surd, doesn't it?" agreed Mr. Croyden. "It is a
childish impulse to want to make everything as big as one can make it.
Nevertheless in a land where much of the population was Catholic you
can readily understand how these gigantic figures readily found places
upon altars in the churches of Europe. All might have gone well with
this great porcelain plant had not the Seven Years' War arisen just at
this time, lasting from 1756 to 1763. During this period Frederick the
Great, the grandfather of the present Emperor of Germany, went into
Saxony, stopped the royal factories at Meissen, and took the workmen
as captives to Berlin."

"But----" began Theo indignantly.

"Such things are the issues of war," said Mr. Croyden gravely. "We
cannot uphold them, nor cease to deplore their injustice. We can only
pray that a day may come when the envy between nations will cease, and
when each country shall respect its neighbor's rights in a truly
Christian spirit. Then we shall have a world for which we shall not
need to blush, and which will really be civilized."

"Did the Saxon workmen have to make Dresden china in Germany?"

"Yes. Works under the patronage of the Emperor were opened at Berlin,
and here porcelain was made, the profits of which went to the Royal
Treasury, the workmen being paid very little indeed. Much of the ware
manufactured the monarch kept for his own use; and much of it he gave
away whenever he wished to make a fine present to his friends. But so
lavishly did the Saxon potters use the deposits of native clay that
later the supply became poorer in quality, and as a consequence the
body of the later Dresden was not so perfect as that made at
Meissen. For this reason collectors set great value on the early
Dresden work, that made between 1731 and 1756; also on the figures
modeled by the sculptor, Kaendler."

"Did the works at Berlin continue?" inquired Theo, who had become
absorbed in the story.

"Yes," replied Mr. Croyden. "You see, even before the capital at
Dresden was captured by the Germans and the Meissen workmen carried
off, attempts had been made in Prussia to manufacture porcelain from
ordinary stone. Several private business concerns as well as various
individuals had put their money into the enterprise and had even met
with some success. But this ware was manufactured on no very extended
scale. Now, however, the Emperor was determined that his venture
should succeed. Not only did he bring to Berlin the