404 THE WEDGWOODS. 



are connected with this manufacture ought never to rest contented 

 with less than this that they shall claim for it the honour of being- 

 one of the fine arts, as practically one of the fine arts as is the art of 

 architecture, which, like the art of pottery, aims at once at the 

 attainments of objects of practical usefulness and the exhibition of 

 the beautiful. I was greatly grieved, in seeking enlightenment on 

 your local affairs, to find there was a difficulty which interfered 

 with the creation of a museum worthy of this district, in which 

 collections of th*e specimens of the beautiful creations of Germany, 

 of Italy, of Prance, of China, of Japan, and of almost every other 

 civilised country in ceramic art, should be exhibited to your popula- 

 tion. It appears, forsooth, that Burslem is one place, and Hanley 

 another, and Stoke a third, and there may be some more, and that 

 on that account there is no museum in existence. I must confess I 

 cannot conceive a more unsatisfactory mode of explaining a fact in 

 itself so much to be regretted. If it be true that there are these 

 different places if it be true that in each of these places there are 

 men capable of leading the community if it be true that there are 

 so many intelligent assemblages of Englishmen qualified for and 

 accustomed to self-government, and engaged in pursuits of the 

 highest interest and utility, and greatly conducive to wealth do 

 you tell me, because there are four or five such places, therefore 

 they cannot muster even one museum ? This appears to me to be 

 a solecism which verges on the ridiculous. But then it seems that 

 if the manufacturers of Burslem propose a museum, they are met 

 by the manufacturers of Stoke, who justly observe that the same 

 article cannot be in two places at the same time. That is undeni- 

 able, and the employer of labour in Hanley and elsewhere may say 

 the same thing ; but then, the just conclusion is, not that there 

 ought not to be any museum, but that there ought to be three, or 

 four, or five. Now let me point out that the economical view of 

 the case is, as it appears to me, entirely in favour of those who 

 found the first museum. What I mean by founding a museum is, 



that you should do here what has been done elsewhere If 



you have a museum, it will teach the best methods of production, 

 it will offer new inducements to the best class of masters and work- 

 men to settle in Burslem, and your rates will become lighter than 

 they are now. I most sincerely hope you are disposed to concur in 

 the feeling that this undertaking, to which you have pledged yonr- 

 selves, is an undertaking that concerns the character and honour of 

 the town, as well as one that promises great things for its future 

 prosperity. If only it can be brought home to the minds of 



