'To come back to our lesson,' he said,—'are not these commands to be taken au pied de la lettre?'
'They can hardly be the one exception among commands, I should think,'—with a little arch of her eyebrows.
'Then I am bound, am I not, to undo every heavy burden that I can reach? to loose every bond of wickedness, and to break every yoke, and to remove oppression, in so far as it lies with me to do it? Do you not think so?'
'Why, yes!' said Wych Hazel. 'Does anybody like oppression?'
'Does anybody practise it?'
'I do not know, Mr. Rollo. O yes, of course, in some parts of the world. But I mean here. Yes,—those people used to look as if something kept them down,—and I used to think Mr. Morton might help it, I remember.'
'You are not to suppose that oppression is liked for its own sake. That is rarely the case, even in this world. It is for the sake of what it will bring, like other wrong things. But a question more. Can I do all I can, without giving and using all I have for it?'
'That is self-evident.'
'Then it only remains, how to use what I have to the best advantage.'
'Well, even Mr. Falkirk admits you are a good business man,' said Hazel, laughing a little.