e must go and see them!" cried Matie and the boys.

"Yes, you certainly should go," said their uncle. "You would see some
very curious things there, and the elegant forms of many of the
articles would show you that a love for beauty has existed almost as
long as man has lived."

"You were thinking of ancient times when you said the history of
pottery was almost that of the civilized world; weren't you, uncle?"
asked Will.

[Illustration: JEWELED PORCELAIN.]

"Yes," answered his uncle, taking from his cabinet a small jug covered
with rich gilding, and glistening as if set with precious stones.

"Oh, isn't that lovely?" cried Matie.

"Well, yes; some people think that this jeweled porcelain, as it is
called, is among the choicest of Copeland's works."

"Whose, sir?"

"Copeland, of Stoke-upon-Trent, where are some of the largest potteries
in England."

"But don't you like it, uncle?" asked Matie.

"I do admire it very much, Matie; but not so much as some more simple
objects that I have. Here is something that will explain my meaning,"
he added, taking from the cabinet a little vase of grayish-brown with
darker indented lines drawn in the form of small animals, flowers and
foliage.

"Oh, I've seen ever so many pieces like that, and I thought they were
common stone-ware, the same as the kitchen dishes," said Al.

"They are of common clay, it is true, but look at the drawing of the
figures," said his uncle, pointing to the tracery upon the surface of
the vase.

"Why, yes; it almost seems as if that little rabbit would run away, it
is so life-like," said Willie.

"It was not only for its beauty that I valued this vase, but for the
story that it tells," said Uncle Jack. "In the first place it tells
that the simple earth we walk upon can be made by man into works of
enduring beauty."

"Where was that vase made, uncle?" asked Willie.

"At the Doulton Works, Lambeth, England."

"What is the rest of the story about it?" inquired Al.

"For many years, common drain-pipes and building-tiles were the only
things made at the Doulton works; but some of the pottery people went
to an art school, and they thought it would be a good idea to ornament
some of the common things they made with the designs they had learned
to draw at school. So, with a bit of pointed stick, they made some of
their favorite pictures on the soft clay objects; and when these were
fired, the glaze flowed into the lines, making them darker than