Two hundred years ago china was the Englishwoman's passion; the fancy for it was carried to an extent of folly satirized by most of the writers of the day. " There is no inclination in women," says Addison, "that more surprises me than this passion for china. When a woman is visited with it, it generally takes possession of her for life. China vessels are playthings for women of all ages. An old lady of fourscore shall be as busy in cleaning an Indian mandarin as her great-granddaughter is in dressing her baby".

"If you were to come into my great parlour," says a correspondent of the Spectator, " you would fancy yourself in an India warehouse. Besides this, she (his wife) keeps a squirrel, and I am doubly taxed to pay for the china he breaks".

"And mistress of herself, tho' china fall' was considered then the height of womanly endurance.

Even men shared in this taste as collectors, and of Horace Walpole it was said -

"China's the passion of his soul, A cup, a plate, a dish, a bowl Can kindle wishes in his breast, Inflame with joy, or break his rest".

The taste still lingers amongst collectors, though generally kept within reasonable bounds; there are still ladies also who treasure their heritage of old china - and with reason. The ceramic is assuredly a charming art, and true taste will always delight in the artistic beauty of the exquisite porcelain of Dresden, Sevres, Berlin, Capo di Monte, and our own old Chelsea. There is a china closet in most old family dwellings, in which are garnered the ancient possessions of ancestors and friends, of the value of which too often the possessor is ignorant. A few words on pottery and porcelain may therefore not be unwelcome to our readers.

Pottery - the manufacture of vessels of all kinds from clay - is a very ancient art, cultivated long ere sculpture or painting had charmed the world. Early in Scripture the potter is named, and many are the similitudes furnished by his art* The second king of Rome, Numa Pompilius, founded a potters' college, and the art was held in honour by all the ancient nations of the earth. The funeral pottery found in tombs, and easily assignable to the people who were its makers, has been of the very greatest service to the historian; it ascertains for him the limits of Greek and Roman dominion, and of Mahometan sway, while the degree of civilization, and domestic habits of nations can be tolerably well learned from the same source. But we have to speak of china as a charm of the home, not as an object of antiquarian research. And first of all, the exquisite Oriental china, which has never been surpassed in quality, occurs to us. The Chinese first brought the ceramic art to perfection; and the celebrated porcelain tower near Nankin, is a lasting memorial of their devotion to it.

The glazed tiles of this tower are of fayence, covered with brilliant glaze, and a legend says that a human life was given to achieve the manufacture of this species of china.

Sevres Porcelain, French Exhibition, 1867.

A Chinese Emperor ordered porcelain tiles to be manufactured of a size and kind which the workmen found it impossible to produce. The sovereign would not however hear of an impossibility, and the mandarin who had to enforce the imperial command, endeavoured to goad on the workmen to its achievement by means of cruel punishments; one of them overcome at last by despair, leaped into the glowing furnace, and was consumed. When the same furnace was afterwards opened, the porcelain was found exactly that which had been required, and from that hour the man who had thus perished was worshipped by the potters as their tutelary deity. The funny little corpulent figures called magols are images of this deified workman.*

* Psalm ii. 9. Isaiah xlv, 9; lxiv. 8. Jeremiah xviii. 6; xix. II. Rev. ii. 27.

The Portuguese traders were the first who introduced the fine wares of china into the trade of Europe, though single specimens of it as gifts to royal persons, etc., had before found their way here. It was the Portuguese who gave it the name of porcelain - i.e., Porcellana. Its glossy whiteness reminded them of the peariy lining of the cowrie shells which were (and are still) used as money in the East, and as they called these shells ftorcella, or "little pigs" (from the likeness of their shape to the back of that animal) they transferred a modification of the name to the china. They enjoyed a monopoly of the trade in it for some time; and when they ceased to possess it the Dutch obtained it and kept it long.

The first Chinese porcelain brought into England is believed to have been presented to Queen Elizabeth by Cavendish, the celebrated traveller. That the great queen had a true woman's taste for china we may infer from the New Year's gifts made to her in 1587-8 when Lord Burghley presented her with "one porringer of white porselyn garnished with gold," and Mr. Robert Cecil gave her "a cup of grene porselyn." These gifts were probably purchased from seamen who had captured Spanish carracks, and who disposed of this part of the cargo; for there was no trade in china till the East India Company had formed their first establishment at Gombron.

Nankin Porcelain is blue and white; the clearness of the white and fineness of the blue determine its value.

The old sea-green or Celadon is very valuable. So also is the transparent china called " egg-shell" china, which is wonderfully thin and fragile. A sister of the writer possesses some cups of it which are perfectly transparent. The citron-coloured and ruby are extremely rare, being made only for the Emperor's use; they are not allowed to be sold publicly.

Japanese China is superior to Chinese in the quality of the paste and the colours, which are generally blue and red - some is of lacquered ware, with subjects in mother-of-pearl.