128 Moonlight and Colour. 



is neither to criticize the poem nor the picture ; it is sufficient 

 that we notice Mr. Millais' practical assertion, that -the full 

 moon shining through green glass, does involve the objects on 

 which it falls in a bright and strong green light. Keats, 

 speaking of the window in Madeline's chamber, tells us : — 



" Full on tills casement shone the wintry moon, 

 And threw warm gules on Madeline's fair breast, 

 As down she knelt for Heaven's grace and boon ; 

 Rose bloom fell on her hands, together pressed ; 

 And on her silver cross soft amethyst, 

 And on her hair a glory like a saint." 



In these lines we have a poet's declaration that the rays of 

 the moon can bring intense and glowing colour with them after 

 traversing panes of stained glass. In the Lay of the Last 

 Minstrel, another poet, famous for the general accuracy of his 

 description, affirms the same thing when he says : — 



" The moonbeam kissed the holy pane, 

 And threw on the pavement a bloody stain." 



Some years ago the truth of this representation was ques- 

 tioned by the owner of a splendid manor-house in the north of 

 England, when a large party was assembled, and the conversa- 

 tion turned upon the unusual splendour of a night in which 

 the moon lit up the towers and battlements of the mansion, 

 and threw a flood of radiance down the forest-like glades of 

 the extensive park. A fine Gothic hall, partly lit by stained 

 glass windows, afforded ready means of testing this interesting 

 question, but the experiment did not enable the precise con- 

 ditions imagined by the poet to be imitated, as white glass was 

 present in much larger quantity than the coloured panes. On 

 entering the hall, into which the moonlight came freely through 

 several large windows, not a ray of coloured light could be 

 seen upon the furniture or the oak floor, although the tracery 

 of the windows was distinctly marked out by the shadow, and 

 the spaces occupied by the coloured panes were indicated by 

 diminution of light. A white cloth was brought and spread 

 upon one of the tables in the full moonshine, but still no no- 

 ticeable evidence of colour could be obtained, and thus great 

 doubt was thrown upon the possibility of such effects being 

 produced as those mentioned by Scott in Dcloraine's visit to 

 tlio " Monk of Si. Mary's isle/' or such as Keats imagined 

 when his Madeline sought for "visions of delight" according 

 to the formula prescribed to lovers upon St. Agnes' Eve. 



The purpose of this paper is not to offer a complete expla- 

 nation of a matter that has not been duly investigated, and 

 which presents many complicated considerations, but rather to 



