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THE DOMESTIC HEARTH
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contain the arms of the family or the portraits of ancestors.
No portion of an old manor-house was so
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/71/The_chimney-top%2C_ancient_and_modern_%28An_Old_English_Home_and_Its_Dependencies%29.jpg/400px-The_chimney-top%2C_ancient_and_modern_%28An_Old_English_Home_and_Its_Dependencies%29.jpg)
THE CHIMNEY-TOP, ANCIENT AND MODERN
decorated and enriched as this; and the hall fireplace received pre-eminent attention.
Happily we have in England numerous and splendid examples; but a vast number were sacrificed at the end of last century and the