San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-06-08

tria and Saxony made peace with him, and
SileSia was given up to 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 Nielsen to see the porcelain factory
This factory belonged to the king of Saxony,
and the secret of the art was hedged about
with the most severe, even Draconian laws,
and the most cruel punishmcnts 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
Ill. The prices paid for the articles that
issued from it were high. In 1920, 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 OPP
portunity, and he at once made a demand
that some of the mast .r 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
former was WegelL who became the actual
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 Mansfield
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 wor6men 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
andeavored to bride Aldbury to divulge some
Of the secrets of the Chelsea factory. Whe-
Their he succeeded in this cannot be said, but
Aldbury remained i'll Berlin longer than he
needed, and on very good terms with the
king, and was allowed to visit the royal fac
tory One day the king determined to in
spect the establishment and he Lavted Aid
bury and others to accompany him. Among
these others was young Polish nobeman,
Augustus LaZinka, who had been educated
in the Prussian military school a. Potslam
and had entered the service OF the kin; al
other WAS the Con-: DIS LouCl s2:S "".IO VEG
Interested il the SER y I'lan'!.l. - Any
one wh1 knows !l.Icl ii ''..,- :, a...i has ,Nca
some OF the car!.c>G l:u,LI.,.o!.s {: t!c Dcr,.n
factory will know that they wCro 10: the
oest or rner kind, not by any means equal &c
those turned out at MeiSSen. The king saw
this, when he looked at what had re-
Gently been burned, and he was angry. He
rated Wegeli, scoldei 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, "Heinl" said he
roughly, what is the meaning of this9 Do
you suppose will put up with daubs9 Has
his ma jssty of Sa1Ony paid you to supply me
with bad wOrkP
perhaps, your majesty suggested Lour.
agais, ''the girl has left a sweetheart behind
her, and so is working here without her
heart"