neatly-trimmed straw-bonnet to the tips of the bright little boots, with a most intense and mysterious sympathy; then fixing her anxious interested gaze on the opposite house, she said, 'And how do they live? How do people under such circumstances pass the day? It is a thing I cannot comprehend; for were Clayton to act in such a way, I am sure I couldn't endure it a week.'

tion of the house, I find,' she said, 'you are a near neighbour of a dear friend of mine, Mrs Williams.'

Mrs Williams!' exclaimed both her hearers, pale with excitement and curiosity; 'Mrs Williams! Oh how very singular that you should know her, poor miserable creature! Oh do tell us about'

'Poor-miserable! What can you mean? You mistake; my Mrs Williams is the happiest little woman in London!'

'Oh it cannot be the same,' said Mrs Braybrooke. I mean our opposite neighbour in Hawthorn Villa; I thought it couldn't be'

'Hawthorn Villa!-the very house. You surely cannot have seen her, or her husband, who'

'It does seem scarcely intelligible,' answered Mrs Braybrooke; but I'll tell you how they appear to do. She gets up and has her breakfast by herself for without any wish to pry, we can see straight through their house from front to back. About this time she often comes out, I suppose, to pay a visit or two in the neighbourhood, or perhaps to call on her tradespeople; and you will see her by and by return, looking up, as she approaches, at the bedroom window; and if the blind be drawn up, she rushes in, thinking, I daresay, 'He!' in her turn interrupted her friend Mrs Ecclesto herself, "How angry he will be if he comes down hall. He a gambler! He is the most exemplary young and finds that I am not there to give him his break- man in London-a pattern of every domestic virtue fast!" Sometimes he has his breakfast at twelve-at-kind, gentle, amiable, and passionately fond of his one-at two; and I have seen him sitting down to it young wife!' when she was having her dinner.'

'And when does he have his dinner?'

'Oh, his dinner; I daresay that is a different sort of thing from hers-poor woman! He dines, I suppose, at a club, or with his boon companions, or anywhere, in fact, but at home.'

And when does he come home then generally?' 'At all hours. We hear him open the little gate with his key at three, four, and five in the morning. Indeed our milkman told Susan that he has seen him sneaking in, pale, haggard, and worn out with his horrid vigils, at the hour decent people are seated at breakfast.'

'I wonder if she waits up for him?'

'Oh no, for we see the light of her solitary candle in her room always as we are going to bed; and you may be sure my heart bleeds for her-poor solitary thing! I don't know, indeed, that I was ever so interested about any stranger as I am about this young creature.'

'Dear, dear! it is terrible!' sighed the sympathising Mrs Clayton. But does any one visit them? Have they friends do you think?'

"I don't think he can have many friends, the heartless fellow; but there are a great many people callingstylish people too-in carriages; and there is he, the wretch, often with his half-slept look, smiling and handing the ladies out, as if he were the most exemplary

My dear Mary, you have made me quite melancholy let us go out. You know I have much to see, and many people to call upon; and here we are losing the best part of the day in something not much removed from scandal.'

The ladies of course set out, saw all the 'loves of bonnets' in Regent Street; all the sacrifices' that were being voluntarily offered up in Oxford Street; bought a great many things for less than half the original cost;' made calls; laughed and chatted away a pleasant exciting day for the country lady, who, happily for herself, forgot in the bustle the drooping crestfallen bird who was fretting itself away in its pretty cage in

Road.

The next day a lady, a friend of Mrs Clayton, who had been out when she had left her card the day before, called, and after chatting for some time, turned to Mrs Braybrooke, and complimenting her on the situa

'Oh the dreadful, wretched, gambling fellow!' interrupted Mrs Braybrooke. 'I wouldn't know such a man

'My dear Mrs Eccleshall, how can you say all this of a man whose conduct is the common talk of the neighbourhood; a man lost to every sense of shame, I should suppose; who comes home to his desolate wife at all hours; whose only ostensible means of living is gambling or something equally disreputable; who'

You have been most grievously misled,' again interposed Mrs Eccleshall. Who can have so grossly slandered my excellent friend Williams? He cannot help his late hours, poor fellow. That may safely be called his misfortune, but not his fault!' and the good lady warmed as she spoke, till she had to untie her bonnet and fan her glowing face with her handkerchief.

"His misfortune?' murmured Mrs Braybrooke. 'How can that be called a misfortune which a man can help any day he pleases?'

But he cannot help it, poor soul! He would be too happy to spend his evenings at home with his dear little wife, but you know his business begins when other people's is over.'

Then what, in Heaven's name, is his business?' 'Why, didn't you know? He's the EDITOR of a MORNING NEWSPAPER!'

A VISIT TO THE DERBYSHIRE POTTERIES. THESE works are scattered over a finely-undulating district lying midway between Burton-on-Trent and the classic town of Ashby-de-la-Zouch-the more important being comprised in the villages of Woodville -or Wooden-Box, as the labouring population persist in calling it-and Swadlincote. The neighbourhood abounds in the most essential materials-coal and clay; and the eye, as it roams over the slopes of the hills, is attracted by the gray smoke of distant limekilns-huge conical furnaces smoking like petty vol canoes; and here and there the tall chimney and black creaking machinery of the coal-pits. It is one of the scenes, half agricultural half commercial, so often met with in the midland counties-the greenness of the pastures and hedgerows obscured by smoke, and the fields intersected by numerous black footpaths, or gradually disappearing under the continually-accumulating heaps of refuse. Industrial art, however, is always deserving of attention, whatever its locality; as, apart from the gratification arising out of the sight of the various mechanical or other operations, there are peculiarities originating in local circumstances, and their effect upon the manners and habits of the persons employed.

During a recent sojourn in the north, I was enabled to visit the works at Swadlincote, where I met with a most cordial reception from Messrs Sharpe the pro

I was first conducted to the stores of raw materialthe clay, which is obtained at distances of a mile or so, in different parts of the valley in which the manufactory is situated. It lies at a depth varying from five to thirty yards beneath the surface, with a seam of coal immediately above it. It is of a dirty gray colour, and when broken, invariably exhibits remains of what appear to have been rushes, among which frequently occur perfect and beautiful impressions of small leaves. In 'getting' this clay, where near the surface, a singular fact has come to light: the overlying bed of coal has been in many places dug away, apparently by human agency, but not the slightest clue exists as to the period when the removal was effected.

number of faces, it is obvious, may be made to vary with the size of the article, and a most agreeable effect is produced by this comparatively slight modification, especially in some specimens where each angle of the exterior was made the termination of a moulded Gothic heading immediately below the rim. In a similar way the edge of a pie-dish is made to present a series of graceful curves to the eye, without at all complicating the task of future cleansing.

After the vessels made by the thrower have undergone a partial drying, they are finished on a lathe by the turner, who also applies the stripes or bands of colour. On the bench before him are seen several close and the spouts terminated by one, two, or more quills. vessels resembling teapots, with hollow straight handles, Each of these vessels contains a colour in solution, and the turner, taking them up in turn, places the quills close to the swiftly-revolving jug or basin, and by blowing into the handle, forces the colour against the clay, on which it remains permanently imprinted. In this way any variety of bands may be produced: and here also due regard has been had to improve and chasten the effect. There is no good reason why a thing should After excavation, many tons of the clay are laid to-be ugly because it is cheap. By the introduction of gether in flat heaps, and exposed to the atmosphere, by black or dark-brown veins transferred from printed which means the hardened lumps disintegrate, and get paper, the appearance of Sienna marble is given to the into working condition: the length of time required finished articles, and a character stamped on yellow for this purpose is about six months. To insure a con- ware qualifying it to take its place among more costly tinual supply, a number of these heaps are kept in dif- clay: in fact marbling raises it to an equality of price ferent stages of forwardness. Their presence upon the with other kinds. Those extraordinary figures seen on ground immediately surrounding the works is one of the sides of yellow jugs and basins, representing a bunch the ugly features of the neighbourhood. of moss or cluster of fibrous sea-weed, are produced by one touch of a pencil charged with colour. These are put on by the turner's assistant-frequently a femalewho takes the vessels away as fast as they are finished, first giving a few rapid touches with the brush. The colour being mixed with tobacco water, runs of itself into the fantastic shapes above alluded to. By and by these will give place to a better style of art, and the vessels which escape breakage may do duty in the museums of posterity.

When ready for use, the clay is mixed and mashed with water, no other ingredient being necessary, as is the case in the Staffordshire potteries, where superior kinds of ware are manufactured. When sufficiently attenuated, it is passed through a fine silk sieve, and falls, perfectly freed from grit and other coarse substances, into a deep brick cistern, from which it is pumped into an adjoining cistern, called the kiln,' not more than one foot in depth, but fifty feet long and five feet wide. While on this kiln, the superabundant water is evaporated by the application of heat, after which the clay becomes surprisingly tenacious, and is ready for the throwers,'' pressers,' or dish-makers.'

The thrower works with a horizontal wheel in front of him. Taking up a lump of the moist clay, he throws it down upon the revolving instrument, and in a few seconds, under his manipulation, the shapeless mass becomes a basin, vase, or jar. In this way jugs, mugs, bowls, garden-pots, and a host of miscellaneous articles, are produced with marvellous despatch-almost incredible to a stranger, and yet essential to the urgent appeal for cheapness. It is interesting to note the instantaneousness with which changes of form are made: whatever be the object in the workman's thought, such it rises before him-jug, mug, vase, or basin-a slight variation in the pressure or application of the fingers produces the required variation. How much in this case depends on tact! Each movement, from throwing down the lump to its separation from the wheel as a finished vessel, can only be acquired by steady practice. Much, too, depends on the condition of the thrower's hands. After a strike, or a long fit of idleness, a short apprenticeship, so to speak, must be served before they again acquire the accustomed ease and smoothness.

Messrs Sharpe have shown that the manufacture of yellow ware, not less than that of nobler products, admits of improvements. In their hands the uncouthly daubed vessels are assuming an ornamental and even elegant appearance, without adding to the cost or diminishing the utility. These changes are of a nature to cause a large development in the moulders' (pressers') branch of the trade. I saw some of the first of the improved articles: one of the alterations consists in giving a decagonal or polygonal form to the outside of a basin without destroying the circular form within. The

After the turning, the vessels are ready for the spouts and handles. The latter are produced by filling a boxpress with clay, and then by a turn of the handle, a strip of clay of the required form, three or four feet in length, is forced out at an orifice underneath. The strips are cut into lengths, trimmed, and bent to the proper curve, and affixed by moistening the points of contact with a little water.

When dried a sufficient time in the atmosphere, or, according to the weather, in a hothouse,' the whole batch of ware is put into the biscuit-oven' to be fired.' Most persons are familiar with the enormous conical structures to be seen at potteries and glass-works. Within the outer wall an inner circle is built up, which forms the oven. The articles to be fired are placed inside of large coarse pans, called 'seggars,' made of fireclay and marl-plate on plate, basin in basin, as closely as possible; and when filled, the seggars are piled one on the other, until the oven, which will contain nearly 3000, is completely occupied. The mouth is then bricked up, and the fires lighted. These are ranged at the bottom of the edifice, and the heat and flame on their passage upwards soon convert the whole contents of the oven into a glowing red-hot mass; the process lasting for three days.

The ware, after this first burning, is called 'biscuit,' and has changed its hue from brownish gray to a delicate cream colour; the yellow tinge is subsequently produced by the glaze and a second firing in the

Glost-oven.' There, however, the articles cannot be so closely placed as in the biscuit-oven, as by the fusion of the glaze with which they are coated, they would, whenever the surfaces came into contact, be inseparably fastened together. A space between them is therefore absolutely indispensable, and the separation is effected by means of 'stilts' and 'spurs;' a sort of small tripod, with pointed extremities, on which the articles rest one

is an approach to abjectness, an absence of a well-to-do expression, which cannot be referred to the nature of the occupation. Perhaps we have here a phase of the labour question, on which it may not be unprofitable to bestow a little consideration.

within the other, so that the points of contact are reduced to a minimum, and the glaze remains uninjured. The Glost-oven will contain about 2000 seggars; when filled with these, the mouth is bricked up, as in the former case, but leaving one small opening, two or three inches square, by which to draw out the The population of the immediate neighbourhood ، trials. These are rings of dark-coloured clay, manu- | comprises about 1000 souls; their habits are migratory, factured expressly for the purpose, and placed in the and many are not natives. The men in the employment interior of the pile opposite the orifice; and their co- of Messrs Sharpe earn from 18s. to L.2 per week; women lour, on being withdrawn at the end of about twenty- from 7s. to 9s.; and in some instances father, mother, four hours, by means of a long slender iron rod, at once and three or four children are engaged at the manufac informs the practised observer whether to stop or con- tory. The hours of labour are from six to six, with tinue the burning. If the former, the screen of brick - | intervals for meals. Now it is a lamentable fact, that work that closes the mouth is taken down, the fires whatever the amount of earnings, nothing is saved. In are put out, the external air rushes in on the glowing too many instances a large proportion of the wages mass; and when sufficiently cooled, the seggars are received on Saturday is wasted in sottish revels before brought out, and their contents, now finished, trans- Monday. With the exception of ninepins, there are ferred to the store-rooms. There is a remarkable diffe- no recreations; the little gardens which in the Stafrence in the effect of cold air upon the heated ware: if fordshire potteries present so pleasing an array of suffered to rush suddenly into the biscuit-oven, every choice flowers, are here carelessly kept or altogether article would be cracked by the lowering of the tempe- neglected. There being no savings' bank in the village, rature. In this there is therefore no withdrawing of the employers on one occasion proposed to some of the the screen or fires, but all is suffered to cool gradually. | workmen that a small portion of the weekly wages In the Glost-oven, on the contrary, no damage ensues should be left towards a fund to be had recourse to in from the sudden admission of air: the glaze, from some slack seasons or in case of illness. Books were procause not clearly explained, appears to prevent the vided to keep the men's accounts, and for a time small breaking. Sometimes when goods are urgently wanted, sums were left as proposed. Very soon, however, every or the men wish to get through their work early, they man claimed the reserved amount due to him, and some will enter the oven and bring out the seggars while it is among them intimated that 'Masters only want to find yet apparently too hot for the endurance of anything out how much money we've got, and then cut us down.' but a salamander-another instance of the wonderful In another instance the employers endeavoured to power of adaptation to circumstances in the human con- establish a library, and to promote the sale among stitution. There are four ovens connected with these their hands of a monthly periodical, in which, at the works; the stock of seggars is 10,000, but constantly | cost of a penny, pleasing information and instruction renewed, as the loss by wear and breakage is from 200 were conveyed. Even this was distrusted by the workto 300 per week. It is sometimes difficult to get rid of people, as a design of the employers to induce sober the rapidly-accumulating refuse; its general destination and frugal habits, in order to their being found able to is to repair the roads. At present it is in demand for live upon some contemplated reduction of wages. The railway purposes. In districts where gravel is scarce, object was thus defeated, and the few who had begun refuse pots and pans may make serviceable ballast. to read soon ceased to pay any attention to books. This dogged resistance to enlightened attempts to ameliorate their condition, is a striking yet lamentable characteristic of the class in question.

Adjoining the store-rooms, where the finished ware is piled away, are the packing-rooms, in which men are continually engaged in despatching crates well filled with goods to order. A singular practice prevails in this department in enumerating the various articles which are sold by dozens: but here a dozen does not always mean twelve; for in order to keep up a uniformity of prices in the accounts, one big jug, which may be worth as much as thirty-six little ones, is reckoned as a dozen; the thirty-six are also set down as a dozen; and so on with intermediate sizes. Dishes and plates, however, and some other articles, are counted twelve to the dozen.

Messrs Sharpe's trading connections are almost exclusively confined to the United States and British possessions in America; and in going through the store-rooms, the visitor is struck by the sight of many articles which seldom or never come into use in this country. Some of these, an exaggerated teapot in particular, are so ugly, as to say but little in favour of backwoods' taste. English hawkers will scarcely take them, even as a free gift. The most characteristic article, however, is the spittoon; this, by recent improvements, is made sufficiently ornamental to appear in a drawing-room. Some are of extraordinary dimensions after a registered model: it has been proposed to call them the Congressional Spittoon.' The idea was suggested to one of the firm while on a visit to the House of Representatives at Washington, by seeing a large square pine box, with a grass turf in the bottom of it, placed at each door of the rotunda: and the new article is his attempt to render the results of a disgusting habit somewhat less repulsive.

While looking at work, attention is naturally drawn to the workers. About a hundred 'hands' are employed in this establishment; and the impression left on the mind, after a review of the whole, is, in spite of a feeling to the contrary, that of a lower class. There

Great forbearance, it is clear, must be exercised in dealing with such notions-notions as suicidal to the possessor as they are mischievous to others. Take, for example, the simple exchange of work for wages: the employers say to the men, We shall be busy now, and must work hard for the next twelve months.' Instead of seeking to turn this promising state of things to ac count, the men immediately slacken their exertions, and instead of making full time, are content to crawl through about five days a week. On the other hand, in a slack season they are as eager to work as they were before indifferent, and will get through as much in three days as in five days on ordinary occasions. Again, should one of the turners prove to be of a more aspiring and enterprising character than his fellows, he is prevented from rising by absurd trade regulations. It is a rule of this branch of the business, when a certain amount of work is required, to leave the apportioning of it to the men themselves; and, provided the order be completed to time, the masters offer no interference. On the principle of equal rights, the law keeps every one at the same dead level: the turner who could finish his twenty or thirty dozens per day, is not permitted to undertake more than he who can finish but ten dozen. The oppressive nature of such a regulation as this will at once be obvious. In some instances, where men have left off drinking habits, and manifested a desire to get forward, the employers would be glad to encourage the progressive disposition; but the statute steps in, and repels the kindly aid, and dooms the aspirant to a position hopeless as that inflicted by the caste laws of India. It will be long before education, or what is usually comprehended in the word, will reach this and similar evils. Might not a remedy be found in some local legislative influence?