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and often in the near view a central point* 

 round which the houses are irregularly dis- 

 posed. Indeed, the church, together with 

 the church-yard, is, on various accounts, an 

 interesting object to the villagers of every 

 age and disposition: to the old and seri- 

 ous, as a spot consecrated to the purposes 

 of religion, where the living christian per- 

 forms his devotions, and where, after death * 

 his body is deposited near those of his an- 

 cestors, and departed friends and relations : 

 to the young and thoughtless, as a place, 

 where, on the day of rest from labour, they 

 meet each other in their holy day clothes ; 

 and also (what forms a singular contrast 

 with tombs and gravestones } ) as the place 

 which at their wakes, is the chief scene of 

 their gayety and rural sports. Of the most 

 conspicuous part of churches there are vari- 

 ous forms ; among which, none is, perhaps, 

 more suited to a village, than that which 

 occurs in the often-quoted lines of Milton-— 

 a tower with battlements. A tower, in its 

 most simple, unvaried unornamented state, 



