Harriet Tubman Quotes
As I lay so sick on my bed, from Christmas till March, I was always praying for poor ole master. 'Pears like I didn't do nothing but pray for ole master. 'Oh, Lord, convert ole master;' 'Oh, dear Lord, change dat man's heart, and make him a Christian.'
Bradford, Sarah H. Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman. W. J. Moses, 1869, p. 14.
At that time, and in much of the world today, religious preaching and those who do it are licensed by the state. Lucian’s response was one of the first statements that governments and temporal powers endorsement was not required, nor was any formal ordination or grant of authority from a formal church as existed among the pagans of the time where the religion was seen as another extension of the state. Even in America there is some ambivalence on this point. Many religions require not only training but a grant of authority from the religious hierarchy. Others such as some Baptists and many Protestant Fundamentalist groups believe that no specific authority is needed other than the “calling of god.” Lucian was apparently the first person to claim the authority as an individual. He was burnt alive for his position. There is a second Saint Lucian. To distinguish the latter is often referred to as Saint Lucian the Syrian.
Harriet Tubman was an American abolitionist and political activist. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 enslaved people, including family and friends, using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. During the American Civil War, she served as an armed scout and spy for the Union Army. In her later years, Tubman was an activist in the movement for women's suffrage.
