shall not Play; Taverns or Ale Houses he shall not haunt or frequent; Fornication he shall not Commit, Matrimony he shall not Contract; from the Service of his said Master he shall not at any time depart or absent himselfe without his said Master's Leave: but in all things as a good and faithful Apprentice Shall and Will Demean and behave himselfe towards his said Master and all his, During the said Term, and the Said Master his Apprentice the said Art of Throwing and Handleing which he now useth, with all things thereunto, shall and will Teach and Instruct, or Cause to be well and Sufficiently Taught and Instructed after the best way and manner he can; and shall and will also find and allow unto the Said Apprentice Meat, Drink, Washing and Lodging, and Apparell of all kinds, both Linen and Woolen, and all other Necessaries, both in Sickness and in Health, meet and Convenient for such an Apprentice During the Term aforesaid, and for the true performance of all and Every the said Covenants and Agreements either of the Said Parties Bindeth himselfe unto Each other by these presents, in Witness wereof they have Interchangeable Set their hands and Seals the Day and year before mentioned.

"Sealed and Delivered in the presence of

"SAMUEL ASTBURY.

"ABNER WEDGWOOD."

"JOSIAH WEDGWOOD.

"MARY WEdgwood.

"THOS. WEDGWOOD.

This indenture, by which it will be seen Josiah Wedgwood was bound apprentice to his eldest brother, Thomas, for a period of five years, "to learn his art, mistery, occupation, or imployment of Throwing and Handleing," is signed by himself, his mother, and brother Thomas, as the three parties to the deed, and attested by Samuel Astbury and Abner Wedgwood. Of these signatures, so historically interesting, I give on the next page a carefully engraved fac-simile.

Abner Wedgwood, whose signature here appears, must have been either uncle or brother to Josiah-for there were two Abners-but I am inclined to believe the latter, who

was seven years the senior of Josiah, and had therefore already attained his majority. Samuel Astbury, the other attesting witness, was uncle to Josiah, having married his

Josiah Wegweed

Mary Wedgwood
The Wedgwood

Samuel Alffbury
Abner W sdgwood

father's sister, Elizabeth Wedgwood. He was one of the family of Astbury to whom the potters were indebted for the discovery of so many improvements in their art, some of which it may not be out of place briefly to notice.

Towards the close of the seventeenth century, when the brothers Elers, to whom I have before referred, had begun their manufacture of fine red ware at Bradwell, and had surprised their neighbours with their productions, and

ted their jealousy by their success and the care with

which they guarded their secret, a potter of Burslem named Astbury determined to discover their process, and accordingly took means to do so. To accomplish his end he is said to have assumed the garb and manners of an idiot, and then sought the hovel of the Elers, and with every appearance of vacant idiotcy made it understood that he was willing to work. Here he "submitted to the cuffs, kicks, and unkind treatment of masters and workmen, with a ludicrous grimace, as the proof of the extent of his mental ability. When food was offered to him, he used only his fingers to convey it to his mouth; and only when helped by other persons could he understand how to perform any of the labours to which he was directed. He was next employed to move the treadle of an engine lathe, and by perseverance in his assumed character he had opportunity of witnessing every process, and examining every utensil they employed. On returning home each evening he formed models of the several kinds of implements, and made memoranda of the processes, which practice he continued a considerable time (nearly two years is mentioned), until he ascertained that no further information was likely to be obtained, when he availed himself of a fit of sickness to continue at home, and this was represented as most malignant, to prevent any person visiting him. After his recovery he was found so sane that Messrs. Elers deemed him unfit longer to remain in their service, and he was discharged, without suspicion that he possessed a knowledge of their manipulations." The information he had thus surreptitiously and dishonestly acquired, he soon turned to such good account that the Elers, "mortified at the fact that their precaution had been unavailing, and disgusted at the inquisitiveness of the Burslem potters" (for another potter named Twyford had also discovered their secret), found that their trade was fast leaving them, and removed at once from the neighbourhood. Astbury commenced business on his own account, and soon became a "man of mark," and took journeys to London to sell his wares and to procure orders. On one of these journeys, it

is said, he accidentally discovered the use of flint as an ingredient in the plastic art. This circumstance is thus recorded-On one of his journeys, on arriving at Dunstable, he found the horse on which he rode so much affected in its eyes, that he feared blindness would result. Having spoken to the ostler at the inn, he recommended burnt flint, and having put a piece of flint in the fire, and kept it there until red-hot, allowed it to cool, and then powdered it. Some of this powder he blew into the eyes of the horse, and relieved it. Mr. Astbury, who had watched the process carefully, was much stuck with the pure whiteness which the flint attained on being burned, and the ease with which it might be reduced to powder; and having also noticed its clayey nature when moistened in the horse's eyes, immediately conceived the idea that if mixed with clay in his trade, it would produce a finer and whiter kind of ware than any which had been yet produced. Having procured some flints on his return home, he profited by his observation, and the result of his experiments was more than satisfactory to him. He soon obtained a preference for his ware over others, and amassed a comfortable fortune; and thus flints became a general ingredient in the potter's materials. Samuel Astbury is said to have been a son of this eminent potter; and thus was united to the Wedgwood family the ability and skill of the Astburys.

It will be noticed that in the indenture of apprenticeship, both Mary Wedgwood, the mother of Josiah, and Thomas, his brother, to whom he was bound, are described as "of the Churchyard, in the county of Stafford," the town, or village as it then was, of Burslem not being named. It is probable, from this fact of both being described as "of the Churchyard," that not only was Josiah, as a matter of course, at that time living with his mother, but that Thomas, the eldest son, and successor of his father, also resided under the same roof. Whether this were so or not is, however, a matter of grave doubt; for, although in the indenture of apprenticeship executed in November, 1744,

he is described as "of the Churchyard," yet in his marriage settlement with Isabel Beech, dated October 12th, 1742, two years previously, he is described as " of the Over House, Burslem, Potter." By this deed the Churchyard house and works, then his property, are settled, as will soon be shown.

The probability is, that Thomas Wedgwood resided at the Over House at the time when Josiah was apprenticed to him, that he carried on his potter's business both there and at the Churchyard (which was his own property), and that