Evening star., 1936-07-11

racy Of the st. Thomas window which
is not one Of the 16, but occupies q
special place near the north porch Of
the church. In 1871 the artist accom-
panied the Lockyer eclipse expedition
to India. While he was there he made
numerous sketches Of the country and
tucked them away in his note book for
future reference. These Indian sketches
served him in good stead when, years
later, he received the commission for
the st. Thomas window In Washing
ton.
This window represents st. Thomas
preaching to the flsherfolk on the
Malabar Coast Of India. Behind the
figure Of the saint appears the sculp-
tured gateway of q Buddhist tope, .
memorial monument erected over q
Buddhist relic. This particular tope
is an exact reproduction Of the one
which Holiday himself saw at Sanchi,
little north of Malabar. In the
sculptures from Amaravati, in the
British Museum, there are carved rep
resentations of precisely similar gate
ways. The tope dates back to the first
century before Christ. Thus, st.
Thomas Is shown standing at the en-
trance of q temple belonging to the
traditional faith Of that region, while
he announces the new faith he has
come to make known.
The costumes worn by the fisher
folk who have come together to hear
him speak are taken from the sculp-
lures at Sanchi and Amaravati, and
especially from the wall paintings In
the cave temples at Ajunta. These
wall paintings belong to the same
period and nearly to the same part of
the country.
DR.. Smith had q special reason for
selecting the history of the Church of
England as the general plan for the
lower windows Of st. Thomas. He
wished to show that the English
Church had not been an offshoot Of
the Roman Church at the time Of
King Henry VIII, as Is generally be-
heved. Even when st. Augustine came
as a missionary to England, he found
q Christian Church which had been
established there almost six centuries
before.
Ct. JOSEPH Of Arimathea occupies
the FIRST of the sixteen windows.
st. Joseph, q patriarchal figure from
the East. is shown holding up the piece
OF fine linen which he brought to wrap
around the body Of Jesus, and he car
ries In his right hand q casket of
spices for the entombment. In the
foreground Of the design Is a model of
st. Joseph's chapel and a cutting of
the Glastonbury thorn. This thorn
'prang miraculously from his staff and
always blossomed on Christmas day.
st. Joseph founded at Glastonbury the
first Christian Church in England. It's
site Is on the Isle of Avalon, where
legend says King Arthur and Queen
Guinevere were buried.
st. Alban, in the next window. was
Britain's first martyr. He is q stall
wart young man, holding in his hand
broad-bladed sword, which has q
double symbolism. st. Alban was a
Roman soldier and the sword indicates
his office. It represents also his mar
tyrcom. for he was slain with q
sword. Giving his soldiers cloak to
Christian priest In order that the
latter might escape from his persecu-
tors, Alban surrendered himself to his
own countrymen. He was beheaded
by them because he declared himself
q Christian.
Fiery-haired st. Patrick Is third
In his right hand he carries a scroll.
which Is his confession, or the story
OF his life. In his left hand he holds
q shamrock, symbol Of the Trinity.
His father and grandfather were
clergymen in the region Of the CLYDE
In Scotland. st. Patrick was CAP.
tured by pirates who infested the
coast Of Scotland and he was sold as
slave in the north of Ireland. In
his confession he says: II wandered
as . shepherd, drenched by rains and
chilled by dews and frost" After
having been in slavery seven years
he escaped from his master and re-
turned to Scotland. Later he visited
Ireland again to preach the gospel.
Dreamy-faced and clothed in the
black robes Of q monk, st. COLUMBIA
occupies the fourth window of the
series. He was the founder of the
Monastery Of Iona, in the western
isles Of Scotland. At his feet grows
the Scotch thistle, and just behind
him Is the PROV Of the boat which
had brought him to the scene Of his
future labors.
Blond Queen Bertha is NTH. Pro-
tector Of st. Augustine, the Italian
missionary, she holds her scepter ana
wears her crown. The church at
her feet Is st. Martins, Canterbury,
where she worshipped as one Of the
early Christian Queens Of England.
Following st. Augustine Is st.
Aidan, who is vested as Q bishop of
the old Celtic Church. With him Is
shown the rose, England,s national
flower. The building In the back
ground Is the Abbey of Lindisfarne,
where st. Aidan Lived as bishop.
st. Hilda, with her mild face and
her shepherds crook, was an abbess,
snd in Holidays design wears the
monastic habit. She was . great
niece Of Edwin, King Of Nofthumbria.