action of a high temperature, and having likewise
a very soft glaze, which could be
scratched with a knife. It was made of white
clay, alum bay-sand, and pounded glass.
Indeed, the first Chelsea porcelain is believed
to have been little other than opaque glass.
English kings do not, like their foreign regal
brethren, establish and maintain royal porcelain
manufactories; but George the Second
bestowed the light of his gracious countenance
on the Chelsea ware; and for many
years it was all the rage. At one time,
as soon as a service of this ware was
made, it was sold by auction as soon as
kilned, and bought eagerly by dealers.
Horace Walpole speaks of a service which
the king purchased for twelve hundred
pounds, as a present to the Duke of
Mecklenburg. Dr. Johnson figures as a potter,
in Faulkner's History of Chelsea. He
had a notion that he could improve the
quality of porcelain, and obtained permission
to try his experiments at the Chelsea works.
"He was accordingly accustomed to go down
with his housekeeper about twice a-week
and stayed the whole day, she carrying a
basket of provisions with her. The Doctor,
who was not allowed to enter the mixing-room,
had access to every other part of
the house, and formed his composition in
a particular apartment, without being
overlooked by any one. He had also free
access to the oven, and superintended the
whole process." But, alas! the maker of a
dictionary could not make porcelain. " He
completely failed both as to composition and
baking; for, his materials always yielded to
the intensity of the heat, while those of the
company came out of the furnace perfect and
complete." The works declined and were
discontinued about the commencement of
George the Third's reign; but the Chelsea
porcelain is much sought for by connoisseurs
and dealers. We hear of four guineas apiece
for dessert plates, and twenty-five guineas
for a couple of teacups, as having been given
at auctions.

Besides Chelsea, there were established in
the last century porcelain manufactories at.
Bow, Worcester, Derby, Coalbrook Dale,
Rotherham, and elsewhere; but these were
exclusively devoted to soft-paste porcelain,
innocent of the kaolin and petuntse of
China.

It was a west of England man, Mr.
Cookworthy, who, about ninety years ago,
discovered that Cornwall produced the very
kaolin and petuntse which enabled the
Chinese to manufacture their beautiful, hard,
translucent porcelain; or, if not actually the
same earths, earths sufficiently near to answer
the same purpose. This was the dawning day
of the present porcelain manufacture of
England; but, as in many other cases, it did not
dawn brightly for the discoverers. Mr.
Cookworthy established a manufactory at Bristol,
and took out a patent for the exclusive
use of the Cornish earth in a certain stage of
preparation; applying his skill and capital
to the enterprise. But he failed. It may
have been that Wedgwood, then rising
rapidly into fame, monopolised the favour of
the great; or it may have been—but, no
matter; Cookworthy parted with his patent
right, and neither he nor the buyers made
much out of it. The fact lived, however: the
fact that Cornwall contains stone and clay
which contribute towards the manufacture of
the finest porcelain.

It is just possible that there are other
districts in the United Kingdom where
these substances might be, and perhaps are,
met with; but there are mineralogical
reasons why they must be soiight for in a
granite region. We must therefore pay a
little attention to the geologists and mineralologists,
and endeavour to become learned
about felspar, and mica, and quartz.

Sir H. De la Beche tells us that china-clay
is made from decomposed granite, and
that therefore it is only in a granite region
that the substance must be sought. The
miners call the rock or stone, soft growan; it
frequently contains talc in the place of mica,
and is characterised by the partial decomposition
of the felspar. This growan has two
degrees of softness. The hardest and finest
pieces very much resemble the Chinese
kaolin; they are quarried under the name of
china-stone, and are cut into square pieces
convenient for transport to Staffordshire, and
the other pottery districts; but, the softer
specimens, which are dug out of pits rather
than quarried from a rock, more resemble the
Chinese petuntse. They require a more
elaborate preparation to separate the quartz
from the finer particles of the decomposed
felspar; and when so prepared, the
substance obtains the name of china-clay or
porcelain earth. It is chiefly at two places
that this disintegrated granite is met with;
near Hensbarrow Hill, between Bodmin and
St. Austell; and near Cornwood, on the
southern margin of Dartmoor; but the
first-named is by far the most prolific
locality.

The reader will be pleased to imagine
himself taking part with us in a run or a
gallop through this portion of the Cornish
territory. We are mounted on the Magnet
coach. Our driver has been touched
by the moustache movement; he is a
smart fellow; and, with his moustache, his
white hat, and the rose in the button-hole, is
a sight to see, and an object of admiration to
barmaids and turnpike-gate maidens. Our
Magnet is piled to the roof; for the railway
days of Cornwall are yet to come, and hence
the coaches load well. Nevertheless, laden
though it be, we have the boxes and trunks
forming a wall at our backs, and have before
us a clear view, and a keen sniff of air, and
such humble attempts at the picturesque as
the centre of Cornwall can afford. Away we