Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1859-03-26
WHO ARE Ely NEIGHBORs3n

Your slaves if you own any and If not then
the slaves OF other men. Like the man in the par
abie' they have fallen among thieves, and if YOU
would obey the injunction to love your neigbbor az
yourself, you must act towards these poor. wound.
cd, suffering outcasts the part of the Good Sauna,
ritan.
We do not pretend to decide whether q man who
holds slaves, or n man who countenance. slave.
holding, can be a Chris ian or not, as the world
understands Tie term but we feel quite sure that
a man who sees q brother man or q sister woman
IN slavery aud passes by on the other side, and
does nothing for their relief from oppression, can.
not be said to obey the second great command Of
the Christian Law.giver, and according to his au.
thority, cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. This
may sound like a harsh Judgment; but it is not
ours 1t is tho sentence of the Christian law as ex,
pounded by its Divine author.
The man who had been set upon by thieves.
wounded, robbed Of all be had, and left for dead.
was literally, and in the highest sonse, neighbor
to all who became aware of hi, condition. and had
it in their power to lend him assistance. So the
slaves in the country who have been seized by a
stronger than they, who are robbed of all their
earnings, ~despoilsd of their manhood, and made
merchandise Of like the beasts of the field, are. in
the highest possible sense, neighbors to all who
have a vote or can do aught to relieve them and
deliver them, or any of them, from this cruel ant
unnatural bondage.
Are these poor, ignorant and degraded, enslaved
blacks and mulattoes, my neighbors? Yes. truly
for so readeth the Christian law. The poorer. the
more ignorant and the more degraded n man was
the nearer was he to the great human heart of Hin
who came to seek and save that which was lost
That every other man should so feel and act, he
taught by precept, and enforced by his example in
his daily life, and in the final and triumphant con,
summation Of his mission on earth.
The rich, the intelligent, the wise--those whom
we esteem our equals or superiors in society, arc
not, according to Christ's rule, entitled to the frs,
consideration as our neigbbors. The men of the
world love the great, the rich, the intellectual, the
talented, the prosperous, and respectable bu,
pass by with shrinking and loathing, if not with
scorn and contempt, those upon whom society has
set the badge of inferiority, servitrde and degra
dation. If men wearing the Christian name, acI
in the same manner, how much better are they
than other men or what sympathy have they with
Christ whose course of life was so antugonistic to
theirs
All! how different were the teaching and con,
duct of Christ from the maxims and behavior Of
many who profess to p~rOphesy in his name at this
day! With him, a mans inferiority, his weakness
physical, mental or moral, was the great reason
for loving him and seeking to elevate him with
them, it is shamelessly put forth as tho pretext 70,
sinking him still lower in humanity's scale, fol
enslaving him, and reducing him to the loves,
depth to which a human being can be degraded
by. Free South.