Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1888-11-10
THE BLUE VASE.
By s. Barring GOULD.
,HAPTER I.

vAWX &M uo
~ battle against tho
WMA niUbN Saxons at H Her.
\AANlf2W mansdorf, beat
\SIZS them, and marched
g/ to Dresden, and on
~ - Christmas day, In
~~T the year 1745. Aus
tria and Saxony made peace with him, and
Silesia was given up 10 Frederick.
Now we have nothing to do with the politi.
cal history of the time, but We have been
Obliged to mention the above facts to explain
how it was that Frederick the Great came to
Dresden, and how the chain Of circumstances
ensued connected with the Blue Vase that
gives its title to our tale.
When the Prussian king was at Dresden he
went to Meissen to see the porcelain factory.
This factory belonged to the king Of Saxony,
aud the secret Of the art was hedged about
with the most severe, even Draconian, laws,
and the most cruel punishments were threat
enend against such as divulged the secret.
The secret had only been discovered in ITO
how TO make pure white transparent porce-
lain, and the royal factory was established in
iii. The prices paid for the articles that
issued from it were high. In 172O, the court
Of Vienna, by bribery, induced one of the
workmen to escape from Meissen and carry
the precious secret to the capital by the
Danube. And now, in 1745, Frederick, as
conqueror, entered the factory and watched
the workmen engaged in modelling, burning,
painting, gliding.
Frederick was not man to neglect his op-
portunity, and he at once made demand
that sone Of the master workmen and of the
best artists should be delivered over to him,
that he might establish a royal porcelain
factory Of his own at Berlin. Among the
x.,1xx 1~,oo Il
master and founder Of the Berlin porcelain,
and among the latter was young girl named
Sophie Mansfield. While Frederick was
going over the factory at Meissen, he was
shown some beautiful vases painted with
landscapes and pastoral subjects, SO fresh,
charming and quaint that he asked the name
Of the artist, and when told it. stipulated that
she-for the painter was Sophie Mansfeld--
should accompany the detachment which he
engaged to come to Berlin, and make and
paint porcelain for the replenishing Of his
private purse.
At this very time, 1745, the Chelsea pottery
works were established, and one Of the
makers, or foremen, of the Chelsea works,
a man called Aldbury, was then in Berlin.
He had been sent over, perhaps, to endeavor
to secure some of the workmen for the Eng
lish establishment. In this he failed Fred
erick knew he was in Berlin, and had his
movements watched. He went further; he
endeavored to bribe Aldbury to divulge some
Of the secrets Of the Chelsea factory. Whe-
ther he succeeded in this cannot be said, but
Aldbury remained in Berlin longer than he
needed, and on very good terms with tho
king, and was allowed to visit the royal fac.
tory. One day the king determined to in
spect the establishment, and he invited Aid.
bury and others to accompany him. Among
these others was young Polish noblenan,
Augustus Lazinka, who had been educated
in the Prussian military school at Potsdam
and had entered the service of the king; an-
other was the Count des Louragais, who was
interested in the Sevres manufacture. Any
one who knows much of china, and has seen
some of the earliest productions of the Berlin
factory, will know that they were not tho
best Of ther kind, not by any means equal to
those turned out at Meissen. The king saw
this, when he looked at what had re-
Gently been burned, aud he was angry. Ho
rated Wegeli, scolded the work.hen, the
painters, the burners; nothing pleased him;
he was vexed to have such poor results to
show to the Count des Louragais and AID
bury
When he came to the table where Sophie
Mansfield was painting, 'Hein!" said he
roughly, "whlt is the meaning Of thisl Do
his majesty of Saxony paid you to supply me-
with bad workN
ferhaps, your majesty" suggested Lour,
agais, the giri mas iett SweetheaTt pehihu
hef, ana 30 Is working mere wlthout her
heart
"What, what, sweetheart" exclaimed
freuericK' "a worKWoniah mas no business l
to lose her heart. what do you meant That
q good artistic is to abandon her profession in
which SIN She exc exce % run run ai.r man. ian ado It TO-
sauerkraut, ana nave oapes, ana WASH ana
mind the paples, Ior u nuspahui l WONT near
Of IL It is nonsense. 10 on with with your paint.
ang, ana 90 IL better, OF viii oock your
salary, and.it ma your loVer-haVe MN
sh1s or smut up IN Spanaaiu. , .
Tue ktns was 'aihins WIN ATuI "saIS' anu
young Lazlhka was Denihu. ING Siri was
Prety, sne Was M alstless, anu NJ naa neart
70 aaInire beauty aha ply Anllction, 80 ne
venttred 70 take her haho ana say "ora OF
ene4nragemen1. . ., =. ,,,,,
r., HIS majesty DID not want , 70 be unkind.
His MAJESTY Is peremptory. was maoeuoi-
seize very NuhhappyI
She was away rom nome, nsr reiauohs,
her friends Her voice faitered as she
spoke. :.
T. But said La2in6a, you can return II
you are unhappy IN bernn ,s .,;,;, -,
raIu0h, sne Ahswereu' raising m ner
beautiful eyes; II cannot return. Inc
gracl0us SIT does not remeihoer tua' all
porcelain WoTker :.
now can iolgec ~, Mneh see you eh-
gaged on painting a vaser o., .,.. u,o
but Che gracious SIT iorReIs that porce-
IAN arusts are hot Tree. ihey canhot go
where they Ike, they Cahnot caii themselves
tneiT own; !hey are ilke she oia seris-aoSo, $50
luteiy under the cohtroi oi thelr MASTER the
crown"
DO you mean, maaemoiselie, 10 say you
cannot seek your nome ana see your reia-
uVesF -,
NO, siC, am pouhu 10 remain mere !
attempted TO leave should be imprisoned
but, whyf
Ihe secret mas 10 DE preserved mignt