WEDGWOOD TAKES BENTLEY INTO PARTNERSHIP. 193 



be done abroad. To accommodate the ordinary productions of 

 a manufactory to the wants of civil life, there is necessary an 

 intimate knowledge of its customs and manners. To succeed 

 in a profession of art, it is proper to know at least 

 the prevailing taste of the age, the works of contemporaries, 

 and occasionally to sharpen the fancy and skill of the artist 

 by a collision with the talents of others. 



Mr. Wedgwood found this employment incompatible with 

 the avocations of his manufactory, though we must not infer 

 from hence that he had any reluctance to go into society. 

 By the habit of never quitting any object till he had 

 completely effected his purpose, by arrangement, and a 

 careful distribution of his time, he never wanted leisure for 

 the service of his friends, and came often to the social circle 

 with an unclouded mind. This was so visible that some of 

 his neighbours, who were witnesses to the progress of his 

 works, expressed their surprise that he should have so much 

 time to spare. 



In this situation he opened his views to his friend Mr. 

 Bentley, and proffered to him a partnership in this branch 

 of his manufactory, which was called the ornamental, to 

 distinguish it from that of the Queen's ware, which was 

 called the useful, and in which Mr. Bentley had no part. 



" This gentleman, in taste devoted rather to literature than 

 the drudgery of commerce, of a lively imagination, and a 

 warm and affectionate heart, found in this proposal what at 

 once suited his disposition and gratified his feelings ; and 

 thus took place, on the principle of mutual regard, as much 

 as upon those of mutual interest, an intimate union between 

 two deserving men, who, having been inseparable in their 

 subsequent lives, ought not to be separated in any account 

 that may be given of one or the other." 



Thomas Bentley was the son of Thomas Bentley, and was 

 born at Scropton, in Derbyshire, on the 1st of January, 

 New Year's Day, 1730, six months before Josiah Wedg- 

 wood first saw light. He was, I believe, brought up at 

 Manchester, and afterwards removed to Liverpool, where, 



