I am bound to preach the gospel to every creature, for all men are my brothers. The ignorant black man is my brother. His skin, to be sure, may have a different hue from mine; bred for the market, he may be bought and sold like a cattle-beast; he may be marked with the brand, loaded with the fetters, lashed with the whip, crushed with the sufferings of a slave; but he is my brother, and if he lift his manacled hands and streaming eyes to that heaven where bondsmen are free, and, robed and throned, they stand before Him, and share in the glory of His Son, slave though he be, sold though he be, trodden in the dust though he be, he may be my awed brother. With the same God for our Father, the same Savior for our Elder Brother, the same Spirit for our heavenly Comforter, one cross for the anchor of our hope, one Bible for our guidebook, one heaven for our everlasting home, the gospel tells me to knock off my brother’s fetters—to loose them, and let them free.—GUTHRIE.
