"being at Lurgan, in Ireland, I embraced the opportunity which I had long desired of talking with Mr. Miller, the contriver of that statue which was in Lurgan when I was there before. It was the figure of an old man standing in a case, with a curtain drawn before him, over against a clock which stood on the opposite side of the room. Every time the clock struck, he opened the door with one hand, drew back the curtain with the other, turned his head as if looking round on the company, and then said with a clear, loud, articulate voice, “ 66 'past one," or two," or "L three," and so on. But so many came to see this, (the like of which all allowed was not to be seen in Europe,) that Mr. Miller was in danger of being ruined; not having time to attend to his own business. So, as none offered to pay him for his pains, he took the whole machine to pieces. In the gardens of the Palais Royal and the Luxembourg, at Paris, is a cannon clock; a contrivance invented by one Rosseau. A burning-glass is fixed over the vent of a cannon, so that the sun's rays, at the moment of its passing the meridian, are concentrated on the priming, and the piece is fired. The glass is regulated for this purpose every month. It is now time to mention a clock of almost miraculous properties, constructed by a Genevan mechanic of the name of Droz, towards the end of the last century. The clock in question was so constructed as to be capable of performing the following surprising movements, (if the account can be credited :)-There was exhibited on it a negro, a shepherd, and a dog. When the clock struck, the shepherd played six tunes on his flute, and the dog approached and fawned upon him. This clock was exhibited to the king of Spain, who was greatly delighted with it. "The gentleness of my dog," said Droz, "is his least merit. If your majesty touch one of the apples which you see in the shepherd's basket, you will admire the fidelity of this animal." The king took an apple, and the dog flew at his hand, and barked so loud, that the king's dog, which was in the same room during the exhibition, began to bark also; at this, the courtiers, not doubting that it was an affair of witchcraft, hastily left the room, crossing themselves as they went out. The minister of marine, who was the only one who ventured to stay behind, having desired him to ask the negro what o'clock it was, the minister staid, but he obtained no reply. Droz then observed, that the negro had not yet learned Spanish, upon which the minister repeated the question in French, and the black immediately answered him. At this new prodigy the firmness of the minister also forsook him, and he retreated precipitately, declaring that it must be the work of a supernatural being. The last clock which I shall mention at present is one which I contrived and executed some five or six years ago. It shows the hour of the day, the mean time of the rising, southing, and setting of the sun and moon, the moon's age and phases throughout the year, (by having an horizon which expands and contracts by means of the complicated wheel-work,) the day of the month, the mean time of the sun's entering into the zodiacal signs, sidereal and solar year, and consequently, the precession of the equinoxes, which in the clock has a slow backward motion through the ecliptic in 25,920 years; the flux and reflux of the tides are also exhibited in the arc of the dial-plate; the movement contains somewhere about fiftysix wheels, sixteen pinions, nine levers for various uses, and about one hundred and thirty moveable pieces; it goes for eight days, has what is called a dead beat scapement, and goes while winding up. 66 Horology is a branch of knowledge most intimately connected with astronomy, navigation, and chronology, and its usefulness is found linked more or less with all of the most important branches of science. Without a proper understanding of horology, the mariner could not with safety plough the ocean; he could not calculate with accuracy his distance from land; and in fine, without horology, history would appear without dates, and even the more common affairs of domestic life would run into confusion. The clock of early times was of very rude construction; and it would seem from what remains of their history, that a loss or gain of five, ten, twenty, or more minutes per day, was not much regarded; and if it kept within these wide bounds, the horologe was looked upon as a miracle of art." But now, in modern times, when the art of horology has risen to such perfection that in astronomical clocks, with compensation pendulums of right principles, a gain or loss of five minutes in a year would by no means answer the present advanced state of the sublime science of astronomy, neither would it in this state much further the art of navigation, in the prediction of a ship's way on the ocean. From the duplicate of an official statement now lying before me, it is stated that the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, having advertised a premium of £300 for the best chronometer which should be kept at Greenwich Observatory for trial for one year, thirty-six were forwarded by the principal chronometer makers in London, and were kept during the year 1823. It was announced that if any chronometer varied six seconds, it could not obtain the prize at the end of the year. The chronometer marked 816 gained the prize, having kept time for many months within “ one second and one eleven hundredth part of a second!" This is certainly the best chronometer on record. Such perfection was never before attained, and it justly excited the astonishment of all astronomers, and of the Board of Admiralty. Manufacture of Earthenware and Porcelain. "Etruria! next beneath thy magic hands Glides the quick wheel, the plastic clay expands: DARWIN. The business of creating from a mass of clay vases, ewers, and urns," which, in the homely language of the potter, is termed throwing, has always excited admiration. One moment, an unfashioned lump of earth is cast on the block; the next, it is seen starting into forms of elegance and beauty. A simple wheel, and hands untutored in other arts, effect this wondrous change. The means appear to be scarcely adequate to the end; and thence the poet, with seeming truth, asserts that "magic hands" perform this work of art. The remotest ages of antiquity lay claim to the invention of earthenware;-probably it was carried to a higher point of improvement than any other of the early manufactures of the world. It could originate only in those regions which produced its essential materials, and thus we find no vestiges of its having existed in countries where clay is unknown. In America, while some regions possess curious specimens of ancient pottery, others, in which the raw material has not been found, present no such antique remains. The natives of these latter countries have availed themselves of such substitutes as nature has provided. The gourd, called calabash, which they ingeniously carve and cut into various forms, affords them as abundant a supply of vessels for holding liquids as their simple modes of life require. The plastic power of clay was early discovered. It appears to have been employed in the most ancient times, as it still is in Egypt, to receive the impression of a seal, the affixing of which on property was probably considered, even at that period, as a legal protection. Job, in one of his poetic similes, says, (chap. xxxviii, 14,) "It is turned as clay to the seal." Many centuries before the art was practised in Europe, the Chinese had brought it very nearly to the degree of perfection which their porcelain now exhibits. In this one branch of art they have undisputed possession of materials of the most perfect combination of colors, of unrivalled brilliance, but of “ideal grace” not one particle. From Asia this art entered Europe through Greece, the land of "creative genius." The Corinthian potters especially displayed, in their designs and execution, exquisite taste and skill. Their works were more prized than diamond or ruby, and were amongst the most valuable decorations in the dwellings of princes. Greece, supplying with porcelain Egypt, the mother country of so many other arts, at length taught it to establish its own pottery, and, spreading the useful art far and wide, to become itself the benefactor of other regions. A Phoenician colony, it is supposed, founded the ancient Etruria, whence modern Europe has drawn models of skill and beauty. Though conquerors ought seldom to be regarded as benefactors, the Romans in many instances were such to the nations they subdued. Wherever they obtained a permanent empire, they planted their arts and manufactures. Though some maintain that Phonicia supplied Britain with earthen vessels in exchange for its metals, there are so many vestiges of Roman manufactures as to corroborate the belief of her being indebted to that people for the art of the potter. In the neighborhood of Leeds the remembrance of a Roman pottery is still recorded in the name of the village which rose upon its site-Potter Newton. Although introduced into Britain at so early a period, the potter's art long remained in its rudest state. The coarse red ware only was made, but was not of sufficient beauty or utility to be received as a substitute for utensils and vessels of wood and metal, as earthenware, in its improved state, has since been. In every dwelling, even the humblest, earthenware and china are now essential, and not only in England, but in all the civilized regions of the world. This change was principally effected by the industry and comprehensive mind of one individual-Josiah Wedgwood, the founder of modern Etruria. The Staffordshire potteries, which in his day consisted of a few thinly peopled villages, now present a continued chain of manufactories, extending for miles, in which tens of thousands of people are constantly employed and supported. For centuries previous to the time of which we are speaking, the manufacture of earthenware had, in this country, remained unimproved; and in Europe, generally, it had been almost as stationary. From the east, the wealthy and luxurious of the western hemisphere were supplied with porcelain, valued on account of its rareness rather than for its beauty; while the humbler ranks of society sought no other than metal or wooden domestic utensils, unless they added to these some of the rude works of their native potters. At length, in France, Germany, and Italy, princes and nobles, as if ashamed of the neglect the art had experienced in the most civilized portion of the world, founded in their respective countries porcelain manufactories. These subsequently became of considerable eminence. The Sevres, Dresden, and Berlin porcelain grew in time to be the admiration of Europe, and was mingled with the works of China, which became less prized. But the benefit conferred by these royal and noble establishments was limited. Wealth was expended on them; talents were devoted to them; but their works never circulated throughout all ranks, nor effected any general change in domestic life: they have been limited to the use only of the noble and the rich. These manufactories cannot claim the merit of such general utility as those of England, conducted by a different class of men and upon different principles. Here, unaided by the hand of power, without wealth, and sometimes almost without education, men, the founders of British manufactories, have often started from the level of humble life into prominent and commanding situations. Dispensing means of subsistence and opening prospects of improved condition to thousands, they have acquired an influence in their day which nobles might covet. Among this class of benefactors to their race, the late Josiah Wedgwood stood preeminent. His early education, as was usual in his sphere, was very limited. Education in his day was supposed to be incompatible with the habits of a man of business. The disadvantages of this narrow system were early perceived by the intelligent Wedgwood, and his first step to the eminence he afterwards attained was the education of himself. Though apprenticed to a potter, he found leisure for acquisitions in literary knowledge, which subsequently enabled him to sustain a part in the literary and philosophical society of his time. He had no wild or irrational ambition which induced him to attempt attainments beyond his reach: this would have ended in disappointment and downfall. His dignified view was fixed to the improvement of himself and his condition by the most laudable means; and the result, after years of steady application, accompanied with great toil and anxiety, was an ample and distinguished success. About thirty years before he commenced the foundation of his future eminence, an accident had given rise to improvement in the earthenwares of Staffordshire. A potter from Burslem, (the centre |