He said, "Yes, sir, that is my name." Then he asked, "What do you want?"
"Well," I said, "I should like to ask you a question, if you won't be angry."
"Well, what is it?"
"I am told that God has blessed you above all men in this part of the country; that he has given you wealth, a beautiful Christian wife, and seven lovely children. I do not know whether it is true, but I hear that all he gets in return is cursing and blasphemy."
He said, "Come in, come in." I went in. "Now," he said, "what you said out there is true. If any man has a fine wife, I am the man, and I have a lovely family of children, and God has been good to me. But, do you know, we had company here the other night, and I cursed my wife at the table, and did not know it till after the company was gone. I never felt so mean and contemptible in my life as when my wife told me of it. She said she wanted the floor to open and let her down out of her seat. If I have tried once, I have tried a hundred times to stop swearing. You preachers don't know anything about it."
"Yes," I said, "I know all about it; I have been a traveler."
"But," he said, "you don't know anything about a business man's troubles.
When he is harassed and tormented the whole time, he can't help swearing."
"O, yes," I said, "he can. I know something about it. I myself used to swear."
"What! you used to swear?" he asked. "How did you stop?"
"I never stopped."