You will even find, I believe, that the art of the 'sainterer' has been in decline for three centuries, probably due to the fact that the faithful no longer melt down their ornaments of precious metals, thus modifying the alloy.

Or is it because the founders no longer invoke Saint Anthony the Eremite when the bronze is boiling in the furnace?
I do not know.

It is true, at any rate, that bells are now made in carload lots.

Their voices are without personality.

They are all the same.
They're like docile and indifferent hired girls when formerly they were like those aged servants who became part of the family whose joys and griefs they have shared.