Shoxford people had shown himself true and faithful. Not that the
natives had turned against us, or been at all unfriendly; so far from
this was the case, that every one felt for our troubles, and pitied us,
my father being of a cheerful and affable turn, until misery hardened
him; but what I mean is that only one or two had the courage to go
against the popular conclusion and the convictions of authority.

But Jacob was a very upright man, and had a strong liking for his
master, who many and many a time--as he told me--had taken a spade and
dug along with him, just as if he were a jobbing gardener born, instead
of a fine young nobleman; "and nobody gifted with that turn of mind,
likewise very clever in white-spine cowcumbers, could ever be relied
upon to go and shoot his father." Thus reasoned old Jacob, and he always
had done so, and meant evermore to abide by it; and the graves which
he had tended now for nigh a score of years, and meant to tend till
he called for his own, were--as sure as he stood there in Shoxford
church-yard a-talking to me, who was the very image of my father, God
bless me, though not of course so big like--the graves of slaughtered
innocents, and a mother who was always an angel. And the parson might
preach forever to him about the resurrection, and the right coming
uppermost when you got to heaven, but to his mind that was scarcely any
count at all; and if you came to that, we ought to hang Jack Ketch, as
might come to pass in the Revelations. But while a man had got his own
bread to earn, till his honor would let him go to the work-house, and
his duty to the rate-payers, there was nothing that vexed him more than
to be told any texts of Holy Scripture. Whatever God Almighty had put
down there was meant for ancient people, the Jews being long the most
ancient people, though none the more for that did he like them; and
so it was mainly the ancient folk, who could not do a day's work worth
eighteenpence, that could enter into Bible promises. Not that he was at
all behindhand about interpretation; but as long as he could fetch and
earn, at planting box and doing borders, two shillings and ninepence a
day and his beer, he was not going to be on for kingdom come.

I told him that I scarcely thought his view of our condition here would
be approved by wise men who had found time to study the subject. But he
answered that whatever their words might be, their doings showed that
they knew what was the f