Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 6.djvu/612

 430 NOTICES OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL PUBLICATIONS. nothing more is required tlian to copy them closely ; and that any modifi- cation of the design, or colouring, in order to suit the nature of the modern material, is quite unnecessary. We now pass to such an examination as we find possible, of the principles upon which Mr. Warrington considers that the successful cultivation of the art depends. We say, "such an examination as we find possible," for the obscure, discursive, and confused language of our author sometimes renders it difiicult to ascertain precisely what he means. We extract the follow- ing passages at length, because, as we are far from certain that we fully understand their meaning, we would not run the risk of misrepresenting the author by giving what we suppose to be their meaning in our own words : — " As we are about to comment on the different styles separately, it may be well to examine into and ascertain the main principle on which stained glass was cari'ied into effect, when it had assumed a scientific and historical position, and when its authors had taken upon them the important mission of chroniclers of events, on a material much more durable than papyrus or parchment, in connexion with sacred edifices, considered as safe depositaries from the holy reverence in which they were held. As therefore in the early ages of the Church, symbolism was, in the abeyance of letters, resorted to as a means of Christian teaching, so in like manner the colours had their uses and symbolic meanings, from which heraldic sy)iibolism was undoubtedly derived ; but as the principle was in the early stages of Christian use applied mosaically, as derived from the East, so was it afterwards by stained glass adapted to windows ; and as they were therefore in each case intended for the most part as gems and precious metals, so, in fact, must they be considered, and not as mere colours. "Heraldry was not reduced to a science until after the first crusade (with which the earliest remaining glass is coeval), and which began A.D. 1095, and brought together numbers of princes and nobles from many countries — a circumstance which created a necessity, for the sake of dis- tinction, discrimination, order and arrangement, of heraldic blazonry, and more especially so, as surnames were not generally then adopted, the chiefs being designated by their various characteristics, such as strength, conquest, colour, learning, place of birth, courage, &c., as is the case with all our earlier monarchs. Yet a certain portion of blazon must have, long previously, prevailed in their banners, and in their professional accompani- ments ; such being attributed to the tribes of Israel, and certainly to both the Greek and Roman warriors. Thus, in the play of vEschylus, called ' The Seven Chiefs against Thebes,' a full account is given, alnjost in modern terms, of the devices, mottoes, and coloured emblems, by which the shield of each warrior was distinguished. " Whether, therefore, stained glass was, in its mode of colouring, derived from the symbolical colours of the Church, or from heraldry or the prin- ciples of heraldry, from cither or both, is not very important, if considered as a means to effect only ; for certain it is that both were, and must ever, to a very great extent, be guided by, and carried out upon, the same rules ; and this for the simple reason that they mainly rest on the primitive colours, and it is a fixed principle that the eye cannot be satisfied without