From the ?, ?th November 1896, page ? (press cutting in a notebook of the window’s donor, Cornwall Record Office ref. P68/2/182).
Among the most ancient and interesting of the many parish churches of Cornwall that have claims to the special attention of the antiquary and the historian the Parish Church of St. Germans stands out prominently. The Church possesses many features of architectural and archæological interest, among the chief of which are its two massive western towers and its splendidly preserved Norman porch. The fabric is specially noteworthy, however, in that it was in ancient days the Cathedral Church of Cornwall. It occupied this proud position, and continued to be an important monastic and ecclesiastical centre, from A.D. 981 until the union of the see with that of Crediton about the year 1025, Buhrwold being the last of the Saxon Bishops. After that time, until the suppression of the monasteries by Henry Ⅷ. in 1539, monks of the Order of St. Augustine continued to occupy the Priory, which stood on the site of Port Eliot House, Robert Swimmer being the last prior. There is also another feature of interest about St. Germans Church at the present time in that the late Archbishop of Canterbury, beloved of all Cornishmen, paid his last visit to his old diocese when, in September, 1894, he came to St. Germans to attend the re-opening services after the extensive restoration which the building had undergone. Dr. Benson preached at evensong on that occasion—Wednesday, September 12th, 1894—and every member of the great congregation that filled the church must have carried away with him a lasting remembrance of the late Archbishop’s learned and weighty words. As was to be expected, Dr. Benson dealt especially with the life and work of St. Germanus, to whom the Church, in common with Rame Church also, is dedicated. German, as Dr. Benson called him, was Bishop of Auxerre, in France, and died in 448. He was among the most celebrated saints of the fourth and fifth centuries, and came twice to Britain to oppose the Pelagian heresy, but there is no authentic record of his having visited Cornwall.
St. Germans Church has undergone successive restorations of recent years, the present scheme (which Rev. W. Westmacott, the vicar,is carrying out as quickly as may be) being really begun in 1887, when Rev. W.A. Fenwick, afterwards of Bodmin, was vicar. In 1893 new roofs replaced the old ones, and the restoration which was completed a year later was confined exclusively to the interior of the church, and had to do with the renovation of the chancel and the Lady Chapel, the lowering of the floor and the improvement of the nave, the provision of new choir stalls, &c. The successive restorations which had been carried out up to September last have involved an expenditure of over £6,000, all but a comparatively small proportion of which has been raised by subscriptions or voluntary efforts, such as the bazaar and fête held in Port Eliot grounds five or six weeks ago, when £470 was raised. The object of that effort was to raise, if possible, as much as £630, which would have been sufficient to extinguish an existing debt of £271, provide a new wood floor, and pay for the repairs to the stonework and tracery of the fine east window, which have been admirably carried out by Messrs. T. Lang & Sons, of Liskeard, under the direction of Mr. E. Sedding, architect, of Plymouth. The new stonework is executed in finely-moulded Beer stone, and this has now been filled with beautiful stained glass, the gift of Mr. Alfred Burton, who has on previous occasions been a good friend to the church. The great eastern light was formerly filled with plain glass and the substitution of colours effects a wonderful change for the better in the appearance of the chancel and even the building as a whole. The work has been expeditiously carried out, as within the present year the design has been realised, the glass prepared, and placed in the ornamental stonework, which has been very considerably repaired. On Sunday morning the window was unveiled by the Bishop of Truro, who preached a special sermon, and the large congregation who assembled were able to admire the great addition to the decorative beauties of the church.
The size of the window alone commands attention. As nearly as possible it is 30 feet high, and is 16 feet wide at its broadest point, and it is doubtful whether a finer window is now to be found in any Westcountry church. The design is by Sir Edward Burne-Jones, and its execution was, of course, entrusted to the firm of which the late William Morris was the distinguished head, and unusual interest attaches to the work from the fact that it was the very last specimen of stained glass completed by that master-hand. The design differs from that of the majority of large church windows in that it does not seek to present one or more scenes or incidents, but merely gives skilful representations of ten Scriptural characters. There are two rows of five large lights, each about 8 feet high by 2 feet 3 inches wide; while above them tapers the Gothic-shaped capping, with its intricate tracery and lovely coloured effects. The top is really designed to convey an idea of angels and cherubims, and very harmoniously indeed the colours blend. The central figure of the top five—and it is as near as can be in the very centre of the whole window—represents the Lord Jesus Christ. The figure is clad in a robe of rose colour, splendidly draped and very rich in colour. On the left is a rude cross, round which the Saviour’s right arm is entwined; while at His feet on the other side is a silver chalice. The palm of the left hand is exposed, showing the nail-print, while the beautiful face has an expression of resignation and sympathy. On the right of Him stands in an attitude of devout adoration Mary, the sister of Lazarus, whilst on the other side the Virgin Mary stands prayerful yet joyous. The outside lights contain representations of St. Paul and the Centurion, on the left and right respectively. St. Paul is a somewhat youthful figure, while the Centurion is shown as he relinquishes hold on his spear in order to clasp his hands in entreaty for salvation. Below these are the four Evangelists, supporting the first martyr, St. Stephen. The latter has his hands outstretched as in the very act of uttering his great “Apology.” On his right are S.S. Matthew and Mark, and on the left S.S. Luke and John. Most of the figures are holding open scrolls, and the attitudes of all are highly artistic. Over their heads hover angels, as if whispering hopeful and inspiring words. A striking feature of the work is the beauty of the drapery of the figures and the delicacy of the colouring. The predominating colours are red (of a peculiarly rosy tint), azure blue, and olive or rich sage green. Altogether there are 55 panes in the window, and at the base are the words “To the glory of God this window is dedicated by the donor, Alfred Burton, in year 1896.” All the colours blend well, are rich though not obtrusive, and certainly relieve the subjects from anything like a sombre or dull appearance. One remarkable fact is the unusually youthful appearance of the whole of the figures, though thought and depth of expression are not wanting in any of them. This glass work alone cost £500. With the brilliant sunshine streaming through the lights on Sunday morning, all these and other details were brought out with the greatest clearness of definition, and the large congregation could not but be greatly impressed by the striking conception of the artist. Although finished early in the previous week the window was kept screened, and was not publicly revealed until the Bishop of Truro read the usual prayers at the unveiling ceremony.
The service was fully choral, Mr. R.R. Glendinning, A.R.C.O., being at the organ. The Vicar intoned the service and read the lessons. Amongst the congregation were the Earl and Countess of St. Germans, Lord and Lady Robartes, Mrs. Gott, Col. the Hon. C.G.C. Eliot (who attended for the first time since his illness), Mrs. and Miss Eliot, Mr. Stewart, and Mr. Montagu C. Eliot.
The Bishop preached from Malachi ⅲ., 10, “The windows of Heaven.” They would notice, he said, that these words occurred at the close of the darkness of the Old Testament. At the dawn of the New Testament, as the streaks of the light of the Sun of Righteousness, about to rise with healing in His wings, were beginning to flood the whole world, God put this text into the mouth of one of His servants, foreseeing the blessings and uses which would be made of it. The use they were making of it that morning was in the mind and the purposes of God when he told Malachi to write the words. Christ was the only window of Heaven—Christ with whom there was no darkness. But, they would say, the text speaks of “windows,” and not “a window.” That was God’s way of emphasising it, of WRITING THE WORDS IN CAPITAL LETTERS, as it were, calling with a loud voice, clearer and more emphatic than usual. They would remember, in the case of Pharaoh, when the seven years’ plenty and seven years’ famine were predicted by dreams, two dreams were employed, though they were practically the same. That was because the matter was great and urgent. And so Malachi spoke of “windows” because the matter was great and urgent. Or they might put it another way. Only turning over a page, they found, following, the four Gospels, the four windows which revealed Christ to men. Through those windows there streamed in the light, and through Christ, and only Him, there poured into that dark world of theirs the light of heaven. And so with the grand old sculptures in their church, which their fathers carved with loving and tender hands so many centuries ago, there was no beauty in them that morning till the window admitted the light of heaven. Till that light poured in at sunrise that day, their beautiful altar cloth was not beautiful, the pillars and carvings were not beautiful, but directly the light was admitted, the beauty of all became apparent. Christ made the innocence of a little child beautiful because He smiled upon it, and claimed that innocence as His own, as part of Himself, part of the external spotlessness of God. Christ’s light shone upon that daily life of theirs, which seemed so commonplace, so humdrum, so monotonous. Christ’s light made things useful which were not useful before. Their BIBLE WOULD HAVE BEEN AS USELESS to them there a few hours previously, as if written in a language unintelligible to them, but, now the light shone on it, it was useful. When Christ shone on them He made them useful where they were useless before, or perhaps worse than useless. As the light of day shewed them the dangerous places in their path, so Christ’s light in the Bible revealed the dangerous places and exposed the ambushes the pitfalls and traps which the enemy had laid for their soul; and the evil which the enemy worked and was concealed before, became clear and plain, and was avoided. Not only that, but the light shone on the narrow way, and showed the provisions, the refuges, the comforts, the strengths, and the means of grace which God had prepared for those seeking Him. And they seemed in that light to hear his His voice saying “Arise, shine, for thy light is come.” What was that light? It was the light of the fairest life that ever was lived—a life of loving unloveable people, such as lepers other people shunned, maniacs other people dreaded, infectious diseases other people avoided, and death, which other people were afraid of. That life which seemed to shed new love into human nature and make it more loveable was not only a bright light, but resembled the ILLUMINATED LIGHT IN PICTURES, which admitted the light of heaven and at the same time revealed the thoughts of the painter’s mind, through the Bible. It was the light of heaven which came down to this dark earth, revealing an unselfishness which the world had not dreamed of before, and which had been possessed and appropriated by the Christians ever since. And so pure that it purified the world; so true that it made men true; so contagious in all its beauties of love and self-sacrifice. The world had ever since seen Christ’s life re-acted. Did He speak too strongly? He thought not, for if there was anything in Christianity Christ’s life was reflected in them. Christ came to make them, like Himself, children of light. And so the window was Christ, and through that window they saw Heaven, and enough of it to make them long to be there. They saw the attractive beauty of God, the beauty which drew them to it as a magnet drew steel. Just as they had not seen THE BEAUTY OF THEIR WINDOW until the veil had been drawn, so they saw the meaning of God through Christ. If they wanted to desire Heaven they must look at it though Christ; if they desired to be there it was easy to reach it; but they could not reach it unless they desired it. Christ was, indeed, the window, but they who were Christians were the panes. In that new window there were many panes of different sizes, different colours, for different purposes; and they as Christians were similarly panes, with different purposes to serve. If they looked at the window they would see halos around the heads of the saints; that was the fancy of the painters, but it was a true fancy, for the glory of God was reflected in men, circled like a crown of glory on every true Christian. They became illuminated and transfigured with the light of Christ. They received that light to spread and diffuse. Just as EACH PANE OF THAT WINDOW received the light from the sky and transmitted it to the church as transfigured and coloured light, so the light of Christ, coming unto them, passed out of them marked and shaped and noted with the colours of their own lives and character, shining upon their home life, and making it brighter and purer than it would have been, and kinder even as Christ was kind. They saw how each pane of that window gave to the others a meaning, helped complete the whole, and how the removal of one would spoil the whole. If they took away one pane the picture would be spoilt, and they would doubt the meaning of it; and just so they gave a meaning to those around them. Each had a part to play with each other, and if the single pane of glass was not very much in a window, yet it contributed to the shape and colour and purpose and beauty of the whole; so each of them contributing made the world around them to be a fairer, a more beautiful, and a brighter world, that men might see the dangers of Satan, and the help which God had given them. “Let their light so shine before man that they might see their good works, and glorify their Father which was in Heaven.”
The offertories were devoted to the East Window Fund. The Bishop of Southwark was to have preached in the evening, but was unable to attend.