“‘Oh no, ma’am; I shall be happy to listen to anything you have to say!’
“‘Well, I want to hear what you have to say. It interests me very much to know how you are planning it out. Do you intend to make the best of this life; and then—what then? Are you so pleased with it, as to feel satisfied that all shall end here?’
“‘Why, as to being pleased with it, I don’t think anybody who has lived five-and-twenty years in the world can be much pleased with it. I am sure it ain’t much to me. I’ve nobody, hardly, belonging to me, to care anything about me; and if it wasn’t for the liking I have for books, and that sort of thing, I should have nothing but my work to do, and to eat, and drink, and sleep: and I don’t call that worth living for; do you, ma’am?’
“‘No, indeed, I do not. I feel very sorry for you. I should so like to help you to be happier, if I only knew how; but, perhaps, if I told you what I think about it, you might call it “bosh” or “twaddle,” or something of that sort.’
“‘No, ma’am, I shouldn’t. You see, ma’am, it isn’t because I haven’t thought about these things, for I thought myself almost crazy once; and the people who, I expected, might have helped me were worse to me than anybody. My father was a mighty religious man in his way, and dreadful strict: we couldn’t hardly speak or look of a Sunday, but we got a thrashing for it. My brother and I have said often and often, that, as soon as we took to the world for ourselves, we’d have done with all that sort of thing; we had had enough of it. The masters I have worked for have made a great fuss, some of ’em, about their own religion; but they haven’t minded cheating us a bit when they could do it in a quiet way. And as to caring about our souls, they have never troubled themselves about that. And don’t you think, ma’am, that if they really thought we were going to burn in hell-fire for ever, if we went on a bad way, that they’d make some fuss about it, and try to stop us? I know, if I believed it, I wouldn’t do much besides try to prevent people going there; but you may depend upon it, ma’am, they don’t believe it; they keep it in store, like, as something to frighten poor ignorant people with.’
“‘But I want to know what you think; I am not just now concerning myself about these people.’
“‘Well, I have pretty well made up my mind, after all I have seen, just to take the world as it comes, and live on in the best way I can, and not trouble my head any more about it. I suppose, God has got it all planned out about us, and He’ll do what He likes with us.’
“‘That is quite true. God has planned it all out; but then He has made no secret of His plans. He has written a book to tell us how we stand towards Him, and how He stands towards us.’
“‘Ah! you mean the Bible. We used to be punished with having to learn chapters out of it, and we hated it; and I have never took up with it since. People talk about its being good news, and all that sort of thing; but I don’t believe there is any good news in it for me.’
“‘Supposing, when you first came here, I had written a letter to you, inviting you to come to my house whenever you liked to do so; telling you that I would have a nice room prepared for you, and, in every respect, would make you as comfortable as possible; and supposing that, instead of reading my invitation, and availing yourself of my kind offers, you had treated my letter with contempt, and refused even to open it, pleading as an excuse that a letter once proved disagreeable to you. If, after you left, I should hear that you spread an evil report about me, and accused me of unkindness, do you not think I could justly charge you with injustice?’