"A backslider is one who has been climbing up a hill and suddenly begins to slip back."
"Doesn't his feet take hold right, or why does he slip?"
"Perhaps he can't manage his feet; perhaps they just won't climb."
"Yes, or p'raps he just doesn't want to climb any more; but it must be frightensome, sliding backwards."
"I suppose it is."
"Is it wicked?"
"Why, yes, it is, generally; perhaps always."
"Brother Nathan and Sister Hetty were backsliders; Sister Tabitha said so. She told Jane never to speak their names again any more than if they was dead."
"Then you had better not speak of them, either."
"There's so many things better not to speak of in the world, sometimes I think 'twould be nicer to be an angel."