AMBLKSIDE. 55 



along the slopes of the Scandale Fells. Below, 

 Windermere opens more and more , and at length, 

 the pretty little town of Ambleside appears, nest- 

 ling at the foot of Wansfell, and the valley of 

 the Rothay opens at the gazer's feet. On the 

 opposite margin of this green recess, and on the 

 skirts of Loughrigg, he sees Fox How, the residence 

 and favourite retirement of the late Dr. Arnold, 

 and now inhabited by his family. Near the pass 

 which opens between Loughrigg and Fairfield, he 

 is told that the residence of Wordsworth may be 

 seen from below. Just under him to the left is 

 the old church ; and near the centre of the valley 

 is the new church, — more of a blemish than an 

 adornment, unhappily, from its size and clumsiness, 

 and the bad taste of its architecture. Though 

 placed in a valley, it has a spire, — the appropriate 

 form of churches in a level country ; and the spire 

 is of a different colour from the rest of the building ; 

 and the east window is remarkably ugly. There 

 have been various reductions of the beauty of the 

 valley within twenty years or so ; and this last is 

 the worst, because the most conspicuous. The old 

 church, though not beautiful, is suitable to the 

 position, and venerable by its ancient aspect. It 

 is abundantly large enough for the place, except 

 for a few weeks in summer : but its burial ground, 

 inclosed by roads on three sides, has for many years 

 been crowded. Ten years ago, the state of the 

 churchyard, and the health of the people who lived 

 near it^ was such as to make the opening of a new 

 burial-ground a pressing matter ; and hence, no 

 doubt, arose the new church, though a larger and 

 more beautiful cemetery might easily have been 

 formed in the neighbourhood. 



