{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_69453/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_69453","id":"gutenberg_69453","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69453","summary":null,"tags":["African Americans -- Washington (D.C.)","Bible. Timothy, 1st, II, 1-4 -- Sermons","Category: History - American","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Freed persons -- Washington (D.C.)","Sermons, American -- 19th century","Slavery -- Washington (D.C.)","United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Religious aspects","Washington (D.C.) -- Race relations"],"text":"WELCOME\n                                  TO\n                             THE RANSOMED;\n                                  OR,\n                                DUTIES\n                                OF THE\n                          COLORED INHABITANTS\n                                OF THE\n                         DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.\n\n\n                              BALTIMORE:\n               PRINTED BY BULL & TUTTLE, CLIPPER OFFICE.\n\n                                 1862.\n\n\n\n\n                                  GEORGETOWN, D. C., April 14, 1862.\n\nREVEREND BISHOP PAYNE,\n\n_Dear Sir_\u2015\u2015We, the undersigned, having listened carefully to your\nSermon, preached at the A. M. E. Ebenezer Church, on Sabbath last,\nApril 13th, a day set apart by the Colored Churches in Georgetown and\nWashington as a day of Thanksgiving and Prayer, in view of Emancipation\nin the District, and being deeply impressed by its appropriateness, its\nwisdom, and valuable practical advice; and believing that such a sermon\nshould be within the reach of all the colored people of this District\nand the United States; we therefore solicit you to allow us to print\nthe same in pamphlet form.\n\n                              JAMES LYNCH, _Preacher in Charge_.\n                              PLATO LEE,\n                              JOHN F. LEE,\n                              H. BATSON,\n                              CLEMENT BECKETT,\n                              WILSON HAWKINS.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n                                  WASHINGTON, D. C., April 18, 1862.\n\nDEAR BRETHREN:\n\nYours of the 14th instant has been received. In compliance with the\nrequest which it contains, I send you herewith a copy of the discourse\npreached last Sunday in the Ebenezer Chapel, Georgetown, D. C. It is\nidentically the same in all its parts. I have amplified some of its\nthoughts, and added three or four notes, which I think valuable and\nuseful.\n\nThat its teachings may be productive of good to those for whom it was\nprepared, and bring glory to Him, who is High over all and blessed for\never, is the fervent prayer of\n\n                         Your humble servant,\n                                                    DANIEL A. PAYNE.\n\n_To_ REV. JAMES LYNCH _and others_.\n\n\n\n\n                       WELCOME TO THE RANSOMED,\n                                \u2015\u2015OR,\u2015\u2015\n    Duties of the Colored Inhabitants of the District of Columbia.\n\n                            I. TIM. 2, 1\u20134.\n\n                            [Illustration]\n\n\nSt. Paul addressed the Epistles to Timothy, the young Bishop of\nEphesus, for the purpose of giving him instructions touching the false\ndoctrines inculcated by certain false teachers, as well as instructions\nrespecting the qualifications of the Christian ministry, their duties\nto themselves, to God, and the flock committed by the Holy Spirit to\ntheir special guidance.\n\nBut foremost of all the duties which he enjoined upon the Ephesian\nministry and laity were those of making \u201cSupplications, prayers,\nintercessions, and giving of thanks for all men.\u201d For men in general,\nembracing the whole family of Adam, in all their _varieties_ as\nnations, tribes, communities, peoples.\n\nThis is God-like, because the Eternal loves all, and manifests the\ninfinity of his nature, by his universal care for all mankind. In this,\nHe also demonstrates His universal Fatherhood, and thereby establishes\nthe brotherhood of man.\n\nBut guided by the benevolence of unerring wisdom, the Apostle\ndescends from a general to a particular statement of the case, and\n_commands_ us to single out from among the nations of the earth their\nchieftains\u2015\u2015_Kings_ and _authorities_\u2015\u2015for whom we are to make special\n\u201cSupplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks.\u201d\n\nTo the cheerful and fervent performance of this gracious work, he\npresses several motives upon us\u2015\u2015\u201cthat we may live a quiet and\npeaceable life in all godliness and honesty\u201d\u2015\u2015because \u201cit is good and\nacceptable in the sight of God our Saviour\u201d\u2015\u2015because God \u201cwill have all\nmen to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.\u201d Let us\nbriefly trace out this line of thought.\n\nTo supplicate, is to _implore_ God _submissively_. To pray to God, is\nto adore Him for His glorious perfection, to confess our sins to Him,\nand to beseech Him for mercy and pardon. To intercede with God is to\nentreat Him by the fervent, effectual prayer of faith, to be reconciled\nto offending man. This we may do as well for our enemies as for our\nfriends.\n\nWe are gathered to celebrate the emancipation, yea, rather, the\n_Redemption_ of the enslaved people of the District of Columbia, the\nexact number of whom we have no means of ascertaining, because, since\nthe benevolent intention of Congress became manifest, many have been\nremoved by their owners beyond the reach of this beneficent act.\n\nOur pleasing task then, is to welcome to the Churches, the homesteads,\nand circles of free colored Americans, those who remain to enjoy _the\nboon of holy Freedom_.\n\nBrethren, sisters, friends, we say welcome to our Churches, welcome to\nour homesteads, welcome to our social circles.\n\nEnter the great family of Holy Freedom; not to _lounge in sinful\nindolence_, not to _degrade yourselves by vice_, nor to _corrupt\nsociety by licentiousness_, neither to _offend the laws by crime_,\nbut to the _enjoyment of a well regulated liberty_, the offspring of\ngenerous laws; of law as just as generous, as righteous as just\u2015\u2015a\nliberty to be _perpetuated_ by equitable law, and sanctioned by\nthe divine; for law is never equitable, righteous, just, until it\nharmonizes with the will of Him, who is \u201c_King_ of kings, and _Lord_\nof lords,\u201d and who commanded Israel to _have but one law for the\nhome-born_ and the _stranger_.\n\nWe repeat ourselves, welcome then _ye ransomed ones_; welcome _not_ to\nindolence, to vice, licentiousness, and crime, but to a well-regulated\nliberty, sanctioned by the Divine, maintained by the Human law.\n\nWelcome to habits of industry and thrift\u2015\u2015to duties of religion and\npiety\u2015\u2015to obligations of law, order, government\u2015\u2015of government divine,\nof government human: these two, though not one, are inseparable. The\nman who refuses to obey divine law, will never obey human laws. _The\ndivine first_, the _human next_. The latter is the consequence of the\nformer, and follows it as light does the rising sun.\n\nWe invite you to our Churches, because we desire you to be religious;\nto be more than religious; we urge you _to be godly_. We entreat you to\nnever be content until you are emancipated from sin, from sin without,\nand from sin within you. But this kind of freedom is attained only\nthrough the faith of Jesus, love for Jesus, obedience to Jesus. As\ncertain as the American Congress has _ransomed_ you, so certain, yea,\nmore certainly has Jesus redeemed you from the guilt and power of sin\nby his own precious blood.\n\nAs you are now free in body, so now seek to be free in soul and spirit,\nfrom sin and Satan. The _noblest freeman is he whom Christ makes free_.\n\nWe invite you to our homesteads, in order that we may aid you as well\nby the power of good examples as by the beauty of holy precept, in\nraising up intelligent, virtuous, pious, happy families. We invite\nyou to our social circles, in order that you may have none of those\ninducements which grow out of a mere love of society, to frequent the\n_gambling hells_, and groggeries, which gradually lead their votaries\nto infamy and the pit that is bottomless.\n\nPermit us, also, to advise you to seek every opportunity for the\ncultivation of your minds. To the adults we say, enter the Sunday\nSchools and the Night Schools, so opportunely opened by Dr. Pierson, in\nbehalf of the American Tract Society. In these latter you can very soon\nlearn to read the precious word of God, even before you shall have a\nfamiliar knowledge of the letters which constitute the alphabet.\n\n_Rest not till you have learned to read the Bible._ \u2019Tis the greatest,\nthe best of books. In it is contained the Divine law. O! meditate\ntherein by day and by night, for \u201cthe law of the Lord is perfect,\nconverting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise\nthe simple; the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;\nthe commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;\u2015\u2015more to\nbe desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also\nthan honey and the honeycomb.\u201d \u201c_In keeping of them there is great\nreward._\u201d Yield uniform, implicit obedience to their teachings. They\nwill purify your hearts and make them the abodes of the Ever-Blessed\nTrinity.\n\nWhen you shall have reached this point, you will be morally prepared\nto recognize and respond to all the relations of civilized and\nchristianized life.\n\nBut of the children take _special care_. Heaven has entrusted them to\nyou for a _special purpose_. What is that purpose? Not merely to eat\nand to drink, still less to _gormandize_. Not merely to dress finely\nin broadcloths, silks, satins, jewelry, nor to dance to the sound of\nthe tambourine and fiddle; but _to learn them how to live and how to\ndie\u2015\u2015to train them for great usefulness on earth\u2015\u2015to prepare them for\ngreater glory in heaven_.\n\nKeep your children in the schools, even if you have to eat less, drink\nless and wear coarser raiments; though you eat but two meals a day,\npurchase but one change of garment during the year, and relinquish all\nthe luxuries of which we are so fond, but which are as injurious to\nhealth and long life as they are pleasing to the taste.\n\nLet the education of your children penetrate the heart.\u2015\u2015That education\nwhich forgets, or purposely omits, the culture of the heart, _is better\nadapted to devilism than manhood_. But the education which reaches the\nheart, moulds it, humbles it before the Cross, is rather the work of\nthe homestead than the common school or the college. It is given by the\n_parents_ rather than the schoolmaster\u2015\u2015by the _mother_ rather than the\nfather.\n\nHow important, then, that the mothers be _right-minded_; that our\nyoung women, of whom our mothers come, be brought up with a high\nsense of personal character\u2015\u2015be taught to prefer virtue to gold, and\ndeath itself rather than a violated chastity. The women make the men;\ntherefore the women should be greater than the men, in order that they\nbe the mothers of great men. I mean good men, _for none are great who\nare not good_.\n\nBut this requires the transforming grace of God; requires that our\nmothers be women of strong faith and fervent daily prayers; requires\nthat they live beneath the wings of the Cherubim\u2015\u2015at the foot of\nthe Cross\u2015\u2015loving the God-man \u201cwhose favor is life, and whose loving\nkindness is better than life.\u201d\n\nSuch mothers will care for the heart education of their children,\nand will consequently lay continuous siege to the Throne of God in\nbehalf of their sons and daughters, even as the Syroph\u0153nician mother\nimportuned the compassionate Jesus in behalf of her afflicted daughter,\nor as Queen Esther did Ahasuerus in behalf of her menaced kinsmen.\n\nSuch mothers will carefully train their children, as Moses was trained\nby his mother, preserving him pure from _the vices of a Court_ and the\nbaneful examples of lordly superiors: or, like Susanna Wesley, will\neducate their sons, as she did John and Charles, in the atmosphere of\nsuch spiritual excellence, and with such a moral power, as will make\nthem ministering angels of good to man and glory to God Most High.\n\nLastly\u2015\u2015Let us advise you respecting money. Some people value it too\nmuch, others too little. Of these extremes take the medium; for money\nhas its proper value. That value _lies in its adaptedness to promote\nthe ends of Christian enlightenment_; to purchase the best medical\naid and other comforts in the days of affliction; to administer to the\nwants of old age, and to enable us to assist in making mankind wiser\nand better.\n\nBut how are we to get money? Get it by diligent labor. Work, work,\nwork! Shun no work that will bring you an honest penny. \u2019Tis honorable\nto labor with our own hands. God works, and shall man be greater than\nGod? Fools only think labor dishonorable. Wise men feel themselves\nhonored in following the example of God, whose works adorn and bless\nboth heaven and earth.\n\nBut when you get the pennies save them. Then you will soon have\ndollars. The dollars will enable you to buy comfortable homes for\nyourselves and your children.\n\nYou can save your pennies\u2015\u2015yea, dollars\u2015\u2015if you will _run away_ from\nwhiskey, rum and tobacco. A few years ago an intelligent minister said\nthat the colored people of the District of Columbia spent ten thousand\ndollars a year for tobacco.\u2015\u2015What a sum for poison! Better take that\nmoney to build churches and school houses; better take it to obtain\nand pay thoroughly educated teachers for your pulpits and your school\nhouses\u2015\u2015_the schoolmasters_ as well as the preachers.\n\nWork for money; work every day, work diligently, and _save your money\nwhen you get it_.\n\nBe _obliging_ and _faithful_ to your employers, and you will be sure to\nkeep your places. Never be above your business.\u2015\u2015Many a man has ruined\nhimself and his family by this foolish pride.\n\nEver since the first stone in the foundations of the Universe was laid\nby God\u2019s own hand till now, he has been working, and will continue\nworking through endless ages. Follow his glorious example. Work, work,\nwork, for an honest penny; but when you get it, pause and think three\ntimes before you spend it; but when you spend it, be sure it will yield\na permanent benefit.\n\nThat the hearty welcome which we have given you, our _ransomed_\nkinsmen, may be rendered a blessing, and that the advices which we have\ntendered may be as good seed sown in good ground, we shall continue to\nmake supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings to Him\nwhose care reaches all, because His love embraces all.\n\nTo Him we commend you, O ye who are now as sheep without a shepherd\u2015\u2015as\n_exiles in the land of your nativity_.\n\nMay He who led Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as they wandered over Canaan\nand Egypt, guide, protect and bless you; raise up kind, influential\nfriends to do you good; and when the purposes of his grace shall have\nbeen accomplished in you, may you be able, like Jacob, to say: \u201cWith my\nstaff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands.\u201d\n\nNow, if we ask, who has sent us this great deliverance? The answer\nshall be, the Lord; the Lord God Almighty, the God of Abraham and Isaac\nand Jacob.\n\nBut as He blessed the chosen seed, by the ministry of men and angels,\nso in our case, the angels of mercy, justice and liberty, hovering over\nthe towering Capitol, inspired the heads and hearts of the noble men\nwho have plead the cause of the poor, the needy and enslaved, in the\nSenate and House of Representatives.\n\nFor the oppressed and enslaved of all peoples, God has raised up, and\nwill continue to raise up, his Moses and Aaron. Sometimes the hand\nof the Lord is so signally displayed that Moses and Aaron are not\nrecognized. Seldom do they recognize themselves.\n\nThere was neither bow, spear, nor shield, in the hand of Israel, when\nthe Lord led him forth from Egypt, so also, there was no weapon of\noffence nor defence in your hands when this _ransom_ was brought you.\n\n\u201cGreat and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty, just and true\nare thy ways, thou King of Saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and\nglorify thy name? We praise thee, we bless thee, we worship thee, we\nglorify thee, we give thanks to thee for thy great glory. O Lord God,\nHeavenly King, God the Father Almighty.\u201d\n\nThou, O Lord, and thou alone couldst have moved the heart of this\nNation to have done so great a deed for this weak, despised and needy\npeople!\n\nWe will, therefore, make supplications, prayers, intercessions, and\nthanksgivings, for \u201cAll that are in authority.\u201d\n\nThe duty of supplications in behalf of the Government is rendered more\nbinding upon us, when we consider the circumstances under which it was\nwritten. St. Paul lived under the reign of Nero, the bloody emperor,\nwho having set Rome on fire, amused himself with drinking and music\nwhile the city was in flames; and afterwards, accused the Christians of\nthe crime which he himself had committed, thereby causing many of them\nto be put to death in the most cruel manner.\n\nNow, if it was the duty of the ancient Christians to pray for such\nmonsters of wickedness, by how much more is it our duty to pray for a\nChristian Government.\n\nCongress need our supplications, they shall have them. The President\nand his Cabinet need our prayers, they shall possess them. The Supreme\nCourt, that awful emblem of impartial justice, need our intercessions,\nit shall not be forgotten.\n\nUpon all these departments of law, authority and power, we shall\nbeseech the God of Nations to send the spirit of wisdom, justice,\nliberty\u2015\u2015of wisdom seeing the end from the beginning\u2015\u2015of justice\nincorruptible\u2015\u2015of liberty governed by righteous law.\n\nTo make supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving for\nthese authorities, is the peculiar privilege of the Colored People in\nthe United States.\n\nThey are not permitted, as in the days of the Revolution and the war of\n1812, to take up arms in defence of the Government. Some, both among\nAnglo-Saxons and Anglo-Africans, complain of this prohibition. For my\npart, I am glad of it, because I think I see the hand of God in it.\n\nThe present war is a kind of family quarrel. Therefore, let a stranger\ntake heed how he meddles, lest both parties unite to drive him out of\nthe house. \u201cWhy shouldst thou meddle to thy hurt?\u201d\n\nBut we can wield a power in behalf of the Government which neither\nrifled cannon, nor mortar, nor rocket-battery can assail, nor\nbomb-proof walls resist.\n\n_That power_ is the right arm of God\u2015\u2015of God, who lifts up and casts\ndown nations according as they obey, or disregard the principles of\ntruth, justice, liberty.\n\nThe service of prayer which is required from us, contemplates the most\ndifficult as well as the noblest objects. It contemplates the end of\nthe war. It contemplates legislation before and after the end.\n\nNow, to manage this war, so as to bring permanent good to all\nconcerned, requires more than human wisdom\u2015\u2015more than human power.\nTo legislate so as to make the masses see and feel that the laws are\njust, wise, beneficial, demand more than human learning or skill in\ngovernment. To determine the sense and just application of these laws\nas Judges\u2015\u2015to execute them faithfully and impartially as a Chief\nMagistrate, O how much of the spirit of God is needful! How much in the\nPresident! how much in his Cabinet!\n\nThen there is the army. Let us not forget the brave men who constitute\nit\u2015\u2015who have left their comfortable homes, beloved families, fond\nparents, affectionate sisters and brothers, for the hardships, dangers\nand painful deaths of the battle field.\n\nLet us pray that, as _some of them are_, so _all may become_, soldiers\nof the Cross; so that such as are doomed to fall in the fight, may rise\nfrom their gory beds to obtain a crown of life; and those who may\nreturn to the peaceful pursuits of civil life, may be wiser and better\nmen.\n\nNow, then, although weak, few, despised and persecuted, we can aid all\nthese departments of government by our daily supplications, prayers and\nintercessions.\n\nIn doing this service, we can accomplish what we could not if we were\nleading the van of battle; for conquering armies are preceded and\nsucceeded by anguish, misery and death, but our service brings down\nnothing but blessings upon all.\n\nThey are also weapons, \u201cnot carnal, but mighty through God, to the\npulling down of strongholds;\u201d even the casting down of principalities\nand powers\u2015\u2015the moving of heaven and earth.\n\nTake two examples: When Israel fought against the five kings of the\nAmorites, Joshua prayed and the sun stood still upon Gibeon, while the\nmoon hung over the valley of Ajalon, till Israel had conquered.\n\n\u201cJohn Knox was a man famous for his power in prayer, so that Queen Mary\nused to say she feared his prayers more than all the armies of Europe.\nAnd events showed she had reason to do it. He used to be in such an\nagony for the deliverance of his country that he could not sleep. He\nhad a place in his garden, where he used to go to pray. One night he\nand several friends were praying together, and as they prayed Knox\nspoke and said that deliverance had come. He could not tell what had\nhappened, but he felt that something had taken place, for God had heard\ntheir prayers. What was it? Why the next news they heard was: \u2018Queen\nMary is dead!\u2019\u201d\n\nBut the motives for all this work of mercy, faith, and love as\nfurnished by the text are as weighty as they are numerous.\n\n1st. \u201cThat we may lead a quiet and peaceable life.\u201d Peace and quietude\nare some of the conditions of happiness. Dr. Adam Bluche says: \u201cIf\nthe State be not in safety, the individual cannot be secure; self\npreservation, therefore, should lead men to pray for the government\nunder which they live. Rebellions and insurrections seldom terminate\neven in political good\u2015\u2015and even where the government is radically\nbad, revolutions are most precarious and hazardous. They who wish\nsuch commotions would not be quiet under the most mild and benevolent\ngovernment.\u201d This is true of communities and nations, as well as of\nindividuals. We all desire it, and therefore it is our duty to labor\nfor it by every instrument which Infinite wisdom has ordained and\nman can employ. And lo! how excellent the instruments! _Prayers_,\n_supplications_, _intercessions_\u2015\u2015thanksgiving. As Aaron approached\nthe Mercy Seat, with the smoking censor, and was accepted, so do we\napproach the throne of the Eternal with the burning incense of heaven\u2019s\nown making, and will be accepted. O, let us supplicate God for the\npeace and quietude of the whole nation!\n\n2d. The other motive which Inspiration presents is, that we may\nlive \u201c_in all godliness_ and _honesty_.\u201d Godliness first, honesty\nafterwards. The latter is the fruit of the former. The godly man, is he\nwho fears God and keeps his commandments. Such a man will be honest in\nwords as well as in deeds; in matters of truth as well as in matters\nof property. _Honesty is the only policy of godliness._ Colored men,\nwrite this sentiment upon your hearts, engrave it in your memory. Let\nall your thoughts, words, actions, be controlled by this principle, _it\nis always safe to be honest, as it is always safe to be godly_. One has\nsaid, that \u201cAn honest man is the noblest work of God.\u201d But whence comes\nthe honest man? Does he not spring out of the godly? Most assuredly.\nFor no man is truly honest, uniformly honest, and universally honest,\nbut he who is godly. Therefore be godly, and you will be honest in all\nthings, at all times, in all places.\n\n3d. The third motive for this heavenly duty, this intercession in\nbehalf of the Government is, that \u201cIt is good and acceptable in the\nsight of God our Saviour.\u201d Whatever God accepts and pronounces good,\n_must be good_: good in itself; good in its effects, always good; good\nfor man, because ordained of God.\n\n4th. The last motive we present for this godlike work is, that God\n\u201c_Will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the\ntruth._\u201d\n\nHence, we must pray for these Authorities not as public men only, but\nas private individuals also,\u2015\u2015not as Chieftains of the Nation only, but\nas heads of families also,\u2015\u2015as husbands, fathers, Christians. So that,\nwhile they think, write, speak, act for the public weal, their own\nsouls may be brought under the saving power of the Gospel, and with all\nthe members of their respective families be made the heirs of the grace\nof life.\n\nO, that God may bring them all to the knowledge of the truth as\nit is in Christ Jesus! O, that every one of these Authorities may\nbecome a holy, wise, and just man! Then will the laws be enacted in\nrighteousness and executed in the fear of the Lord.\n\nThese motives are enforced upon our considerations by the glorious\nexample of the Lord Jesus Christ,[A] who is the Mediator between God\nand Man, who ever liveth to make intercession for his foes as well as\nhis friends, and with whom there is no respect of persons. Black men,\nred men, white men, are all alike before Him, and rise or fall, live or\ndie as they please or offend Him.\n\n[A] When St. Cyprian defended himself before the Roman Pro-Consul, he\nsaid, \u201cWe pray to God not only for ourselves but for all mankind, and\nparticularly for the Emperors.\u201d\n\nTertullian in his Apology is more particular: \u201cWe pray for all the\nEmperors, that God may grant them long life, a secure government, a\nprosperous family, vigorous troops, a faithful senate, an obedient\npeople; that the whole world may be in peace; and that God may grant\nboth to C\u00e6sar; and to every man, the accomplishment of their just\ndesires.\u201d\n\nSo Origen: \u201cWe pray for kings and rulers, that with their royal\nauthority they may be found possessing a wise and prudent mind.\u201d\n\n                                    _See Dr. A. Clarke on the text._\n\n\nTo make prayers, intercessions, supplications, thanksgivings for\nnational authorities you now clearly see _is a command from heaven_.\nObey it, and you shall be blessed\u2015\u2015always do it, and you shall be made\na blessing to others. Whom God has blessed no man can curse. If God has\nblessed this nation, neither internal foes, nor foreign enemies can\ncrush it.\n\nBut God will bless it if it will do right, administering justice\nto each and to all, protecting the weak as well as the strong, and\nthrowing the broad wings of its power equally over men of every color.\nThis is God-like, and God will bless his own image, be it in a nation\nor in a man. Then, O my country, \u201cshall thy light break forth as the\nmorning\u2015\u2015thy health shall spring forth speedily\u2015\u2015thy righteousness\nshall go before thee,\u201d and \u201cthe glory of the Lord shall be thy reward.\u201d\n\nThen shall justice be engraven on our arms, and righteousness on our\nstar-spangled banners; our armies shall then be led to battle by the\nLord, and victory secured by the right arm of our God.\n\n\n                   *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n Transcriber\u2019s Notes:\n\n \u2015\u2015Text in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_).\n\n \u2015\u2015Punctuation, spelling, and printer's errors were silently corrected.\n\n \u2015\u2015Archaic and variable spelling has been preserved.\n\n \u2015\u2015Variations in hyphenation and compound words have been preserved.","title":"Welcome to the ransomed; or, Duties of the colored inhabitants of the District of Columbia","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":4419}