I am sure that the ladies there had nothing to do with the
mysteries of the stew-pot or the preserving-pan; but it is probable that
their way of life differed a little from ours, and would have appeared to
us more homely. It may be that useful articles, which would not now be
produced in drawing-rooms, were hemmed, and marked, and darned in the old-
fashioned parlour. But all this concerned only the outer life; there was
as much cultivation and refinement of mind as now, with probably more
studied courtesy and ceremony of manner to visitors; whilst certainly in
that family literary pursuits were not neglected.
I remember to have heard of only two little things different from modern
customs. One was, that on hunting mornings the young men usually took
their hasty breakfast in the kitchen. The early hour at which hounds
then met may account for this; and probably the custom began, if it did
not end, when they were boys; for they hunted at an early age, in a
scrambling sort of way, upon any pony or donkey that they could procure,
or, in default of such luxuries, on foot.
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