On Saturday afternoon Sir Walter Besant unveiled a stained-glass window
in memory of Philip llassinger,—the first of the series of memorial windows to the great dramatic writers of the Elizabethan age to be placed in the nave of the old Priory Church of St. Saviour, Southwark. The window has for its subject "The Virgin-Martyr." The lower panel contains a representation of Dorothea (the Virgin-Martyr), the middle a scene from the drama, while in the top panel is a medallion of Messinger. "In his writings," said Sir Walter Besant, "Messinger was, perhaps, less stately and less im- passioned than some of his fellows, but he was more restrained, perhaps more natural, and certainly less extravagant. His Leading characters were strongly conceived and vigorously
executed." That is a very fair estimate of Messinger. Un- doubtedly "The Virgin-Martyr" is a great play. There is a nobility as well as a wholesomeness about it which de- serves all praise.
Previous page
