Jifill-Fliryklop.s.V,
Stag. .Sec Dkkiu
Stage, a step, floor, or story. The term is particu- larly applied Id the spaces or divisions between the set- offs of bniiress^H in (Jotbic architecture, and to the hori- zontal divi-ioiiH of windows which are intersected by iranmims,— Parker, Closn. if Architect, s, v.
Stage-playing. In the early Church, actors and
stage-players were regarded as ineligible to member- ship, Tlie canons forbade all such to be baptized except on condition that they first bade ailieu to their arts. Should they return to them, they were excommunicat- ed, and were not reconciled or received again to favor but upon their conversion (Cone, Eliberis, can. 02; Cone. Carthag. 3, can. 35). They were forbidden communi<pn as long as they continued to act. Gennadius cautions against ordaining any who had been actors or stage- players. In the time of Cyprian not only public actors, but private teachers and masters of this art, were debarred the communion of the Church, The same regulations prevailed against chariot-drivers, gladiators, and all who had any concern in the exercise or management of such sports, and all frequenters of them. The reason assigned for such exclusion was that "it was agreeable neither to the majesty of God nor the discipline of the Gospel that the modesty and honor of the Church should be defiled with so base and infamous a contagion." This indictment was none too severe, for we may add that "this kind of life was scandalous even among the wise and sobej^ part of the heathen." Tertidlian observes (i^e Spectuc. c. 22) that they who professed these arts were noted with infamy, degraded, and denied many privileges, driven from court, from pleading, from the senate, from the order of knighthood, and all other hon- ors in the Roman city and commonwealth. See ISiiig- ham, Christ. Antiq. bk. xi, eh. v, § 7; bk. xvi, ch. iv, § 10. See Theatrk.
Stahelin, .Tohann Jacob, a Protestant divine, was born May 0, 1797, at Basle ; studied theology at Tiibing- en from 1817 to 1821, and commenced lecturing as a privat docent at Basle in 1823. In 1828 he was made extraordinary professor of theology, in 1835 ordinary professor, and in 1842 he was honored with the doctorate of divinity. He lectured on the C^ld Test, until his death, Aug. 27, 1875. He \\Tote, Ki-itische Unfeisvchvn- (jen iiber die Genesis (Basle, 1830): — A nimadversio7ies qi/iedam in Jacobi Vuticinium (ibid. 1827): — Kritische Uiitersuchiin/je7i iiber den Pentateuch, die BUcher Josva, Richter, Samuel itnd der K'Onige (Berlin, 1843) : — Die viessianischen Weissaffvnqen des alien Testaments in ihrer Entstehvnff, etc. (ibid. 1847) : — Specielle Einleitwi;/ in die kammischen Biicher des alten Testaments (Elberfeld, 1802). He also wrote different essays for the Sludim mid Kritiken and Zeitschrift der dentschen morgtnl. Gesellschaft. See Fiirst, Bibl. Jvd. iii, 377 ; Zuchold, Bibl. Theol. ii, 1252 sq. ; Theolog. Universal- Lexikon, s. v. (B. P.)
Stahlschmidt, John Christian, a minister of the German Refurnied Church, was born not tar from Cologne, in the principality of Nassau-Siegen, ]\larch 3, 1740. In his nineteenth year he was brought to sympathize con- siderably with Pietistic separatists, which so displeased his father that he whipped him, extorting from him a promise that he would no more associate with them or read tiieir bonks while under his care. He decided to leave home, and went to Amsterdam, in which city he had learned that the books of the Pietists were published. DisapjKiinted at not finding his hopes realized in that city, he sailed for the East Indies, arriving at Batavia June 3, 1700, and from thence proceeded to China. Returning to Europe, he went to Altona, near Hamburg, hoping to find congenial friends and employment there. I)isa|)pointed, he again went to sea, and came back to Amsterdam June 1, 1705. Led by the reading of Tersteegen's writings, Stahlschmidt visited him in August, 1706, and again in 1707, receiving much in- struction and encouragement from hitn. He entered into business with an inicle, in which he continued till the autumn of 1709. He again (IMarcli, 1770) started out in search of employmeiu, visiting Rotterdam, Hel- voelsluis, Harwich, and Loiulon, arriving in Philadel- phia, Pa., in August, 1770. Here he began to study under Dr. Weyberg, and after some time became assist- ant to Dr. Heiidel, of Tulpehocken. In 1777 he was
STAINED GLASS
979
STAIRS
licensed and ordained, and enterod the pastorate in York, Pa. In August, 1779, he sailed for Amsterdam, his parents' home, which he reached in June, 1780. Re- solved to return to America as soon as the war should close, he went to live with his uncle, and became so engaged in business and other pursuits that he remained in Europe. The last notice of him that we have is in the album of Rev. J. Keily, under date of Oct. 25, 1825. He wrote Die Pilyer zu Wasser unci zu Land (Nurem- berg, 1799). See Harbaugh, Fathers of the Reformed Church, ii, 252.
Stained (or Painted) Glass. Though often used as if they were synonymous, there is a broad dis- tinction between these terms. Stained glass is glass the substance of which has been stained or colored in the process of manufacture ; while painted glass is that ■which, whether previously stained or colorless, has had a design painted upon it in colors, usually metallic ox- ides, combined with a vitreous vehicle or flux. The art of making colored glass was known to the Egyptians and Assyrians, and from them passed to the Greeks and Komans. The earliest reference to the use of stained- glass windows in Europe appears to be in a passage of Prudentius, about the middle of the 5th century ; but a more distinct mention is made in the following century. Painted -glass windows are not spoken of for two or three centuries later. The earliest examples, discovered by Lasteyrie, are in the abbey of Tegernsee, Bavaria, presented to the abbey by count Arnold in A.D. 999. Five other windows in the same abbey, painted by the monk Wernher, date between 10G8 and 1091. At Hildes- heim there are also some which are attributed to one Bruno, and to the years 1029-39. The earliest exam- ples in France belong to the 12th century, the oldest being a representation of the funeral of the Virgin, in Angers Cathedral, of the first half of the century; the others are some medallion windows of a very remarka- ble character, placed in St. Denis by the abbe Suger in the latter half of the century. There is, however, a small portion believed to be of the llth century at Le Mans. The earliest known examples in Great Britain are of the end of the r2th century, as in the clear-story of Canterbury. It was in the latter part of the 12th and the 13th century that the art made its greatest ad- vance; and, as decorative works, the windows of the 13th century are superior to those of any other period. The oldest English examples are in Canterbury and Salisbury cathedrals; but the finest are the magnificent five sister lancets (fifty feet higli) of York Minster, and the great rose window of Lincoln Cathedral, in which the central Majesty (or Christ in Glory) is surrounded by sixteen compartments containing the typical events of the life of Christ. The chief French examples — manj' of them of extraordinary grandeur and beauty — are in the cathedrals of Chartres, Bourges, Paris, Amiens, Sois- sons, Rouen, and Sens, and the Sainte Chapelle, Paris.