I dass'n
come hum tew see my wife die, nor tew bury on her. Ye confiscated my
house and tuk my crops fer yer derned army. Mos' folks ud sartingly
say ez I hed call tew hev hard feelin's agin' ye. But gosh, I hain't,
an wy hain't I? Gaze ye hev been yer own wust enemies; ye've hurt
yerselves more ner ye hev me, though ye didn't go fer ter dew it.
Pooty nigh all on ye, as fit agen the King, is beggars naow, or next
door tew it. Everybudy hez a kick fer a soldier. Ye'll fine em mosly
in the jails an the poorhaouses. Look at you fellers as wuz a huntin
me. Ther's Meshech on the floor, a drunken, worthless cuss. Thar ye
be, Abner, 'thout a shillin in the world, nor a foot o' lan', yer
dad's farm gone fer taxes. An thar be ye, Peleg. Wal Peleg, they dew
say, ez the neighbors sends ye in things."
Jabez looked from one to the other till he had sufficiently enjoyed
their discomfiture and then he continued:
"I ain't much better orf'n ye be, but I hain't got nothin ontew my
conscience. An wen I looks roun' an sees the oppresshin, and the
poverty of the people, and how they have none tew help, an the jails
so full, an the taxes, an the plague o' lawyers, an the voice o' cryin
as is goin up from the land, an all the consekences o' the war, I tell
ye, it's considabul satisfacshin to feel ez I kin wash my hans on't.
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