A BRIEF ACCOUNT 



RISE and PROGRESS of the STAFFORDSHIRE POTTERIES. 



AT is at all times pleasureable to trace the progress of a nation in 

 civilization and the arts, in the attainment of those distinguished 

 excellencies which contribute to the comforts and convenience of 

 society, and the exaltation of its character in the scale of being ; 

 but if we admire the united exertions of a people in the cultivation 

 of manners, and the dignified acquirements of moral and intellectual 

 science, we are called to contemplate with feelings of peculiar 

 pleasure, the labours of a class or community of that people, who, 

 under less favourable auspices, associate and form an indivisible 

 interest to promote these important objects, and to gain pre-emi- 

 nence in some particular branch of commerce or manufactures, in 

 which their industry and ingenuity might enhance the value of the 

 natural productions of the soil, or best improve the advantages of 

 local situation. Such an union, whilst it binds more closely the 

 bond of brotherhood, tends at once to cherish individual merit, and 

 advance the national honour. It was owing to a similar combina- 

 tion of worth and intellect, at no very remote period, that the Staf- 

 fordshire Potteries make at this day so prominent a feature in 

 the commercial transactions of Britain. Indeed, the advancement 

 of this important division of Staffordshire in its manufactures, and 

 consequent opulence, has been most rapid; and there is scarcely 

 a market in Europe or America, that does not exhibit the envied 

 productions of our Potteries, in all their variety, both useful and 

 ornamental. 



The STAFFORDSHIRE POTTERIES present a striking illustration 

 of what may be achieved from a cordial union of the mental and 



