Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/460

 372 Sloan's Architectural Review and Builders' Journal. [Dec, the populous city, or the rural hamlet, are concerned in this judgment, it be- comes a matter of some moment to them, to display their best features of taste. In passing through the country, there is nothing so offensive to one, who seeks for charms, as to find preposterous ugliness defacing the beauty of nature; and this is, unhappily, but too often the case. The country church is apt to oc- cupy a prominent position, so as to be the object in the landscape. How charm- ing might that rising object be made ! How worthy of Nature, and Nature's God! There is, we think, a wide field for improvement, in the designing of Vil- lage Churches; and now that the vari- ous inventions of man, for overcoming time and distance, have placed our pro- fessional friends in an accessible posi- tion, so that they can be reached from any quarter whatsoever, we fervently hope to see many gems of genius spark- ling in the sunny scenery ; and redeem- ing the barbaric abuses we have yet to complain of. ^ As the mission of our publication is to disseminate taste among all classes of the land, we present the accompany- ing simple designs for Country Churches, which, at the same time that they are R 1 1= 1= III I A