We are introduced to a gentleman of leisure, Nicodemus Easy, who lived in Hampshire with his wife in very comfortable circumstances. In one way, however, Mr Easy’s circumstances were not as ‘easy’ as his name deserves: he would have liked children, but as the story opens he has assumed this can never be, and fills his time with intellectual pursuits.

Mr Easy’s intellectual distractions from the disappointment of having no children take the form of discoursing on the rights of Man. It is a hobby which neither his neighbours nor his wife choose to share, but fortunately Mr and Mrs Easy are of an equable temperament, and domestic harmony is not disturbed.

112 words