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 



