a considerable number of Fonts now exist in England wherein the Saxon infant received the waters of salvation from the hand of that ancient priest whose bones, for aught we know, may Moulder under the pavement of a church reconstructed on its original foundations six centuries after his death. Most frc-quently, however, the rude and unshapely Font of this era was replaced in later times by one of costly sculpture and profuse religious decoration; and thus we cannot find a very great number of examples of decidedly carlier dated than the Norman era, when Fonts were made so claborately beautiful and so quaintly curious that they well deserved the respect and value which they ever after received as works of art and memorials of bygone devotion, as well as from their hallowed use in the service of the Church. Thus Norman Fonts are now common, while carlier specimens are but seldom found. Whether the former, many of which were certainly extremely plain, were always retained in rebuilding or improving an ancient church, we cannot tell, though we may fairly infer that such was generally the case. Probably the preservation or removal of carly Fonts was a custom more or less prevalent at different times and in different places, according to the facilities for procuring stone, or other local circumstances. The Decorated age, with all its costly and numerous buildings, produced comparatively few Fonts; at least the Fonts of this style are the least common, while perhaps churches are most frequent. We know from Bede that stone Fonts were not used in Churches in his time. 10
