They help on that sapping and undermining of the ancient, sturdy simplicity, the solid oak of country character, replacing it with veneer.

It is not, of course, all, or a tenth part, their fault, or in any way traceable to them.

It is part and parcel of the wide-spread social changes which have gradually been proceeding.
But the tenant farmer's wife who made the butter and cheese, and even helped to salt bacon, where is she now?
Where are the healthy daughters that used to assist her?
The wife is a fine lady--not, indeed, with carriage and pair, but with a dandy dog-cart at least; not with three-guinea bonnets, but with a costly sealskin jacket.

There are kid gloves on her hands; there is a suspicion of perfume about her; there is a rustling of silk and satin, and a waving of ostrich feathers.

The daughter is pale and interesting, and interprets Beethoven, and paints the old mill; while a skilled person, hired at a high price, rules in the dairy.
The son rides a-hunting, and is glib on the odds.