same cannot be said), and their dresses are both rich and beautiful, especially that of the former. Under the figures are the scriptural extracts :-"Young men and maidens, old men and children, praise the name of the Lord, for His name only is excellent, and His praise above heaven and earth; ""Fear not, for God has come to prove you, and that His fear may be before your eyes, that ye sin not." And this inscription: "Erected by the Scholars, Teachers, and Friends of St. Nicholas' Sunday School by money subscribed between A.D. 1860 and A.D. 1880, the Centenary of Sunday Schools in England." Piercing the windows, the rays of the summer's sun carries the many colours to the pavement of the aisle, inlaying it with a mosaic very beautiful to behold.

1

The last of the windows filled with stained glass in 1880, by Messrs. Buckley, was the largest of all. Situate, as already mentioned, at the north end of the north transept, the window is of fine proportions, and would not be unworthy of a cathedral. It was originally of six lights, with tracery of a decorated character, not very florid. To suit the requirements of the subject decided upon by the donor-the Ascension of our Blessed Lord into heaven,-from a painting in his possession by Angelo Bronzini, a Florentine artist of the sixteenth century—the central mullion was removed, reducing the lights to five, and giving the central one a double breadth. This necessitated a slight alteration in the tracery, which was successfully accomplished. By this arrangement ample space was provided in the centre of the window for the representation of the ascending Saviour, surrounded by glory, and attended

A Gift to the Yarmouth Poor.

105

by numerous angels. The Apostolic group, with upturned faces, gazing upon their Lord, is very finely rendered, and is the most magnificent part of the window. The two outer lights were beyond the limits of the painting, and were filled with work of a beautiful floral pattern, presenting a most harmonious and pleasing blending of various hues. At the base of the window is the following inscription :-" This window is at the expense of Cornelius Harley Christmas, to commemorate his 86th year.* Also to the memory of his much-respected late Minister, the Rev. Richard Turner, B.D., who departed this life 13th October, 1835, and who was upwards of thirty years one of the best Ministers of this parish. C. H. Christmas was buried in his family grave or tomb at the north-west corner in the old burial-ground near the public road, Anno Domini 1881." The window was completed on Saturday, November

* This gentleman also gave, in the year 1880, upwards of £15,800, the interest of which sum to be distributed in bread, coals, and money "to the poor of Great Yarmouth, in the week before Christmas Day, every year hereafter, and at no other time, for ever." And in order that the first distribution might take place the same year, he provided £775 for the purpose. At the prescribed time nearly 8000 cwt. of coals, 16,000 loaves of bread, and more than 100 in money were distributed amongst 6000 families. In his instructions to his executors, trustees, and others, he charges them "should there ever be any desire on the part of the Government, or Authorities, to change or interfere with this my Gift, or any future Gift I may make to the Poor, then I do request my Trustees IMMEDIATELY to convert all into cash, and distribute WITHOUT DELAY all the same to the Poor of this my native town-but not to give more than £20 to any one family; I trust and hope they will never be driven to any such extremity." At his death in 1881, he very considerably augmented the above munificent gift to the poor.

27th, and the following morning the clergy and choir, entering the church by the door beneath in the transept, there sung, before proceeding to their seats, the hymn (the congregation joining in the singing), "See the Conqueror mounts in triumph, see the King in royal state," etc.

In 1881 the finest window of the church-the large west window of the south aisle-was filled with the best stained glass, and the wall richly and elaborately decorated, by Messrs. Buckley, in the style of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. In the central light, Christ raising the widow's son is represented. The Saviour is shown as meeting the funeral cortége at the gate of the city. The bier, with the body of the young man, has been placed upon the ground, and the Saviour is portrayed as commanding the dead young man to rise. Near the youth is seen his afflicted and sorrowing mother, surrounded by her sympathizing friends. The whole scene is treated in the masterly manner of the great glass-designers of the Renaissance period.

In the two side portions of the window are four figures, representing Faith, Hope, Truth, and Immortality, with their respective emblems; the background in each case being formed by palm trees. The figure of Truth is very beautiful, and copied from the magnificent marble statue which crowns the summit of the Mills' mausoleum in the cemetery (see engraving, p. 221).

The canopies and bases of the lights are all formed of symbolical flowers; the effect is graceful and very

uncommon.

The glass is of the deep rich tones seen at Bourges,

Magnificent Wall-Painting.

107

Bruxelles, and Amiens; in Fairford, and York Minster. The drawing is free from the defects so often seen in quasi-mediæval modern glass painting.

A dado of enamelled and polished slate is carried along the wall under the entire length of the window, and is decorated with quaint and rich foliated forms; and is very noticeable as being one of the largest pieces of enamelling on slate ever used in ecclesiastical art-work.

The two wall spaces between the triplet windowlights are decorated with paintings of lilies and roses of a very bold type, executed on a new damp-proof material. The effect of the gold ground under the branches of the roses is very rich. Immediately over this branching foliage are the figures of two angels with outstretched wings, engaged in scattering flowers. The angelic forms are such as may be seen at Florence and Bologna, in the frescoes of Fra Angelico and the early Italian school. The whole of the wall and arches is decorated with diapered and "powdered" patterns of roses, chevrons, etc., on warm-toned grounds, after old examples; for in the artistic ages, even as we see in the early Greek and Gothic temples and churches, colour and gilding were used extensively for the adorning the surface of their walls, vaultings, tympana, etc. (Many traces of colour are still to be seen upon the walls in various parts of this church. And it may here be mentioned, en passant, that upon the north wall of the north chancel aisle is a fragment of well-executed painting representing knights in chain armour at the porch of a church, where, it is supposed, they have been to return thanks for victory; and on the opposite wall of the chancel, in the sedilia of the Lady Chapel, can be

traced the faint outline of an angel.) Stained glass was never introduced into a building unless in conjunction with colour upon the walls. Numberless proofs of this treatment are to be seen all over Europe.

The lower portion of the wall is painted with the usual conventional pattern of ashlar work so often seen in all our ancient buildings. There are also two bands of a flowing style of ornament, one under the string moulding of the triforium of the window, and a broader one nearer the floor; both copied from the ancient paintings discovered in 1869, when this portion of the church was under restoration. These bands occupy the same position as the originals in the fourteenth century, are in the old colours, both of them fine and graceful, and are well worth attention.

At the foot of the wall is a surface of glazed tiles of subdued colours. A small door, that led to stairs communicating with the triforium, is of oak, ornamented with iron hinges of the type usual in mediæval times. The archway which exists in this wall is ancient, and was formerly the entrance to a small south aisle. A similar arch is in the wall on the north side.

A dedicatory inscription runs along the lower portion of the window, as follows:-"Charles S. T. Mills, born in London on the 9th of November, 1846; died at Great Yarmouth on the 19th of December, 1875." And in the centre of the wall beneath, a fine, grey granite tablet, supplied by Messrs McDonald, from the same quarry as the pedestal of the Mills' Memorial in the cemetery, has been inserted, bearing the following inscription in golden letters :-" This window was erected by his deeply sorrowing mother, in loving memory of