He hated him because Aaron was genuinely respected by large bodies of workingmen, and had great influence with them; and this hatred may also be applied in a general sense, because he hated all employers of labor who were held by their workmen in higher respect than himself. He hated Aaron because he was a Jew, and this may certainly be applied in a general sense, because he had a bitter hatred of all Jews, and would have willingly subscribed liberally and joined in a crusade to hunt them out of the country. That a Jew could be a good man, that he could be a just man, that he could do anything without an eye to profit or self-aggrandizement--these were monstrous propositions, and no man of sense, certainly no true Christian, could seriously entertain them. Mr. Poynter was a Christian, a true Christian, regular in his attendances at church and fairly liberal also in his charities, though his left hand always knew what his right hand did. And here he found another cause for hating Aaron. He heard his name quoted as a man of large benevolence, and he went so far as to declare that Aaron's charities were a means to an end. "He looks upon them as an investment," he said; "they bring him a good return. Did you ever know a Jew part with money without an eye to the main chance?" When he heard that it was generally reported that Aaron gave away in secret much more than he gave away in public his comment was, "What is easier than to set such a rumor afloat? Any rich man can do it by an expenditure of ten pounds a year. If money is bestowed in secret who is to know of it but the donor? If it becomes public who could have spoken of it first but the donor? No one but a fool would be gulled by so transparent a trick." These detractions were generally uttered to men who sympathized with the speaker, and they were not without effect. By which it will be seen that Aaron had enemies, as all men have. Mr. Poynter posed as a moral man, and it is the very essence of these usurpers of morality that they must stand alone, and that upon their pedestal there shall be no room for any other braggart. He was a married man with sons and daughters and a wife, who all looked upon the husband and father as a pattern. Whether his children followed the pattern or not does not concern this history, which has to do with the head of the family alone. Whatever a man may be in the prime of life the earlier Adam, if it differ from the later, will very likely assert itself in the blood of his descendants, and this may have been the case with Mr. Poynter's children, despite the respect in which they held him. You come into contact with a sober-faced man, whose distinguishing mark is one of intense respectability; you see him at home in the bosom of his family, whom he entertains with severely respectable platitudes; you hear his opinions on matters of current interest, a trial, a scandal in high life, tittle-tattle of the stage, the court, the Church, and society in general.