Stained Glass. u 



soon began to do a lucrative trade in whatever style happened to 

 be in vogue. 



Practically nothing had been done in England until 1838 to 

 raise the standard of Glass painting, or to acquaint the public 

 with its true principles ; but in that year, Mr. Charles Winston, of 

 the Inner Temple, who had devoted much time and energy in its 

 study, compiled a treatise in which he classified the various 

 medieval styles on the lines of Rickman's " Classification of 

 Gothic Architecture." This treatise developed into the larger 

 "Enquiry" which was published in 1847, and that work still 

 retains its position as one of the foremost authorities. Winston 

 was one of the first to impress upon the public the self-evident 

 truth that Glass Paintings are likely to rank as works of art only 

 in so far as they are the creation of artists, and he strove in- 

 cessantly to liberate the craftsmen of his day from the mechanical 

 imitation of ancient workmanship. 



Near the close of Winston's career, Mr. Dante Gabriel Rossetti 

 directed the attention of Messrs. Powell, the well-known Glass- 

 makers of Whitefriars, to the work of a young artist — Edward 

 Burne-Jones — whose talents were rapidly obtaining recognition 

 amongst patrons of art. Burne-Jones executed several designs for 

 Messrs. Powell, notably the " St. Frideswide " window in Christ 

 Church Cathedral, Oxford ; but his name soon became associated 

 with that of William Morris, who had by this time thrown him- 

 self heart and soul into the cause of art, and until Burne-Jones' 

 death, his designs for windows were executed by the little colony 

 of workers at Merton Abbey, founded by Morris. Morris not 

 only brought together a band of gifted men sincerely devoted to 

 art, but he worked in Stained Glass with his own hands, and in 

 co-operation with his friend, Sir Edward Burne-Jones, who, as I 

 have said, furnished the designs, he gave to the world a series of 

 windows which exhibit an originality of thought, a delicacy of 

 expression, and a splendour of colour never before attained by 

 contemporary craftsmen. Old vices die hard, however, and not- 

 withstanding the influence of Winston and Morris, a great deal 



