which have actuated men at various periods of the sojourn upon this earth. The earth bears the token of man's presence continually expressed in the form of architecture.
Architecture divides itself naturally into three classes: ecclesiastical, civil, and domestic. These three classes may be studied in their different styles in different countries. Foremost amongst them stands ecclesiastical architecture, for it is quite natural that men in expressing their ideas should give the most prominent and the most important expression to the dominant idea in their minds, and that dominant idea is the sense of their relationship to an unseen power and of the meaning of their life during their sojourn here. These are the ideas which are expressed always in ecclesiastical architecture, the aspirations of men at various ages of the world's history, all that they wished to say, the account they had to give of themselves: nothing tells us so much of this as the study of ecclesiastical architecture. That architecture is to be found everywhere. It is an endless object of study—of interest which never ceases, never fails. I speak as one who has lived at various periods of his life under the shadow of great buildings. There are people who praise their houses because they have such beautiful country views; but great as may be the charms of a magnificent country view, I do not think they are comparable to the real interest of a great building, with all its effects of light and shade, with all its suggestiveness of man's activity, of man's life. Great is nature, but remember greater still is man. And this is a truth which we can never afford to
