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 



