a "new planet has swum into my ken," in the shape of a typewriter. With the single exception of Braille it is the greatest blessing that has come to me since I entered this dark world. The machine upon which I learned has been superseded by a more perfect one-by one in fact which, to my mind, is all but perfect. I often write for four or five hours a day without the slightest hitch. I conduct a very extensive correspondence, chiefly dealing with blind affairs, and, of course, I am writing this article upon it. My friends frequently tell me that they rarely receive from the sighted operator letters written so correctly. As a matter of fact, I often write for an hour at a stretch without committing a single fault. Is it any wonder, then, that under these circumstances I strongly advocate that every child in our blind elementary schools should be turned out an expert typist? It is a liberal education in itself, and imparts a sense of independence, which is a priceless boon. or But literature is the blessed and unfailing light of my dark world. It troubles me little to wake at one or two o'clock in the morning. I simply turn on to my back and prop myself up, and pass an hour with Milton or Shakespeare, or Wordsworth or Burns, Keats, or some other of the immortals. I should have no difficulty in passing three or four hours with Milton, for I can repeat the whole of "L'Allegro," "Il Penseroso," "Lycidas," all the finest passages in "Comus," all the sonnets, nearly every simile in "Paradise Lost" besides most of the finest passages, much of "Paradise Regained," and most of the "Samson." I know much of the poetry of all my favorites by heart. Besides the great masters there are dozens of sonnets by less wellknown men which I admire. Two shall be named, "pre-eminently dear"-that on "Prayer," by Hartley Coleridge, which ends with the sestet: Whate'er is good to wish ask that of heaven, Pray to be perfect, though material leaven con Forbid the spirit so on earth to be: Who could have thought such darkness Within thy beams, O Sun! or who could find, Whilst fly and leaf and insect stood revealed, That to such countless orbs thou mad'st us blind! Why do we, then, shun death with anx- If Light can thus deceive, wherefore not ALFRED HIRST. From The Gentleman's Magazine. CERAMIC ART AT DERBY. In all probability one of the first arts practised by man-prehistoric manwas that of the potter. Certain it is that the Phoenicians, Egyptians, and Persians understood it nearly two thoudawn of the sand years before the Christian era. In the early Scriptures the work of the thrower is clearly set forth. We have no difficulty in prov ing that a large Etruscan manufactory, and smaller ones in other parts of Italy, flourished a thousand years be fore Christ, having been inaugurated by a colony of Phoenicians, who settled at the foot of Mount Vesuvius. thousand four hundred years or more ago we know that the Japanese manufactured both earthenware and porcelain, and a very little later the Chinese Though it be what thou canst not hope to were engaged in the same pursuits. see: Two In the very earliest days of the habi tation of this island, the days of the ful whether there is a specimen of prehistoric period-the ancient Briton period; the period of savagery-vessels of simple clay were formed for sepulchral and other uses. Many hundreds of barrows which have been opened have furnished examples of gravemound pottery, and, by the antiquary, these have been arranged in four classes: I. Sepulchral or cinerary urns; II. Drinking cups; III. Food vessels; IV. Immolation urns. "The pottery" found in these barrows, writes the late Mr. Llewellyn Jewitt, "exhibits considerable difference, both in clay, in size, and in ornamentation. Those samples presumed to be the oldest are of course clay mixed with small pebbles and sand; the later ones of a somewhat clumsy form, and perhaps a finer assistance of the wheel, and are mostly very thick and clumsy. They are very imperfectly fired, having probably been baked on the funeral pyre." Evidence is forthcoming that the Grecians learnt the art from the Phoenicians or Egyptians. It was extensively practised by the Romans, and other nations, during the Middle Ages. his porcelain extant. "Another version of this," says Mr. John Hasleni, "is that he buried all his models, moulds, and tools in some secret place on the premises at Fulham, observing that the production of such matters was expensive and unremunerative, and he wished therefore to put it out of the power of his successors to perpetuate the business.” The Chelsea Works were anticipated by those at Bow, and these two porce lain manufactories were the first in this country which attained celebrity or any amount of success. Turning now from the historic aspect of the potter's art to a study of ceramic art as it flourishes to-day at Derby, we shall give some account of the manufacture and decoration of china at the Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Works, which we purposely visited to see for ourselves the mys teries of the time-honored craft. Before entering upon any account of the processes of manufacture, it may be as well to state that we shall here consider porcelain as quite distinct from ordinary earthenware. To mark the difference between these, take any piece of common earthenware, fracture it and examine the fracture, and you will find it to be of a dry and earthy appearance and perfectly Coming now to a consideration of that branch of pottery distinguished as porcelain, we find authentic record that this was made at Florence in 1580, and in the seventeenth century opaque-save perhaps to Röntgen attracted much attention throughout Europe. The year 1706, or there abouts, witnessed the establishment of the famous Dresden manufactory. In England research commenced simultaneously with research on the Continent, and there are not wanting those who assert that Chelsea china works existed before those at Dresden. A certain old document sets forth that one John Dwight did "by his own industry and at his own proper costs and charges, invent and sett up at Fulham the mystery of Porcelain or China and Persian Ware." His invention met with such poor encour agement that he burnt his recipes anu implements in disgust, and it is doubt rays. On the other nand, take a piece of porcelain, fracture it and examine the fracture, and you will at once see that it is vitreous. The composition constituting the "body" of the piece of earthenware is of pipe-clay, marl, and flint fused in the kiln. When the kiln is at its greatest heat common salt is thrown in, and imparts a glaze, its soda combining with the silica of the clay. Only one burning is required. The composition constituting the "body" of a piece of porcelain, as made in England to-day, consists of china-clay, felspar, calcined bones, Cornish clay, and Cornish granite. mixed in different proportions. The glaze is made of flint, felspar, Cornish granite, borax, soda, and lead, some of which are fused in a kiln, and while in a molten state drawn off into water, the compound thus produced receiving the technical term of "frit." The other ingredients are added to the frit, and the whole ground together for use. This ware is subjected to a great degree of heat, and transpar rency is imparted to it during the first burning. The glaze is after wards added, and being softer than the "body" is fused at a lower temperature; thirty hours go to the first fusing and fourteen to the second. Having made clear the distinction between earthenware and china, a word is necessary upon the clay used in the manufacture of porcelain. art best An authority upon ceramic states, that without doubt the kind of china-clay is got in Cornwall, from the mines of St. Austell. The process for obtaining the clay is difficult, and cannot be easily set forth. Clearing away the surface of the ground to a depth of some twenty to thirty feet, which surface is called by miners the "overburden," little rivulets make their appearance. These are conducted to various parts of the mine, and receive the crumbling mass which falls down as the miners operate with their pickaxes. The water containing the clay runs off into large pits or "catchpools," in the lower part of the mine, and is from thence pumped up into huge settling tanks. From the tanks the water is drained off, and the clay is put on to pans and dried. The streams near the china clay, or Kaolin mines, run white in Cornwall, and one writer says that "from their excessive whiteness they might be flowing with milk rather than water." But to Derbyshire. Decidedly the most direct, and in every way the pleasantest, route from London to Derby, the busy county town of the shire, is via the Midland Railway. This main artery of the English railway system traverses Herts, Beds, Leicester, and the valley of the Trent, the traveller reaching Derby, the headquarters of the line, well within three hours. "It is the Midland Railway that has made the town," is the unanimous verdict of the townspeople, and this becomes at once apparent to any one visiting the huge and well-conducted locomotive works of the Midland, where no less than twelve thousand men are regularly employed. At a distance within a quarter of an hour's walk of the Midland Railway station at Derby runs the Osmaston Road, parallel with the London road, and at the top of the road on the right hand side stands an imposing and classical-looking building, ornamented above the portico by the royal arms. This building is none other than the Derby Porcelain Manufactory, and it is from this building that there continually issue those marvellously beautiful and highly artistic productions, known as Crown Derby Ware, bearing the time-honored mark, a crown over two Ds, with the words "Royal Crown Derby" surmounting the design. Intensely interesting is the history of the old Derby China factory, which in its infant days occupied a site on the Nottingham Road, near the foot of St. Mary's Bridge. It would seem to be, to some extent, a matter of conjecture as to who were the original founders of the Derby China Works. Three names, intimately associated with these works, are those of William Duesbury, John Heath, and Andrew Planché. The three men appear to have entered into an agreement of partnership which bears date January 1, 1756, and is headed, "Articles of Agreement between John Heath, of Derby, in the county of Derby, gentleman; Andrew Planché, of the same place, china maker; and William Duesbury, of Longton, in the County of Stafford, enameller." The agree ment was probably never ratified, and ultimately we find one of the trio. William Duesbury, at the head of affairs, making earnest effort to establish the work he had undertaken. From the first he laid it down as of the utmost importance that he should "secure the services of clever artist continued their patronage. Services workmen; men who were as thor were made for the Prince of Wales. oughly in earnest as himself." He afterwards George IV.; William Pitt, made the best use of his opportunities the statesman; the Duke and Duchess to do so. One of these opportunities of Devonshire, and other celebrities. was the discontinuance of the porce So arduously did the second Dueslain works at Bow and Chelsea, by bury devote himself to his art that he which William Duesbury came into ruined his health, and died before he possession, by purchase, of the plant had attained the prime of life, his eldin both places, and the best of the est son being but ten years of age. models and moulds. Some of the best workmen accompanied him to Derby, and others stayed on the Chelsea Works, under the new master, for twelve or thirteen years, when the Chelsea factory was finally closed. To say that William Duesbury succeeded in his labors to raise Derby China to excellence, both in quality and artistic decoration, is to say the least that can be said of his efforts. There is a tradition that his Majesty, King George III. made a visit to the manufactury in 1773, and that as Duesbury had made several beautful things for King George and Queen Charlotte, he took this opportunity of acquiring the right to use the Royal Crown in marking his productions. Another distinguished visitor to the Derby China Works was Doctor Johnson, attended by his friend and biographer Boswell, who thus describes his visit. "I admired the ingenuity and delicate art with which a man fashioned clay into a cup, a saucer, or a tea-pot while a boy turned a wheel to give the mass rotundity. I thought this as excellent in its species of power as making good verses in its species. The china was beautiful, but Doctor Johnson justly observed it was too dear; for that he could have vessels of silver as cheap as were here made of porcelain." Doctor Johnson was not to know that samples of articles made in his days would sell a hundred years farther on for their weight in gold. Thirty years later than the draft of agreement between Duesbury, Planché, and Heath, William Duesbury died, and his son, bearing the same name, stepped into his father's place, and the king and the queen In 1809 an advertisement appeared offering the Derby China factory for sale, and in 1810 or 1811 it passed into the hands of one Robert Bloor. Of an energetic and commercial turn of mind rather than an artistic, Mr. Bloor's aim seems to have been to render the works a commercial success, and a marked change is observable in the articles produced after 1811. Heresorted to the sale of what is techulcally distinguished as "seconds ware," that is, pieces slightly imperfect, not having passed the numerous turnings. to which the clay is subjected satisfactorily. Never until had any such imperfections been offered for sale; the worst had always been destroyed at once, and those slightly injured put on one side. Bloor's time The accumulations of many years' "seconds ware" were in the factory, and by Mr. Bloor's direction quantities of this stock were sold in various towns throughout Great Britain and Ireland. At first Derby China was a name to conjure with, and the imperfect pieces were readily bought upby undiscriminating purchasers, and ready-money flowed into the coffers of Robert Bloor. This short-sighted poiicy led to the decline of the works. The best artistic workmen, finding that the public readily bought imperfect pieces were readily bought up. by undiscriminating purchasers, and cellent results obtained by their predecessors. In 1828 Mr. Bloor's health of mind. gave way; he never recovered it, and for sixteen years the China Works were left entirely to a manager, Mr.. James Thomson, who was as able as he was honest, and steered the business clear of many dangerous rocks. The sole surviving descendant of centres. In 1878 the Mr. Bloor in 1844 was a granddaughter, who had married a malster and corn factor of the name of Clarke. This Clarke took out a statute of lunacy in the year of his marriage and carried on the China Works for four years, i.e., till 1848, when they were closed, and the whole of the plant-including moulds, models, and unfin ished stock, raw materials, benches, stools, in short every article, however trifling-was purchased by Samuel Boyle and transferred to the Staffordshire Potteries. The purchases filled no less than twenty canal boats. first goods undecorated were sent away, and "by 1880 the whole manufactory had, in every department, been brought into full working order." It is sad to find that the following year, Mr. Phillips, after a very brief illness, passed away. There is, however, consolation in the reflection that it would have been even sadder had he died before the completion of his scheme, and while the works were undeveloped and details undecided. On the close of the Nottingham Road factory, one William Locker, who for forty years had been connected with it, and to whom the break up had been a sore trouble, proposed to several of the old hands-Samuel Fearn, John Henson, and Samuel Sharpe, potters, and Sampson Hancock and James Hill, painters and gilders-that each should contribute of his knowledge, experience, money and tools, open new premises and commence the manufacture of Derby China, thus continuing it as one of the trades of their native town. The proposal met with acceptance, and between twenty and thirty years the partners-losing now one and now another by death-carried on the bus ness in King Street. It was in 1877 that the managing director of the Royal Worcester Porcelain Works, Mr. Edward Phillips, having severed his connection with the Worcester Works, conceived the design of erecting the present china factory in the Osmaston Road. An acre and a half of land was bought adjoining the Derby Workhouse, upon which a mill and slip-houses were erected, and in the same year the old workhouse and its spacious grounds were sold by auction, and purchased by Mr. Phillips and his partners. Immense additions have been made to the workhouse, and, of course, extensive alterations, so that to-day Osmaston Road Porcelain Works are among the most satisfactory of art-producing It may interest some if we here append the names of the leading artists and modellers who have helped to make the glory of Derby ware. Our authority is Mr. Jewitt. He gives the principal modellers as Spengler, Ste phan, Coffee, Complin, Hartenberg, Duvivier, Webber, and Dear. The principal painters, according to the same authority, were Boreman, Billingsley, and Hill, famous flower and landscape artists; Brewer and his wife, Bernice Brewer, who painted both landscapes and figures; Pegg, a Quaker, who "surpassed in faithful copying of nature in single branches and flowers, and in autumnal bor ders;" Samuel Keys, a "clever ornamentalist;" Steel, a fruit-painter; Cotton and Askew, two "highly gifted" painters of figures; Webster, Withers, Hancock, Bancroft, and others, flower painters; Lowton, "clever at hunting and sporting subjects;" and Robertson at landscapes. The fellow-pupil of the celebrated portrait-painter Reynolds, Wright, of Derby, on several occasions supplied drawings and gave advice, in addition to others of emi nence. One of the Wedgwood family was at one time employed at Derby, having bound himself for three years to work at "the arts of repairing or throwing china or porcelain ware," for the sum of fourteen shillings per week. We now pass on to consider the actual making and decoration of china, as it is carried on at the present time in the Royal Crown Derby Works. The famous old Derby blue and the |