FOUNDATION OF THE WEDGWOOD MEMORIAL INSTITUTE. 405 



Englishmen, that the memory of Wedgwood is a precious deposit 

 that the pursuit of his methods and the application of his prin- 

 ciples are a means of wealth a means of social improvement a 

 guarantee for advancement in civilisation if only these can be 

 brought home to the minds and perceptions of Englishmen, so that 

 they shall resolve upon a definite course then there is nothing to 

 fear. What an Englishman resolves upon is usually accomplished, 

 and what an English community resolves upon still more rarely 

 fails. If you resolve upon this pursuit with all your energies, it 

 will redound to your honour, and not less will it redound to your 

 profit. Great will be the credit that you will gain ; but let no man 

 suppose this is a light matter. Let no man think that we have 

 to-day taken part in an idle ceremonial. Those who intend to be 

 followers of Wedgwood, must address themselves to the task as one 

 of a serious and responsible description." 



It will be interesting, in connection with the Wedgwood 

 Memorial Institute, to note that in the cavity in the founda- 

 tion stone which was laid by Mr. Gladstone, was placed 

 a chaste and beautiful china casket, the manufacture of 

 Messrs. Davenport & Co., containing the following record: 



"Wedgwood Memorial Institute, Burslem. The Foundation- 

 stone of this building, erected by public subscription, and dedicated 

 to the uses of a Free Library, a School of Art, and a Museum, in 

 honour of the eminent potter, Josiah Wedgwood, F.R.S., F.S.A., 

 who was born in Burslem on the 7th of July, 1730, was laid by the 

 Eight Honourable William Ewart Gladstone,. M. P., D.C.L., Chan- 

 cellor of the Exchequer, on the 26th of October, 1863, in the 

 Twenty-seventh year of the reign of Her Most Gracious Majesty 

 Queen Victoria. Chief Bailiff, William Edward Twigg. Trustees, 

 Joseph Edge, William Ford, Isaac Hitchin, James Macintyre. 

 Chairman, John Sheriff Hill. Honorary Secretary, William Woodall. 

 Architect, George Benjamin Mchols. Builders, Thomas Blissett 

 Harley, Alfred Dean." 



This document was of vellum, the writing being executed 

 by Mr. Nichols, the architect, in richly illuminated Old 

 English characters. The aperture containing the casket 

 was covered in with a china slab, bearing a similar inscrip- 

 tion. 



The trowel presented to Mr. Gladstone is an excellent 



