Respectfully Presented to 
 
 by the Author. 
 
 THE SUBSTANCE OF 
 
 A LECTURE 
 
 ON 
 
 THE HISTORY AND MANUFACTURE 
 
 OP 
 
 STAINED GLASS WINDOWS, 
 
 PREPARED FOR AND READ TO THE MEMBERS OF THE 
 
 BOLTON MECHANICS’ INSTITUTION, 
 
 On 16th December, 1857, 
 
 BT 
 
 GILBERT J. FRENCH, President; 
 
 AND, WITH SOME SLIGHT ALTERATIONS, TO THE PATRONS, TEACHERS AND PUPILS 
 
 OP 
 
 DEANE CHURCH SCHOOLS 
 
 (By desire of the Rev. H. Caldwell, M.A.), 
 On 5th January, 1858. 
 
 PRINTED FOR PRESENTATION. 
 

 1 
 
 
ON STAINED GLASS WINDOWS. 
 
 I have very willingly accepted the invitation of your esteemed 
 Vicar, to read to you some remarks on Stained Glass Windows, 
 which I have thrown together for the use of the members of the 
 Bolton Mechanics’ Institution. I fear, however, you will find 
 the subject one of rather limited interest; though I hope that by 
 giving it an hour’s attention, you may learn so much of its gene¬ 
 ral principles and leading features as may enable you to appre¬ 
 ciate beauties and to detect errors and defects when you visit 
 strange churches; and that, too, without becoming chargeable 
 with the serious fault of mis-spending your time. 
 
 Permit me to explain that I have no personal or pecuniary 
 interest in the production of stained glass,—it is no part of my 
 business. I am however very frequently consulted about them 
 with reference to other matters of church ornament; and thus, 
 though only an amateur, I have been able to collect a good deal 
 of information about them. 
 
 The invention of glass is said to have been the result of acci¬ 
 dent : certain Eastern merchants made a fire on the sea-shore to 
 cook their victuals; the shore was fine sand covered with sea¬ 
 weed; when the fire was burnt down, they found round about it 
 a substance quite new to them, which proved to be glass. No¬ 
 thing is more probable than such an accidental discovery, for the 
 appearance of the two substances which when melted together 
 form that useful commodity, are each of them opaque, and can¬ 
 not in the least degree be seen through, while the result is one 
 of the most clear and transparent substances known to art. 
 
 The two materials which when fused together form glass, are, 
 fine sand or powdered flints, and some alkali or alkaline earth, 
 as potash (which exists largely in seaweed), soda, or lime. They 
 are mixed in certain proportions, and if perfectly pure and free 
 from other substances, would when melted together produce a 
 white, or rather, a colourless glass. But as the sand and the 
 alkali have for the most part impurities, particularly oxides of 
 metals, combined with them, though not visible to the eye, these 
 metals have the effect of imparting colour to the glass. The 
 most common is the oxide or rust of iron, which produces the 
 dull green glass used for porter and wine bottles. But perfectly 
 cleaned ingredients, with the presence of certain chemical agents 
 used to counteract impurities which cannot otherwise be got rid 
 of, give us colourless glass, a most valuable product, to which we 
 are indebted for many of the greatest conveniences of civilisation; 
 
4 
 
 into this I do not at present enter,—our business to night is with 
 coloured glass. 
 
 I have said that the presence of a metal imparts colour to the 
 fused mass of sand and alkali. This is usually done by adding a 
 portion of the metal required to produce the desired colour to 
 ingredients in the melting-pot. The produce is called pot-metal 
 or pot-metal glass : it is blown in circular pieces or tables, with 
 a yoke or bull’s-eye in the centre, similar to the common window 
 glass, and sometimes also cast into flat plates, and rolled. 
 
 Violet colour is produced by the metal manganese; green by 
 chromium or copper; blue by cobalt; yellow by lead, antimony, 
 or more frequently silver; red from tin or copper; deep purple 
 and ruby from gold. 
 
 It must be remembered that the metals may be mixed in 
 various proportions to produce different tints of colour, and also 
 that the colours are variously affected by the greater or less 
 degree of heat to which they may be exposed in the melting-pot: 
 thus copper under certain circumstances gives a green, under 
 others a red glass. 
 
 It is quite curious to notice the mysterious recipes which even 
 so late as fifty years ago used to be printed about the modes of 
 making this pot-metal: numerous ingredients were said to be 
 needful which were of no use whatever; but it suited the makers 
 to cover their operations with a shroud of secrecy, every one 
 of them claiming to have some peculiar method of producing the 
 colours, known to himself alone. Most of the discoveries were 
 merely accidental—for instance, all the ancient ruby red glass 
 was expensively coloured by mixing gold in the pot; yet a beau¬ 
 tiful red may be, and now is, procured from copper. In a German 
 glass-house, a copper ladle was used to lift from the pot portions 
 of white melted glass. One day it was kept at this work for a 
 longer time than usual, so that the bowl of the ladle became 
 quite hot; suddenly it disappeared, having melted away in the 
 white glass, which was afterwards found full of beautiful scarlet 
 streaks. Now, though it was well enough known that the copper 
 had imparted this fine colour, yet it was not until some years 
 after, and with numerous fruitless experiments, that it could be 
 again produced, and then only by bringing together fused glass 
 and copper when each at a certain high temperature. 
 
 So deep is the colour which even a small proportion of gold 
 gives to ruby glass, that if blown of ordinary thickness it would 
 become opaque, and its beauty be entirely lost. To remedy this 
 objection it is usual to pursue the following plan : the glass- 
 blower takes up on the end of his iron pipe a certain required 
 quantity of white or colourless glass, and this he dips into a pot 
 of ruby, taking up a small quantity of it all over the white; he 
 then blows the table of glass, which consists of white with a thin 
 film of ruby on one side. This custom is very old, and the prac¬ 
 tice appears to have been used with the earliest specimens which 
 have been met with. It must be obvious to you that any other 
 colour could be treated in the same way, and tables of white 
 
5 
 
 glass be made with coatings of blue, green, purple, or any other 
 required colour; and also that colours may be produced by com¬ 
 bining with each other in separate plates,— thus, a beautiful 
 purple is obtained by blowing a film of ruby between two of blue, 
 or by sheets of blue and yellow producing green. Yet, curiously 
 enough, ruby only was made in this way until the time of Henry 
 the Eighth, when blue was treated in a similar manner : it was 
 not until quite lately that other colours were made after this 
 plan. All such glass is called coated, or more commonly flashed 
 glass. I show you some specimens of it, though without a minute 
 examination you will be unable to distinguish them from the 
 previously described pot-metal. 
 
 Flashed glass offers an advantage to the maker of windows 
 which is not obtainable from pot-metal. By grinding off the thin 
 coating of red, blue, or purple, or by eating it away with fluoric 
 acid (a chemical expedient quite unknown to the ancient master), 
 he can produce a white or (as will be afterwards described) yellow 
 device upon a piece of ruby or blue glass. Here is a specimen of 
 ruby with a white portion produced by grinding; and this is a bit 
 of blue glass, the blue surface having been ate off with fluoric 
 acid. I shall have occasion to call your attention to other exam¬ 
 ples afterwards. 
 
 There are many other little peculiarities in the manufacture of 
 pot-metal and of flashed glass which I purposely omit. My wish 
 is, to give you not a minute chemical account of the different 
 processes, but merely a general notion of the way in which 
 stained glass windows are made. I have said stained glass 
 windows, for so they are generally called; but, in point of fact, 
 the only true stain that can be given to glass is a yellow one: 
 that is, yellow is the only colour which can be employed as a 
 stain upon its surface, for other colours become part of the glass 
 itself. The yellow stain is produced by the mode I shall now 
 describe. 
 
 Chloride of silver (which acts so mysterious a part in photo¬ 
 graphy) is mixed with about twelve parts of pipeclay, Venetian 
 red, or yellow ochre; this is made into a thin paste with water, 
 and the glass to be tinted yellow is covered with a coat of this 
 paint laid on with a brush: when quite dry the glass is put into 
 the furnace, and subjected to the required degree of heat. A 
 portion of the silver enters into chemical combination with some 
 ingredient of the glass, which is turned to a fine yellow; the clay 
 remains unchanged, and may be washed or scraped off. The 
 colour of the clay, whether dark Venetian red or white pipeclay, 
 has no effect on the subsequent colour of the glass, though the 
 old artists thought otherwise; the day serves merely as a means 
 of separating the silver into sufficiently minute portions, and of 
 attaching it to the glass until it absorbs or unites with the silver. 
 A few drops of sulphuric acid added to the paste before using it 
 changes the yellow to a deep orange colour, and this is the only 
 alteration that can be made with certainty. If a proper amount 
 of heat be applied, the glass remains quite transparent, as in the 
 
6 
 
 specimen I exhibit; but if it be over-burned, it is changed into 
 something like china and becomes opaque. 
 
 The great advantage of this yellow stain is, that it can be 
 applied partially, forming a yellow device on white glass, and 
 turning to yellow also the white parts of flashed glass from which 
 the colour has been removed by fluoric acid; or it may be applied 
 to the white side of blue flashed glass, making it green, and act¬ 
 ing similarly on other colours. This invention was introduced 
 early in the 14th century, about the time of Edward I., and must 
 have gi'eatly increased the power of the ancient glass painter. I 
 will afterwards show you specimens of old glass both before and 
 after the invention of the yellow stain, which marked a very 
 important era in the art, and by its presence or absence enables 
 us to fix a date upon early work, for after its discovery the use of 
 yellow pot-metal was nearly discontinued, so much easier was 
 it to apply a yellow stain to white glass. 
 
 The ancient and the modern artists in stained glass windows 
 rarely used materials of their own making; whether they required 
 pot-metal, white, or flashed glass, they purchased them from 
 various glass-houses, some of which were famed for their perfec¬ 
 tion in certain colours. That this was the case five hundred 
 years since, is proved from accounts still existing of glass pur¬ 
 chased for the old chapel of St. Stephen, Westminster, long used 
 as the House of Commons. I find from receipts dated August 
 15th, 1351, that William ITolmere was paid 3Z. 18s. for blue- 
 coloured glass; John Prentice was at the same time paid 1Z. Os. 8 d. 
 for white glass at the l'ate of 16s. per cwt.; Henry Steiverae was 
 paid 1Z. 14s. 8 d. for red glass; and a few days after William Hol- 
 mere again received 3Z. 18s. for azure-coloured glass. Thus it 
 appears that various makers prepared the different colours, and 
 that Holmere was famous for blue, as there are many entries of 
 purchases from him, mostly for that colour. At the present day 
 I kuow of only two houses who make stained glass windows, and 
 also manufacture coloured glass — the St. Helen’s Ci’own Glass 
 Company, Lancashire, and Messrs. Powell and Sons, of London. 
 
 Though yellow is the only colour which can be applied to glass 
 as a stain, yet almost any colour can be fixed upon the surface of 
 a sheet of glass in this manner. Suppose it is wished to paint 
 on a piece of white glass, figures with various-coloured draperies : 
 The artist takes pot-metal glass of the various tints required, 
 pounds them into fine powder, mixes each with gum water, oil, 
 or honey, to form them into a convenient paint; he then applies 
 them to the surface of the glass, painting upon it with these 
 materials the required picture. When all is thoroughly dry, the 
 piece of glass is put into a furnace and subjected to so much heat 
 as to melt the pounded glass, and also to melt—or at least soften 
 —the surface of the white glass; the consequence is that the 
 various-coloured powdered glasses adhere most firmly to the sur- 
 face of the white upon which they have been placed, while the 
 gum, oil, or honey has been entirely burned away. 
 
 The powdered glass however thus used loses much of its trans- 
 
7 
 
 parency, and the colour of the powder is much less brilliant than 
 that of the original glass from which it was made : it also 
 darkens the white glass. Many most ingenious contrivances 
 have been used to avoid this inconvenience, particularly by pre¬ 
 paring pigments of great transparency, and mixing with them 
 fluxes to induce their adhesion to the glass at a low temperature; 
 still, the difficulties of this process are so great, and the risk of 
 breakage in firing so considerable, that this method of painting 
 on glass, called “ enamel painting,” is not very extensively prac¬ 
 tised, and only on small subjects (such as the one I now show 
 you) for the decoration of dwelling-houses. The specimen is 
 from my own small collection, and is a good example of old 
 enamelled glass. It is a Flemish production, of about 200 years 
 old, representing the Saviour after being scourged, crowned with 
 thorns, and a mocking Jew presenting to him a reed instead of 
 a sceptre. The work is enamelled on white glass; the flesh is 
 delicately painted in brown; the seat on which the Saviour sits, 
 and the Jew’s coat, are blue; its sleeves, and the crown of thorns, 
 green; the scourge at his feet, red; while a glory or halo of yel¬ 
 low stain shines round the sacred head. This is the most elabo¬ 
 rate bit of old enamelled glass in my collection, and an excellent 
 example of the peculiar style. You will notice that there is no 
 lead-work in the central oval. The spotted border, roses, and 
 foliage are all modern, and have been made to adapt the picture 
 to the window in which it is usually placed. 
 
 Though I have said that enamel painting is not much employed 
 in large windows, yet there is one enamel colour indispensably 
 necessary to the artist. It is a brown tint, produced by rust of 
 iron finely ground down and fused with a white glass that melts 
 at a low temperature. This is again ground to a fine powder, 
 aud becomes a real enamel, which is used as a shade upon glass 
 of every colour : it may be applied very thin, to show a light 
 shade, or by repeated coats it will produce almost a black. Here 
 is a small face and head, painted with brown enamel upon white 
 glass. The effect, you will observe, is somewhat like that of a 
 drawing in sepia; the brown is firmly fixed upon the white glass, 
 and cannot be washed off, nor is the colour at all affected by sun¬ 
 light; it is unchangeable, and, barring accident, almost indestruc¬ 
 tible. 
 
 Having now described and shown to you the materials used 
 by the glass painter, I must for a moment beg your attention to 
 what he does not, or at least should not, employ. Any colour 
 mixed with clear varnish may be used to paint upon white glass; 
 and, when nicely done, the effect is very good indeed, as the 
 varnish but slightly impairs the transparency. But the sun¬ 
 light soon eats away the colours, and the weather destroys the 
 varnish, so that a glass picture painted in this way is sadly 
 perishable. 
 
 About ten years ago a patent was taken out for a French 
 invention, which promised great things for coloured glass orna¬ 
 mentation. Thin sheets of gelatine (a kind of transparent glue) 
 
8 
 
 dyed of very bright colours, were placed between two plates of 
 clear glass to protect them from the weather; but it was soon 
 found that the colours of the gelatine were faded by the action of 
 the sunlight, and the contrivance proved an entire failure. 
 
 To make a proper coloured window, the most imperishable 
 materials should be used. Wherever oil paint or varnish has 
 been employed, even in small quantities, it will eventually prove 
 to be a cheat and delusion. I mention this, because I have more 
 than once detected such a fraud in expensive windows. 
 
 I wish in a few sentences to point out to you a difference in 
 the true meaning of two words which I must frequently use, but 
 which are often confounded one with the other. The words are, 
 transparent and translucent. A transparent window is one which 
 can be easily seen through; it not only admits light, but objects 
 beyond it are clearly visible to the eye: such are the windows 
 used in our dwelling-houses. But a translucent window, while 
 it always admits light, does not necessarily admit of objects being 
 seen through it. The distinction is worth a brief consideration. 
 In a dwelling-house, whether in town or country, we desire very 
 properly to have such windows as may enable us to look upon 
 the world without: we like to observe the objects passing in the 
 busy streets—to see the beautiful landscape, the well-kept gar¬ 
 den, or the ever-changing glories of the sky; hence we procure 
 the clearest glass, and modern custom demands that it shall be 
 in large sheets of polished plate, unbroken and undisturbed by 
 cross-bars. But courts of justice, halls of legislative assemblies, 
 studies, schools, and libraries do not require windows to be 
 looked through, either from without or within; windows which 
 are translucent alone, and not transparent, are best suited for 
 such rooms. It is however for buildings employed solely for the 
 worship of the Almighty, no matter their denomination, that 
 translucent windows become of the greatest importance. There 
 they are not merely a matter of fashion, or of mere decoration,— 
 they become of use, almost a necessity. In church or chapel the 
 worshipper desires to confine his eyes and his thoughts to the 
 services in which he is employed, and should shut out all worldly 
 objects and attractions. Hence it is that we find translucent 
 windows to have been largely used in old churches; and for 
 exactly the same reason they are now becoming very general in 
 modern churches and chapels—not from mere fashion, as many 
 suppose, but for purposes of absolute utility. Let me mention a 
 case in point: 
 
 It is said that when Dr. Arnold became head master of Rugby 
 schools he found the pupils restless and inattentive during the 
 services in the chapel. And no wonder; for just outside the 
 windows, which were then filled with the ordinary transparent 
 glass, a colony of rooks had long been established in the tall 
 trees. Even the best of boys could scarcely help watching them 
 in their busy work,—building nests, stealing sticks, quarrelling, 
 fighting, scolding, and flying about. This was a bad state of 
 affairs, and a remedy was as desirable as it was difficult. It 
 
9 
 
 would not do to drive tlie rooks away; they were old inhabit¬ 
 ants and had a vested right to their trees and nests, while the 
 doctor was but a new comer. He was, however, an eminently 
 practical man, and soon devised a mode of pleasing all parties 
 without offending the rooks. He pvoposed stained glass windows 
 for the chapel, which were liberally subscribed for by the pupils 
 and their parents. After their erection the rooks continued 
 their busy work, but now quite unseen by the youths within. 
 And this is said to have been one cause (though, doubtless, a 
 very minor one), of the practical piety for which these young 
 gentlemen became distinguished, not only at school, but which 
 many of them carried into the world during their after lives; 
 and where they, at the present day, still bear the character and 
 designation of Christian gentlemen. 
 
 I will now describe to you the forms of church windows, which 
 varied greatly at different periods, and endeavour to point out 
 the peculiarities which distinguished the different styles of 
 coloured glass placed in these windows, and for which they served 
 as frames. 
 
 Although it is well known from historical records, that nume¬ 
 rous Christian churches had been built of stone, in England, 
 before its conquest by the Normans, under William I., yet as 
 few vestiges of these churches remain, l do not call your atten¬ 
 tion to any style of (so-called) Gothic architecture earlier than 
 that period. That which prevailed between the years 1066 and 
 1200, a period of 134 years, is called the Norman style of archi¬ 
 tecture. In it the walls were remarkably thick, and the windows 
 very small and narrow with rounded tops. You will notice 
 from the diagram I now place before you, that the wall is deeply 
 splayed to the inside of the church, the obvious intention of this 
 arrangement being to admit as much light and to exclude as 
 much bad weather as possible; and the inference to be drawn 
 from the arrangement is, that no glass whatever was used 
 in such windows. Norman windows were placed high up in the 
 wall, so that no person, either inside or outside the church, could 
 look through them. Very little light could be supplied through 
 them, but it should be remembered that at that time few people 
 could read, or had books to read, so that but little light was 
 required by the people worshipping in the nave of the church. 
 The chancel where the services were read was usually better 
 lighted with three windows of the same kind placed close 
 together. History tells us that long before the Norman period 
 glass windows had been occasionally used in some of the early 
 cathedrals; but as no vestige of such glass is now to be met 
 with, we have no certain knowledge of its peculiarities, and can 
 only guess at them. Many modern churches have been built 
 after these old Norman examples, as for instance Harwood 
 church in the parish of Bolton; Christ church, on Bolton-moor, 
 has had decorative additions all in the Norman style. Many 
 Norman churches have had their windows eularged, usually in 
 some later style of architecture, to be afterwards described; and 
 
10 
 
 these windows were often filled with glass, also of a better cha¬ 
 racter: but in some cases, such as the restored Temple Church in 
 London, stained glass windows have been introduced of the sup¬ 
 posed period of the building, with very good effect. 
 
 I pass on to the next, called the Early English style, which 
 succeeded the Norman about a.d. 1200, and prevailed for the 
 succeeding eighty years, during the reigns of King John and 
 King Henry III. You will easily recognise the windows of this 
 period : they were long and narrow, and had sharp pointed tops 
 like a surgeon’s lancet, and for that reason they are usually 
 called “ lancet windows.” They let more light into the church 
 than Norman windows—not that they were always much larger 
 in size, but because they were increased in number—two, three, 
 four, or five being often placed close together, with only a very 
 little bit of wall to separate them. They were always deeply 
 splayed inside, with a smaller splay outside the church, and the 
 glass was placed at the narrowest part of the opening. Parts of 
 Furness Abbey were built in this style, but it was not much 
 used in this part of Lancashire, which, at the time we speak of, 
 was a very out-of-the-world district. Many modern churches 
 have been built in the style of the Early English Gothic : 
 Walmesley and Great Lever churches, and the Presbyterian 
 chapel in Bowker’s-row, are examples in the parish of Bolton, 
 and the churches of St. Peter and St. Paul, Halliwell, in this 
 parish, are modern examples; though I regret to say that some 
 of them fail to do justice to this very elegant style of architec¬ 
 ture. 
 
 A great change in the character of stained glass windows took - 
 place during the eighty years of Early English architecture. The 
 earlier examples were of deep colours, mostly blue and red, with 
 a very slight proportion of white or yellow glass. Small figure 
 pictures were represented in medallions, on a ground of blue or 
 purple; and the material appears to have been at that time 
 expensive, as the glass forming the field or background of the 
 pictures was seldom shaped into elegant forms, on the contrary, 
 the leads which held the pieces together were usually humoured 
 to the shape of the glass, the different pieces being built up 
 like a random wall of masonry. This kind of glass, which was 
 much more curious than beautiful, gave place to another style of 
 surpassing elegance. White glass of a beautifully translucent, 
 but not transparent kind, was arranged in graceful patterns, the 
 leadwork flowing in finely curved lines. A very slight propor¬ 
 tion of coloured glass was introduced in small medallions and 
 other elegant forms. The finest examples of this kind of glass 
 that I have met with are in the windows of York Minster called 
 the Five Sisters. Those of you who have seen them will not 
 have failed to remark them, and I heartily commend them to the 
 notice of any who have yet to visit that most interesting cathe¬ 
 dral. 
 
 Early English was succeeded by what is called the Decorated 
 3tyle of Gothic architecture,—not certainly a very appropriate 
 
11 
 
 name, as Decorated churches are often particularly plain, though 
 always very beautiful. You will notice that the opening of the 
 window is much larger than before, and that it is subdivided by 
 upright stone mullions to about one-half of its height, from which 
 point the arch springs; the upper part or head of the window is 
 beautifully filled in with flowing or geometrical tracery. This 
 style prevailed from 1280 Jto 1380, just one hundred years, during 
 the reign of the three first Edwards. The small openings in the 
 head of Decorated windows, such as I indicate, were sometimes 
 filled with coloured glass painted with flowers and foliage, very 
 often with small figures of angels, but most frequently with pic¬ 
 ture subjects representing incidents in the life of our Saviour. I 
 am able to show you two interesting ancient specimens of this 
 style. One, which is tolerably perfect, is our Lord’s Entry into 
 Jerusalem, riding on an ass, his right hand extended in the act 
 of blessing the people. The other is a picture of the Nativity of 
 the Saviour : at the top are the heads of an ox and an ass, and 
 under them the Bambino, or infant Saviour wrapped in swad¬ 
 dling clothes, exactly in the mode in which English babies were 
 dressed at the time this glass was made. The figure of Joseph 
 is easily made out, but an unfortunate fracture has greatly muti¬ 
 lated that of the Blessed Virgin; a large bit of the old glass has 
 been broken out and another colour substituted. The halo or 
 glory round the head still remains, and the drapery of the sitting 
 female figure may be made out. 
 
 These interesting specimens have been doubtless stolen from 
 some ancient Decorated church, or removed by some church¬ 
 warden who had no taste for antiquities. They are about 500 
 years old—probably older : this is px-oved by the total absence of 
 yellow stain, the extreme thickness of the glass, the irregularity 
 of its surface, the leadwoi'k, which is not milled but cast, and 
 the fact that the outside surface of the glass is full of small holes, 
 about the size of pin-points, caused by very long exposui’e to the 
 weathei', and particularly by the action of sea air—an effect 
 which is npver met with except in the oldest glass. 
 
 I shall speak further about Decorated glass, but as my remai-ks 
 will also apply to the style of window which succeeded it, called 
 the Perpendicular, I will first point out the peculiarities of those 
 windows. The Perpendicular is the last style of Gothic window 
 to which I claim your attention : it is so called because the prin¬ 
 cipal mullions of the windows, instead of diverging when they 
 arrive at the spring of the arch, as in the Decorated, run perpen¬ 
 dicularly up to the top, though much rich and delicate tracery is 
 in many cases introduced between them. Perpendicular windows 
 have also stone transoms passing across them horizontally from 
 side to side. In any carefully minute account of stained glass it 
 would be needful to point out certain differences which are always 
 found to distinguish Decorated from Perpendicular woi’k, but 
 for our purpose this evening it will not be requisite to do so; 
 their main points so closely resemble each other, that I shall 
 speak of them together; first remarking, however, that through- 
 
12 
 
 out the Perpendicular period the glass became gradually much 
 thinner and more transparent, more even and regular on its sur¬ 
 face, and that yellow stain was greatly used. 
 
 Decorated and Perpendicular windows were often filled with 
 figures of glass representing our Lord and Saviour, the Blessed 
 Virgin, the evangelists, apostles, prophets, saints, martyrs, and 
 characters taken from the sacred writings. The custom com¬ 
 menced with the Decorated period, when it was a common prac¬ 
 tice to place statues of sacred personages both in the interior and 
 on the outside of the churches. Now it is known from existing 
 records, as well as from the evidence of portions of colour and 
 gilding still found upon them, that these statues were richly 
 painted in various colours; and also that the pedestals on which 
 they stood, the back of the niches in which they stood, and the 
 stone canopies of rich tabernacle-work under which they stood, 
 were all similarly treated. If then you examine the separate 
 compartments of a Decorated or a Perpendicular window you 
 will notice that it nearly resembles the niches of a Gothic build¬ 
 ing; and to fill these niches with glass pictures of saints resem¬ 
 bling in form and colour the statues placed throughout the 
 church, was a consistent mode of decoration quite in accordance 
 with the religious custom of the time. I cannot mention to you 
 any ancient figure glass in this neighbourhood, but I may state 
 that the east window of Bolton parish church, and the west 
 window of the terra-cotta church at Lever Bridge, in the same 
 parish, are good modern examples of Decorated glass in figures. 
 While, for an excellent example of Perpendicular figure glass 
 you need go no further than to your own venerable mother 
 church of St. Mary in Deane, which has the great advantage of 
 possessing the original ancient and characteristic stone mullions 
 not enjoyed by the churches previously mentioned. 
 
 Though figures such as I have described were very frequently 
 placed in Decorated and Perpendicular church windows, many of 
 them were filled with small picture subjects and with sacred sym¬ 
 bols and emblems of great beauty, and much less liable to lead to 
 error than figures, many of which at the time of the Reformation 
 were of an objectionable and irreverent character. These were very 
 properly ordered to be removed; but unfortunately their destruction 
 was accompanied by the smashing of many a beautiful and inno¬ 
 cent religious picture, which can never be replaced. The small 
 pictures were often arranged in such a manner as to demonstrate 
 some of the leading doctrines of Christian religion, or to set forth 
 a series of connected events from the history of the bible;—some¬ 
 time events typified in the Old Testament were placed beside 
 representations of their realisation in the New—as the brazen 
 serpent, and the crucifixion of our Lord. The intention being 
 always to present to the eyes of the people some striking illus¬ 
 tration of Christian history or doctrine. There is a window of 
 this kind in the south wall of the chancel of Bolton parish 
 church, representing our Lord in six small pictures, either as 
 himself a child, or ministering to and in company with children. 
 
13 
 
 It wag erected by subscription in memory of the late W. Bolling, 
 Esq., long member of parliament for the borough. A window of 
 similar character is now being constructed in testimony of the 
 labours of Canon Slade, late vicar of Bolton: it is to contain pic¬ 
 tures of those merciful acts for which special blessings have been 
 promised, and will doubtless, when finished, prove to be a work 
 of great excellence. It is to be placed in the north wall of the 
 chancel of the mother-church of the parish of Bolton, immedi¬ 
 ately opposite the Bolling window. 
 
 Semetimes we find events of local historical interest recorded 
 in stained glass, and where such have been preserved they are 
 always of great value. I show you an accurate coloured tracing 
 of glass now in the church of the neighbouring parish of Middle- 
 ton. It represents a priest and sixteen archers kneeling in 
 church and saying a prayer of thanksgiving for their safe return 
 from the bloody battle of Flodden Field, to which they were led 
 under the command of Edward Stanley, in the year 1513. Each 
 archer carries his bow over his shoulder, his quiver of arrows at 
 his side, and has his name inscribed over his head. They appear 
 to have worn a uniform of blue cloth, but it must not be supposed 
 that there is the slightest attempt to pourtray individual like¬ 
 nesses. Most of the names are now represented by families still 
 resident in and about Middleton; and the subject is of interest 
 to Boltoners, and to the inhabitants of Deane, when it is remem¬ 
 bered that that town—and no doubt Deane also—furnished their 
 quota of bold archers to fight in the same field under the same 
 brave leader. 
 
 I now take the liberty of expressing a regret and a hope;—in 
 my regret I think you will participate—it is, that no similar 
 contemporaneous record is to be found in Deane church of the 
 events in the life of George Marsh, the well-known martyr of 
 the Beformation, closely connected as he was with this church 
 and parish. He lived and died too late to have his eventful life 
 recorded in glass; for, greatly beneficial as the Beformation was 
 to the religion and liberty of this country, it had the effect of 
 entirely setting aside the art of glass painting for several subse¬ 
 quent generations. But it is never too late to do a good work. 
 My hope is, that I may live to see a modest window in your vene¬ 
 rable church erected to the memory of the martyr—a picture 
 window : the subjects, gathered from the quaint pages of Fox, 
 should show the arrest of Mai'sh, his examination at Smithell’s 
 Hall, his indignant refusal of life with sacrifice of faith, his 
 denunciation of error evidenced by the poetical impression of his 
 footprint, his examination at Chester, his reading the litany in 
 prison, and last of all, his cruel and awful martyrdom. I venture 
 to think that such a window would be well placed in Deane 
 church—that it would be looked upon with interest and pride by 
 your descendants through many generations. There are some 
 who think that stained glass windows are evidences of a leaning 
 to Bomanism;—a ridiculous error, which the window I have 
 presumed to suggest would most emphatically refute. I dare not 
 
14 
 
 venture to say any more on this subject, except to wish that its 
 inscription might be in these, or some such words: “ To the 
 glory of God, and in memory of his martyr George Marsh, this 
 window was erected by the inhabitants of the parish of Deane, 
 and other friends of the Eeformation, a.d. 1858.” 
 
 The great window of York Minster is a Perpendicular one, of 
 enormous size, the glazing measuring 75 feet in height by 32 feet 
 wide. Here is a coloured engraving of it, which will assist my 
 description. Not very long ago there existed the original con¬ 
 tract for constructing the glass of this window; it is now lost, but 
 copies of it remain, from which we learn, that in the year 1405 
 —453 years ago—John Thornton of Coventry contracted with 
 the Dean and Chapter of York to glaze the window in the space 
 of three years; drawing and painting the figures and ornaments 
 with his own hands. The materials and such assistance as he 
 required were provided by the dean and chapter, who paid him 
 as wages four shillings every week, five pounds at the end of each 
 year, and ten pounds more when the work was finished. This 
 window remains at the present day much as John Thornton of 
 Coventry left it. The head—that is, the portion above the spring 
 of the arch—has eighty-five different openings in the stonework, 
 each filled with a figure of angel, saint, archbishop or other eccle¬ 
 siastical dignitary. Beneath the spring of the arch there are one 
 hundred and seventeen square glass pictures, representing inci¬ 
 dents from the first books of the Old, and the last of the New 
 Testament. They commence with the creation of the world in a 
 sei’ies of seven pictures; then follow the events in Paradise, the 
 expulsion, Cain and Abel (who are habited in dresses similar to 
 those used in England at the time the window was made), the 
 tower of Babel, the passage of the Red Sea, which is represented 
 as in reality red, and other similar subjects, ending with the 
 death of Absolom. Then follow eighty pictures all illustrative 
 of the book of Revelations, some of them of most extraordinary 
 character. The bottom row consists of nine pictures representing 
 kings, archbishops, and bishops, in groups of three in each, 
 except the centre one, which is supposed to be Archbishop Scrope 
 at prayers. 
 
 Let me now try to explain how John Thornton set about his 
 work. I am able to do this from information gathered from 
 ancient records and accounts, particularly from those already 
 referred to for glazing the windows of St. Stephen’s chapel, which 
 were executed under the charge of one John de Chester—that is, 
 of an artist named John, a native of Chester. He had seven 
 shillings, and employed other workmen under him at sixpence, 
 a day, among whom we find a John de Coventry, probably the 
 father or grandfather of that John Thornton of Coventry who 
 fifty years afterwards commenced the York window; for trades 
 at that time ran greatly in families, son succeeding father in the 
 same occupation through many generations. 
 
 It is probable that his employers, the Dean and Chapter of 
 York, would themselves fix on the subjects to be represented in 
 
15 
 
 the window. John Thornton would make coloured drawings or 
 cartoons on paper or vellum of each picture, in full size, marking 
 in strong black lines the outline of each separate bit of glass: 
 these black lines would be of the same breadth with the strips of 
 lead to be afterwards used in joining the pieces of glass together. 
 This first set of drawings would be carefully preserved. Another 
 set would then be traced from them, without colour, but with 
 the black lead lines carefully marked. These last drawings are 
 cut with scissors along all the lead lines, leaving a margin of 
 black about one eighth of an inch all round. Each bit of paper 
 is now the exact shape and size of the pieces of glass required for 
 the picture. The artist now selects pieces of glass as nearly as 
 possible resembling the colour of the corresponding part in the 
 first or coloured drawing, this he cuts to the size and shape of 
 the paper. Cutting was a more difficult matter to John Thorn¬ 
 ton than it is to the modern glass-worker. The diamond was 
 not used for the purpose—at least, in this country—until the 
 beginning of the seventeenth century, in the reign of James I. 
 True enough, the diamond was known to scratch glass before 
 that time, for you may remember the anecdote of Queen Eliza¬ 
 beth and one of her courtiers, who, being ambitious to marry her, 
 but somewhat timid withal, wrote with his diamond ring on the 
 window of her private chamber— 
 
 “ Fain would I clime, but much I fear to fall;” 
 
 to which the queen added with her own diamond ring, by way 
 of reproof or encouragement,—it is hard to say which— 
 
 “If your heart fail you, do not clime at all.” 
 
 This incident, if true, occurred not very long before the dia¬ 
 mond was used to cut glass. But John Thornton had to adopt 
 other means. If the glass was thin he might cut it with scissors 
 under water; but the usual way was to run a hot piece of char¬ 
 coal along the line where he wanted the glass to sever, blowing 
 it carefully with his mouth, to keep the coal red hot. 
 
 Glass of the proper colour, size, and shape being now prepared 
 corresponding with each part of the picture, the shades would 
 be painted with one or more coats of brown smear; yellow stain 
 applied where it was required; the outlines of figures and drapery 
 marked with strong lines of black; and where white or yellow 
 patterns were to be taken out of flashed glass, they were now 
 ground off. This being done, the pieces of glass are placed in a 
 peculiar kiln, or muffle, upon plates of iron, but separated from 
 each other and from the iron by layers of powdered chalk. Here 
 they are exposed to so great a heat, as partially to melt or at 
 least soften the surface of the glass: the brown smear adheres to 
 it; the yellow stain penetrates into its texture; and when re¬ 
 moved from the kiln the glass, after being cleaned, is usually 
 ready to be leaded together, though sometimes it is necessary to 
 repaint, and of course to reburn it,—which, however, should be 
 avoided if possible. 
 
16 
 
 The leading is usually done by another workman, who care¬ 
 fully solders the parts together, after having arranged them much 
 in the way that children proceed with a dissecting map or picture. 
 You will notice that in Gothic church windows of any style there 
 is no great width between the stonework, so that the pictures are 
 not leaded up into very large pieces; these are attached to iron 
 bars, called saddle-bars, passing from mullion to mullion, and are 
 easily secured. A copper wire guard is usually placed outside, 
 to protect it from a chance blow from a stone thrown by any 
 careless schoolboy. In these days, I am glad to say, there is 
 little need for a guard against malicious stone-throwing,—none, 
 I am sure, whatever from the boys of Deane schools, who cannot 
 fail to protect rather than injure the fine old church, which they 
 must be proud of. 
 
 Such a window as I have described is called a Mosaic window, 
 because built up of various pieces of coloured glass; and the way 
 in which John Thornton did his work is very similar to that of 
 the artists of the present day, though improvements in chemistry 
 and the mechanical arts have supplied them with many more 
 convenient means of conducting the various processes. 
 
 You will, I fear, be tired of this long description, and want 
 something to look at; I will therefore show you some specimens 
 both of old and modern glass, all of Perpendicular or of Deco¬ 
 rated character, among them you will find several coats of arms, 
 which are always effective in glass. Some of these examples are 
 from my own collection, others have been kindly lent to me by 
 G. Shaw, Esq., architect, of Saddleworth. 
 
 (Numerous specimens having been exhibited and explained, he 
 proceeded)—Permit me to explain, as I promised I would, how 
 the yellow lions in this specimen are produced on the red ground 
 in this shield. The ground is ruby flashed glass; the lions are 
 marked on it in outline, and all the ruby except the lions is 
 covered with a thin coat of bees’-wax and oil; when this is dry, 
 a little wall of wax is built round the lions, and liquid fluoric 
 acid poured over the surface of the glass, which soon eats away 
 the ruby flash from the lions, but does not act upon the glass 
 protected by the wax. When washed the lions would be white, 
 but they are turned into gold colour by the application of yellow 
 stain: the eyes, mane, and outline are marked with black or dark 
 brown smear. 
 
 Many of the ancient figures in old church windows appear to 
 have been very badly drawn, and the same fault may be with 
 great justice brought against the modem artist, though the blame 
 does not always rest with him; he has, in fact, little control over 
 the work after the design leaves his hands. However well he 
 may have arranged his lead lines, to suit the flow of drapery or 
 to secure an elegant outline, the workman alters them or adds 
 others, to serve his convenience or to make good the frequent 
 accidents of breakage, as well as the warping of the glass, which 
 often happens in the burning. However anxiously the artist may 
 have prepared his design with reference to the sacred character 
 
17 
 
 as well as the architectural decoration of the building in which it 
 is to be placed; however carefully he may have selected the 
 colours to please by harmonious arrangement, rather than to 
 surprise and startle by brilliancy of contrast,—every part look¬ 
 ing to his entire satisfaction on paper,—it too often happens that 
 when the subject is produced in glass, the delicate arrangement 
 of colours is disi’egarded, the draperies are cut across with ugly 
 black lines, and the figures look as if they could not stand alone, 
 with inexpressive and tipsy-looking faces, asking, as it were, for 
 somebody to come and hold them up. You will quite understand 
 this from the examples I now show you. This is a certain Henry 
 Lord Beaumont, who went a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and 
 he is thus represented in the window of St. Peter’s Church, Bar- 
 ton-upon-Humber. Very probably the original artist drew the 
 figure in this form [showing a correct drawing]; but this tracing 
 from the window is the way in which it has been reproduced in 
 glass. You will notice how unpleasantly the dark lead lines cut 
 across instead of falling into the shadows of the drapery. Here 
 is another, Randal Meschines, said to have been a Norman Earl 
 of Chester; he is thus represented in one of the windows of 
 Brereton Hall, Cheshire, though it would no doubt have been a 
 much truer and more complimentary portrait had it resembled 
 this other drawing, which the artist probably intended it to have 
 been. 
 
 The difficulties of painting figures (especially of a large size) 
 successfully in glass are so very great, and moreover the danger 
 of offending the religious feelings, perhaps the prejudices, of some 
 persons (for even prejudices, when honestly entertained, should 
 not be disregarded), are so considerable, that from much experi¬ 
 ence I do not hesitate to recommend the use of small pictures, or 
 emblems, in a stained glass window as preferable to figures, and 
 less liable to be misunderstood in the Church of England. 
 
 You shall now see two figures of modern glass, both made by 
 my friend Mr. Shaw, where the beauties as well as the mistakes 
 of glass painting may be detected. One is an original composi¬ 
 tion of great excellence: it represents a Norman king of England, 
 in the mail armour of the time. I think it a picture of rare 
 excellence, but it is not suited or indeed intended for a church. 
 You will notice how nicely the leads which hold the separate 
 bits of glass together fall into the dark portions of the picture. 
 The other specimen is also a modern picture, by the same gentle¬ 
 man, but copied (with improved drawing) from a glass painting 
 of the Madonna and Child in the church of West Wickham, 
 Kent. Here you will notice some disagreeable lines, especially 
 in the drapery; though the picture generally is very merito¬ 
 rious. 
 
 After the time of the Reformation some windows of rare excel¬ 
 lence were executed on the continent, which deserve a passing 
 notice. Here are engravings of five out of the fifty windows in 
 the church of Gouda, twelve miles north of Rotterdam, in Hol¬ 
 land. They are filled with glass in which all the styles of mosaic, 
 
18 
 
 enamel, and stain are employed to add to their beauty. Each 
 ■window was presented to the church by some potent king or 
 wealthy city, and their armorial bearing, with portraits of their 
 patron saints and sometimes of the kings themselves, are repre¬ 
 sented. In one of them—though not among those shown here 
 to-night—which was presented to the church by Mary I. of Eng¬ 
 land and Philip of Spain, her husband, they are both represented 
 kneeling before an altar. These gorgeous works abound in he¬ 
 raldic ornaments, and allegories from ancient classical writers are 
 also to be found in them. 
 
 If I have not tired you too much, I must ask you to go back 
 with me to the commencement of the use of glass in church 
 windows, while I describe a kind of glazing common to all periods, 
 and even now extensively used in modern church windows 
 copied from ancient examples—I mean the small diamond-shaped 
 lozenges or quarries. They are found in the very oldest churches, 
 generally of a yellowish-green glass, translucent but never trans¬ 
 parent; often quite plain, but more frequently with some small, 
 quaint device in brown enamel, such as this. After the invention 
 of yellow stain, it was largely used in quarries, as in the next 
 three examples, which are all copied from ancient windows. You 
 will notice that the yellow stain and the brown together gave 
 great richness to a quarried window. Some of the devices were 
 often extremely curious, sometimes quite grotesque: here is a 
 bird playing with hand-bells, and here a rebus (as it is called) on 
 a man’s name; it shows three rudely-drawn palm branches with 
 a scroll on which is written jon on one side, and on the other 
 er, the whole reading John palmer, which was the name of the 
 rector of the church at the time this window was glazed. There 
 used to be an interesting instance of a similar rebus at Smith ell’s 
 Chapel in this parish. During the lifetime of George Marsh, a 
 certain squire or knight named Barton resided there, who appears 
 to have ornamented the chapel with quarries bearing his rebus: 
 here you see a barrel or tun, as it used to be called, and over it 
 bar in capital letters, the whole meant to read barton. Here, 
 again, a large A intertwined with oak-leaves and acorns (the 
 heraldic distinction of the family of Barton), beneath it another 
 tun with a bar of wood across it, reading together Andrew bar¬ 
 ton. You may remember that Smithell’s Chapel was consumed 
 by fire not long ago; happily the stained glass in the east window, 
 some portion of which is of high interest, escaped injury and 
 has been carefully preserved. The chapel is now in course of 
 restoration, and I have no doubt that the interesting old glass 
 will be again placed in the east window. I may just mention 
 here that I some time ago saw at Smithell’s Hall, by the kind¬ 
 ness of Mr. Ainsworth, one of the most beautiful and delicately- 
 finished small glass pictures I have ever met with. It is a foreign 
 production of recent date, and combines mosaic, enamel, and 
 yellow stain in its composition. 
 
 Windows with diamond quarries may be greatly enriched by 
 the addition of such borders as these drawings I now show you; 
 
19 
 
 and sometimes a portion of the lower corner is cut off, and a bit 
 of bright-coloured red or blue glass leaded in the manner shown 
 here. Medallions with symbolical devices were often introduced 
 among the quarries with very good effect. Such a window may 
 be seen in the chancel of St. Paul’s Church, Halliwell, and one 
 in the same style, with the addition of texts of scripture, has just 
 been placed in the baptistry of Holy Trinity Church, Bolton. 
 
 It is by no means requisite that the quarries should all be of 
 similar pattern: it is better that varied tints and devices be used, 
 care being taken that white should predominate. Many beau¬ 
 tiful early quarried windows had a stem running up the centre, 
 from which little branches diverge to the right and left, bearing 
 leaves and fruit, each quarry having on it a nicely drawn bit 
 of stem, a leaf, or a bunch of grapes. There was much care¬ 
 ful ingenuity expended on the design and execution of such 
 windows. 
 
 Old glass quarries can be easily imitated in modern work. 
 Here is an example, which closely resembles old glass, in trans- 
 lucency, thickness, texture, and colour: this glass is not blown, 
 but cast in shallow moulds of iron, indented with the required 
 device. These quarries may be enriched by the addition of 
 yellow stain and brown enamel, as in this example. Moulded 
 glass has been much used of late years with admirable effect, in 
 windows with heraldic and symbolical ornaments, as in this 
 device of a Lancashire rose, which is moulded in white glass, 
 over which is placed a thinly blown film of ruby, to give it the 
 required colour. Had the rose been made entirely of ruby glass, 
 no light would have passed through it. 
 
 The three-light window in the chancel of Christ Church, Bol¬ 
 ton, is for the most part filled with moulded glass, and has a 
 very charming effect; the light passing through glasses of varied 
 thickness sparkles as if reflected from so many precious gems. 
 There is little doubt that great improvements will continue to be 
 made by modern artists and manufacturers, particularly by the 
 introduction of cut crystal and moulded glasses, surpassing in 
 gorgeous splendour the greatest efforts of the old masters. At 
 present the art is in a kind of second infancy, and is rarely 
 allowed to try to walk alone. The prevailing fashion of the day 
 is to imitate the works of the old artists, rather than to originate 
 new designs; and as it is easier to copy defects than beauties, 
 many modern windows are only ugly representations of those in 
 old churches, showing rows of wry-necked figures with dislocated 
 limbs, standing in impossible positions, and with their eyes look¬ 
 ing in more than one direction. A better taste and more dis¬ 
 criminating judgment is now, I believe, dawning upon the art. 
 People will no longer be content with glass which, however ugly, 
 is all right because it looks old;—they will demand that it should 
 also be elegant and useful. 
 
 I fear that I have detained you much too long, though I have 
 far from exhausted my subject. If, however, I have so far ex¬ 
 plained it as to enable my younger hearers to understand the 
 
20 
 
 main points of the ai’t of making stained glass windows, so that 
 in going into a strange church or cathedral they may appreciate 
 their beauty with a more hearty relish, my work for the evening 
 is fully accomplished. To those more advanced in years and in 
 education, and to you, Beverend Sir, I have to apologise for the 
 intentional plainness, I may say indeed, rudeness of my explana¬ 
 tions. The subject is one which tempts to an exordium on art, 
 and the free use of scientific terms: all these I have purposely 
 avoided, as I should be sorry that the youngest of my hearers, 
 for whom this paper has been specially prepared, Bhould be 
 embarrassed by the use of unintelligible words.