JOHN TAYLOR WEDGWOOD. 183 



he is said to have been applied to, to engrave a portrait of Sir 

 Hudson Lowe from a painting which he thought untruthfully 

 exhibited his somewhat plain features, and he refused the 

 commission because he could not think that the painting 

 was life-like, He engraved, among other exquisite works, 

 an admirable portrait of his deceased relative, the Great 

 Josiah, from Sir Joshua Reynolds' painting. This engraving 

 I have been fortunate enough to secure for my readers, and 

 it will be found as a frontispiece to the present volume. It 

 will be seen to be a remarkably fine work of art, and one 

 in every way worthy not only of himself but of the great 

 man whom it so well represents. Among his other more 

 celebrated works were a fine portrait of Lord Byron, pub- 

 lished in Paris, and portraits of the Princess Charlotte and 

 of Prince Leopold, with numberless others which will be well 

 known to print and portrait collectors. John Taylor Wedg- 

 wood, who was never married, died in London in the year 

 1856, aged seventy-four. 



With Thomas Wedgwood himself the improver of some 

 of the wares as his partner, the "Great Josiah" found 

 himself more at leisure, as I have said, to pursue his experi- 

 ments and researches. Speaking of these chemical pursuits, 

 the manuscript to which I have before referred says 



" It is not to be wondered at that his mind had a strong 

 direction to this study in connection with chemistry, since 

 he could not but be sensible how entirely the advancement 

 of his views depended upon it, and he had happily acquired 

 a fondness for the pursuit which, independently of the 

 advantages he derived from it, was the source of rational 

 amusement to his latest day. He possessed himself, at 

 considerable expense, of all the minerals in this island, and 

 there were few in other countries whose properties he had 

 not examined. Being once shown a specimen of beautiful 

 white clay, from the country of the Cherokees, in North 

 America, he engaged the person who brought it over to 

 return to that country, and procure him what quantity he 

 could get of it. The fruit of this expedition was, however, 



