In nearly all our churches father had to meet this prejudice,
but he remained firm in his position, that in church and Sunday-school
there should be neither white nor black, but all should have equal
rights.
In the spring of 1869 father sold his timber land in Missouri, and
paid the last of his debts. He had some money left, and the first
thing he did was to go into a book store, and spend forty dollars for
"Barnes' Notes," and "Motley's United Netherlands," and "History of
the Dutch Republic." He remarked as he did so, "I have felt the need
of these books for years, and this is the first money I could spare
for them."
Men who had seen father working with tireless energy on his farm, or
the plains, or "logging" in the timber, sometimes said: "He is craving
to get rich."
He has often been misunderstood, but in no point more than this. I
never knew a man who cared less for wealth than he. The one
all-absorbing object of his life was to preach the gospel. But he had
also resolved to have the means to pay his debts, and to have a home
for his family.
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