About this time he suffered very great pain from his injured leg. At times he had to work away with his leg resting on a stool in front of him. On one occasion he injured his leg and was laid up in bed for several months. During this period he did a good deal of reading and tried to make up for his lack of early training. He also had time to think out many new plans for his work, and he solemnly resolved to become the greatest potter of his time. His mother had died some years previously and his outlook in some ways was not very bright. He wrote in his diary: "I have my trade, a lame leg, the marks of small-pox, and I never was good-looking anyway." When he was able to get about again he resumed his work with more enthusiasm than ever. Instead of doing as his brother Thomas and other potters were doing--simply making plain butter-crocks, brown jugs and such like, he spent a great deal of time experimenting in glazes, in a semi-transparent green color which he had made for himself. Soon his wonderfully artistic designs began to attract attention, and his reputation extended throughout England. Up till this time practically all the really beautiful pottery in England had been imported from other countries. Because of the great distance and of the difficulties of transportation, this pottery was very expensive. An aristocratic Burnham family, who possessed some very fine rare specimens, had the misfortune to have their largest plate broken. They sought the assistance of all the leading potters to help them get a duplicate, but failed. Then they were directed to Josiah Wedgewood. He succeeded where others had failed and to the amazement of all he produced a perfect facsimile of the broken plate. The news of this achievement soon spread and he received orders for more work than he could carry out. Some years before this, Josiah had seen Sarah Wedgewood and had become deeply attached to her. Sarah's father and his own were cousins, but whereas his father had been a humble workman, Richard Wedgewood was considered a wealthy man. By dint of hard work Josiah saved a hundred pounds, which in those days was considered quite a sum of money. He wrote to Sarah and told her of his success, and she wrote back and congratulated him, telling him how proud they were of his achievements in artistic pottery. Josiah was greatly encouraged by this letter, and on the strength of it he visited her home and asked her hand in marriage. Sarah seems to have been quite willing, but her father was very angry. He had taken a friendly interest in his distant relative, and was glad to know of the wonderful things he was doing in artistic pottery, but after all Josiah was still poor, lame, and disfigured by small-pox. He had no intention of allowing his daughter to marry such a man. He had some one else in view whom he considered would be a much better match.