Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 1.djvu/31

Rh a view to their better preservation, is a measure, which, however laudable on account of the motive, should not be resorted to except in an extreme case. We cannot, however, be too grateful to those who, actuated by this spirit, at a time when these things were treated with greater neglect than at present, formed such collections, and thus have been the means of preserving to us much old glass. We may mention in particular Colonel Kennett, to whose exertions we owe the greater part of the glass now existing in Dorchester church, Oxfordshire. Whether it would be advisable to attempt the removal of such remains to their original positions is a question worthy of much consideration. It would require great care and experience in many cases, to discover whence the glass had been originally taken, and a misplacement of it would be a worse evil than suffering it to continue in its present place. In those cases, however, where there is sufficient evidence to shew the original situation of the glass, it ought certainly to be put back again: as, for instance, the glass of the clear-story windows of the choir of Canterbury cathedral, the greatest part of which, being now scattered about other windows of that building, and mixed with other glass of various dates and styles, no longer affords, at least to the casual observer, any idea of its original arrangement; and by the generality of persons passes wholly unnoticed.

We cannot too earnestly recommend the protection of painted windows by means of external wire guards. The present good condition of the beautiful glass at Fairford church, Gloucestershire, is no doubt, in great measure, owing to the munificence of the Hon. Mrs. Farmer, who, about the year 1725, at her own cost, supplied those windows with their present wire guards. It is sad indeed to witness the serious injury annually sustained by painted windows, even in some of our cathedrals, for want of such protection. Much expense must necessarily be incurred by the re-leading of a window, or even by supplying it with wire guards, and this without producing any apparent show. Considering, however, the extreme value of ancient authorities in glass, to the artist especially, and even to the antiquary, their fragile character, and the irreparable nature of their mutilation, or loss; we will venture to affirm, that such spirited individuals as Colonel Kennett, the Hon. Mrs. Farmer, and other true preservers of ancient glass, have been greater benefactors to the art itself, and are even more deserving of our praise, than those, who with perhaps more ostentation,