DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



433 



These troes, in their gradual but unccasinir daily 

 jjrowth, for more than a century, have heaved up 

 the stonework of the tomb, Ibrcinu it outward for 

 some distance, and entwined round the iron rail- 

 ings, wiiiuli, in some places, are so completely em- 

 bedded in trunks of the trees that they seem to 

 form part of them. The trees', at their base, also 

 pass tlirouirh and clasp the stone-work, as thoui^h 

 it were a mass of earth. It is conjectured — and on 

 no other supposition can these marvellous appear- 

 ances be accounted for — that, at a period antece- 

 d(mt to the erection of the tomb, the seeds of the 

 now full grown trees must have been deposited in 

 the vault beneath ; und that, there srerminating, 

 they have since forced their way towards the 

 light, silently and gradually displacing the masonry 

 above ; and then embracing and supporting the 

 tomb they had disturbed with their spreading 

 branches. The superstitious credulity of the neigh- 

 boring peasantry of the last generation was natu- 

 rally excited by appearances so unusual, and they 

 have handed down a legend to their sons, in which 

 it is sought to account for the phenomenon. The 

 story is a simple one : — It is said that Lady Anne 

 was an unbeliever, and that she was wont to say 

 that, " if the Sacred Book was true, seven ash trees 



would grow out of her tomb.'' The result evident" 

 ly (as in many similar cases) gave rise to the le' 

 gend. In these days, however, we require no such 

 solution of appearances, wliich, however unusual, 

 we are content to roL^ard as beautiful illustrations 

 of natural laws. The followinir inscription is still 

 legible on the tomb: "Here lyeth interred the 

 body of the Jiiglit Hon. Laily Ann Grimston, wife 

 of Sir Samuel Grifnston, Bart., of Gorhambury, 

 Herts, daughter of the late Right Hon. Earl of 

 Thanet,who departed this life Nov. 22, 1713, in 

 the 60th year of her age." Morning Post. 



A Simple, Che.\p and Effectual Mode or 



KEEPING AWAY BiRDS FROT.I FrUITS, SeEDS, ScC. 



Take a stick, a little bent at fop, get two trianjrular 

 bits of tin, bore a hole in the narrow end of each, 

 and suspend them with cord or worsted, 8cc.; fix 

 them so that they touch each other at the lower 

 part. If the stick is not too stid", so much the bet- 

 ter ; it is very seldom they are still ; they keep up 

 a perpetual tinkling, being so light that even the 

 stillest air can move them. The plan is not new, 

 but I have never seen it mentioned in print. R. Ji. 

 C. K. Gardeners^ Chronicle. 



DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



DESIGN FOR A RURAL CHURCH. 



[see frontispiece.] 



We have no intention, at the present moment, of 

 entering upon tiie subject of church architecture. 

 It requires volumes, and is quite too vast and too 

 elaborate to be treated of in any superKcial way. 

 We may, however, remark in passing, how surpris- 

 ingly the church architecture of our cities has been 

 improved within the last ten years. Improved, in- 

 deed, seems scarcely the word — created, would ex- 

 press the fact more fully. New- York and Brook- 

 lyn are especially rich in new churches, built of the 

 finest marble or hewn stone, and designed, many of 

 them, in a noble and pure style. 



Our rural churches are, however, in most parts 

 of the country, sadly behind in taste and meritori- 

 ous design. Heav)', rectangular wooden buildings, 

 either ill proportioned and unmeaning, or crowned 

 with steejiles or towers, exhibiting the oddest pos- 

 sible combination of architectural orders, deform a 

 great part of the middle and eastern states. 



This is to be regretted. Certainly there is noth- 

 ing built by man's hands, which, if properly design- 

 ed, and properly kept, confers so much of dignity, 

 poetry and interest on a rural landscape, as a beau- 

 tiful country church — of sober, quiet colour — embo- 

 somed in trees, and speaking volumes at a glance, of 

 the religious feelings, the peaceful and rciined hab- 

 its of the inhabitants around it. 



Though we would not eontino the architecture of 

 rural churches within narrow limits, we feel very 

 deeply the superiority of the gothic style for such 

 editices. All its associations, all its history, belong 

 so much more truly to the christian faith, than do 

 those of any other style of building, that the devo- 



VOL. II. 55 



tional feeling seems to spring up more naturally 

 and easily within its walls than in anv other, 



The besetting sin of builders of country churches, 

 is that of copying the fine churches of tow ns. This 

 is a great mistake. It is rarely that sufTicient 

 means is found in a country congregation to build 

 more than a modest edifice. If, with these limited 

 means, an imitation of a town cathedral is attempt- 

 ed, it always proves a mclanchol}' failure. It wants 

 the perfection, the completeness, the richness of 

 the city church ; it could not, of course, attain these; 

 it wants the simplicity, greatness, and truthfulness, 

 of a rural church, which it could have attained. 



The frontispiece shows a view of an English 

 country church, (which we borrow from the London 

 News,) newly erected, in South Milford, Yorkshire. 

 It is only one form from among a grerxt variety, all 

 of the same general style, of what might be called 

 rural church gothic, and of which the English are 

 especially fond. It is of moderate dimensions, the 

 whole outside length being ninety feet : inside, the 

 nave measuring 57 feet long, by 27 feet wide. The 

 interior height is 37 feet. The roof is high-pitched, 

 showing in the interior, the carved open timber- 

 work. The windows are glazed with stained glass. 

 The seats accommodate three hundred persons, 

 (without galleries,) and the cost of the whole build- 

 ing is only £1500, (about $7,500.) 



If we contrast the beautiful and harmonious efTect, 

 so entirely in keejiing with the country, of this spe- 

 cies of rural church, and the very moderate price at 

 which it is produced, with the unsatisfactory and 

 incongruous efleet of many of our wooden Greek 

 temple houses of worship, every where to be seen, 

 costing two or three tliousand dollars more, we 



