The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1898-10-14


ot any acc, with which t .cy salt" the
pawnhroker>' and old Gu 'iostv dealers
shops, Readers should beware of
those beautiful little medieval medal
lions of Flemish glass which can be
picked up at seaport towns or in the
cottages OF Holland for a mere sony.
The ritter has sent many a purchaser
ot these ancient gems disconcertedly
away vowing dire vengeance upon their
producers il only the cnlprits could be
found. But they never are: the secret
is too we'll kept.
Much of 4 startling historical nature
may be learned from the careful sur
vrying of an old window: and proba-
bly, for qlaintncss of conception the
windows in St Ncpt'S Church, Corn
wall. are unique. Every one knows
the tragic death of Abel; but who can
declare how the guilty Cain ended his
career? One of the windows at St.
Neot's can cNpound it for you, for the
event is depicted from very ancient
legend. After Cain had slain his
brother, he fled into the wilderness,
and. living apart from his parents, be-
came an outcast. One day Lamech
who was fond of hunting, sailed forth,
with lal to act as game-carrler. to
procure some sport. BY and 10y the
lad noticed some large, hairy animal
in Il copse, and urged his master to
shoot quickly before it could escape.
Lamcch drew his bow. and. after a
short interval, out rolled Cain, trans
fixed by his kinsman's arrow. One
compartment of the window depicts
this scene As the crossbow was not
invented till about fifty centuries after
Gains death, there appears to be Il
slight discrepancy of time.
In another window in this church
are panels representing the creation Of
the world; and the Almighty architect
is shown, after making four little trees
in the style Of those seen in modern
toy Noah arks. in the act of setting
out the starry tir!nam2nt with huge
pair of compasses.
Then we have the life of ST. Neot,
which takes the whole of the compart-
ments in 4 four-light window to repre-
sent it. Among the curious events in
the lite Of the Cornish saint is the fol-
lowing: the saint receives visit from
IN angel, who, for the holy mans sus-
tcnancc, places three fish in the well in
which he daily performs his ablutions.
He Is enjoined never to catch more
than one fish at 4 time, and so long as
he does this the well will always be
miraculousl y supplied with the trio of
goldfish.
Another panel shows the saint i'll in
bed, and a new servant, trying to please
his sick master, is cooking two Of the
fish. On being presented to the saint.
he is much alarmed, and orders the
servant (shown in another compart-
ment) to throw back the boiled Fl h
into the well again. This the servant
does; and another picture portrays the
fish swimming about as gayly as if
they had not suffered the martvrdom
Of st. Lawrence a few minutes before
Anachronisms in church windows
are somewhat Numerous. especially in
the matter of costume and surround
ings. As the great masters among oil
painters depicted their saints in the
costume of their own country at the
epoch in which they thmsclves lived,
so glass painters may he credited with
the same paIpahle bundrrs. \ Ma
donna of the fifteenth century Is, in
Germany, dressed in German costume
and her features are Gtrman; an Ita.-
ian window will have an Italian Ma
donna from hair to foot; AMI the Elem
Sh painters depict her Of buxom pro-
portions and dressed in Flemish bolic,
and hrad-lrvSS
y curious instance OF this eccentric
use of medieval costume upon sanity
persons who lived fifteen centuries
previously may be seen at Gouda, in
Holland, where some Of the apostles
are wearing slouch-ha M Boer of
South Africa. One Of the windows in
GJuda church represents The Last
Supper, and the thirteen persons usu-
ally shown are augmented to fifteen bv
the entrance Of the king of Spain, who
gave the window, and his queen. st.
Peter with his chamberlain staff of
o:licc is introducing this siXteenth-cen-
ta"y couple to our Lord. Could bad
taste and intru>ivencsS be carried fur
thcI!
Many curious plumbers have been
perpctlate;l by >taincd-glass draughts-
men, and either inadvertently or know
ingly carried out 10y the actual painter
Of the glass Itself (Ior the two artists
are of distinct branches Of glass paint
ing). In window seat for exhibition
from Canada subject, "Thc Last
Supper, Our Lord, in the act of bless
in@ the bread. exhibited on His raised
hand .fcc fingers and thumb
On one or two occasions SIX toe.
have been noticed ON one foot and fonr
joints have been painted on one finger