WELCOME
TO
THE RANSOMED;

OR,

DUTIES

OF THE

COLORED INHABITANTS

OF THE

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

BALTIMORE:

PRINTED BY BULL & TUTTLE, CLIPPER OFFICE.

1862.

GEORGETOWN, D. C., April 14, 1862.

Reverend Bishop Payne,

Dear Sir—We, the undersigned, having listened carefully to your Sermon, preached at the A. M. E. Ebenezer Church, on Sabbath last, April 13th, a day set apart by the Colored Churches in Georgetown and Washington as a day of Thanksgiving and Prayer, in view of Emancipation in the District, and being deeply impressed by its appropriateness, its wisdom, and valuable practical advice; and believing that such a sermon should be within the reach of all the colored people of this District and the United States; we therefore solicit you to allow us to print the same in pamphlet form.

JAMES LYNCH, Preacher in Charge.
PLATO LEE,
JOHN F. LEE,
H. BATSON,
CLEMENT BECKETT,
WILSON HAWKINS.

WASHINGTON, D. C., April 18, 1862.

Dear Brethren:

Yours of the 14th instant has been received. In compliance with the request which it contains, I send you herewith a copy of the discourse preached last Sunday in the Ebenezer Chapel, Georgetown, D. C. It is identically the same in all its parts. I have amplified some of its thoughts, and added three or four notes, which I think valuable and useful.

That its teachings may be productive of good to those for whom it was prepared, and bring glory to Him, who is High over all and blessed for ever, is the fervent prayer of

Your humble servant,

DANIEL A. PAYNE.

To Rev. James Lynch and others.

[5]

WELCOME TO THE RANSOMED,

—OR,—

Duties of the Colored Inhabitants of the District of Columbia.

I. Tim. 2, 1–4.

St. Paul addressed the Epistles to Timothy, the young Bishop of Ephesus, for the purpose of giving him instructions touching the false doctrines inculcated by certain false teachers, as well as instructions respecting the qualifications of the Christian ministry, their duties to themselves, to God, and the flock committed by the Holy Spirit to their special guidance.

But foremost of all the duties which he enjoined upon the Ephesian ministry and laity were those of making “Supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks for all men.” For men in general, embracing the whole family of Adam, in all their varieties as nations, tribes, communities, peoples.

This is God-like, because the Eternal loves all, and manifests the infinity of his nature, by his universal care for all mankind. In this, He also demonstrates His universal Fatherhood, and thereby establishes the brotherhood of man.

But guided by the benevolence of unerring wisdom, the Apostle descends from a general to a particular statement of the case, and commands us to single out from among the nations of the earth their chieftains—Kings and authorities—for whom we are to make special “Supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks.”

To the cheerful and fervent performance of this gracious work, he presses several motives upon us—“that we may live[6] a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty”—because “it is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour”—because God “will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” Let us briefly trace out this line of thought.

To supplicate, is to implore God submissively. To pray to God, is to adore Him for His glorious perfection, to confess our sins to Him, and to beseech Him for mercy and pardon. To intercede with God is to entreat Him by the fervent, effectual prayer of faith, to be reconciled to offending man. This we may do as well for our enemies as for our friends.

We are gathered to celebrate the emancipation, yea, rather, the Redemption of the enslaved people of the District of Columbia, the exact number of whom we have no means of ascertaining, because, since the benevolent intention of Congress became manifest, many have been removed by their owners beyond the reach of this beneficent act.

Our pleasing task then, is to welcome to the Churches, the homesteads, and circles of free colored Americans, those who remain to enjoy the boon of holy Freedom.

Brethren, sisters, friends, we say welcome to our Churches, welcome to our homesteads, welcome to our social circles.

Enter the great family of Holy Freedom; not to lounge in sinful indolence, not to degrade yourselves by vice, nor to corrupt society by licentiousness, neither to offend the laws by crime, but to the enjoyment of a well regulated liberty, the offspring of generous laws; of law as just as generous, as righteous as just—a liberty to be perpetuated by equitable law, and sanctioned by the divine; for law is never equitable, righteous, just, until it harmonizes with the will of Him, who is “King of kings, and Lord of lords,” and who commanded Israel to have but one law for the home-born and the stranger.

We repeat ourselves, welcome then ye ransomed ones; welcome not to indolence, to vice, licentiousness, and crime, but to a well-regulated liberty, sanctioned by the Divine, maintained by the Human law.

Welcome to habits of industry and thrift—to duties of religion and piety—to obligations of law, order, government—of government divine, of government human: these two, though[7] not one, are inseparable. The man who refuses to obey divine law, will never obey human laws. The divine first, the human next. The latter is the consequence of the former, and follows it as light does the rising sun.

We invite you to our Churches, because we desire you to be religious; to be more than religious; we urge you to be godly. We entreat you to never be content until you are emancipated from sin, from sin without, and from sin within you. But this kind of freedom is attained only through the faith of Jesus, love for Jesus, obedience to Jesus. As certain as the American Congress has ransomed you, so certain, yea, more certainly has Jesus redeemed you from the guilt and power of sin by his own precious blood.

As you are now free in body, so now seek to be free in soul and spirit, from sin and Satan. The noblest freeman is he whom Christ makes free.

We invite you to our homesteads, in order that we may aid you as well by the power of good examples as by the beauty of holy precept, in raising up intelligent, virtuous, pious, happy families. We invite you to our social circles, in order that you may have none of those inducements which grow out of a mere love of society, to frequent the gambling hells, and groggeries, which gradually lead their votaries to infamy and the pit that is bottomless.

Permit us, also, to advise you to seek every opportunity for the cultivation of your minds. To the adults we say, enter the Sunday Schools and the Night Schools, so opportunely opened by Dr. Pierson, in behalf of the American Tract Society. In these latter you can very soon learn to read the precious word of God, even before you shall have a familiar knowledge of the letters which constitute the alphabet.

Rest not till you have learned to read the Bible. ’Tis the greatest, the best of books. In it is contained the Divine law. O! meditate therein by day and by night, for “the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;—more to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and[8] the honeycomb.” “In keeping of them there is great reward.” Yield uniform, implicit obedience to their teachings. They will purify your hearts and make them the abodes of the Ever-Blessed Trinity.

When you shall have reached this point, you will be morally prepared to recognize and respond to all the relations of civilized and christianized life.

But of the children take special care. Heaven has entrusted them to you for a special purpose. What is that purpose? Not merely to eat and to drink, still less to gormandize. Not merely to dress finely in broadcloths, silks, satins, jewelry, nor to dance to the sound of the tambourine and fiddle; but to learn them how to live and how to die—to train them for great usefulness on earth—to prepare them for greater glory in heaven.

Keep your children in the schools, even if you have to eat less, drink less and wear coarser raiments; though you eat but two meals a day, purchase but one change of garment during the year, and relinquish all the luxuries of which we are so fond, but which are as injurious to health and long life as they are pleasing to the taste.

Let the education of your children penetrate the heart.—That education which forgets, or purposely omits, the culture of the heart, is better adapted to devilism than manhood. But the education which reaches the heart, moulds it, humbles it before the Cross, is rather the work of the homestead than the common school or the college. It is given by the parents rather than the schoolmaster—by the mother rather than the father.

How important, then, that the mothers be right-minded; that our young women, of whom our mothers come, be brought up with a high sense of personal character—be taught to prefer virtue to gold, and death itself rather than a violated chastity. The women make the men; therefore the women should be greater than the men, in order that they be the mothers of great men. I mean good men, for none are great who are not good.

But this requires the transforming grace of God; requires that our mothers be women of strong faith and fervent daily prayers; requires that they live beneath the wings of the Cherubim—at[9] the foot of the Cross—loving the God-man “whose favor is life, and whose loving kindness is better than life.”

Such mothers will care for the heart education of their children, and will consequently lay continuous siege to the Throne of God in behalf of their sons and daughters, even as the Syrophœnician mother importuned the compassionate Jesus in behalf of her afflicted daughter, or as Queen Esther did Ahasuerus in behalf of her menaced kinsmen.

Such mothers will carefully train their children, as Moses was trained by his mother, preserving him pure from the vices of a Court and the baneful examples of lordly superiors: or, like Susanna Wesley, will educate their sons, as she did John and Charles, in the atmosphere of such spiritual excellence, and with such a moral power, as will make them ministering angels of good to man and glory to God Most High.

Lastly—Let us advise you respecting money. Some people value it too much, others too little. Of these extremes take the medium; for money has its proper value. That value lies in its adaptedness to promote the ends of Christian enlightenment; to purchase the best medical aid and other comforts in the days of affliction; to administer to the wants of old age, and to enable us to assist in making mankind wiser and better.

But how are we to get money? Get it by diligent labor. Work, work, work! Shun no work that will bring you an honest penny. ’Tis honorable to labor with our own hands. God works, and shall man be greater than God? Fools only think labor dishonorable. Wise men feel themselves honored in following the example of God, whose works adorn and bless both heaven and earth.

But when you get the pennies save them. Then you will soon have dollars. The dollars will enable you to buy comfortable homes for yourselves and your children.

You can save your pennies—yea, dollars—if you will run away from whiskey, rum and tobacco. A few years ago an intelligent minister said that the colored people of the District of Columbia spent ten thousand dollars a year for tobacco.—What a sum for poison! Better take that money to build churches and school houses; better take it to obtain and pay[10] thoroughly educated teachers for your pulpits and your school houses—the schoolmasters as well as the preachers.

Work for money; work every day, work diligently, and save your money when you get it.

Be obliging and faithful to your employers, and you will be sure to keep your places. Never be above your business.—Many a man has ruined himself and his family by this foolish pride.

Ever since the first stone in the foundations of the Universe was laid by God’s own hand till now, he has been working, and will continue working through endless ages. Follow his glorious example. Work, work, work, for an honest penny; but when you get it, pause and think three times before you spend it; but when you spend it, be sure it will yield a permanent benefit.

That the hearty welcome which we have given you, our ransomed kinsmen, may be rendered a blessing, and that the advices which we have tendered may be as good seed sown in good ground, we shall continue to make supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings to Him whose care reaches all, because His love embraces all.

To Him we commend you, O ye who are now as sheep without a shepherd—as exiles in the land of your nativity.

May He who led Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as they wandered over Canaan and Egypt, guide, protect and bless you; raise up kind, influential friends to do you good; and when the purposes of his grace shall have been accomplished in you, may you be able, like Jacob, to say: “With my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands.”

Now, if we ask, who has sent us this great deliverance? The answer shall be, the Lord; the Lord God Almighty, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.

But as He blessed the chosen seed, by the ministry of men and angels, so in our case, the angels of mercy, justice and liberty, hovering over the towering Capitol, inspired the heads and hearts of the noble men who have plead the cause of the poor, the needy and enslaved, in the Senate and House of Representatives.

[11]

For the oppressed and enslaved of all peoples, God has raised up, and will continue to raise up, his Moses and Aaron. Sometimes the hand of the Lord is so signally displayed that Moses and Aaron are not recognized. Seldom do they recognize themselves.

There was neither bow, spear, nor shield, in the hand of Israel, when the Lord led him forth from Egypt, so also, there was no weapon of offence nor defence in your hands when this ransom was brought you.

“Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty, just and true are thy ways, thou King of Saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? We praise thee, we bless thee, we worship thee, we glorify thee, we give thanks to thee for thy great glory. O Lord God, Heavenly King, God the Father Almighty.”

Thou, O Lord, and thou alone couldst have moved the heart of this Nation to have done so great a deed for this weak, despised and needy people!

We will, therefore, make supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings, for “All that are in authority.”

The duty of supplications in behalf of the Government is rendered more binding upon us, when we consider the circumstances under which it was written. St. Paul lived under the reign of Nero, the bloody emperor, who having set Rome on fire, amused himself with drinking and music while the city was in flames; and afterwards, accused the Christians of the crime which he himself had committed, thereby causing many of them to be put to death in the most cruel manner.

Now, if it was the duty of the ancient Christians to pray for such monsters of wickedness, by how much more is it our duty to pray for a Christian Government.

Congress need our supplications, they shall have them. The President and his Cabinet need our prayers, they shall possess them. The Supreme Court, that awful emblem of impartial justice, need our intercessions, it shall not be forgotten.

Upon all these departments of law, authority and power, we shall beseech the God of Nations to send the spirit of wisdom, justice, liberty—of wisdom seeing the end from the beginning—of justice incorruptible—of liberty governed by righteous law.

[12]

To make supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving for these authorities, is the peculiar privilege of the Colored People in the United States.

They are not permitted, as in the days of the Revolution and the war of 1812, to take up arms in defence of the Government. Some, both among Anglo-Saxons and Anglo-Africans, complain of this prohibition. For my part, I am glad of it, because I think I see the hand of God in it.

The present war is a kind of family quarrel. Therefore, let a stranger take heed how he meddles, lest both parties unite to drive him out of the house. “Why shouldst thou meddle to thy hurt?”

But we can wield a power in behalf of the Government which neither rifled cannon, nor mortar, nor rocket-battery can assail, nor bomb-proof walls resist.

That power is the right arm of God—of God, who lifts up and casts down nations according as they obey, or disregard the principles of truth, justice, liberty.

The service of prayer which is required from us, contemplates the most difficult as well as the noblest objects. It contemplates the end of the war. It contemplates legislation before and after the end.

Now, to manage this war, so as to bring permanent good to all concerned, requires more than human wisdom—more than human power. To legislate so as to make the masses see and feel that the laws are just, wise, beneficial, demand more than human learning or skill in government. To determine the sense and just application of these laws as Judges—to execute them faithfully and impartially as a Chief Magistrate, O how much of the spirit of God is needful! How much in the President! how much in his Cabinet!

Then there is the army. Let us not forget the brave men who constitute it—who have left their comfortable homes, beloved families, fond parents, affectionate sisters and brothers, for the hardships, dangers and painful deaths of the battle field.

Let us pray that, as some of them are, so all may become, soldiers of the Cross; so that such as are doomed to fall in the fight, may rise from their gory beds to obtain a crown of life;[13] and those who may return to the peaceful pursuits of civil life, may be wiser and better men.

Now, then, although weak, few, despised and persecuted, we can aid all these departments of government by our daily supplications, prayers and intercessions.

In doing this service, we can accomplish what we could not if we were leading the van of battle; for conquering armies are preceded and succeeded by anguish, misery and death, but our service brings down nothing but blessings upon all.

They are also weapons, “not carnal, but mighty through God, to the pulling down of strongholds;” even the casting down of principalities and powers—the moving of heaven and earth.

Take two examples: When Israel fought against the five kings of the Amorites, Joshua prayed and the sun stood still upon Gibeon, while the moon hung over the valley of Ajalon, till Israel had conquered.

“John Knox was a man famous for his power in prayer, so that Queen Mary used to say she feared his prayers more than all the armies of Europe. And events showed she had reason to do it. He used to be in such an agony for the deliverance of his country that he could not sleep. He had a place in his garden, where he used to go to pray. One night he and several friends were praying together, and as they prayed Knox spoke and said that deliverance had come. He could not tell what had happened, but he felt that something had taken place, for God had heard their prayers. What was it? Why the next news they heard was: ‘Queen Mary is dead!’”

But the motives for all this work of mercy, faith, and love as furnished by the text are as weighty as they are numerous.

1st. “That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life.” Peace and quietude are some of the conditions of happiness. Dr. Adam Bluche says: “If the State be not in safety, the individual cannot be secure; self preservation, therefore, should lead men to pray for the government under which they live. Rebellions and insurrections seldom terminate even in political good—and even where the government is radically bad, revolutions[14] are most precarious and hazardous. They who wish such commotions would not be quiet under the most mild and benevolent government.” This is true of communities and nations, as well as of individuals. We all desire it, and therefore it is our duty to labor for it by every instrument which Infinite wisdom has ordained and man can employ. And lo! how excellent the instruments! Prayers, supplications, intercessions—thanksgiving. As Aaron approached the Mercy Seat, with the smoking censor, and was accepted, so do we approach the throne of the Eternal with the burning incense of heaven’s own making, and will be accepted. O, let us supplicate God for the peace and quietude of the whole nation!

2d. The other motive which Inspiration presents is, that we may live “in all godliness and honesty.” Godliness first, honesty afterwards. The latter is the fruit of the former. The godly man, is he who fears God and keeps his commandments. Such a man will be honest in words as well as in deeds; in matters of truth as well as in matters of property. Honesty is the only policy of godliness. Colored men, write this sentiment upon your hearts, engrave it in your memory. Let all your thoughts, words, actions, be controlled by this principle, it is always safe to be honest, as it is always safe to be godly. One has said, that “An honest man is the noblest work of God.” But whence comes the honest man? Does he not spring out of the godly? Most assuredly. For no man is truly honest, uniformly honest, and universally honest, but he who is godly. Therefore be godly, and you will be honest in all things, at all times, in all places.

3d. The third motive for this heavenly duty, this intercession in behalf of the Government is, that “It is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour.” Whatever God accepts and pronounces good, must be good: good in itself; good in its effects, always good; good for man, because ordained of God.

4th. The last motive we present for this godlike work is, that God “Will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”

[15]

Hence, we must pray for these Authorities not as public men only, but as private individuals also,—not as Chieftains of the Nation only, but as heads of families also,—as husbands, fathers, Christians. So that, while they think, write, speak, act for the public weal, their own souls may be brought under the saving power of the Gospel, and with all the members of their respective families be made the heirs of the grace of life.

O, that God may bring them all to the knowledge of the truth as it is in Christ Jesus! O, that every one of these Authorities may become a holy, wise, and just man! Then will the laws be enacted in righteousness and executed in the fear of the Lord.

These motives are enforced upon our considerations by the glorious example of the Lord Jesus Christ,[A] who is the Mediator between God and Man, who ever liveth to make intercession for his foes as well as his friends, and with whom there is no respect of persons. Black men, red men, white men, are all alike before Him, and rise or fall, live or die as they please or offend Him.

To make prayers, intercessions, supplications, thanksgivings for national authorities you now clearly see is a command from heaven. Obey it, and you shall be blessed—always do it, and you shall be made a blessing to others. Whom God has blessed no man can curse. If God has blessed this nation, neither internal foes, nor foreign enemies can crush it.

But God will bless it if it will do right, administering justice to each and to all, protecting the weak as well as the strong, and throwing the broad wings of its power equally over men of every color. This is God-like, and God will bless[16] his own image, be it in a nation or in a man. Then, O my country, “shall thy light break forth as the morning—thy health shall spring forth speedily—thy righteousness shall go before thee,” and “the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward.”

Then shall justice be engraven on our arms, and righteousness on our star-spangled banners; our armies shall then be led to battle by the Lord, and victory secured by the right arm of our God.