218 THE WEDGWOODS. 



London warehouse from Great Newport Street* to Greek 

 Street, Soho. The re-issue of this second edition is pecu- 

 liarly interesting, as fixing the introduction of one or two 

 objects for which Wedgwoodr became famous. At the end 

 of the pamphlet is an addition of six pages, containing an 

 engraving (W. Darling, sc., Newport Street) and an explana- 

 tion of his newly-invented inkstands and eye-cups; and 

 with a "conclusion" which, from its manly and noble 

 principle, deserves to be perpetuated, and which, therefore, 

 I here give : 



"The proprietors of this manufactory hope it will appear to all 

 those who may have been pleased to attend to its progress, that ever 

 since its establishment it has been continually improving both in the 

 variety and in the perfection of its productions. 



"A competition for cheapness, and not for excellence of workman- 

 ship, is the most frequent and certain cause of the rapid decay and 

 entire destruction of arts and manufactures. 



" The desire of selling much in a little time, without respect to 

 the taste or quality of the goods, leads manufacturers and merchants 

 to ruin the reputation of the articles which they manufacture and 

 deal in; and whilst those who buy for the sake of a fallacious 

 saving prefer mediocrity to excellence, it will be impossible for 

 manufacturers either to improve or keep up the quality of their 

 works. 



" This observation is equally applicable to manufacturers and to 

 the productions of the Fine Arts ; but the degradation is more fatal 

 to the latter than the former, for tho' an ordinary piece of goods, 

 for common use, is always dearer than the best of the kind, yet 

 an ordiriary and tasteless piece of ornament is not only dear at any 

 price, but absolutely useless and ridiculous. 



" All works of art must bear a price in proportion to the skill, 

 the taste, the time, the expence, and the risque attending the inven- 

 tion and execution of them. Those pieces that for these reasons 

 bear the highest price, and which those who are not accustomed 

 to consider the real difficulty and expence of making fine things are 

 apt to call dear, are, when justly estimated, the cheapest articles 

 that can be purchased; and such as are generally attended with 

 much less profit to the artist than those that everybody calls cheap. 



* The warehouse was at the corner of Great Newport Street, facing 

 Long Acre. 



