he sat up, ate,
talked, and was restored." But the father forgot the vow which he made in
the first moment of joy at his son's recovery, namely, that he would offer
four silver pieces at the martyr's shrine before Mid Lent. And once more
all the household was stricken with sickness, and the eldest son died.
Then the parents, though sore smitten themselves, dragged themselves to
Canterbury and performed their vow. The whole of this story with other
details for which we have no space may be accurately traced on this unique
window. The most striking is the central medallion of the group in which
the vengeance of the saint is shown forth. In the middle of a large room
we see a bier on which lies the dead son; the father and mother, overcome
with despair, stand at the head and feet of the body. Behind the bier are
several figures, which, from their "unusually violent attitudes expressive
of grief," Mr. Austin considered to be professional mourners. Above,
unseen by the group below, the figure of St. Thomas, clad in full
episcopal robes, holding a sword in his right hand, and pointing to
the corpse with his left, is seen appearing through the ceiling. "The
expression," says Austin, "of the various figures in the above
compartments, both in gesture and feature, is rendered with great skill.
In the execution of this story, the points which, doubtless, the artists
of the monastery were chiefly anxious to impress upon the minds of the
devotees who thronged to the shrine are prominently brought out: the
extreme danger of delaying the performance of a vow, under whatever
circumstances made, the expiation sternly required by the saint, and the
satisfaction with which the martyr viewed money offerings made at the
shrine."

One of the other groups is noteworthy as proving that severe penances were
sometimes performed before the shrine. One medallion shows a woman
prostrating herself before a priest at the altar, while two men stand
near, holding formidable-looking rods. The next picture represents the two
men vigorously flagellating the woman with the rods; while, in the third,
one of the men is still beating the woman, who now lies fainting on the
ground, while the other is addressing the priest, who sits hard by
composedly reading his book. The other two windows contain representations
of the healings effected by the saint, which seem to have been of a very
varied character, to judge from the catalogue with which Benedict sums
them