make the best of their life and their labour. Here they will find wise counsels,
timely cautions, and manly encouragements to help them in their battle of life."—
Christian Union.

11 Like every previous work from the pen of Dr. Smiles, this is what may be
called a vital book— a book, that is, which is destined not only to live, but to
influence the lives of its readers. It runs upon much the same lines as ' Self-Help '
and ' Character,' and contains many fresh instances of what can be accomplished
by honest force of will and steady perseverance. . . . His chapter on ' The Man
and the Gentleman ' opens up the whole question of industry and idleness, and is
full of stories, apologues, proverbs, and instances illustrating the advantages of
punctuality, perseverance, method, and the husbanding of time generally. Nor is
the necessity for leisure forgotten ; but it must be well-earned leisure, and leisure
which fits for the renewal of work." — Liverpool Mercury.

"Perhaps the most valuable chapter in 'Life and Labour' is that on 'Over-
Brain work,' which should be cordially commended to the attention of all students,
and yet more to the attention of all those who have to supervise the studies of
others." — John Bull.

WORKS B Y THE SAME A UTHOR

CHARACTER

A VOLUME OF NOBLE CHARACTERISTICS

Post 8vo. 6s.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS, ETC.

" This work is so exactly fitted for a gift-book (and indeed a school-boy or a boy
leaving school need desire no better one) that we are inclined to mention it here.
The value of character above all mere intellectual culture, the blessedness of work,
the necessity of courage and self-control, the sense of duty as the guiding star of
life — these are some of the topics discussed in 'Character,' — not, however, as
abstract propositions, but with the help of a store of illustrations drawn from the
biographies of great men. The book possesses, if we may use the expression, a
vital force, and can scarcely fail to stimulate the reader. The chapters headed
' Companionship of Books,' and ' Companionship in Marriage,' will be read with
special interest."— Pall Mall Gazette

"To the lovers of a pure and healthy literature, this invigorating and high-toned
volume from the pen of the author of ' Self-Help ' will afford real and genuine
enjoyment. In the clear and attractive style which has rendered his previous
writings so deservedly popular, Mr. Smiles has here shown to what a height of
mental and moral excellence our weak and imperfect nature may attain, and how
much true nobility of character it may develop and sustain. . . . The last two
chapters, on Companionship in Marriage and the Discipline of Experience, form a
fitting conclusion to so excellent a book, and are pregnant with interest and
lessons of the highest wisdom. The breadth and soundness of the views enunci-
ated in the former on some delicate but universally important topics are especially
commendable, and should be read and pondered over by all who see a much-
neglected source of happiness for the people in the elevation of their home-life,
and a more extensive cultivation of the domestic virtues." — Leeds Mercury.

" Uniform in size with the author's very popular ' Self-Help,' this work is of the
same tone and cast of thought. Believing that Character is a great power in the
world, the author treats the various points in which it may be developed, or whicli
call it forth. Hence, we have chapters on Home Power, Companionship, Temper,
Marriage, Experience, and abundant citations of examples, so that the work is
full of interest. It is difficult indeed to limit the good that may arise from these
honest, earnest books, full of right thinking ; plain, sensible, and not too full of
sentiment." — Publishers' Circular.

"Readers of 'Self -Help' will need no further inducement to send them in
search of the new work by the author of that charming book. ... It would be
difficult to select a book more admirably adapted as a present to a young man or
young woman at the outset of life. The charm of the style is irresistible ; the
moral conveyed altogether unimpeachable."— Manchester Courier.

"The author of 'Self-Help' has produced another little book which will soon
run over the face of the land, and help to inspire the rising generation with ennob-
ling sentiments. In our hunger for facts, we must not overlook the value of
ideas. While we are striving to give- our young people technical information, we
must not omit to teach them to be truthful, high - thoughted, noble men and
women. We must foster their abilities, but not forget Character. . . . Mr. Smiles,
in this very charming volume, has brought together the opinions and sayings of
good and wise men of all times, as to the various qualities which go to form char-
acter. . . . The result is a valuable book, calculated as well to give delight as to
do good."— Builder.

"Mr. Smiles has been fortunate in the choice of his subject; and, as a work of
wise counsel and thoughtful instruction, the new book is quite as successful as
any of its author's previous works. Nor is it any less entertaining. It literally
teems with apposite and interesting anecdotes, and the writer's style is at once so
lively and dignified, that on the one hand he never becomes dry however earnestly
and seriously he discusses life and duty ; and, on the other, he never degenerates
into flippancy in his most amusing illustrations."— Manchester Examiner.

WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR

THRIFT

A BOOK OF DOMESTIC COUNSEL. Post 8vo. 6s.

"There is no book among the current literature of the day we would rather see
in a young man's hand than this. Although every person in his daily experience
must meet wilh many instances of the folly of unthrift, especially among the
poorer classes, the frequency of the text, and it is to be feared the disposition of
the age, render the lesson valueless. Domestic economy as an art and a science
is an unstudied subject, and one few writers have deemed worthy of their
thoughts. We cannot therefore feel sufficiently thankful that the able writer of
' Self-Help ' has turned his attention to it, and endeavoured, in language that has
not only a literary charm about it, but bears the stamp of philanthropic earnest-
ness, to rouse the interest, and thereby the reflection, of the British public in so
important a matter of national welfare. The dignity of laboiir, the necessity of
inducing habits of saving, the wickedness of extravagant living, the dangers of
prosperity, and the want of sympathy between employers and employed, are topics
on which Mr. Smiles speaks hard, and it may be, unpleasant truths, accompanied
by a fund of illustration. Perhaps no part of the book is so valuable as the dissi-
pation of the superstitious belief in good-luck and the chapter on the art of living.
We trust the work will be found in every village and public library, that its
principles may be disseminated broadcast among our youth, and we can assure all
that they may enjoy in it many an hour's pleasant and profitable reading." —
Spectator.

" Mr. Smiles deals with some of the leading social questions of the day, such as
Co-operation and Association. He sketches the sanitary movement, unsparingly
satirises the feminine follies of fashionable circles, and, lastly, concludes with an
admirable essay on what may be called the aesthetics of common life. We all
know what a book from Mr. Smiles is sure to be, anecdotal, practical, and abound-
ing in good sense and everyday wisdom." — Academy.

DUTY

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS OF COURAGE, PATIENCE, AND
ENDURANCE. Post 8vo. 6s.

"The good which these books have done to their millions of readers is quite
beyond computation. They have always been practical, wholesome, and inspiring."
— Harper's Monthly Magazine.

"The author has produced an excellent book, which for solid usefulness may
well claim to be preferred to the lighter productions of the time."— Pall Mall
Gazette.

"Dr. Smiles has achieved the best work when, unimpeded by the conflicting
claims of party or prejudice, he is able to pass in review those examples of bravery,
self-devotion, and what, in the best sense of the word, may be called heroism. . . .
Nor does he forget to stir the hearts of his readers with examples of the dutiful
love and faith of animals, and so move them to a more thorough sense of their
reciprocal duty. He thus inculcates broad views of duty to man and beast, that
command universal approval and deserve unquestionable allegiance." — Examiner.

" The author writes as one who sympathises with the struggles and the failures
of those who, in spite of difficulties, are trying to reach a nobler life. And it is
this evident sympathy, associated with the manly simplicity and directness of his
style, his sterling good sense, his judicious counsel, and his immense fund of
wisely - manipulated anecdote, that makes this volume likely to be not only
popular, but thoroughly useful." — Christian World.

"The book is replete with all the attractions of its predecessors — so full of
anecdote that it will be pleasant to the young as a story-book, while its lessons of
wise counsel will fit it eminently to guide its readers in their various paths
through life."— The Queen.

WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR

LIVES OF THE ENGINEERS

WITH AN

ACCOUNT OF THEIR PRINCIPAL WORKS

INCLUDING A

History of Inland Communication in Britain, and the Invention and
Introduction of the Steam-Engine and Railway Locomotive.

VOL. I. — EMBANKMENTS AND CANALS — VERMUYDEN, MYDDELTON,

PERRY, BRINDLEY.
,, II.— HARBOURS, LIGHTHOUSES, AND BRIDGES— SM EATON AND

RENNIE.

,, III.— HISTORY OF ROADS — METCALFE AND TELFORD.
,, IV. — THE STEAM-ENGINE— BOULTON AND WATT.
,, V. — THE LOCOMOTIVE — GEORGE AND ROBERT STEPHENSON.

With Portraits and 342 Illustrations on Wood.
5 vols. Crown 8vo. 7s. 6d. each.

%* Each Volume may be had separately.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS, ETC.,
ON THE FIRST, SECOND, AND THIRD VOLUMES.

"A chapter of English history which had to be written, and which, probably,
no one could have written so well. Mr. Smiles has obtained a mass of original
materials. It is not too much to say that we now have an Engineers' Pantheon,
with a connected narrative of their successive reclamations from sea, bog, and fen ;
a history of the growth of the inland communication of Great Britain by means of
its roads, bridges, canals, and railways ; and a survey of the lighthouses, break-
waters, docks, and harbours constructed for the protection and accommodation of
our commerce with the world." — Times.

" We cannot but refer in passing to the captivating and instructive volumes
which Mr. Smiles has devoted to the ' Lives of the Engineers,' a record not before
attempted of the achievements of a race of men who have conferred the highest
honour and the most extensive benefits on their country. ' Who'are the great men
of the present age?' said Mr. Bright in the House of Commons, — ' Not your
warriors — not your statesmen, they are your Engineers.' " — Edinburgh Review.

" Mr. Smiles has profoundly studied, and has happily delineated in his lucid
and instructive biographies, that remarkable succession of gifted minds which
has, not by lucky guesses, but by incessant labour and by lifelong thought, gradu-
ally erected that noble example of dominion of man over the earth — the science of
Engineering ; and we are proud to know that there are men yet among us who can
wield the arms of the invincible knights of old, and who will leave no meaner
memory behind them." — Quarterly Review.

" Mr. Smiles may fairly claim the merit of having produced one of the most in-
teresting and instructive works. He has discovered almost unbroken ground, and
has worked it with so much skill and success that his readers will recognise in his
volumes an illustration of the truth of Lord Macaulay's Saying, that history,
personal or national, may, when properly written, be rendered as interesting as
any novel." — London Review.

"In two handsome volumes, richly illustrated and luxuriously printed, Mr.
Smiles begins what is in fact a History of the results of Engineering Science in

WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR

this country. He puts his history into the most interesting form by developing it
through successive stories of the Lives of the Engineers. Although his subject is
one of the most curious and important in the whole history of civilisation, and
abounds in details that are known to delight even our boys, the ground Mr. Smiles
traverses is to a remarkable degree his own peculiar possession." — Examiner.

" Two beautifully illustrated volumes, in which the biographical, historical, and
mechanical materials are graphically adjusted, and in which we have presented to
us a comprehensive and minute record of English engineers and engineering. By
his narrative Mr. Smiles has better instructed us in our obligations to our bene-
factors. The whole theme is full of interest to all orders of mind ; and in using
his materials he has laboured to make his work as complete in every respect as
possible." — British Quarterly Review.

"In tracing the history of English Engineering from the beginning, Mr. Smiles
really gives a history of English civilisation. He has produced a kind of philoso-
phical biography, the progress of discovery and industrial conquest having
necessarily a general correspondence with the mental development of the great
representatives of man's external action. We think Mr. Smiles has done what
was well worth the doing, with skill, with honesty, with purpose, and with taste."
— Westminster Revieiv.

" The ' Lives of the Engineers ' are written in a clear and flowing style, marked
by good sense and enlivened by humour ; they are full of curious information, con-
veyed in a most lucid and easy description ; and each successive hero is drawn
with an appreciation of character, and a minute exhibition of personal traits, which
sets the man almost visibly before us in his distinct individuality, and lends to the
history of his struggling genius a touch of almost dramatic interest. To produce
this result, much hidden labour must have been employed ; for it is the effect of a
most careful selection and rigid condensation of abundant though dry materials.
Mr. Smiles has happily hit the mean between the barrenness of a brief epitome
and the dreary wilderness of a maze of detail. What he gives is clear, intelligible,
and interesting. But he has not trusted entirely to his literary excellence, great
as it is ; his volumes derive an additional charm from their numerous and happy
illustrations. Every work of note which has to be described is accompanied by a
map or plan ; every district, ennobled by the birth or enriched by the labours of
an engineer, is mapped on the margin of the page ; and bridges, haibours, roads,
and aqueducts are turned by the skill of the artist into most effective decorations.
The history of the engineers is not only the history of great conquests over nature,
but also of the triumphs of industry and genius over the artificial obstacles of
social rank. It presents the most striking instances of that Self-help which Mr.
Smiles has elsewhere chronicled. The full merits of these two charming volumes
can be learned only from a perusal of them." — The Guardian.

" There may be many here who have made themselves acquainted with a book
that cannot be too widely brought into public notice — I mean the recent publica-
tion of a popular author, Mr. Smiles, entitled ' The Lives of the Engineers.' There
may be those here who have read the Life of Brindley, and perused the record of
his discouragement in the tardiness of his own mind, as well as in the external cir-
cumstances with which he determined to do battle, and over which he achieved
his triumph. There may be those who have read the exploits of the blind Metcalfe,
who made roads and bridges in England at a time when nobody else had learned
to make them. There may be those who have dwelt with interest on the achieve-
ments of Smeaton, Rennie, and Telford. In that book we see of what materials
Englishmen are made. These men, who have now become famous among us, had
no mechanics' institute, no libraries, no classes, no examinations, to cheer them on
their way. In the greatest poverty, difficulties, and discouragements, their
energies were found sufficient for their work, and they have written their names
in a distinguished page of the history of their country." — The Right Hon. W. E.
Gladstone at Manchester.

" I have just been reading a work of great interest, which I recommend to your
notice — I mean Smiles's ' Lives of the Engineers.' No more interesting books have
been published of late years than those of Mr. Smiles — his ' Lives of the Engineers,'
his 'Life of George Stephenson,' and his admirable little book on 'Self-help,'— a
most valuable manual."— The Right Hon. Sir Stafford Northcote at Exeter.

WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR

LIVES OF THE ENGINEERS

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS ON VOL. IV.

[THE STEAM-ENGINE— BOULTON AND WATT]

" Mr. Smiles has done wisely to link the names of Boulton and Watt together in
the volume before tis. The more we read of the correspondence between these two
great men during the birth of the new motive power, the more we feel convinced
that the world has to be thankful for their happy partnership. Boulton seemed by
some happy chance to possess all the qualities of mind that were wanting in Watt.
.... From the heaps of dusty ledgers in the counting-house at Soho, the author
has drawn the materials for these deeply-interesting lives, and has so handled them
as to produce a volume which worthily crowns his efforts in this most interesting,
because before untrodden, walk in literature." — Times.

"Boulton was the complement of Watt's active intelligence. . . . His is a
memory of which the leaders of industry in Great Britain may well be proud. His
virtues were the coinmon virtues which render the English character respected
throughout the world, but in him they were combined with admirable harmony,
and were unsullied by any of those vices which too frequently degrade the reputation
of our countrymen. We cannot read of Mr. Boulton's grand struggle to bring the
steam-engine into further use without a feeling of pure admiration. . . . We lay
down this volume with a feeling of pride and admiration that England had the
honour of producing at the same time two such men, whose labours will contimie
to benefit mankind to the remotest generation, and with gratitude to the distin-
guished biographist who preserves for the instruction of the times to come
pictures of them so full of life and reality." — Daily News.

"Mr. Smiles has been enabled, by the examination of some hitherto unused
papers, to throw a new light upon much of Watt's career ; and he has shown much
skill in using them so as not to become wearisome, and yet to give us a very full
and interesting picture. There is, in fact, a certain dramatic interest about the
early history of the great discovery, which Mr. Smiles has well brought out. . . .
Boulton is a really noble character, to whom Mr. Smiles has done justice, and
whose combination with a man of Watt's marvellous abilities, but defective
practical talents, was of the greatest use to themselves and to the country." — Pall
Mall Gazette.

" In this volume Mr. Smiles has published a highly interesting and judiciously-
condensed joint biography of the two men to whom England owes such an in-
calculable development of her wealth and power during the last century. . . . Mr.
Smiles carries pleasantly all who choose to read him carefully, through the history
of the various improvements engrafted by Watt on his original engine, and of the
other scientific inventions upon which his fertile brain was perpetually at work.
He gives, also, a curious and interesting account of the part taken by Boulton in
the prevention of the frightfully prevalent crime of coining base money, through
the application of steam power to the coinage of a far more accurately-struck
currency in metal of a more intrinsic value."— Saturday Review.

"That Mr. Smiles's will be the standard life of the great engineer is simply the
necessity of his greater art as an industrial biographer. His skill in weaving
together anecdote and description, representations of what was known with a
distinct specification of what was contributed by his hero ; his dramatic power, in
this volume especially, exhibited in the contrast of the two partners, — the
sanguine, speculative character of Boulton ; the anxious, morbid, cautious temper
of Watt, one full of hope in the very darkest circumstances, the other full of fear
in the brightest, — give the volume a wonderful charm. The life of Watt is a great
epic of discovery ; the narrative of it by Mr. Smiles is an artistic and finished poem."
British Quarterly Review.

WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR

LIVES OF THE ENGINEERS

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS ON VOL. V.
[THE LOCOMOTIVE— GEORGE AND ROBERT STEPHENSON]

"It is a singular fate that some of the world's greatest benefactors should pass
from the world with their history comparatively unnoticed. . . . and we rightly
rejoice when the claims of any of them are vindicated — when, from the hidden
company of the Brindleys and Watts, men risen from the ranks to do world-wide
service, and incidentally to be the architects of their country's later greatness, we
can obtain the authentic history of such a creator as George Stephenson. It is not
too much to say, that by Mr. Smiles, who has performed this office with eminent
success, a considerable void is filled up in the page of modern history. We see the
vast proportions of our modern achievements, and the epic story of this age of iron,
more than half comprised in the feats of its strongest and most successful worker.
The worker himself, with his noble simplicity and energy, his zeal for his kind, his
native-born gentleness, and indomitable tenacity, would probably have been
eminent in any age or condition of society ; but, in virtue of his actual achieve-
ments and the obstacles he surmounted, of his struggles and triumphs, we may
designate him a hero, and ask, in defence of this arbitrary title, what real conditions
of heroism were there wanting." — The. Times.

" We should like to see this biography in the hands of all our young men. One
breathes a healthy, bracing atmosphere in reading this book. It sets before us a
tine instance of success in life attained purely in the exercise of genuine qualities.
There was no sham about George Stephenson. . . . He was a great and good man,
and we can give the ' Life ' no higher praise than to say that it is worthy of its
subject. Mr. Smiles is so anxious to place the character and career of Stephenson
justly before his readers, that he quite forgets himself. . . . We do not know that
there ever lived an individual to whom each separate inhabitant of Great Britain
owes so much of real tangible advantage." — Fraser's Magazine.

"Whether the remarkable character of George Stephenson, or the work which
he accomplished, or the manner in which the story of both is here told, be con-
sidered, there is but one judgment to be pronounced upon this book, and that is an
xinqualified approval. There is not a youth in the kingdom, whether high-born or
low-born, who would not find in its perusal a healthy and elevating stimulus. The
demand for the larger work, from which this has been condensed, has been so great,
that we are encouraged to believe that in this, its cheaper form, it will have an
enormous circulation. We earnestly hope it may. Let no youth or young man
who may read these lines omit to procure it ; as -a possession, if possible ; if not,
for perusal."— Mechanics' Magazine.

"It is the fate of few men, even of those who are the most signal public
benefactors, to be known .and appreciated by the generation in which they live.
The fame of George Stephenson spread slowly, and, great as it has at last become,
we cannot question that it will continue to increase with time. Not only is he a
surprising example of a labourer raising himself to wealth and eminence without
one solitary advantage except what he derived from his own genius; but the
direction which that genius took has stamped his name upon the most wonderful
achievement of our age. . . . He died, leaving behind him the highest character for
simplicity, kindness of heart, and absolute freedom from all sordidness of disposi-
tion. His virtues are very beautifully illustrated, and by no means exaggerated,
in his Life by Mr. Smiles. . . . There is scarcely a single page of the work which is
not suggestive, and on which it would not be profitable to institute inquiry into
the results of past experience as compared with present practice. The whole
ground is novel, and of the highest interest." — Quarterly Revietv.

WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR

THE HUGUENOTS

THEIR SETTLEMENTS, CHURCHES, AND INDUSTRIES
IN ENGLAND AND IRELAND

Crown 8vo. 7s. 6d.

" The cunning of Mr. Smiles's hand never fails him. He has chosen the prosaic
side of Huguenot history, and lias made it as fascinating as a romance. He has
not essayed to depict the religious heroism or the social tragedy of the Huguenot
story— he has restricted himself to the economical influence of its migrations, and
he has made the statistics and genealogies — of which his work is full — as interest-
ing as Homer's lists of ships and heroes, or as Milton's array of the demigods of
hell. The process seems very simple and easy, but it can be saved from utter
dreariness only by consummate art. Mr. Smiles has pursued his investigations
with, a laborious minuteness worthy of the Statistical Society and of the Heralds'
College ; and yet it is as impossible to skip a page, as in reading his Life of
Stephenson." — British Quarterly.

" Avec un rare dessinteressement national et un sentiment de justice qu'on ne
saurait trop encourager, tin ecrivain Anglais vient aujourd'hui rendre aux etrangers
ce que la riche et laborieuse Angleterre du xixme siecle doit aux etrangers. M.
Smiles est 1'historien de la vapeur et de toutes les decouvertes utiles ; ses heros
sont les inventeurs, les artisans celebres, les ingenieurs, tous ceux, en tin mot, qui
ont derobe a la nature un secret on un force pour etrendre le regne de I'homme stir
la matiere. Les conquetes de I'industrie et du commerce le preoccupent bien
autrement que les victoires des armees Anglaises . . . Par la tournure de ses idees
«t 1'ordre de ses etudes, M. Smiles etait done prepare itraitercetinteressantsujet,
—la naissance des arts utiles chez un grand peuple qui, a 1'origine, n'avait pas
d'industrie." — Revue des Deux Mondes.

"The work of Mr. Smiles embraces a subject which has never been adequately
treated, at least in English literature — the history, namely, of the French and
Flemish Protestant refugees in this country, and their descendants.

"Of the powerful influence exercised by this immigration on our industry,
commerce, arts, literature, even our usages and modes of thought, few are aware.
The subject is by no means a familiar one among ourselves. The whole revolution,
so to speak, took place so gradually, the new population amalgamated so readily
and thoroughly with the old, that people hardly attached to the phenomena
which passed under their eyes their real importance. Mr. Smiles's account of it is,
therefore, admirably calculated to impart, not only new knowledge, but really
new ideas, to most of us.

"To readers who love to dwell on heroic vicissitudes rather than on mere
details of economical progress, Mr. Smiles's account of the persecution in France,
the sufferings of the many and the marvellous escapes of the few, will prove the
most attractive part of his work.

" How this noble army of emigrants for conscience sake — the truest aristocracy,
perhaps, which has ever developed itself— gradually and peacefully amalgamated
with that mass of the English people which they had done so much to enrich and
to instruct, Mr. Smiles has fully shown. He recounts their euthanasia, if such it
may be termed, as he does their rise. To one of the great causes of their success,
and not in England only, he does ample justice. They were, as a body, extremely
well educated ; and they jealously transmitted that inheritance, which they had
brought from France, to their children. The poorest Huguenot refugee was
almost always a cultivated man. Hence their great advantage in the fair race of
industry."— Pall Mall Gazette.

" Mr. Smiles's book on ' The Huguenots ' is an improvement on anything he has
yet done, and it deserves a success which, by reason of its very merits, we fear it
has no chance of attaining. The subject breaks ground that may almost be called
fallow. Many chapters of English history, and these not the least interesting or
important, are for the first time written, with the care and breadth they deserve,
by Mr. Smiles." — London Review.

io WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR

INDUSTRIAL BIOGRAPHY

IRON-WORKERS AND TOOL-MAKERS
Post 8vo. 6s.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS

"Mr. Smiles has hit upon a rich vein of ore, and works it with great success.
He has the art of biography, which is by no means so easy of attainment as, judg-
ing from the number of persons who attempt this species of composition, one
would imagine it to be. Memoirs are countless, but the number of biographies
that can be accepted as successful works of art are very few indeed. Mr. Smiles is
not only a skilful workman, he has chosen a new field of work. Hitherto the
great biographies have been written of soldiers and sailors, and statesmen, poets
and artists, and philosophers. It would seem as if these only were the great men
of the world, as if these only were the benefactors of mankind, whose deeds are
worthy of memory. The suspicion has arisen that, after all there may be other
herpes than those of the pen, the sceptre, and the sword. There are indeed, men in
various walks of life whose footsteps are worthy of being traced ; but surely, con-
sidering what England is, and to what we owe most of our material greatness, the
lives of our Engineers are peculiarly worthy of being written. ' The true Epic of
pur time,' says Mr. Carlyle, ' is not Arms and the man, but Tools and the man — an
infinitely wider kind of Epic.' Our machinery has been the making of us ; our iron-
works have, in spite of the progress of other nations, still kept the balance in our
hands. Smith-work in all its branches of engine-making, machine-making, tool-
making, cutlery, iron ship-building, iron-working, generally, is our chief glory.
England is the mistress of manufactures, and so the queen of the world, because
it is the land of Smith ; and Mr. Smiles's biographies are a history of the great
family of Smith. Many of the facts which he places before us are wholly new, and
are derived from the most likely sources. Thus, Maudslay's partner, Mr. Joshua
Field, and his pupil, Mr. Nasmyth, supplied the materials for his biography. Mr.
John Penn supplied the chief material for the memoir of Clement."— Times.

" This is not a very large book, but it is astonishing how much individual, con-
scientious, and thoroughly original research has been required for its composition,
and how much interesting matter it contains which we possess in no other form.
Mr. Smiles rescues no name, but many histories, from oblivion. His heroes are
known and gratefully remembered for the benefits they have conferred on mankind,
but our knowledge of our benefactors has hitherto been mostly confined to our
knowledge of the benefit. It was reserved for Mr. Smiles to discover in the work-
shop, heroes as true as ever hurled their battalions across a battle-field, and to
present us with much - enduring, much -endeavouring, arid brave men, where
hitherto we had been content with disembodied, almost meaningless names. The
present work is further distinguished, not indeed from its predecessors, but from
much of the current literature, by the exquisitely pellucid English, the vigorous
but unobtrusive style, in which the narratives are conveyed."— Edinburgh Daily
Review.

11 Who has not read Mr. Smiles's ' Lives of the Engineers'? Pleasant volumes,
abounding in quaint strange stories of life-struggles, of battles fought and won by
mind over stern matter, ay, and more difficult task, over the opposing intellects of
men, often envious, and always sceptical. Mr. Smiles has established a world-
wide reputation as the champion of the engineer and the inventor. What matter
that he sometimes acts the part of knight-errant, and couches his lance in defence
of those who have no claim on his services, simply because they appear to enjoy
scant justice at the hands of others ? "—Mechanics' Magazine.

WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR

LIFE OF THOMAS EDWARD

(SHOEMAKER, OF BANFF), SCOTCH NATURALIST

WITH PORTRAIT AND 30 ILLUSTRATIONS. Small Svo. 6s.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS

" The ' Life of a Scotcli Naturalist ' is a record of success in unsuccess — of fame
unmingled with any sordid advantage — of work absolutely disinterested and done
' for nought,' as all the noblest work has been done. It is the story of a poor
shoemaker who is a famous natural philosopher without ceasing to make shoes, or
attaining in his old age to any seat more easy than that of his familiar bench."—
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine.

"In the evening of a life so noble, it is a comfort to all the friends and admirers
of Thomas Edward to think that his exertions in the cause of Natural Science have
at last been recognised in a way that cannot fail to be grateful to the veteran
naturalist, who will no longer have to rely on his ' last ' as his resource against
starvation in his old age. All readers, whether friends of science or not, are bound
to be grateful to Mr. Smiles for having in a charming and beautifully illustrated
volume, rescued the fame and character of Thomas Edward from oblivion as a most
accomplished naturalist." — Times.

" The biography of this remarkable man owes much of its charm to the manner
in which Mr. Smiles has done his part as narrator. The unobtrusive way in which
the story is told, and the pleasant style of the smooth and experienced pen,
deserve more than a passing word of approval." — Saturday Review.

" The ' Life of a Scotch Naturalist,' regarding it as a mere narrative, is one of the
most enjoyable books it has ever been our good fortune to read. And it has this
further merit. It shows what even the humblest and poorest amongst us may
achieve, by the mere force of will, in spite of all the disadvantages of poverty,
superadded to the want of education and friends."— Land and Water.

" Brimful of interest from beginning to end." — World.

"This 'Life of a Scotch Naturalist' strikes us as Mr. Smiles at his best, in
mood, in matter, and in manner. In Thomas Edward, a naturalist and north-
country shoemaker, he has lighted upon a subject of a different order from the
common. If ever a man was carried away by a subject, it has been Mr. Smiles on
the present occasion, and the subject is fortunately quite worthy of him. The
work is a credit to the head and heart of Mr. Smiles, and of Mr Reid, the Aber-
deenshire artist." — Observer.

"This book is clear, racy, unaffected, admirable, and certainly Mr. Reid's
' labour of love ' on the drawings cannot fail to draw praise to him from the highest
quarters. As for the etched portrait by Rajon, it strikes us as a simple master-
piece. " — Nonconformist.

"Never has Mr. Smiles written with more of freshness and zest than in pre-
senting to us the picture of this Palissy of Naturalists, of whose portrait, etched
by Rajon, no words of praise could well be too high. Here is a man who, though
shrewd and practical, never allowed worldly views to conflict with his ideal ; whor
in all simplicity, without complaining, or ignoble greed of fame, followed his star,
yielding a notable testimony, that, though Inquisitions are no more, Science
still has its martyrs. A noble lesson of unaffected humility here goes hand-in-hand
with the lesson of self-help, and elevates it." — Spectator.

12 WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR

LIFE OF ROBERT DICK

(BAKER, OF THURSO), GEOLOGIST AND BOTANIST
WITH A PORTRAIT AND 50 ILLUSTRATIONS. Crown Svo. 12s.

"Robert Dick's life, from beginning to end, was a series of struggles with
adversity. Late in life, when his marvellous knowledge of local natural history
became known, he enjoyed the correspondence of many eminent naturalists and
collectors ; but, among these correspondents, how few knew anything about his
private circumstances ; how few dreamed that while he was generously presenting
them with fossil fish from the Old Red Sandstone, or with rare plants from the flora
of Caithness,— he found it hard, in spite of extreme frugality, to earn sufficient
to support himself and his faithful housekeeper.

" On the publication of Hugh Miller's writings, Dick became deeply interested in
geology. His indefatigable industry, and the energy with which he always threw
himself into any new study, soon led to important discoveries. Many a new fossil
was carefully hammered and chiselled out of the Old Red Sandstone, and duly
packed off to Hugh Miller. . . . Another friend with whom Dick regularly corre-
sponded was Mr. Charles Peach, of the Coast Guard Service. Mr. Peach is a man
almost as remarkable as Dick himself, and we feel indebted to Mr. Smiles for
having devoted a chapter to a sketch of his career. Those who enjoy Mr. Peach's
acquaintance will also be glad to find in the volume an excellent portrait of this
fine old naturalist. . . . The story here told is one of such absorbing interest that,
from the first page to the last, the author keeps his reader in deep sympathy with
his hero. Mr. Smiles's volume will be a more enduring monument to the scientific
baker than the obelisk which proudly keeps guard over his grave iu the cemetery
at Thurso." — Professor Rudler in the Academy.

" Robert Dick was one of those remarkable men of whom our country is justly
proud. Belonging by birth, means, and position to the lower orders, spending a life
of unceasing labour and not a little privation, earning his bread, to the last, by the
sweat of his brow — constantly on ' poortith's brink,' he yet, by dint of hard toil
and indomitable perseverance, became an accomplished geologist and a profound
botanist, and has taken a high and permanent place among the eminent scientific
men of the age. . . . Dr. Smiles has produced a deeply interesting biography of this
most laborious, unselfish, and modest Scottish worthy. We have read it with
mingled feelings of admiration, sorrow, and indignation." — North British Daily
Mail.

"Mr. Smiles has shown us the familiar traits of a man as faithful and self-
helping as any who were ever rewarded with the outwai'd success which takes the
eye of the world ; a man who, though shrewd and practical, never allowed worldly
views to conflict with his ideal ; who, in all simplicity, without complaining, or
ignoble greed of fame, followed out the bent of his singular genius. "—Belfast
Northern Whig.

"The story of a man quite as interesting as Thomas Edward, quite as self-
helpful, and perhaps more gifted as regards thought : certainly of a more poetical,
meditative, and humorous turn. Dick is from first to last an original, not a mere
working geologist or botanist, but a man with a character distinctly his own alike
in all his relationships ; and he never speaks, never writes the simplest letter, but
he casts modest, unpretentious light upon the very deepest problems. . . . The
portrait of Dick is etched with all M. Rajon's peculiar power, giving at once the
idea of great observation, fine thought, emotion, self-restraint, and pawky humour,
as seen in the twinkle of the eyes, that so distinguished the original of it. And
little less can be said of the admirable portrait of Mr. Peach, whose life so nicely
matches that of Dick. No more readable and attractive book of the kind have
we ever had in hand ; let our readers be sharers in our pleasure by procuring it."—
Nonconformist.

WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR 13

MEN OF INVENTION

Post 8vo. 6s.

PHINEAS PETT : Beginnings of English Ship-building.
FRANCIS P. SMITH, Introducer of the Screw Propeller.
JOHN HARRISON, Inventor of the Marine Chronometer.
JOHN LOMBE, Introducer of the Silk Industry.
WILLIAM MURDOCK : His Life and Inventions.
FREDKRICK KOENIG, Inventor of the Steam Printing Machine.
THE TIMES : Inventor of the Walter Press.
WILLIAM CLOWES : Book-Printing by Steam.
CHARLES BIANCONI : Self-help in Ireland.
INDUSTRY IN IRELAND : Connaught to Belfast.
SHIP-BUILDING IN BELFAST: Autobiography of Harland.
ASTRONOMERS AND STUDENTS in Humble Life.

" Dr. Smiles has probably done more, by his many interesting books, to uphold
the dignity and power of labour than any other writer. He is the prose laureate of
Industry, and its captains have found in him one who is not only enthusiastic
himself, but who is also capable of infusing others with a like enthusiasm. . . .
We have no doubt that these latest chapters in the history of industry and
scientific investigation will be quite as popular as their predecessors." — The Times.

"Dr. Smiles has here added another to his valuable volumes on Industrial
Biography, and one which is quite worthy of its place. In this instance, he has in
many cases had to do with men who did not, in the worldly sense, succeed ; and
who had to endure hardness in the cause of the common good. . . . The book is a
rich storehouse of facts, condensed to the utmost, and all presented with that rare
and unaffected simplicity of style which has done so much to give Dr. Smiles the
high place he holds in literature." — British Quarterly Review.

"Another volume of Industrial Biography by Dr. Samuel Smiles will meet with
a general welcome. One of the best chapters is devoted to Astronomers and
Students in humble life. . . . The book is throughout most readable and instruc-
tive."— Contemporary Review.

"The new work, entitled 'Men of Invention and Industry,' contains an
excellent account of the chequered career and hard fate of Koenig." — Nineteenth
Century.

" Stories of the heroes of Industry, such as those which Dr. Siniles delights to
tell, are contributions of some value to the best kind of educational literature. In
the present volume Dr. Smiles takes a wide industrial range, illustrating each trade
of which he treats by biography or autobiography." — Athenceum.

"Generally speaking, a succes d'estime is all that is accorded to solid and improv-
ing books, while popular enthusiasm is aroused only by works of fiction. But Dr.
Smiles forms an exception to this rule. His books are read as easily as novels, nor
is it difficult to tell why. Mankind loves a story, and Dr. Smiles masks his
batteries behind a series of well-told tales, in which the moral is never obtruded,
but, as it were, held in solution, and swallowed unconsciously. His heroes, too, have
the very qualities which win the esteem and excite the emulation of Englishmen ;
they are uniformly brave, honest, laborious, and persevering ; and the teaching of
their lives is, that without these moral qualities, no mere mental superiority avails.
The author's reflections and generalisations are few and short; but so wise, so in-
controvertible, as to strike home and be remembered. Add to all this a direct,
telling style, entirely free from affectation, and the triumphant success of 'Self-
help,' 'Lives of the Engineers,' etc., is explained. The volume, entitled 'Men of
Invention and Industry,' is in every way worthy of its predecessors." — Economist.

" 'Men of Invention and Industry' is, in our judgment, one of the best prize
books of the season. It is every whit as interesting as ' Lives of the Engineers '
and ' Industrial Biography,' and higher praise we cannot award it. Most of the
names, Phineas Pett, Francis Pettit Smith, John Lombe, William Murdock,
Frederick Koenig, Charles Bianconi, will be new to most readers. Tulit alter
honores would be an appropriate motto for the book." — Journal of Education.

14 WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR

THE STEAM HAMMER

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JAMES NASMYTH

Illustrations. Post 8vo. 6s.

*** Fine Paper Edition, with Portrait and Illustrations. Svo. 16s.

"The whole range of literary biography may be searched in vain for a more
interesting record of an active, useful, successful, and happy life, than is presented
by the delightful autobiography of James Nasmyth. Starting in life, on the
modest wage of 10s. a week (fixed by himself, and within which he lived), at the
early age of forty-eight James Nasmyth had accomplished fame and fortune, and
retired from active business. Long may he live to enjoy the fruit of the work of
his skilful and industrious hands !" — The, Edinburgh Review.

"We should not know where to stop if we were to attempt to notice all that is
instructive and interesting in this volume. It will be found equally interesting to
students of human nature, to engineers, to astronomers, and even to archaeologists.
Among other merits, there are few books which could be put with more advantage
into a young man's hands, as affording an example of the qualities which conduce to
legitimate success in work. Mr. Nasmyth has done his generation a great service
in publishing this modest but most instructive autobiography. It must always be
one of the most interesting records in the history of mechanical engineering ; and
it is not less valuable as a picture of some of the soundest and pleasantest human
nature with which we have ever become acquainted." — The Quarterly Review.

"It would be an easy and agreeable task to wander through the pages of this
Autobiography, obtaining here and there illustrations of the character of the
writer, anecdotes of the many great men with whom he came into contact, glimpses
of the practical sagacity which governed his own conduct in life. The exigencies
of space forbid the indulgence, and we can only advise our readers to procure the
volume for themselves. There are, notwithstanding, a few things which must be
noticed. There run through it certain veins of garrulity, of unconscious egotism,
and of the simplicity of genius, which justify the belief that the great mechanic
has been permitted, in the main, to tell his own story in his own words and way.
There is one more pleasant feature which should be mentioned, and it is the tone
of hearty appreciation of excellence, whether moral, intellectual, or technical,
which pervades the volume. Nasmyth became acquainted with many great and
good men, and he speaks of their greatness or of their goodness with unstinted
admiration. From the first page to the last there is neither a word of personal
censure, nor a stain of jealousy or animosity. Close competition and keen rivalry
.seem to have left no traces upon his mind, and he has an approving word for every
contemporary who is mentioned at all. Such, in brief outline, is the history of
James Nasmyth, whose autobiography, edited by Samuel Smiles, is now before us."
— The Times.

"An autobiography which is quite a model, both in charming simplicity of style
and in modest self-effacement. . . . One of the pleasantest and most interesting
books we have met for many a day."— Globe.

"A singularly interesting volume; a most interesting and suggestive book." —
Daily Telegraph.

"A pleasant record of an interesting life. ... It would be impossible to give
any notion here of the unceasing activity of mind which gives life to every page of
this book ; nor can we even hint at the number of charming little mechanical
' dodges ' contrived for all manner of purposes by Mr. Nasmyth in his odd moments.
Those who take no interest in such matters— and we think they are to be pitied—
will find much pleasant matter in Mr. Nasmyth's record of passing scenes and
events ; and we can congratulate him on having produced a well-written account
of a most interesting life."— Saturday Review.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
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