But they never see him; does it ever occur to them to fancy what it is like under the awkward and complimentary phrases of their agent?
Moreover, do they know what hunger is?
Who amongst them has had any rural experiences?
And how could they picture to themselves the misery of this forlorn being?
They are too remote from him to that, too ignorant of his mode of life.

The portrait they conceive of him is imaginary; never was there a falser representation of the peasant; accordingly the awakening is to be terrible.

They view him as the amiable swain, gentle, humble and grateful, simple-hearted and right-minded, easily led, being conceived according to Rousseau and the idylls performed at this very epoch in all private drawing rooms.[1341] Lacking a knowledge him they overlook him; they read the steward's letter and immediately the whirl of high life again seizes them and, after a sigh bestowed on the distress of the poor, they make up their minds that their income for the year will be short.

A disposition of this kind is not favorable to charity.
Accordingly, complaints arise, not against the residents but against the absentees.[1342] "The possessions of the Church, says a letter, serve only to nourish the passions of their holders." "According to the canons, says another memorandum, every beneficiary must give a quarter of his income to the poor; nevertheless in our parish there is a revenue of more than twelve thousand livres, and none of it is given to the poor unless it is some small matter at the hands of the curate." "The abbe de Conches gets one-half of the tithes and contributes nothing to the relief of the parish." Elsewhere, "the chapter of Ecouis, which owns the benefice of the tithes is of no advantage to the poor, and only seeks to augment its income." Nearby, the abbe of Croix-Leufroy, "a heavy tithe-owner, and the abbe de Bernay, who gets fifty-seven thousand livres from his benefice, and who is a non-resident, keep all and scarcely give enough to their officiating curates to keep them alive." "I have in my parish, says a curate of Berry,[1343] six simple benefices of which the titularies are always absent.

They enjoy together an income of nine thousand livres; I sent them in writing the most urgent entreaties during the calamity of the past year; I received from one them two louis only, and most of them did not even answer me." Stronger is the reason for a conviction that in ordinary times they will make no remission of their dues.