artistically than the others, but who was a forthright
cratsman, a valuable associate as an expert accountant,
and whose loyalty and longing for his friends had drawn
him from his mathematical tutorship at Oxford to take up
the restless life of London.
                         It is certain that no other such
firm has ever been organized; since it was composed of
Oxford graduates of distinction, and artists of already high
reputation; since, also, its commercial object was wholl
subordinate to the interests of art. The main employment
of the Comrany was, at first, ecclesiastical decoration, as
the so-called aesthetic revival was then in progress among
the London churches. This movement, which was
entailed by the vigorous study of history made by the
High-Church party, created a demand for mural decoration,
stained glass, tiles, carving, metal work and altar-
embroideries, all of which, by reason of the peculiar talents
and tendencies of Burne-Jones, Morris, Brown and
Faulkner, could be most intelligently supplied. In the
decade 1860-1870, the Morris firm executed windows for
Salisbury Cathedral, and for certain of the College churches
at Oxford and Cambridge; which works are to-day
objects of pilgrimage for those interested in the modem
revival of one of the most beautiful of the arts of the
Middle Ages. At the same time, very successful experi-
ments in tapestry-weaving and cabinet-makingwere in
progress, as may be learned from the report of the jury of
awards at the International Exhibition of 1862. This
report, referring to the objects of household art shown by
the Morris firm, declares that "the general forms of the
furniture, the arrangement of the tapestry, and the
character of the details are satisfactory to the archeologist
from the exactness of the imitation, at the same time that
the general effect is excellent."
                         It is needless to trace the
development of the Firm at length; since the results of its
work may be measured by any one who has the means


WILLIAM  MORRIS


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