In some houses there was a brave show of handsome plate and china, fine furniture, and London-made carriages, rich silks and satins, and brocaded dresses.
In others there were earthenware and pewter, homespun and woolen, and little use for horses, except in the plough or under the saddle.
But there were certain qualities common to all the Virginia planters.
The luxury was imperfect.

The splendor was sometimes barbaric.

There were holes in the brocades, and the fresh air of heaven would often blow through a broken window upon the glittering silver and the costly china.

It was an easy-going aristocracy, unfinished, and frequently slovenly in its appointments, after the fashion of the warmer climates and the regions of slavery.
Everything was plentiful except ready money.

In this rich and poor were alike.