Bishop Payne is a scholar and a poet; having published, in 1850, a volume of his productions, which created considerable interest for the work, and gave the author a standing among literary men. His writings are characterized by sound reasoning and logical conclusions, and show that he is well read. The bishop is devotedly attached to his down-trodden race, and is constantly urging upon them self-elevation. After President Lincoln's interview with the committee of colored men at Washington, and the colonization scheme recommended to them, and the appearance of Mr. Pomeroy's address to the free blacks, Bishop Payne issued the following note of advice, which was published in the _Weekly Anglo-African_:-- "_To the Colored People of the United States._ "MEN, BRETHREN, SISTERS: A crisis is upon us which no one can enable us to meet, conquer, and convert into blessings for all concerned, but that God who builds up one nation and breaks down another. "For more than one generation, associations of white men, entitled Colonization Societies, have been engaged in plans and efforts for our expatriation; these have been met sometimes by denunciations, sometimes by ridicule, often by argument; but now the American government has assumed the work and responsibility of colonizing us in some foreign land within the torrid zone, and is now maturing measures to consummate this scheme of expatriation. "But let us never forget that there is a vast difference between voluntary associations of men and the legally constituted authorities of a country; while the former may be held in utter contempt, the latter must always be respected. To do so is a moral and religious, as well as a political duty. "The opinions of the government are based upon the ideas, that _white men and colored men cannot live together as equals in the same country_; and that unless a voluntary and peaceable separation is effected _now_, the time _must come when there will be a war of extermination_ between the two races. "Now, in view of these opinions and purposes of the government, what shall we do? My humble advice is, before all, and first of all,--even before we say _yea_ or _nay_,--let us seek from the mouth of God. Let every heart be humbled, and every knee bent in prayer before him. Throughout all this land of our captivity, in all this house of our bondage, let our cries ascend perpetually to Heaven for aid and direction. "To your knees, I say, O ye oppressed and enslaved ones of this Christian republic, to your knees, _and be there_. "Before the throne of God, if nowhere else, the black man can meet his white brother as an equal, and be heard.