ar winter never gladdened by a sun. The true
poet is not one whit to be pitied, and he is apt to laugh in his sleeve
when any misguided sympathizer whines over his wrongs. Even when
utilitarians sit in judgment on him, and pronounce him and his art
useless, he hears the sentence with such a hard derision, such a broad,
deep, comprehensive, and merciless contempt of the unhappy Pharisees who
pronounce it, that he is rather to be chidden than condoled with. These,
however, are not Mr. Yorke's reflections, and it is with Mr. Yorke we
have at present to do.

I have told you some of his faults, reader: as to his good points, he
was one of the most honourable and capable men in Yorkshire; even those
who disliked him were forced to respect him. He was much beloved by the
poor, because he was thoroughly kind and very fatherly to them. To his
workmen he was considerate and cordial. When he dismissed them from an
occupation, he would try to set them on to something else, or, if that
was impossible, help them to remove with their families to a district
where work might possibly be had. It must also be remarked that if, as
sometimes chanced, any individual amongst his "hands" showed signs of
insubordination, Yorke--who, like many who abhor being controlled, knew
how to control with vigour--had the secret of crushing rebellion in the
germ, of eradicating it like a bad weed, so that it never spread or
developed within the sphere of his authority. Such being the happy state
of his own affairs, he felt himself at liberty to speak with the utmost
severity of those who were differently situated, to ascribe whatever was
unpleasant in their position entirely to their own fault, to sever
himself from the masters, and advocate freely the cause of the
operatives.

Mr. Yorke's family was the first and oldest in the district; and he,
though not the wealthiest, was one of the most influential men. His
education had been good. In his youth, before the French Revolution, he
had travelled on the Continent. He was an adept in the French and
Italian languages. During a two years' sojourn in Italy he had collected
many good paintings and tasteful rarities, with which his residence was
now adorned. His manners, when he liked, were those of a finished
gentleman of the old school; his conversation, when he was disposed to
please, was singularly interesting and original; and if he usually
expressed himself in the Yorkshire dialect, it was because he chos