I have seen a
most respectable body of tenants, with their rent in their hands, stand
with cowed and timid looks in the agent's office; they kept at as great
a distance from him as space would allow; they were afraid to tender the
rent, and yet they feared to hang back too long, as either course might
bring down the ire of the great man upon them. His looks, his gestures,
the few words he condescended to utter--even his manner of counting bank
notes, which he thumped and turned over with a sort of insolent
contempt,--all went to prove that those fears were not ill-founded. The
scene forcibly reminded me of a group of children in the Zoological
gardens, before the cage of one of the fiercer animals; they view him
with awe, and, on account of his size and spots, with a certain
admiration, but they are afraid of their lives to approach him. It is
usual for a resident landlord to have an agent too, but he is subject to
the personal observation, and under the immediate control of the
landlord, who can be easily appealed to, if a misunderstanding should
arise between him and any tenant. It is always a great satisfaction to
the weaker party to have an opportunity of going, as they say, to the
"fountain-head.
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