Explanation: Whenever the widow was cruel, the foxes were sure to pay for it.

Answer: This sentence has been extracted from the famous essay “Labour and Exercise” which is written by Joseph Addison who is noted for the humor used in his essays. Here Sir Roger de coverley’s passion for fox hunting and the eccentricity of his character have been brought out. The typical Addisonian humor is obviously expressed through this statement.

In the autobiographical essay “Labour and Exercise”, Addison throws further light on the character of the old knight, Sir Roger. Here he shows his genius and versatility. He tells us that Sir Roger keeps himself fit with the exercise involved in hunting. Sir Roger used to hunt foxes with great fury in his youth. it was mainly because of his disappointment in love. He had fallen in love with a beautiful widow. But the widow showed her cruelty towards him. She did not respond to his love. Whenever she had freshly disappointed him, he used to take out his disappointment and anger upon the foxes. Sir Roger could do nothing to the widow whom he called “perverse”. But he expressed his fury on the poor foxes. He killed a large number of them when the widow denied love.

The essayist has subtly painted the whim of Sir Roger de Coverly. He also represents himself as a pure humourist through this sentence.