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 



