STUDIES IN NATURE 



perhaps even like in countenance to their 

 forefathers. We can read their names, their 

 professions, and find out where they dwelt and 

 to what age they lived. The church is perhaps 

 built of several different materials stone, or 

 brick, or rough cast over one or both of these ; 

 each piece marks a period of its history. The 

 windows may be plain and square, or they may 

 have pointed and carved arches over them, or 

 simple round arches, which are very old, and 

 were chiefly made many hundred years ago. 

 We must look if there is a tower or a spire 

 from which the bells can be heard ringing out 

 over the tops of the trees. Inside the church 

 are other memorials to men and women who 

 lived in this district and were beloved by their 

 friends and families. We read their names and 

 whence they came ; we are told how they served 

 their generation or helped their neighbours. In- 

 deed, if we really wish to find out the history of 

 our country and see by what means the national 

 life has gradually grown up and altered, we 

 should do well never to leave a church near us 

 unvisited, and to remember that every part of 

 a village, however lowly, has its own story to 

 tell us. 



We learned something about the origin of 

 villages when we spoke of their names. Many 

 seem to have grown up for purposes of con- 

 venience round a well, a bridge, or a ford. 

 Others arose where two roads met or crossed 



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