Page:Historical Lectures and Addresses.djvu/311

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

which the people lived; how the castle consisted of its various parts. It would take me too long to tell you the story of the development of English fortifications, but the castles tell the story of the beginning of civilised life in England. Then the next stage is the manor house, which in many cases grew out of the castle. The castle had a residential part attached to it; one half was given to the soldiers, and one half was given to the family. Later we get the manor house standing by itself, sometimes appended to the old feudal ruins. Then comes the development of the manor house in the sixteenth century, and its complete evolution up to the time of Queen Anne; all tell the story of the increase of comfort in England. And after all people cannot leave a more instructive record of themselves than to tell us what were their ideas of comfort, and how they liked to spend their lives. Materials for this study are ample round London. Any one living in London, by a little walking, can bring before his mind's eye almost every stage in the development of English architecture, and consequently of English life. Who can have visited the old ruins of Eltham, and then proceeded to investigate Knowle, without gaining some conception of the standard of comfort which had been reached in English life by the end of the sixteenth century? It is possible for us, while taking our walks, to bring before ourselves a sympathetic picture of the life and efforts of our ancestors, who worked at the problems which we ourselves have to try and carry on a little further.

There are many subsidiary questions also which