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REPORTS. 287 
was a reflection which he gladly left in their minds as he took leave of Lucretius. 
—Oa the motion of the Rev. A. R. Vardy, seconded by the Rev. H. W. 
Crosskey, a hearty vote of thanks was accorded Dr. Heslop for his address. 
BURTON NATURAL HISTORY AND ARCHAOLOGICAL SOCIETY.— 
September 27th.—An afternoon trip to Egginton and Etwall completed the 
excursion programme for 1879. Mr. R. Thornewill acted as the leader, and the 
party numbered about forty persons. Arriving at Egginton Junction, the party 
proceeded to the church. The members duly examined the objects of interest 
in the church, and the leader discoursed upon its history and architectural 
features. The building is supposed to have been erected about the year 1300. 
After visiting the gardens at the hall, the party went to Etwall. In the church- 
yard there is a fine old yew tree and some beautiful elms, and in the adjoining 
vicarage grounds are two magnificent specimens of the latter, known to have 
been planted in the year 1701. Two gravestones were pointed out as having been 
erected at the heads of their intended graves by two eccentric parishioners some 
years before their decease. Each stone had a full inscription engraved, leaving 
space for the dates and ages. Both persons are now buried, one very recently, 
and in the other case the final particulars are not yet inserted. On visiting the 
church the register was first inspected. Commencing as far back as 1558 there 
are many entries of quaint interest. The most curious feature, however, is the 
register of burials under the Woollen Act, 1678 to 1681—an Act passed to compel 
all persons to be buried wrapped in woollen, in consequence of the depressed 
state of the woollen trade. In each case the relatives of a deceased person had 
to make an affidavit before a magistrate that the Act had been complied with, 
and there was a penalty of £4 for settine at nought this ultra-protectionist 
enactment. The church belongs chiefly to the ‘‘ Perpendicular” period. There 
isa stone lectern, and in the south windows are some remains of fourteenth 
century glass, representing the three persons of the Trinity, and St. Helen, the 
patronsaint of the church. There are brasses to the memory of the Port family 
in excellent condition, bearing date 1557; also a fine raised stone tomb, 
beneath which lie the remains of Sir John Port, the founder of Etwall Hospital 
and Repton School, also his first and second wives. The party adjourned to the 
Hawk and Buckle Inn, had a capital tea, and then a formal meeting was held, at 
which new members were nominated. The Burton Chrovicle makes the following 
remarks on the work of this active society :—‘It may be remarked that the 
Natural History and Archeological Society has thus far achieved an undoubted 
success in its operations. There is probably no other organisation in the neigh- 
bourhood that is fulfilling so useful a mission. Pleasure and profit are combined 
in a pre-eminent degree. The summer excursions make one familiar with objects 
of interest in the neighbourhood, which might otherwise have remained unnoticed 
and unknown to very many. It is something to visit old churches, and halls, and 
battlefields, and so call up the times and the circumstances in which our 
ancestors lived, and so compare the past with the present; it is something 
to search deeply into the hidden mysteries of nature and read the 
testimony of rocks, the language of flowers and plants, and discover 
more fully the Divine handiwork in the world of animal and insect“ife; it is 
a further advantage to leave for a time one’s daily round of labour and step out 
from the narrow world of ordinary life into a larger and freer atmosphere. Nor 
are the winter operations of the society of less importance, for in the evening 
meetings there are presented for consideration subjects of the deepest import 
concerning various branches of science in the province of the society’s work. 
There are a few people who affect to ridicule such researches and speak somewhat 
scornfully of beetle and butterfly collectors. Let them do so if they will, and so 
close their eyes to nature’s marvels and their ears to the many Divine voices 
around them. A reverent naturalist prefers to say— 
To me the meanest flower that grows may give 
Thoughts that do lie too deep for tears. 
The same sentiment is equally true of God’s creatures, even the smallest, and 
the history and habits of any one of them fill a page in that glorious book of 
nature, which is, as Lord Bacon has well said, simply ‘the word of God revealed 
in facts,’ and these facts are interesting and profitable to the intelligent and 
thoughtful of every class of the community.” 
