Sentence:  I was reminded of the <WSD>dour</WSD> priests and salesmen of the nineteenth century who believed that the plebs wouldn't be able to handle getting the vote, or a decent wage, or, least of all, leisure, and who backed the seventy-hour workweek as an efficacious instrument in the fight against liquor. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Stern, harsh and forbidding.