H2 THE EULOGY OF RICHARD JEFFERIES. 



estate took the place of a labourer, and so 

 reduced the money expenditure. The daughters 

 worked in the dairy, and did not hesitate to 

 milk occasionally, or, at least, to labour in the 

 hay-field. They spun, too, the home-made 

 stuffs in which all the family were clothed. 

 A man's children were his servants. They 

 could not stir a step without his permission. 

 Obedience and reverence to the parent was the 

 first and greatest of all virtues. Its influence 

 was to extend through life, and through the 

 whole social system. They were to choose 

 the wife or the husband approved of at home. 

 At thirty, perhaps, the more fortunate of the 

 sons were placed on farms of their own nomi- 

 nally, but still really under the father's control. 

 They dared not plough or sow except in the 

 way that he approved. Their expenditure 

 was strictly regulated by his orders. This 

 lasted till his death, which might not take 

 place for another twenty years. At the 

 present moment I could point out ten or 

 twelve such cases, where men of thirty or 

 forty are in farms, and to all appearance per- 

 fectly free and independent, and yet as com- 



