An old yeoman family,
having decided upon the Church as the vocation for one of the sons,
sent him, in the year 1818, on an old pony, under the protection of an
ancient retainer for his matriculation examination. On their return,
in reply to the question, "Well, did you get the young master
through?" "Oh, yes," he said, "and we could have got the old pony
passed too, if we'd only had enough money!"
Partly as an excuse for a bicycle ride I used often to visit distant
villages where auction sales at farm-houses were proceeding, and
sometimes I came home with old china and other treasures. Wherever
there are old villages with manor houses and long occupied rich land,
wealth formerly accumulated and evidenced itself in well-designed and
well-made furniture, upon which time has had comparatively little
destructive effect. As old fashions were superseded, as oak gave way
to walnut, and walnut to Spanish mahogany, the out-of-date furniture
found its way to the smaller farm-houses and cottages, in which it
descended from generation to generation. Now that the cottages have
been ransacked by dealers and collectors, the treasures have not only
been absorbed by wealthy townspeople, but are finding their way with
those of impoverished landowners and occupiers to the millionaire
mansions on the other side of the Atlantic.
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