"You must, at this inclement season," said Sir Filmer, "witness many scenes of distress, and have many calls upon your humanity." "Yes," replied the worthy man, the tear glistening in his eye, "to weep with those that weep, to lighten the burden of human woe, and to administer comfort to the dejected soul, are offices, to the exercise of which, we have frequent calls. Having lived here for some years, and being well known, I am sometimes called to the houses of neighbouring peasants, in which poverty and affliction seem to have taken up their abode; yet, believe me, sir, I never return from those houses with greater pleasure, or with more heart-felt satisfaction, than when I think I have contributed my share in wiping away the falling tear, or whispering peace to the troubled breast. [Sidenote: Two opposite characters.] "Small, however, sir, as the village is, it produces two characters, as opposite almost in their natures, as the darkness of a stormy night is to the splendour of meridian day. These characters as they are unknown to you, allow me to introduce to your acquaintance, under the names of _Austerus_ and _Humanus_; the former a man of callous soul; the latter one who thinks, and feels while he thinks. [Sidenote: Character of Austerus.] "_Austerus_ possesses a fortune of three thousand pounds a-year, has an elegant house, and keeps a large retinue. "His lands yield abundant crops, and his flocks are heard bleating on the neighbouring hills. His tenants are pretty numerous, and his dependants many. "One would imagine," says Sir Filmer, "this man was destined by heaven, as a blessing to the part of the country in which he lives; that the families around him, would hail him as their liberal benefactor, and that his domestics would bless the hour in which they entered his spacious hall." [Sidenote: Lordly Oppression.] "However natural this conclusion, Sir," replied the host, "it is far from being well founded. Extremely passionate, he rages and storms; and even after the storm has subsided, his face bespeaks the anger which he can ill conceal. Sour and austere, haughty and overbearing, he is dreaded by his servants, and despised by all. His tenants, whose lands are rented to the full, barely subsist, and regret the moment they were so unfortunate as to tread the ground of hard oppression; one of which--poor man!--how often have I witnessed the tear drop from his eye, on the approach of quarter-day, when, with the spade in his hand, he ceased from toil, to awaken bitter reflections over the sad state of a destitute family. [Illustration] [Sidenote: Hard Treatment of the Poor.]