acting Christians, and remained so as long as I knew them.

From this time down to the present writing I have been a zealous worker
in the Lord's vineyard, and shall remain in the harness as long as God
wills.

Regarding doctrinal points of theology I knew nothing, and my whole
stock of theological works could have been carried in a vest pocket, in
the shape of one or two tracts which fell in my way, and which I read,
studied, and preserved. I had a Bible, and that alone served me as the
guide in my ministry, and furnished me with all the arguments necessary
to the conversion of sinners and their redemption.

Our congregation at Mr. Dansley's was not organized into a church, and I
did not attempt to receive members into the church of Christ. I doubted
my authority to do so, and any efforts on my part in that direction
would have been immediately stopped by the preachers and members of the
white churches. But this did not deter me from preaching and exhorting.
I believed firmly that God required of me the labor I performed, and I
was so much interested and taken up in my work that I did not stop to
consider what the consequences would be to myself. My only consideration
was, "Where can I find an opportunity to do good and save souls." I
asked no pay for my services as a preacher, and never received any;
hence I usually found congregations awaiting me at my appointments made
up of all classes, white and black, and from all churches organized in
the community. My discourses were sometimes off-hand and sometimes
studied. It is true my studied discourses were, in the main, original,
and taken wholly from the Bible, yet they were none the less effective,
because they were earnest and honest. My language was that of the
southern blacks and uneducated whites at the beginning of my labors as