“Will not God save them all?”
“Why, no.”
“Then you are better than God, are you?”
“Why, master, who ever heard of God saving all men? Now, I think of it, a man is to preach in Gentryville to-night, who preaches that very doctrine, and I am bound to hear him.”
“What do the people say about him?”
“They say he is a bad man, and I believe he is, or he would not preach such a doctrine.”
Here the negro left me to go to his home, and I saw him at the window of the school-house that evening, the picture of astonishment. Met him in the street the next day, and he said, “Master, forgive me for what I said yesterday.”
Lectured in Weston, and became acquainted with Thomas Abbott, who was residing and preaching in that place. He subsequently moved to St. Louis, and for several years past has resided in Mt. Vernon, Ind. He obeys the injunction, “Go and preach.” He does go, far and near; he labors in season and out of season, in his Master’s service. He has also become a noted debater, and has had great success in preaching and debating.
On the other side of the Missouri was Kansas Territory, inhabited then only by Indians, but now is a populous state, with several large cities. While I was in Lexington on this journey, or at a subsequent time, two negroes were hung for murdering their owner. He had whipped them unmercifully, and they killed him for it. They rode from the prison to the gallows, through the principal streets of town, in a wagon, on their coffins; white hoods were on their heads, white frocks were thrown over their shoulders, and large ropes were around their necks. On the road to the gallows, the poor creatures sang as loud as they could scream,
“I am bound for the kingdom;