292 
to 1500%. towards erecting churches in 
other parts of the potteries. Three 
thousand pounds more are to be raised 
by parish-rates in the years 1824-5; 
and some of the inhabitants haye volun- 
tarily subscribed upwards of 2300/. 
A Report: from ‘the. Committee: ap- 
pointed to superintend the business, 
which was read in September last, an- 
nounced that “the chureh-people had 
contributed to promote it, even beyond 
their power; so that, after all, you 
see, there was nothing ridiculous in 
that lofty boast of a certain swagger- 
ing tragic hero, which has so often 
made us smile,— 
“J will strive with things impossible ; 
Yea, get the better of them.” 
Prevalent, however, as the sectarian 
spirit is here, it does not seem to have 
finged the tempers and manners of the 
people in general with that sourness 
and gloom which I have elsewhere ob- 
served to proceed from it. They ap- 
pear, on the contrary, to be for the 
most part a jovial, thoughtless, hearty 
set of mortals, full of good fellowship, 
strongly attached to convivial meet- 
ings, and no enemies to the good 
things of this life, professing the heed- 
less philosophy of Master Sly, the 
finker, ‘Drink, and let the world 
slide!” | Societies of Freemasons, Odd 
Fellows, and Druids, are very nume- 
yous; and the ancient reputation of 
Staffordshire for good living is here 
most vigorously maintained. Dr. Plot, 
who visited these parts a century and a 
half ago, says, ‘* Meats and drinks are 
no ‘where better or more plentiful 
than in this county ;” and I can ho- 
nestly aver, that what he asserted in 
1680, is equally applicable in 1823, 
Tho Staffordshire ale is unquestion- 
‘ably the finest in England. 
Literature and literary pursuits ex- 
perience at present no remarkable en- 
couragement, but the progress of edu- 
cation and refinement promises speedily 
to work a material change in’ this 
respect. Of course, in'such a state of 
things, few productions issue from the 
local presses. I saw a folio Bible, and 
one or two other standard works, 
which were printed at Burslem, but 
there was nothing to admire in their 
typographical execution. A news- 
paper, however, that certain indication 
of growing civilization and _intelli- 
gence, has been established at Hanley, 
under the title of “‘The Pottery Ga- 
zette,” and meets with a considerable 
share of encouragement, which the 
The Staffordshire Potteries. 
[ Nov. }, 
rapid growth of populatton will doubt- 
less, ere Jong, materially inerease ; it is 
conducted with much spirit by a gen- 
tleman of ,talent and, independence. 
There is also in the,last-mentioned 
town a scientific and literary, meeting, 
graced with the high-sounding title of 
the. Pottery , Philosophical Society ; 
but .of the members’ talents. I, know 
nothing, of their taste J cannot augur 
very favourably; for, by a late resolu- 
tion, they excluded from their library 
all novels, plays, romances, and works 
of imagination... Who, will pretend to 
talk, of Beotian dulness after, this? 
Book-clubs are rather numerous, also 
national and Sunday schools. 
Upon. the origin of , earthenware-- 
manufactories in Staffordshire, and the 
particulars. of the process, I. haye 
gleaned Jittle worth repeatingy ‘lhe 
latter you may find pretty clearly de- 
scribed in Aikin’s ‘‘ Thirty Miles round 
Manchester,” but the former topic is 
clothed in much obscurity. All that 
ean be learned with certainty, is, that 
pot-works were first established at 
Burslem, probably three or four centu- 
ries ago; but they were for a long time 
so inconsiderable, that Speed, in his 
enumeration of the ‘‘ commodities” of 
the county, (1610,) is totally silent upon 
the subject; and Dr. Plot, whose work 
was published about cighty years later, 
says, ‘the sale of pots, is chiefly con- 
fined to the poor crate-men, who carry 
them at their backs all over the coun- 
try.” Even so recently as 1760 or 1770, 
a handsome tea-pot, manufactured in 
Staffordshire, appears, to. have been 
looked upon as a thing to be wondered 
at, a kind of prodigy. Inthe works of 
Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, there 
occurs a poem, called ‘ Isabella,” 
which describes the morning occupa- 
tions and visitors of Lady Isabella 
Montague, and says of one of ber ad- 
mirers, a Mr. Bateman— 
“To please the noble dame, the courtly 
squire rigs 
Produc’d a tea-pot, made in Staffordshire! 
So Venuslook’d, and with such longing cyes, 
When Paris first produe’d the golden prize. 
‘Such works as this,’ she cries, ‘ can Eng- 
land do? . 
It equals Dresden, and excels St. Clond ; 
All modern China now shall hide its head, 
And e’en Chantilly must give o’er her trade. 
For lace, let Flanders bear away the bell ; 
Tn finest linen, let fhe Datch excel ; 
For prettiest stuffs, let Ireland first be 
nam’d ; | 
And for best-fancied silks, let France’ be 
fam’d ; 
€ Do 
