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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d6ec453 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #68205 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/68205) diff --git a/old/68205-0.txt b/old/68205-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 658a09c..0000000 --- a/old/68205-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4353 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of John Jasper, by William E. Hatcher - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: John Jasper - The unmatched Negro philosopher and preacher - -Author: William E. Hatcher - -Release Date: June 6, 2022 [eBook #68205] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Charlene Taylor, Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The - Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN JASPER *** - - -+-------------------------------------------------+ -|Transcriber’s note: | -| | -|Obvious typographic errors have been corrected. | -| | -+-------------------------------------------------+ - - -JOHN JASPER - -The Unmatched Negro -Philosopher and Preacher - -By -WILLIAM E. HATCHER, LL. D. - -[Illustration: logo] - -NEW YORK CHICAGO TORONTO -Fleming H. Revell Company -LONDON AND EDINBURGH - - - - -Copyright, 1908, by -FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY - -New York: 158 Fifth Avenue -Chicago: 17 North Wabash Ave. -London: 21 Paternoster Square -Edinburgh: 75 Princes Street - - - - -CONTENTS - - INTRODUCTION 7 - -I. JASPER PRESENTED 15 - -II. JASPER HAS A THRILLING CONVERSION 23 - -III. HOW JASPER GOT HIS SCHOOLING 30 - -IV. THE SLAVE PREACHER 36 - -V. “WHAR SIN KUM FRUM?” 47 - -VI. JASPER SET FREE 58 - -VII. THE PICTURE-MAKER 65 - -VIII. JASPER’S STAR WITNESS 72 - -IX. JASPER’S SERMON ON “DEM SEBUN WIMMIN” 89 - -X. JASPER GLIMPSED UNDER VARIOUS LIGHTS 94 - -XI. SERMON:--THE STONE CUT OUT OF THE MOUNTAIN 108 - -XII. FACTS CONCERNING THE SERMON ON THE SUN 121 - -XIII. THE SUN DO MOVE 133 - -XIV. ONE JASPER DAY IN THE SPRING TIME OF 1878 150 - -XV. JASPER’S PICTURE OF HEAVEN 174 - - - - -INTRODUCTION - - -Reader; stay a moment. A word with you before you begin to sample this -book. We will tell you some things in advance, which may help you to -decide whether it is worth while to read any further. These pages -deal with a negro, and are not designed either to help or to hurt -the negro race. They have only to do with one man. He was one of a -class,--without pedigree, and really without successors, except that he -was so dominant and infectious that numbers of people affected his ways -and dreamed that they were one of his sort. As a fact, they were simply -of another and of a baser sort. - -The man in question was a negro, and if you cannot appreciate greatness -in a black skin you would do well to turn your thoughts into some other -channel. Moreover, he was a negro covered over with ante bellum habits -and ways of doing. He lived forty years before the war and for about -forty years after it. He grew wonderfully as a freeman; but he never -grew away from the tastes, dialects, and manners of the bondage times. -He was a man left over from the old régime and never got infected with -the new order. The air of the educated negro preacher didn’t set well -upon him. The raw scholarship of the new “ish,” as he called it, was -sounding brass to him. As a fact, the new generation of negro preachers -sent out by the schools drew back from this man. They branded him as -an anachronism, and felt that his presence in the pulpit was a shock -to religion and an offense to the ministry; and yet not one of them -ever attained the celebrity or achieved the results which came to this -unlettered and grievously ungrammatical son of Africa. - -But do not be afraid that you are to be fooled into the fanatical camp. -This story comes from the pen of a Virginian who claims no exemption -from Southern prejudices and feels no call to sound the praises of the -negro race. Indeed, he never intended to write what is contained within -the covers of this book. It grew up spontaneously and most of the -contents were written before the book was thought of. - -It is, perhaps, too much to expect that the meddlers with books will -take the _ipse dixit_ of an unaccredited stranger. They ought not to do -it: they are not asked to do it. They can go on about their business, -if they prefer; but if they do, they will miss the story of the -incomparable negro of the South. This is said with sobriety and after a -half century spent in close observation of the negro race. - -More than that, the writer of this never had any intention of -bothering with this man when he first loomed up into notoriety. He got -drawn in unexpectedly. He heard that there was a marvel of a man “over -in Africa,” a not too savoury portion of Richmond, Virginia,--and one -Sunday afternoon in company with a Scot-Irishman, who was a scholar -and a critic, with a strong leaning towards ridicule, he went to hear -him preach. Shades of our Anglo-Saxon fathers! Did mortal lips ever -gush with such torrents of horrible English! Hardly a word came out -clothed and in its right mind. And gestures! He circled around the -pulpit with his ankle in his hand; and laughed and sang and shouted -and acted about a dozen characters within the space of three minutes. -Meanwhile, in spite of these things, he was pouring out a gospel -sermon, red hot, full of love, full of invective, full of tenderness, -full of bitterness, full of tears, full of every passion that ever -flamed in the human breast. He was a theatre within himself, with the -stage crowded with actors. He was a battle-field;--himself the general, -the staff, the officers, the common soldiery, the thundering artillery -and the rattling musketry. He was the preacher; likewise the church -and the choir and the deacons and the congregation. The Scot-Irishman -surrendered in fifteen minutes after the affair commenced, but the -other man was hard-hearted and stubborn and refused to commit himself. -He preferred to wait until he got out of doors and let the wind blow -on him and see what was left. He determined to go again; and he went -and kept going, off and on, for twenty years. That was before the negro -became a national figure. It was before he startled his race with his -philosophy as to the rotation of the sun. It was before he became a -lecturer and a sensation, sought after from all parts of the country. -Then it was that he captured the Scot-Irish and the other man also. -What is written here constitutes the gatherings of nearly a quarter -of a century, and, frankly speaking, is a tribute to the brother in -black,--the one unmatched, unapproachable, and wonderful brother. - -But possibly the reader is of the practical sort. He would like to -get the worldly view of this African genius and to find out of what -stuff he was made. Very well; he will be gratified! Newspapers are -heartlessly practical. They are grudging of editorial commendation, and -in Richmond, at the period, they were sparing of references of any kind -to negroes. You could hardly expect them to say anything commendatory -of a negro, if he was a negro, with odd and impossible notions. Now -this man was of that very sort. He got it into his big skull that the -earth was flat, and that the sun rotated;--a scientific absurdity! But -you see he proved it by the Bible. He ransacked the whole book and got -up ever so many passages. He took them just as he found them. It never -occurred to him that the Bible was not dealing with natural science, -and that it was written in an age and country when astronomy was -unknown and therefore written in the language of the time. Intelligent -people understand this very well, but this miracle of his race was -behind his era. He took the Bible literally, and, with it in hand, he -fought his battles about the sun. Literally, but not scientifically, he -proved his position, and he gave some of his devout antagonists a world -of botheration by the tenacity with which he held to his views and the -power with which he stated his case. Scientifically, he was one of the -ancients, but that did not interfere with his piety and did not at all -eclipse his views. His perfect honesty was most apparent in all of his -contentions; and, while some laughed at what they called his vagaries, -those who knew him best respected him none the less, but rather the -more, for his astronomical combat. There was something in his love of -the Bible, his faith in every letter of it, and his courage, that drew -to him the good will and lofty respect of uncounted thousands and, -probably, it might be said, of uncounted millions. - -Now when this man died it was as the fall of a tower. It was a crash, -heard and felt farther than was the collapse of the famous tower at -Venice. If the dubious, undecided reader has not broken down on the -road but has come this far, he is invited to look at the subjoined -editorial from _The Richmond Dispatch_, the leading morning paper of -Richmond, Va., which published at the time an article on this lofty -figure, now national in its proportions and imperishable in its fame, -when it bowed to the solemn edict of death. - - - (From _The Richmond Dispatch_) - - “It is a sad coincidence that the destruction of the Jefferson - Hotel and the death of the Rev. John Jasper should have fallen - upon the same day. John Jasper was a Richmond Institution, as - surely so as was Major Ginter’s fine hotel. He was a national - character, and he and his philosophy were known from one end - of the land to the other. Some people have the impression that - John Jasper was famous simply because he flew in the face of the - scientists and declared that the sun moved. In one sense, that is - true, but it is also true that his fame was due, in great measure, - to a strong personality, to a deep, earnest conviction, as well as - to a devout Christian character. Some preachers might have made - this assertion about the sun’s motion without having attracted - any special attention. The people would have laughed over it, - and the incident would have passed by as a summer breeze. But - John Jasper made an impression upon his generation, because he - was sincerely and deeply in earnest in all that he said. No man - could talk with him in private, or listen to him from the pulpit, - without being thoroughly convinced of that fact. His implicit - trust in the Bible and everything in it, was beautiful and - impressive. He had no other lamp by which his feet were guided. - He had no other science, no other philosophy. He took the Bible - in its literal significance; he accepted it as the inspired word - of God; he trusted it with all his heart and soul and mind; he - believed nothing that was in conflict with the teachings of the - Bible--scientists and philosophers and theologians to the contrary - notwithstanding. - - “‘They tried to make it appear,’ said he, in the last talk we - had with him on the subject, ‘that John Jasper was a fool and a - liar when he said that the sun moved. I paid no attention to it - at first, because I did not believe that the so-called scientists - were in earnest. I did not think that there was any man in the - world fool enough to believe that the sun did _not_ move, for - everybody had seen it move. But when I found that these so-called - scientists were in earnest I took down my old Bible and proved - that they, and not John Jasper, were the fools and the liars.’ And - there was no more doubt in his mind on that subject than there - was of his existence. John Jasper had the faith that removed - mountains. He knew the literal Bible as well as Bible scholars - did. He did not understand it from the scientific point of view, - but he knew its teachings and understood its spirit, and he - believed in it. He accepted it as the true word of God, and he - preached it with unction and with power. - - “John Jasper became famous by accident, but he was a most - interesting man apart from his solar theory. He was a man of deep - convictions, a man with a purpose in life, a man who earnestly - desired to save souls for heaven. He followed his divine calling - with faithfulness, with a determination, as far as he could, to - make the ways of his God known unto men, His saving health among - all nations. And the Lord poured upon His servant, Jasper, ‘the - continual dew of His blessing.’” - - - - -I - -JASPER PRESENTED - - -John Jasper, the negro preacher of Richmond, Virginia, stands -preëminent among the preachers of the negro race in the South. He was -for fifty years a slave, and a preacher during twenty-five years of -his slavery, and distinctly of the old plantation type. Freedom came -full-handed to him, but it did not in any notable degree change him in -his style, language, or manner of preaching. He was the ante bellum -preacher until eighty-nine years of age, when he preached his last -sermon on “Regeneration,” and with quiet dignity laid off his mortal -coil and entered the world invisible. He was the last of his type, and -we shall not look upon his like again. It has been my cherished purpose -for some time to embalm the memory of this extraordinary genius in some -form that would preserve it from oblivion. I would give to the American -people a picture of the God-made preacher who was great in his bondage -and became immortal in his freedom. - -This is not to be done in biographic form, but rather in vagrant -articles which find their kinship only in the fact that they present -some distinct view of a man, hampered by early limitations, denied the -graces of culture, and cut off even from the advantages of a common -education, but who was munificently endowed by nature, filled with -vigour and self-reliance, and who achieved greatness in spite of almost -limitless adversities. I account him genuinely great among the sons of -men, but I am quite sure that the public can never apprehend the force -and gist of his rare manhood without first being made acquainted with -certain facts appertaining to his early life. - -Jasper was born a slave. He grew up on a plantation and was a toiler in -the fields up to his manhood. When he came to Richmond, now grown to -a man, he was untutored, full of dangerous energies, almost gigantic -in his muscle, set on pleasure, and without the fear of God before his -eyes. From his own account of himself, he was fond of display, a gay -coxcomb among the women of his race, a fun-maker by nature, with a -self-assertion that made him a leader within the circles of his freedom. - -We meet him first as one of the “hands” in the tobacco factory of -Mr. Samuel Hargrove, an enterprising and prosperous manufacturer in -the city of Richmond. Jasper occupied the obscure position of “a -stemmer,”--which means that his part was to take the well-cured tobacco -leaf and eliminate the stem, with a view to preparing what was left to -be worked into “the plug” which is the glory of the tobacco-chewer. -This position had one advantage for this quick-witted and alert young -slave. It threw him into contact with a multitude of his own race, and -as nature had made him a lover of his kind his social qualities found -ample scope for exercise. In his early days he went at a perilous pace -and found in the path of the sinful many fountains of common joy. -Indeed, he made evil things fearfully fascinating by the zestful and -remorseless way in which he indulged them. - -It was always a joy renewed for him to tell the story of his -conversion. As described by him, his initial religious experiences, -while awfully mystical and solemn to him, were grotesque and ludicrous -enough. They partook of the extravagances of the times, yet were so -honest in their nature, and so soundly Scriptural in their doctrines, -and so reverential in their tone, that not even the most captious -sceptic could hear him tell of them, in his moments of exalted -inspiration, without feeling profoundly moved by them. - -It ought to be borne in mind that this odd and forcible man was a -preacher in Richmond for a half century, and that during all that -time, whether in slavery or in freedom, he lived up to his religion, -maintaining his integrity, defying the unscrupulous efforts of jealous -foes to destroy him, and walking the high path of spotless and -incorruptible honour. Not that he was always popular among his race. He -was too decided, too aggressive, too intolerant towards meanness, and -too unpitying in his castigation of vice, to be popular. His life, in -the nature of the case, had to be a warfare, and it may be truly said -that he slept with his sword buckled on. - -Emancipation did not turn his head. He was the same high-minded, -isolated, thoughtful Jasper. His way of preaching became an offense to -the “edicated” preachers of the new order, and with their new sense -of power these double-breasted, Prince-Albert-coated, high hat and -kid-gloved clergymen needed telescopes to look as far down as Jasper -was, to get a sight of him. They verily thought that it would be a -simple process to transfix him with their sneers, and flaunt their -new grandeurs before him, in order to annihilate him. Many of these -new-fledged preachers, who came from the schools to be pastors in -Richmond, resented Jasper’s prominence and fame. They felt that he was -a reproach to the race, and they did not fail to fling at him their -flippant sneers. - -But Jasper’s mountain stood strong. He looked this new tribe of his -adversaries over and marked them as a calcimined and fictitious type -of culture. To him they were shop-made and unworthy of respect. They -called forth the storm of his indignant wrath. He opened his batteries -upon them, and, for quite a while, the thunder of his guns fairly -shook the steeples on the other negro churches of Richmond. And yet it -will never do to think of him as the incarnation of a vindictive and -malevolent spirit. He dealt terrific blows, and it is hardly too much -to say that many of his adversaries found it necessary to get out of -the range of his guns. But, after all, there was a predominant good -nature about him. His humour was inexhaustible, and irresistible as -well. If by his fiery denunciations he made his people ready to “fight -Philip,” he was quite apt before he finished to let fly some of his odd -comparisons, his laughable stories, or his humorous mimicries. He could -laugh off his own grievances, and could make his own people “take the -same medicine.” - -Jasper was something of a hermit, given to seclusion, imperturbably -calm in his manner, quite ascetic in his tastes, and a cormorant in -his devouring study of the Bible. Naturally, Jasper was as proud as -Lucifer,--too proud to be egotistic and too candid and self-assertive -to affect a humility which he did not feel. He walked heights where -company was scarce, and seemed to love his solitude. Jasper was as -brave as a lion and possibly not a little proud of his bravery. He -fought in the open and set no traps for his adversaries. He believed in -himself,--felt the dignity of his position, and never let himself down -to what was little or unseemly. - -The most remarkable fact in Jasper’s history is connected with his -extraordinary performances in connection with his tersely expressed -theory,--THE SUN DO MOVE! We would think in advance that any man who -would come forward to champion that view would be hooted out of court. -It was not so with Jasper. His bearing through all that excitement was -so dignified, so sincere, so consistent and heroic, that he actually -did win the rank of a true philosopher. This result, so surprising, -is possibly the most handsome tribute to his inherent excellence and -nobility of character. One could not fail to see that his fight on -a technical question was so manifestly devout, so filled with zeal -for the honour of religion, and so courageous in the presence of -overwhelming odds, that those who did not agree with him learned to -love and honour him. - -The sensation which he awakened fairly flew around the country. It is -said that he preached the sermon 250 times, and it would be hard to -estimate how many thousands of people heard him. The papers, religious -and secular, had much to say about him. Many of them published his -sermons, some of them at first plying him with derision, but about -all of them rounding up with the admission of a good deal of faith in -Jasper. So vast was his popularity that a mercenary syndicate once -undertook to traffic on his popularity by sending him forth as a public -lecturer. The movement proved weak on its feet, and after a little -travel he hobbled back richer in experience than in purse. - -As seen in the pulpit or in the street Jasper was an odd picture to -look upon. His figure was uncouth; he was rather loosely put together; -his limbs were fearfully long and his body strikingly short,--a sort -of nexus to hold his head and limbs in place. He was black, but his -face saved him. It was open, luminous, thoughtful, and in moments -of animation it glowed with a radiance and exultation that was most -attractive. - -Jasper’s career as a preacher after the war was a poem. The story is -found later on and marks him as a man of rare originality, and of -patience born of a better world. He left a church almost entirely -the creation of his own productive life, that holds a high rank in -Richmond and that time will find it hard to estrange from his spirit -and influence. For quite a while he was hardly on coöperative terms -with the neighbouring churches, and it is possible that he ought to -share somewhat in the responsibility for the estrangement which so -long existed;--though it might be safely said that if they had left -Jasper alone he would not have bothered them. Let it be said that the -animosities of those days gradually gave away to the gracious and -softening influence of time, and, when his end came, all the churches -and ministers of the city most cordially and lovingly united in -honouring his memory. - -It may betoken the regard in which Jasper was held by the white people -if I should be frank enough to say that I was the pastor of the Grace -Street Baptist Church, one of the largest ecclesiastical bodies in the -city at the time of Jasper’s death, and the simple announcement in -the morning papers that I would deliver an address in honour of this -negro preacher who had been carried to his grave during the previous -week brought together a representative and deeply sympathetic audience -which overflowed the largest church auditorium in the city. With the -utmost affection and warmth I put forth my lofty appreciation of this -wonderful prince of his tribe, and so far as known there was never an -adverse criticism offered as to the propriety or justice of the tribute -which was paid him. - -It is of this unusual man, this prodigy of his race, and this eminent -type of the Christian negro, that the somewhat random articles of this -volume are to treat. His life jumped the common grooves and ran on -heights not often trod. His life went by bounds and gave surprises with -each succeeding leap. - - - - -II - -JASPER HAS A THRILLING CONVERSION - - -Let us bear in mind that at the time of his conversion John Jasper -was a slave, illiterate and working in a tobacco factory in Richmond. -It need hardly be said that he shared the superstitions and indulged -in the extravagances of his race, and these in many cases have been -so blatant and unreasonable that they have caused some to doubt the -negro’s capacity for true religion. But from the beginning Jasper’s -religious experiences showed forth the Lord Jesus as their source and -centre. His thoughts went to the Cross. His hope was founded on the -sacrificial blood, and his noisy and rhapsodic demonstrations sounded a -distinct note in honour of his Redeemer. - -Jasper’s conviction as to his call to the ministry was clear-cut -and intense. He believed that his call came straight from God. His -boast and glory was that he was a God-made preacher. In his fierce -warfares with the educated preachers of his race--“the new issue,” -as he contemptuously called them--he rested his claim on the ground -that God had put him into the ministry; and so reverential, so full of -noble assertion and so irresistibly eloquent was he in setting forth -his ministerial authority that even his most sceptical critics were -constrained to admit that, like John the Baptist, he was “a man sent -from God.” - -And yet Jasper knew the human side of his call. It was a part of his -greatness that he could see truth in its relations and completeness, -and while often he presented one side of a truth, as if it were all -of it, he also saw the other side. With him a paradox was not a -contradiction. He gratefully recognized the human influences which -helped him to enter the ministry. While preaching one Sunday afternoon -Jasper suddenly stopped, his face lighted as with a vision, a rich -laugh rippled from his lips while his eyes flashed with soulful fire. -He then said, in a manner never to be reported: “Mars Sam Hargrove -called me to preach de Gospel--he was my old marster, and he started -me out wid my message.” Instantly the audience quivered with quickened -attention, for they knew at once that the man in the pulpit had -something great to tell. - -“I was seekin’ God six long weeks--jes’ ’cause I was sich a fool I -couldn’t see de way. De Lord struck me fus’ on Cap’tal Squar’, an’ I -left thar badly crippled. One July mornin’ somethin’ happen’d. I was a -tobarker-stemmer--dat is, I took de tobarker leaf, an’ tor’d de stem -out, an’ dey won’t no one in dat fac’ry could beat me at dat work. -But dat mornin’ de stems wouldn’t come out to save me, an’ I tor’d up -tobarker by de poun’ an’ flung it under de table. Fac’ is, bruthr’n, -de darkness of death was in my soul dat mornin’. My sins was piled on -me like mount’ns; my feet was sinkin’ down to de reguns of despar, an’ -I felt dat of all sinners I was de wust. I tho’t dat I would die right -den, an’ wid what I supposed was my lars breath I flung up to heav’n -a cry for mercy. ’Fore I kno’d it, de light broke; I was light as a -feather; my feet was on de mount’n; salvation rol’d like a flood thru -my soul, an’ I felt as if I could ’nock off de fact’ry roof wid my -shouts. - -“But I sez to mysef, I gwine to hol’ still till dinner, an’ so I cried, -an’ laffed, an’ tore up de tobarker. Pres’ntly I looked up de table, -an’ dar was a old man--he luv me, an’ tried hard to lead me out de -darkness, an’ I slip roun’ to whar he was, an’ I sez in his ear as low -as I could: ‘Hallelujah; my soul is redeemed!’ Den I jump back quick -to my work, but after I once open my mouf it was hard to keep it shet -any mo’. ’Twan’ long ’fore I looked up de line agin, an’ dar was a good -ol’ woman dar dat knew all my sorrers, an’ had been prayin’ fur me all -de time. Der was no use er talkin’; I had to tell her, an’ so I skip -along up quiet as a breeze, an’ start’d to whisper in her ear, but just -den de holin-back straps of Jasper’s breachin’ broke, an’ what I tho’t -would be a whisper was loud enuf to be hearn clean ’cross Jeems River -to Manchester. One man sed he tho’t de factory was fallin’ down; all I -know’d I had raise my fust shout to de glory of my Redeemer. - -“But for one thing thar would er been a jin’ral revival in de fact’ry -dat mornin’. Dat one thing was de overseer. He bulg’d into de room, an’ -wid a voice dat sounded like he had his breakfus dat mornin’ on rasps -an’ files, bellowed out: ‘What’s all dis row ’bout?’ Somebody shouted -out dat John Jasper dun got religun, but dat didn’t wurk ’tall wid -de boss. He tell me to git back to my table, an’ as he had sumpthin’ -in his hand dat looked ugly, it was no time fur makin’ fine pints, -so I sed: ‘Yes, sir, I will; I ain’t meant no harm; de fus taste of -salvation got de better un me, but I’ll git back to my work.’ An’ I -tell you I got back quick. - -“Bout dat time Mars Sam he come out’n his orfis, an’ he say: ‘What’s de -matter out here?’ An’ I hear de overseer tellin’ him: ‘John Jasper kick -up a fuss, an’ say he dun got religun, but I dun fix him, an’ he got -back to his table.’ De devil tol’ me to hate de overseer dat mornin’, -but de luv of God was rollin’ thru my soul, an’ somehow I didn’t mind -what he sed. - -“Little aft’r I hear Mars Sam tell de overseer he want to see Jasper. -Mars Sam was a good man; he was a Baptis’, an’ one of de hed men of -de old Fust Church down here, an’ I was glad when I hear Mars Sam say -he want to see me. When I git in his orfis, he say: ‘John, what was de -matter out dar jes’ now?’--and his voice was sof’ like, an’ it seem’d -to have a little song in it which play’d into my soul like an angel’s -harp. I sez to him: ‘Mars Sam, ever sence de fourth of July I ben -cryin’ after de Lord, six long weeks, an’ jes’ now out dar at de table -God tuk my sins away, an’ set my feet on a rock. I didn’t mean to make -no noise, Mars Sam, but ’fore I know’d it de fires broke out in my -soul, an’ I jes’ let go one shout to de glory of my Saviour.’ - -“Mars Sam was settin’ wid his eyes a little down to de flo’, an’ wid a -pritty quiv’r in his voice he say very slo’: ‘John, I b’leve dat way -myself. I luv de Saviour dat you have jes’ foun’, an’ I wan’ to tell -you dat I do’n complain ’cause you made de noise jes’ now as you did.’ -Den Mars Sam did er thing dat nearly made me drop to de flo’. He git -out of his chair, an’ walk over to me and giv’ me his han’, and he -say: ‘John, I wish you mighty well. Your Saviour is mine, an’ we are -bruthers in de Lord.’ When he say dat, I turn ’round an’ put my arm -agin de wall, an’ held my mouf to keep from shoutin’. Mars Sam well -know de good he dun me. - -“Art’r awhile he say: ‘John, did you tell eny of ’em in thar ’bout your -conversion?’ And I say: ‘Yes, Mars Sam, I tell ’em fore I kno’d it, -an’ I feel like tellin’ eberybody in de worl’ about it.’ Den he say: -‘John, you may tell it. Go back in dar an’ go up an’ down de tables, -an’ tell all of ’em. An’ den if you wan’ to, go up-stars an’ tell ’em -all ’bout it, an’ den down-stars an’ tell de hogshed men an’ de drivers -an’ everybody what de Lord has dun for yor.’ - -“By dis time Mars Sam’s face was rainin’ tears, an’ he say: ‘John, -you needn’ work no mo’ to-day. I giv’ you holiday. Aft’r you git thru -tellin’ it here at de fact’ry, go up to de house, an’ tell your folks; -go roun’ to your neighbours, an’ tell dem; go enywhere you wan’ to, an’ -tell de good news. It’ll do you good, do dem good, an’ help to hon’r -your Lord an’ Saviour.’ - -“Oh, dat happy day! Can I ever forgit it? Dat was my conversion -mornin’, an’ dat day de Lord sent me out wid de good news of de -kingdom. For mo’ den forty years I’ve ben tellin’ de story. My step is -gittin’ ruther slo’, my voice breaks down, an’ sometimes I am awful -tired, but still I’m tellin’ it. My lips shall proclaim de dyin’ luv of -de Lam’ wid my las’ expirin’ breath. - -“Ah, my dear ol’ marster! He sleeps out yonder in de ol’ cemetery, an’ -in dis worl’ I shall see his face no mo’, but I don’t forgit him. He -give me a holiday, an’ sent me out to tell my friends what great things -God had dun for my soul. Oft’n as I preach I feel that I’m doin’ what -my ol’ marster tol’ me to do. If he was here now, I think he would -lif’ up dem kin’ black eyes of his, an’ say: ‘Dat’s right, John; still -tellin’ it; fly like de angel, an’ wherever you go carry de Gospel to -de people.’ Farewell, my ol’ marster, when I lan’ in de heav’nly city, -I’ll call at your mansion dat de Lord had ready for you when you got -dar, an’ I shall say: ‘Mars Sam, I did what you tol’ me, an’ many of -’em is comin’ up here wid da’ robes wash’d in de blood of de Lam’ dat -was led into de way by my preachin’, an’ as you started me I want you -to shar’ in de glory of da’ salvation.’ An’ I tell you what I reck’n, -dat when Mars Sam sees me, he’ll say: ‘John, call me marster no mo’: -we’re bruthers now, an’ we’ll live forever roun’ de throne of God.’” - -This is Jasper’s story, but largely in his own broken words. When he -told it, it swept over the great crowd like a celestial gale. The -people seemed fascinated and transfigured. His homely way of putting -the Gospel came home to them. Let me add that his allusions to his old -master were in keeping with his kindly and conciliatory tone in all -that he had to say about the white people after the emancipation of -the slaves. He loved the white people, and among them his friends and -lovers were counted by the thousand. - - - - -III - -HOW JASPER GOT HIS SCHOOLING - - -These chapters disclaim outright any pretension to biography. They -deal with a weird, indescribable and mysterious genius, standing out -in gloomy grandeur, and not needing the setting forth of ordinary -incidents. At the same time, when an extraordinary man comes along and -does masterful things, there be some who are ready to ask questions. -Was he educated? Well, yes, he was. He had rare educational advantages, -not in the schools; but what of that? A genius has no use for a school, -except so far as it teaches him the art of thinking. If we run back to -the boyhood of Jasper and look him over we find that he had, after all, -distinct educational advantages. - -It is another case of a good mother. We know that her name was Nina, -and that she was the wife of Philip Jasper, and if tradition tells the -truth she was the mother of twenty-four children--a premature applicant -for the Rooseveltian prize. John was the last, and was not born until -two months after his father’s death. Truly grace as well as genius was -needed in his case, or he would have struck the wrong road. - -That mother was the head of the working women on the Fluvanna farm and -learned to govern by reason of the position she held. Her appointment -bespoke her character, and her work improved it. Later on, she became -in another home the chief of the servant force in a rich family. It was -quite a good place. It brought her in contact with cultivated people -and the imitative quality in the negro helped her to learn the manners -and to imbibe the spirit of the lady. Later on still, she became a -nurse to look after the sick at the Negro Quarters. There she had to do -with doctors, medicines and counsellors and helpers. Add to all this, -she was a sober, thoughtful, godly woman, and you will quite soon reach -the conclusion that she was a very excellent teacher for John; and John -coming latest in the domestic procession found her rich in experience, -matured in motherliness, and enlarged in her outlook of life. - -John’s father was a preacher. Harsh things, and some of them needlessly -false, are said of the fact that there were no negro preachers in the -times of the slaveholding. It is true, that the laws of the country did -not allow independent organizations of negroes, and negro preachers -were not allowed, except by the consent of their masters, to go abroad -preaching the Gospel. They could not accept pastoral charges, and were -hampered, as all must admit, by grievous restrictions, but there were -negro preachers in that day just the same,--scores of them, and in one -way and another they had many privileges and did good and effective -service. One thing about the negro preacher of the ante bellum era was -his high character. It is true that the owner of slaves was not in -all cases adapted to determine the moral character of the slave who -wanted to preach, and too often, it may be admitted, his prejudices -and self-interest may have ruled out some men who ought to have been -allowed to preach. It is a pity if this were true. But this strictness -had one advantage. When the master of a negro man allowed him to preach -it was an endorsement, acceptable and satisfactory, wherever the man -went. If they thought he was all right at home, he could pass muster -elsewhere. - -Now, concerning John’s father, tradition has proved exceedingly -partial. It has glorified Tina the mother with fine extravagance, -but it has cut Philip unmercifully. John could get little out of his -father, for they were not contemporaries, and as his brothers and -sisters seemed to have been born for oblivion, we can trace little of -his distinction to the old household in Fluvanna. - -But we dare say that Philip, the preacher, remembered chiefly because -he was a preacher, had something to do in a subtle way with John’s -training. Nor must we fail to remember that Jasper himself grew up -in contact with a fine old Virginia family. Fools there be many who -love to talk of the shattering of the old aristocracy of Virginia. The -“F.F.V.’s”[1] have been the sport of the vulgar, and their downfall -has been a tragedy which the envious greedily turned into a comedy. -But people ought to have some sense. They ought to see things in -their proper relation. They ought to know that in the atmosphere of -the old Virginia home the negroes, and especially those who served in -person the heads of the family, caught the cue of the gentleman and -the lady. I can stand on the streets of Richmond to-day and pick out -the coloured men and women who grew up in homes of refinement, and who -still bear about them the signs of it. Bent by age, and many of them -tortured by infirmity, they still bear the marks of their old masters. -They constitute a class quite apart from those of later times and -are unequalled by them. I rejoice in all the comforts and advantages -which have come to the negroes,--most heartily I thank heaven for -their freedom and for all that freedom has brought them; but I do not -hesitate to say that one of the losses was that contact with courtly, -dignified, and royal people which many of them had before the Civil -War. And even those on the plantations, while removed farther from the -lights of the great castles in which their masters lived, walked not in -darkness entirely, but unconsciously felt the transforming power of -those times. - -John Jasper was himself an aristocrat. His mode of dress, his manner -of walking, his lofty dignity, all told the story. He received an -aristocratic education, and he never lost it. Besides this, he had a -most varied experience as a slave. He grew up on the farm, and knew -what it was to be a plantation hand. He learned to work in the tobacco -factory. He worked also in the foundries, and also served around the -houses of the families with whom he lived; for it must be understood -that after the breaking up of the Peachy family he changed owners and -lived in different places. These things enlarged his scope, and with -that keen desire to know things he learned at every turn of life. - -After his conversion he became a passionate student. He acknowledges -one who sought to teach him to read, and after he became a preacher -he spelled out the Bible for himself. He was eager to hear other men -preach and to talk with those who were wiser than he. And so he kept on -learning as long as he lived, though of course he missed the help of -the schools, and never crossed the threshold of worldly science in his -pursuit of knowledge. - -It may be well to say here that Jasper never lost his pride in white -people. He delighted to be with them. Thousands upon thousands went -to hear him, and while there was a strain of curiosity in many of them -there was an under-note of respect and kindliness which always thrilled -his heart and did him good. Time and again he spoke to me personally -of white people, and always with a beautiful appreciation. It is -noteworthy that the old man rode his high horse when his house was -partly filled with white people, and it would be no exaggeration to say -that not since the end of the war has any negro been so much loved or -so thoroughly believed in as John Jasper. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[1] First Families of Virginia. - - - - -IV - -THE SLAVE PREACHER - - -It is as a preacher that John Jasper is most interesting. His -personality was notable and full of force anywhere, but the pulpit -was the stage of his chief performance. It is worth while to bear in -mind that he began to preach in 1839 and that was twenty-five years -before the coming of freedom. For a quarter of a century, therefore, -he was a preacher while yet a slave. His time, of course, under the -law belonged to his master, and under the laws of the period, he could -preach only under very serious limitations. He could go only when his -master said he might, and he could preach only when some white minister -or committee was present to see that things were conducted in an -orderly way. This is the hard way of stating the case, but there are -many ways of getting around such regulations. The man who could preach, -though a negro, rarely failed of an opportunity to preach. The man who -was fit for the work had friends who enabled him to “shy around” his -limitations. - -There was one thing which the negro greatly insisted upon, and which -not even the most hard-hearted masters were ever quite willing to -deny them. They could never bear that their dead should be put away -without a funeral. Not that they expected, at the time of the burial, -to have the funeral service. Indeed, they did not desire it, and it -was never according to their notions. A funeral to them was a pageant. -It was a thing to be arranged for a long time ahead. It was to be -marked by the gathering of the kindred and friends from far and wide. -It was not satisfactory unless there was a vast and excitable crowd. -It usually meant an all-day meeting, and often a meeting in a grove, -and it drew white and black alike, sometimes almost in equal numbers. -Another demand in the case,--for the slaves knew how to make their -demands,--was that the negro preacher “should preach the funeral,” as -they called it. In things like this, the wishes of the slaves generally -prevailed. “The funeral” loomed up weeks in advance, and although -marked by sable garments, mournful manners and sorrowful outcries, -it had about it hints of an elaborate social function with festive -accompaniments. There was much staked on the fame of the officiating -brother. He must be one of their own colour, and a man of reputation. -They must have a man to plough up their emotional depths, and they must -have freedom to indulge in the extravagancies of their sorrow. These -demonstrations were their tribute to their dead and were expected to -be fully adequate to do honour to the family. - -It was in this way that Jasper’s fame began. At first, his tempestuous, -ungrammatical eloquence was restricted to Richmond, and there it was -hedged in with many humbling limitations. But gradually the news -concerning this fiery and thrilling orator sifted itself into the -country, and many invitations came for him to officiate at country -funerals. - -He was preëminently a funeral preacher. A negro funeral without an -uproar, without shouts and groans, without fainting women and shouting -men, without pictures of triumphant deathbeds and the judgment day, and -without the gates of heaven wide open and the subjects of the funeral -dressed in white and rejoicing around the throne of the Lamb, was no -funeral at all. Jasper was a master from the outset at this work. -One of his favourite texts, as a young preacher, was that which was -recorded in Revelations, sixth chapter, and second verse: “And I saw -and beheld a white horse; and he that sat upon him had a bow, and a -crown was given unto him, and he went forth conquering and to conquer.” -Before the torrent of his florid and spectacular eloquence the people -were swept down to the ground, and sometimes for hours many seemed to -be in trances, not a few lying as if they were dead. - -Jasper’s first visit to the country as a preacher of which we have any -account was to Hanover County. A prominent and wealthy slaveholder -had the custom of allowing his servants to have imposing funerals, -when their kindred and friends died; but those services were always -conducted by a white minister. In some way the fame of Jasper had -penetrated that community, and one of the slaves asked his master to -let Jasper come and attend the funeral. But to this the master made -an objection. He knew nothing about Jasper, and did not believe that -any negro was capable of preaching the Gospel with good effect. This -negro was not discouraged by the refusal of the proprietor of the great -plantation to grant his request. He went out and collected a number -of most trustworthy and influential negro men and they came in a body -to his master and renewed the plea. They told him in their way about -what a great man Jasper was, how anxious they were to hear him, what a -comfort his presence would be to the afflicted family, and how thankful -they would be to have their request honoured. They won their point in -part. He said to them, as if yielding reluctantly, “very well, let him -come.” They however had something more to say. They knew Jasper would -need to have a good reason in order to get his master’s consent for -him to come, and they knew that Jasper would not come unless he came -under the invitation and protection of the white people, and therefore -they asked the gentleman if he would not write a letter inviting him to -come. Accordingly, in a spirit of compromise and courtesy very pleasing -to the coloured people, the letter was written and Jasper came. - -The news of his expected coming spread like a flame. Not only the -country people in large numbers, but quite a few of the Richmond -people, made ready to attend the great occasion. Jasper went out in -a private conveyance, the distance not being great, and, in his kind -wish to take along as many friends as possible, he overloaded the -wagon and had a breakdown. The delay in his arrival was very long and -unexplained; but still the people lingered and beguiled the time with -informal religious services. - -At length the Richmond celebrity appeared on the scene late in the -day. The desire to hear him was imperative, and John Jasper was equal -to the occasion. Late as the hour was, and wearied as were the people, -he spoke with overmastering power. The owner of the great company of -slaves on that plantation was among his hearers, and he could not -resist the spell of devout eloquence which poured from the lips of the -unscholared Jasper. It was a sermon from the heart, full of personal -passion and hot with gospel fervour, and the heart of the lord of -the plantation was powerfully moved. He undertook to engage Jasper to -preach on the succeeding Sunday and handed the blushing preacher quite -a substantial monetary token of his appreciation. - -The day was accounted memorable by reason of the impression which -Jasper made. Indeed, Jasper was a master of assemblies. No politician -could handle a crowd with more consummate tact than he. He was the king -of hearts and could sway throngs as the wind shakes the trees. - -There is a facetious story abroad among the negroes that in those days -Jasper went to Farmville to officiate on a funeral occasion where -quite a number of the dead were to have their virtues commemorated -and where their “mourning friends,” as Jasper in time came to call -them, were to be comforted. The news that Jasper was to be there went -out on the wings of the wind and vast throngs attended. Of course, a -white minister was present and understood that he was the master of -ceremonies. The story is, that he felt that it would not be safe to -entrust an occasion so vastly interesting to the hands of Jasper, and -he decided that he would quiet Jasper and satisfy the public demands -by calling on Jasper to pray. As a fact, Jasper was about as much of -an orator in speaking to heaven as he was in speaking to mortal men. -His prayer had such contagious and irresistible eloquence that whatever -the Lord did about it, it surely brought quite a resistless response -from the crowd. When the white preacher ended his tame and sapless -address, the multitude cried out for Jasper. Inspired by the occasion -and emboldened by the evident disposition to shut him out, Jasper took -fire and on eagle wings he mounted into the heavens and gave such a -brilliant and captivating address that the vast crowd went wild with -joy and enthusiasm. - -There is yet another story of a time when Jasper was called into the -country where he and a white minister were to take part in one of the -combined funerals so common at that time. Upon arriving at the church -the white minister was unutterably shocked to find that his associate -in the services was a negro. That was too much for him, and he decided -on the spot that if he went in, Jasper would have to stay out, and he -decided that he would go in and would stay in until the time was over -and leave Jasper to his reflections on the outside. For two hours the -white brother beat the air, killed time, and quite wearied the crowd -by his lumbering and tiresome discourse. After he had arrived at the -point where it seemed that no more could be said, the exhausted and -exhausting brother closed his sermon and was arranging to end the -service. But the people would not have it so. Tumultuously they cried -out for Jasper,--a cry in which the whites outdid the blacks. It was -not in Jasper to ignore such appreciation. Of all men, he had the least -desire or idea of being snubbed or side-tracked. With that mischievous -smile which was born of the jubilant courage of his soul, Jasper -came forth. He knew well the boundaries of his rights, and needed no -danger signals to warn him off hostile ground. For fifteen or twenty -minutes he poured forth a torrent of passionate oratory,--not empty and -frivolous words, but a message rich with comfort and help, and uttered -only as he could utter it. The effect was electrical. The white people -crowded around him to congratulate and thank him, and went away telling -the story of his greatness. - -Tradition has failed to give us the name of the ill-fated brother who -in seeking to kill time, seemed to have got knocked into oblivion. It -is worth while to say that the white ministers were within the law in -attending occasions like those described above and felt the necessity -of care and discretion in managing the exercises, lest the hostilities -of irreligious people should be excited against the negroes. It is due -to the white people, and especially to that denomination to which John -Jasper was associated, to say that under their influence the negroes, -who were practically barbarians when they were brought into the South, -were civilized and Christianized. A large proportion of them were -well-mannered and nobly-behaved Christians at the time their slavery -ended. The church buildings were always constructed so that the white -people and the negroes could worship in the same house. They were -baptized by the same minister, they sat down together at the communion -table, they heard the same sermons, sang the same songs, were converted -at the same meetings, and were baptized at the same time. Ofttimes, and -in almost all places, they were allowed to have services to themselves. -In this, of course, they enjoyed a larger freedom than when they met in -the same house with the white people. - -They know little of the facts who imagine that there was estrangement -and alienation between the negroes and the whites in the matter of -religion. Far from it. There was much of good fellowship between -the whites and negroes in the churches, and the white ministers -took notable interest in the religious welfare of the slaves. They -often visited them pastorally and gladly talked with them about -their salvation. These chapters are not intended either to defend or -to condemn slavery; but in picturing the condition of things which -encompassed Jasper during the days of slavery, it is worth while to -let it be understood that it was during their bondage and under the -Christian influence of Southern people, that the negroes of the South -were made a Christian people. It was the best piece of missionary work -ever yet done upon the face of the earth. - -Another fact should be referred to here. Jasper was a pastor in the -City of Petersburg even before the breaking out of the Civil War. He -had charge of one of the less prominent negro churches and went over -from Richmond for two Sundays in each month. This, of course, showed -the enlargement of his liberty, that he could take the time to leave -the city so often in pursuance of his ministerial work. - -It need hardly be mentioned that his presence in Petersburg brought -unusual agitation. He fairly depopulated the other negro churches and -drew crowds that could not be accommodated. When it was rumoured that -Jasper was to preach for the first time on Sunday afternoon, the Rev. -Dr. Keene, of the First Baptist Church, and many other white people -attended. They were much concerned lest his coming should produce -a disturbance, and they went with the idea of preventing any undue -excitement. Jasper, flaming with fervid zeal and exhilarated with -the freedom of the truth, carried everything before him. He had not -preached long before the critical white people were stirred to the -depths of their souls and their emotion showed in their weeping. They -beheld and felt the wonderful power of the man. It is said that Dr. -Keene was completely captivated, and recognized in Jasper a man whom -God had called. - - - - -V - -“WHAR SIN KUM FRUM?” - - -My first sight of Jasper must always remain in the chapter of -unforgotten things. The occasion was Sunday afternoon, and the crowd -was overflowing. Let me add that it was one of his days of spiritual -intoxication, and he played on every key in the gamut of the human soul. - -Two questions had been shot at him, and they both took effect. The -first had to do with creation. For a half hour he pounded away on the -creatorship of God. His address was very strong and had in it both -argument and eloquence. He marshalled the Scriptures with consummate -skill, and built an argument easily understood by the rudest of his -hearers; and yet so compact and tactful was he, that his most cultured -hearers bent beneath his force. - -But the second question brought on the pyrotechnics. It had to do with -the origin of sin,--“Whar sin kum frum?”--as he cogently put it. It was -here that a riotous liberty possessed him, and he preached with every -faculty of his mind, with every passion and sentiment of his soul, with -every nerve, every muscle, and every feature of his body. For nearly -an hour the air cracked with excitement and the crowd melted beneath -his spell. It was my first experience of that unusual power of his to -move people in all possible ways by a single effort. - -Jasper knew the fundamental doctrines of the Bible admirably, and -always lived in vital contact with their essence. There was a kinship -between the Bible and himself, and, untaught of the schools, he studied -himself in the light of the Bible and studied the Bible in the darkness -of himself. This kept him in contact with people and whenever he -preached he invaded their experience and made conscious their wants to -themselves. And so it came to pass that questions which perplexed them -they had the habit of bringing to him. This question as to the origin -of sin had been spurring and nagging some of his speculative hearers. -They had wrangled over it, and they unloaded their perplexity upon him. -So it was with this burden heavy upon him that he came to the pulpit on -this occasion. - -It may have been a touch of his dramatic art, but at any rate he showed -an amiable irritation, in view of his being under constant fire from -his controversial church-members, and so he started in as if he had a -grievance. It gave pith and excitement to his bearing, as he faced the -issue thus thrust upon him. As a fact, he knew that many inquirers -sought to entangle him by their questions and this opened the way for -his saying, with cutting effect, that they would do better to inquire, -“whar sin wuz gwine ter kerry ’em, instid uv whar it kum frum.” - -“An’ yer wants ter know whar sin kum frum, yer say. Why shud yer be -broozin’ eroun’ wid sich a questun as dat? Dar ain’ but wun place in -de univus uv Gord whar yer kin git any infermashun on dis pint, and -dar, I am free ter tel yer, yer kin git all dat yer wish ter know, an’ -maybe a good deal mo’. De place whar de nollidge yer need kin be got -iz in de Word uv Gord. I knows wat sum dat hav’ bin talkin’ ’bout dis -thing iz arter. I know de side uv de questun dey iz struttin’ up on. -Dey say, or dey kinder hint, dat de Lord Gord iz de orthur uv sin. -Dat’s wat dey iz wispurrin’ roun’ dis town. Dey can’t fool Jasper; but -I tell you de debbul iz playin’ pranks on um an’ will drag um down ter -de pit uv hell, ef dey doan luk out mity quick. De Lord Gord know’d -frum de beginnin’ dat sum uv dese debbullish people wud bring up dis -very charge an’ say dat He had tendid dat dar shud be sin frum de -beginnin’. He done speak His mind ’bout dat thing, an’ ef yer luk in -de fust chaptur uv Jeems yer’ll find de solum uttrunce on dis subjik -an’ it kleers Gord furevur frum dis base slandur. ‘Let no man say,’ -says de Lord, ‘wen he is temptid dat he is temptid uv Gord, fur Gord -kin not be temptid uv any man, an’ neethur tempts He any man.’ Did yer -hear dat? Dat’s de Lord’s own wurds. It spressly says dat people will -be temptid,--everybody is temptid; I bin havin’ my temptashuns all my -life, an’ I haz um yit, a heap uv um, an’ sum uv um awful bad, but yer -ain’ ketchin’ Jasper er sayin’ dat Gord is at de bottum uv um. Ef I -shud say it, it wud be a lie, an’ all iz liars wen dey say dat Gord -tempts um? De sinnur is gettin’ towurds de wust wen he iz willin’ ter -lay de blame uv hiz sins on de Lord. Do it ef yer will, but de cuss uv -Gord will be erpun yez wen yer try ter mek de Lord Gord sich es you iz; -an’ ter mek b’liev dat de Lord gits orf His throne an’ kums down in ter -mire an’ clay uv your wicked life an’ tries ter jog an’ ter fool yer -inter sin. I trimbul ter think uv sich a thing! I wonder dat de Lord -duzn’t forge new thunderbolts uv Hiz rath an’ crush de heds uv dem dat -charge ’im wid de folly uv human sin. - -“Sum uv yer wud be mity glad ter git Gord mix’d up in yer sins an’ ter -feel dat He iz es bad es you iz. It jes’ shows how base, how lost, how -ded, you’se bekum. Wudn’t we hev a pritty Gord ef He wuz willin’ ter -git out in de nite an’ go plungin’ down inter de horribul an’ ruinus -transgresshuns in wich sum men indulg’. Let me kleer dis thing up befo’ -I quit it. Bar in mine, dat Gord kin not be temptid uv any man. Try it -ef yer chuze, an’ He will fling yer in ter de lowes’ hell, an’ don’t -yer dar evur ter say, or ter think, or ter hope, dat de temtashun ter -du rong things kum ter yer from Gord. It do not kum frum erbuv, but it -kum out uv your foul an’ sinful hart. Dey iz born dar, born uv your -bad thoughts, born uv your hell-born lusts, an’ dey gits strong in yer -’caus’ yer don’t strangul um at de start. - -“But why shud dar be trubble ’bout dis subjic? Wat duz de Bibul say on -dis here mattur ’bout whar sin kum frum? We kin git de troof out uv dat -buk, fur it kuntains de Wurd uv Gord. Our Gord kin not lie; He nevur -hav’ lied frum de foundashun uv de wurl’. He iz de troof an’ de life -an’ He nevur lies. - -“Now, wat do He say kunsarnin’ dis serus questun dat is plowin’ de -souls uv sum uv my brudderin. Ter de Bibul, ter de Bibul, we’ll go an’ -wat do we git wen we git dar? De Bibul say dat Eve wuz obur dar in de -gardin uv Edun one day an’ dat she wuz dar by hersef. De Lord med Eve, -’caus’ it worn’t gud fer Adum ter be erloan, an’ it luks frum dis kase -dat it wuz not quite safe fer Eve ter be lef at home by hersef. But -Adum worn’t wid her; doan know whar he wuz,--gorn bogin’ orf sumwhars. -He better bin at home tendin’ ter his fambly. Dat ain’ de only time, by -a long shot, dat dar haz bin de debbul ter pay at home wen de man hev -gorn gaddin’ eroun’, instid uv stayin’ at home an’ lookin’ arter hiz -fambly. - -“While Eve wuz sauntrin’ an’ roamin’ eroun’ in de buterful gardin, de -ole sarpint, dyked up ter kill, kum gallervantin’ down de road an’ he -kotch’d site uv Eve an’ luk lik he surpriz’d very much but not sorry -in de leas’. Now yer mus’ kno’ dat ole sarpint wuz de trickies’ an’ -de arties’ uv all de beas’ uv de feil’,--de ole debbul, dat’s wat he -wuz. An’ wat he do but go struttin’ up ter Eve in a mity frien’ly way, -scrapin’ an’ bowin’ lik a fool ded in luv. - -“‘How yer do?’ He tries ter be perlite, an’ puts on hiz sweetes’ airs. -Oh, dat wuz an orful momint in de life uv Eve an’ in de histurry uv dis -po’ los’ wurl uv ours. In dat momint de pizun eat thru her flesh, struk -in her blud, an’ went ter her hart. At fust she wuz kinder shame’; but -she wuz kinder loansum, an’ she wuz pleas’d an’ tickl’d ter git notic’d -in dat way an’ so she stay’d dar instid uv runnin’ fer her life. - -“‘Ve’y wel, I thanks yer,’ she say ertremblin’, ‘how iz you dis -mornin’?’ De sarpint farly shouts wid joy. He dun got her tenshun an’ -she lek ter hear ’im, an’ he feel he got hiz chanz an’ so goes on: - -“‘Nice gardin yer got dar,’ he say in er admirin’ way. ‘Yer got heap uv -nice appuls obur dar.’ - -“‘Oh, yes, indeed,’ Eve replies. ‘We got lots uv um.’ - -“Eve spoke dese wurds lik she wuz proud ter deth ’caus’ de sarpint lik -de gardin. Dar stood de sarpint ve’y quiut tel, suddin lek, he juk -eroun’ an’ he says ter Eve:-- - -“‘Kin yer eat all de appuls yer got obur dar?’ - -“‘No, hindeed,’ says Eve, ‘we can’t eat um all. We got moar’n we kin -’stroy save our lives. Dey gittin’ ripe all de time; we hev jus’ -hogshids uv um.’ - -“‘Oh, I didn’t mean dat,’ spoke de sarpint, es ef shock’d by not bein’ -understud. ‘My p’int iz, iz yer ’low’d ter eat um all? Dat’s wat I want -ter know. As ter yer laws an’ rites in de gardin, duz dey all sute yer?’ - -“Fer a minnit de ’oman jump’d same es if sumbudy struk her a blow. -De col’ chils run down her bak, an’ she luk lik she wan ter run, but -sumhow de eye uv de sarpint dun got a charm on her. Dar wuz a struggul, -er reglur Bull Run battul, gwine on in her soul at dat momint. - -“‘Wat yer ax me dat questun fur?’ Eve axed, gaspin’ w’ile she spoke. -Den de debbul luk off. He tri ter be kam an’ ter speak lo an’ kine, but -dar wuz a glar’ in hiz eyes. ‘I begs many parduns,’ he says, ’skuse -me, I did not mean ter meddul wid yer privit buzniz. I’d bettur skuse -mysef, I reckin, and try an’ git erlong.’ - -“‘No; doan go,’ Eve sed. ‘Yer havn’t hurt my feelin’s. Wat yer say -jes’ put new thoughts in my min’ an’ kinder shuk me up at fust. But I -doan min’ talkin’.’ - -“‘Ef dat be de kase,’ speaks up de debbul, quite brave-lek, ‘begs you -skuse me ter ask agin ef de rules uv de gardin ’lows yer ter eat any uv -dem appuls yer got in de gardin? I haz my reasuns fer axin’ dis.’ - -“Eve stud dar shivurrin’ lik she freezin’ an’ pale es de marbul -toomstoan. But arter a gud wile she pint her han obur to er tree, on de -hill on de rite, an’ she tel ’im, es ef she wuz mity ’fraid, dat dar -wuz a tree obur dar uv de Nollidge an’ uv de Deestinxshun, an’ she say, -‘De Lord Gord He tel us we mus’ not eat dem appuls; dey pisun us, an’ -de day we eat um we got to die.’ - -“Oh, my brudderin, worn’t times mity serus den? ’Twuz de hour wen de -powurs uv darknis wuz gittin’ in an’ de foundashuns uv human hopes wuz -givin’ way. Den it wuz he git up close ter Eve an’ wispur in her ear:-- - -“‘Did de Lord Gord tel yer dat? Doan tel nobody, but I wan’ ter tel yer -dat it ain’t so. Doan yer b’liev it. Doan let ’im fool yer! He know -dat’s de bes’ fruit in all de gardin,--de fruit uv de Nollidge an’ de -Deestinxshun, an’ dat wen yer eats it yer will know es much es He do. -Yer reckin He wants yer ter know es much es He do? Na-a-w; an’ dat’s -why He say wat He do say. You go git um. Dey’s de choysis’ fruit in de -gardin, an’ wen yer eats um yer will be equ’ul ter Gord.’ - -“Erlas, erlas! po’ deluded an’ foolish Eve! It wuz de momint uv her -evurlastin’ downfall. Clouds uv darknis shrouds her min’ an’ de ebul -sperrit leap inter her soul an’ locks de do’ behin’ him. Dat dedly day -she bruk ’way frum de Gord dat made her, Eve did, an’ purtuk uv de -fruit dat brought sin an’ ruin an’ hell inter de wurl’. - -“Po’ foolish Eve! In dat momunt darknis fils her min’, evul leaps in -ter er heart, an’ she pluck de appul, bruk de kumman uv Gord, and ate -de fatul fruit wat brought death ter all our race. - -“Artur er wile, Adum kum walkin’ up de gardin and Eve she runs out ter -meet ’im. Wen he kum near she hol’ up er appul in her han’ and tell him -it iz gud ter eat. Oh, blin’ and silly womun! First deceived herself, -she turn roun’ and deceives Adum. Dat’s de way; we gits wrong, an’ den -we pulls udder folks down wid us. We rarly goes down by oursefs. - -“But whar wuz de rong? Whar, indeed? It wuz in Eve’s believin’ de -debbul and not believin’ Gord. It wuz doin’ wat de debbul sed an’ not -doin’ wat Gord sed. An’ yer kum here and ax me whar sin kum frum! Yer -see now, doan’ sher? It kum out uv de pit uv hell whar it wuz hatched -’mong de ainjuls dat wuz flung out uv heav’n ’caus dey disurbeyd Gord. -It kum from dat land whar de name uv our Gord is hated. It wuz brought -by dat ole sarpint, de fathur uv lies, and he brung it dat he mite fool -de woman, an’ in dat way sot up on de urth de wurks uv de debbul. Sin -iz de black chile uv de pit, it is. It kum frum de ole sarpint at fust, -but it’s here now, rite in po’ Jasper’s hart and in your hart; wharevur -dar iz a man or a woman in dis dark wurl’ in tears dar iz sin,--sin dat -insults Gord, tars down His law, and brings woes ter evrybody. - -“An’ you, stung by de sarpint, wid Gord’s rath on yer and yer feet in -de paf uv deth, axin’ whar sin kum frum? Yer bettur fly de rath uv de -judgmint day. - -“But dis iz ernuff. I jes’ tuk time ter tell whar sin kum frum. But my -tong carnt refuse ter stop ter tel yer dat de blud uv de Lam’ slain -frum de foundashun uv de wurl’ is grettur dan sin and mitier dan hell. -It kin wash erway our sins, mek us whitur dan de drivin snow, dress us -in redemshun robes, bring us wid shouts and allerluejurs bak ter dat -fellership wid our Fathur, dat kin nevur be brokin long ez ’ternity -rolls.” - -This outbreak of fiery eloquence was not the event of the afternoon, -but simply an incident. It came towards the end of the service, and -its delivery took not much more time than is required to read this -record of it. His language was perhaps never more broken; but what he -said flamed with terrific light. While there were touches of humour -in his description of the scene in the Garden, his message gathered a -seriousness and solemnity which became simply overpowering. No words -can describe the crushing and alarming effect which his weird story of -the entrance of sin into the world had upon his audience. Men sobbed -and fell to the floor in abject shame, and frightened cries for mercy -rang wild through the church. Possibly never a sweeter gospel note -sounded than that closing reference which he made to the cleansing -power of the blood shed from the foundation of the world. - -There were many white persons present, and they went away filled with a -sense of the greatness and power of the Gospel. - - - - -VI - -JASPER SET FREE - - -Jasper came to the verge of his greatness after he had passed the -half century line. Freedom had come and to him brought nothing except -the opportunity to carve out his own fortune. His ministry had been -migratory, restricted and chiefly of ungathered fruit. He found himself -in Richmond without money and without a home. By daily toil he was -picking up his bread. He was dead set on doing something in the way he -wanted to do it. He was of the constructive sort, and never had done -well when building on another man’s foundation. - -His ambition was to build a church. Down on the James River, where the -big furnaces were run, there was a little island, and on the island a -little house, and scattered along the canal and river were many of the -newly liberated and uncared for people of his race. - -[Illustration: THE SIXTH MOUNT ZION CHURCH] - -He began to hold religious services on the island,--said by some to -have been held in a private house, and by others in a deserted stable, -which was fitted up to accommodate the increasing crowds. Things went -well with him. The joy of building flamed his soul, and beneath the -tide of the river he baptized many converts. Happy days they were! The -people were wild with enthusiasm, and the shouts of his congregation -mingled with the noise of the James River Falls. It was to Jasper as -the gate of heaven, and he walked as the King’s ambassador among his -admiring flock. - -But it could not be that way long. There was not room enough to contain -the people, and yet the church was poverty itself, and what could -they do? Happily they found a deserted building beyond the canal and -accessible to the growing company of his lovers in the city. There -things went with a snap and a roar. From every quarter the people came -to hear this African Boanerges. The crowds and songs and riotous shouts -of his young church filled the neighbourhood. Constant processions, -with Jasper at the head, visited the river or canal, to give baptism to -the multiplying converts. - -Meanwhile, however, the northern part of the city was fast becoming -the Africa of Richmond. Into its meaner outskirts at first the tide -began to roll, but in a little while the white people began to retreat, -street after street, until a vast area was given up to the coloured -people. Jasper’s people, also, as they prospered, began to settle in -this new Africa, and Jasper found once more that he was simply dwelling -in tents, when the time was coming for the building of the temple. - -Jasper was on the outlook for a new location. Finally he hit upon an -old brick church building, at the corner of Duval and St. John Streets. -The Presbyterians, who had started this mission years before, had -despaired of success under the changed conditions and they offered -the house for sale, the price being $2,025. The sense of growth and -progress fairly maddened this unique and fascinating preacher with -enthusiasm. He had found a home for his people at last, and yet, in -point of fact, he had not. The house was a magnificent gain on their -old quarters, and yet every Sunday afternoon found most of his crowd -on the outside. Quite soon his people had to enlarge and remodel -the house, and this they did at a cost of $6,000. By that time the -membership was well on towards 2,000. There they dwelt for a number -of years until the church became the centre of the religious life in -that part of the town. “John Jasper,” as he was universally called, -had easily become the most attractive and popular minister of his -race in the city. By this time he was over sixty years of age, and it -would have taken much to have quenched the yet unwasted buoyancy and -vitality of his ministry. Necessity demanded another building, and in -the later prime of his kingly manhood, and very largely by his personal -forcefulness and intrepid leadership, he led a movement for a house of -worship that would be respectable in almost any part of Richmond. What -was more to his purpose, it was very capacious, wisely adapted to the -wants of his people and a fitting monument to his constructive resource -and enthusiasm. It is said that he, out of his own slender resources, -gave $3,000 to the building fund, and this was probably in addition -to great sums of money given him by white people who went to hear him -preach and who delighted to honour and cheer the old man. I suppose -that thousands of dollars were given him from no motive save that of -kindness towards him, and the donours would just as soon have given -the money directly to him and for his own use. They helped to build -the church simply to please the old man whose eloquence and honesty -had won their hearts. His love for his church amounted to devotion. He -had seen it grow from the most insignificant beginning, had watched -the tottering steps of its childhood, and with pride natural and -affectionate had gloried in its prosperity. - -But be it said to the old man’s honour that he was too great to be -conceited. He had no sense of boastfulness or self-glorification about -the church. He had the frankness to tell the truth about things when it -was necessary, but he had too much manly modesty to claim distinction -for the part he had borne in the building up of the church. Indeed, -he was strangely silent about his relations with the church, and his -dominant feeling was one of affectionate solicitude for the future of -the church rather than of self-satisfaction on account of its history. - -There was a strain of severity in Jasper. He had some of the temper of -the reformer. He was quick,--often too quick--in condemning those who -criticised him. The fact is, he was so unfeignedly honest that he could -not be patient towards those whose sincerity or honesty he doubted. -For those who plotted against the church or gave trouble in other ways -he had little charity. Those that would not work in harness, and help -to move things along, he was quite willing to show to the church door. -For his part, he could not love those very warmly who did not love the -“Sixth Mount Zion.” - -This may be the right place to say a word or two as to Jasper’s -enemies. He was a man of war, and it may be that his prejudices -sometimes got in the saddle. But not very often. Possibly, his most -striking characteristic was his bottom sense of justice. He told the -truth by instinct, and it never occurred to him to take an undue -advantage. If, however, a man wronged him, he was simply terrible in -bringing the fellow to book. There was a case, in which it is better -not to mention names, in which an insidious and grievous accusation was -brought against this sturdy old friend of the faith. The charge sought -to fasten falsehood upon Jasper. That was enough for him,--it amounted -to a declaration of war, and at once he entered upon the conflict. -Never did he cease the strife until the charge was unsaid. Nothing, in -short, could terrify him. - -It must not be inferred that those who assailed him with questions and -arguments were put into the category of personal enemies. Controversy -was exactly to his taste. All he asked of the other man was to state -his proposition, and he was ready for the contest. Not that he went -into it pell-mell. By no means; he took time for preparation, and when -he spoke it was hard to answer him. This, of course, applies when the -questions were theological and Scriptural, and not scientific. His -knowledge of the Scriptures was remarkable, and his spiritual insight -into the doctrines of the Bible was extraordinary. When he preached, he -supported every point with Scriptural quotations, invariably giving the -chapter and verse, and often adding, “Ef yer don’ find it jes’ ezackly -ez I tells yer, yer kin meet me on de street nex’ week an’ say ter me: -‘John Jasper, you ar er lier,’ an’ I won’ say er wurd.” - -What gave to Jasper an exalted and impressive presence was his -insistent claim that he was a God-sent man. This he asserted in -almost every sermon, and with such evident conviction that he forced -other people to believe it. Even those who differed with him were -constrained to own his sincerity and Godliness. It was impossible to -be with him much without being impressed that he was anointed of God -for his work. It was in this that his people gloried. Their faith in -him was preëminent,--far above every question--and he was also full of -inspiration. You may talk with his disciples now, wherever you meet -them, and they are quick to tell you that “Brer Jasper was certinly -aninted uv God,” and even the more intelligent of the people ascribed -his greatness to the fact that he was under the power of the Holy -Ghost. Many wicked people heard him preach, and some of them still went -their wicked way, but they felt that the power of God was with Jasper, -and they were always ready to say so. In many points, John Jasper was -strikingly like John the Baptist,--a just man and holy, and the people -revered him in a way I never met with in any other man. - - - - -VII - -THE PICTURE-MAKER - - -In the circle of Jasper’s gifts his imagination was preëminent. It -was the mammoth lamp in the tower of his being. A matchless painter -was he. He could flash out a scene, colouring every feature, defining -every incident and unveiling every detail. Time played no part in the -performance,--it was done before you knew it. Language itself was of -second moment. His vocabulary was poverty itself, his grammar a riot -of errors, his pronunciation a dialectic wreck, his gestures wild -and unmeaning, his grunts and heavings terrible to hear. At times he -hardly talked but simply emitted; his pictures were simply himself in -flame. His entire frame seemed to glow with living light, and almost -wordlessly he wrought his miracles. But do not misunderstand. Some -insisted on saying that education would have stripped John of his -genius by subduing the riot of his power and chastening the fierceness -of his imagination. I think not, for John in a good sense was educated. -He was a reverential and laborious student for half-a-century. He -worked on his sermons with a marked assiduity and acquired the skill -and mastership of faithful struggle. Even his imagination had to work, -and its products were the fruit of toil. There was no mark of the -abnormal or disproportionate in his sky, but all the stars were big -and bright. He was well ballasted in his mental make-up, and in his -most radiant pictures there was an ethical regard for facts, and an -instinctive respect for the truth. Moreover, his ministrations fairly -covered the theological field, were strongly doctrinal, and he grappled -with honest vigour the deepest principles of the Gospel. He was also -intensely practical, scourging sin, lashing neglect, and with lofty -authority demanding high and faithful living. - -Think not of Jasper merely as a pictorial preacher. There were wrought -into his pictures great principles and rich lessons. But now and then -he would present a sermon which was largely a series of pictures from -beginning to end. His imagination would be on duty all the time and -yet never flag. I cannot forget his sermon on Joseph and his Brethren. -It was a stirring presentation of the varied scenes in that memorable -piece of history. He opened on the favouritism of Jacob, and was -exceedingly strong in condemning partiality, as unhappily expressed -in the coat of many colours. That brief part was a sermon itself for -parents. From that he passed quickly to the envy of his brothers, -jealousy was a demon creeping in among them, inflicting poisonous -stings, and spreading his malignant power, until murder rankled in -every heart. Then came Joseph, innocent and ignorant of offending, to -fall a victim to their conspiracy, with the casting of him into the -pit, the selling of him to the travelling tradesmen, the showing to -Jacob of the blood-stained coat, with scene after scene until the happy -meeting at last between Jacob and his long lost son. - -One almost lived a lifetime under the spell of that sermon. It was -eloquent, pathetic, terrific in its denunciations, rich in homely -piety, and with strains of sweetness that was as balm to sorrowing -souls. The effects were as varied as human thoughts and sentiments. The -audience went through all moods. Now they were bent down as if crushed -with burdens; now they were laughing in tumults at the surprises and -charms of heavenly truth; anon they were sobbing as if all hearts were -broken, and in a moment hundreds were on their feet shaking hands, -shouting, and giving forth snatches of jubilant song. This all seems -extravagant, without sobriety entirely, but those that were there, -perhaps without an exception, felt that it was the veritable house of -God and the gate of heaven. - -At other times, Jasper’s sermons were sober and deliberate, sometimes -even dull; but rarely did the end come without a burst of eloquence -or an attractive, entertaining picture. But, remember, that his -pictures were never foreign to his theme. They were not lugged in -to fill up. They had in them the might of destiny and fitted their -places, and fitted them well. Often they came unheralded, but they were -evidently born for their part. On one occasion his sermon was on Enoch. -It started out at a plodding gait and seemed for a time doomed to -dullness, for Jasper could be dull sometimes. At one time he brought a -smile to the faces of the audience, in speaking of Enoch’s age, by the -remark: “Dem ole folks back dar cud beat de presunt ginerashun livin’ -all ter pieces.” - -As he approached the end of his sermon, his face lighted up and took on -a new grace and passion, and he went out with Enoch on his last walk. -That walk bore him away to the border of things visible; earthly scenes -were lost to view; light from the higher hills gilded the plains. Enoch -caught sight of the face of God, heard the music and the shouting of a -great host, and saw the Lamb of God seated on the throne. The scene was -too fair to lose, and Enoch’s walk quickened into a run which landed -him in his father’s house. It was a quick, short story, told in soft -and mellow tones, and lifted the audience up so far that the people -shouted and sang as if they were themselves entering the gates of -heaven. - -One of his more elaborate descriptions, far too rich to be reproduced, -celebrated the ascension of Elijah. There was the oppressive -unworldliness of the old prophet, his efforts to shake off Elisha, -and Elisha’s wise persistence in clamouring for a blessing from his -spiritual father. But it was when the old prophet began to ascend that -Jasper, standing off like one apart from the scene, described it so -thrillingly that everything was as plain as open day. To the people, -the prophet was actually and visibly going away. They saw him quit the -earth, saw him rise above the mountain tops, sweeping grandly over the -vast fields of space, and finally saw him as he passed the moon and -stars. Then something happened. In the fraction of a second Jasper was -transmuted into Elijah and was actually in the chariot and singing with -extraordinary power the old chorus: “Going up to heaven in a chariot of -fire.” The scene was overmastering! For a time I thought that Jasper -was the real Elijah, and my distinct feeling was that the song which -he sang could be heard around the world. Of course, it was not so; but -there was something in the experience of the moment that has abided -with me ever since. - -At a funeral one Sunday I saw Jasper attempt a dialogue with death, -himself speaking for both. The line of thought brought him face to face -with death and the grave. The scene was solemnized by a dead body in a -coffin. He put his hands over his mouth and stooped down and addressed -death. Oh, death--death, speak to me. Where is thy sting? And then with -the effect of a clairvoyant he made reply: “Once my sting was keen and -bitter, but now it is gone. Christ Jesus has plucked it out, and I -have no more power to hurt His children. I am only the gatekeeper to -open the gateway to let His children pass.” In closing this chapter an -incident will largely justify my seemingly extraordinary statements as -to the platform power of this unschooled negro preacher in Virginia. - -In company with a friend I went very often Sunday afternoons to hear -Jasper and the fact was bruited about quite extensively, and somewhat -to the chagrin of some of my church-members. Two of them, a professor -in Richmond College and a lawyer well-known in the city, took me to -task about it. They told me in somewhat decided tones that my action -was advertising a man to his injury, and other things of a similar -sort. I cared but little for their criticism, but told them that if -they would go to hear him when he was at his best, and if afterwards -they felt about him as they then felt, I would consider their -complaints. They went the next Sunday. The house was overflowing, and -Jasper walked the mountain tops that day. His theme was “The raising -of Lazarus” and by steps majestic he took us along until he began to -describe the act of raising Lazarus from the dead. It happened that -the good professor was accompanied by his son, a sprightly lad of -about ten, who was sitting between his father and myself. Suddenly the -boy, evidently agitated, turned to me and begged that we go home at -once. I sought to soothe him, but all in vain, for as he proceeded the -boy urgently renewed his request to go home. His father observed his -disquietude and putting an arm around him restored him to calmness. -After the service ended and we had reached the street, I said to him: -“Look here, boy, what put you into such a fidget to quit the church -before the end of the service?” “Oh, doctor, I thought he had a dead -man under the pulpit and was going to take him out,” he said. My lawyer -brother heard the sermon and with profound feeling said, “Hear that, -and let me say to you that in a lifetime I have heard nothing like it, -and you ought to hear that man whenever you can.” - -I heard no later criticisms from any man concerning my conduct in -evincing such cordial interest in this eloquent son of Fluvanna. - -It was only necessary to persuade Jasper’s critics to hear him, to -remove all question as to his genuine character and effective spiritual -ministry. - - - - -VIII - -JASPER’S STAR WITNESS - - -The domestic history of this rare and gifted man was not without -its tragical incidents. One of the worst features of slavery, as an -institution in the South, was the inevitable legislation which it -necessitated, and under which many grievous wrongs were perpetrated. -The right of the slave owner to the person of the slave carried with it -the authority to separate man and wife at the dictate of self-interest, -and that was often done, though it ought to be said that thousands of -kind-hearted men and women did their utmost to mitigate the wrongs -which such legislation legalized. In the sale of the negroes regard was -often had for the marriage relation, and it was arranged so that the -man and wife might not be torn asunder. But it was not always this way. -Too often the sanctity of marriage and the laws of God concerning it -were sacrificed to the greed of the slaveholder. - -If the tradition of Mr. Jasper’s first marriage is to be accepted as -history, then he was the victim of the cruel laws under which the -institution of slavery was governed. In the changes which came to -him in the breaking up of the family to which he belonged his lot was -cast for a while in the city of Williamsburg. The story is that he -became enamoured of a maiden bearing the name of Elvy Weaden, and he -was successful in his suit. It chanced, however, that on the very day -set for his marriage, he was required to go to Richmond to live. The -marriage was duly solemnized and he was compelled to leave his bride -abruptly, but was buoyed with the hope that fairer days would come -when their lot would be cast together. The fleeting days quenched the -hope and chilled the ardour of the bride, and in course of time the -impatient woman notified Jasper that unless he would come to see her -and they could live together, she would account herself free to seek -another husband. He was not a man to brook mistreatment, and he made -short work of the matter. He wrote her that he saw no hope of returning -to Williamsburg, and that she must go ahead and work out her own fate. -Naturally enough, the difficulties under which the married life had to -be maintained served to weaken seriously the marital tie and to imperil -the virtue of the slaves. But this remark ought not to be made without -recalling the fact that there were thousands and tens of thousands of -happy and well-governed families among the slaves of the South. - -Jasper felt seriously the blight of this untimely marriage and he -seems to have remained unmarried until after he united with the church -and became a preacher. In time, his thoughts turned again to marriage. -He was then a member of the First African Baptist Church of Richmond. -He took the letter which his wife had written him some time before -and presented it to the church and asked what was his duty under the -circumstances. It was a complex and vexing question, but his brethren, -after soberly weighing the matter, passed a resolution expressing the -conviction that it would be entirely proper for him to marry again. -Accordingly, about five years after his conversion, he married a woman -bearing the unusual name of Candus Jordan. According to all reports, -this marriage was far more fruitful in children than in the matter of -connubial peace and bliss for the high-strung and ambitious Jasper. It -seems that the case must have had some revolting features, as in due -time Jasper secured a divorce and was fully justified by his brethren -and friends in taking this action. Evidently this separation from -his wife, which was purely voluntary, in no way weakened him in the -confidence and good-will of the people. - -Years after his divorce, Jasper married Mrs. Mary Anne Cole. There were -no children by this marriage, but his wife had a daughter by her former -marriage who took the name of Jasper, and was adopted in fact and in -heart as the daughter of this now eminent and beloved minister. This -wife died in 1874, and Jasper married once more. His widow survived him -and still lives, a worthy and honoured woman whose highest earthly joy -is the recollection of having been the wife of Elder John Jasper, and -also the solace and cheer of his old age. This is a checkered story of -a matrimonial career, but justice loudly demands the statement that -through it all John Jasper walked the lofty path of virtue and honour. -It was impossible, however, for a man like Jasper to escape the arrows -of the archer. Jealousy, envy, and slander were often busy with his -name, and if foul charges could have befouled him none could have -been fouler than he. But his daily life was a clean and unanswerable -story. Reproaches would not stick to him, and the deadliest darts fell -harmless at his feet. His noble seriousness, his absorption in the -study of the Bible, his enthusiasm in the ministry, and, most of all, -his quiet walk with God, saved him from the grosser temptations of life. - -Perhaps the finest incident in all the story of his life was the -perfect faith of the people in Jasper. This was true everywhere -that he was known, but it was most powerfully true among those who -stood nearest to him and knew him best. Jasper, to them, was the -incarnation of goodness. They felt his goodness, revelled in it, and -lived on it. Their best earthly inspirations sprang out of the fair -and incorruptible character of their pastor. If his enemies sought -to undermine and defame him, they rallied around him and fought his -battles. Little cared he for the ill things said about him personally. -Conscious of his rectitude, and, embosomed in the love of his great -church, he walked serenely and triumphantly in the way of the Lord. He -believed in the sanctity of his home, and he hallowed it by the purity, -honesty, and charity of his brethren. - -Anxious to get some living testimony in regard to the personal -character of Jasper, I determined to get in contact with a few -persons who stood very close to him, and that, for many years. In -what follows is found the testimony of a truly excellent woman, to -whom I was directed, with the assurance that what she said might be -taken as thoroughly trustworthy. She gave her name as Virginia Adams, -and, judging from her appearance and manner, one would probably write -her down as not far from threescore and ten. She was for many years -a member of his church. The following story from her lips is not -connected, but it is simply the unmethodical testimony of a sensible -woman, bearing about it the marks of sincerity, intelligence, and -reverential affection. - -“Brer’ Jasper was as straightfor’d a man es you cud see, and yer cud -rely ’pon ev’ry word he told yer. He made it so plain dat watuver he -tol’ yer in his sermon yer cud read it right thar in yer heart, jes’ -like he had planted and stamped it in yer. I can’t read myse’f, but I -kno’ well when anybody mek any mistake ’bout de passages which Brer -Jasper used to preach ’bout. I’ve got ’em jes’ de same es if I had ’em -printed on my mem’ry. His mi’ty sermon on Elijer is in me jes’ es he -preached it. I kin see Elijer es Elisha is runnin’ arter him,--kin see -de cheryot es it kum down, see Brer Jasper es he wuz pintin’ ter de -cheryot es it riz in its grand flight up de skies,--see Elijer es he -flung his mantul out es he went up, and I tell yer when Brer Jasper -began ter sing ’bout goin’ up ter heaven in a cheryot uv fire I cud see -everything jes’ es bright es day, and de people riz such a shout dat I -thought all de wurl’ wuz shoutin’. Yes, Brer Jasper wuz de kindes’ man -I reckon on de urth. Yer cudn’t finish tellin’ him ’bout folks dat wuz -in trouble and want, befo’ he’d be gittin’ out his money. He didn’t -look lik he keer much ’bout money,--he warn’t no money-seeker, and yit -he look lik he allus hev money, and he wuz allus de fust ter give. Jes’ -tell him wat wuz needed, and he begun fer to scratch in his pocket. - -“Brer Jasper kep’ things lively. People wuz talkin’ all de time ’bout -his sermons, and yer cud hear their argiments while yer wuz gwine ’long -de streets. Often his members an’ udder folks too wud git tangled up -’bout his doctrines and dey wud git up texs an’ subjiks an’ git him -ter preach ’bout ’em. Ef any uv his brutherin had trubbul wid passiges -uv de scripshur and went ter him ’bout ’em, you’d sure hear frum him -nex Sunday. He luv ter splain things fer his brutherin. - -“It wuz Bruther Woodson, de sexton uv de church, and anudder man dat -got Brer Jasper in ter dat gret ’citemint ’bout de sun. Dey got inter -a spute es to wheddur de sun went ’roun’ de wurl’ ur not, and dey took -it ter our pastor, and really I thought I nevur wud hear de end of dat -thing. Folks got arter Brer Jasper in de papurs and everywhar; but I -tell yer dey nevur skeered him. He wuz es brave es a lion, an’ I don’ -kno’ how often he preached dat sermon. It look lik all de people in de -wurl’ want to kum. - -“No, Brer Jasper wuz no money-grabbur. When de church wuz weak and -cudn’t raze much money, he nevur sot no salary. Yer cudn’t git him ter -do it. He tell ’em not ter trubble ’emselves, but jes’ giv him wat -dey chuze ter put in de baskit and he nevur made no kumplaint. Wen de -church got richer dey crowd ’im hard ter kno’ how much he wantid, and -he at las’ tell ’em dat he wud take $62.50 a month, and dat he didn’t -want no more dan dat. Wen de gret crowds got ter kummin’ and de white -folks too, and de money po’ed in so fas’ de brutherin farly quarl’d wid -him ter git his sal’ry raz’d, but he say No! I git nuff now, and I -want no more. I’m not here to gouge my people out of es much money es I -kin. He say he got nuff money to pay his taxes and buy wat he needed, -and if dey got more dan dey wantid let ’em take it and help de Lord’s -pore. Sometimes we used ter ’poun’’ de ole man, kerryin’ ’im all kinds -uv good things ter eat. He didn’t lik it at all, but tuk de things and -sont ’em ’roun’ ter de pore people. - -“Brer Jasper wuz nun uv yer parshul preachers. His church wuz his -family, and he had no favrites. He did not bow down ter de high nor -hol’ ’imsef ’bove de low. Enny uv his people cud kum ter him ’bout all -dere struggles and sorrers. He hated erroneyus doctrines. His faith in -de Bibul wuz powerful, and he luved it ’bove everything. He had awful -dreds ’bout wat mite kum ter de church wen he wuz gone. He sometimes -said in a mity solem way, ‘Wen I am daid and gone, yer will look out -ter whar my ashes lay and wish I wuz back here ter ’part ter yer de -pure wurd uv Gord agin. I got a fear dat dose dat kum arter me will try -ter pull down wat I built up. I pray Gord, my children will stand by de -ship uv Zion wen I’s gone.’ - -“Brer Jasper got troubles ’bout de way young childun wuz got inter -de church. He say ‘all yer got ter do is to pitty-pat em (making the -motion in the pulpit with his hands) on dere haids and dey are in de -kingdom. Sum uv yer duz the convertin’ of dese little uns instid er -leavin’ it ter God ter do de work.’ He believed in regenerashum of -folks. He preach’d ter de very last on being born agin, and he didn’t -want nobody ter kum inter his church wat ain’t felt de power uv de -sperrit in dere souls. - -“But Brer Jasper wuz a mity luver uv de childun. He had a great way -of stoppin’ and talkin’ ter dem on de street. He wuz a beautiful -story-teller, and de childrun often flocked ter his house ter hear -’im tell nice stories and all kine uv good tales. He kept pennies in -his pockets and often dropped ’em along for de chilrun--he had great -ways,--til de chilrun ud think he wuz de greatest man dat ever put foot -on de yearth. - -“Brer Jasper wuz sosherbul wid everybody, and nobody cud beat him as a -talker. He knew lots ’bout Richmond, and de ole times, and he had de -grandest stories and jokes dat he luved ter tell and dat de folks went -wild ter hear. He wuz great on jokes and cracked ’em in sech a funny -way dat folks most killed de ’sefs laughin’. But yer mus’ kno’ dat he -wuz mity keerful ’bout how he talked. Yer neer hear no bad words frum -his mouth. His stories he could tell ennywhar, and wuz jes’ as nice ter -de ladies as ter der men. He didn’t b’leve in no Sercities. Dey tried -ter git ’im in de Masons, and I don’t kno’ wat all, but he ain’t tech -none uv’em. He sez dar ain’t but one Grand Past Master and dat is King -Jesus. - -“Dey orf’n wanted ’im at de big public suppers war dey et an’ drank -an’ made speeches, but he wouldn’t go near; and den our high people -had der big suppers in dere houses and wanted de ’onur uv entertainin’ -Brer Jasper, but he didn’t hanker arter dose kind uv things. He wanted -his meals simple and reglur and uv de plain sort, and as fer dese high -ferlootin’ feasts dey didn’t suit his taste. - -“It look lik Brer Jasper couldn’t stop preachin’. It wuz his food and -drink, an’ enny time he’d git way beyond his strength. I’ve seen ’im -wen it looked lik de las’ bref hed gone out’en his body, and sometimes -some uv de brutherin say he did not look like a natchul man. He seemed -more in hevun dan on urth. I most reckun some uv de brutherin thought -he wuz gone up in ter heavun like Lijer. Dey go in de pulpit and tek -hol’ uv ’im and say Brer Jasper yer dun preached nuff. Don’t wear -yerself down. Tek yer seat and res’ yersef. He knew dey did it fer luv, -and he took it kind, but he didn’t always stop at once. - -“Brer Jasper had a walk mity remarkbul. Wen he went in de streets he -wuz so stately and grave lik dat he walk diffrunt from all de people. -Folks wud run out uv all de stores, or out on der porches, or turn back -ter look wen Jasper kum ’long. Oh, it made us proud ter look at him. -No other preacher could walk like him. Yer felt de ground got holy war -he went ’long. Sum uv ’em say it wuz ekul ter a revival ter see John -Jasper moving lik a king ’long de street. Often he seemed ter be wrappd -up in his thoughts and hardly to know whar he wuz. De people feared ’im -so much,--wid sech a luvin’ kind uv fear, dat dey hardly dared to speak -ter him. - -“Brer Jasper wuz mity fond uv walkin’ in de pulpit. It wuz a great -large place, and he frisked round most lik he wuz a boy. Wen he filled -up wid de rousement of the Gospel on him, it was just glor’us to see -him as he whirled about the stand; the faces of his folks shone wid de -brightness of de sun, and they ofen made the house ring with laughter -and with their shouts. - -“One thing he did dat always made his congregasons rock wid joy, an’ -dat wuz ter sing wile he wuz preachin’. He wuz mos’ ninety years old, -but he never lost his power ter sing, an’ wen he struck er tune de -note uv it shot in de people lik arrurs from anguls quivur. Yer cudn’t -hol’ still wen Jasper sung. Soon as he started, de people would ’gin -to swing an’ jine in tel de music filled de house. He cud sing a heap -uv songs, but he had a few great songs. Yer orter to hear him sing by -hiself his favrite piece.” Here it is: - - - EV’BUDY GOT TER RISE TER MEET KING JESUS IN DE MORNIN’ - - “‘Ev’budy got ter rise ter meet King Jesus in de mornin’; - De high and de lo’; - De rich and de po’, - De bond and de free, - As well as me. - - “‘Yer got ter rise ter meet King Jesus in de mornin’, - Weddur yer iz purparred er no, - Ter Gord’s trirbewnul - Yer got ter go, - Yer got ter rise ter meet King Jesus in de mornin’. - - “‘De lurnid and de unlurnid, - Barbareun, Jentile and de Jew, - Hev yer red hit in Hiz wurd, - Dat de peepul wuz drondid in de flud, - Ev’budy got ter rise ter meet King Jesus in de mornin’.’ - - -“Dar wuz a song dat Jasper made hisself. Some called it a ballard, and -udders said it wuz a poem; but wat evur twuz, it wuz glory ter hear him -sing it. It went dis way:-- - - - “‘I beheld and lo - A grate multertude dat no man kin number, - Thousuns and thousuns, an’ ten thousun times ten thousun, - Standin’ befo’ de Lam’, - And dey had pams in dere hans. - - “‘Dey nevur restid day nur night, - Cryin’ Holy, Holy, Holy, iz de Lord, Gord uv Sabbuth - Dat wuz, an’ iz, and iz ter kum, - I saw a mi’ty ainjel flyin’ through de midst uv heaven, - Cryin’ wid a loud voice, - Sayin’ Woe! Woe! Woe! be unto de earth by reazun uv de trumpit, - Dat which is yet ter soun’. - And when de las’ trumpit shall soun’, - See de great men and noble, - De rich, and de po’, de bond and de free, - Gueddur ’emselves terguedder, cryin’ ter de rocks, an’ ter de mountins, - Ter fall ’pon ’em an’ hide ’em, - From de face uv Him dat sitteth on de throne, - De great day uv His rath hav kum an’ who shall be able ter stan’?’ - - -“And den, too, he had his shoutin’ song. He never sung it ’cept wen -de heavenly fires wuz burnin’ all over his soul. He kept tune wid his -walkin’ and wid de clappin’ uv his hands. Dis song never got in ’cept -at de close uv sermons dat had heaven in ’em, and somehow he jumped -from de sermon all at once in ter de song an’ it would hev fairly kilt -yer wid joy ter hear it. Here is de way he put it:-- - - - “‘My soul will mount higher in a chariot of fire, - And de wurl’ is put under my feet.’ - - -“Dis wuz the start uv it, but dere wuz heaps more. - -“It wuz an awful time ter us wen we begun ter see dat our ole pastor -wuz near ter de end uv his race. We had been a-dreddin’ it by degrees -and it broke on us more and more. I think de dere man tried ter git us -reddy fer it. He kep sayin’ to us: ‘My chilrun, my work on de earth -is dun. I doan ask death no more odds dan a horse-fly.’ But den he’d -preach so powerful dat we’d hope dat he’d hol’ out a good deal longer. -He said ter me one day: ‘Compartivly speakin’, my time in dis wurl’ is -skin deep,’ and I look at my hand and think how thin de skin is, and I -feel dat sho’ nuff he mus’ soon be goin’. - -“One night at de church he turned hissef loos. He said dat as fer -’imself it mattered nuthin’. He had paid all his debts, dat he did not -keer whar or when he dropped; but he wanted everybody ter know dat he -wud be wid Jesus. Dat wuz one uv de things dat he luved ter say. Den he -told de church dat dar wuz nuthin’ lef’ uv him,--dat he wanted ’em to -git tergedder and pay off der church debt and live tergedder lik little -chil’run. He wuz mity gret dat night, an’ it looked lik de powers uv de -wurl’ ter kum wuz dar. - -“De people went out silent lik an’ dey said dat de gud ole pastor -preached his own funeral dat night. He allus thought uv hissef es de -servant uv King Jesus. Dat wuz a slavery dat he liked and nevur wished -to git free from it. Towards de las’ he wuz all de time sayin’: ‘I am -now at de river’s brink and waitin’ fer furder orders. It’s de same ter -me ter go or stay, jes’ es Gord commands.’ - -“Some folks said dat he wuz conceited. Dey did not know him. He wuz too -full uv de fear uv Gord to think he wuz sum great body, an’ he know’d -his own sins an’ troubles too well ter boast. He must hev known dat -Gord made him more uv a man dan de gen’ral run. He had ter kno’ dat, -’caus’ it wuz proved ter him every day, an’ in a heap uv ways. Besides -dat, he hilt hisself up high. He had good respec’ for hisself and felt -dat a man lik he wuz had got ter behave hisself ’cordin’ ter wat he -wuz. But dat wuz very different from bein’ one uv dese giddy little -fops dat is always trancin’ aroun’ showin’ hisself off, and braggin’ -’bout everything. I often wondered how Jasper could be so umble lik, -wen so many cacklin’ fools wuz bodderin’ ’im. - -“Brer Jasper could git up big things wen he tried. Wen dey got in a -tight place ’bout de church an’ had to have money, he got up a skurshun -ter Washington. He sent out de members ter sell tickets, an’ dey sold -so many dat dey had ter have two trains ter carry ’em, and jes’ think, -sir, he cleared $1,500 fer his church by dat skurshun, and he got up -anudder to Staunton dat wuz mos’ as good as de udder one. Ah, he wuz a -leader, I tell you he wuz. We never could have had our fine church if -it had not bin fer him. - -“It’s mity easy fer folks ter forget things. Some folks are teerin’ -’roun’ as if the church b’longed ter ’em now, and dey are ready ter -tell you dat Jasper made mistakes and all dat, but sum uv us knows well -dat Jasper built dat church. You need nevur spect ter hear any more -sech preachin’ in dat pulpit as dat grand ole man uv God used ter give -us. - -“You know Brer Jasper got convicted uv his sins fer de first time on -de 4th of July in Capitol Squar’, Richmond. He use ter tell us ’bout -it many a time. While de folks wuz swarmin’ ’roun’ and laffin’ and -hurrahin’, an arrer uv convicshun went in ter his proud heart an’ -brought ’im low. He never forgot dat place, and when he got ter be an -ole man he wuz kinder drawn ter Capitol Squar. He luv ter go down dar. -He like de cool shade uv de trees and ’joyed de res’, dozin’ sometimes -wen he wuz tired. De people, and speshully de chilrun, used ter git -’roun’ him an’ ask him questions an’ make him talk. He lik things lik -dat. Some uv de Jews used ter kum ter hear Brer Jasper preach. They -called him Father Abraham and showed gret gud feelin’ fur ’im. Some uv -’em used ter meet him in de Cap’tol Squar’ an’ dey would have great ole -talks tergudder, an’ he didn’t mind tellin’ ’em de truth an’ he told -’em dat dey wuz de chilrun uv Abraham, but dat dey had gone all to -pieces. - -“Dey tell me he never went ter skule ’cep’ six months, an’ I hear dat -he jes’ studied wid a man dat taught him in a New York Speller book; -but when he spoke at de Y. M. C. A. and many uv de white gemmen went -ter hear ’im, they say he certainly used ellergunt language. I know he -could handle great words when he wanted to, an’ he could talk in de old -way, an’ he often loved to do dat.” - - - - -IX - -JASPER’S SERMON ON “DEM SEBUN WIMMIN” - - -“Did yer ebur git yer mine on wat Iz’er say in chapter fo’ an’ vurs -wun? Listen ter hiz wurds: ‘An’ sebun wimmin shall tek hol’ uv wun man -in dat day, sayin’ we will eat our own bread an’ wear our own ’parrel; -only let us be called by Thy name; tek Thou erway our reproach.’ De -Profit iz furloserfizin’ ’bout de mattur uv wimmin,--speshully wen dar -is sebun in de lan’, wen wars dun thin out de men and de wimmins feels -de stings an’ bites uv reproach. I tell yer, yer bettur not fling yer -gibes an’ sneers at er ’omun. She wuzn’t made ter stan’ it, an’ wats -mo’, she ain’t gwine ter stan’ it. Shure ez yer iz settin’ on dat bench -she will fly erway an’ hide hersef, or she will fly at yer, an’ den, -ole fellur, yer had bettur be pullin’ out fer de tall timbur fast. Gord -dun settled it dat wun ’omun iz nuff fer a man, an’ two iz er war on -yer hans,--bles yer, it is. - -“But dar kums times wen it goze hard wid wimmin. Dey iz lef out uv de -lottry uv heavun,--dey draws blanks an’ dey gits ter be a laughin’ -stock uv de ungodly. Not dat dey iz crazy ter marry an’ not dat dey iz -uv dat flautin’, slatturn lot dat’s allus gallantin’ eroun’ ertryin’ -ter git a man ter ’sport um. Dese wuz squar, alrite wimmin. Wurk wud -not skeer um. Dey wuz willin’ ter mek dere bread an’ cloes, ter pay -dere own way, purvidid dey cud be Mrs. Sumbody, an’ in dat way ’skape -de dev’lish jeers an’ slites uv base men. Fur my part, I feels quite -sorry fur dat class uv ladiz, an’ I kinder feels my blud gittin’ up wen -I finds folks castin’ reproachiz on dere fair names. - -“But my mastur in de skies! Dis pikshur here uv de Profit iz too much -fer me. It mek me feel lik tekin’ ter de woods, in quick ordur. Lord, -wat wud I do ef I wuz pursued by er army uv seben wimmin axin me ter -’low each wun uv um ter be call’d Mrs. Jasper? It may be dat each wun -wuz fer hersef ter de limit, an’ hoped ter shet out de udder six an’ -hev de man ter hersef;--an’ ef she wuz ter hev ’im ertall she ort ter -hav all uv im. Dar iz not nuff ter d’vide; I tel yer, dar ain’t, an’ -wen yer git er haf intrest in er man yer iz po’ indeed, an’ ef only wun -sevunth iz yourn, yer had es wel start on ter de po’house ’fo yer git -yer dinner. - -“A gud ’omun can’t byar ter be oberluked. It ain’t her nature, an’ it -iz a site fer de anguls ter see wat sort uv men sum wimmin wil tek -sooner dan be lef’ out inti’ly. - -“But wat gits me arter all iz a man. I see ’im in de quiet uv de -day,--de Sabbuth day. He teks a strole fer de koolin’ uv hiz mine, -erwearin’ uv hiz nice cloes, an’ feelin’ lik a new man in de City -Kounsil; de fust thing he know’d a lady glide up ter ’im an’ put her -han’ lite on hiz arm. He jump ’roun’ an’ she say, mity flush’d up, -‘’skuse me!’ - -“He see at wunst she er lady, but he wuz kinder lo’ in hiz sperrit, an’ -yit he wish in hiz hart dat she had gon ter de udder en uv de rode, but -he want ter hear her out. - -“She tel ’im de site uv a man wuz medsin fer bad eyes, dat nurly all uv -’em wuz cut down in de war an’ dat in konsquens it wuz er lonesum time -fer wimmin; dey hev nobody now ringin’ de do’ bells in de eebnin; no -boys sendin’ ’em flowers an’ ’fekshuns; no sweetarts tekin’ ’em walkin’ -on Sunday arternoons, an’ weddins gwine out er fashun. An’ dis ain’t de -wust uv it. It mek us shamed. De wives,--dey purrades roun’ an’ brags -’bout dere ’ole mans’ an’ cuts der eye at us skornful; an’ de husban’s -iz mity nigh es bad, erpokin’ fun at us an’ axin erbout de chillun. - -“She say yer needn’ think we’re crazy ter marry; tain’t dat, an’ tain’t -dat we want yer ter ’sport us,--no, no! We hev money an’ kin funnish -our own vittuls an’ cloes, an’ we kin wuk; but it iz dat reproach dey -kas’ on us, de wear an’ tear uv bein’ laff’d at dat cuts us so deep. -Ef I cud be Mrs. Sumbody,--had sum proof dat I had de name uv sum -un,--sumthin’ ter rub off de reproach. Dat’s it,--dis ding-dongin’ uv -de fokes at me. - -“De man wuz pale es linnin, an’ wuz hopin’ ter ansur, but fo’ de wud -floo frum his lips ernudder ’omun hooked ’im on de ter side. Mursy uv -de Lord! two uv ’em had ’im an’ it luk lik dey wuz gwine ter rip ’im -in tew an’ each tek a haf. De las’ wun tel her tale jes’ lik de fust -wun an’ wuss. She brung in tears es part uv her argurmint, an’ de ter -wun got fretted an’ used wuds dat wud hev konkurred ’im ef jes’ den two -mo’,--two mo’, mine yer, mekin’ fo’ in all, hed not kum up an’ gits er -grip on de gemmun, an’ hiz eyes luk lik dey’d pop out his hed;--wun on -each side an’ two ter hiz face, an’ it seems he gwine ter faint. - -“‘Yer ladiz,’ he says, ‘may be rite in yer ’thuzasm, but yer iz too -menny. Up ter dis time I hev bin shy uv wun, but ef I cud be erlowed -ter choose jes’ wun I mite try it.’ - -“Den de fo’ wimmins begun ter git shaky wen a nur wun sailed in,--dat’s -five, den ernudder; dat’s six, and den wun mo’--SEBUN! - -“Luk, will yer! Sevun got wun man. It izn’t sed wedder de wimmin wuz -fer a partnurship wid de man es de kapertul, or wedder each uv ’em -hoped ter beat out de udder six; but wun thing we know an’ dat iz dat -de po’ man iz in de low grounds uv sorrur. Ter my min’, de pikshur iz -mity seerus, ebun do it mek us smile. Fur my po’ part, I iz glad we -lives in fairer times. In our day mens iz awful plen’ful wid us, tho’ -I kin not say dat de qualty iz fust class in ve’y menny. But I thanks -de Lord dat mos’ enny nice leddy kin git merrid in dese times ef dey -choose, an’ dat wid out gwine out sparkin’ fur de man. I notis dat ef -she stay ter home, ten her buznis, min’ her mudder, an’ not sweep de -streets too off’n wid her skirts, in de long run her modes’ sperrit -will win de day. I ubsurv ernudder thing; de unmerrid lady, de ole -maid es sum calls her,--need not hang her haid. Jes’ let her be quiet -an’ surv de Lord; jes’ not fret ’bout wat fools says,--dey duz er heep -uv talkin’, but it iz lik de cracklin’ uv de burnin’ sticks under de -pot, a big fuss an’ a littul heat. Fer my part, I honners de ’oman dat -b’haves hersef, briduls her tongue, duz her wuk, an’ sings es she goes -erlong. Her contentid sperrit beats a lazy husbun’ ebry time, an’ mity -off’n it brings er gud husbun’ erlong. - -“Es fer dese fokes dat flurts an’ skouts at ole maids dey ain’ fitten -ter live, an’ ort ter be in de bottum uv Jeems Rivur, ’cept’n’ dey’d -spile de watur. No gemmun nur no lady wud do it. - -“Now dis iz my wud ’bout de wimmin, an’ I hope yer lik it, but if yer -doant, jes’ ’member dat Jasper sed it, an’ will stan’ by it, til de -cows in de lo’er feil’ kums home.” - - - - -X - -JASPER GLIMPSED UNDER VARIOUS LIGHTS - - -Jasper’s mother was near the century line when she died, and he -attained unto the extraordinary age of eighty-nine. Truly there must -have been rare endurance in the texture of the stock. Jasper’s thoughts -did not turn to religion until he was twenty-seven and yet by reason -of his longevity he was a preacher for sixty years. During twenty-five -years of that time he was a slave, and he had about thirty-five years -of personal civil freedom, during which he won the distinctions that -will make him a figure slow to pass out of history. - -Jasper can have no successor. Freedom did not change him. It came too -late for him to be seriously affected by its transforming hand. It -never dazzled him by its festive charms nor crooked him with prejudice -against the white people. There was far more for him in the traditions, -sentiments, and habits of his bondage-days than in the new things -which emancipation offered. He never took up with gaudy displays which -marked his race in the morning of their freedom. This was especially -true as to his ministry. He clung without apology to the old ways. In -preaching, he spurned the new pulpit manners, the new style of dress, -and all new-fangled tricks, which so fascinated his race. He intoned -his sermons,--at least, in their more tender passages--sang the old -revival songs of the plantations and factories, and felt it a part of -his religion to smash, with giant hand, the innovations which the new -order was bringing in. Of all the men whom I have known this weird, -indescribable man cared the least for opposition;--unless he believed -it touched his personal honour or was likely to injure the cause of -religion. Indeed, he liked it. He was a born fighter and a stranger to -fear. There was a charm in his resentments: they were of a high order, -and inevitably commanded manly sympathy. He instinctively identified -himself with the Lord and felt that when he fought he was fighting -the Lord’s battles. Satire and sarcasm were like Toledo blades in his -hands. He often softened his attacks upon his enemies by such ludicrous -hits and provoking jests that you felt that, after all, his hostility -lacked the roots of hatred. He was far more prone to despise than to -hate his enemies. - -There is a curious fact in connection with Jasper’s language. Evidently -in his early days his speech was atrociously ungrammatical. His -dialect, while possessing an element of fascination, was almost -unspellable. During his long ministerial life his reading and contact -with educated people rooted out many of his linguistic excrescences. -There were times when he spoke with approximate accuracy, and even with -elegance; and yet he delighted, if indeed he was conscious of it, in -returning to his dialect and in pouring it forth unblushingly in its -worst shape, and yet always with telling effect. But the wonder of his -speaking was his practical independence of language. When he became -thoroughly impassioned and his face lit with the orator’s glory, he -seemed to mount above the bondage of words: his feet, his eyes, indeed -every feature of his outer being became to him a new language. If he -used words, you did not notice it You were simply entranced and borne -along on the mountain-tide of his passion. You saw nothing but him. You -heard _him_; you felt him, and the glow of his soul was language enough -to bring to you his message. It ought to be added that no man ever used -the pause more eloquently or effectively than Jasper, and his smile was -logic; it was rhetoric; it was blissful conviction. - -Those who thought that Jasper was a mere raver did not know. Logic was -his tower of strength. He never heard of a syllogism, but he had a way -of marshalling his facts and texts which set forth his view as clear -as the beaming sun. The Bible was to him the source of all authority, -while his belief in the justice and truth of God was something -unworldly. He understood well enough his frailties, his fallibility, -and the tendency of the human soul towards unfairness and deceit. I -heard him say once with irresistible effect: “Brutherin, Gord never -lies; He can’t lie. Men lie. I lie sometimes, I am very sorry to say -it. I oughtn’t to lie, and it hurts me when I do. I am tryin’ ter git -ober it, and I think I will by Gord’s grace, but de Lord nevur lies.” -His tone in saying this was so humble and candid that I am sure the -people loved him and believed in him more for what he said. A hypocrite -could never have said it. Jasper could never be put into words. As he -could speak without words so it is true that words could never contain -him,--never tell his matchless story, never make those who did not hear -him and see him fully understand the man that he was. - -A notable and pathetic episode in Jasper’s history was the fact -that during the bitter days of the Confederacy when Richmond was -crowded with hospitals,--hospitals themselves crowded with the -suffering,--Jasper used to go in and preach to them. It was no idle -entertainment provided by a grotesque player. He always had a message -for the sorrowful. There is no extended record of his labours in the -hospitals, but the simple fact is that he, a negro labourer with -rude speech, was welcomed by these sufferers and heard with undying -interest; no wonder they liked him. His songs were so mellow, so -tender, so reminiscent of the southern plantation and of the homes -from which these men came. His sermons had the ring of the old -gospel preaching so common in the South. He had caught his manner of -preaching from the white preachers and they too had been his only -theological teachers. We can easily understand how his genius, seasoned -with religious reverence, made him a winsome figure to the men who -languished through the weary days on the cots. It cannot be said too -often that Jasper was the white man’s preacher. Wherever he went, the -Anglo-Saxon waived all racial prejudices and drank the truth in as it -poured in crystal streams from his lips. - -Quite a pretty story is told of Jasper at the beginnings of his -ministry. It seems that he went down into the eastern part of his town -one Sunday to preach and some boisterous ruffians interfered, declaring -that a negro had no right to go into the pulpit and that they would not -allow Jasper to preach. A sailor who chanced to be present and knew -Jasper faced these disorderly men and declared to them that Jasper -was the smartest man in Virginia and that if he could take him to the -country from whence he had come he would be treated with honour and -distinction. There was also a small white boy standing by, and touched -by the sincerity and power of Jasper, he pluckily jumped into the scene -and exclaimed, “Yes, let him go on; what he says is all right. I have -read it all in the Bible, and why shouldn’t he speak?” The incipient -mob was dispersed, and his audience was fringed with a multitude of -white people who were attracted to the scene. - -It is not intended by these things said, concerning Jasper’s favour -with the white people, to indicate that Jasper, in the least degree, -was not with his own race. Far from that. He loved his own people and -was thoroughly identified with them; but he was larger than his race. -He loved all men. He had grown up with that pleasing pride that the -coloured people who lived in prominent families had about white people. -Then, too, he had always been a man who had won favour wherever he -went, and the white race had always had a respect and affection for -him. Jasper was never ungrateful. - -There were sometimes hard passages in the road which Jasper travelled. -At the end of the war he was left high and dry, like driftwood on -the shore. He had no church; no place to preach; no occupation. His -relations with the white race were shattered, and things were grim -enough; but ill-fortune could not break him. A large part of Richmond -was in ashes, and in some places at least the work of rebuilding -commenced at once,--or rather a clearing off of the debris with a view -to rebuilding. Jasper walked out and engaged himself to clean bricks. -During the Egyptian bondage the Hebrews made bricks and thought they -had a hard lot; but Jasper spent the first days of his freedom in -the brick business,--a transient expedient for keeping soul and body -together until he could get on his feet again. Little thought the eager -men who were trying to lay the foundations for their future fortunes -that in the tall serious negro who sat whacking hour after hour at the -bricks was one of God’s intellectual noblemen. Born in bondage, lowly -in his liberty and yet great in the gifts with which God had endowed -him, it was Jasper’s nature to be almost as cheerful when squatted on -a pile of bricks and tugging at their cleaning as if he had a seat in -a palace and was feeding on royal dainties. He carried the contented -spirit, and that too while he aspired after the highest. He did not -uselessly kick against the inevitable, but he always strove for the -best that was in his reach. - -One of the most serious jars of Jasper’s life was his conflict with -some of his brethren in connection with his notable and regrettable -sermon on the motion of the sun. Intelligent people do not need to -be told that Jasper knew nothing of natural science, and that his -venture into the field of astronomy was a blunder. It was a matter -that did not in the least involve his piety or his salvation, nor -even his ministerial efficiency. His whole bearing in the matter was -so evidently sincere, and his respect for the Bible, as he understood -it, was so unmeasured that it set him off rather to an advantage than -to a disadvantage. It is told in another place how he was drawn into -the preaching of that sermon which gave him an odd, and yet a genuine, -celebrity. It was no love for sensation and no attempt to show his -learning, but simply an attempt to vindicate the Bible as he understood -it. When the sermon was first delivered it created a wide-spread -sensation. Some of the coloured ministers of Richmond were shocked out -of their equanimity, and they felt that something must be done. It was -a case of hysterics. In a fit of freakish courage some of them made an -attack on Jasper. A letter was written to a Richmond paper and signed -by several prominent negro Baptists, one of them being the pastor of a -strong church. In this letter Jasper’s sermons were bitterly denounced, -and they were spoken of as “a base fabrication,” out of time and place, -and doing more harm than good. It was said further that those sermons -had drawn such crowds that it had resulted in the injury of a number of -persons, and that a better way for the author of these sermons would -be for him to preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified. - -Some time after this the Ebenezer Baptist Church called a conference -to consider the situation and to see if matters could not be adjusted. -Jasper was an ardent believer in the independence of the individual -Baptist church, and he was summoned to appear before that conference. -He refused to go, saying that he did not recognize the authority of -the church to interfere with him. Thereupon they sent a committee to -him inviting him to come and make any statement that he wished to make -concerning the question at issue. - -He went. The point in the published letter concerning Jasper that was -most offensive to him was the statement as to “base fabrication.” That -hit him between the joints of the harness. His soul was stirred with a -furious resentment, and when he got before that council and fell afoul -of the three men who had charged him with “a base fabrication” it was -a day not to be forgotten. When he had got through it would be hard to -say how many baskets would have been required to hold the fragments. -The man who had really written the letter suddenly discovered that it -had no reference on the earth to Brother Jasper. It was intended to -answer something that had been said in a paper in New York. Attempts -were made to refresh his memory. Quite a respectable minister reminded -this letter writer that they had talked together concerning this -letter, and that the attention of the writer was called to the “base -fabrication” part of it, but the memory of the brother could not be -revived. No stimulant could reach the case. Other folks might charge -Brother Jasper with base fabrication, but not this man. It was a -lamentable and discreditable conclusion. He was crippled in both feet -and respected by none. This ended the matter. Jasper strode away from -the council with the marks of victory about him; and while bad feeling -could not die at once, yet the attacks on Jasper went entirely out of -fashion. Let it be added that there were multitudes who shared the -prejudice against this old warrior, but little cared he. On he went his -fine way, growing in nobleness, and loving the God in whom he believed. - -Jasper’s pleasures were of the meditative sort. For a long time his -church gave him an ample vacation in the summer. He retired to the -country and courted its quiet. His only sport was fishing along the -streams, and that suited his task. If the fish didn’t bite, his -thoughts always did. Like the fish they ran in schools, but unlike the -fish they ran in all weathers and in all seasons. But Jasper never -achieved marked success in the art of recreation. Go where he might, -his fame was there to confront and to entangle him. Demands for him -to preach always came in hot and thick, and there was hardly a Sunday -when Jasper was in the country that he was not surrounded by a crowd -and preaching with ever-glowing fervour and delight. Indeed, Jasper -was sought after to dedicate churches, deliver lectures and to preach -special sermons in every part of Virginia, and often beyond it. It was -said that he preached in almost every county and city in Virginia. He -was the one ever sought Virginia preacher, and in that respect he stood -unmatched by any man of his race. - -As a rule, Jasper did not preach very long sermons. His Sunday -afternoon sermons very rarely exceeded fifty minutes in length, but -on extraordinary occasions he took no note of time. Jasper was not -a sermon-maker. He did not write them, and homiletics was a thing -of which he had never heard. He was fond of pictorial preaching and -often selected historical topics, such as “Joseph and His Brethren” or -“Daniel in the Lion’s Den,” or “The Raising of Lazarus.” He had quite -a large stock of special sermons,--sermons which had grown by special -use, and which embodied the choicest creations of his mind. These -he preached over and over again and in his own pulpit, and without -apology to anybody. But after all the themes which interested him most -profoundly and on which he preached with unsurpassed ardour and rapture -were the fundamental doctrines of the Scriptures. The last sermon he -ever preached was on Regeneration; and on many phases of the Christian -system he preached with consummate ability. He believed fully in the -doctrine of future punishment, and his description of the fate of the -lost made the unbelieving quake with terror and consternation. His -preaching was of that fervid, startling, and threatening sort, well -suited to awaken religious anxieties and to bring the people to a -public confession. He was his own evangelist,--did chiefly the work of -bringing his congregation to repentance, and the growth of his church -consisted almost entirely of the fruit of his own ministry. His church -on the island began with nine members, and it was reported that there -were over 2,000 at the time of his death. He had uncommon caution about -receiving people into his church. He was not willing to take people -to count, and he preached searchingly to those who were thinking of -applying for membership. - -Just two little and yet important things call for a place in this -chapter. Jasper was an inexorable debt-payer. The only debt that he -could tolerate was a church debt, and he could ill tolerate that. The -unsettled account of his great new church building grappled him like -a nightmare. It was his burden in the day and his torturing dream at -night. Even during his dying days the church debt haunted and depressed -him, and loud among his parting exhortations was his insistent plea -that the church debt should be speedily paid. - -In his early life Jasper contracted the use of tobacco,--as, indeed, -almost his entire race did, and he was also quite free with the use of -alcoholic drinks,--though never, so far as is known, to the extent of -intoxication. No question as to his sobriety has ever ridden the air. -But these habits lingered with him long after he entered the ministry, -and even until he was winning enviable and far-spreading favour as a -preacher. So far as known, these facts did not becloud his reputation -nor interfere with his work. Of course, he never entered a barroom, -and never drank convivially, but he kept liquor in his house, and took -it as his choice dictated. But gradually it worked itself into his -conscience that these things were not for the best, and without the -least ostentation or even publicity he absolutely abandoned the use -both of tobacco and alcoholic drinks. He made no parade about it, and -took on no fanatical airs. Just as he thought it was wrong to owe money -which he could not pay and therefore hated a debt, so he felt that -these habits, useless at best, might really be harmful to him and to -others, and therefore he gave them up. - -[Illustration: MONUMENT OVER JOHN JASPER’S GRAVE] - -His moral and religious ideals were very lofty, and he lived up to -them to a degree not true of many. Not long after his death a really -magnificent monument was erected over his grave. It was quite costly, -and the money for it was raised by his church people and other lovers -of whom he had legions. While he lived, legislators, judges, governors, -and many men of eminent distinction, went to hear him preach. Many of -the most distinguished white ministers of the country made it a point -to go to his church on Sunday afternoon whenever they were in the city, -and he was justly ranked as one of the attractions of Richmond. - -Now that he has found his grave not far from the site of his church, -and this stately shaft has been placed as a sentinel over his dust, -multitudes as they come and go will visit the tomb of the most -original, masterful, and powerful negro preacher of the old sort that -this country has ever produced. - - - - -XI - -SERMON:--THE STONE CUT OUT OF THE MOUNTAIN - -(_Text, Daniel 2:45._) - - -This rugged specimen of historical eloquence constituted the sermon -delivered on Sunday afternoon, July 20, 1884. Jasper mounted the pulpit -with the dash of an athlete and tripped around the platform during the -preliminaries with the air of a racer. A sense of strength imparted to -his face the triumphant glow. A smile parted his lips, and told the -secret of an animated and aggressive courage. - -“I stan’s befo’ you to-day on legs of iron and nun kin stay me from -preachin’ de Gospil uv de Lord Gord. I know well nuff dat de ole -devul is mad as a tempest ’bout my bein’ here; he knows dat my call -ter preach kums frum Gord, and dat’s wat meks ’im so mad wen he sees -Jasper ’scend de pulpit, fur he knows dat de people is gwine ter hear -a messige straight frum heaven. I don’t git my sermuns out uv grammars -an’ reterricks, but de Sperrit uv de Lord puts ’em in my mind an’ meks -’em burn in my soul.” - -His manner was radiant, courageous, defiant, and was prophetic of one -of his greatest discourses. - -“It hev always bin one uv de ways uv Gord ter set up men as rulers uv -de people. Yer know dat Gord ordains kings and rulers an’,--wat kinder -bodders sum uv us,--He don’t always mek it a p’int ter put up good men. -Yer know dat our Lord giv Judis a place ’mong de twelve, an’ he turn’d -out ter be one uv de grandes’ raskils under de sun. - -“Jes’ so Nebukidnezzur was pinted uv de Lord ter be king uv -Babylon,--dat same robbur dat tuk de vessuls out uv de temple at -Jerusalem an’ lugged ’em away ter his own country. Dat man had wun uv -de powerfullest kingdums evur known on dis flat earth. He ruled over -many countries and many smaller kingdums, an’ even had under his hands -de servunts on de plantashun an’ de beasts uv de feil’. He was one uv -dese unlimertid monnuks. He axed nobody no odds, an’ did jes’ wat he -wanted ter do, an’ I kinnot stop ter tell yer wid wat a strong hand -an’ outstretched arm he ruled de people wid an irun rod. It kum ter -pass dat one time dis king dat did not fear Gord (tho’ Gord had sot -him up), had a dream. Dreams iz awfully curus things. Dey used ter -frighten folks out’n dere senses an’ I tell yer dey sometimes frighten -folks now. I’ve had many dreams in my day dat got mity close ter me. -Dey gravuled inter de very cords uv my soul, an’ made me feel lik de -groun’ under my feet wuz libul ter giv way any time, an’ I don’t dout -dat hundreds uv yer dat hear me now hev bin frightened an’ cud not eat -nor sleep nor wuk wid any peace ’caus’ yer done hev strange dreams. Yer -better watch dem dreams. In de anshient days de Lord spoke ter folks in -dreams. He warned dem, an’ I don’t dout dat He duz dat way sometimes -now. - -“Neberkidnezzur’s dream stirred him powerful. He rolled all night -an’ did not sleep a wink. So he sent out an’ got de magishuns an’ de -strolgurs an’ de sorserers an’ de Kaldeuns, an’ dey wuz brought unter -him. He tell ’em dat he had dreamed a dream dat had trubbled his -sperrit. An’ de Kaldeuns axed him wat de dream wuz. De king say dat de -dream done gone clear out’n him, an’ he can’t cotch de straight uv it -ter save his soul. He tell ’em, moreovur, dat dey got ter dig up de -dream an’ work up de meanin’ too, an’ dat ef dey don’t dat he gwine -ter have ’em cut all ter pieces an’ turn dere houses inter a dunghill, -an’ den he tell ’em dat ef dey will git de dream back fur him an’ give -de explernashun he gwine ter give ’em nice gifs an’ put gret honurs on -’em. It waz too much fer de Kaldeuns. Dey cudn’t dream de king’s dream -fer ’im, an’ dey kum squar out an’ tell Nebukidnezzur dat no man on de -earth cud show sich a matter ter de king, an’ dat in dere erpinyun dar -is no king on de earth dat wud ax fer sich a thing frum proffit or -magishun. - -“Den Nebukidnezzur got high. He went on a tare an’ yer know wen a king -gits mad yer better git out er his way. He is got de power; an’ so he -up an’ sent out a decree through all de regiuns uv de kingdom dat all -de wise men everywhar shud be slain. Jes’ see wat a mad man will do wen -he git furius mad. Dey got no mo’ sens dan a mad tiger or a roarin’ -lion. Jes’ befo’ de slaughter uv de wise men kum on, Daniel hear ’bout -it, an’ he axed de king’s captin wat it wuz all ’bout an’ why de king -wuz so hasty, an’ de captin tol’ Dan’l all ’bout it. Dan’l brushed -hissef up quick and struck out to see de king an’ ax him ter hol’ up de -exercushun uv his bloody profesy, an’ he’d promise to splain his dream -ter him. Den Dan’l goes off an’ gits all his Godly frien’s togedder -an’ ax ’em ter pray ter de Gord uv heaven dat he an’ his frien’s shud -not perish in de slaughter uv de tricksters uv dat country. One thing -de Lord can’t do;--He can’t refuse ter answer de cries uv His people; -an’ wen all dat prayin’ wuz gwine on Gord appeared to Dan’l in de nite -an’ revealed ter him de secret uv de king,--an’ wat yer reckin? Wen de -Lord giv Dan’l dat dream an’ de hinterpertashun dar of, Dan’l raised a -gret shout an’ giv thanks to Gord for wat de Lord had done fer him. But -he didn’t shout long, fer he had important bisnis ter attend ter; an’ -very soon he went ter de king an’ kerried wid him de secrit dat de king -had demandid at de han’s uv de erstrolgers an’ magishuns. He told de -king rite ter his face de thing dat he had dreamed, an’ wat Gord meant -by it. Truly Dan’l did behave hissef befo’ de king in a very pretty an’ -becomin’ manner. He tel de king he did not hav no mo sens dan udder -people, an’ dat he wuz not perpar’d to do things dat udder men cud do, -but dat it wuz by de power uv Gord dat all dis matter had bin made -known ter him. He tol’ de king dat wat he saw wuz a gret imige; dat de -imige wuz brite an’ splendid an’ de form uv it wuz terrerbul; dat de -hed wuz uv fine gold, his brest and arms uv silvur, his belly an’ thize -uv brass, an’ his legs uv irun and his feet part uv irun an’ part uv -clay. An’ he tel de king fudder dat he saw er stone dat wuz cut widout -han’s out’n de mountin an’ dat de stone smote de imige erpun his feet -an’ broke ’em in pieces, an’ dat de stone dat brok de imige became a -gret mountin an’ filled all de wurl’. Den Dan’l,--dat brave an’ feerles -bruther, dat nevur quailed befo’ de mitiest ruler uv de earth,--faced -de king an’ tel ’im an orful an’ a warnin’ troof. He say ter ’im, ‘Yer -is a gret king now. Yer hav er mity country an’ all power, an’ thy -glory civers de groun’. Man an’ beas’ an’ foul obey yer. Yer iz de hed -uv gold, but arter yer will kum anudder kingdum dat shall not be lik -yourn, but still it shal be big an’ dar shall kum anudder kingdum and -dar shall be a fo’th kingdum strong as irun, an’ dis kingdum shall -brooz an’ smash all de udder kingdums.’ - -“An’ den Dan’l gits ter de big pint. He tels de king dat de Lord is -gwine ter set up er kingdum an’ dat in de times ter kum dat kingdum -shall crush an’ cornsume all de udder kingdums. Dat shall be de kingdum -uv Gord on de earth, an’ dat kingdum shall stan’ fer evur an’ evur. You -knows how yer saw de stone dat wuz cut out’n de mountin an’ how dat -broke in pieces de irun, de bras, de clay, de silvur, an’ de gold, an’ -my Gord hev made known ter you, O king, wat shall tek place in de gret -herearter, and dis is de dream an’ de hinterpertashun dar of. - -“Dat wuz a mity sermon dat Dan’l preached ter Nebukidnezzur. It ort -ter hev saved ’im, but it look lik it med ’im wuss. De debbul got ’im -fer dat time an’ he turn rite agin de Lord Gord an’ sot at nort His -stashutes an’ countid His ways onholy. - -“Yer know ’bout dat imige. It wuz med uv gold, an’ wuz threescore -cubits high and six cubits wide, an’ twuz sot up in de plain uv Durer, -not fer frum Bablun. Yer know er cubit is about eighteen inchis, an’ -ef yer multerply dat by threescore cubits yer git 1080 inches, wich -mean dat de imige wuz ninety foot high an’ nine feet broad. So yer see -Nebukidnezzur got ter be a Gord-makur, an’ wen he got dis gret imige -bilt he sont out ter git all de princis an’ guvnurs an’ all de res’ uv -de swell folks ter kum an’ bow down an’ wurshep dat gret imige dat he -had sot up. Now dis wuz de gret folly an’ shame uv de king. By dat deed -he defied de Lord Gord an’ de raff uv de Lord wuz stirr’d agin ’im. - -“An’ now, my brudderin, yer member Dan’l tol’ de king dat de imige -dat he saw in his dream wuz ’imsef rulin’ over all de udder kingdums. -He tol’ ’im also dat dat stone dat wuz cut out uv de mountin an’ kum -rollin’ down de craggy sides an’ broke in pieces de irun, de brass -and de clay, dat dat wuz de kingdum uv de Lord Jesus Christ. An’ he -tel ’im, fuddermo, dat de kummin’ uv de stone ter be a great mountin -means de growth uv de kingdum uv our Lord tel it shall fil dis wurl’ -an’ shall triumf over all de udder kingdums. Dan’l tel de king dat his -kingdum wuz gwine ter be taken frum him, ’caus’ he had not feared de -Gord uv heaven, an’ in his folly an’ crimes he turned away frum dat -Gord dat rules in de heaven an’ hols de nashuns uv de earth in de pams -uv His han’s. He tol’ ’im dat de kingdum uv Satun, dat arch ennimy uv -Gord, wuz gwine ter tumbul flat, ’caus’ dat stone cut out uv de mountin -wud roll over Satun’s derminyuns an’ crush it in ter flinders. - -“Glory ter Gord in de highis’; dat stone cut out uv de mountin is a -mity roller. Nuthin kin stay its terribul progris! Dey dat fite erginst -Jerhover had bettur look out,--dat stone is still rollin’ an’ de fust -thing dey know it will crush down erpon ’em an’ dey will sink ter -rise no mo’. Our Gord is er cornsumin’ fire, an’ He will overturn an’ -overturn tel de foundashuns uv sin iz brokin’ up. Yer jes’ wait er -little. De time is fas’ rollin’ on. Evun now I hear my Saviour sayin’ -ter His Father, ‘Father, I kin stay here no longer; I mus’ git up dis -mornin’; I am gwine out ter call My people frum de feil’; dey hav ben -abused and laughed at an’ bin med a scoffin’ long nuff fer My name’s -sake. I kin stay no longer. My soul cries fer My chillun. Gabrul, git -down yer trumpit dis mornin’; I want yer ter do some blowin’. Blow -gently an’ easy at fust, but let My people hear your goldin notes. Dey -will kum wen I call.’ - -“Ah, my brutherin, you an’ I wil be dar wen dat trumpit soun’s. I -don’ think I shall be erlarm’d, ’caus’ I shall know it iz my king -marshallin’ His people home. It won’t frighten you my sisters; it will -hev de sweetnis uv Jesus vois ter yer; an’, oh, how it will ring out -dat happy mornin’ wen our king shall kum to gather de ransomed uv de -Lord ter ’imsef. Den yer shall hev a new an’ holy body, an’ wid it -your glorified sperrit shall be united, an’ on dat day we shall go in -ter see de Father an’ He shall smile an’ say: ‘Dese iz My chillun; dey -hav washed dere robes and made dem white in de blood uv de Lamb; dey -hav kum out uv gret tribberlashun an’ dey shall be wid Me for ever an’ -ever.’ I speck ter be dar. - -“‘Well, Jasper,’ yer say, ‘why yer spec ter be dar. How yer know?’ Yer -read de foteenth chapter uv John, will yer? ‘I go ter prepar er place -fer yer,’ an’ dat word is ter rule; an’ so yer will see ole John Jasper -rite dar, an’ King Jesus shall kum out ter meet us an’ tek us in an’ -sho’ us de manshuns dat He hav prepared fer us. - -“O Lusifer how thou hav fallin! You proud ones will find den dat your -days iz over, an’ ye dat hav despised de chillun uv my Gord wil sink -down inter hell, jes’ as low es it is posserbul ter git. Yer needn’t -tel ’im dat yer hev preached in His name, an’ in His name done many -wonderful works. Yer can’t fool Him! He’ll frown down at yer an’ say: I -don’t know yer, an’ I don’t wan’ ter know yer, an’ I don’ wan’ ter see -yer. Git out uv My site forever, an’ go ter your place ermong de lost. - -“Ah, truly, it is a mity stone, bin rollin’ all dese senshuriz, rollin’ -to-day. May it roll through the kingdum uv darknis and crush de enemis -uv Gord. Dat stone done got so big dat it is higher dan heav’n, broader -dan de earth, and deeper dan hell hitsef. But don’t be deceived. Don’t -think dat I don’ let yer off. I got somethin’ more fer yer yit. - -“Yer member Dan’l and Shadrick, Meeshick an’ Erbedniggo. Dey all -stubbonly fused to bow down ter Nebukidnezzur’s golden imige. Dey stood -straight up. Dey wudn’t bend a knee nor cruk a toe, an’ dem Kaldeeuns -wuz waatchin’ um. Dat’s de way hit always iz; de debbul’s folks iz -always er watchin’ us an’ tryin’ ter git sumthin’ on us an’ ter git us -inter trubbul an’ wid too many uv us dey succeed. Dey saw dat Dan’l an’ -his friens wud not git down lik dey dun, an’ up dey jumped an’ away dey -cut an’ kum ter de king. - -“Oh, king, liv ferevur,’ dey say. ‘Yer know, O king, wat yer sed,--dat -dercree dat yer made, dat at de soun’ uv de kornit, de flute, de harp, -de sackbut, de saltry an’ de dulsermur an’ orl kines uv musik, dat -ev’ry body shud fall down an’ wurshep de goldin imige, an’ dat dose dat -duz not fall down an’ worshep shud be put in de furnis; an’ now, oh, -king, dey say dat a lot uv dose men dun refews. Dey doan regard yer. -Dey hate yer Gods an’ spize de imige dat yer sot up.’ - -“Coarse de ole king got mad agin an’ in his fury dey brought dese three -befo’ him. He axed um ef wat he had heerd ’bout um wuz so,--’bout dere -not worsheppin’ de goldin imige. ‘Mayby yer med a mistake,’ de king -say, ‘but we gwine ter hev it ovur agin, an’ ef wen de ban’ strikes up -nex’ time yer will git down an’ worshep it’ll go eezy wid yer, an’ ef -yer doant de fires in de furnis will be startid quick es litenin’ an’ -inter it ev’ry one uv yer shall go.’ - -“Dese wuz yung men, but, ah, I tel yer, dey wuz uv de loyul stock. -Dey wuz jes’ es kam es sunrise in de mornin’. Dey sed: ‘Oh, king, we -ain’ keerful ter anser ’bout dis mattur. Ef yer lik ter cas’ us inter -de furnis, our Gord dat we surv iz abul ter git us out. We ain’ gwine -ter bow, an’ we nevur will bow ter your Gord, an’ yer jes’ es well -understan’.’ - -“Rite den de men went ter heet up de furnis. Dey wuz tol’ ter heet it -up sevun times hottur dan wuz de ginrul rule an’ dey hed sum jiunts -ter tie Shedrak, Meeshik, an’ Erbedniggo, an’ dey tuk de yung men away -inter de furnis. De heet wuz so terribul dat de flames shot out an’ sot -fire ter de men dat had put de Hebru chillun in an’ de po’ retchiz wuz -burn’d up, but not a hair uv de three yung men wuz sing’d, an’ dey kum -out er smilin’ an’ not a blistur on um frum hed ter fut. Dey did not -evun hev any smell uv fire ’bout dere pussuns, an’ dey luk jes’ lik dey -jes’ kum out uv dressin’ rums. - -“Neberkidnezzur wuz dar, an’ he say: ‘Luk in dat furnis dar. We didn’t -put but three pussons in dar, did we?’ an’ dey tol’ ’im dat wuz so. Den -he tun pale an’ luk skeered lik he gwine ter die an’ he say: - -“‘Luk dar; I see fo’ men inside an’ walkin’ through de fire, an’ de -form uv de fourth is lik de Son uv Gord,’ an’ it luk lik de king got -kunvurtid dat day, fur he lif’ up his vois an’ shout de praiz uv de -Gord uv Shedrak, Meeshik an’ Erbedniggo. - -“Ah, gret iz dis story; dey dat trus’ in Gord shall nevur be put -ter kornfushun. De righteous alwaz kums out konkerurs an’ more dan -konkerurs. Kings may hate yer, frien’s spize yer, an’ cowurds bakbite -yer, but Gord iz yer durlivrur. - -“But I dun forgit. Dis ole time rerlijun iz not gud nuff fer sum folks -in dese las’ days. Sum call dis kine uv talk foolishnis, but hif dat be -troo den de Bibul, an’ hevun, an’ dese Christun’s hearts, iz ful uv dat -kine uv foolishnis. Ef dis be ole fogy rerlijun, den I want my church -crowdid wid ole fogiz. - -“Wat did John see ober dar in Patmos? He say he saw de fo’ an’ twenty -eldurs seatid roun’ de throne uv Gord an’ castin’ dere glittrin’ crowns -uv gold at de feet uv King Jesus, an’ he say dat out uv de throne kum -lightnin’ an’ thundurs an’ voicis an’ de sevun lamps burnin’ befo’ -de throne uv Gord. An’ dar befo’ de throne wuz de sea uv glass, an’ -roun’ ’bout de throne wuz de fo’ livin’ creaturs ful uv eyes befo’ an’ -behine, an’ dey nevur ceas cryin’: ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, iz de Lord Gord -almity dat died ter tek away de sins uv de wurl’!’ - -“Yer call dat ole fogy. Jes’ luk away ober yondur in de future. Duz -yer see dat sea uv glass an’ de saints uv Gord dat wuz all bruised an’ -mangul’d by de fi’ry darts uv de wickid. I hear um singin’! Wat iz dere -song? Oh, how it rolls! an’ de korus iz: ‘Redeemed, redeemed, wash’d in -de blud uv de Lam’. Call dem ole fogiz, do yer? Wel yer may, fer dey iz -bin doin’ dat way frum de time dat Abel, de fust man, a saved soul told -de news uv salvashun ter de anjuls. - -“‘Wel, Jasper, hev yer got any rerlijun ter giv way?’ - -“I’se free ter say dat I ain’t got es much es I want. Fur forty-five -years I bin beggin’ fur mo’, an’ I ax fur mo’ in dis tryin’ hour. But, -bless Gord, I’s got rerlijun ter giv way. De Lord hev fil’d my hands -wid de Gorspil, an’ I stan’ here ter offur free salvashun ter any dat -wil kum. Ef in dis big crowd dar iz one lost sinnur dat hev not felt de -klinsin’ tech uv my Saviur’s blud, I ax ’im ter kum terday an’ he shall -nevur die.” - - - - -XII - -FACTS CONCERNING THE SERMON ON THE SUN - - -Let me say in frankness that when I originally began this appreciation -of John Jasper it was my full purpose to omit from it all reference to -his very notorious sermon on “The Sun Do Move.” That was the one thing -in his life I most regretted--an episode that I was quite willing to -commit to oblivion. I felt that it was a distinct discredit to him. -But upon further reflection I have concluded that the omission might -hurt him far more than the facts in the case possibly could. Inasmuch -also as it was that very sermon which drew to him such wide-spread -attention, and since there are those who never heard him, nor heard of -him except in connection with that sermon, I have decided to give the -public the facts in the case and the sermon itself. In this chapter -I will give a history of the sermon, and in the next I will give the -substance of the sermon. It is due to my old friend and brother, -Jasper, to say that he really never intended to create a sensation -by preaching on an exciting or unusual topic. This he most solemnly -declared, and while he was several sensations himself in a single -bunch, and while almost every sermon that he preached produced wild -and thrilling sensations, he did not work for that. He started his -chief sensations by preaching the Gospel in such a hot, pungent, and -overmastering way that his people could not contain themselves. Jasper -tells us how it all came about. Two of his brethren, members of his -flock, fell into a friendly dispute as to whether the sun did revolve -around the earth or not. As they could not decide the question, and -neither would yield, they finally agreed to submit the question to -their old pastor, solemnly believing, I dare say, that there was no -mystery in earth, sea, or sky that he could not fathom. - -When Jasper’s theme went abroad it called forth some very scornful -criticisms from one of his Baptist neighbours--one of the “eddicatid -preachers,” as Jasper delighted to call them, though in certain moods -he often finished his sentence by branding them as eddicatid fools. -When he heard of the strictures mentioned above, he let fly some shot -at white heat as a response to the attacks on him. When he got a -thing in his blood the amenities of controversy sometimes lost their -place in his memory. He would let fly flings of satire that would be -toothsome topics for street gossip for many summer Sundays. Things -for zestful chat rarely ran short when Jasper was about. He expressed -much regret that he had come in conflict with the “furlosofurs” of the -day, freely confessing his ignorance in the matter of “book-larnin’.” -His knowledge, he said, was limited to the Bible, and much of that he -did not feel that he could explain. But on the question about the sun -he was sure that he possessed the true light. “I knows de way uv de -sun, as de Wurd of Gord tells me,” he declared in his warlike manner, -“an’ ef I don’ pruv’ dat de sun moves den yer may pos’ me as er lier -on ev’ry street in Richmun’.” By this time his war paint was plainly -visible, and his noble defiance rang out like a battle call. - -The occasion on which I heard his “astronomical sermon,” as one of his -opponents deridingly dubbed it, was not at its first presentation. He -had delivered it repeatedly before and knew his ground. The gleam of -confidence and victory shone clear and strong on his face. - -The audience looked like a small nation. Long before the solemn -janitor, proud of his place, strict to the minute, swung open the front -doors, the adjacent streets swarmed with the eager throngs. Instantly -there was a rush, and in surged the people, each anxious to get a seat. -The spacious house was utterly inadequate to the exigencies of the -hour. Many crowded the aisles, disposed themselves around the pulpit, -sat on pew-arms, or in friendly laps. - -Jasper’s entrance was quite picturesque. He appeared in the long aisle -wearing a cape overcoat, with a beaver in one hand, and his cane in the -other, and with a dignity not entirely unconscious. His officers rose -to welcome him, one removing his great coat, another his head piece, -and yet another his cane. As he ascended the pulpit he turned and -waved a happy greeting to his charge and it fairly set his emotional -constituents to shouting. Many loving words were said out in a rattling -chorus in token of their happiness at seeing him. - -It is more than probable that some of Jasper’s young people had notions -of their own as to his views of the sun; but never a word would they -let slip that could mortify their beloved old pastor, or give a whisper -of comfort to his critics. They were for Jasper, and the sun might go -its way. They believed in their pastor, believed in his goodness, his -honesty, and his greatness. - -In the opening exercises there occurred several characteristic -incidents. He requested his choir to open by singing, “The Heavens -Declare the Glory of God.” This was at once a proof of his seriousness -and of his sense of the fitting. - -When he arose to read the Scriptures, he glanced around at his -audience, and bowing in pleased recognition of the many white people -present, he said with unaffected modesty that he hoped that the “kin’ -frens who’d come ter hur me would ’scuse my urrors in readin’. My eyes -is gitting weak an’ dim, and I’se slow in making out de hard wurds.” -Then he proceeded with utmost reverence to read the passage selected -for the service. He was not a good reader, but there was a sobriety and -humility in his manner of reading the Scriptures that made one always -feel a peculiar respect for him. - -There may be place here for a passing word about this most original -and picturesque representative of his race. Jasper had a respect for -himself that was simply tremendous. Unconsciously he carried a lofty -crest, and yet you knew there was no silly conceit in it. His walk -along the street was not that of a little man who thought all eyes were -upon him, but of a giant who would hide from himself and from others -the evidences of his power. His conversation carried an assertion of -seriousness--his tones were full of dignity--his bearing seemed to -forbid any unseemly freedom--and in public you saw at once that he -was holding himself up to a high standard. Of course, when he was in -the high frenzy of public speech and towering to his finest heights -he lost the sense of himself, but he was then riding the wind and -cleaving the sky and no rules made by men could apply to him. But along -with self-appreciation,--always one of his attractions to me,--was a -noble and delicate respect for others. He loved his own people, and -they lived in the pride of it, but he had a peculiarly hospitable and -winsome attitude towards strangers. He was quite free in his cordiality -towards men, and I delighted to see how my coming to hear him pleased -him. In his off-hand way, he said to me one Sunday afternoon as he -welcomed me to the pulpit: “Glad to see you; it does me good to have -folks around whar got sense; it heps me ter preach better. Mighty tough -to talk to folks whar ain’ got no brains in de head.” - -He had a double consciousness that was always interesting to me. He was -always full of solicitude about his sermon. It lay a burden on him, and -it required no expert to discover it. He had so much sincerity that -his heart told its secrets through his face. But think not that this -made him oblivious to his surroundings. His heart was up towards the -throne, and his soul was crying for strength, but his eye was open to -the scene before him. The sight of the audience intoxicated him; the -presence of notable people caught his gaze and gladdened him; tokens of -appreciation cheered him, and he paid good price in the way of smiles -and glances to those who showed that he was doing them good. It made a -rare combination--his concern for his message, and his happy pride in -his constituents. It gave a depth to his feeling and a height to his -exultation. He swung between two great emotions and felt the enrichment -of both. - -The text for his sermon was a long cry from his topic. It was: “The -Lord God is a man of war; The Lord is His name.” He was too good a -sermon-maker to announce a text and abandon it entirely, and so he -roamed the Old Testament to gather illustrations of the all-conquering -power of God. This took him over a half hour to develop, and as it took -even much longer to formulate his argument as to the rotation of the -sun it made his sermon not only incongruous, but intolerably long--far -longer than any other sermon that I ever knew him to preach. The two -parts of the discourse had no special kinship, while the first part -tired the people before he reached the thing they came for. It was an -error in judgment, but his power to entertain an audience went far to -save him from the consequences of his mistake. - -The intelligent reader will readily understand the drift of his -contention about the sun. What he said, of course, was based on the -literal statements of the Old Testament, written many centuries ago, -not as a treatise on astronomy, but in language fitted to express ideas -from the standpoint of the times in which it was used. Jasper knew -of no later discoveries in the natural world, and, therefore, very -sincerely believed with religious sincerity, and all the dogmatism of -ignorance, that the declarations of the old Scriptures were true in -very jot and tittle. It is apparent enough that to the enlightened -people who went to hear the address merely for amusement there was -rare fun in the whole performance. To them, Jasper was an ignorant old -simpleton, a buffoon of the pulpit, a weakling to be laughed at. And -yet hardly that. He was so dead in earnest, and withal so shrewd in -stating his case, so quick in turning a point, and brimming with such -choice humour and sometimes flashing out such keen, telling strokes of -sarcasm, that he compelled the admiration of his coldest critics. To -the untutored people before him Jasper was the apostle of light. They -believed every syllable that fell from his lips--he was the truth to -them--they stood where other honest and godly people stood for ages and -saw things just as they saw them. Their opinion as to the sun did not -in the least affect their piety, for, as a fact, they believed just -exactly as the grandfathers of Jasper’s critics believed sixty years -before. - -It was worth while being there. Jasper was in his most flexible, -masterful mood, and he stormed the heights with his forces in full -array. At times, the negroes would be sending forth peals of laughter -and shouting in wildest response, “Yas, Lord; dat’s so, Brer Jasper; -hit ’em ergin, bless God! Glory, glory, tell us more, ole man!” Then he -would fly beyond the sun and give them a glimpse of the New Jerusalem, -and they would be crying and bursting forth with snatches of song until -you would think the end had come. But not so by ever so much. A word -from Jasper would bring the stillness of death, and he would be the -master again and ready for new flights. - -When the excitement about the sermon was at its full blow, human greed, -ever keen-scented, sensed money in Jasper and his sermon, and laid a -scheme to trade on the old man and his message. A syndicate was formed -to send him out as a lecturer, hoping that the Northern love for the -negro, and the catchiness of the subject, would fill vast halls with -crowds to hear the old man, and turn in rich revenues, of which they -would reap the larger part. - -Jasper, for reasons by no means mercenary, was tickled by this new turn -in fortune. He was not wanting in the pride of successful ambition, and -this new proof of his growing distinction naturally pleased him. Fame -was pinning her medals fast upon him, and he liked it. Not that he was -infatuated with the notion of filling his private pocket. As a fact, he -never uttered in my hearing one sentence that showed his love of money, -or his eagerness to get it. But he was much wedded to the idea of a new -house of worship for his people, and any proper method that would aid -in bringing this happy consummation was joy to his generous old soul. -His heart dwelt with his flock, and to honour and cheer them was life -to him. - -Of course, his church fell in with the idea. Anything to please -“Brother Jasper” was the song of their lives. It looked wonderfully -grand to them to see glory crowning their pastor and gold pouring in to -build them a temple. It was with pomp and glee they sent him away. The -day of his departure was celebrated with general excitement and with -cheering groups at the train. - -But in some way providence did not get identified with the new -enterprise. The first half of his sermon was a trial to people set -on sensation. The Lord in his military character did not appeal. -Some actually retired after the first part, and an eclipse to hopes -uncounted fell over the scene. Jasper, as a show, proved a failure, for -which the devout may well give thanks. He got as far as Philadelphia, -and even that historically languid city found life too brief and -brisk to spend in listening for ninety-odd minutes to two uncongenial -discourses loosely bundled into one. The old man had left the sweet -inspiration of his demonstrative church in Richmond, and felt a chill -of desolation when he set foot on alien soil. The tides of invisible -seas fought against him, empty benches grinned at him, and he got -homesick. The caravan collapsed, the outfit tumbled into anarchy, the -syndicate picked up the stage clothes and stole out in the night-gloom, -the undaunted but chagrined Jasper made a straight shoot for Richmond; -ever after the Jasper Lecture Bureau was a myth, without ancestry or -posterity. - -Think not that there was chill in the air when Jasper struck Richmond -on his return. No word of censure awaited him. His steadfast adherents -hailed him as a conqueror and his work went on. His enemies--an envious -crop ever being on hand--tossed a few stones over the back fence, but -Jasper had a keen relish for battle, and was finest when his foes were -the fiercest. Antagonism gave zest to his dramatic career. - -Permit the writer to slip in here a word as to Jasper’s devotion to -his old master, Mr. Samuel Hargrove. I knew Mr. Hargrove well. He -was a man with a heart. I knew him as an old man while I was young. -He had a suburban home near Manchester, his business and church were -in Richmond. I often saw him in my congregation at the Bainbridge -Street Baptist church, Manchester, and thus often met him. Shrinking, -without public gifts, full of kindliness, and high in his life, he -commanded the heart of his servant who to the last delighted to honour -his memory. Their relations did not prevent their mutual respect and -affection. The hideous dogma of social equality never thrust itself -into their life. They had good-will and esteem one for the other, -and lived together in peace. Jasper was a lover and admirer of white -people, and delighted to serve and honour them, and in return the -white people were fond of him and glad to help him. - -I rejoice that this old minister, the quaint and stern veteran, came -in God’s time to a righteous fame. Public opinion is an eccentric and -mysterious judge. It has an unarticulated code for fixing the rank and -fate of mortals. It is a large and ill-sorted jury, and its decisions -often bring surprise at the time, but they never get reversed. The -jurymen may wrangle during the trial, but when it emerges from the -council room and renders the verdict, no higher court ever reverses its -final word. - -Hard and adverse was the life of Jasper! For years many hostile forces -sought to unhorse and cripple him. It would require books to hold the -slanders and scandals laid to his charge. The archers used poisoned -arrows, and often tore his flesh and fancied that they had him, but -his bow abode in strength. Meanwhile, the public, that jury of the -many, sat still and watched, weighing the evidence, listening to the -prosecutors, unravelling conflicting testimony, and feeling the way to -justice. In the midst of it all, the brave old chieftain died, while -the trial was yet going on. The jury was long silent, but it has spoken -at last, and the verdict is, that the name of this veteran of the cross -shall be enrolled among the fearless, the faithful, and the immortal. -He endured as seeing the invisible and now he sees. - - - - -XIII - -THE SUN DO MOVE - - -In presenting John Jasper’s celebrated sermon on “De Sun Do Move,” I -beg to introduce it with several explanatory words. As intimated in -a former chapter it is of a dual character. It includes an extended -discussion, after his peculiar fashion, of the text, “The Lord God is -a man of war; the Lord is His name.” Much that he said in that part of -his sermon is omitted, only so much being retained as indicates his -view of the rotation of the sun. It was really when he came into this -part of his sermon that he showed to such great advantage, even though -so manifestly in error as to the position which he tried so manfully to -antagonize. It was of that combative type of public speech which always -put him before the people at his best. I never heard this sermon but -once, but I have been amply aided in reproducing it by an elaborate -and altogether friendly report of the sermon published at the time by -_The Richmond Dispatch_. Jasper opened his discourse with a tender -reminiscence and quite an ingenious exordium. - -“Low me ter say,” he spoke with an outward composure which revealed an -inward but mastered swell of emotion, “dat when I wuz a young man and -a slave, I knowed nuthin’ wuth talkin’ ’bout consarnin’ books. Dey wuz -sealed mysteries ter me, but I tell yer I longed ter break de seal. I -thusted fer de bread uv learnin’. When I seen books I ached ter git -in ter um, fur I knowed dat dey had de stuff fer me, an’ I wanted ter -taste dere contents, but most of de time dey wuz bar’d aginst me. - -“By de mursy of de Lord a thing happened. I got er room-feller--he wuz -a slave, too, an’ he had learn’d ter read. In de dead uv de night he -giv me lessons outen de New York Spellin’ book. It wuz hard pullin’, I -tell yer; harder on him, fur he know’d jes’ a leetle, an’ it made him -sweat ter try ter beat sumthin’ inter my hard haid. It wuz wuss wid me. -Up de hill ev’ry step, but when I got de light uv de less’n into my -noodle I farly shouted, but I kno’d I wuz not a scholur. De consequens -wuz I crep ’long mighty tejus, gittin’ a crum here an’ dar untel I cud -read de Bible by skippin’ de long words, tolerable well. Dat wuz de -start uv my eddicashun--dat is, wat little I got. I mek menshun uv dat -young man. De years hev fled erway sense den, but I ain’t furgot my -teachur, an’ nevur shall. I thank mer Lord fur him, an’ I carries his -mem’ry in my heart. - -“’Bout seben months after my gittin’ ter readin’, Gord cunverted my -soul, an’ I reckin ’bout de fust an’ main thing dat I begged de Lord -ter give me wuz de power ter und’stan’ His Word. I ain’ braggin’, an’ I -hates self-praise, but I boun’ ter speak de thankful word. I b’lieves -in mer heart dat mer pra’r ter und’stand de Scripshur wuz heard. Sence -dat time I ain’t keer’d ’bout nuthin’ ’cept ter study an’ preach de -Word uv God. - -“Not, my bruthrin, dat I’z de fool ter think I knows it all. Oh, mer -Father, no! Fur frum it. I don’ hardly und’stan myse’f, nor ha’f uv de -things roun’ me, an’ dar is milyuns uv things in de Bible too deep fur -Jasper, an’ sum uv ’em too deep fur ev’rybody. I doan’t cerry de keys -ter de Lord’s closet, an’ He ain’ tell me ter peep in, an’ ef I did I’m -so stupid I wouldn’t know it when I see it. No, frens, I knows my place -at de feet uv my Marster, an’ dar I stays. - -“But I kin read de Bible and git de things whar lay on de top uv de -soil. Out’n de Bible I knows nuthin’ extry ’bout de sun. I sees ’is -courses as he rides up dar so gran’ an’ mighty in de sky, but dar is -heaps ’bout dat flamin’ orb dat is too much fer me. I know dat de sun -shines powerfly an’ po’s down its light in floods, an’ yet dat is -nuthin’ compared wid de light dat flashes in my min’ frum de pages of -Gord’s book. But you knows all dat. I knows dat de sun burns--oh, how -it did burn in dem July days. I tell yer he cooked de skin on my back -many er day when I wuz hoein’ in de corn feil’. But you knows all dat, -an’ yet dat is nuthin’ der to de divine fire dat burns in der souls uv -Gord’s chil’n. Can’t yer feel it, bruthrin? - -“But ’bout de courses uv de sun, I have got dat. I hev dun rang’d thru -de whole blessed book an’ scode down de las’ thing de Bible has ter say -’bout de movements uv de sun. I got all dat pat an’ safe. An’ lemme say -dat if I doan’t giv it ter you straight, if I gits one word crooked or -wrong, you jes’ holler out, ‘Hol’ on dar, Jasper, yer ain’t got dat -straight,’ an’ I’ll beg pardon. If I doan’t tell de truf, march up on -dese steps here an’ tell me I’z a liar, an’ I’ll take it. I fears I do -lie sometimes--I’m so sinful, I find it hard ter do right; but my Gord -doan’t lie an’ He ain’ put no lie in de Book uv eternal truf, an’ if I -giv you wat de Bible say, den I boun’ ter tell de truf. - -“I got ter take yer all dis arternoon on er skershun ter a great bat’l -feil’. Mos’ folks like ter see fights--some is mighty fon’ er gittin’ -inter fights, an’ some is mighty quick ter run down de back alley when -dar is a bat’l goin’ on, fer de right. Dis time I’ll ’scort yer ter a -scene whar you shall witness a curus bat’l. It tuk place soon arter -Isrel got in de Promus Lan’. Yer ’member de people uv Gibyun mak frens -wid Gord’s people when dey fust entered Canum an’ dey wuz monsus smart -ter do it. But, jes’ de same, it got ’em in ter an orful fuss. De -cities roun’ ’bout dar flar’d up at dat, an’ dey all jined dere forces -and say dey gwine ter mop de Gibyun people orf uv de groun’, an’ dey -bunched all dar armies tergedder an’ went up fer ter do it. Wen dey -kum up so bol’ an’ brave de Giby’nites wuz skeer’d out’n dere senses, -an’ dey saunt word ter Joshwer dat dey wuz in troubl’ an’ he mus’ run -up dar an’ git ’em out. Joshwer had de heart uv a lion an’ he wuz up -dar d’reckly. Dey had an orful fight, sharp an’ bitter, but yer might -know dat Ginr’l Joshwer wuz not up dar ter git whip’t. He prayed an’ he -fought, an’ de hours got erway too peart fer him, an’ so he ask’d de -Lord ter issure a speshul ordur dat de sun hol’ up erwhile an’ dat de -moon furnish plenty uv moonshine down on de lowes’ part uv de fightin’ -groun’s. As a fac’, Joshwer wuz so drunk wid de bat’l, so thursty fer -de blood uv de en’mies uv de Lord, an’ so wild wid de vict’ry dat he -tell de sun ter stan’ still tel he cud finish his job. Wat did de sun -do? Did he glar down in fi’ry wrath an’ say, ’ What you talkin’ ’bout -my stoppin’ for, Joshwer; I ain’t navur startid yit. Bin here all de -time, an’ it wud smash up ev’rything if I wuz ter start’? Naw, he ain’ -say dat. But wat de Bible say? Dat’s wat I ax ter know. It say dat -it wuz at de voice uv Joshwer dat it stopped. I don’ say it stopt; -tain’t fer Jasper ter say dat, but de Bible, de Book uv Gord, say so. -But I say dis; nuthin’ kin stop untel it hez fust startid. So I knows -wat I’m talkin’ ’bout. De sun wuz travlin’ long dar thru de sky wen -de order come. He hitched his red ponies and made quite a call on de -lan’ uv Gibyun. He purch up dar in de skies jes’ as frenly as a naibur -whar comes ter borrer sumthin’, an’ he stan’ up dar an’ he look lak he -enjoyed de way Joshwer waxes dem wicked armies. An’ de moon, she wait -down in de low groun’s dar, an’ pours out her light and look jes’ as -ca’m an’ happy as if she wuz waitin’ fer her ’scort. Dey nevur budg’d, -neither uv ’em, long as de Lord’s army needed er light to kerry on de -bat’l. - -“I doan’t read when it wuz dat Joshwer hitch up an’ drove on, but I -’spose it wuz when de Lord tol’ him ter go. Ennybody knows dat de sun -didn’ stay dar all de time. It stopt fur bizniz, an’ went on when it -got thru. Dis is ’bout all dat I has ter do wid dis perticl’r case. -I dun show’d yer dat dis part uv de Lord’s word teaches yer dat de -sun stopt, which show dat he wuz movin’ befo’ dat, an’ dat he went on -art’rwuds. I toll yer dat I wud prove dis an’ I’s dun it, an’ I derfies -ennybody to say dat my p’int ain’t made. - -“I tol’ yer in de fust part uv dis discose dat de Lord Gord is a man uv -war. I ’spec by now yer begin ter see it is so. Doan’t yer admit it? -When de Lord cum ter see Joshwer in de day uv his feers an’ warfar, -an’ actu’ly mek de sun stop stone still in de heavuns, so de fight kin -rage on tel all de foes is slain, yer bleeged ter und’rstan’ dat de -Gord uv peace is also de man uv war. He kin use bofe peace an’ war ter -hep de reichus, an’ ter scattur de host uv de ailyuns. A man talked ter -me las’ week ’bout de laws uv nature, an’ he say dey carn’t poss’bly -be upsot, an’ I had ter laugh right in his face. As if de laws uv -ennythin’ wuz greater dan my Gord who is de lawgiver fer ev’rything. My -Lord is great; He rules in de heavuns, in de earth, an’ doun und’r de -groun’. He is great, an’ greatly ter be praised. Let all de people bow -doun an’ wurship befo’ Him! - -“But let us git erlong, for dar is quite a big lot mo’ comin’ on. Let -us take nex’ de case of Hezekier. He wuz one of dem kings of Juder--er -mighty sorry lot I mus’ say dem kings wuz, fur de mos’ part. I inclines -ter think Hezekier wuz ’bout de highes’ in de gin’ral avrig, an’ he -war no mighty man hisse’f. Well, Hezekier he got sick. I dar say dat a -king when he gits his crown an’ fin’ry off, an’ when he is posterated -wid mortal sickness, he gits ’bout es commun lookin’ an’ grunts an’ -rolls, an’ is ’bout es skeery as de res’ of us po’ mortals. We know dat -Hezekier wuz in er low state uv min’; full uv fears, an’ in a tur’ble -trub’le. De fac’ is, de Lord strip him uv all his glory an’ landed him -in de dust. He tol’ him dat his hour had come, an’ dat he had bettur -squar up his affaars, fur death wuz at de do’. Den it wuz dat de king -fell low befo’ Gord; he turn his face ter de wall; he cry, he moan, he -beg’d de Lord not ter take him out’n de worl’ yit. Oh, how good is our -Gord! De cry uv de king moved his heart, an’ he tell him he gwine ter -give him anudder show. Tain’t only de kings dat de Lord hears. De cry -uv de pris’nur, de wail uv de bondsman, de tears uv de dyin’ robber, de -prars uv de backslider, de sobs uv de womun dat wuz a sinner, mighty -apt to tech de heart uv de Lord. It look lik it’s hard fer de sinner -ter git so fur orf or so fur down in de pit dat his cry can’t reach de -yere uv de mussiful Saviour. - -“But de Lord do evun better den dis fur Hezekier--He tell him He gwine -ter give him a sign by which he’d know dat what He sed wuz cummin’ ter -pars. I ain’t erquainted wid dem sun diuls dat de Lord toll Hezekier -’bout, but ennybody dat hes got a grain uv sense knows dat dey wuz de -clocks uv dem ole times an’ dey marked de travuls uv de sun by dem -diuls. When, darfo’ Gord tol’ de king dat He wud mek de shadder go -backwud, it mus’ hev bin jes’ lak puttin’ de han’s uv de clock back, -but, mark yer, Izaer ’spressly say dat de sun return’d ten dergrees. -Thar yer are! Ain’t dat de movement uv de sun? Bless my soul. -Hezekier’s case beat Joshwer. Joshwer stop de sun, but heer de Lord mek -de sun walk back ten dergrees; an’ yet dey say dat de sun stan’ stone -still an’ nevur move er peg. It look ter me he move roun’ mighty brisk -an’ is ready ter go ennyway dat de Lord ordurs him ter go. I wonder if -enny uv dem furloserfers is roun’ here dis arternoon. I’d lik ter take -a squar’ look at one uv dem an’ ax him to ’splain dis mattur. He carn’t -do it, my bruthr’n. He knows a heap ’bout books, maps, figgers an’ long -distunces, but I derfy him ter take up Hezekier’s case an’ ’splain it -orf. He carn’t do it. De Word uv de Lord is my defense an’ bulwurk, an’ -I fears not what men can say nor do; my Gord gives me de vict’ry. - -“’Low me, my frens, ter put mysef squar’bout dis movement uv de sun. It -ain’t no bizniss uv mine wedder de sun move or stan’ still, or wedder -it stop or go back or rise or set. All dat is out er my han’s ’tirely, -an’ I got nuthin’ ter say. I got no the-o-ry on de subjik. All I ax is -dat we will take wat de Lord say ’bout it an’ let His will be dun ’bout -ev’rything. Wat dat will is I karn’t know ’cept He whisper inter my -soul or write it in a book. Here’s de Book. Dis is ’nough fer me, and -wid it ter pilut me, I karn’t git fur erstray. - -“But I ain’t dun wid yer yit. As de song says, dere’s mo’ ter foller. -I envite yer ter heer de fust vers in de sev’nth chaptur uv de book -uv Reverlashuns. What do John, und’r de pow’r uv de Spirit, say? He -say he saw fo’ anguls standin’ on de fo’ corners uv de earth, holdin’ -de fo’ win’s uv de earth, an’ so fo’th. ’Low me ter ax ef de earth is -roun’, whar do it keep its corners? Er flat, squar thing has corners, -but tell me where is de cornur uv er appul, ur a marbul, ur a cannun -ball, ur a silver dollar. Ef dar is enny one uv dem furloserfurs whar’s -been takin’ so many cracks at my ole haid ’bout here, he is korjully -envited ter step for’d an’ squar up dis vexin’ bizniss. I here tell -you dat yer karn’t squar a circul, but it looks lak dese great scolurs -dun learn how ter circul de squar. Ef dey kin do it, let ’em step ter -de front an’ do de trick. But, mer brutherin, in my po’ judgmint, dey -karn’t do it; tain’t in ’em ter do it. Dey is on der wrong side of de -Bible; dat’s on de outside uv de Bible, an’ dar’s whar de trubbul comes -in wid ’em. Dey dun got out uv de bres’wuks uv de truf, an’ ez long ez -dey stay dar de light uv de Lord will not shine on der path. I ain’t -keer’n so much ’bout de sun, tho’ it’s mighty kunveenyunt ter hav it, -but my trus’ is in de Word uv de Lord. Long ez my feet is flat on de -solid rock, no man kin move me. I’se gittin’ my orders f’um de Gord of -my salvashun. - -“Tother day er man wid er hi coler and side whisk’rs cum ter my house. -He was one nice North’rn gemman wat think a heap of us col’rd people -in de Souf. Da ar luvly folks and I honours ’em very much. He seem -from de start kinder strictly an’ cross wid me, and arter while, he -brake out furi’us and frettid, an’ he say: ‘Erlow me Mister Jasper ter -gib you sum plain advise. Dis nonsans ’bout de sun movin’ whar you ar -gettin’ is disgracin’ yer race all ober de kuntry, an’ as a fren of -yer peopul, I cum ter say it’s got ter stop.’ Ha! Ha! Ha! Mars’ Sam -Hargrove nuvur hardly smash me dat way. It was equl to one ov dem ole -overseurs way bac yondur. I tel him dat ef he’ll sho me I’se wrong, I -giv it all up. - -“My! My! Ha! Ha! He sail in on me an’ such er storm about science, nu -’scuv’ries, an’ de Lord only knos wat all, I ner hur befo’, an’ den he -tel me my race is ergin me an’ po ole Jasper mus shet up ’is fule mouf. - -“Wen he got thru--it look lak he nuvur wud, I tel him John Jasper ain’ -set up to be no scholur, an’ doant kno de ferlosophiz, an’ ain’ tryin’ -ter hurt his peopul, but is wurkin’ day an’ night ter lif ’em up, but -his foot is on de rock uv eternal truff. Dar he stan’ and dar he is -goin’ ter stan’ til Gabrul soun’s de judgment note. So er say to de -gemman wat scol’d me up so dat I hur him mek his remarks, but I ain’ -hur whar he get his Scriptu’ from, an’ dat ’tween him an’ de wurd of de -Lord I tek my stan’ by de Word of Gord ebery time. Jasper ain’ mad: -he ain’ fightin’ nobody; he ain’ bin ’pinted janitur to run de sun: he -nothin’ but de servunt of Gord and a luver of de Everlasting Word. What -I keer about de sun? De day comes on wen de sun will be called frum his -race-trac, and his light squincked out foruvur; de moon shall turn ter -blood, and this yearth be konsoomed wid fier. Let um go; dat wont skeer -me nor trubble Gord’s erlect’d peopul, for de word uv de Lord shell -aindu furivur, an’ on dat Solid Rock we stan’ an’ shall not be muved. - -“Is I got yer satisfied yit? Has I prooven my p’int? Oh, ye whose -hearts is full uv unberlief! Is yer still hol’in’ out? I reckun de -reason yer say de sun don’ move is ’cause yer are so hard ter move -yerse’f. You is a reel triul ter me, but, nevur min’; I ain’t gi’n yer -up yit, an’ nevur will. Truf is mighty; it kin break de heart uv stone, -an’ I mus’ fire anudder arrur uv truf out’n de quivur uv de Lord. If -yer haz er copy uv God’s Word ’bout yer pussun, please tu’n ter dat -miner profit, Malerki, wat writ der las’ book in der ole Bible, an’ -look at chaptur de fust, vurs ’leben; what do it say? I bet’r read it, -fur I got er noshun yer critics doan’t kerry enny Bible in thar pockits -ev’ry day in de week. Here is wat it says: ‘Fur from de risin’ uv de -sun evun unter de goin’ doun uv de same My name shall be great ’mong -de Gentiles.... My name shall be great ’mong de heathun, sez de Lord -uv hosts.’ How do dat suit yer? It look lak dat ort ter fix it. Dis -time it is de Lord uv hosts Hisse’f dat is doin’ de talkin’, an’ He -is talkin’ on er wonderful an’ glorious subjik. He is tellin’ uv de -spredin’ uv His Gorspel, uv de kummin’ uv His larst vict’ry ovur de -Gentiles, an’ de wurldwide glories dat at de las’ He is ter git. Oh, my -bruddrin, wat er time dat will be. My soul teks wing es I erticipate -wid joy dat merlenium day! De glories as dey shine befo’ my eyes blin’s -me, an’ I furgits de sun an’ moon an’ stars. I jes’ ’members dat ’long -’bout dose las’ days dat de sun an’ moon will go out uv bizniss, fur -dey won’ be needed no mo’. Den will King Jesus come back ter see His -people, an’ He will be de suffishunt light uv de wurl’. Joshwer’s -bat’ls will be ovur. Hezekier woan’t need no sun diul, an’ de sun an’ -moon will fade out befo’ de glorius splendurs uv de New Jerruslem. - -“But wat der mattur wid Jasper. I mos’ furgit my bizniss, an’ mos’ gon’ -ter shoutin’ ovur de far away glories uv de secun’ cummin’ uv my Lord. -I beg pardun, an’ will try ter git back ter my subjik. I hev ter do -as de sun in Hezekier’s case--fall back er few dergrees. In dat part -uv de Word dat I gin yer frum Malerki--dat de Lord Hisse’f spoke--He -klars dat His glory is gwine ter spred. Spred? Whar? Frum de risin’ -uv de sun ter de goin’ down uv de same. Wat? Doan’t say dat, duz it? -Dat’s edzakly wat it sez. Ain’t dat cleer ’nuff fer yer? De Lord pity -dese doubtin’ Tommusses. Here is ’nuff ter settul it all an’ kure de -wuss cases. Walk up yere, wise folks, an’ git yer med’sin. Whar is dem -high collar’d furloserfurs now? Wat dey skulkin’ roun’ in de brush fer? -Why doan’t yer git out in der broad arternoon light an’ fight fer yer -cullurs? Ah, I un’stans it; yer got no answer. De Bible is agin yer, -an’ in yer konshunses yer are convictid. - -“But I hears yer back dar. Wat yer wisprin’ ’bout? I know; yer say yer -sont me sum papurs an’ I nevur answer dem. Ha, ha, ha! I got ’em. De -differkulty ’bout dem papurs yer sont me is dat dey did not answer me. -Dey nevur menshun de Bible one time. Yer think so much uv yoursef’s -an’ so little uv de Lord Gord an’ thinks wat yer say is so smart dat -yer karn’t even speak uv de Word uv de Lord. When yer ax me ter stop -believin’ in de Lord’s Word an’ ter pin my faith ter yo words, I ain’t -er gwine ter do it. I take my stan’ by de Bible an’ res’ my case on wat -it says. I take wat de Lord says ’bout my sins, ’bout my Saviour, ’bout -life, ’bout death, ’bout de wurl’ ter come, an’ I take wat de Lord say -’bout de sun an’ moon, an’ I cares little wat de haters of mer Gord -chooses ter say. Think dat I will fursake de Bible? It is my only Book, -my hope, de arsnel uv my soul’s surplies, an’ I wants nuthin’ else. - -“But I got ernudder wurd fur yer yit. I done wuk ovur dem papurs dat -yer sont me widout date an’ widout yer name. Yer deals in figgurs an’ -thinks yer are biggur dan de arkanjuls. Lemme see wat yer dun say. -Yer set yerse’f up ter tell me how fur it is frum here ter de sun. -Yer think yer got it down ter er nice p’int. Yer say it is 3,339,002 -miles frum de earth ter de sun. Dat’s wat yer say. Nudder one say -dat de distuns is 12,000,000; nudder got it ter 27,000,000. I hers -dat de great Isuk Nutun wuk’t it up ter 28,000,000, an’ later on de -furloserfurs gin ernudder rippin’ raze to 50,000,000. De las’ one -gits it bigger dan all de yuthers, up to 90,000,000. Doan’t enny uv -’em ergree edzakly an’ so dey runs a guess game, an’ de las’ guess -is always de bigges’. Now, wen dese guessers kin hav a kunvenshun in -Richmun’ an’ all ergree ’pun de same thing, I’d be glad ter hear frum -yer ag’in, an’ I duz hope dat by dat time yer won’t be ershamed uv yer -name. - -“Heeps uv railroads hes bin built sense I saw de fust one wen I wuz -fifteen yeers ole, but I ain’t hear tell uv er railroad built yit ter -de sun. I doan’ see why ef dey kin meshur de distuns ter de sun, dey -might not git up er railroad er a telurgraf an’ enabul us ter fin’ -sumthin’ else ’bout it den merely how fur orf de sun is. Dey tell -me dat a kannun ball cu’d mek de trep ter de sun in twelve years. -Why doan’ dey send it? It might be rig’d up wid quarturs fur a few -furloserfers on de inside an’ fixed up fur er kumfurterble ride. Dey -wud need twelve years’ rashuns an’ a heep uv changes uv ramint--mighty -thick clo’es wen dey start and mighty thin uns wen dey git dar. - -“Oh, mer bruthrin, dese things mek yer laugh, an’ I doan’ blem yer fer -laughin’, ’cept it’s always sad ter laugh at der follies uv fools. If -we cu’d laugh ’em out’n kount’nens, we might well laugh day an’ night. -Wat cuts inter my soul is, dat all dese men seem ter me dat dey is -hittin’ at de Bible. Dat’s wat sturs my soul an’ fills me wid reichus -wrath. Leetle keers I wat dey says ’bout de sun, purvided dey let de -Word uv de Lord erlone. But nevur min’. Let de heethun rage an’ de -people ’madgin er vain thing. Our King shall break ’em in pieces an’ -dash ’em down. But blessed be de name uv our Gord, de Word uv de Lord -indurith furivur. Stars may fall, moons may turn ter blood, an’ de sun -set ter rise no mo’, but Thy kingdom, oh, Lord, is frum evurlastin’ ter -evurlastin’. - -“But I has er word dis arternoon fer my own brutherin. Dey is de people -fer whose souls I got ter watch--fur dem I got ter stan’ an’ report at -de last--dey is my sheep an’ I’se der shepherd, an’ my soul is knit -ter dem forever. ’Tain fer me ter be troublin’ yer wid dese questions -erbout dem heb’nly bodies. Our eyes goes far beyon’ de smaller stars; -our home is clean outer sight uv dem twinklin’ orbs; de chariot dat -will cum ter take us to our Father’s mansion will sweep out by dem -flickerin’ lights an’ never halt till it brings us in clar view uv de -throne uv de Lamb. Doan’t hitch yer hopes to no sun nor stars; yer -home is got Jesus fer its light, an’ yer hopes mus’ trabel up dat way. -I preach dis sermon jest fer ter settle de min’s uv my few brutherin, -an’ repeats it ’cause kin’ frens wish ter hear it, an’ I hopes it will -do honour ter de Lord’s Word. But nuthin’ short of de purly gates can -satisfy me, an’ I charge, my people, fix yer feet on de solid Rock, yer -hearts on Calv’ry, an’ yer eyes on de throne uv de Lamb. Dese strifes -an’ griefs ’ll soon git ober; we shall see de King in His glory an’ -be at ease. Go on, go on, ye ransom uv de Lord; shout His praises as -yer go, an’ I shall meet yer in de city uv de New Jeruserlum, whar we -shan’t need the light uv de sun, fer de Lam’ uv de Lord is de light uv -de saints.” - - - - -XIV - -ONE JASPER DAY IN THE SPRING TIME OF 1878 - -_The Story of a Spectator_ - - -The paper which follows is a composite, embodying many incidents and -facts connected with the Jasper sensation, and designed to reflect, so -far as possible, the impression made by the fiery old philosopher upon -those who though out of sympathy with his astronomical notions fell as -helpless victims beneath the spell of his eloquence and honesty. - -For quite a while the Jasper sensation had grown acute in Richmond. -Beginning as a freak, it bloomed into a fad, got in the air, and -actually invaded private homes. It was a pentecost for the curious, a -juicy apple for the hard-driven reporter, a festival for the scoffer, -and a roaring financial bonanza for the saints of Sixth Mount Zion. - -I confess that, for my part, it struck me as a ridiculous business -at best, the big bubble of an hour, and that if not caught at the -exact moment it would speedily disappear, and while I was a sprig of -a reporter it was the sort of thing which did not come my way. Being, -however, of a prying and curious turn of mind I determined to take -one glimpse at the black elephant. It took time, however, to get my -purpose into working order, but my day came in due course. I awoke one -morning to find the Saturday papers “festering” with Jasper. He was in -the advertisements, in the communications, and in the local columns, -and the show was to come off the next day. They told once more of his -astronomical absurdities, as I believed them to be, and informed me -that the exhibition would come off at 3 P. M. on the next afternoon. -At noon, I dropped into Reugers’ for my lunch, and a table of hayseed -legislators were filling the room, with noisy gabble about Jasper and -his planetary crochets. I found that some of them had signed a paper -asking for the approaching Jasperian exhibition, and others of them -were twitting and punching them for their folly; but I found that both -sides of them were going. - -Later in the day, I got into a West Main Street car and found a seat -next to three ladies who evidently had a serious attack of Jasper, -and they, too, were bargaining to go. At the supper table in my -boarding-house that evening I found a sickly old Yankee minister -loafing in Richmond for his health, in a swivet of excitement about -Jasper and his coming oration. My landlady’s fourteen year old boy told -me that his mother had promised that he should go to hear Jasper, on -the hampering condition that he could get some gentleman to go with -him, and his appeal for my company would have beaten Jasper in the -point of passionate eloquence. To me, it all seemed a stew of folly, -and yet I found myself gratified to have this earnest lad as an excuse -in favour of my going. - -I finally bargained with the eager youngster that I would waylay him -the next morning on his early escape from the Sunday-school, and we -would stroll out into the vicinity of the Sixth Mount Zion Church, and -make a preliminary reconnaissance of the general situation. We did not -find it quite a well-odoured stroll at all points, particularly as we -got in the neighbourhood of the church, for we encountered a tangle of -streets and alleys some of which were not in the best condition. - -Not long after crossing Broad Street we began to run afoul of squads -and groups of coloured people, and the total strain of their chat was -Jasper and what was coming later on. The nearer we came to the church, -the combat, as the poet said, deepened, that is, the groups multiplied -and the Jasperian element grew. A huge negro woman hanging on a -side-gate on Clay Street was shouting in a piping voice about Jasper -and the sun, and telling to several dumb listeners that “she wuz gwine -ter be dar ef de Lord ‘sparred’ her an’ it wuz de las’ thing she done -on de yerth.” - -I observed also several of those Virginia solons already -mentioned,--those big footed, badly shaven, and consequential -legislators,--prowling in the neighbourhood of the church, as if they -were studying and planning for burglaries. As we meandered the crooked -streets which admitted us to a sight of the great Sixth Mount Zion, -we saw in every direction the sign of a prodigious expectancy. Front -yards, streets, and alleys had their contingents, and you could not get -within ear-shot without getting some novel and surprising hints as to -John Jasper and the Solar System. We could hear singing in the church, -and we assumed that something in the way of worship was in process. -That, however, was not IT. That was a tame and pithless performance, -and if Jasper was in it at all he was evidently resting his better -forces for the bigger battle at three o’clock in the impending -afternoon. - -The attraction on the inside was out of gear and didn’t draw. My young -companion, who was vastly my superior as to the Jasper situation, -informed me with marked conviction that the thing for us to do, and -to do at once and with a rush, was to go back to the house, swallow -our dinner, and get back with the utmost speed. We did not get away, -however, before we noted that all avenues in the vicinity of the church -seemed to be filling. Some were coming and going; some were knotted -into groups looking very solemn and apparently awestruck, and some -were crowding in like late comers at a circus; but whenever you caught -a word it had to do with Jasper. As we walked away, the son of my -landlady, full of the fidgets and outraged by my slow motion remarked -sagely: “Ain’t he got ’em?” I had to admit it; he had ’em,--by a grip -tighter than if he had ’em by the nape of the neck. Evidently enough, -he had them, and in a bunch as big as the town. - -But I didn’t know it fully then. Being untutored in Jasper’s holding -power, I was fresh enough to suppose that all that buzzing, swarming -gang of negroes would scatter away to their frugal Sunday meal, and -that the alleys and streets would empty into their usual vacancy, -though the boy’s mien of hurry and eagerness was warning me to the -contrary. He mentioned several times that from what other boys had told -him we must go very early, and in order to gratify him we got out of -the boarding-house at a quarter after one, and we needed only fifteen -minutes of quiet walking to get a front seat. - -Shades of the Pharaohs and shadows of the Pyramids! As we headed -towards the seat of planetary conflict the streets looked like black -rivers. Great lines of blacks, relieved here and there by companies of -whites, thronged the sidewalks. Were Hannibal’s Carthagenian legions -being turned loose in Richmond? Or had some mighty earthquake ripped -open the foundations of Richmond, and were the people, caked with the -soot, fleeing for life? It was more tranquil than that, thank heaven! -It was however the town, upheaved and agitated, striving fiercely for -Sixth Mount Zion, to hear the supreme sensation of all his race,--as -I now began to realize he was. Squares before we got to the church we -collided with the returning tide. “No use of going,” they said,--“house -already packed; streets full, men fighting and women fainting,” and a -deal more of the same sort. - -But these appalling things only urged me on. If there was to be a -congestion or a catastrophe, it was just to my taste as well as to -my profession to attend. Besides, I had in me a desperate purpose to -get into that house, and I promised the boy that we’d sink or swim -together. I understood it was perfectly scriptural to rip off the roof -as the last resort. The occasion had jumped the common road, and it -was folly to falter now before any obstacle. The fight through that -mob has left me some marks to be noticed when I am dressed for my -burial. My toes were tramped into jelly. At one time I was lifted by a -rush, and one of my knees aches yet in bad weather as a consequence. -Several times I thought the landlady’s boy was doomed to become an -unrecognizable mangle. It began to sift into me that Jasper was more -than a man, and nothing short of an entire situation and a public -menace. My business was more and more to see him. - -The church, when first seen, looked like a tall boat borne on the heads -of thousands, and yet I pushed along. Now, right here, I have to drop -my honesty and become a hypocrite. How I got into that house must not -be told. There is a muscular, ginger-bread fellow who stays in the -office down town, and he broke all rules and I know not how many bones, -and, miraculous as it was, landed me and the boy into the pulpit with -blood on the boy’s nose. - -Now, excuse me from describing the music and the praying, though I -would like to mention that the song that the old darkey in the Amen -corner with the white nape and the quivering voice started up, and -which it looked to me like all the people in the world were singing, -rather jerked me out of myself and took me off on its waves, and when I -got back I had to use my handkerchief in an unusual way. - -Jasper made a prayer also, and the way he talked to the Lord about his -own meanness and his ignorance, knocked out of me about half of my -notion that he was a dribbling old egotist and numbskull. He caused -cold chills to pass up my back by several surprising things which he -said to the Lord in a most serious way, and I have to own that by the -time he said “Amen,” I was a little prejudiced in his favour. - -Further, allow me to say right here that I know positively that I -never saw so many people in a house of that size at one time as was in -the church that afternoon. Women sat in each other’s laps, the pulpit -was piled up, and all the spaces chinked, packed, and doubled up. I -ought to add that the look of eagerness, expectation, and attention -was oppressive. No whispering, no looking around; only silence, except -when Jasper started them. Then you felt the mastery and the subduing -sovereignty of the man. I saw that the white people had been favoured -in getting seats, and there were hordes of them. The legislators -abounded, and there were preachers, lawyers, notable men, fashionable -women, and not a few strangers in Richmond, all herding together and -very serious. It wasn’t, I confess, what I expected. I looked for a -circus, and had hooked a funeral,--no, not a funeral; it wasn’t dismal -enough for that, but far more thoughtful and wakeful than a funeral can -be. - -I looked Jasper over with a critical eye, and before he began to -preach I had his age down for sixty-two, but when he began to career -over the pulpit I knocked off ten years. He had an unattractive bulge -on his face around his cheekbone, but his head looked like an alpine -cliff. His eye, I noted, was an all sufficient redeemer, and its flash -and laugh would cover acres of ugliness. His whiskers were decidedly -undistinguished, except in their cut, and I marked his blood as -unmixed. He dressed in a manner best suited to prevent people from -noticing how he dressed, and his tall form and alert action made him -attractive in the pulpit. - -During the sermon he had something to say about himself. “I’ll be -sixty-six years old on de fo’th day uv dis coming July. I set out ter -seek de salvation uv my Gord in 1839. I have never been in any school, -but I spent some months trying ter learn ter spell. I wuz converted in -Marse Sam Hargrove’s terbakur fac’try in dis city, on de 25th day uv -July, 1839, and frum dat day I have know’d dat Gord had anintid me wid -de Holy Ghost ter preach de Gorspil uv His Son.” - -You couldn’t hear Jasper say that and doubt. He seemed to assert a -mastery over me from the start as to his sincerity. It was impossible, -moreover, to question the honesty of anything he said. He made another -remark at the outset which made everybody smile, but it was not a -frivolous smile by a long shot. He said he was so ignorant when he -first felt he must preach that he thought maybe God wouldn’t want a man -to preach who could not read, and that maybe the devil had put that -notion into him. Then he stopped, and with a decided smile he said, “I -got a notion dat ef de debbul put dis thing in me, den he wuz a bigger -fool dan I ever thought he cud be. I don’t think he hav made much by -settin’ me out ter preach ef he did fer I done knocked his kingdom hard -blows many a day, but arter more dan forty years servin’ my Gord I know -who I hev b’lieved. I feel dat wenever I stan’ up in His name, de Lord -is wid me.” - -After these remarks he gave out his text and started in. - -“Ef I don’t prove ter you by de word uv my Gord ter day dat de sun do -move, den I ergree never ter preach agin es long es my head is ’bove -de clods. I spek ebbry lady an’ gentl’man presunt dis evenin’ ter say -wedder wat I say is so or not, arter dey hear wat I hav ter say. I’ll -speak out’n de Bibul, an’ I want evrybody ter mark de words dat I giv -’em.” - -I found that Jasper had a keen eye for business. He did things -according to the book. He had ferreted out of the Bible every passage -that bore upon the motions of the sun, and he had them all printed in a -sort of tract. A copy of these passages he placed in the hands of every -one who could read and wished to follow him. He stumbled considerably -over the big words, but he skipped none, and kept along, and when he -would read a passage he would ask to be corrected if, in any small -degree, he had not read it as it ought to be. He was greatly set on -doing clean work, and not seeming to be willing to fool anybody. - -After reading a passage, then “the fun” would begin. He would pluck out -of it the part that helped his argument, and it was a sight to see him -with this passage as if it were a broad sword. He would charge upon his -antagonists, shouting and laughing, and whacking them as he went until -he would close that part of his work in a storm of eloquence. How he -did move the people! He moved with the stride of the conqueror. - -I am not skilled in religious reporting and cannot undertake to follow -Jasper in that fusillade of comment and criticism with which, for a -full hour and a half, he bore down upon his adversaries, crashing and -scattering them as he went. A few of his sayings, however, stuck. He -drove them into my flesh like fangs, and possibly a concrete show of -them may help outsiders towards a conclusion as to what Jasper is after. - -His text, so far as I could see, was not within ninety-five millions -of miles of the question as to the movement of the sun. It did however -suit exactly for that part of his sermon which had to do with the Lord -as the defender of His ancient people. He grew vivid in picturing -ancient Israel travelling through the great wilderness, and in showing -how God delivered them from all their foes. - -His wonder as an orator broke out in unmeasured splendour as he -portrayed the power of God at the crossing of the Red Sea. A pathetic -spectacle were the Hebrew slaves, as they fled out of Egypt pursued by -the embattled legions of Pharaoh. As the Lord’s people, as he called -them, got hemmed up with the sea in front of them and the great armies -charging in the rear, he actually made the people cry in dread and -terror lest these refugees should be totally extinguished. The scene -was so lifelike and overmastering that shudders swept through the -crowd, and women were wild with actual fright. Then when Moses came; -when the rod was stretched over the sea and the waters, as if appalled -by the presence of the Lord God, began to part and roll back until they -left a clear passage between;--why everybody could see it. It was as -plain as a great road in the broad daylight, and as the Hebrews, with -revived hope, in solid columns, moved across, his people took fire; -they literally shouted the children of Israel over. Jasper himself was -leading the host, cheering, shouting to them not to be afraid, and -telling them that God would bring them safely through. It looked to me -as if half of the women were clapping their hands or dancing, and the -other half were rolling off the benches in the excess of their rapture, -as the last of the children of Israel came trudging out upon the banks. - -But instantaneously Jasper brought a revulsion of feeling. He -discovered the vast host of Pharaoh marching with music and with -banners through the parted walls of the Red Sea. _They_ were coming -too! After all, the people had shouted too soon. The triumphant -Egyptians would soon be upon them, and the chosen of the Lord, after -all, must be destroyed. - -Why, look! The host is half-across; three-fourths now, getting nearer -and nearer. “Oh, my God,” Jasper cried, with a shriek of despair. -“Help! help! or Thy people will be blotted out.” - -All over the house there were sobs and groans and cries of fright. Once -more the hand of the master was upon them, and he swayed them as he -would. Then with a shout he cried: “De walls of de Red Sea are fallin’! -De partid waturs rush inter each udder’s imbrace. Oh, ye heavens, shout -an’ let de earth be glad. Let hell ter its mos’ remotes’ dep’s quake -and cry: ‘De Lord Gord is a man uv war. De Lord is His name!’ Tell de -tidin’s. Shout it everywhar dat Gord hav’ delivured His people.” - -I have always liked fine speaking. Oratory has a resistless charm -for me. I bow to the man who thrills me. If Jasper wasn’t the soul -of eloquence that day, then I know not what eloquence is. He painted -scene after scene. He lifted the people to the sun and sank them down -to despair. He plucked them out of hard places and filled them with -shouting. As long as I live all that Red Sea business, with Egypt and -the fleeing Hebrews and Pharaoh and his great legions and the sea and -the ruin and the great deliverance, are mine to keep as long as my -mental powers can act. True, Jasper made me ridiculous three or four -times by so convulsing me with laughter that I wanted to roll on the -floor, but it didn’t make me frivolous a bit. I never knew that wit was -such a deep and serious thing before. - -The old orator had to stop “to blow” awhile, and it was a strictly -original noise he made, as he refilled his exhausted lungs with a -fresh supply of oxygen. The rush of air fairly shook the glass in the -windows and could have been heard perhaps for a square off. All at once -his face began to brighten with a smile, which almost amounted to an -illumination. He said it “kinder ’mused him ter ubsurv Gord’s keen way -uv wurryin’ Pharo’ inter lettin’ His people go.” - -I am a failure on dialect, but this part of the afternoon’s -entertainment came with such surprise that it was photographed on my -memory in a way it can never be blotted out. Jasper took up the several -plagues which he asserted that God sent upon the Egyptian monarch, -declaring that as Pharo’ was too much of a brute to hear reason, or to -feel afraid, the Lord decided to tease and torment him with reptiles -and insects, and then he added: “I tell yer, my brudderin, dis skeme -did de buzniss fer Pharo’. He kum frum ridin’ one day an’ wen he git in -de pallis de hole hall is full uv frogs. Dey iz scamperrin’ and hoppin’ -roun’ tel dey farly kivur de groun’ an’ Pharo’ put his big foot an’ -squash’d ’em on de marbul flo’. He run inter his parler tryin’ ter git -away frum ’em. Dey wuz all erroun’; on de fine chars, on de lounges, -in de pianner. It shocked de king til’ he git sick. Jes’ den de dinner -bell ring, an’ in he go ter git his dinner. Ha, ha, ha! It’s frogs, -frogs, frogs all erroun’! Wen he sot down he felt de frogs squirmin’ -in de char; de frogs on de plates, squattin’ up on de meat, playin’ -ovur de bred, an’ wen he pick up his glas ter drink de watur de little -frogs iz swimmin’ in de tum’ler. Wen he tried ter stick up a pickul -his fork stuck in a frog; he felt him runnin’ down his back. De queen -she cried, and mos’ faintid an’ tol’ Pharo’ dat she wud quit de pallis -befo’ sundown ef he didn’t do somthin’ ter cler dem frogs out’n de -house. She say she know wat iz de mattur; twuz de Gord uv dem low-down -Hebrews, an’ she wantid him ter git ’em out uv de country. Pharo’ say -he wud, but he wuz an awful liar; jes’ es dey tel me dat mos’ uv de -pollitishuns iz.” - -Just then my vagrant eye caught the string of legislators who had high -seats in the synagogue and it looked to me as if every Senegambian in -that seething herd was sampling those rustic statesmen while they took -on an awfully silly look; or rather I think it was on most of them -before. “I can’t pikshur up all dem plagues, but I mus’ giv you more -’sperunce uv dem brutish people in de pallis dat wuz so cruel ter de -Hebrew folk. One mornin’ de king wake up an’ he wuz ackin’ from bed -ter foot. He farly scratch’d his skin off his body, an’ out he jumps, -an’ as I liv’ he finds hisse’f farly civured ovur wid vermin. ’Bout -dat time de queen, she springs up, an’ sich scratchin’ an’ hollerrin’ -Pharo’ nevur herd frum her befo’, an’ when he look at her dey is -crawlin’ all over her an’ she, fergitten her queenship, iz dashin’ -erroun’ de room shakin’ her rappurs an’ scratchin’ and screamin’ tel -presn’tly she brek loose on de king agin. ’Bout dat time dar wuz a yell -in de nussery, an’ in kums de little Pharoes an’ dey runs scratchin’ -and hollerin’ an’ kickin’ ter der mudder. Der heds wuz full wid ’em; -dere hands wuz all bit an’ swell’d, an’ wen der mudder jerk’d off der -nite gowns jes’ thousans uv ’em iz runnin’ over ’em frum hed ter foot. -Pharo’ wuz rich, but riches don’t kill fleas. Pharo’ had big armis, -but soljeers can’t conquer an army of lice. Pharo’ had servunts by -de thousans, but all uv ’em put togedder cudn’t pertek’ dem little -Pharoes an’ princesses frum dat plague dat an angry Gord sent ter -skurge Pharo’ an’ mek ’im willin’ ter let His chil’n go.” - -This is a sample. Jasper’s imagination was like a prairie on fire. The -excitement in the congregation was of a new order; he was tickling -them in a new spot, or rather in forty spots at once, and the noise -in the house was almost like the roar of a tempest. I never was in -such a conglomerate mood. His picture of the plagues convulsed me with -laughter,--would have killed me dead, I verily believe, but for the -counteracting effect of the horror excited in me. And more than that, -the trials of the Hebrew slaves loomed up before me all the time. I -was subconsciously pitying them, and anxious to get my fingers on the -damnable throat of the tyrant. I never knew what it was, until that -day, to have all sorts of feelings at the same time. It seemed to me -that the strain would have to be ended without going further. - -But Jasper wasn’t done, and things were coming on which it was -impossible to foresee. Suddenly I found Jasper on a new trail. This -time it was what he called the assassination of Isaac. I discovered -that Jasper could talk quite grammatically when he was on his dignity; -but, when he struck the abandon and lawlessness of his imagination, he -dropped back into his dialect and then he was at his greatest. I found -also that he delighted in ponderous and sesquipedalian words. He rolled -them under his tongue,--save when the words themselves sometimes rolled -his tongue up,--and when he hit assassination, the pronunciation would -have made a thoughtful mule smile. But the word was simply a bit of -dynamite to blow up his crowd and to kindle new flames in his fancy. - -Jasper’s picture of Abraham had the flavour of a poem. He stood him up -on a lofty pedestal, painted him as a man without a vice;--the pink of -a gentleman, the prince of his tribe, the companion of the Lord God, -the faithful father and the Father of the Faithful. Since that day, -whenever I get tired or feel that I have done something mean, and want -to give my moral nature a set up, I recall Jasper’s poem on Abraham. - -The incident upon which he fastened was the tragical story of the -sacrifice of Isaac. He told how the Lord waked Abraham up at night and -tickled the old gentleman with the thought that there were some new -honours coming on for Isaac, and then in a flash, commanded him to take -the boy and go on a three days’ run to a mountain and kill and burn him -up. The way he portrayed the mental and emotional conflicts of Abraham -during those days was like a steel pointed plow in the soil of the -soul. Then when they got in sight of the mountain and Abraham halted -the cavalcade, and he and the boy, parting from the rest, set out to -climb the mountain alone I got mad and felt like ripping the whole -schedule into fragments. There was a deadly hush on the crowd. The air -was tense, and all who were capable of it turned pale. Just then Jasper -gave a slight jerk to the turn of things and came to my relief. - -“Why yer reckin Gord try dis thing on Abraham?” Jasper asked in a -singularly cool manner. “I tell yer why. Gord not only wants ter know -His people iz all rite, but He wants de wurl’ ter know dat dey iz all -rite, an’ more dan dat, He wants His people ter hev de comfut dat dey -is all rite too. Over in de Hebrews, most near de en’ uv de Bibul, we -iz inform’d dat by faith Aberham, wen he wuz tried, offur’d up Isuk. -God know’d dat Aberham lov’ Isuk better dan anything on de earth, an’ -dat he got mity big hopes ’bout his son’s futur. So de Lord broke on -’im onexpectid an’ order’d ’im ter git out ter Mount Morier an’ put -his son ter death. It look mity hard an’ strange ter Aberham, but he -wuk’d it out. He say ef Gord es gwine ter carry out de plan ’bout Isuk -raisin’ a gret nashun an’ he kill Isuk, den de Lord hay ter rais’ ’im -up agin, an’ so he say I’ll do wat de Lord tel me an’ ax no questions. - -“By de way, yonder dey iz, on de top uv de mountin. Aberham put up thar -a big altur an’ he done tuk dat wood dat Isuk kerried an’ put it under -de altur to start de fire. He also got de knife laid out dar shinin’ -in de sun, sharp es a razer. He call Isuk an’ Isuk walk up pert an’ -willin’ an’ mity intristid in wat’s gwine on, an’ wonderrin’ whar his -father gwine to git an offrin’, whar de lam’ fer de slaughter wuz. Den -Aberham ondress Aisuk an’ tie his feet an’ han’s an’ lay ’im up on dat -altur. Solem time, I tell yer. Den he turn roun’ an’ pick up dat blade -an’ he turn roun’ ter de altur an’ up he lif’ his gret arm high over -his hed wid de knife in his han’. It stay up dar a sekkun’, an’ den wid -a suddin flash down it starts. - -“Oh, my Gord! Aberham’s han’ ’s parrerlized; fer de earth farly shuk -wid de mity vois uv de Lord Gord: ‘Aberham, Aberham, hol’ on! Lay not -thy han’ erpon de chile uv de Promis’. I jes’ wan’ ter try yer!’ Wat -dat out dar in de brush erblatin’ and erscramblin’? Gord had prepar’d -de sacrerfice, an’ Aberham, undoin’ de boy’s han’s an’ feet, hugs ’im -ter his hart and cries and shouts tell it look lik de pillers uv de -heavens trimbul’d wid de joy.” - -Now this is the way I remember it, but Jasper was never put on paper. -If you were not there, you don’t understand. Of course, it was foolish -in me, but that great crowd was in such a tumult, and John Jasper -seemed in some way so transfigured, and, without knowing why, I was -greatly tempted to let out one tremendous yell. There was something in -me that needed to be let off, and I cannot tell what I really did, and -no matter any way. The strain was so pitiless that I wanted fresh air -and would probably have gone out, except that it was the one thing that -was physically impossible. - -Yet another scene comes back to me. Jasper had paraded his Scriptures -in long array in support of his view, that the sun do move, and he -had such a tempestuous sense of victory that he turned loose all -of his legions upon his scientific antagonists. He called them his -“Ferloserfers” and talked hotly about the books which they were all the -time sending him. He said that he would like to “huddle all dese books -in a pile an’ cornsine ’em ter de flames. Dat’s wat ought ter be done. -Dey ar weppuns wid wich Satun wud ’stroy de Word uv Gord.” - -The approval of this radical proceeding was accentuated with groans, -and shouts, and scornful laughter, which surged through the house -like a maddened river. As a fact, I am not much ahead of Jasper in -scientific knowledge, but I am not one of those flabby sort who jumped -up to say that Jasper was simply voicing what they had believed all the -time. Through it all, I kept on believing in the rotation of the earth, -just as I had before, and I really thought before I got there that I -would get enough fun out of the occasion to supply me for scores of -Sundays. The curious result of it all was that Jasper didn’t convert -me to his theory, nor did he convert me to his religion, but he did -convert me to himself. I found myself turning to him with a respect and -kindliness of feeling that greatly surprised me. I felt his greatness. -I believed in his sincerity, and to me he was a philosopher, sound in -his logic, mighty in his convictions, though he might be wrong in his -premises. - -Now in plain contradiction of what I have said I must make an -admission. In the triumph of his ending Jasper polled his crowd to see -how his theory was prospering. He bade everybody who really endorsed -his theory that the sun moved to show the hand. I stretched up my arm -about four feet, and would have punched the ceiling with my fingers if -it could have been done. Yes, I voted that the earth was flat and had -four corners, and that the sun drove his steeds from the gates of the -morning over to the barns in the West, and I never asked the question -for a moment as to how the team was got back during the night. Call me -a hypocrite, if it will comfort you to do it; that’s a very gentle way -to speak to a reporter, but I was dead sincere. My vote was in favour -of Jasper’s logic, his genuineness, his originality, his philosophic -honesty, and his religion. If it was hypocrisy to hold up the hand on -that occasion, then there was a mammoth pile of hypocrites; for it -seemed to me that there were forty hundred of the Brirareus family -present and that the last one of them tried to hold up each one of his -hands higher than all of his other hands and higher than anybody else’s -hands. - -I got full wages for my vote. To look at old Jasper with his parted -lips, his smile, which belied every sign of his oratorical ferocity and -vengefulness, and his unspeakable aspect of conquest and glory as the -people wrung his hand and poured their happy benedictions upon him. - -After the sermon the old brother, with the snow-capped head and the -shaking voice, struck up one of the prayer-meeting choral songs. He -spun it out rather thin, but reinforcements came in, and by the time -they struck the chorus the tramp of the feet all in unison seemed to -me strong enough to crash down the bridge over Niagara, and as for the -singing, its appeal was to the imagination,--at least to mine,--and I -actually fancied that I could hear the invisible choirs in which armies -of angels and nations of the ransomed were joining with full voice. - -I had Jasper for breakfast, dinner, and supper that week. Down at -the office they called me “Jasper,” and up at the boarding-house the -landlady’s boy, who stayed in bed next day from his bruises, was -constantly singing, and making me help him, the choral song with which -the meeting broke up and the old Yankee preacher and the inevitable -boy had me telling all the time of the multitudinous things that -happened at Jasper’s church. - -Months and months have since gone. The Jasperian uproar has ebbed, and -I am still the bad reporter, and latterly have changed my desk and work -on Sunday, but often and often I dream about Jasper, and every time I -dream I fancy that I have joined his church and that he and I shouted -when he baptized me. No, I have never been back. I do not wish to build -on to my experience, and I do not want it marred by finding Jasper less -commanding and kinglike than he was on that spring time Sabbath that -afternoon of ’78. - - - - -XV - -JASPER’S PICTURE OF HEAVEN - - -I never heard Jasper preach a sermon on heaven, nor did I ever hear -of his doing so. So far as my observation goes, sermons on heaven -have failed to edify the thoughtful--sometimes proving distinctly -disappointing. It was not to Jasper’s taste to argue on heaven as a -doctrine. With him it was as if he were camping outside of a beautiful -city, knowing much of its history and inhabitants, and in joyous -expectation of soon moving into it. The immediate things of the kingdom -chiefly occupied his attention; but when his sermons took him into the -neighbourhood of heaven, he took fire at once and the glory of the -celestial city lit his face and cheered his soul. This chapter deals -only with one of his sermons which, while not on heaven, reveals his -heart-belief in it, and its vital effect upon his character. - -Imagine a Sunday afternoon at his church--a fair, inspiring day. -His house was thronged to overflowing. It was the funeral of two -persons--William Ellyson and Mary Barnes. The text is forgotten, -but the sermon is vividly recalled. From the start Jasper showed a -burden and a boldness that promised rich things for his people. At the -beginning he betrayed some hesitation--unusual for him. “Lemme say,” he -said, “a word about dis William Ellersin. I say it de fust an’ git it -orf mer min’. William Ellersin was no good man--he didn’t say he wus; -he didn’t try to be good, an’ de tell me he die as he live, ’out Gord -an’ ’out hope in de worl’. It’s a bad tale to tell on ’im, but he fix -de story hissef. As de tree falls dar mus it lay. Ef you wants folks -who live wrong to be preached and sung to glory, don’ bring ’em to -Jasper. Gord comfut de monur and warn de onruly. - -“But, my bruthrin,” he brightened as he spoke, “Mary Barnes wus -difrunt. She wer wash’d in de blood of de Lam’ and walk’d in white; her -r’ligion was of Gord. Yer could trust Mary anywhar; nuv’r cotch ’er in -dem playhouses ner friskin’ in dem dances; she wan’ no street-walk’r -trapsin’ roun’ at night. She love de house of de Lord; her feet -clung to de straight and narrer path; I know’d her. I seen her at de -prarmeetin’--seed her at de supper--seed her at de preachin’, an’ seed -her tendin’ de sick an’ helpin’ de mounin’ sinn’rs. Our Sister Mary, -good-bye. Yer race is run, but yer crown is shure.” - -From this Jasper shot quite apart. He was full of fire, humour gleamed -in his eye, and freedom was the bread of his soul. By degrees he -approached the realm of death, and he went as an invader. A note of -defiant challenge rang in his voice and almost blazed on his lips. -He escorted the Christian to the court of death, and demanded of the -monster king to exhibit his power to hurt. It was wonderful to see how -he pictured the high courage of the child of God, marching up to the -very face of the king of terrors and demanding that he come forth and -do his worst. Death, on the other hand, was subdued, slow of speech, -admitted his defeat, and proclaimed his readiness to serve the children -of Immanuel. Then he affected to put his mouth to the grave and cried -aloud: “Grave! Grave! Er Grave!” he cried as if addressing a real -person, “Whar’s yer vict’ry? I hur you got a mighty banner down dar, -an’ you turrurizes ev’rybody wat comes long dis way. Bring out your -armies an’ furl fo’th your bann’rs of vict’ry. Show your han’ an’ let -’em see wat you kin do.” Then he made the grave reply: “Ain’t got no -vict’ry now; had vict’ry, but King Jesus pars’d through dis country -an’ tord my banners down. He says His peopl’ shan’t be troubled no mo’ -forev’r; an’ He tell me ter op’n de gates an’ let ’um pass on dar way -to glory.” - -“Oh, my Gord,” Jasper exclaimed in thrilling voice, “did yer hur dat? -My Master Jesus done jerk’d de sting of death, done broke de scept’r of -de king of tur’rs, an’ He dun gone inter de grave an’ rob it uv its -victorous banners, an’ fix’d nice an’ smooth for His people ter pass -through. Mo’ en dat, He has writ a song, a shoutin’ anthim for us to -sing when we go thur, passin’ suns an’ stars, an’ singin’ dat song, -‘Thanks be onter Gord--be onter Gord who give us de vict’ry thru de -Lord Jesus Christ.’” Too well I know that I do scant justice to the -greatness of Jasper by this outline of his transcendent eloquence. The -whole scene, distinct in every detail, was before the audience, and his -responsive hearers were stirred into uncontrollable excitement. - -“My bruthrin,” Jasper resumed very soberly, “I oft’n ax myself how I’d -behave merself ef I was ter git to heav’n. I tell you I would tremble -fo’ de consequinces. Eben now when I gits er glimpse--jist a peep into -de palis of de King, it farly runs me ravin’ ’stracted. What will I do -ef I gits thar? I ’spec I’ll make er fool of myself, ’cause I ain’t -got de pritty ways an’ nice manners my ole Mars’ Sam Hargrove used to -have, but ef I git thar they ain’t goin’ to put me out. Mars’ Sam’ll -speak fur me an’ tell ’em to teach me how to do. I sometimes thinks if -I’s ’lowed to go free--I ’specs to be free dar, I tell you, b’leve I’ll -jest do de town--walkin’ an’ runnin’ all roun’ to see de home which -Jesus dun built for His people. - -“Fust of all, I’d go down an’ see de river of life. I lov’s to go down -to de ole muddy Jemes--mighty red an’ muddy, but it goes ’long so -gran’ an’ quiet like ’twas ’tendin’ to business--but dat ain’t nothin’ -to the river which flows by de throne. I longs fer its chrystal waves, -an’ de trees on de banks, an’ de all mann’rs of fruits. Dis old head of -mine oft’n gits hot with fever, aches all night an’ rolls on de piller, -an’ I has many times desired to cool it in that blessed stream as it -kisses de banks of dat upper Canaan. Bl’ssed be de Lord! De thought of -seein’ dat river, drinkin’ its water an’ restin’ un’r dose trees----” -Then suddenly Jasper began to intone a chorus in a most affecting way, -no part of which I can recall except the last line: “Oh, what mus’ it -be to be thar?” “Aft’r dat,” Jasper continued with quickened note, -“I’d turn out an’ view de beauties of de city--de home of my Father. -I’d stroll up dem abenuse whar de children of Gord dwell an’ view dar -mansions. Father Abraham, I’m sure he got a grate pallis, an’ Moses, -what ’scorted de children of Israel out of bondige thru’ de wilderness -an’ to de aidge of de promised lan’, he must be pow’rful set up being -sich er man as he is; an’ David, de king dat made pritty songs, I’d -like to see ’is home, an’ Paul, de mighty scholar who got struck down -out in de ’Mascus road, I want to see his mansion, an’ all of ’em. Den -I would cut roun’ to de back streets an’ look for de little home whar -my Saviour set my mother up to housekeepin’ when she got thar. I ’spec -to know de house by de roses in de yard an’ de vine on de poch.” As -Jasper was moving at feeling pace along the path of his thoughts, he -stopped and cried: “Look dar; mighty sweet house, ain’t it lovely?” -Suddenly he sprang back and began to shout with joyous clapping of -hands. “Look dar; see dat on de do; hallelujah, it’s John Jasper. -Said He was gwine to prepar a place for me; dar it is. Too good for a -po’ sinner like me, but He built it for me, a turn-key job, an’ mine -forev’r.” Instantly he was singing his mellow chorus ending as before -with: “Oh, what mus’ it be to be thar!” - -From that scene he moved off to see the angelic host. There were the -white plains of the heavenly Canaan--a vast army of angels with their -bands of music, their different ranks and grades, their worship before -the throne and their pealing shouts as they broke around the throne of -God. The charm of the scene was irresistible; it lifted everybody to a -sight of heaven, and it was all real to Jasper. He seemed entranced. -As the picture began to fade up rose his inimitable chorus, closing as -always: “Oh, what mus’ it be to be thar!” - -Then there was a long wait. But for the subdued and unworldly air of -the old preacher--full seventy years old then--the delay would have -dissolved the spell. “An’ now, frenz,” he said, still panting and -seeking to be calm, “ef yer’ll ’scuse me, I’ll take er trip to de -throne an’ see de King in ’is roy’l garmints.” It was an event to -study him at this point. His earnestness and reverence passed all -speech, and grew as he went. The light from the throne dazzled him -from afar. There was the great white throne--there, the elders bowing -in adoring wonder--there, the archangels waiting in silence for the -commands of the King--there the King in His resplendent glory--there -in hosts innumerable were the ransomed. In point of vivid description -it surpassed all I had heard or read. By this time the old negro -orator seemed glorified. Earth could hardly hold him. He sprang about -the platform with a boy’s alertness; he was unconsciously waving his -handkerchief as if greeting a conqueror; his face was streaming with -tears; he was bowing before the Redeemer; he was clapping his hands, -laughing, shouting and wiping the blinding tears out of his eyes. It -was a moment of transport and unmatched wonder to every one, and I felt -as if it could never cease, when suddenly in a new note he broke into -his chorus, ending with the soul-melting words: “Oh, what mus’ it be to -be thar!” - -It was a climax of climaxes. I supposed nothing else could follow. We -had been up so often and so high we could not be carried up again. -But there stood Jasper, fully seeing the situation. He had seen it -in advance and was ready. “My bruthrin,” said he as if in apology, “I -dun fergot somethin’. I got ter tek anuth’r trip. I ain’t visit’d de -ransum of de Lord. I can’t slight dem. I knows heap ov ’em, an’ I’m -boun’ to see ’em.” In a moment he had us out on the celestial plains -with the saints in line. There they were--countless and glorious! We -walked the whole line and had a sort of universal handshake in which no -note of time was taken. “Here’s Brer Abul, de fust man whar got here; -here’s Brer Enoch whar took er stroll and straggled inter glory; here’s -ole Ligie, whar had er carriage sent fur ’im an’ comed a nigher way -to de city.” Thus he went on greeting patriarchs, prophets, apostles, -martyrs, his brethren and loved ones gone before until suddenly he -sprang back and raised a shout that fairly shook the roof. “Here she -is; I know’d sh’d git here; why, Mary Barnes, you got home, did yer?” -A great handshake he gave her and for a moment it looked as if the -newly-glorified Mary Barnes was the centre of Jasper’s thoughts; but, -as if by magic, things again changed and he was singing at the top of -his voice the chorus which died away amid the shrieks and shouts of his -crowd with his plaintive note: “Oh, what mus’ it be to be thar!” - -Jasper dropped exhausted into a chair and some chief singer of the -old-time sort, in noble scorn of all choirs, struck that wondrous -old song, “When Death Shall Shake My Frame,” and in a moment the -great building throbbed and trembled with the mighty old melody. -It was sung only as Jasper’s race can sing, and especially as only -Jasper’s emotional and impassioned church could sing it. This was -Jasper’s greatest sermon. In length it was not short of an hour and a -half--maybe it was longer than that. He lifted things far above all -thought of time, and not one sign of impatience was seen. The above -sketch is all unworthy of the man or the sermon. As for the venerable -old orator himself he was in his loftiest mood--free in soul, alert -as a boy, his imagination rioting, his action far outwent his words, -and his pictures of celestial scenes glowed with unworldly lustre. He -was in heaven that day, and took us around in his excursion wagon, and -turning on the lights showed us the City of the Glorified. - -What is reported here very dimly hints at what he made us see. Not a -few of Richmond’s most thoughtful people, though some of them laid no -claim to piety, were present and not one of them escaped the profound -spiritual eloquence of this simple-hearted old soldier of the cross. - -Valiant, heroic old man! He stood in his place and was not afraid. He -gave his message in no uncertain words--scourged error wherever it -exposed its front stood sentinel over the word of God and was never -caught sleeping at his post. - -When his work ended, he was ready to go up and see his Master face to -face. - -The stern old orator, brave as a lion, rich in humour, grim, and a -dreamer whose dreams were full of heaven, has uttered his last message -and gone within the veil to see the wonders of the unseen. If the -grapes of Eschol were so luscious to him here, “Oh, what must it be for -him to be there.” - - -Printed in the United States of America - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN JASPER *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. 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Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our website which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This website includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/old/68205-0.zip b/old/68205-0.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 53c8f49..0000000 --- a/old/68205-0.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/68205-h.zip b/old/68205-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index f82a89d..0000000 --- a/old/68205-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/68205-h/68205-h.htm b/old/68205-h/68205-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 2be9e49..0000000 --- a/old/68205-h/68205-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4578 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> - -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of John Jasper, by William E. Hatcher. - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - <style type="text/css"> - - p { margin-top: .75em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .75em; - } - - p.bold {text-align: center; font-weight: bold;} - p.bold2 {text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size: 150%;} - - h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; - } - h1 span, h2 span { display: block; text-align: center; } - #id1 { font-size: smaller } - - - hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; - } - - body{margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; - } - - table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 5px; border-collapse: collapse; border: none; text-align: right;} - - .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ - /* visibility: hidden; */ - position: absolute; - left: 92%; - font-size: smaller; - text-align: right; - text-indent: 0px; - } /* page numbers */ - - .center {text-align: center;} - .smaller {font-size: smaller;} - .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} - .mynote { background-color: #DDE; color: black; padding: .5em; margin-left: 20%; - margin-right: 20%; } /* colored box for notes at beginning of file */ - .space-above {margin-top: 3em;} - .left {text-align: left;} - - .poem {display: inline-block; text-align: left;} - .poem br {display: none;} - .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} - .poem div {margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} - - </style> - </head> -<body> -<div lang='en' xml:lang='en'> -<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of <span lang='' xml:lang=''>John Jasper</span>, by William E. Hatcher</p> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: <span lang='' xml:lang=''>John Jasper</span></p> -<p style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em;'><span lang='' xml:lang=''>The unmatched Negro philosopher and preacher</span></p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: William E. Hatcher</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: June 6, 2022 [eBook #68205]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Charlene Taylor, Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK <span lang='' xml:lang=''>JOHN JASPER</span> ***</div> - -<div class="mynote"><p class="center">Transcriber’s Note:<br /><br /> -Obvious typographic errors have been corrected.<br /></p></div> - -<hr /> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/front.jpg" alt="front" /></div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> - -<h1>JOHN JASPER </h1> - -<hr /> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/titlepage.jpg" alt="title page" /></div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> - -<p class="bold2">JOHN JASPER</p> - -<p class="bold space-above">The Unmatched Negro<br />Philosopher and Preacher</p> - -<p class="bold space-above">By<br />WILLIAM E. HATCHER, LL. D.</p> - -<div class="center space-above"><img src="images/logo.jpg" alt="logo" /></div> - -<p class="bold space-above"><span class="smcap">New York</span> <span class="smcap">Chicago</span> <span class="smcap">Toronto</span><br /> -Fleming H. Revell Company<br /><span class="smcap">London and Edinburgh</span></p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span></p> - -<p class="center">Copyright, 1908, by<br />FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY</p> - -<p class="center space-above">New York: 158 Fifth Avenue<br />Chicago: 17 North Wabash Ave.<br /> -London: 21 Paternoster Square<br />Edinburgh: 75 Princes Street</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> - -<h2>CONTENTS</h2> - -<table summary="CONTENTS"> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Introduction</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_7">7</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left">I. </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Jasper Presented</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left">II. </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Jasper Has a Thrilling Conversion</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_23">23</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left">III. </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">How Jasper Got His Schooling</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_30">30</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left">IV. </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Slave Preacher</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_36">36</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left">V. </td> - <td class="left">“<span class="smcap">Whar Sin Kum Frum?</span>”</td> - <td><a href="#Page_47">47</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left">VI. </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Jasper Set Free</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_58">58</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left">VII. </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Picture-Maker</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_65">65</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left">VIII. </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Jasper’s Star Witness</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_72">72</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left">IX. </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Jasper’s Sermon on “Dem Sebun Wimmin”</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_89">89</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left">X. </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Jasper Glimpsed Under Various Lights</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_94">94</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left">XI. </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Sermon:—The Stone Cut Out of the Mountain </span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_108">108</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left">XII. </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Facts Concerning the Sermon on the Sun</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_121">121</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left">XIII. </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Sun Do Move</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_133">133</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left">XIV. </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">One Jasper Day in the Spring Time of 1878</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_150">150</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="left">XV. </td> - <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Jasper’s Picture of Heaven</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_174">174</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p> - -<h2>INTRODUCTION</h2> - -<p>Reader; stay a moment. A word with you before you begin to sample this -book. We will tell you some things in advance, which may help you to -decide whether it is worth while to read any further. These pages -deal with a negro, and are not designed either to help or to hurt -the negro race. They have only to do with one man. He was one of a -class,—without pedigree, and really without successors, except that he -was so dominant and infectious that numbers of people affected his ways -and dreamed that they were one of his sort. As a fact, they were simply -of another and of a baser sort.</p> - -<p>The man in question was a negro, and if you cannot appreciate greatness -in a black skin you would do well to turn your thoughts into some other -channel. Moreover, he was a negro covered over with ante bellum habits -and ways of doing. He lived forty years before the war and for about -forty years after it. He grew wonderfully as a freeman; but he never -grew away from the tastes, dialects, and manners of the bondage times. -He was a man left over from the old régime and never got infected with -the new order. The air of the educated negro preacher<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> didn’t set well -upon him. The raw scholarship of the new “ish,” as he called it, was -sounding brass to him. As a fact, the new generation of negro preachers -sent out by the schools drew back from this man. They branded him as -an anachronism, and felt that his presence in the pulpit was a shock -to religion and an offense to the ministry; and yet not one of them -ever attained the celebrity or achieved the results which came to this -unlettered and grievously ungrammatical son of Africa.</p> - -<p>But do not be afraid that you are to be fooled into the fanatical camp. -This story comes from the pen of a Virginian who claims no exemption -from Southern prejudices and feels no call to sound the praises of the -negro race. Indeed, he never intended to write what is contained within -the covers of this book. It grew up spontaneously and most of the -contents were written before the book was thought of.</p> - -<p>It is, perhaps, too much to expect that the meddlers with books will -take the <i>ipse dixit</i> of an unaccredited stranger. They ought not to do -it: they are not asked to do it. They can go on about their business, -if they prefer; but if they do, they will miss the story of the -incomparable negro of the South. This is said with sobriety and after a -half century spent in close observation of the negro race.</p> - -<p>More than that, the writer of this never had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> any intention of -bothering with this man when he first loomed up into notoriety. He got -drawn in unexpectedly. He heard that there was a marvel of a man “over -in Africa,” a not too savoury portion of Richmond, Virginia,—and one -Sunday afternoon in company with a Scot-Irishman, who was a scholar -and a critic, with a strong leaning towards ridicule, he went to hear -him preach. Shades of our Anglo-Saxon fathers! Did mortal lips ever -gush with such torrents of horrible English! Hardly a word came out -clothed and in its right mind. And gestures! He circled around the -pulpit with his ankle in his hand; and laughed and sang and shouted -and acted about a dozen characters within the space of three minutes. -Meanwhile, in spite of these things, he was pouring out a gospel -sermon, red hot, full of love, full of invective, full of tenderness, -full of bitterness, full of tears, full of every passion that ever -flamed in the human breast. He was a theatre within himself, with the -stage crowded with actors. He was a battle-field;—himself the general, -the staff, the officers, the common soldiery, the thundering artillery -and the rattling musketry. He was the preacher; likewise the church -and the choir and the deacons and the congregation. The Scot-Irishman -surrendered in fifteen minutes after the affair commenced, but the -other man was hard-hearted and stubborn and refused to commit himself. -He preferred to wait<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> until he got out of doors and let the wind blow -on him and see what was left. He determined to go again; and he went -and kept going, off and on, for twenty years. That was before the negro -became a national figure. It was before he startled his race with his -philosophy as to the rotation of the sun. It was before he became a -lecturer and a sensation, sought after from all parts of the country. -Then it was that he captured the Scot-Irish and the other man also. -What is written here constitutes the gatherings of nearly a quarter -of a century, and, frankly speaking, is a tribute to the brother in -black,—the one unmatched, unapproachable, and wonderful brother.</p> - -<p>But possibly the reader is of the practical sort. He would like to -get the worldly view of this African genius and to find out of what -stuff he was made. Very well; he will be gratified! Newspapers are -heartlessly practical. They are grudging of editorial commendation, and -in Richmond, at the period, they were sparing of references of any kind -to negroes. You could hardly expect them to say anything commendatory -of a negro, if he was a negro, with odd and impossible notions. Now -this man was of that very sort. He got it into his big skull that the -earth was flat, and that the sun rotated;—a scientific absurdity! But -you see he proved it by the Bible. He ransacked the whole book and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> got -up ever so many passages. He took them just as he found them. It never -occurred to him that the Bible was not dealing with natural science, -and that it was written in an age and country when astronomy was -unknown and therefore written in the language of the time. Intelligent -people understand this very well, but this miracle of his race was -behind his era. He took the Bible literally, and, with it in hand, he -fought his battles about the sun. Literally, but not scientifically, he -proved his position, and he gave some of his devout antagonists a world -of botheration by the tenacity with which he held to his views and the -power with which he stated his case. Scientifically, he was one of the -ancients, but that did not interfere with his piety and did not at all -eclipse his views. His perfect honesty was most apparent in all of his -contentions; and, while some laughed at what they called his vagaries, -those who knew him best respected him none the less, but rather the -more, for his astronomical combat. There was something in his love of -the Bible, his faith in every letter of it, and his courage, that drew -to him the good will and lofty respect of uncounted thousands and, -probably, it might be said, of uncounted millions.</p> - -<p>Now when this man died it was as the fall of a tower. It was a crash, -heard and felt farther than was the collapse of the famous tower at -Venice. If the dubious, undecided reader has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> not broken down on the -road but has come this far, he is invited to look at the subjoined -editorial from <i>The Richmond Dispatch</i>, the leading morning paper of -Richmond, Va., which published at the time an article on this lofty -figure, now national in its proportions and imperishable in its fame, -when it bowed to the solemn edict of death.</p> - -<blockquote><p class="center">(From <i>The Richmond Dispatch</i>)</p> - -<p>“It is a sad coincidence that the destruction of the Jefferson -Hotel and the death of the Rev. John Jasper should have fallen -upon the same day. John Jasper was a Richmond Institution, as -surely so as was Major Ginter’s fine hotel. He was a national -character, and he and his philosophy were known from one end -of the land to the other. Some people have the impression that -John Jasper was famous simply because he flew in the face of the -scientists and declared that the sun moved. In one sense, that is -true, but it is also true that his fame was due, in great measure, -to a strong personality, to a deep, earnest conviction, as well as -to a devout Christian character. Some preachers might have made -this assertion about the sun’s motion without having attracted -any special attention. The people would have laughed over it, -and the incident would have passed by as a summer breeze. But -John Jasper made an impression upon his generation, because he -was sincerely and deeply<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> in earnest in all that he said. No man -could talk with him in private, or listen to him from the pulpit, -without being thoroughly convinced of that fact. His implicit -trust in the Bible and everything in it, was beautiful and -impressive. He had no other lamp by which his feet were guided. -He had no other science, no other philosophy. He took the Bible -in its literal significance; he accepted it as the inspired word -of God; he trusted it with all his heart and soul and mind; he -believed nothing that was in conflict with the teachings of the -Bible—scientists and philosophers and theologians to the contrary -notwithstanding.</p> - -<p>“‘They tried to make it appear,’ said he, in the last talk we -had with him on the subject, ‘that John Jasper was a fool and a -liar when he said that the sun moved. I paid no attention to it -at first, because I did not believe that the so-called scientists -were in earnest. I did not think that there was any man in the -world fool enough to believe that the sun did <i>not</i> move, for -everybody had seen it move. But when I found that these so-called -scientists were in earnest I took down my old Bible and proved -that they, and not John Jasper, were the fools and the liars.’ And -there was no more doubt in his mind on that subject than there -was of his existence. John Jasper had the faith that removed -mountains. He knew the literal Bible as well as Bible scholars -did. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> did not understand it from the scientific point of view, -but he knew its teachings and understood its spirit, and he -believed in it. He accepted it as the true word of God, and he -preached it with unction and with power.</p> - -<p>“John Jasper became famous by accident, but he was a most -interesting man apart from his solar theory. He was a man of deep -convictions, a man with a purpose in life, a man who earnestly -desired to save souls for heaven. He followed his divine calling -with faithfulness, with a determination, as far as he could, to -make the ways of his God known unto men, His saving health among -all nations. And the Lord poured upon His servant, Jasper, ‘the -continual dew of His blessing.’”</p></blockquote> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>I</span> <span class="smaller">JASPER PRESENTED</span></h2> - -<p>John Jasper, the negro preacher of Richmond, Virginia, stands -preëminent among the preachers of the negro race in the South. He was -for fifty years a slave, and a preacher during twenty-five years of -his slavery, and distinctly of the old plantation type. Freedom came -full-handed to him, but it did not in any notable degree change him in -his style, language, or manner of preaching. He was the ante bellum -preacher until eighty-nine years of age, when he preached his last -sermon on “Regeneration,” and with quiet dignity laid off his mortal -coil and entered the world invisible. He was the last of his type, and -we shall not look upon his like again. It has been my cherished purpose -for some time to embalm the memory of this extraordinary genius in some -form that would preserve it from oblivion. I would give to the American -people a picture of the God-made preacher who was great in his bondage -and became immortal in his freedom.</p> - -<p>This is not to be done in biographic form, but rather in vagrant -articles which find their kinship only in the fact that they present -some distinct view of a man, hampered by early <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>limitations, denied the -graces of culture, and cut off even from the advantages of a common -education, but who was munificently endowed by nature, filled with -vigour and self-reliance, and who achieved greatness in spite of almost -limitless adversities. I account him genuinely great among the sons of -men, but I am quite sure that the public can never apprehend the force -and gist of his rare manhood without first being made acquainted with -certain facts appertaining to his early life.</p> - -<p>Jasper was born a slave. He grew up on a plantation and was a toiler in -the fields up to his manhood. When he came to Richmond, now grown to -a man, he was untutored, full of dangerous energies, almost gigantic -in his muscle, set on pleasure, and without the fear of God before his -eyes. From his own account of himself, he was fond of display, a gay -coxcomb among the women of his race, a fun-maker by nature, with a -self-assertion that made him a leader within the circles of his freedom.</p> - -<p>We meet him first as one of the “hands” in the tobacco factory of -Mr. Samuel Hargrove, an enterprising and prosperous manufacturer in -the city of Richmond. Jasper occupied the obscure position of “a -stemmer,”—which means that his part was to take the well-cured tobacco -leaf and eliminate the stem, with a view to preparing what was left to -be worked into “the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> plug” which is the glory of the tobacco-chewer. -This position had one advantage for this quick-witted and alert young -slave. It threw him into contact with a multitude of his own race, and -as nature had made him a lover of his kind his social qualities found -ample scope for exercise. In his early days he went at a perilous pace -and found in the path of the sinful many fountains of common joy. -Indeed, he made evil things fearfully fascinating by the zestful and -remorseless way in which he indulged them.</p> - -<p>It was always a joy renewed for him to tell the story of his -conversion. As described by him, his initial religious experiences, -while awfully mystical and solemn to him, were grotesque and ludicrous -enough. They partook of the extravagances of the times, yet were so -honest in their nature, and so soundly Scriptural in their doctrines, -and so reverential in their tone, that not even the most captious -sceptic could hear him tell of them, in his moments of exalted -inspiration, without feeling profoundly moved by them.</p> - -<p>It ought to be borne in mind that this odd and forcible man was a -preacher in Richmond for a half century, and that during all that -time, whether in slavery or in freedom, he lived up to his religion, -maintaining his integrity, defying the unscrupulous efforts of jealous -foes to destroy him, and walking the high path of spotless<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> and -incorruptible honour. Not that he was always popular among his race. He -was too decided, too aggressive, too intolerant towards meanness, and -too unpitying in his castigation of vice, to be popular. His life, in -the nature of the case, had to be a warfare, and it may be truly said -that he slept with his sword buckled on.</p> - -<p>Emancipation did not turn his head. He was the same high-minded, -isolated, thoughtful Jasper. His way of preaching became an offense to -the “edicated” preachers of the new order, and with their new sense -of power these double-breasted, Prince-Albert-coated, high hat and -kid-gloved clergymen needed telescopes to look as far down as Jasper -was, to get a sight of him. They verily thought that it would be a -simple process to transfix him with their sneers, and flaunt their -new grandeurs before him, in order to annihilate him. Many of these -new-fledged preachers, who came from the schools to be pastors in -Richmond, resented Jasper’s prominence and fame. They felt that he was -a reproach to the race, and they did not fail to fling at him their -flippant sneers.</p> - -<p>But Jasper’s mountain stood strong. He looked this new tribe of his -adversaries over and marked them as a calcimined and fictitious type -of culture. To him they were shop-made and unworthy of respect. They -called forth the storm of his indignant wrath. He opened his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> batteries -upon them, and, for quite a while, the thunder of his guns fairly -shook the steeples on the other negro churches of Richmond. And yet it -will never do to think of him as the incarnation of a vindictive and -malevolent spirit. He dealt terrific blows, and it is hardly too much -to say that many of his adversaries found it necessary to get out of -the range of his guns. But, after all, there was a predominant good -nature about him. His humour was inexhaustible, and irresistible as -well. If by his fiery denunciations he made his people ready to “fight -Philip,” he was quite apt before he finished to let fly some of his odd -comparisons, his laughable stories, or his humorous mimicries. He could -laugh off his own grievances, and could make his own people “take the -same medicine.”</p> - -<p>Jasper was something of a hermit, given to seclusion, imperturbably -calm in his manner, quite ascetic in his tastes, and a cormorant in -his devouring study of the Bible. Naturally, Jasper was as proud as -Lucifer,—too proud to be egotistic and too candid and self-assertive -to affect a humility which he did not feel. He walked heights where -company was scarce, and seemed to love his solitude. Jasper was as -brave as a lion and possibly not a little proud of his bravery. He -fought in the open and set no traps for his adversaries. He believed in -himself,—felt the dignity of his <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>position, and never let himself down -to what was little or unseemly.</p> - -<p>The most remarkable fact in Jasper’s history is connected with his -extraordinary performances in connection with his tersely expressed -theory,—<span class="smaller">THE SUN DO MOVE!</span> We would think in advance that any -man who would come forward to champion that view would be hooted out -of court. It was not so with Jasper. His bearing through all that -excitement was so dignified, so sincere, so consistent and heroic, -that he actually did win the rank of a true philosopher. This result, -so surprising, is possibly the most handsome tribute to his inherent -excellence and nobility of character. One could not fail to see that -his fight on a technical question was so manifestly devout, so filled -with zeal for the honour of religion, and so courageous in the presence -of overwhelming odds, that those who did not agree with him learned to -love and honour him.</p> - -<p>The sensation which he awakened fairly flew around the country. It is -said that he preached the sermon 250 times, and it would be hard to -estimate how many thousands of people heard him. The papers, religious -and secular, had much to say about him. Many of them published his -sermons, some of them at first plying him with derision, but about -all of them rounding up with the admission of a good deal of faith in -Jasper. So vast was his popularity that a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>mercenary syndicate once -undertook to traffic on his popularity by sending him forth as a public -lecturer. The movement proved weak on its feet, and after a little -travel he hobbled back richer in experience than in purse.</p> - -<p>As seen in the pulpit or in the street Jasper was an odd picture to -look upon. His figure was uncouth; he was rather loosely put together; -his limbs were fearfully long and his body strikingly short,—a sort -of nexus to hold his head and limbs in place. He was black, but his -face saved him. It was open, luminous, thoughtful, and in moments -of animation it glowed with a radiance and exultation that was most -attractive.</p> - -<p>Jasper’s career as a preacher after the war was a poem. The story is -found later on and marks him as a man of rare originality, and of -patience born of a better world. He left a church almost entirely -the creation of his own productive life, that holds a high rank in -Richmond and that time will find it hard to estrange from his spirit -and influence. For quite a while he was hardly on coöperative terms -with the neighbouring churches, and it is possible that he ought to -share somewhat in the responsibility for the estrangement which so -long existed;—though it might be safely said that if they had left -Jasper alone he would not have bothered them. Let it be said that the -animosities of those days gradually gave away to the gracious and -softening influence of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> time, and, when his end came, all the churches -and ministers of the city most cordially and lovingly united in -honouring his memory.</p> - -<p>It may betoken the regard in which Jasper was held by the white people -if I should be frank enough to say that I was the pastor of the Grace -Street Baptist Church, one of the largest ecclesiastical bodies in the -city at the time of Jasper’s death, and the simple announcement in -the morning papers that I would deliver an address in honour of this -negro preacher who had been carried to his grave during the previous -week brought together a representative and deeply sympathetic audience -which overflowed the largest church auditorium in the city. With the -utmost affection and warmth I put forth my lofty appreciation of this -wonderful prince of his tribe, and so far as known there was never an -adverse criticism offered as to the propriety or justice of the tribute -which was paid him.</p> - -<p>It is of this unusual man, this prodigy of his race, and this eminent -type of the Christian negro, that the somewhat random articles of this -volume are to treat. His life jumped the common grooves and ran on -heights not often trod. His life went by bounds and gave surprises with -each succeeding leap.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>II</span> <span class="smaller">JASPER HAS A THRILLING CONVERSION</span></h2> - -<p>Let us bear in mind that at the time of his conversion John Jasper -was a slave, illiterate and working in a tobacco factory in Richmond. -It need hardly be said that he shared the superstitions and indulged -in the extravagances of his race, and these in many cases have been -so blatant and unreasonable that they have caused some to doubt the -negro’s capacity for true religion. But from the beginning Jasper’s -religious experiences showed forth the Lord Jesus as their source and -centre. His thoughts went to the Cross. His hope was founded on the -sacrificial blood, and his noisy and rhapsodic demonstrations sounded a -distinct note in honour of his Redeemer.</p> - -<p>Jasper’s conviction as to his call to the ministry was clear-cut -and intense. He believed that his call came straight from God. His -boast and glory was that he was a God-made preacher. In his fierce -warfares with the educated preachers of his race—“the new issue,” -as he contemptuously called them—he rested his claim on the ground -that God had put him into the ministry; and so reverential, so full of -noble assertion and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> so irresistibly eloquent was he in setting forth -his ministerial authority that even his most sceptical critics were -constrained to admit that, like John the Baptist, he was “a man sent -from God.”</p> - -<p>And yet Jasper knew the human side of his call. It was a part of his -greatness that he could see truth in its relations and completeness, -and while often he presented one side of a truth, as if it were all -of it, he also saw the other side. With him a paradox was not a -contradiction. He gratefully recognized the human influences which -helped him to enter the ministry. While preaching one Sunday afternoon -Jasper suddenly stopped, his face lighted as with a vision, a rich -laugh rippled from his lips while his eyes flashed with soulful fire. -He then said, in a manner never to be reported: “Mars Sam Hargrove -called me to preach de Gospel—he was my old marster, and he started -me out wid my message.” Instantly the audience quivered with quickened -attention, for they knew at once that the man in the pulpit had -something great to tell.</p> - -<p>“I was seekin’ God six long weeks—jes’ ’cause I was sich a fool I -couldn’t see de way. De Lord struck me fus’ on Cap’tal Squar’, an’ I -left thar badly crippled. One July mornin’ somethin’ happen’d. I was a -tobarker-stemmer—dat is, I took de tobarker leaf, an’ tor’d de stem -out, an’ dey won’t no one in dat fac’ry<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> could beat me at dat work. -But dat mornin’ de stems wouldn’t come out to save me, an’ I tor’d up -tobarker by de poun’ an’ flung it under de table. Fac’ is, bruthr’n, -de darkness of death was in my soul dat mornin’. My sins was piled on -me like mount’ns; my feet was sinkin’ down to de reguns of despar, an’ -I felt dat of all sinners I was de wust. I tho’t dat I would die right -den, an’ wid what I supposed was my lars breath I flung up to heav’n -a cry for mercy. ’Fore I kno’d it, de light broke; I was light as a -feather; my feet was on de mount’n; salvation rol’d like a flood thru -my soul, an’ I felt as if I could ’nock off de fact’ry roof wid my -shouts.</p> - -<p>“But I sez to mysef, I gwine to hol’ still till dinner, an’ so I cried, -an’ laffed, an’ tore up de tobarker. Pres’ntly I looked up de table, -an’ dar was a old man—he luv me, an’ tried hard to lead me out de -darkness, an’ I slip roun’ to whar he was, an’ I sez in his ear as low -as I could: ‘Hallelujah; my soul is redeemed!’ Den I jump back quick -to my work, but after I once open my mouf it was hard to keep it shet -any mo’. ’Twan’ long ’fore I looked up de line agin, an’ dar was a good -ol’ woman dar dat knew all my sorrers, an’ had been prayin’ fur me all -de time. Der was no use er talkin’; I had to tell her, an’ so I skip -along up quiet as a breeze, an’ start’d to whisper in her ear, but just -den de holin-back straps of Jasper’s breachin’ broke, an’<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> what I tho’t -would be a whisper was loud enuf to be hearn clean ’cross Jeems River -to Manchester. One man sed he tho’t de factory was fallin’ down; all I -know’d I had raise my fust shout to de glory of my Redeemer.</p> - -<p>“But for one thing thar would er been a jin’ral revival in de fact’ry -dat mornin’. Dat one thing was de overseer. He bulg’d into de room, an’ -wid a voice dat sounded like he had his breakfus dat mornin’ on rasps -an’ files, bellowed out: ‘What’s all dis row ’bout?’ Somebody shouted -out dat John Jasper dun got religun, but dat didn’t wurk ’tall wid -de boss. He tell me to git back to my table, an’ as he had sumpthin’ -in his hand dat looked ugly, it was no time fur makin’ fine pints, -so I sed: ‘Yes, sir, I will; I ain’t meant no harm; de fus taste of -salvation got de better un me, but I’ll git back to my work.’ An’ I -tell you I got back quick.</p> - -<p>“Bout dat time Mars Sam he come out’n his orfis, an’ he say: ‘What’s de -matter out here?’ An’ I hear de overseer tellin’ him: ‘John Jasper kick -up a fuss, an’ say he dun got religun, but I dun fix him, an’ he got -back to his table.’ De devil tol’ me to hate de overseer dat mornin’, -but de luv of God was rollin’ thru my soul, an’ somehow I didn’t mind -what he sed.</p> - -<p>“Little aft’r I hear Mars Sam tell de overseer he want to see Jasper. -Mars Sam was a good man; he was a Baptis’, an’ one of de hed men<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> of -de old Fust Church down here, an’ I was glad when I hear Mars Sam say -he want to see me. When I git in his orfis, he say: ‘John, what was de -matter out dar jes’ now?’—and his voice was sof’ like, an’ it seem’d -to have a little song in it which play’d into my soul like an angel’s -harp. I sez to him: ‘Mars Sam, ever sence de fourth of July I ben -cryin’ after de Lord, six long weeks, an’ jes’ now out dar at de table -God tuk my sins away, an’ set my feet on a rock. I didn’t mean to make -no noise, Mars Sam, but ’fore I know’d it de fires broke out in my -soul, an’ I jes’ let go one shout to de glory of my Saviour.’</p> - -<p>“Mars Sam was settin’ wid his eyes a little down to de flo’, an’ wid a -pritty quiv’r in his voice he say very slo’: ‘John, I b’leve dat way -myself. I luv de Saviour dat you have jes’ foun’, an’ I wan’ to tell -you dat I do’n complain ’cause you made de noise jes’ now as you did.’ -Den Mars Sam did er thing dat nearly made me drop to de flo’. He git -out of his chair, an’ walk over to me and giv’ me his han’, and he -say: ‘John, I wish you mighty well. Your Saviour is mine, an’ we are -bruthers in de Lord.’ When he say dat, I turn ’round an’ put my arm -agin de wall, an’ held my mouf to keep from shoutin’. Mars Sam well -know de good he dun me.</p> - -<p>“Art’r awhile he say: ‘John, did you tell eny of ’em in thar ’bout your -conversion?’ And I say: ‘Yes, Mars Sam, I tell ’em fore I kno’d it,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> -an’ I feel like tellin’ eberybody in de worl’ about it.’ Den he say: -‘John, you may tell it. Go back in dar an’ go up an’ down de tables, -an’ tell all of ’em. An’ den if you wan’ to, go up-stars an’ tell ’em -all ’bout it, an’ den down-stars an’ tell de hogshed men an’ de drivers -an’ everybody what de Lord has dun for yor.’</p> - -<p>“By dis time Mars Sam’s face was rainin’ tears, an’ he say: ‘John, -you needn’ work no mo’ to-day. I giv’ you holiday. Aft’r you git thru -tellin’ it here at de fact’ry, go up to de house, an’ tell your folks; -go roun’ to your neighbours, an’ tell dem; go enywhere you wan’ to, an’ -tell de good news. It’ll do you good, do dem good, an’ help to hon’r -your Lord an’ Saviour.’</p> - -<p>“Oh, dat happy day! Can I ever forgit it? Dat was my conversion -mornin’, an’ dat day de Lord sent me out wid de good news of de -kingdom. For mo’ den forty years I’ve ben tellin’ de story. My step is -gittin’ ruther slo’, my voice breaks down, an’ sometimes I am awful -tired, but still I’m tellin’ it. My lips shall proclaim de dyin’ luv of -de Lam’ wid my las’ expirin’ breath.</p> - -<p>“Ah, my dear ol’ marster! He sleeps out yonder in de ol’ cemetery, an’ -in dis worl’ I shall see his face no mo’, but I don’t forgit him. He -give me a holiday, an’ sent me out to tell my friends what great things -God had dun for my soul. Oft’n as I preach I feel that I’m doin’ what -my ol’ marster tol’ me to do. If he was here<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> now, I think he would -lif’ up dem kin’ black eyes of his, an’ say: ‘Dat’s right, John; still -tellin’ it; fly like de angel, an’ wherever you go carry de Gospel to -de people.’ Farewell, my ol’ marster, when I lan’ in de heav’nly city, -I’ll call at your mansion dat de Lord had ready for you when you got -dar, an’ I shall say: ‘Mars Sam, I did what you tol’ me, an’ many of -’em is comin’ up here wid da’ robes wash’d in de blood of de Lam’ dat -was led into de way by my preachin’, an’ as you started me I want you -to shar’ in de glory of da’ salvation.’ An’ I tell you what I reck’n, -dat when Mars Sam sees me, he’ll say: ‘John, call me marster no mo’: -we’re bruthers now, an’ we’ll live forever roun’ de throne of God.’”</p> - -<p>This is Jasper’s story, but largely in his own broken words. When he -told it, it swept over the great crowd like a celestial gale. The -people seemed fascinated and transfigured. His homely way of putting -the Gospel came home to them. Let me add that his allusions to his old -master were in keeping with his kindly and conciliatory tone in all -that he had to say about the white people after the emancipation of -the slaves. He loved the white people, and among them his friends and -lovers were counted by the thousand.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>III</span> <span class="smaller">HOW JASPER GOT HIS SCHOOLING</span></h2> - -<p>These chapters disclaim outright any pretension to biography. They -deal with a weird, indescribable and mysterious genius, standing out -in gloomy grandeur, and not needing the setting forth of ordinary -incidents. At the same time, when an extraordinary man comes along and -does masterful things, there be some who are ready to ask questions. -Was he educated? Well, yes, he was. He had rare educational advantages, -not in the schools; but what of that? A genius has no use for a school, -except so far as it teaches him the art of thinking. If we run back to -the boyhood of Jasper and look him over we find that he had, after all, -distinct educational advantages.</p> - -<p>It is another case of a good mother. We know that her name was Nina, -and that she was the wife of Philip Jasper, and if tradition tells the -truth she was the mother of twenty-four children—a premature applicant -for the Rooseveltian prize. John was the last, and was not born until -two months after his father’s death. Truly grace as well as genius was -needed in his case, or he would have struck the wrong road. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span></p> - -<p>That mother was the head of the working women on the Fluvanna farm and -learned to govern by reason of the position she held. Her appointment -bespoke her character, and her work improved it. Later on, she became -in another home the chief of the servant force in a rich family. It was -quite a good place. It brought her in contact with cultivated people -and the imitative quality in the negro helped her to learn the manners -and to imbibe the spirit of the lady. Later on still, she became a -nurse to look after the sick at the Negro Quarters. There she had to do -with doctors, medicines and counsellors and helpers. Add to all this, -she was a sober, thoughtful, godly woman, and you will quite soon reach -the conclusion that she was a very excellent teacher for John; and John -coming latest in the domestic procession found her rich in experience, -matured in motherliness, and enlarged in her outlook of life.</p> - -<p>John’s father was a preacher. Harsh things, and some of them needlessly -false, are said of the fact that there were no negro preachers in the -times of the slaveholding. It is true, that the laws of the country did -not allow independent organizations of negroes, and negro preachers -were not allowed, except by the consent of their masters, to go abroad -preaching the Gospel. They could not accept pastoral charges, and were -hampered, as all must admit, by grievous <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>restrictions, but there were -negro preachers in that day just the same,—scores of them, and in one -way and another they had many privileges and did good and effective -service. One thing about the negro preacher of the ante bellum era was -his high character. It is true that the owner of slaves was not in -all cases adapted to determine the moral character of the slave who -wanted to preach, and too often, it may be admitted, his prejudices -and self-interest may have ruled out some men who ought to have been -allowed to preach. It is a pity if this were true. But this strictness -had one advantage. When the master of a negro man allowed him to preach -it was an endorsement, acceptable and satisfactory, wherever the man -went. If they thought he was all right at home, he could pass muster -elsewhere.</p> - -<p>Now, concerning John’s father, tradition has proved exceedingly -partial. It has glorified Tina the mother with fine extravagance, -but it has cut Philip unmercifully. John could get little out of his -father, for they were not contemporaries, and as his brothers and -sisters seemed to have been born for oblivion, we can trace little of -his distinction to the old household in Fluvanna.</p> - -<p>But we dare say that Philip, the preacher, remembered chiefly because -he was a preacher, had something to do in a subtle way with John’s -training. Nor must we fail to remember that Jasper himself grew up -in contact with a fine old<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> Virginia family. Fools there be many who -love to talk of the shattering of the old aristocracy of Virginia. The -“F.F.V.’s”<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1">[1]</a> have been the sport of the vulgar, and their downfall -has been a tragedy which the envious greedily turned into a comedy. -But people ought to have some sense. They ought to see things in -their proper relation. They ought to know that in the atmosphere of -the old Virginia home the negroes, and especially those who served in -person the heads of the family, caught the cue of the gentleman and -the lady. I can stand on the streets of Richmond to-day and pick out -the coloured men and women who grew up in homes of refinement, and who -still bear about them the signs of it. Bent by age, and many of them -tortured by infirmity, they still bear the marks of their old masters. -They constitute a class quite apart from those of later times and -are unequalled by them. I rejoice in all the comforts and advantages -which have come to the negroes,—most heartily I thank heaven for -their freedom and for all that freedom has brought them; but I do not -hesitate to say that one of the losses was that contact with courtly, -dignified, and royal people which many of them had before the Civil -War. And even those on the plantations, while removed farther from the -lights of the great castles in which their masters lived, walked not in -darkness entirely, but <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>unconsciously felt the transforming power of -those times.</p> - -<p>John Jasper was himself an aristocrat. His mode of dress, his manner -of walking, his lofty dignity, all told the story. He received an -aristocratic education, and he never lost it. Besides this, he had a -most varied experience as a slave. He grew up on the farm, and knew -what it was to be a plantation hand. He learned to work in the tobacco -factory. He worked also in the foundries, and also served around the -houses of the families with whom he lived; for it must be understood -that after the breaking up of the Peachy family he changed owners and -lived in different places. These things enlarged his scope, and with -that keen desire to know things he learned at every turn of life.</p> - -<p>After his conversion he became a passionate student. He acknowledges -one who sought to teach him to read, and after he became a preacher -he spelled out the Bible for himself. He was eager to hear other men -preach and to talk with those who were wiser than he. And so he kept on -learning as long as he lived, though of course he missed the help of -the schools, and never crossed the threshold of worldly science in his -pursuit of knowledge.</p> - -<p>It may be well to say here that Jasper never lost his pride in white -people. He delighted to be with them. Thousands upon thousands went<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> -to hear him, and while there was a strain of curiosity in many of them -there was an under-note of respect and kindliness which always thrilled -his heart and did him good. Time and again he spoke to me personally -of white people, and always with a beautiful appreciation. It is -noteworthy that the old man rode his high horse when his house was -partly filled with white people, and it would be no exaggeration to say -that not since the end of the war has any negro been so much loved or -so thoroughly believed in as John Jasper.</p> - -<h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1">[1]</a> First Families of Virginia.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>IV</span> <span class="smaller">THE SLAVE PREACHER</span></h2> - -<p>It is as a preacher that John Jasper is most interesting. His -personality was notable and full of force anywhere, but the pulpit -was the stage of his chief performance. It is worth while to bear in -mind that he began to preach in 1839 and that was twenty-five years -before the coming of freedom. For a quarter of a century, therefore, -he was a preacher while yet a slave. His time, of course, under the -law belonged to his master, and under the laws of the period, he could -preach only under very serious limitations. He could go only when his -master said he might, and he could preach only when some white minister -or committee was present to see that things were conducted in an -orderly way. This is the hard way of stating the case, but there are -many ways of getting around such regulations. The man who could preach, -though a negro, rarely failed of an opportunity to preach. The man who -was fit for the work had friends who enabled him to “shy around” his -limitations.</p> - -<p>There was one thing which the negro greatly insisted upon, and which -not even the most hard-hearted <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>masters were ever quite willing to -deny them. They could never bear that their dead should be put away -without a funeral. Not that they expected, at the time of the burial, -to have the funeral service. Indeed, they did not desire it, and it -was never according to their notions. A funeral to them was a pageant. -It was a thing to be arranged for a long time ahead. It was to be -marked by the gathering of the kindred and friends from far and wide. -It was not satisfactory unless there was a vast and excitable crowd. -It usually meant an all-day meeting, and often a meeting in a grove, -and it drew white and black alike, sometimes almost in equal numbers. -Another demand in the case,—for the slaves knew how to make their -demands,—was that the negro preacher “should preach the funeral,” as -they called it. In things like this, the wishes of the slaves generally -prevailed. “The funeral” loomed up weeks in advance, and although -marked by sable garments, mournful manners and sorrowful outcries, -it had about it hints of an elaborate social function with festive -accompaniments. There was much staked on the fame of the officiating -brother. He must be one of their own colour, and a man of reputation. -They must have a man to plough up their emotional depths, and they must -have freedom to indulge in the extravagancies of their sorrow. These -demonstrations were their tribute to their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> dead and were expected to -be fully adequate to do honour to the family.</p> - -<p>It was in this way that Jasper’s fame began. At first, his tempestuous, -ungrammatical eloquence was restricted to Richmond, and there it was -hedged in with many humbling limitations. But gradually the news -concerning this fiery and thrilling orator sifted itself into the -country, and many invitations came for him to officiate at country -funerals.</p> - -<p>He was preëminently a funeral preacher. A negro funeral without an -uproar, without shouts and groans, without fainting women and shouting -men, without pictures of triumphant deathbeds and the judgment day, and -without the gates of heaven wide open and the subjects of the funeral -dressed in white and rejoicing around the throne of the Lamb, was no -funeral at all. Jasper was a master from the outset at this work. -One of his favourite texts, as a young preacher, was that which was -recorded in Revelations, sixth chapter, and second verse: “And I saw -and beheld a white horse; and he that sat upon him had a bow, and a -crown was given unto him, and he went forth conquering and to conquer.” -Before the torrent of his florid and spectacular eloquence the people -were swept down to the ground, and sometimes for hours many seemed to -be in trances, not a few lying as if they were dead. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p> - -<p>Jasper’s first visit to the country as a preacher of which we have any -account was to Hanover County. A prominent and wealthy slaveholder -had the custom of allowing his servants to have imposing funerals, -when their kindred and friends died; but those services were always -conducted by a white minister. In some way the fame of Jasper had -penetrated that community, and one of the slaves asked his master to -let Jasper come and attend the funeral. But to this the master made -an objection. He knew nothing about Jasper, and did not believe that -any negro was capable of preaching the Gospel with good effect. This -negro was not discouraged by the refusal of the proprietor of the great -plantation to grant his request. He went out and collected a number -of most trustworthy and influential negro men and they came in a body -to his master and renewed the plea. They told him in their way about -what a great man Jasper was, how anxious they were to hear him, what a -comfort his presence would be to the afflicted family, and how thankful -they would be to have their request honoured. They won their point in -part. He said to them, as if yielding reluctantly, “very well, let him -come.” They however had something more to say. They knew Jasper would -need to have a good reason in order to get his master’s consent for -him to come, and they knew that Jasper would not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> come unless he came -under the invitation and protection of the white people, and therefore -they asked the gentleman if he would not write a letter inviting him to -come. Accordingly, in a spirit of compromise and courtesy very pleasing -to the coloured people, the letter was written and Jasper came.</p> - -<p>The news of his expected coming spread like a flame. Not only the -country people in large numbers, but quite a few of the Richmond -people, made ready to attend the great occasion. Jasper went out in -a private conveyance, the distance not being great, and, in his kind -wish to take along as many friends as possible, he overloaded the -wagon and had a breakdown. The delay in his arrival was very long and -unexplained; but still the people lingered and beguiled the time with -informal religious services.</p> - -<p>At length the Richmond celebrity appeared on the scene late in the -day. The desire to hear him was imperative, and John Jasper was equal -to the occasion. Late as the hour was, and wearied as were the people, -he spoke with overmastering power. The owner of the great company of -slaves on that plantation was among his hearers, and he could not -resist the spell of devout eloquence which poured from the lips of the -unscholared Jasper. It was a sermon from the heart, full of personal -passion and hot with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> gospel fervour, and the heart of the lord of -the plantation was powerfully moved. He undertook to engage Jasper to -preach on the succeeding Sunday and handed the blushing preacher quite -a substantial monetary token of his appreciation.</p> - -<p>The day was accounted memorable by reason of the impression which -Jasper made. Indeed, Jasper was a master of assemblies. No politician -could handle a crowd with more consummate tact than he. He was the king -of hearts and could sway throngs as the wind shakes the trees.</p> - -<p>There is a facetious story abroad among the negroes that in those days -Jasper went to Farmville to officiate on a funeral occasion where -quite a number of the dead were to have their virtues commemorated -and where their “mourning friends,” as Jasper in time came to call -them, were to be comforted. The news that Jasper was to be there went -out on the wings of the wind and vast throngs attended. Of course, a -white minister was present and understood that he was the master of -ceremonies. The story is, that he felt that it would not be safe to -entrust an occasion so vastly interesting to the hands of Jasper, and -he decided that he would quiet Jasper and satisfy the public demands -by calling on Jasper to pray. As a fact, Jasper was about as much of -an orator in speaking to heaven as he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> was in speaking to mortal men. -His prayer had such contagious and irresistible eloquence that whatever -the Lord did about it, it surely brought quite a resistless response -from the crowd. When the white preacher ended his tame and sapless -address, the multitude cried out for Jasper. Inspired by the occasion -and emboldened by the evident disposition to shut him out, Jasper took -fire and on eagle wings he mounted into the heavens and gave such a -brilliant and captivating address that the vast crowd went wild with -joy and enthusiasm.</p> - -<p>There is yet another story of a time when Jasper was called into the -country where he and a white minister were to take part in one of the -combined funerals so common at that time. Upon arriving at the church -the white minister was unutterably shocked to find that his associate -in the services was a negro. That was too much for him, and he decided -on the spot that if he went in, Jasper would have to stay out, and he -decided that he would go in and would stay in until the time was over -and leave Jasper to his reflections on the outside. For two hours the -white brother beat the air, killed time, and quite wearied the crowd -by his lumbering and tiresome discourse. After he had arrived at the -point where it seemed that no more could be said, the exhausted and -exhausting brother closed his sermon and was arranging to end<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> the -service. But the people would not have it so. Tumultuously they cried -out for Jasper,—a cry in which the whites outdid the blacks. It was -not in Jasper to ignore such appreciation. Of all men, he had the least -desire or idea of being snubbed or side-tracked. With that mischievous -smile which was born of the jubilant courage of his soul, Jasper -came forth. He knew well the boundaries of his rights, and needed no -danger signals to warn him off hostile ground. For fifteen or twenty -minutes he poured forth a torrent of passionate oratory,—not empty and -frivolous words, but a message rich with comfort and help, and uttered -only as he could utter it. The effect was electrical. The white people -crowded around him to congratulate and thank him, and went away telling -the story of his greatness.</p> - -<p>Tradition has failed to give us the name of the ill-fated brother who -in seeking to kill time, seemed to have got knocked into oblivion. It -is worth while to say that the white ministers were within the law in -attending occasions like those described above and felt the necessity -of care and discretion in managing the exercises, lest the hostilities -of irreligious people should be excited against the negroes. It is due -to the white people, and especially to that denomination to which John -Jasper was associated, to say that under their influence the negroes, -who were practically<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> barbarians when they were brought into the South, -were civilized and Christianized. A large proportion of them were -well-mannered and nobly-behaved Christians at the time their slavery -ended. The church buildings were always constructed so that the white -people and the negroes could worship in the same house. They were -baptized by the same minister, they sat down together at the communion -table, they heard the same sermons, sang the same songs, were converted -at the same meetings, and were baptized at the same time. Ofttimes, and -in almost all places, they were allowed to have services to themselves. -In this, of course, they enjoyed a larger freedom than when they met in -the same house with the white people.</p> - -<p>They know little of the facts who imagine that there was estrangement -and alienation between the negroes and the whites in the matter of -religion. Far from it. There was much of good fellowship between -the whites and negroes in the churches, and the white ministers -took notable interest in the religious welfare of the slaves. They -often visited them pastorally and gladly talked with them about -their salvation. These chapters are not intended either to defend or -to condemn slavery; but in picturing the condition of things which -encompassed Jasper during the days of slavery, it is worth while to -let it be understood that it was during their bondage<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> and under the -Christian influence of Southern people, that the negroes of the South -were made a Christian people. It was the best piece of missionary work -ever yet done upon the face of the earth.</p> - -<p>Another fact should be referred to here. Jasper was a pastor in the -City of Petersburg even before the breaking out of the Civil War. He -had charge of one of the less prominent negro churches and went over -from Richmond for two Sundays in each month. This, of course, showed -the enlargement of his liberty, that he could take the time to leave -the city so often in pursuance of his ministerial work.</p> - -<p>It need hardly be mentioned that his presence in Petersburg brought -unusual agitation. He fairly depopulated the other negro churches and -drew crowds that could not be accommodated. When it was rumoured that -Jasper was to preach for the first time on Sunday afternoon, the Rev. -Dr. Keene, of the First Baptist Church, and many other white people -attended. They were much concerned lest his coming should produce -a disturbance, and they went with the idea of preventing any undue -excitement. Jasper, flaming with fervid zeal and exhilarated with -the freedom of the truth, carried everything before him. He had not -preached long before the critical white people were stirred to the -depths of their souls and their emotion showed in their weeping.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> They -beheld and felt the wonderful power of the man. It is said that Dr. -Keene was completely captivated, and recognized in Jasper a man whom -God had called.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>V</span> <span class="smaller">“WHAR SIN KUM FRUM?”</span></h2> - -<p>My first sight of Jasper must always remain in the chapter of -unforgotten things. The occasion was Sunday afternoon, and the crowd -was overflowing. Let me add that it was one of his days of spiritual -intoxication, and he played on every key in the gamut of the human soul.</p> - -<p>Two questions had been shot at him, and they both took effect. The -first had to do with creation. For a half hour he pounded away on the -creatorship of God. His address was very strong and had in it both -argument and eloquence. He marshalled the Scriptures with consummate -skill, and built an argument easily understood by the rudest of his -hearers; and yet so compact and tactful was he, that his most cultured -hearers bent beneath his force.</p> - -<p>But the second question brought on the pyrotechnics. It had to do with -the origin of sin,—“Whar sin kum frum?”—as he cogently put it. It was -here that a riotous liberty possessed him, and he preached with every -faculty of his mind, with every passion and sentiment of his soul, with -every nerve, every muscle, and every feature<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> of his body. For nearly -an hour the air cracked with excitement and the crowd melted beneath -his spell. It was my first experience of that unusual power of his to -move people in all possible ways by a single effort.</p> - -<p>Jasper knew the fundamental doctrines of the Bible admirably, and -always lived in vital contact with their essence. There was a kinship -between the Bible and himself, and, untaught of the schools, he studied -himself in the light of the Bible and studied the Bible in the darkness -of himself. This kept him in contact with people and whenever he -preached he invaded their experience and made conscious their wants to -themselves. And so it came to pass that questions which perplexed them -they had the habit of bringing to him. This question as to the origin -of sin had been spurring and nagging some of his speculative hearers. -They had wrangled over it, and they unloaded their perplexity upon him. -So it was with this burden heavy upon him that he came to the pulpit on -this occasion.</p> - -<p>It may have been a touch of his dramatic art, but at any rate he showed -an amiable irritation, in view of his being under constant fire from -his controversial church-members, and so he started in as if he had a -grievance. It gave pith and excitement to his bearing, as he faced the -issue thus thrust upon him. As a fact, he knew that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> many inquirers -sought to entangle him by their questions and this opened the way for -his saying, with cutting effect, that they would do better to inquire, -“whar sin wuz gwine ter kerry ’em, instid uv whar it kum frum.”</p> - -<p>“An’ yer wants ter know whar sin kum frum, yer say. Why shud yer be -broozin’ eroun’ wid sich a questun as dat? Dar ain’ but wun place in -de univus uv Gord whar yer kin git any infermashun on dis pint, and -dar, I am free ter tel yer, yer kin git all dat yer wish ter know, an’ -maybe a good deal mo’. De place whar de nollidge yer need kin be got -iz in de Word uv Gord. I knows wat sum dat hav’ bin talkin’ ’bout dis -thing iz arter. I know de side uv de questun dey iz struttin’ up on. -Dey say, or dey kinder hint, dat de Lord Gord iz de orthur uv sin. -Dat’s wat dey iz wispurrin’ roun’ dis town. Dey can’t fool Jasper; but -I tell you de debbul iz playin’ pranks on um an’ will drag um down ter -de pit uv hell, ef dey doan luk out mity quick. De Lord Gord know’d -frum de beginnin’ dat sum uv dese debbullish people wud bring up dis -very charge an’ say dat He had tendid dat dar shud be sin frum de -beginnin’. He done speak His mind ’bout dat thing, an’ ef yer luk in -de fust chaptur uv Jeems yer’ll find de solum uttrunce on dis subjik -an’ it kleers Gord furevur frum dis base slandur. ‘Let no man say,’ -says de Lord, ‘wen he is temptid dat he is temptid<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> uv Gord, fur Gord -kin not be temptid uv any man, an’ neethur tempts He any man.’ Did yer -hear dat? Dat’s de Lord’s own wurds. It spressly says dat people will -be temptid,—everybody is temptid; I bin havin’ my temptashuns all my -life, an’ I haz um yit, a heap uv um, an’ sum uv um awful bad, but yer -ain’ ketchin’ Jasper er sayin’ dat Gord is at de bottum uv um. Ef I -shud say it, it wud be a lie, an’ all iz liars wen dey say dat Gord -tempts um? De sinnur is gettin’ towurds de wust wen he iz willin’ ter -lay de blame uv hiz sins on de Lord. Do it ef yer will, but de cuss uv -Gord will be erpun yez wen yer try ter mek de Lord Gord sich es you iz; -an’ ter mek b’liev dat de Lord gits orf His throne an’ kums down in ter -mire an’ clay uv your wicked life an’ tries ter jog an’ ter fool yer -inter sin. I trimbul ter think uv sich a thing! I wonder dat de Lord -duzn’t forge new thunderbolts uv Hiz rath an’ crush de heds uv dem dat -charge ’im wid de folly uv human sin.</p> - -<p>“Sum uv yer wud be mity glad ter git Gord mix’d up in yer sins an’ ter -feel dat He iz es bad es you iz. It jes’ shows how base, how lost, how -ded, you’se bekum. Wudn’t we hev a pritty Gord ef He wuz willin’ ter -git out in de nite an’ go plungin’ down inter de horribul an’ ruinus -transgresshuns in wich sum men indulg’. Let me kleer dis thing up befo’ -I quit it. Bar in mine, dat Gord kin not be temptid uv any man.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> Try it -ef yer chuze, an’ He will fling yer in ter de lowes’ hell, an’ don’t -yer dar evur ter say, or ter think, or ter hope, dat de temtashun ter -du rong things kum ter yer from Gord. It do not kum frum erbuv, but it -kum out uv your foul an’ sinful hart. Dey iz born dar, born uv your -bad thoughts, born uv your hell-born lusts, an’ dey gits strong in yer -’caus’ yer don’t strangul um at de start.</p> - -<p>“But why shud dar be trubble ’bout dis subjic? Wat duz de Bibul say on -dis here mattur ’bout whar sin kum frum? We kin git de troof out uv dat -buk, fur it kuntains de Wurd uv Gord. Our Gord kin not lie; He nevur -hav’ lied frum de foundashun uv de wurl’. He iz de troof an’ de life -an’ He nevur lies.</p> - -<p>“Now, wat do He say kunsarnin’ dis serus questun dat is plowin’ de -souls uv sum uv my brudderin. Ter de Bibul, ter de Bibul, we’ll go an’ -wat do we git wen we git dar? De Bibul say dat Eve wuz obur dar in de -gardin uv Edun one day an’ dat she wuz dar by hersef. De Lord med Eve, -’caus’ it worn’t gud fer Adum ter be erloan, an’ it luks frum dis kase -dat it wuz not quite safe fer Eve ter be lef at home by hersef. But -Adum worn’t wid her; doan know whar he wuz,—gorn bogin’ orf sumwhars. -He better bin at home tendin’ ter his fambly. Dat ain’ de only time, by -a long shot, dat dar haz bin de debbul ter pay at home wen de man hev -gorn gaddin’<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> eroun’, instid uv stayin’ at home an’ lookin’ arter hiz -fambly.</p> - -<p>“While Eve wuz sauntrin’ an’ roamin’ eroun’ in de buterful gardin, de -ole sarpint, dyked up ter kill, kum gallervantin’ down de road an’ he -kotch’d site uv Eve an’ luk lik he surpriz’d very much but not sorry -in de leas’. Now yer mus’ kno’ dat ole sarpint wuz de trickies’ an’ -de arties’ uv all de beas’ uv de feil’,—de ole debbul, dat’s wat he -wuz. An’ wat he do but go struttin’ up ter Eve in a mity frien’ly way, -scrapin’ an’ bowin’ lik a fool ded in luv.</p> - -<p>“‘How yer do?’ He tries ter be perlite, an’ puts on hiz sweetes’ airs. -Oh, dat wuz an orful momint in de life uv Eve an’ in de histurry uv dis -po’ los’ wurl uv ours. In dat momint de pizun eat thru her flesh, struk -in her blud, an’ went ter her hart. At fust she wuz kinder shame’; but -she wuz kinder loansum, an’ she wuz pleas’d an’ tickl’d ter git notic’d -in dat way an’ so she stay’d dar instid uv runnin’ fer her life.</p> - -<p>“‘Ve’y wel, I thanks yer,’ she say ertremblin’, ‘how iz you dis -mornin’?’ De sarpint farly shouts wid joy. He dun got her tenshun an’ -she lek ter hear ’im, an’ he feel he got hiz chanz an’ so goes on:</p> - -<p>“‘Nice gardin yer got dar,’ he say in er admirin’ way. ‘Yer got heap uv -nice appuls obur dar.’ </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p> - -<p>“‘Oh, yes, indeed,’ Eve replies. ‘We got lots uv um.’</p> - -<p>“Eve spoke dese wurds lik she wuz proud ter deth ’caus’ de sarpint lik -de gardin. Dar stood de sarpint ve’y quiut tel, suddin lek, he juk -eroun’ an’ he says ter Eve:—</p> - -<p>“‘Kin yer eat all de appuls yer got obur dar?’</p> - -<p>“‘No, hindeed,’ says Eve, ‘we can’t eat um all. We got moar’n we kin -’stroy save our lives. Dey gittin’ ripe all de time; we hev jus’ -hogshids uv um.’</p> - -<p>“‘Oh, I didn’t mean dat,’ spoke de sarpint, es ef shock’d by not bein’ -understud. ‘My p’int iz, iz yer ’low’d ter eat um all? Dat’s wat I want -ter know. As ter yer laws an’ rites in de gardin, duz dey all sute yer?’</p> - -<p>“Fer a minnit de ’oman jump’d same es if sumbudy struk her a blow. -De col’ chils run down her bak, an’ she luk lik she wan ter run, but -sumhow de eye uv de sarpint dun got a charm on her. Dar wuz a struggul, -er reglur Bull Run battul, gwine on in her soul at dat momint.</p> - -<p>“‘Wat yer ax me dat questun fur?’ Eve axed, gaspin’ w’ile she spoke. -Den de debbul luk off. He tri ter be kam an’ ter speak lo an’ kine, but -dar wuz a glar’ in hiz eyes. ‘I begs many parduns,’ he says, ’skuse -me, I did not mean ter meddul wid yer privit buzniz. I’d bettur skuse -mysef, I reckin, and try an’ git erlong.’</p> - -<p>“‘No; doan go,’ Eve sed. ‘Yer havn’t hurt<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> my feelin’s. Wat yer say -jes’ put new thoughts in my min’ an’ kinder shuk me up at fust. But I -doan min’ talkin’.’</p> - -<p>“‘Ef dat be de kase,’ speaks up de debbul, quite brave-lek, ‘begs you -skuse me ter ask agin ef de rules uv de gardin ’lows yer ter eat any uv -dem appuls yer got in de gardin? I haz my reasuns fer axin’ dis.’</p> - -<p>“Eve stud dar shivurrin’ lik she freezin’ an’ pale es de marbul -toomstoan. But arter a gud wile she pint her han obur to er tree, on de -hill on de rite, an’ she tel ’im, es ef she wuz mity ’fraid, dat dar -wuz a tree obur dar uv de Nollidge an’ uv de Deestinxshun, an’ she say, -‘De Lord Gord He tel us we mus’ not eat dem appuls; dey pisun us, an’ -de day we eat um we got to die.’</p> - -<p>“Oh, my brudderin, worn’t times mity serus den? ’Twuz de hour wen de -powurs uv darknis wuz gittin’ in an’ de foundashuns uv human hopes wuz -givin’ way. Den it wuz he git up close ter Eve an’ wispur in her ear:—</p> - -<p>“‘Did de Lord Gord tel yer dat? Doan tel nobody, but I wan’ ter tel yer -dat it ain’t so. Doan yer b’liev it. Doan let ’im fool yer! He know -dat’s de bes’ fruit in all de gardin,—de fruit uv de Nollidge an’ de -Deestinxshun, an’ dat wen yer eats it yer will know es much es He do. -Yer reckin He wants yer ter know es much es He do? Na-a-w; an’ dat’s -why He say wat He do say. You go git um. Dey’s de choysis’ fruit in de<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> -gardin, an’ wen yer eats um yer will be equ’ul ter Gord.’</p> - -<p>“Erlas, erlas! po’ deluded an’ foolish Eve! It wuz de momint uv her -evurlastin’ downfall. Clouds uv darknis shrouds her min’ an’ de ebul -sperrit leap inter her soul an’ locks de do’ behin’ him. Dat dedly day -she bruk ’way frum de Gord dat made her, Eve did, an’ purtuk uv de -fruit dat brought sin an’ ruin an’ hell inter de wurl’.</p> - -<p>“Po’ foolish Eve! In dat momunt darknis fils her min’, evul leaps in -ter er heart, an’ she pluck de appul, bruk de kumman uv Gord, and ate -de fatul fruit wat brought death ter all our race.</p> - -<p>“Artur er wile, Adum kum walkin’ up de gardin and Eve she runs out ter -meet ’im. Wen he kum near she hol’ up er appul in her han’ and tell him -it iz gud ter eat. Oh, blin’ and silly womun! First deceived herself, -she turn roun’ and deceives Adum. Dat’s de way; we gits wrong, an’ den -we pulls udder folks down wid us. We rarly goes down by oursefs.</p> - -<p>“But whar wuz de rong? Whar, indeed? It wuz in Eve’s believin’ de -debbul and not believin’ Gord. It wuz doin’ wat de debbul sed an’ not -doin’ wat Gord sed. An’ yer kum here and ax me whar sin kum frum! Yer -see now, doan’ sher? It kum out uv de pit uv hell whar it wuz hatched -’mong de ainjuls dat wuz flung out uv heav’n ’caus dey disurbeyd Gord. -It kum from dat land<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> whar de name uv our Gord is hated. It wuz brought -by dat ole sarpint, de fathur uv lies, and he brung it dat he mite fool -de woman, an’ in dat way sot up on de urth de wurks uv de debbul. Sin -iz de black chile uv de pit, it is. It kum frum de ole sarpint at fust, -but it’s here now, rite in po’ Jasper’s hart and in your hart; wharevur -dar iz a man or a woman in dis dark wurl’ in tears dar iz sin,—sin dat -insults Gord, tars down His law, and brings woes ter evrybody.</p> - -<p>“An’ you, stung by de sarpint, wid Gord’s rath on yer and yer feet in -de paf uv deth, axin’ whar sin kum frum? Yer bettur fly de rath uv de -judgmint day.</p> - -<p>“But dis iz ernuff. I jes’ tuk time ter tell whar sin kum frum. But my -tong carnt refuse ter stop ter tel yer dat de blud uv de Lam’ slain -frum de foundashun uv de wurl’ is grettur dan sin and mitier dan hell. -It kin wash erway our sins, mek us whitur dan de drivin snow, dress us -in redemshun robes, bring us wid shouts and allerluejurs bak ter dat -fellership wid our Fathur, dat kin nevur be brokin long ez ’ternity -rolls.”</p> - -<p>This outbreak of fiery eloquence was not the event of the afternoon, -but simply an incident. It came towards the end of the service, and -its delivery took not much more time than is required to read this -record of it. His language was perhaps never more broken; but what he -said flamed with terrific light. While there were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> touches of humour -in his description of the scene in the Garden, his message gathered a -seriousness and solemnity which became simply overpowering. No words -can describe the crushing and alarming effect which his weird story of -the entrance of sin into the world had upon his audience. Men sobbed -and fell to the floor in abject shame, and frightened cries for mercy -rang wild through the church. Possibly never a sweeter gospel note -sounded than that closing reference which he made to the cleansing -power of the blood shed from the foundation of the world.</p> - -<p>There were many white persons present, and they went away filled with a -sense of the greatness and power of the Gospel.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>VI</span> <span class="smaller">JASPER SET FREE</span></h2> - -<p>Jasper came to the verge of his greatness after he had passed the -half century line. Freedom had come and to him brought nothing except -the opportunity to carve out his own fortune. His ministry had been -migratory, restricted and chiefly of ungathered fruit. He found himself -in Richmond without money and without a home. By daily toil he was -picking up his bread. He was dead set on doing something in the way he -wanted to do it. He was of the constructive sort, and never had done -well when building on another man’s foundation.</p> - -<p>His ambition was to build a church. Down on the James River, where the -big furnaces were run, there was a little island, and on the island a -little house, and scattered along the canal and river were many of the -newly liberated and uncared for people of his race.</p> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/i058.jpg" alt="THE SIXTH MOUNT ZION CHURCH" /></div> - -<p class="bold">THE SIXTH MOUNT ZION CHURCH</p> - -<p>He began to hold religious services on the island,—said by some to -have been held in a private house, and by others in a deserted stable, -which was fitted up to accommodate the increasing crowds. Things went -well with him. The joy of building flamed his soul, and beneath the -tide<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> of the river he baptized many converts. Happy days they were! The -people were wild with enthusiasm, and the shouts of his congregation -mingled with the noise of the James River Falls. It was to Jasper as -the gate of heaven, and he walked as the King’s ambassador among his -admiring flock.</p> - -<p>But it could not be that way long. There was not room enough to contain -the people, and yet the church was poverty itself, and what could -they do? Happily they found a deserted building beyond the canal and -accessible to the growing company of his lovers in the city. There -things went with a snap and a roar. From every quarter the people came -to hear this African Boanerges. The crowds and songs and riotous shouts -of his young church filled the neighbourhood. Constant processions, -with Jasper at the head, visited the river or canal, to give baptism to -the multiplying converts.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, however, the northern part of the city was fast becoming -the Africa of Richmond. Into its meaner outskirts at first the tide -began to roll, but in a little while the white people began to retreat, -street after street, until a vast area was given up to the coloured -people. Jasper’s people, also, as they prospered, began to settle in -this new Africa, and Jasper found once more that he was simply dwelling -in tents, when the time was coming for the building of the temple. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p> - -<p>Jasper was on the outlook for a new location. Finally he hit upon an -old brick church building, at the corner of Duval and St. John Streets. -The Presbyterians, who had started this mission years before, had -despaired of success under the changed conditions and they offered -the house for sale, the price being $2,025. The sense of growth and -progress fairly maddened this unique and fascinating preacher with -enthusiasm. He had found a home for his people at last, and yet, in -point of fact, he had not. The house was a magnificent gain on their -old quarters, and yet every Sunday afternoon found most of his crowd -on the outside. Quite soon his people had to enlarge and remodel -the house, and this they did at a cost of $6,000. By that time the -membership was well on towards 2,000. There they dwelt for a number -of years until the church became the centre of the religious life in -that part of the town. “John Jasper,” as he was universally called, -had easily become the most attractive and popular minister of his -race in the city. By this time he was over sixty years of age, and it -would have taken much to have quenched the yet unwasted buoyancy and -vitality of his ministry. Necessity demanded another building, and in -the later prime of his kingly manhood, and very largely by his personal -forcefulness and intrepid leadership, he led a movement for a house of -worship that would be respectable in <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>almost any part of Richmond. What -was more to his purpose, it was very capacious, wisely adapted to the -wants of his people and a fitting monument to his constructive resource -and enthusiasm. It is said that he, out of his own slender resources, -gave $3,000 to the building fund, and this was probably in addition -to great sums of money given him by white people who went to hear him -preach and who delighted to honour and cheer the old man. I suppose -that thousands of dollars were given him from no motive save that of -kindness towards him, and the donours would just as soon have given -the money directly to him and for his own use. They helped to build -the church simply to please the old man whose eloquence and honesty -had won their hearts. His love for his church amounted to devotion. He -had seen it grow from the most insignificant beginning, had watched -the tottering steps of its childhood, and with pride natural and -affectionate had gloried in its prosperity.</p> - -<p>But be it said to the old man’s honour that he was too great to be -conceited. He had no sense of boastfulness or self-glorification about -the church. He had the frankness to tell the truth about things when it -was necessary, but he had too much manly modesty to claim distinction -for the part he had borne in the building up of the church. Indeed, -he was strangely silent about<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> his relations with the church, and his -dominant feeling was one of affectionate solicitude for the future of -the church rather than of self-satisfaction on account of its history.</p> - -<p>There was a strain of severity in Jasper. He had some of the temper of -the reformer. He was quick,—often too quick—in condemning those who -criticised him. The fact is, he was so unfeignedly honest that he could -not be patient towards those whose sincerity or honesty he doubted. -For those who plotted against the church or gave trouble in other ways -he had little charity. Those that would not work in harness, and help -to move things along, he was quite willing to show to the church door. -For his part, he could not love those very warmly who did not love the -“Sixth Mount Zion.”</p> - -<p>This may be the right place to say a word or two as to Jasper’s -enemies. He was a man of war, and it may be that his prejudices -sometimes got in the saddle. But not very often. Possibly, his most -striking characteristic was his bottom sense of justice. He told the -truth by instinct, and it never occurred to him to take an undue -advantage. If, however, a man wronged him, he was simply terrible in -bringing the fellow to book. There was a case, in which it is better -not to mention names, in which an insidious and grievous accusation was -brought against this sturdy old friend of the faith. The charge sought<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> -to fasten falsehood upon Jasper. That was enough for him,—it amounted -to a declaration of war, and at once he entered upon the conflict. -Never did he cease the strife until the charge was unsaid. Nothing, in -short, could terrify him.</p> - -<p>It must not be inferred that those who assailed him with questions and -arguments were put into the category of personal enemies. Controversy -was exactly to his taste. All he asked of the other man was to state -his proposition, and he was ready for the contest. Not that he went -into it pell-mell. By no means; he took time for preparation, and when -he spoke it was hard to answer him. This, of course, applies when the -questions were theological and Scriptural, and not scientific. His -knowledge of the Scriptures was remarkable, and his spiritual insight -into the doctrines of the Bible was extraordinary. When he preached, he -supported every point with Scriptural quotations, invariably giving the -chapter and verse, and often adding, “Ef yer don’ find it jes’ ezackly -ez I tells yer, yer kin meet me on de street nex’ week an’ say ter me: -‘John Jasper, you ar er lier,’ an’ I won’ say er wurd.”</p> - -<p>What gave to Jasper an exalted and impressive presence was his -insistent claim that he was a God-sent man. This he asserted in -almost every sermon, and with such evident conviction that he forced -other people to believe it. Even<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> those who differed with him were -constrained to own his sincerity and Godliness. It was impossible to -be with him much without being impressed that he was anointed of God -for his work. It was in this that his people gloried. Their faith in -him was preëminent,—far above every question—and he was also full of -inspiration. You may talk with his disciples now, wherever you meet -them, and they are quick to tell you that “Brer Jasper was certinly -aninted uv God,” and even the more intelligent of the people ascribed -his greatness to the fact that he was under the power of the Holy -Ghost. Many wicked people heard him preach, and some of them still went -their wicked way, but they felt that the power of God was with Jasper, -and they were always ready to say so. In many points, John Jasper was -strikingly like John the Baptist,—a just man and holy, and the people -revered him in a way I never met with in any other man.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>VII</span> <span class="smaller">THE PICTURE-MAKER</span></h2> - -<p>In the circle of Jasper’s gifts his imagination was preëminent. It -was the mammoth lamp in the tower of his being. A matchless painter -was he. He could flash out a scene, colouring every feature, defining -every incident and unveiling every detail. Time played no part in the -performance,—it was done before you knew it. Language itself was of -second moment. His vocabulary was poverty itself, his grammar a riot -of errors, his pronunciation a dialectic wreck, his gestures wild -and unmeaning, his grunts and heavings terrible to hear. At times he -hardly talked but simply emitted; his pictures were simply himself in -flame. His entire frame seemed to glow with living light, and almost -wordlessly he wrought his miracles. But do not misunderstand. Some -insisted on saying that education would have stripped John of his -genius by subduing the riot of his power and chastening the fierceness -of his imagination. I think not, for John in a good sense was educated. -He was a reverential and laborious student for half-a-century. He -worked on his sermons with a marked assiduity and acquired the skill -and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> mastership of faithful struggle. Even his imagination had to work, -and its products were the fruit of toil. There was no mark of the -abnormal or disproportionate in his sky, but all the stars were big -and bright. He was well ballasted in his mental make-up, and in his -most radiant pictures there was an ethical regard for facts, and an -instinctive respect for the truth. Moreover, his ministrations fairly -covered the theological field, were strongly doctrinal, and he grappled -with honest vigour the deepest principles of the Gospel. He was also -intensely practical, scourging sin, lashing neglect, and with lofty -authority demanding high and faithful living.</p> - -<p>Think not of Jasper merely as a pictorial preacher. There were wrought -into his pictures great principles and rich lessons. But now and then -he would present a sermon which was largely a series of pictures from -beginning to end. His imagination would be on duty all the time and -yet never flag. I cannot forget his sermon on Joseph and his Brethren. -It was a stirring presentation of the varied scenes in that memorable -piece of history. He opened on the favouritism of Jacob, and was -exceedingly strong in condemning partiality, as unhappily expressed -in the coat of many colours. That brief part was a sermon itself for -parents. From that he passed quickly to the envy of his brothers,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> -jealousy was a demon creeping in among them, inflicting poisonous -stings, and spreading his malignant power, until murder rankled in -every heart. Then came Joseph, innocent and ignorant of offending, to -fall a victim to their conspiracy, with the casting of him into the -pit, the selling of him to the travelling tradesmen, the showing to -Jacob of the blood-stained coat, with scene after scene until the happy -meeting at last between Jacob and his long lost son.</p> - -<p>One almost lived a lifetime under the spell of that sermon. It was -eloquent, pathetic, terrific in its denunciations, rich in homely -piety, and with strains of sweetness that was as balm to sorrowing -souls. The effects were as varied as human thoughts and sentiments. The -audience went through all moods. Now they were bent down as if crushed -with burdens; now they were laughing in tumults at the surprises and -charms of heavenly truth; anon they were sobbing as if all hearts were -broken, and in a moment hundreds were on their feet shaking hands, -shouting, and giving forth snatches of jubilant song. This all seems -extravagant, without sobriety entirely, but those that were there, -perhaps without an exception, felt that it was the veritable house of -God and the gate of heaven.</p> - -<p>At other times, Jasper’s sermons were sober and deliberate, sometimes -even dull; but rarely did the end come without a burst of eloquence<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> -or an attractive, entertaining picture. But, remember, that his -pictures were never foreign to his theme. They were not lugged in -to fill up. They had in them the might of destiny and fitted their -places, and fitted them well. Often they came unheralded, but they were -evidently born for their part. On one occasion his sermon was on Enoch. -It started out at a plodding gait and seemed for a time doomed to -dullness, for Jasper could be dull sometimes. At one time he brought a -smile to the faces of the audience, in speaking of Enoch’s age, by the -remark: “Dem ole folks back dar cud beat de presunt ginerashun livin’ -all ter pieces.”</p> - -<p>As he approached the end of his sermon, his face lighted up and took on -a new grace and passion, and he went out with Enoch on his last walk. -That walk bore him away to the border of things visible; earthly scenes -were lost to view; light from the higher hills gilded the plains. Enoch -caught sight of the face of God, heard the music and the shouting of a -great host, and saw the Lamb of God seated on the throne. The scene was -too fair to lose, and Enoch’s walk quickened into a run which landed -him in his father’s house. It was a quick, short story, told in soft -and mellow tones, and lifted the audience up so far that the people -shouted and sang as if they were themselves entering the gates of -heaven. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p> - -<p>One of his more elaborate descriptions, far too rich to be reproduced, -celebrated the ascension of Elijah. There was the oppressive -unworldliness of the old prophet, his efforts to shake off Elisha, -and Elisha’s wise persistence in clamouring for a blessing from his -spiritual father. But it was when the old prophet began to ascend that -Jasper, standing off like one apart from the scene, described it so -thrillingly that everything was as plain as open day. To the people, -the prophet was actually and visibly going away. They saw him quit the -earth, saw him rise above the mountain tops, sweeping grandly over the -vast fields of space, and finally saw him as he passed the moon and -stars. Then something happened. In the fraction of a second Jasper was -transmuted into Elijah and was actually in the chariot and singing with -extraordinary power the old chorus: “Going up to heaven in a chariot of -fire.” The scene was overmastering! For a time I thought that Jasper -was the real Elijah, and my distinct feeling was that the song which -he sang could be heard around the world. Of course, it was not so; but -there was something in the experience of the moment that has abided -with me ever since.</p> - -<p>At a funeral one Sunday I saw Jasper attempt a dialogue with death, -himself speaking for both. The line of thought brought him face to face -with death and the grave. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> scene was solemnized by a dead body in a -coffin. He put his hands over his mouth and stooped down and addressed -death. Oh, death—death, speak to me. Where is thy sting? And then with -the effect of a clairvoyant he made reply: “Once my sting was keen and -bitter, but now it is gone. Christ Jesus has plucked it out, and I -have no more power to hurt His children. I am only the gatekeeper to -open the gateway to let His children pass.” In closing this chapter an -incident will largely justify my seemingly extraordinary statements as -to the platform power of this unschooled negro preacher in Virginia.</p> - -<p>In company with a friend I went very often Sunday afternoons to hear -Jasper and the fact was bruited about quite extensively, and somewhat -to the chagrin of some of my church-members. Two of them, a professor -in Richmond College and a lawyer well-known in the city, took me to -task about it. They told me in somewhat decided tones that my action -was advertising a man to his injury, and other things of a similar -sort. I cared but little for their criticism, but told them that if -they would go to hear him when he was at his best, and if afterwards -they felt about him as they then felt, I would consider their -complaints. They went the next Sunday. The house was overflowing, and -Jasper walked the mountain tops that day. His theme was “The raising -of Lazarus” and by steps majestic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> he took us along until he began to -describe the act of raising Lazarus from the dead. It happened that -the good professor was accompanied by his son, a sprightly lad of -about ten, who was sitting between his father and myself. Suddenly the -boy, evidently agitated, turned to me and begged that we go home at -once. I sought to soothe him, but all in vain, for as he proceeded the -boy urgently renewed his request to go home. His father observed his -disquietude and putting an arm around him restored him to calmness. -After the service ended and we had reached the street, I said to him: -“Look here, boy, what put you into such a fidget to quit the church -before the end of the service?” “Oh, doctor, I thought he had a dead -man under the pulpit and was going to take him out,” he said. My lawyer -brother heard the sermon and with profound feeling said, “Hear that, -and let me say to you that in a lifetime I have heard nothing like it, -and you ought to hear that man whenever you can.”</p> - -<p>I heard no later criticisms from any man concerning my conduct in -evincing such cordial interest in this eloquent son of Fluvanna.</p> - -<p>It was only necessary to persuade Jasper’s critics to hear him, to -remove all question as to his genuine character and effective spiritual -ministry.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>VIII</span> <span class="smaller">JASPER’S STAR WITNESS</span></h2> - -<p>The domestic history of this rare and gifted man was not without -its tragical incidents. One of the worst features of slavery, as an -institution in the South, was the inevitable legislation which it -necessitated, and under which many grievous wrongs were perpetrated. -The right of the slave owner to the person of the slave carried with it -the authority to separate man and wife at the dictate of self-interest, -and that was often done, though it ought to be said that thousands of -kind-hearted men and women did their utmost to mitigate the wrongs -which such legislation legalized. In the sale of the negroes regard was -often had for the marriage relation, and it was arranged so that the -man and wife might not be torn asunder. But it was not always this way. -Too often the sanctity of marriage and the laws of God concerning it -were sacrificed to the greed of the slaveholder.</p> - -<p>If the tradition of Mr. Jasper’s first marriage is to be accepted as -history, then he was the victim of the cruel laws under which the -institution of slavery was governed. In the changes which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> came to -him in the breaking up of the family to which he belonged his lot was -cast for a while in the city of Williamsburg. The story is that he -became enamoured of a maiden bearing the name of Elvy Weaden, and he -was successful in his suit. It chanced, however, that on the very day -set for his marriage, he was required to go to Richmond to live. The -marriage was duly solemnized and he was compelled to leave his bride -abruptly, but was buoyed with the hope that fairer days would come -when their lot would be cast together. The fleeting days quenched the -hope and chilled the ardour of the bride, and in course of time the -impatient woman notified Jasper that unless he would come to see her -and they could live together, she would account herself free to seek -another husband. He was not a man to brook mistreatment, and he made -short work of the matter. He wrote her that he saw no hope of returning -to Williamsburg, and that she must go ahead and work out her own fate. -Naturally enough, the difficulties under which the married life had to -be maintained served to weaken seriously the marital tie and to imperil -the virtue of the slaves. But this remark ought not to be made without -recalling the fact that there were thousands and tens of thousands of -happy and well-governed families among the slaves of the South.</p> - -<p>Jasper felt seriously the blight of this untimely<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> marriage and he -seems to have remained unmarried until after he united with the church -and became a preacher. In time, his thoughts turned again to marriage. -He was then a member of the First African Baptist Church of Richmond. -He took the letter which his wife had written him some time before -and presented it to the church and asked what was his duty under the -circumstances. It was a complex and vexing question, but his brethren, -after soberly weighing the matter, passed a resolution expressing the -conviction that it would be entirely proper for him to marry again. -Accordingly, about five years after his conversion, he married a woman -bearing the unusual name of Candus Jordan. According to all reports, -this marriage was far more fruitful in children than in the matter of -connubial peace and bliss for the high-strung and ambitious Jasper. It -seems that the case must have had some revolting features, as in due -time Jasper secured a divorce and was fully justified by his brethren -and friends in taking this action. Evidently this separation from -his wife, which was purely voluntary, in no way weakened him in the -confidence and good-will of the people.</p> - -<p>Years after his divorce, Jasper married Mrs. Mary Anne Cole. There were -no children by this marriage, but his wife had a daughter by her former -marriage who took the name of Jasper, and was adopted in fact and in -heart as the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>daughter of this now eminent and beloved minister. This -wife died in 1874, and Jasper married once more. His widow survived him -and still lives, a worthy and honoured woman whose highest earthly joy -is the recollection of having been the wife of Elder John Jasper, and -also the solace and cheer of his old age. This is a checkered story of -a matrimonial career, but justice loudly demands the statement that -through it all John Jasper walked the lofty path of virtue and honour. -It was impossible, however, for a man like Jasper to escape the arrows -of the archer. Jealousy, envy, and slander were often busy with his -name, and if foul charges could have befouled him none could have -been fouler than he. But his daily life was a clean and unanswerable -story. Reproaches would not stick to him, and the deadliest darts fell -harmless at his feet. His noble seriousness, his absorption in the -study of the Bible, his enthusiasm in the ministry, and, most of all, -his quiet walk with God, saved him from the grosser temptations of life.</p> - -<p>Perhaps the finest incident in all the story of his life was the -perfect faith of the people in Jasper. This was true everywhere -that he was known, but it was most powerfully true among those who -stood nearest to him and knew him best. Jasper, to them, was the -incarnation of goodness. They felt his goodness, revelled in it, and -lived on it. Their best earthly inspirations<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> sprang out of the fair -and incorruptible character of their pastor. If his enemies sought -to undermine and defame him, they rallied around him and fought his -battles. Little cared he for the ill things said about him personally. -Conscious of his rectitude, and, embosomed in the love of his great -church, he walked serenely and triumphantly in the way of the Lord. He -believed in the sanctity of his home, and he hallowed it by the purity, -honesty, and charity of his brethren.</p> - -<p>Anxious to get some living testimony in regard to the personal -character of Jasper, I determined to get in contact with a few -persons who stood very close to him, and that, for many years. In -what follows is found the testimony of a truly excellent woman, to -whom I was directed, with the assurance that what she said might be -taken as thoroughly trustworthy. She gave her name as Virginia Adams, -and, judging from her appearance and manner, one would probably write -her down as not far from threescore and ten. She was for many years -a member of his church. The following story from her lips is not -connected, but it is simply the unmethodical testimony of a sensible -woman, bearing about it the marks of sincerity, intelligence, and -reverential affection.</p> - -<p>“Brer’ Jasper was as straightfor’d a man es you cud see, and yer cud -rely ’pon ev’ry word he told yer. He made it so plain dat watuver<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> he -tol’ yer in his sermon yer cud read it right thar in yer heart, jes’ -like he had planted and stamped it in yer. I can’t read myse’f, but I -kno’ well when anybody mek any mistake ’bout de passages which Brer -Jasper used to preach ’bout. I’ve got ’em jes’ de same es if I had ’em -printed on my mem’ry. His mi’ty sermon on Elijer is in me jes’ es he -preached it. I kin see Elijer es Elisha is runnin’ arter him,—kin see -de cheryot es it kum down, see Brer Jasper es he wuz pintin’ ter de -cheryot es it riz in its grand flight up de skies,—see Elijer es he -flung his mantul out es he went up, and I tell yer when Brer Jasper -began ter sing ’bout goin’ up ter heaven in a cheryot uv fire I cud see -everything jes’ es bright es day, and de people riz such a shout dat I -thought all de wurl’ wuz shoutin’. Yes, Brer Jasper wuz de kindes’ man -I reckon on de urth. Yer cudn’t finish tellin’ him ’bout folks dat wuz -in trouble and want, befo’ he’d be gittin’ out his money. He didn’t -look lik he keer much ’bout money,—he warn’t no money-seeker, and yit -he look lik he allus hev money, and he wuz allus de fust ter give. Jes’ -tell him wat wuz needed, and he begun fer to scratch in his pocket.</p> - -<p>“Brer Jasper kep’ things lively. People wuz talkin’ all de time ’bout -his sermons, and yer cud hear their argiments while yer wuz gwine ’long -de streets. Often his members an’ udder folks too wud git tangled up -’bout his doctrines and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> dey wud git up texs an’ subjiks an’ git him -ter preach ’bout ’em. Ef any uv his brutherin had trubbul wid passiges -uv de scripshur and went ter him ’bout ’em, you’d sure hear frum him -nex Sunday. He luv ter splain things fer his brutherin.</p> - -<p>“It wuz Bruther Woodson, de sexton uv de church, and anudder man dat -got Brer Jasper in ter dat gret ’citemint ’bout de sun. Dey got inter -a spute es to wheddur de sun went ’roun’ de wurl’ ur not, and dey took -it ter our pastor, and really I thought I nevur wud hear de end of dat -thing. Folks got arter Brer Jasper in de papurs and everywhar; but I -tell yer dey nevur skeered him. He wuz es brave es a lion, an’ I don’ -kno’ how often he preached dat sermon. It look lik all de people in de -wurl’ want to kum.</p> - -<p>“No, Brer Jasper wuz no money-grabbur. When de church wuz weak and -cudn’t raze much money, he nevur sot no salary. Yer cudn’t git him ter -do it. He tell ’em not ter trubble ’emselves, but jes’ giv him wat -dey chuze ter put in de baskit and he nevur made no kumplaint. Wen de -church got richer dey crowd ’im hard ter kno’ how much he wantid, and -he at las’ tell ’em dat he wud take $62.50 a month, and dat he didn’t -want no more dan dat. Wen de gret crowds got ter kummin’ and de white -folks too, and de money po’ed in so fas’ de brutherin farly quarl’d wid -him ter git his sal’ry raz’d, but he say No!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> I git nuff now, and I -want no more. I’m not here to gouge my people out of es much money es I -kin. He say he got nuff money to pay his taxes and buy wat he needed, -and if dey got more dan dey wantid let ’em take it and help de Lord’s -pore. Sometimes we used ter ’poun’’ de ole man, kerryin’ ’im all kinds -uv good things ter eat. He didn’t lik it at all, but tuk de things and -sont ’em ’roun’ ter de pore people.</p> - -<p>“Brer Jasper wuz nun uv yer parshul preachers. His church wuz his -family, and he had no favrites. He did not bow down ter de high nor -hol’ ’imsef ’bove de low. Enny uv his people cud kum ter him ’bout all -dere struggles and sorrers. He hated erroneyus doctrines. His faith in -de Bibul wuz powerful, and he luved it ’bove everything. He had awful -dreds ’bout wat mite kum ter de church wen he wuz gone. He sometimes -said in a mity solem way, ‘Wen I am daid and gone, yer will look out -ter whar my ashes lay and wish I wuz back here ter ’part ter yer de -pure wurd uv Gord agin. I got a fear dat dose dat kum arter me will try -ter pull down wat I built up. I pray Gord, my children will stand by de -ship uv Zion wen I’s gone.’</p> - -<p>“Brer Jasper got troubles ’bout de way young childun wuz got inter -de church. He say ‘all yer got ter do is to pitty-pat em (making the -motion in the pulpit with his hands) on dere haids and dey are in de -kingdom. Sum uv yer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> duz the convertin’ of dese little uns instid er -leavin’ it ter God ter do de work.’ He believed in regenerashum of -folks. He preach’d ter de very last on being born agin, and he didn’t -want nobody ter kum inter his church wat ain’t felt de power uv de -sperrit in dere souls.</p> - -<p>“But Brer Jasper wuz a mity luver uv de childun. He had a great way -of stoppin’ and talkin’ ter dem on de street. He wuz a beautiful -story-teller, and de childrun often flocked ter his house ter hear -’im tell nice stories and all kine uv good tales. He kept pennies in -his pockets and often dropped ’em along for de chilrun—he had great -ways,—til de chilrun ud think he wuz de greatest man dat ever put foot -on de yearth.</p> - -<p>“Brer Jasper wuz sosherbul wid everybody, and nobody cud beat him as a -talker. He knew lots ’bout Richmond, and de ole times, and he had de -grandest stories and jokes dat he luved ter tell and dat de folks went -wild ter hear. He wuz great on jokes and cracked ’em in sech a funny -way dat folks most killed de ’sefs laughin’. But yer mus’ kno’ dat he -wuz mity keerful ’bout how he talked. Yer neer hear no bad words frum -his mouth. His stories he could tell ennywhar, and wuz jes’ as nice ter -de ladies as ter der men. He didn’t b’leve in no Sercities. Dey tried -ter git ’im in de Masons, and I don’t kno’ wat all, but he ain’t tech -none uv’em. He sez<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> dar ain’t but one Grand Past Master and dat is King -Jesus.</p> - -<p>“Dey orf’n wanted ’im at de big public suppers war dey et an’ drank -an’ made speeches, but he wouldn’t go near; and den our high people -had der big suppers in dere houses and wanted de ’onur uv entertainin’ -Brer Jasper, but he didn’t hanker arter dose kind uv things. He wanted -his meals simple and reglur and uv de plain sort, and as fer dese high -ferlootin’ feasts dey didn’t suit his taste.</p> - -<p>“It look lik Brer Jasper couldn’t stop preachin’. It wuz his food and -drink, an’ enny time he’d git way beyond his strength. I’ve seen ’im -wen it looked lik de las’ bref hed gone out’en his body, and sometimes -some uv de brutherin say he did not look like a natchul man. He seemed -more in hevun dan on urth. I most reckun some uv de brutherin thought -he wuz gone up in ter heavun like Lijer. Dey go in de pulpit and tek -hol’ uv ’im and say Brer Jasper yer dun preached nuff. Don’t wear -yerself down. Tek yer seat and res’ yersef. He knew dey did it fer luv, -and he took it kind, but he didn’t always stop at once.</p> - -<p>“Brer Jasper had a walk mity remarkbul. Wen he went in de streets he -wuz so stately and grave lik dat he walk diffrunt from all de people. -Folks wud run out uv all de stores, or out on der porches, or turn back -ter look wen Jasper kum ’long. Oh, it made us proud ter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> look at him. -No other preacher could walk like him. Yer felt de ground got holy war -he went ’long. Sum uv ’em say it wuz ekul ter a revival ter see John -Jasper moving lik a king ’long de street. Often he seemed ter be wrappd -up in his thoughts and hardly to know whar he wuz. De people feared ’im -so much,—wid sech a luvin’ kind uv fear, dat dey hardly dared to speak -ter him.</p> - -<p>“Brer Jasper wuz mity fond uv walkin’ in de pulpit. It wuz a great -large place, and he frisked round most lik he wuz a boy. Wen he filled -up wid de rousement of the Gospel on him, it was just glor’us to see -him as he whirled about the stand; the faces of his folks shone wid de -brightness of de sun, and they ofen made the house ring with laughter -and with their shouts.</p> - -<p>“One thing he did dat always made his congregasons rock wid joy, an’ -dat wuz ter sing wile he wuz preachin’. He wuz mos’ ninety years old, -but he never lost his power ter sing, an’ wen he struck er tune de -note uv it shot in de people lik arrurs from anguls quivur. Yer cudn’t -hol’ still wen Jasper sung. Soon as he started, de people would ’gin -to swing an’ jine in tel de music filled de house. He cud sing a heap -uv songs, but he had a few great songs. Yer orter to hear him sing by -hiself his favrite piece.” Here it is:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p> - -<p class="center">EV’BUDY GOT TER RISE TER MEET KING JESUS IN DE MORNIN’</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>“‘Ev’budy got ter rise ter meet King Jesus in de mornin’;</div> -<div>De high and de lo’;</div> -<div>De rich and de po’,</div> -<div>De bond and de free,</div> -<div>As well as me.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div>“‘Yer got ter rise ter meet King Jesus in de mornin’,</div> -<div>Weddur yer iz purparred er no,</div> -<div>Ter Gord’s trirbewnul</div> -<div>Yer got ter go,</div> -<div>Yer got ter rise ter meet King Jesus in de mornin’.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div>“‘De lurnid and de unlurnid,</div> -<div>Barbareun, Jentile and de Jew,</div> -<div>Hev yer red hit in Hiz wurd,</div> -<div>Dat de peepul wuz drondid in de flud,</div> -<div>Ev’budy got ter rise ter meet King Jesus in de mornin’.’</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>“Dar wuz a song dat Jasper made hisself. Some called it a ballard, and -udders said it wuz a poem; but wat evur twuz, it wuz glory ter hear him -sing it. It went dis way:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>“‘I beheld and lo</div> -<div>A grate multertude dat no man kin number,</div> -<div>Thousuns and thousuns, an’ ten thousun times ten thousun,</div> -<div>Standin’ befo’ de Lam’,</div> -<div>And dey had pams in dere hans.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>“‘Dey nevur restid day nur night,</div> -<div>Cryin’ Holy, Holy, Holy, iz de Lord, Gord uv Sabbuth</div> -<div>Dat wuz, an’ iz, and iz ter kum,</div> -<div>I saw a mi’ty ainjel flyin’ through de midst uv heaven,</div> -<div>Cryin’ wid a loud voice,</div> -<div>Sayin’ Woe! Woe! Woe! be unto de earth by reazun uv de trumpit,</div> -<div>Dat which is yet ter soun’.</div> -<div>And when de las’ trumpit shall soun’,</div> -<div>See de great men and noble,</div> -<div>De rich, and de po’, de bond and de free,</div> -<div>Gueddur ’emselves terguedder, cryin’ ter de rocks, an’ ter de mountins,</div> -<div>Ter fall ’pon ’em an’ hide ’em,</div> -<div>From de face uv Him dat sitteth on de throne,</div> -<div>De great day uv His rath hav kum an’ who shall be able ter stan’?’</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>“And den, too, he had his shoutin’ song. He never sung it ’cept wen -de heavenly fires wuz burnin’ all over his soul. He kept tune wid his -walkin’ and wid de clappin’ uv his hands. Dis song never got in ’cept -at de close uv sermons dat had heaven in ’em, and somehow he jumped -from de sermon all at once in ter de song an’ it would hev fairly kilt -yer wid joy ter hear it. Here is de way he put it:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>“‘My soul will mount higher in a chariot of fire,</div> -<div>And de wurl’ is put under my feet.’</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>“Dis wuz the start uv it, but dere wuz heaps more. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p> - -<p>“It wuz an awful time ter us wen we begun ter see dat our ole pastor -wuz near ter de end uv his race. We had been a-dreddin’ it by degrees -and it broke on us more and more. I think de dere man tried ter git us -reddy fer it. He kep sayin’ to us: ‘My chilrun, my work on de earth -is dun. I doan ask death no more odds dan a horse-fly.’ But den he’d -preach so powerful dat we’d hope dat he’d hol’ out a good deal longer. -He said ter me one day: ‘Compartivly speakin’, my time in dis wurl’ is -skin deep,’ and I look at my hand and think how thin de skin is, and I -feel dat sho’ nuff he mus’ soon be goin’.</p> - -<p>“One night at de church he turned hissef loos. He said dat as fer -’imself it mattered nuthin’. He had paid all his debts, dat he did not -keer whar or when he dropped; but he wanted everybody ter know dat he -wud be wid Jesus. Dat wuz one uv de things dat he luved ter say. Den he -told de church dat dar wuz nuthin’ lef’ uv him,—dat he wanted ’em to -git tergedder and pay off der church debt and live tergedder lik little -chil’run. He wuz mity gret dat night, an’ it looked lik de powers uv de -wurl’ ter kum wuz dar.</p> - -<p>“De people went out silent lik an’ dey said dat de gud ole pastor -preached his own funeral dat night. He allus thought uv hissef es de -servant uv King Jesus. Dat wuz a slavery dat he liked and nevur wished -to git free from it. Towards<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> de las’ he wuz all de time sayin’: ‘I am -now at de river’s brink and waitin’ fer furder orders. It’s de same ter -me ter go or stay, jes’ es Gord commands.’</p> - -<p>“Some folks said dat he wuz conceited. Dey did not know him. He wuz too -full uv de fear uv Gord to think he wuz sum great body, an’ he know’d -his own sins an’ troubles too well ter boast. He must hev known dat -Gord made him more uv a man dan de gen’ral run. He had ter kno’ dat, -’caus’ it wuz proved ter him every day, an’ in a heap uv ways. Besides -dat, he hilt hisself up high. He had good respec’ for hisself and felt -dat a man lik he wuz had got ter behave hisself ’cordin’ ter wat he -wuz. But dat wuz very different from bein’ one uv dese giddy little -fops dat is always trancin’ aroun’ showin’ hisself off, and braggin’ -’bout everything. I often wondered how Jasper could be so umble lik, -wen so many cacklin’ fools wuz bodderin’ ’im.</p> - -<p>“Brer Jasper could git up big things wen he tried. Wen dey got in a -tight place ’bout de church an’ had to have money, he got up a skurshun -ter Washington. He sent out de members ter sell tickets, an’ dey sold -so many dat dey had ter have two trains ter carry ’em, and jes’ think, -sir, he cleared $1,500 fer his church by dat skurshun, and he got up -anudder to Staunton dat wuz mos’ as good as de udder one. Ah, he wuz a -leader, I tell you he wuz. We never could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> have had our fine church if -it had not bin fer him.</p> - -<p>“It’s mity easy fer folks ter forget things. Some folks are teerin’ -’roun’ as if the church b’longed ter ’em now, and dey are ready ter -tell you dat Jasper made mistakes and all dat, but sum uv us knows well -dat Jasper built dat church. You need nevur spect ter hear any more -sech preachin’ in dat pulpit as dat grand ole man uv God used ter give -us.</p> - -<p>“You know Brer Jasper got convicted uv his sins fer de first time on -de 4th of July in Capitol Squar’, Richmond. He use ter tell us ’bout -it many a time. While de folks wuz swarmin’ ’roun’ and laffin’ and -hurrahin’, an arrer uv convicshun went in ter his proud heart an’ -brought ’im low. He never forgot dat place, and when he got ter be an -ole man he wuz kinder drawn ter Capitol Squar. He luv ter go down dar. -He like de cool shade uv de trees and ’joyed de res’, dozin’ sometimes -wen he wuz tired. De people, and speshully de chilrun, used ter git -’roun’ him an’ ask him questions an’ make him talk. He lik things lik -dat. Some uv de Jews used ter kum ter hear Brer Jasper preach. They -called him Father Abraham and showed gret gud feelin’ fur ’im. Some uv -’em used ter meet him in de Cap’tol Squar’ an’ dey would have great ole -talks tergudder, an’ he didn’t mind tellin’ ’em de truth an’ he told -’em dat dey wuz de chilrun<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> uv Abraham, but dat dey had gone all to -pieces.</p> - -<p>“Dey tell me he never went ter skule ’cep’ six months, an’ I hear dat -he jes’ studied wid a man dat taught him in a New York Speller book; -but when he spoke at de Y. M. C. A. and many uv de white gemmen went -ter hear ’im, they say he certainly used ellergunt language. I know he -could handle great words when he wanted to, an’ he could talk in de old -way, an’ he often loved to do dat.”</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>IX</span> <span class="smaller">JASPER’S SERMON ON “DEM SEBUN WIMMIN”</span></h2> - -<p>“Did yer ebur git yer mine on wat Iz’er say in chapter fo’ an’ vurs -wun? Listen ter hiz wurds: ‘An’ sebun wimmin shall tek hol’ uv wun man -in dat day, sayin’ we will eat our own bread an’ wear our own ’parrel; -only let us be called by Thy name; tek Thou erway our reproach.’ De -Profit iz furloserfizin’ ’bout de mattur uv wimmin,—speshully wen dar -is sebun in de lan’, wen wars dun thin out de men and de wimmins feels -de stings an’ bites uv reproach. I tell yer, yer bettur not fling yer -gibes an’ sneers at er ’omun. She wuzn’t made ter stan’ it, an’ wats -mo’, she ain’t gwine ter stan’ it. Shure ez yer iz settin’ on dat bench -she will fly erway an’ hide hersef, or she will fly at yer, an’ den, -ole fellur, yer had bettur be pullin’ out fer de tall timbur fast. Gord -dun settled it dat wun ’omun iz nuff fer a man, an’ two iz er war on -yer hans,—bles yer, it is.</p> - -<p>“But dar kums times wen it goze hard wid wimmin. Dey iz lef out uv de -lottry uv heavun,—dey draws blanks an’ dey gits ter be a laughin’ -stock uv de ungodly. Not dat dey iz crazy ter marry an’ not dat dey iz -uv dat flautin’, slatturn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> lot dat’s allus gallantin’ eroun’ ertryin’ -ter git a man ter ’sport um. Dese wuz squar, alrite wimmin. Wurk wud -not skeer um. Dey wuz willin’ ter mek dere bread an’ cloes, ter pay -dere own way, purvidid dey cud be Mrs. Sumbody, an’ in dat way ’skape -de dev’lish jeers an’ slites uv base men. Fur my part, I feels quite -sorry fur dat class uv ladiz, an’ I kinder feels my blud gittin’ up wen -I finds folks castin’ reproachiz on dere fair names.</p> - -<p>“But my mastur in de skies! Dis pikshur here uv de Profit iz too much -fer me. It mek me feel lik tekin’ ter de woods, in quick ordur. Lord, -wat wud I do ef I wuz pursued by er army uv seben wimmin axin me ter -’low each wun uv um ter be call’d Mrs. Jasper? It may be dat each wun -wuz fer hersef ter de limit, an’ hoped ter shet out de udder six an’ -hev de man ter hersef;—an’ ef she wuz ter hev ’im ertall she ort ter -hav all uv im. Dar iz not nuff ter d’vide; I tel yer, dar ain’t, an’ -wen yer git er haf intrest in er man yer iz po’ indeed, an’ ef only wun -sevunth iz yourn, yer had es wel start on ter de po’house ’fo yer git -yer dinner.</p> - -<p>“A gud ’omun can’t byar ter be oberluked. It ain’t her nature, an’ it -iz a site fer de anguls ter see wat sort uv men sum wimmin wil tek -sooner dan be lef’ out inti’ly.</p> - -<p>“But wat gits me arter all iz a man. I see ’im in de quiet uv de -day,—de Sabbuth day. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> teks a strole fer de koolin’ uv hiz mine, -erwearin’ uv hiz nice cloes, an’ feelin’ lik a new man in de City -Kounsil; de fust thing he know’d a lady glide up ter ’im an’ put her -han’ lite on hiz arm. He jump ’roun’ an’ she say, mity flush’d up, -‘’skuse me!’</p> - -<p>“He see at wunst she er lady, but he wuz kinder lo’ in hiz sperrit, an’ -yit he wish in hiz hart dat she had gon ter de udder en uv de rode, but -he want ter hear her out.</p> - -<p>“She tel ’im de site uv a man wuz medsin fer bad eyes, dat nurly all uv -’em wuz cut down in de war an’ dat in konsquens it wuz er lonesum time -fer wimmin; dey hev nobody now ringin’ de do’ bells in de eebnin; no -boys sendin’ ’em flowers an’ ’fekshuns; no sweetarts tekin’ ’em walkin’ -on Sunday arternoons, an’ weddins gwine out er fashun. An’ dis ain’t de -wust uv it. It mek us shamed. De wives,—dey purrades roun’ an’ brags -’bout dere ’ole mans’ an’ cuts der eye at us skornful; an’ de husban’s -iz mity nigh es bad, erpokin’ fun at us an’ axin erbout de chillun.</p> - -<p>“She say yer needn’ think we’re crazy ter marry; tain’t dat, an’ tain’t -dat we want yer ter ’sport us,—no, no! We hev money an’ kin funnish -our own vittuls an’ cloes, an’ we kin wuk; but it iz dat reproach dey -kas’ on us, de wear an’ tear uv bein’ laff’d at dat cuts us so deep. -Ef I cud be Mrs. Sumbody,—had sum proof dat I had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> de name uv sum -un,—sumthin’ ter rub off de reproach. Dat’s it,—dis ding-dongin’ uv -de fokes at me.</p> - -<p>“De man wuz pale es linnin, an’ wuz hopin’ ter ansur, but fo’ de wud -floo frum his lips ernudder ’omun hooked ’im on de ter side. Mursy uv -de Lord! two uv ’em had ’im an’ it luk lik dey wuz gwine ter rip ’im -in tew an’ each tek a haf. De las’ wun tel her tale jes’ lik de fust -wun an’ wuss. She brung in tears es part uv her argurmint, an’ de ter -wun got fretted an’ used wuds dat wud hev konkurred ’im ef jes’ den two -mo’,—two mo’, mine yer, mekin’ fo’ in all, hed not kum up an’ gits er -grip on de gemmun, an’ hiz eyes luk lik dey’d pop out his hed;—wun on -each side an’ two ter hiz face, an’ it seems he gwine ter faint.</p> - -<p>“‘Yer ladiz,’ he says, ‘may be rite in yer ’thuzasm, but yer iz too -menny. Up ter dis time I hev bin shy uv wun, but ef I cud be erlowed -ter choose jes’ wun I mite try it.’</p> - -<p>“Den de fo’ wimmins begun ter git shaky wen a nur wun sailed in,—dat’s -five, den ernudder; dat’s six, and den wun mo’—<span class="smaller">SEBUN</span>!</p> - -<p>“Luk, will yer! Sevun got wun man. It izn’t sed wedder de wimmin wuz -fer a partnurship wid de man es de kapertul, or wedder each uv ’em -hoped ter beat out de udder six; but wun thing we know an’ dat iz dat -de po’ man iz in de low grounds uv sorrur. Ter my min’, de pikshur iz -mity seerus, ebun do it mek us smile. Fur my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> po’ part, I iz glad we -lives in fairer times. In our day mens iz awful plen’ful wid us, tho’ -I kin not say dat de qualty iz fust class in ve’y menny. But I thanks -de Lord dat mos’ enny nice leddy kin git merrid in dese times ef dey -choose, an’ dat wid out gwine out sparkin’ fur de man. I notis dat ef -she stay ter home, ten her buznis, min’ her mudder, an’ not sweep de -streets too off’n wid her skirts, in de long run her modes’ sperrit -will win de day. I ubsurv ernudder thing; de unmerrid lady, de ole -maid es sum calls her,—need not hang her haid. Jes’ let her be quiet -an’ surv de Lord; jes’ not fret ’bout wat fools says,—dey duz er heep -uv talkin’, but it iz lik de cracklin’ uv de burnin’ sticks under de -pot, a big fuss an’ a littul heat. Fer my part, I honners de ’oman dat -b’haves hersef, briduls her tongue, duz her wuk, an’ sings es she goes -erlong. Her contentid sperrit beats a lazy husbun’ ebry time, an’ mity -off’n it brings er gud husbun’ erlong.</p> - -<p>“Es fer dese fokes dat flurts an’ skouts at ole maids dey ain’ fitten -ter live, an’ ort ter be in de bottum uv Jeems Rivur, ’cept’n’ dey’d -spile de watur. No gemmun nur no lady wud do it.</p> - -<p>“Now dis iz my wud ’bout de wimmin, an’ I hope yer lik it, but if yer -doant, jes’ ’member dat Jasper sed it, an’ will stan’ by it, til de -cows in de lo’er feil’ kums home.”</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>X</span> <span class="smaller">JASPER GLIMPSED UNDER VARIOUS LIGHTS</span></h2> - -<p>Jasper’s mother was near the century line when she died, and he -attained unto the extraordinary age of eighty-nine. Truly there must -have been rare endurance in the texture of the stock. Jasper’s thoughts -did not turn to religion until he was twenty-seven and yet by reason -of his longevity he was a preacher for sixty years. During twenty-five -years of that time he was a slave, and he had about thirty-five years -of personal civil freedom, during which he won the distinctions that -will make him a figure slow to pass out of history.</p> - -<p>Jasper can have no successor. Freedom did not change him. It came too -late for him to be seriously affected by its transforming hand. It -never dazzled him by its festive charms nor crooked him with prejudice -against the white people. There was far more for him in the traditions, -sentiments, and habits of his bondage-days than in the new things -which emancipation offered. He never took up with gaudy displays which -marked his race in the morning of their freedom. This was especially -true as to his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> ministry. He clung without apology to the old ways. In -preaching, he spurned the new pulpit manners, the new style of dress, -and all new-fangled tricks, which so fascinated his race. He intoned -his sermons,—at least, in their more tender passages—sang the old -revival songs of the plantations and factories, and felt it a part of -his religion to smash, with giant hand, the innovations which the new -order was bringing in. Of all the men whom I have known this weird, -indescribable man cared the least for opposition;—unless he believed -it touched his personal honour or was likely to injure the cause of -religion. Indeed, he liked it. He was a born fighter and a stranger to -fear. There was a charm in his resentments: they were of a high order, -and inevitably commanded manly sympathy. He instinctively identified -himself with the Lord and felt that when he fought he was fighting -the Lord’s battles. Satire and sarcasm were like Toledo blades in his -hands. He often softened his attacks upon his enemies by such ludicrous -hits and provoking jests that you felt that, after all, his hostility -lacked the roots of hatred. He was far more prone to despise than to -hate his enemies.</p> - -<p>There is a curious fact in connection with Jasper’s language. Evidently -in his early days his speech was atrociously ungrammatical. His -dialect, while possessing an element of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>fascination, was almost -unspellable. During his long ministerial life his reading and contact -with educated people rooted out many of his linguistic excrescences. -There were times when he spoke with approximate accuracy, and even with -elegance; and yet he delighted, if indeed he was conscious of it, in -returning to his dialect and in pouring it forth unblushingly in its -worst shape, and yet always with telling effect. But the wonder of his -speaking was his practical independence of language. When he became -thoroughly impassioned and his face lit with the orator’s glory, he -seemed to mount above the bondage of words: his feet, his eyes, indeed -every feature of his outer being became to him a new language. If he -used words, you did not notice it You were simply entranced and borne -along on the mountain-tide of his passion. You saw nothing but him. You -heard <i>him</i>; you felt him, and the glow of his soul was language enough -to bring to you his message. It ought to be added that no man ever used -the pause more eloquently or effectively than Jasper, and his smile was -logic; it was rhetoric; it was blissful conviction.</p> - -<p>Those who thought that Jasper was a mere raver did not know. Logic was -his tower of strength. He never heard of a syllogism, but he had a way -of marshalling his facts and texts which set forth his view as clear -as the beaming sun. The Bible was to him the source of all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> authority, -while his belief in the justice and truth of God was something -unworldly. He understood well enough his frailties, his fallibility, -and the tendency of the human soul towards unfairness and deceit. I -heard him say once with irresistible effect: “Brutherin, Gord never -lies; He can’t lie. Men lie. I lie sometimes, I am very sorry to say -it. I oughtn’t to lie, and it hurts me when I do. I am tryin’ ter git -ober it, and I think I will by Gord’s grace, but de Lord nevur lies.” -His tone in saying this was so humble and candid that I am sure the -people loved him and believed in him more for what he said. A hypocrite -could never have said it. Jasper could never be put into words. As he -could speak without words so it is true that words could never contain -him,—never tell his matchless story, never make those who did not hear -him and see him fully understand the man that he was.</p> - -<p>A notable and pathetic episode in Jasper’s history was the fact -that during the bitter days of the Confederacy when Richmond was -crowded with hospitals,—hospitals themselves crowded with the -suffering,—Jasper used to go in and preach to them. It was no idle -entertainment provided by a grotesque player. He always had a message -for the sorrowful. There is no extended record of his labours in the -hospitals, but the simple fact is that he, a negro labourer with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> -rude speech, was welcomed by these sufferers and heard with undying -interest; no wonder they liked him. His songs were so mellow, so -tender, so reminiscent of the southern plantation and of the homes -from which these men came. His sermons had the ring of the old -gospel preaching so common in the South. He had caught his manner of -preaching from the white preachers and they too had been his only -theological teachers. We can easily understand how his genius, seasoned -with religious reverence, made him a winsome figure to the men who -languished through the weary days on the cots. It cannot be said too -often that Jasper was the white man’s preacher. Wherever he went, the -Anglo-Saxon waived all racial prejudices and drank the truth in as it -poured in crystal streams from his lips.</p> - -<p>Quite a pretty story is told of Jasper at the beginnings of his -ministry. It seems that he went down into the eastern part of his town -one Sunday to preach and some boisterous ruffians interfered, declaring -that a negro had no right to go into the pulpit and that they would not -allow Jasper to preach. A sailor who chanced to be present and knew -Jasper faced these disorderly men and declared to them that Jasper -was the smartest man in Virginia and that if he could take him to the -country from whence he had come he would be treated with honour and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>distinction. There was also a small white boy standing by, and touched -by the sincerity and power of Jasper, he pluckily jumped into the scene -and exclaimed, “Yes, let him go on; what he says is all right. I have -read it all in the Bible, and why shouldn’t he speak?” The incipient -mob was dispersed, and his audience was fringed with a multitude of -white people who were attracted to the scene.</p> - -<p>It is not intended by these things said, concerning Jasper’s favour -with the white people, to indicate that Jasper, in the least degree, -was not with his own race. Far from that. He loved his own people and -was thoroughly identified with them; but he was larger than his race. -He loved all men. He had grown up with that pleasing pride that the -coloured people who lived in prominent families had about white people. -Then, too, he had always been a man who had won favour wherever he -went, and the white race had always had a respect and affection for -him. Jasper was never ungrateful.</p> - -<p>There were sometimes hard passages in the road which Jasper travelled. -At the end of the war he was left high and dry, like driftwood on -the shore. He had no church; no place to preach; no occupation. His -relations with the white race were shattered, and things were grim -enough; but ill-fortune could not break him. A large part of Richmond -was in ashes, and in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> some places at least the work of rebuilding -commenced at once,—or rather a clearing off of the debris with a view -to rebuilding. Jasper walked out and engaged himself to clean bricks. -During the Egyptian bondage the Hebrews made bricks and thought they -had a hard lot; but Jasper spent the first days of his freedom in -the brick business,—a transient expedient for keeping soul and body -together until he could get on his feet again. Little thought the eager -men who were trying to lay the foundations for their future fortunes -that in the tall serious negro who sat whacking hour after hour at the -bricks was one of God’s intellectual noblemen. Born in bondage, lowly -in his liberty and yet great in the gifts with which God had endowed -him, it was Jasper’s nature to be almost as cheerful when squatted on -a pile of bricks and tugging at their cleaning as if he had a seat in -a palace and was feeding on royal dainties. He carried the contented -spirit, and that too while he aspired after the highest. He did not -uselessly kick against the inevitable, but he always strove for the -best that was in his reach.</p> - -<p>One of the most serious jars of Jasper’s life was his conflict with -some of his brethren in connection with his notable and regrettable -sermon on the motion of the sun. Intelligent people do not need to -be told that Jasper knew nothing of natural science, and that his -venture<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> into the field of astronomy was a blunder. It was a matter -that did not in the least involve his piety or his salvation, nor -even his ministerial efficiency. His whole bearing in the matter was -so evidently sincere, and his respect for the Bible, as he understood -it, was so unmeasured that it set him off rather to an advantage than -to a disadvantage. It is told in another place how he was drawn into -the preaching of that sermon which gave him an odd, and yet a genuine, -celebrity. It was no love for sensation and no attempt to show his -learning, but simply an attempt to vindicate the Bible as he understood -it. When the sermon was first delivered it created a wide-spread -sensation. Some of the coloured ministers of Richmond were shocked out -of their equanimity, and they felt that something must be done. It was -a case of hysterics. In a fit of freakish courage some of them made an -attack on Jasper. A letter was written to a Richmond paper and signed -by several prominent negro Baptists, one of them being the pastor of a -strong church. In this letter Jasper’s sermons were bitterly denounced, -and they were spoken of as “a base fabrication,” out of time and place, -and doing more harm than good. It was said further that those sermons -had drawn such crowds that it had resulted in the injury of a number of -persons, and that a better way for the author of these sermons would -be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> for him to preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified.</p> - -<p>Some time after this the Ebenezer Baptist Church called a conference -to consider the situation and to see if matters could not be adjusted. -Jasper was an ardent believer in the independence of the individual -Baptist church, and he was summoned to appear before that conference. -He refused to go, saying that he did not recognize the authority of -the church to interfere with him. Thereupon they sent a committee to -him inviting him to come and make any statement that he wished to make -concerning the question at issue.</p> - -<p>He went. The point in the published letter concerning Jasper that was -most offensive to him was the statement as to “base fabrication.” That -hit him between the joints of the harness. His soul was stirred with a -furious resentment, and when he got before that council and fell afoul -of the three men who had charged him with “a base fabrication” it was -a day not to be forgotten. When he had got through it would be hard to -say how many baskets would have been required to hold the fragments. -The man who had really written the letter suddenly discovered that it -had no reference on the earth to Brother Jasper. It was intended to -answer something that had been said in a paper in New York. Attempts -were made to refresh his memory. Quite<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> a respectable minister reminded -this letter writer that they had talked together concerning this -letter, and that the attention of the writer was called to the “base -fabrication” part of it, but the memory of the brother could not be -revived. No stimulant could reach the case. Other folks might charge -Brother Jasper with base fabrication, but not this man. It was a -lamentable and discreditable conclusion. He was crippled in both feet -and respected by none. This ended the matter. Jasper strode away from -the council with the marks of victory about him; and while bad feeling -could not die at once, yet the attacks on Jasper went entirely out of -fashion. Let it be added that there were multitudes who shared the -prejudice against this old warrior, but little cared he. On he went his -fine way, growing in nobleness, and loving the God in whom he believed.</p> - -<p>Jasper’s pleasures were of the meditative sort. For a long time his -church gave him an ample vacation in the summer. He retired to the -country and courted its quiet. His only sport was fishing along the -streams, and that suited his task. If the fish didn’t bite, his -thoughts always did. Like the fish they ran in schools, but unlike the -fish they ran in all weathers and in all seasons. But Jasper never -achieved marked success in the art of recreation. Go where he might, -his fame was there to confront and to entangle him. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>Demands for him -to preach always came in hot and thick, and there was hardly a Sunday -when Jasper was in the country that he was not surrounded by a crowd -and preaching with ever-glowing fervour and delight. Indeed, Jasper -was sought after to dedicate churches, deliver lectures and to preach -special sermons in every part of Virginia, and often beyond it. It was -said that he preached in almost every county and city in Virginia. He -was the one ever sought Virginia preacher, and in that respect he stood -unmatched by any man of his race.</p> - -<p>As a rule, Jasper did not preach very long sermons. His Sunday -afternoon sermons very rarely exceeded fifty minutes in length, but -on extraordinary occasions he took no note of time. Jasper was not -a sermon-maker. He did not write them, and homiletics was a thing -of which he had never heard. He was fond of pictorial preaching and -often selected historical topics, such as “Joseph and His Brethren” or -“Daniel in the Lion’s Den,” or “The Raising of Lazarus.” He had quite -a large stock of special sermons,—sermons which had grown by special -use, and which embodied the choicest creations of his mind. These -he preached over and over again and in his own pulpit, and without -apology to anybody. But after all the themes which interested him most -profoundly and on which he preached with unsurpassed ardour and rapture -were the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>fundamental doctrines of the Scriptures. The last sermon he -ever preached was on Regeneration; and on many phases of the Christian -system he preached with consummate ability. He believed fully in the -doctrine of future punishment, and his description of the fate of the -lost made the unbelieving quake with terror and consternation. His -preaching was of that fervid, startling, and threatening sort, well -suited to awaken religious anxieties and to bring the people to a -public confession. He was his own evangelist,—did chiefly the work of -bringing his congregation to repentance, and the growth of his church -consisted almost entirely of the fruit of his own ministry. His church -on the island began with nine members, and it was reported that there -were over 2,000 at the time of his death. He had uncommon caution about -receiving people into his church. He was not willing to take people -to count, and he preached searchingly to those who were thinking of -applying for membership.</p> - -<p>Just two little and yet important things call for a place in this -chapter. Jasper was an inexorable debt-payer. The only debt that he -could tolerate was a church debt, and he could ill tolerate that. The -unsettled account of his great new church building grappled him like -a nightmare. It was his burden in the day and his torturing dream at -night. Even during his dying days the church debt haunted and depressed -him, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> loud among his parting exhortations was his insistent plea -that the church debt should be speedily paid.</p> - -<p>In his early life Jasper contracted the use of tobacco,—as, indeed, -almost his entire race did, and he was also quite free with the use of -alcoholic drinks,—though never, so far as is known, to the extent of -intoxication. No question as to his sobriety has ever ridden the air. -But these habits lingered with him long after he entered the ministry, -and even until he was winning enviable and far-spreading favour as a -preacher. So far as known, these facts did not becloud his reputation -nor interfere with his work. Of course, he never entered a barroom, -and never drank convivially, but he kept liquor in his house, and took -it as his choice dictated. But gradually it worked itself into his -conscience that these things were not for the best, and without the -least ostentation or even publicity he absolutely abandoned the use -both of tobacco and alcoholic drinks. He made no parade about it, and -took on no fanatical airs. Just as he thought it was wrong to owe money -which he could not pay and therefore hated a debt, so he felt that -these habits, useless at best, might really be harmful to him and to -others, and therefore he gave them up.</p> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/i107.jpg" alt="MONUMENT OVER JOHN JASPER'S GRAVE" /></div> - -<p class="bold">MONUMENT OVER JOHN JASPER’S GRAVE</p> - -<p>His moral and religious ideals were very lofty, and he lived up to -them to a degree not true of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> many. Not long after his death a really -magnificent monument was erected over his grave. It was quite costly, -and the money for it was raised by his church people and other lovers -of whom he had legions. While he lived, legislators, judges, governors, -and many men of eminent distinction, went to hear him preach. Many of -the most distinguished white ministers of the country made it a point -to go to his church on Sunday afternoon whenever they were in the city, -and he was justly ranked as one of the attractions of Richmond.</p> - -<p>Now that he has found his grave not far from the site of his church, -and this stately shaft has been placed as a sentinel over his dust, -multitudes as they come and go will visit the tomb of the most -original, masterful, and powerful negro preacher of the old sort that -this country has ever produced.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>XI</span> <span class="smaller">SERMON:—THE STONE CUT OUT OF THE MOUNTAIN</span></h2> - -<p class="center">(<i>Text, Daniel 2:45.</i>)</p> - -<p>This rugged specimen of historical eloquence constituted the sermon -delivered on Sunday afternoon, July 20, 1884. Jasper mounted the pulpit -with the dash of an athlete and tripped around the platform during the -preliminaries with the air of a racer. A sense of strength imparted to -his face the triumphant glow. A smile parted his lips, and told the -secret of an animated and aggressive courage.</p> - -<p>“I stan’s befo’ you to-day on legs of iron and nun kin stay me from -preachin’ de Gospil uv de Lord Gord. I know well nuff dat de ole -devul is mad as a tempest ’bout my bein’ here; he knows dat my call -ter preach kums frum Gord, and dat’s wat meks ’im so mad wen he sees -Jasper ’scend de pulpit, fur he knows dat de people is gwine ter hear -a messige straight frum heaven. I don’t git my sermuns out uv grammars -an’ reterricks, but de Sperrit uv de Lord puts ’em in my mind an’ meks -’em burn in my soul.”</p> - -<p>His manner was radiant, courageous, defiant,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> and was prophetic of one -of his greatest discourses.</p> - -<p>“It hev always bin one uv de ways uv Gord ter set up men as rulers uv -de people. Yer know dat Gord ordains kings and rulers an’,—wat kinder -bodders sum uv us,—He don’t always mek it a p’int ter put up good men. -Yer know dat our Lord giv Judis a place ’mong de twelve, an’ he turn’d -out ter be one uv de grandes’ raskils under de sun.</p> - -<p>“Jes’ so Nebukidnezzur was pinted uv de Lord ter be king uv -Babylon,—dat same robbur dat tuk de vessuls out uv de temple at -Jerusalem an’ lugged ’em away ter his own country. Dat man had wun uv -de powerfullest kingdums evur known on dis flat earth. He ruled over -many countries and many smaller kingdums, an’ even had under his hands -de servunts on de plantashun an’ de beasts uv de feil’. He was one uv -dese unlimertid monnuks. He axed nobody no odds, an’ did jes’ wat he -wanted ter do, an’ I kinnot stop ter tell yer wid wat a strong hand -an’ outstretched arm he ruled de people wid an irun rod. It kum ter -pass dat one time dis king dat did not fear Gord (tho’ Gord had sot -him up), had a dream. Dreams iz awfully curus things. Dey used ter -frighten folks out’n dere senses an’ I tell yer dey sometimes frighten -folks now. I’ve had many dreams in my day dat got mity close ter me. -Dey gravuled inter de very<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> cords uv my soul, an’ made me feel lik de -groun’ under my feet wuz libul ter giv way any time, an’ I don’t dout -dat hundreds uv yer dat hear me now hev bin frightened an’ cud not eat -nor sleep nor wuk wid any peace ’caus’ yer done hev strange dreams. Yer -better watch dem dreams. In de anshient days de Lord spoke ter folks in -dreams. He warned dem, an’ I don’t dout dat He duz dat way sometimes -now.</p> - -<p>“Neberkidnezzur’s dream stirred him powerful. He rolled all night -an’ did not sleep a wink. So he sent out an’ got de magishuns an’ de -strolgurs an’ de sorserers an’ de Kaldeuns, an’ dey wuz brought unter -him. He tell ’em dat he had dreamed a dream dat had trubbled his -sperrit. An’ de Kaldeuns axed him wat de dream wuz. De king say dat de -dream done gone clear out’n him, an’ he can’t cotch de straight uv it -ter save his soul. He tell ’em, moreovur, dat dey got ter dig up de -dream an’ work up de meanin’ too, an’ dat ef dey don’t dat he gwine -ter have ’em cut all ter pieces an’ turn dere houses inter a dunghill, -an’ den he tell ’em dat ef dey will git de dream back fur him an’ give -de explernashun he gwine ter give ’em nice gifs an’ put gret honurs on -’em. It waz too much fer de Kaldeuns. Dey cudn’t dream de king’s dream -fer ’im, an’ dey kum squar out an’ tell Nebukidnezzur dat no man on de -earth cud show sich a matter ter de king, an’ dat in dere erpinyun dar -is no king on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> de earth dat wud ax fer sich a thing frum proffit or -magishun.</p> - -<p>“Den Nebukidnezzur got high. He went on a tare an’ yer know wen a king -gits mad yer better git out er his way. He is got de power; an’ so he -up an’ sent out a decree through all de regiuns uv de kingdom dat all -de wise men everywhar shud be slain. Jes’ see wat a mad man will do wen -he git furius mad. Dey got no mo’ sens dan a mad tiger or a roarin’ -lion. Jes’ befo’ de slaughter uv de wise men kum on, Daniel hear ’bout -it, an’ he axed de king’s captin wat it wuz all ’bout an’ why de king -wuz so hasty, an’ de captin tol’ Dan’l all ’bout it. Dan’l brushed -hissef up quick and struck out to see de king an’ ax him ter hol’ up de -exercushun uv his bloody profesy, an’ he’d promise to splain his dream -ter him. Den Dan’l goes off an’ gits all his Godly frien’s togedder -an’ ax ’em ter pray ter de Gord uv heaven dat he an’ his frien’s shud -not perish in de slaughter uv de tricksters uv dat country. One thing -de Lord can’t do;—He can’t refuse ter answer de cries uv His people; -an’ wen all dat prayin’ wuz gwine on Gord appeared to Dan’l in de nite -an’ revealed ter him de secret uv de king,—an’ wat yer reckin? Wen de -Lord giv Dan’l dat dream an’ de hinterpertashun dar of, Dan’l raised a -gret shout an’ giv thanks to Gord for wat de Lord had done fer him. But -he didn’t shout long, fer he had <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>important bisnis ter attend ter; an’ -very soon he went ter de king an’ kerried wid him de secrit dat de king -had demandid at de han’s uv de erstrolgers an’ magishuns. He told de -king rite ter his face de thing dat he had dreamed, an’ wat Gord meant -by it. Truly Dan’l did behave hissef befo’ de king in a very pretty an’ -becomin’ manner. He tel de king he did not hav no mo sens dan udder -people, an’ dat he wuz not perpar’d to do things dat udder men cud do, -but dat it wuz by de power uv Gord dat all dis matter had bin made -known ter him. He tol’ de king dat wat he saw wuz a gret imige; dat de -imige wuz brite an’ splendid an’ de form uv it wuz terrerbul; dat de -hed wuz uv fine gold, his brest and arms uv silvur, his belly an’ thize -uv brass, an’ his legs uv irun and his feet part uv irun an’ part uv -clay. An’ he tel de king fudder dat he saw er stone dat wuz cut widout -han’s out’n de mountin an’ dat de stone smote de imige erpun his feet -an’ broke ’em in pieces, an’ dat de stone dat brok de imige became a -gret mountin an’ filled all de wurl’. Den Dan’l,—dat brave an’ feerles -bruther, dat nevur quailed befo’ de mitiest ruler uv de earth,—faced -de king an’ tel ’im an orful an’ a warnin’ troof. He say ter ’im, ‘Yer -is a gret king now. Yer hav er mity country an’ all power, an’ thy -glory civers de groun’. Man an’ beas’ an’ foul obey yer. Yer iz de hed -uv gold, but arter yer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> will kum anudder kingdum dat shall not be lik -yourn, but still it shal be big an’ dar shall kum anudder kingdum and -dar shall be a fo’th kingdum strong as irun, an’ dis kingdum shall -brooz an’ smash all de udder kingdums.’</p> - -<p>“An’ den Dan’l gits ter de big pint. He tels de king dat de Lord is -gwine ter set up er kingdum an’ dat in de times ter kum dat kingdum -shall crush an’ cornsume all de udder kingdums. Dat shall be de kingdum -uv Gord on de earth, an’ dat kingdum shall stan’ fer evur an’ evur. You -knows how yer saw de stone dat wuz cut out’n de mountin an’ how dat -broke in pieces de irun, de bras, de clay, de silvur, an’ de gold, an’ -my Gord hev made known ter you, O king, wat shall tek place in de gret -herearter, and dis is de dream an’ de hinterpertashun dar of.</p> - -<p>“Dat wuz a mity sermon dat Dan’l preached ter Nebukidnezzur. It ort -ter hev saved ’im, but it look lik it med ’im wuss. De debbul got ’im -fer dat time an’ he turn rite agin de Lord Gord an’ sot at nort His -stashutes an’ countid His ways onholy.</p> - -<p>“Yer know ’bout dat imige. It wuz med uv gold, an’ wuz threescore -cubits high and six cubits wide, an’ twuz sot up in de plain uv Durer, -not fer frum Bablun. Yer know er cubit is about eighteen inchis, an’ -ef yer multerply dat by threescore cubits yer git 1080 inches, wich -mean dat de<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> imige wuz ninety foot high an’ nine feet broad. So yer see -Nebukidnezzur got ter be a Gord-makur, an’ wen he got dis gret imige -bilt he sont out ter git all de princis an’ guvnurs an’ all de res’ uv -de swell folks ter kum an’ bow down an’ wurshep dat gret imige dat he -had sot up. Now dis wuz de gret folly an’ shame uv de king. By dat deed -he defied de Lord Gord an’ de raff uv de Lord wuz stirr’d agin ’im.</p> - -<p>“An’ now, my brudderin, yer member Dan’l tol’ de king dat de imige -dat he saw in his dream wuz ’imsef rulin’ over all de udder kingdums. -He tol’ ’im also dat dat stone dat wuz cut out uv de mountin an’ kum -rollin’ down de craggy sides an’ broke in pieces de irun, de brass -and de clay, dat dat wuz de kingdum uv de Lord Jesus Christ. An’ he -tel ’im, fuddermo, dat de kummin’ uv de stone ter be a great mountin -means de growth uv de kingdum uv our Lord tel it shall fil dis wurl’ -an’ shall triumf over all de udder kingdums. Dan’l tel de king dat his -kingdum wuz gwine ter be taken frum him, ’caus’ he had not feared de -Gord uv heaven, an’ in his folly an’ crimes he turned away frum dat -Gord dat rules in de heaven an’ hols de nashuns uv de earth in de pams -uv His han’s. He tol’ ’im dat de kingdum uv Satun, dat arch ennimy uv -Gord, wuz gwine ter tumbul flat, ’caus’ dat stone cut out uv de mountin -wud roll over Satun’s derminyuns an’ crush it in ter flinders. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Glory ter Gord in de highis’; dat stone cut out uv de mountin is a -mity roller. Nuthin kin stay its terribul progris! Dey dat fite erginst -Jerhover had bettur look out,—dat stone is still rollin’ an’ de fust -thing dey know it will crush down erpon ’em an’ dey will sink ter -rise no mo’. Our Gord is er cornsumin’ fire, an’ He will overturn an’ -overturn tel de foundashuns uv sin iz brokin’ up. Yer jes’ wait er -little. De time is fas’ rollin’ on. Evun now I hear my Saviour sayin’ -ter His Father, ‘Father, I kin stay here no longer; I mus’ git up dis -mornin’; I am gwine out ter call My people frum de feil’; dey hav ben -abused and laughed at an’ bin med a scoffin’ long nuff fer My name’s -sake. I kin stay no longer. My soul cries fer My chillun. Gabrul, git -down yer trumpit dis mornin’; I want yer ter do some blowin’. Blow -gently an’ easy at fust, but let My people hear your goldin notes. Dey -will kum wen I call.’</p> - -<p>“Ah, my brutherin, you an’ I wil be dar wen dat trumpit soun’s. I -don’ think I shall be erlarm’d, ’caus’ I shall know it iz my king -marshallin’ His people home. It won’t frighten you my sisters; it will -hev de sweetnis uv Jesus vois ter yer; an’, oh, how it will ring out -dat happy mornin’ wen our king shall kum to gather de ransomed uv de -Lord ter ’imsef. Den yer shall hev a new an’ holy body, an’ wid it -your glorified sperrit shall be united, an’ on dat day we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> shall go in -ter see de Father an’ He shall smile an’ say: ‘Dese iz My chillun; dey -hav washed dere robes and made dem white in de blood uv de Lamb; dey -hav kum out uv gret tribberlashun an’ dey shall be wid Me for ever an’ -ever.’ I speck ter be dar.</p> - -<p>“‘Well, Jasper,’ yer say, ‘why yer spec ter be dar. How yer know?’ Yer -read de foteenth chapter uv John, will yer? ‘I go ter prepar er place -fer yer,’ an’ dat word is ter rule; an’ so yer will see ole John Jasper -rite dar, an’ King Jesus shall kum out ter meet us an’ tek us in an’ -sho’ us de manshuns dat He hav prepared fer us.</p> - -<p>“O Lusifer how thou hav fallin! You proud ones will find den dat your -days iz over, an’ ye dat hav despised de chillun uv my Gord wil sink -down inter hell, jes’ as low es it is posserbul ter git. Yer needn’t -tel ’im dat yer hev preached in His name, an’ in His name done many -wonderful works. Yer can’t fool Him! He’ll frown down at yer an’ say: I -don’t know yer, an’ I don’t wan’ ter know yer, an’ I don’ wan’ ter see -yer. Git out uv My site forever, an’ go ter your place ermong de lost.</p> - -<p>“Ah, truly, it is a mity stone, bin rollin’ all dese senshuriz, rollin’ -to-day. May it roll through the kingdum uv darknis and crush de enemis -uv Gord. Dat stone done got so big dat it is higher dan heav’n, broader -dan de earth, and deeper<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> dan hell hitsef. But don’t be deceived. Don’t -think dat I don’ let yer off. I got somethin’ more fer yer yit.</p> - -<p>“Yer member Dan’l and Shadrick, Meeshick an’ Erbedniggo. Dey all -stubbonly fused to bow down ter Nebukidnezzur’s golden imige. Dey stood -straight up. Dey wudn’t bend a knee nor cruk a toe, an’ dem Kaldeeuns -wuz waatchin’ um. Dat’s de way hit always iz; de debbul’s folks iz -always er watchin’ us an’ tryin’ ter git sumthin’ on us an’ ter git us -inter trubbul an’ wid too many uv us dey succeed. Dey saw dat Dan’l an’ -his friens wud not git down lik dey dun, an’ up dey jumped an’ away dey -cut an’ kum ter de king.</p> - -<p>“Oh, king, liv ferevur,’ dey say. ‘Yer know, O king, wat yer sed,—dat -dercree dat yer made, dat at de soun’ uv de kornit, de flute, de harp, -de sackbut, de saltry an’ de dulsermur an’ orl kines uv musik, dat -ev’ry body shud fall down an’ wurshep de goldin imige, an’ dat dose dat -duz not fall down an’ worshep shud be put in de furnis; an’ now, oh, -king, dey say dat a lot uv dose men dun refews. Dey doan regard yer. -Dey hate yer Gods an’ spize de imige dat yer sot up.’</p> - -<p>“Coarse de ole king got mad agin an’ in his fury dey brought dese three -befo’ him. He axed um ef wat he had heerd ’bout um wuz so,—’bout dere -not worsheppin’ de goldin imige. ‘Mayby yer med a mistake,’ de king -say, ‘but we gwine ter hev it ovur agin, an’ ef wen de ban’<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> strikes up -nex’ time yer will git down an’ worshep it’ll go eezy wid yer, an’ ef -yer doant de fires in de furnis will be startid quick es litenin’ an’ -inter it ev’ry one uv yer shall go.’</p> - -<p>“Dese wuz yung men, but, ah, I tel yer, dey wuz uv de loyul stock. -Dey wuz jes’ es kam es sunrise in de mornin’. Dey sed: ‘Oh, king, we -ain’ keerful ter anser ’bout dis mattur. Ef yer lik ter cas’ us inter -de furnis, our Gord dat we surv iz abul ter git us out. We ain’ gwine -ter bow, an’ we nevur will bow ter your Gord, an’ yer jes’ es well -understan’.’</p> - -<p>“Rite den de men went ter heet up de furnis. Dey wuz tol’ ter heet it -up sevun times hottur dan wuz de ginrul rule an’ dey hed sum jiunts -ter tie Shedrak, Meeshik, an’ Erbedniggo, an’ dey tuk de yung men away -inter de furnis. De heet wuz so terribul dat de flames shot out an’ sot -fire ter de men dat had put de Hebru chillun in an’ de po’ retchiz wuz -burn’d up, but not a hair uv de three yung men wuz sing’d, an’ dey kum -out er smilin’ an’ not a blistur on um frum hed ter fut. Dey did not -evun hev any smell uv fire ’bout dere pussuns, an’ dey luk jes’ lik dey -jes’ kum out uv dressin’ rums.</p> - -<p>“Neberkidnezzur wuz dar, an’ he say: ‘Luk in dat furnis dar. We didn’t -put but three pussons in dar, did we?’ an’ dey tol’ ’im dat wuz so. Den -he tun pale an’ luk skeered lik he gwine ter die an’ he say: </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span></p> - -<p>“‘Luk dar; I see fo’ men inside an’ walkin’ through de fire, an’ de -form uv de fourth is lik de Son uv Gord,’ an’ it luk lik de king got -kunvurtid dat day, fur he lif’ up his vois an’ shout de praiz uv de -Gord uv Shedrak, Meeshik an’ Erbedniggo.</p> - -<p>“Ah, gret iz dis story; dey dat trus’ in Gord shall nevur be put -ter kornfushun. De righteous alwaz kums out konkerurs an’ more dan -konkerurs. Kings may hate yer, frien’s spize yer, an’ cowurds bakbite -yer, but Gord iz yer durlivrur.</p> - -<p>“But I dun forgit. Dis ole time rerlijun iz not gud nuff fer sum folks -in dese las’ days. Sum call dis kine uv talk foolishnis, but hif dat be -troo den de Bibul, an’ hevun, an’ dese Christun’s hearts, iz ful uv dat -kine uv foolishnis. Ef dis be ole fogy rerlijun, den I want my church -crowdid wid ole fogiz.</p> - -<p>“Wat did John see ober dar in Patmos? He say he saw de fo’ an’ twenty -eldurs seatid roun’ de throne uv Gord an’ castin’ dere glittrin’ crowns -uv gold at de feet uv King Jesus, an’ he say dat out uv de throne kum -lightnin’ an’ thundurs an’ voicis an’ de sevun lamps burnin’ befo’ -de throne uv Gord. An’ dar befo’ de throne wuz de sea uv glass, an’ -roun’ ’bout de throne wuz de fo’ livin’ creaturs ful uv eyes befo’ an’ -behine, an’ dey nevur ceas cryin’: ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, iz de Lord Gord -almity dat died ter tek away de sins uv de wurl’!’ </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p> - -<p>“Yer call dat ole fogy. Jes’ luk away ober yondur in de future. Duz -yer see dat sea uv glass an’ de saints uv Gord dat wuz all bruised an’ -mangul’d by de fi’ry darts uv de wickid. I hear um singin’! Wat iz dere -song? Oh, how it rolls! an’ de korus iz: ‘Redeemed, redeemed, wash’d in -de blud uv de Lam’. Call dem ole fogiz, do yer? Wel yer may, fer dey iz -bin doin’ dat way frum de time dat Abel, de fust man, a saved soul told -de news uv salvashun ter de anjuls.</p> - -<p>“‘Wel, Jasper, hev yer got any rerlijun ter giv way?’</p> - -<p>“I’se free ter say dat I ain’t got es much es I want. Fur forty-five -years I bin beggin’ fur mo’, an’ I ax fur mo’ in dis tryin’ hour. But, -bless Gord, I’s got rerlijun ter giv way. De Lord hev fil’d my hands -wid de Gorspil, an’ I stan’ here ter offur free salvashun ter any dat -wil kum. Ef in dis big crowd dar iz one lost sinnur dat hev not felt de -klinsin’ tech uv my Saviur’s blud, I ax ’im ter kum terday an’ he shall -nevur die.”</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>XII</span> <span class="smaller">FACTS CONCERNING THE SERMON ON THE SUN</span></h2> - -<p>Let me say in frankness that when I originally began this appreciation -of John Jasper it was my full purpose to omit from it all reference to -his very notorious sermon on “The Sun Do Move.” That was the one thing -in his life I most regretted—an episode that I was quite willing to -commit to oblivion. I felt that it was a distinct discredit to him. -But upon further reflection I have concluded that the omission might -hurt him far more than the facts in the case possibly could. Inasmuch -also as it was that very sermon which drew to him such wide-spread -attention, and since there are those who never heard him, nor heard of -him except in connection with that sermon, I have decided to give the -public the facts in the case and the sermon itself. In this chapter -I will give a history of the sermon, and in the next I will give the -substance of the sermon. It is due to my old friend and brother, -Jasper, to say that he really never intended to create a sensation -by preaching on an exciting or unusual topic. This<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> he most solemnly -declared, and while he was several sensations himself in a single -bunch, and while almost every sermon that he preached produced wild -and thrilling sensations, he did not work for that. He started his -chief sensations by preaching the Gospel in such a hot, pungent, and -overmastering way that his people could not contain themselves. Jasper -tells us how it all came about. Two of his brethren, members of his -flock, fell into a friendly dispute as to whether the sun did revolve -around the earth or not. As they could not decide the question, and -neither would yield, they finally agreed to submit the question to -their old pastor, solemnly believing, I dare say, that there was no -mystery in earth, sea, or sky that he could not fathom.</p> - -<p>When Jasper’s theme went abroad it called forth some very scornful -criticisms from one of his Baptist neighbours—one of the “eddicatid -preachers,” as Jasper delighted to call them, though in certain moods -he often finished his sentence by branding them as eddicatid fools. -When he heard of the strictures mentioned above, he let fly some shot -at white heat as a response to the attacks on him. When he got a -thing in his blood the amenities of controversy sometimes lost their -place in his memory. He would let fly flings of satire that would be -toothsome topics for street gossip for many summer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> Sundays. Things -for zestful chat rarely ran short when Jasper was about. He expressed -much regret that he had come in conflict with the “furlosofurs” of the -day, freely confessing his ignorance in the matter of “book-larnin’.” -His knowledge, he said, was limited to the Bible, and much of that he -did not feel that he could explain. But on the question about the sun -he was sure that he possessed the true light. “I knows de way uv de -sun, as de Wurd of Gord tells me,” he declared in his warlike manner, -“an’ ef I don’ pruv’ dat de sun moves den yer may pos’ me as er lier -on ev’ry street in Richmun’.” By this time his war paint was plainly -visible, and his noble defiance rang out like a battle call.</p> - -<p>The occasion on which I heard his “astronomical sermon,” as one of his -opponents deridingly dubbed it, was not at its first presentation. He -had delivered it repeatedly before and knew his ground. The gleam of -confidence and victory shone clear and strong on his face.</p> - -<p>The audience looked like a small nation. Long before the solemn -janitor, proud of his place, strict to the minute, swung open the front -doors, the adjacent streets swarmed with the eager throngs. Instantly -there was a rush, and in surged the people, each anxious to get a seat. -The spacious house was utterly inadequate to the exigencies of the -hour. Many crowded the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> aisles, disposed themselves around the pulpit, -sat on pew-arms, or in friendly laps.</p> - -<p>Jasper’s entrance was quite picturesque. He appeared in the long aisle -wearing a cape overcoat, with a beaver in one hand, and his cane in the -other, and with a dignity not entirely unconscious. His officers rose -to welcome him, one removing his great coat, another his head piece, -and yet another his cane. As he ascended the pulpit he turned and -waved a happy greeting to his charge and it fairly set his emotional -constituents to shouting. Many loving words were said out in a rattling -chorus in token of their happiness at seeing him.</p> - -<p>It is more than probable that some of Jasper’s young people had notions -of their own as to his views of the sun; but never a word would they -let slip that could mortify their beloved old pastor, or give a whisper -of comfort to his critics. They were for Jasper, and the sun might go -its way. They believed in their pastor, believed in his goodness, his -honesty, and his greatness.</p> - -<p>In the opening exercises there occurred several characteristic -incidents. He requested his choir to open by singing, “The Heavens -Declare the Glory of God.” This was at once a proof of his seriousness -and of his sense of the fitting.</p> - -<p>When he arose to read the Scriptures, he glanced around at his -audience, and bowing in pleased recognition of the many white people<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> -present, he said with unaffected modesty that he hoped that the “kin’ -frens who’d come ter hur me would ’scuse my urrors in readin’. My eyes -is gitting weak an’ dim, and I’se slow in making out de hard wurds.” -Then he proceeded with utmost reverence to read the passage selected -for the service. He was not a good reader, but there was a sobriety and -humility in his manner of reading the Scriptures that made one always -feel a peculiar respect for him.</p> - -<p>There may be place here for a passing word about this most original -and picturesque representative of his race. Jasper had a respect for -himself that was simply tremendous. Unconsciously he carried a lofty -crest, and yet you knew there was no silly conceit in it. His walk -along the street was not that of a little man who thought all eyes were -upon him, but of a giant who would hide from himself and from others -the evidences of his power. His conversation carried an assertion of -seriousness—his tones were full of dignity—his bearing seemed to -forbid any unseemly freedom—and in public you saw at once that he -was holding himself up to a high standard. Of course, when he was in -the high frenzy of public speech and towering to his finest heights -he lost the sense of himself, but he was then riding the wind and -cleaving the sky and no rules made by men could apply to him. But along -with self-appreciation,—always one of his attractions to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> me,—was a -noble and delicate respect for others. He loved his own people, and -they lived in the pride of it, but he had a peculiarly hospitable and -winsome attitude towards strangers. He was quite free in his cordiality -towards men, and I delighted to see how my coming to hear him pleased -him. In his off-hand way, he said to me one Sunday afternoon as he -welcomed me to the pulpit: “Glad to see you; it does me good to have -folks around whar got sense; it heps me ter preach better. Mighty tough -to talk to folks whar ain’ got no brains in de head.”</p> - -<p>He had a double consciousness that was always interesting to me. He was -always full of solicitude about his sermon. It lay a burden on him, and -it required no expert to discover it. He had so much sincerity that -his heart told its secrets through his face. But think not that this -made him oblivious to his surroundings. His heart was up towards the -throne, and his soul was crying for strength, but his eye was open to -the scene before him. The sight of the audience intoxicated him; the -presence of notable people caught his gaze and gladdened him; tokens of -appreciation cheered him, and he paid good price in the way of smiles -and glances to those who showed that he was doing them good. It made a -rare combination—his concern for his message, and his happy pride in -his constituents. It gave a depth to his feeling and a height to his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> -exultation. He swung between two great emotions and felt the enrichment -of both.</p> - -<p>The text for his sermon was a long cry from his topic. It was: “The -Lord God is a man of war; The Lord is His name.” He was too good a -sermon-maker to announce a text and abandon it entirely, and so he -roamed the Old Testament to gather illustrations of the all-conquering -power of God. This took him over a half hour to develop, and as it took -even much longer to formulate his argument as to the rotation of the -sun it made his sermon not only incongruous, but intolerably long—far -longer than any other sermon that I ever knew him to preach. The two -parts of the discourse had no special kinship, while the first part -tired the people before he reached the thing they came for. It was an -error in judgment, but his power to entertain an audience went far to -save him from the consequences of his mistake.</p> - -<p>The intelligent reader will readily understand the drift of his -contention about the sun. What he said, of course, was based on the -literal statements of the Old Testament, written many centuries ago, -not as a treatise on astronomy, but in language fitted to express ideas -from the standpoint of the times in which it was used. Jasper knew -of no later discoveries in the natural world, and, therefore, very -sincerely believed with religious sincerity, and all the dogmatism of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>ignorance, that the declarations of the old Scriptures were true in -very jot and tittle. It is apparent enough that to the enlightened -people who went to hear the address merely for amusement there was -rare fun in the whole performance. To them, Jasper was an ignorant old -simpleton, a buffoon of the pulpit, a weakling to be laughed at. And -yet hardly that. He was so dead in earnest, and withal so shrewd in -stating his case, so quick in turning a point, and brimming with such -choice humour and sometimes flashing out such keen, telling strokes of -sarcasm, that he compelled the admiration of his coldest critics. To -the untutored people before him Jasper was the apostle of light. They -believed every syllable that fell from his lips—he was the truth to -them—they stood where other honest and godly people stood for ages and -saw things just as they saw them. Their opinion as to the sun did not -in the least affect their piety, for, as a fact, they believed just -exactly as the grandfathers of Jasper’s critics believed sixty years -before.</p> - -<p>It was worth while being there. Jasper was in his most flexible, -masterful mood, and he stormed the heights with his forces in full -array. At times, the negroes would be sending forth peals of laughter -and shouting in wildest response, “Yas, Lord; dat’s so, Brer Jasper; -hit ’em ergin, bless God! Glory, glory, tell us more, ole man!” Then he -would fly beyond the sun and give<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> them a glimpse of the New Jerusalem, -and they would be crying and bursting forth with snatches of song until -you would think the end had come. But not so by ever so much. A word -from Jasper would bring the stillness of death, and he would be the -master again and ready for new flights.</p> - -<p>When the excitement about the sermon was at its full blow, human greed, -ever keen-scented, sensed money in Jasper and his sermon, and laid a -scheme to trade on the old man and his message. A syndicate was formed -to send him out as a lecturer, hoping that the Northern love for the -negro, and the catchiness of the subject, would fill vast halls with -crowds to hear the old man, and turn in rich revenues, of which they -would reap the larger part.</p> - -<p>Jasper, for reasons by no means mercenary, was tickled by this new turn -in fortune. He was not wanting in the pride of successful ambition, and -this new proof of his growing distinction naturally pleased him. Fame -was pinning her medals fast upon him, and he liked it. Not that he was -infatuated with the notion of filling his private pocket. As a fact, he -never uttered in my hearing one sentence that showed his love of money, -or his eagerness to get it. But he was much wedded to the idea of a new -house of worship for his people, and any proper method that would aid -in bringing this happy consummation was joy to his generous old soul. -His heart<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> dwelt with his flock, and to honour and cheer them was life -to him.</p> - -<p>Of course, his church fell in with the idea. Anything to please -“Brother Jasper” was the song of their lives. It looked wonderfully -grand to them to see glory crowning their pastor and gold pouring in to -build them a temple. It was with pomp and glee they sent him away. The -day of his departure was celebrated with general excitement and with -cheering groups at the train.</p> - -<p>But in some way providence did not get identified with the new -enterprise. The first half of his sermon was a trial to people set -on sensation. The Lord in his military character did not appeal. -Some actually retired after the first part, and an eclipse to hopes -uncounted fell over the scene. Jasper, as a show, proved a failure, for -which the devout may well give thanks. He got as far as Philadelphia, -and even that historically languid city found life too brief and -brisk to spend in listening for ninety-odd minutes to two uncongenial -discourses loosely bundled into one. The old man had left the sweet -inspiration of his demonstrative church in Richmond, and felt a chill -of desolation when he set foot on alien soil. The tides of invisible -seas fought against him, empty benches grinned at him, and he got -homesick. The caravan collapsed, the outfit tumbled into anarchy, the -syndicate picked up the stage clothes and stole out in the night-gloom, -the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>undaunted but chagrined Jasper made a straight shoot for Richmond; -ever after the Jasper Lecture Bureau was a myth, without ancestry or -posterity.</p> - -<p>Think not that there was chill in the air when Jasper struck Richmond -on his return. No word of censure awaited him. His steadfast adherents -hailed him as a conqueror and his work went on. His enemies—an envious -crop ever being on hand—tossed a few stones over the back fence, but -Jasper had a keen relish for battle, and was finest when his foes were -the fiercest. Antagonism gave zest to his dramatic career.</p> - -<p>Permit the writer to slip in here a word as to Jasper’s devotion to -his old master, Mr. Samuel Hargrove. I knew Mr. Hargrove well. He -was a man with a heart. I knew him as an old man while I was young. -He had a suburban home near Manchester, his business and church were -in Richmond. I often saw him in my congregation at the Bainbridge -Street Baptist church, Manchester, and thus often met him. Shrinking, -without public gifts, full of kindliness, and high in his life, he -commanded the heart of his servant who to the last delighted to honour -his memory. Their relations did not prevent their mutual respect and -affection. The hideous dogma of social equality never thrust itself -into their life. They had good-will and esteem one for the other, -and lived together in peace. Jasper was a lover and admirer of white -people, and delighted to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> serve and honour them, and in return the -white people were fond of him and glad to help him.</p> - -<p>I rejoice that this old minister, the quaint and stern veteran, came -in God’s time to a righteous fame. Public opinion is an eccentric and -mysterious judge. It has an unarticulated code for fixing the rank and -fate of mortals. It is a large and ill-sorted jury, and its decisions -often bring surprise at the time, but they never get reversed. The -jurymen may wrangle during the trial, but when it emerges from the -council room and renders the verdict, no higher court ever reverses its -final word.</p> - -<p>Hard and adverse was the life of Jasper! For years many hostile forces -sought to unhorse and cripple him. It would require books to hold the -slanders and scandals laid to his charge. The archers used poisoned -arrows, and often tore his flesh and fancied that they had him, but -his bow abode in strength. Meanwhile, the public, that jury of the -many, sat still and watched, weighing the evidence, listening to the -prosecutors, unravelling conflicting testimony, and feeling the way to -justice. In the midst of it all, the brave old chieftain died, while -the trial was yet going on. The jury was long silent, but it has spoken -at last, and the verdict is, that the name of this veteran of the cross -shall be enrolled among the fearless, the faithful, and the immortal. -He endured as seeing the invisible and now he sees.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>XIII</span> <span class="smaller">THE SUN DO MOVE</span></h2> - -<p>In presenting John Jasper’s celebrated sermon on “De Sun Do Move,” I -beg to introduce it with several explanatory words. As intimated in -a former chapter it is of a dual character. It includes an extended -discussion, after his peculiar fashion, of the text, “The Lord God is -a man of war; the Lord is His name.” Much that he said in that part of -his sermon is omitted, only so much being retained as indicates his -view of the rotation of the sun. It was really when he came into this -part of his sermon that he showed to such great advantage, even though -so manifestly in error as to the position which he tried so manfully to -antagonize. It was of that combative type of public speech which always -put him before the people at his best. I never heard this sermon but -once, but I have been amply aided in reproducing it by an elaborate -and altogether friendly report of the sermon published at the time by -<i>The Richmond Dispatch</i>. Jasper opened his discourse with a tender -reminiscence and quite an ingenious exordium.</p> - -<p>“Low me ter say,” he spoke with an outward composure which revealed an -inward but <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>mastered swell of emotion, “dat when I wuz a young man and -a slave, I knowed nuthin’ wuth talkin’ ’bout consarnin’ books. Dey wuz -sealed mysteries ter me, but I tell yer I longed ter break de seal. I -thusted fer de bread uv learnin’. When I seen books I ached ter git -in ter um, fur I knowed dat dey had de stuff fer me, an’ I wanted ter -taste dere contents, but most of de time dey wuz bar’d aginst me.</p> - -<p>“By de mursy of de Lord a thing happened. I got er room-feller—he wuz -a slave, too, an’ he had learn’d ter read. In de dead uv de night he -giv me lessons outen de New York Spellin’ book. It wuz hard pullin’, I -tell yer; harder on him, fur he know’d jes’ a leetle, an’ it made him -sweat ter try ter beat sumthin’ inter my hard haid. It wuz wuss wid me. -Up de hill ev’ry step, but when I got de light uv de less’n into my -noodle I farly shouted, but I kno’d I wuz not a scholur. De consequens -wuz I crep ’long mighty tejus, gittin’ a crum here an’ dar untel I cud -read de Bible by skippin’ de long words, tolerable well. Dat wuz de -start uv my eddicashun—dat is, wat little I got. I mek menshun uv dat -young man. De years hev fled erway sense den, but I ain’t furgot my -teachur, an’ nevur shall. I thank mer Lord fur him, an’ I carries his -mem’ry in my heart.</p> - -<p>“’Bout seben months after my gittin’ ter readin’, Gord cunverted my -soul, an’ I reckin<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> ’bout de fust an’ main thing dat I begged de Lord -ter give me wuz de power ter und’stan’ His Word. I ain’ braggin’, an’ I -hates self-praise, but I boun’ ter speak de thankful word. I b’lieves -in mer heart dat mer pra’r ter und’stand de Scripshur wuz heard. Sence -dat time I ain’t keer’d ’bout nuthin’ ’cept ter study an’ preach de -Word uv God.</p> - -<p>“Not, my bruthrin, dat I’z de fool ter think I knows it all. Oh, mer -Father, no! Fur frum it. I don’ hardly und’stan myse’f, nor ha’f uv de -things roun’ me, an’ dar is milyuns uv things in de Bible too deep fur -Jasper, an’ sum uv ’em too deep fur ev’rybody. I doan’t cerry de keys -ter de Lord’s closet, an’ He ain’ tell me ter peep in, an’ ef I did I’m -so stupid I wouldn’t know it when I see it. No, frens, I knows my place -at de feet uv my Marster, an’ dar I stays.</p> - -<p>“But I kin read de Bible and git de things whar lay on de top uv de -soil. Out’n de Bible I knows nuthin’ extry ’bout de sun. I sees ’is -courses as he rides up dar so gran’ an’ mighty in de sky, but dar is -heaps ’bout dat flamin’ orb dat is too much fer me. I know dat de sun -shines powerfly an’ po’s down its light in floods, an’ yet dat is -nuthin’ compared wid de light dat flashes in my min’ frum de pages of -Gord’s book. But you knows all dat. I knows dat de sun burns—oh, how -it did burn in dem July days. I tell yer he cooked de skin on my back<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> -many er day when I wuz hoein’ in de corn feil’. But you knows all dat, -an’ yet dat is nuthin’ der to de divine fire dat burns in der souls uv -Gord’s chil’n. Can’t yer feel it, bruthrin?</p> - -<p>“But ’bout de courses uv de sun, I have got dat. I hev dun rang’d thru -de whole blessed book an’ scode down de las’ thing de Bible has ter say -’bout de movements uv de sun. I got all dat pat an’ safe. An’ lemme say -dat if I doan’t giv it ter you straight, if I gits one word crooked or -wrong, you jes’ holler out, ‘Hol’ on dar, Jasper, yer ain’t got dat -straight,’ an’ I’ll beg pardon. If I doan’t tell de truf, march up on -dese steps here an’ tell me I’z a liar, an’ I’ll take it. I fears I do -lie sometimes—I’m so sinful, I find it hard ter do right; but my Gord -doan’t lie an’ He ain’ put no lie in de Book uv eternal truf, an’ if I -giv you wat de Bible say, den I boun’ ter tell de truf.</p> - -<p>“I got ter take yer all dis arternoon on er skershun ter a great bat’l -feil’. Mos’ folks like ter see fights—some is mighty fon’ er gittin’ -inter fights, an’ some is mighty quick ter run down de back alley when -dar is a bat’l goin’ on, fer de right. Dis time I’ll ’scort yer ter a -scene whar you shall witness a curus bat’l. It tuk place soon arter -Isrel got in de Promus Lan’. Yer ’member de people uv Gibyun mak frens -wid Gord’s people when dey fust entered Canum an’ dey wuz monsus smart -ter do it. But, jes’ de<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> same, it got ’em in ter an orful fuss. De -cities roun’ ’bout dar flar’d up at dat, an’ dey all jined dere forces -and say dey gwine ter mop de Gibyun people orf uv de groun’, an’ dey -bunched all dar armies tergedder an’ went up fer ter do it. Wen dey -kum up so bol’ an’ brave de Giby’nites wuz skeer’d out’n dere senses, -an’ dey saunt word ter Joshwer dat dey wuz in troubl’ an’ he mus’ run -up dar an’ git ’em out. Joshwer had de heart uv a lion an’ he wuz up -dar d’reckly. Dey had an orful fight, sharp an’ bitter, but yer might -know dat Ginr’l Joshwer wuz not up dar ter git whip’t. He prayed an’ he -fought, an’ de hours got erway too peart fer him, an’ so he ask’d de -Lord ter issure a speshul ordur dat de sun hol’ up erwhile an’ dat de -moon furnish plenty uv moonshine down on de lowes’ part uv de fightin’ -groun’s. As a fac’, Joshwer wuz so drunk wid de bat’l, so thursty fer -de blood uv de en’mies uv de Lord, an’ so wild wid de vict’ry dat he -tell de sun ter stan’ still tel he cud finish his job. Wat did de sun -do? Did he glar down in fi’ry wrath an’ say, ’ What you talkin’ ’bout -my stoppin’ for, Joshwer; I ain’t navur startid yit. Bin here all de -time, an’ it wud smash up ev’rything if I wuz ter start’? Naw, he ain’ -say dat. But wat de Bible say? Dat’s wat I ax ter know. It say dat -it wuz at de voice uv Joshwer dat it stopped. I don’ say it stopt; -tain’t fer Jasper<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> ter say dat, but de Bible, de Book uv Gord, say so. -But I say dis; nuthin’ kin stop untel it hez fust startid. So I knows -wat I’m talkin’ ’bout. De sun wuz travlin’ long dar thru de sky wen -de order come. He hitched his red ponies and made quite a call on de -lan’ uv Gibyun. He purch up dar in de skies jes’ as frenly as a naibur -whar comes ter borrer sumthin’, an’ he stan’ up dar an’ he look lak he -enjoyed de way Joshwer waxes dem wicked armies. An’ de moon, she wait -down in de low groun’s dar, an’ pours out her light and look jes’ as -ca’m an’ happy as if she wuz waitin’ fer her ’scort. Dey nevur budg’d, -neither uv ’em, long as de Lord’s army needed er light to kerry on de -bat’l.</p> - -<p>“I doan’t read when it wuz dat Joshwer hitch up an’ drove on, but I -’spose it wuz when de Lord tol’ him ter go. Ennybody knows dat de sun -didn’ stay dar all de time. It stopt fur bizniz, an’ went on when it -got thru. Dis is ’bout all dat I has ter do wid dis perticl’r case. -I dun show’d yer dat dis part uv de Lord’s word teaches yer dat de -sun stopt, which show dat he wuz movin’ befo’ dat, an’ dat he went on -art’rwuds. I toll yer dat I wud prove dis an’ I’s dun it, an’ I derfies -ennybody to say dat my p’int ain’t made.</p> - -<p>“I tol’ yer in de fust part uv dis discose dat de Lord Gord is a man uv -war. I ’spec by now yer begin ter see it is so. Doan’t yer admit it?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> -When de Lord cum ter see Joshwer in de day uv his feers an’ warfar, -an’ actu’ly mek de sun stop stone still in de heavuns, so de fight kin -rage on tel all de foes is slain, yer bleeged ter und’rstan’ dat de -Gord uv peace is also de man uv war. He kin use bofe peace an’ war ter -hep de reichus, an’ ter scattur de host uv de ailyuns. A man talked ter -me las’ week ’bout de laws uv nature, an’ he say dey carn’t poss’bly -be upsot, an’ I had ter laugh right in his face. As if de laws uv -ennythin’ wuz greater dan my Gord who is de lawgiver fer ev’rything. My -Lord is great; He rules in de heavuns, in de earth, an’ doun und’r de -groun’. He is great, an’ greatly ter be praised. Let all de people bow -doun an’ wurship befo’ Him!</p> - -<p>“But let us git erlong, for dar is quite a big lot mo’ comin’ on. Let -us take nex’ de case of Hezekier. He wuz one of dem kings of Juder—er -mighty sorry lot I mus’ say dem kings wuz, fur de mos’ part. I inclines -ter think Hezekier wuz ’bout de highes’ in de gin’ral avrig, an’ he -war no mighty man hisse’f. Well, Hezekier he got sick. I dar say dat a -king when he gits his crown an’ fin’ry off, an’ when he is posterated -wid mortal sickness, he gits ’bout es commun lookin’ an’ grunts an’ -rolls, an’ is ’bout es skeery as de res’ of us po’ mortals. We know dat -Hezekier wuz in er low state uv min’; full uv fears, an’ in a tur’ble -trub’le. De fac’ is, de Lord strip<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> him uv all his glory an’ landed him -in de dust. He tol’ him dat his hour had come, an’ dat he had bettur -squar up his affaars, fur death wuz at de do’. Den it wuz dat de king -fell low befo’ Gord; he turn his face ter de wall; he cry, he moan, he -beg’d de Lord not ter take him out’n de worl’ yit. Oh, how good is our -Gord! De cry uv de king moved his heart, an’ he tell him he gwine ter -give him anudder show. Tain’t only de kings dat de Lord hears. De cry -uv de pris’nur, de wail uv de bondsman, de tears uv de dyin’ robber, de -prars uv de backslider, de sobs uv de womun dat wuz a sinner, mighty -apt to tech de heart uv de Lord. It look lik it’s hard fer de sinner -ter git so fur orf or so fur down in de pit dat his cry can’t reach de -yere uv de mussiful Saviour.</p> - -<p>“But de Lord do evun better den dis fur Hezekier—He tell him He gwine -ter give him a sign by which he’d know dat what He sed wuz cummin’ ter -pars. I ain’t erquainted wid dem sun diuls dat de Lord toll Hezekier -’bout, but ennybody dat hes got a grain uv sense knows dat dey wuz de -clocks uv dem ole times an’ dey marked de travuls uv de sun by dem -diuls. When, darfo’ Gord tol’ de king dat He wud mek de shadder go -backwud, it mus’ hev bin jes’ lak puttin’ de han’s uv de clock back, -but, mark yer, Izaer ’spressly say dat de sun return’d ten dergrees. -Thar yer are! Ain’t dat de movement<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> uv de sun? Bless my soul. -Hezekier’s case beat Joshwer. Joshwer stop de sun, but heer de Lord mek -de sun walk back ten dergrees; an’ yet dey say dat de sun stan’ stone -still an’ nevur move er peg. It look ter me he move roun’ mighty brisk -an’ is ready ter go ennyway dat de Lord ordurs him ter go. I wonder if -enny uv dem furloserfers is roun’ here dis arternoon. I’d lik ter take -a squar’ look at one uv dem an’ ax him to ’splain dis mattur. He carn’t -do it, my bruthr’n. He knows a heap ’bout books, maps, figgers an’ long -distunces, but I derfy him ter take up Hezekier’s case an’ ’splain it -orf. He carn’t do it. De Word uv de Lord is my defense an’ bulwurk, an’ -I fears not what men can say nor do; my Gord gives me de vict’ry.</p> - -<p>“’Low me, my frens, ter put mysef squar’bout dis movement uv de sun. It -ain’t no bizniss uv mine wedder de sun move or stan’ still, or wedder -it stop or go back or rise or set. All dat is out er my han’s ’tirely, -an’ I got nuthin’ ter say. I got no the-o-ry on de subjik. All I ax is -dat we will take wat de Lord say ’bout it an’ let His will be dun ’bout -ev’rything. Wat dat will is I karn’t know ’cept He whisper inter my -soul or write it in a book. Here’s de Book. Dis is ’nough fer me, and -wid it ter pilut me, I karn’t git fur erstray.</p> - -<p>“But I ain’t dun wid yer yit. As de song says, dere’s mo’ ter foller. -I envite yer ter heer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> de fust vers in de sev’nth chaptur uv de book -uv Reverlashuns. What do John, und’r de pow’r uv de Spirit, say? He -say he saw fo’ anguls standin’ on de fo’ corners uv de earth, holdin’ -de fo’ win’s uv de earth, an’ so fo’th. ’Low me ter ax ef de earth is -roun’, whar do it keep its corners? Er flat, squar thing has corners, -but tell me where is de cornur uv er appul, ur a marbul, ur a cannun -ball, ur a silver dollar. Ef dar is enny one uv dem furloserfurs whar’s -been takin’ so many cracks at my ole haid ’bout here, he is korjully -envited ter step for’d an’ squar up dis vexin’ bizniss. I here tell -you dat yer karn’t squar a circul, but it looks lak dese great scolurs -dun learn how ter circul de squar. Ef dey kin do it, let ’em step ter -de front an’ do de trick. But, mer brutherin, in my po’ judgmint, dey -karn’t do it; tain’t in ’em ter do it. Dey is on der wrong side of de -Bible; dat’s on de outside uv de Bible, an’ dar’s whar de trubbul comes -in wid ’em. Dey dun got out uv de bres’wuks uv de truf, an’ ez long ez -dey stay dar de light uv de Lord will not shine on der path. I ain’t -keer’n so much ’bout de sun, tho’ it’s mighty kunveenyunt ter hav it, -but my trus’ is in de Word uv de Lord. Long ez my feet is flat on de -solid rock, no man kin move me. I’se gittin’ my orders f’um de Gord of -my salvashun.</p> - -<p>“Tother day er man wid er hi coler and side whisk’rs cum ter my house. -He was one nice<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> North’rn gemman wat think a heap of us col’rd people -in de Souf. Da ar luvly folks and I honours ’em very much. He seem -from de start kinder strictly an’ cross wid me, and arter while, he -brake out furi’us and frettid, an’ he say: ‘Erlow me Mister Jasper ter -gib you sum plain advise. Dis nonsans ’bout de sun movin’ whar you ar -gettin’ is disgracin’ yer race all ober de kuntry, an’ as a fren of -yer peopul, I cum ter say it’s got ter stop.’ Ha! Ha! Ha! Mars’ Sam -Hargrove nuvur hardly smash me dat way. It was equl to one ov dem ole -overseurs way bac yondur. I tel him dat ef he’ll sho me I’se wrong, I -giv it all up.</p> - -<p>“My! My! Ha! Ha! He sail in on me an’ such er storm about science, nu -’scuv’ries, an’ de Lord only knos wat all, I ner hur befo’, an’ den he -tel me my race is ergin me an’ po ole Jasper mus shet up ’is fule mouf.</p> - -<p>“Wen he got thru—it look lak he nuvur wud, I tel him John Jasper ain’ -set up to be no scholur, an’ doant kno de ferlosophiz, an’ ain’ tryin’ -ter hurt his peopul, but is wurkin’ day an’ night ter lif ’em up, but -his foot is on de rock uv eternal truff. Dar he stan’ and dar he is -goin’ ter stan’ til Gabrul soun’s de judgment note. So er say to de -gemman wat scol’d me up so dat I hur him mek his remarks, but I ain’ -hur whar he get his Scriptu’ from, an’ dat ’tween him an’ de wurd of de -Lord I tek my stan’ by de Word of Gord ebery<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> time. Jasper ain’ mad: -he ain’ fightin’ nobody; he ain’ bin ’pinted janitur to run de sun: he -nothin’ but de servunt of Gord and a luver of de Everlasting Word. What -I keer about de sun? De day comes on wen de sun will be called frum his -race-trac, and his light squincked out foruvur; de moon shall turn ter -blood, and this yearth be konsoomed wid fier. Let um go; dat wont skeer -me nor trubble Gord’s erlect’d peopul, for de word uv de Lord shell -aindu furivur, an’ on dat Solid Rock we stan’ an’ shall not be muved.</p> - -<p>“Is I got yer satisfied yit? Has I prooven my p’int? Oh, ye whose -hearts is full uv unberlief! Is yer still hol’in’ out? I reckun de -reason yer say de sun don’ move is ’cause yer are so hard ter move -yerse’f. You is a reel triul ter me, but, nevur min’; I ain’t gi’n yer -up yit, an’ nevur will. Truf is mighty; it kin break de heart uv stone, -an’ I mus’ fire anudder arrur uv truf out’n de quivur uv de Lord. If -yer haz er copy uv God’s Word ’bout yer pussun, please tu’n ter dat -miner profit, Malerki, wat writ der las’ book in der ole Bible, an’ -look at chaptur de fust, vurs ’leben; what do it say? I bet’r read it, -fur I got er noshun yer critics doan’t kerry enny Bible in thar pockits -ev’ry day in de week. Here is wat it says: ‘Fur from de risin’ uv de -sun evun unter de goin’ doun uv de same My name shall be great ’mong -de Gentiles.... My name shall be great ’mong de heathun, sez de Lord -uv<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> hosts.’ How do dat suit yer? It look lak dat ort ter fix it. Dis -time it is de Lord uv hosts Hisse’f dat is doin’ de talkin’, an’ He -is talkin’ on er wonderful an’ glorious subjik. He is tellin’ uv de -spredin’ uv His Gorspel, uv de kummin’ uv His larst vict’ry ovur de -Gentiles, an’ de wurldwide glories dat at de las’ He is ter git. Oh, my -bruddrin, wat er time dat will be. My soul teks wing es I erticipate -wid joy dat merlenium day! De glories as dey shine befo’ my eyes blin’s -me, an’ I furgits de sun an’ moon an’ stars. I jes’ ’members dat ’long -’bout dose las’ days dat de sun an’ moon will go out uv bizniss, fur -dey won’ be needed no mo’. Den will King Jesus come back ter see His -people, an’ He will be de suffishunt light uv de wurl’. Joshwer’s -bat’ls will be ovur. Hezekier woan’t need no sun diul, an’ de sun an’ -moon will fade out befo’ de glorius splendurs uv de New Jerruslem.</p> - -<p>“But wat der mattur wid Jasper. I mos’ furgit my bizniss, an’ mos’ gon’ -ter shoutin’ ovur de far away glories uv de secun’ cummin’ uv my Lord. -I beg pardun, an’ will try ter git back ter my subjik. I hev ter do -as de sun in Hezekier’s case—fall back er few dergrees. In dat part -uv de Word dat I gin yer frum Malerki—dat de Lord Hisse’f spoke—He -klars dat His glory is gwine ter spred. Spred? Whar? Frum de risin’ -uv de sun ter de goin’ down uv de same. Wat? Doan’t say dat, duz it? -Dat’s edzakly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> wat it sez. Ain’t dat cleer ’nuff fer yer? De Lord pity -dese doubtin’ Tommusses. Here is ’nuff ter settul it all an’ kure de -wuss cases. Walk up yere, wise folks, an’ git yer med’sin. Whar is dem -high collar’d furloserfurs now? Wat dey skulkin’ roun’ in de brush fer? -Why doan’t yer git out in der broad arternoon light an’ fight fer yer -cullurs? Ah, I un’stans it; yer got no answer. De Bible is agin yer, -an’ in yer konshunses yer are convictid.</p> - -<p>“But I hears yer back dar. Wat yer wisprin’ ’bout? I know; yer say yer -sont me sum papurs an’ I nevur answer dem. Ha, ha, ha! I got ’em. De -differkulty ’bout dem papurs yer sont me is dat dey did not answer me. -Dey nevur menshun de Bible one time. Yer think so much uv yoursef’s -an’ so little uv de Lord Gord an’ thinks wat yer say is so smart dat -yer karn’t even speak uv de Word uv de Lord. When yer ax me ter stop -believin’ in de Lord’s Word an’ ter pin my faith ter yo words, I ain’t -er gwine ter do it. I take my stan’ by de Bible an’ res’ my case on wat -it says. I take wat de Lord says ’bout my sins, ’bout my Saviour, ’bout -life, ’bout death, ’bout de wurl’ ter come, an’ I take wat de Lord say -’bout de sun an’ moon, an’ I cares little wat de haters of mer Gord -chooses ter say. Think dat I will fursake de Bible? It is my only Book, -my hope, de arsnel uv my soul’s surplies, an’ I wants nuthin’ else. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span></p> - -<p>“But I got ernudder wurd fur yer yit. I done wuk ovur dem papurs dat -yer sont me widout date an’ widout yer name. Yer deals in figgurs an’ -thinks yer are biggur dan de arkanjuls. Lemme see wat yer dun say. -Yer set yerse’f up ter tell me how fur it is frum here ter de sun. -Yer think yer got it down ter er nice p’int. Yer say it is 3,339,002 -miles frum de earth ter de sun. Dat’s wat yer say. Nudder one say -dat de distuns is 12,000,000; nudder got it ter 27,000,000. I hers -dat de great Isuk Nutun wuk’t it up ter 28,000,000, an’ later on de -furloserfurs gin ernudder rippin’ raze to 50,000,000. De las’ one -gits it bigger dan all de yuthers, up to 90,000,000. Doan’t enny uv -’em ergree edzakly an’ so dey runs a guess game, an’ de las’ guess -is always de bigges’. Now, wen dese guessers kin hav a kunvenshun in -Richmun’ an’ all ergree ’pun de same thing, I’d be glad ter hear frum -yer ag’in, an’ I duz hope dat by dat time yer won’t be ershamed uv yer -name.</p> - -<p>“Heeps uv railroads hes bin built sense I saw de fust one wen I wuz -fifteen yeers ole, but I ain’t hear tell uv er railroad built yit ter -de sun. I doan’ see why ef dey kin meshur de distuns ter de sun, dey -might not git up er railroad er a telurgraf an’ enabul us ter fin’ -sumthin’ else ’bout it den merely how fur orf de sun is. Dey tell -me dat a kannun ball cu’d mek de trep ter de sun in twelve years. -Why doan’<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> dey send it? It might be rig’d up wid quarturs fur a few -furloserfers on de inside an’ fixed up fur er kumfurterble ride. Dey -wud need twelve years’ rashuns an’ a heep uv changes uv ramint—mighty -thick clo’es wen dey start and mighty thin uns wen dey git dar.</p> - -<p>“Oh, mer bruthrin, dese things mek yer laugh, an’ I doan’ blem yer fer -laughin’, ’cept it’s always sad ter laugh at der follies uv fools. If -we cu’d laugh ’em out’n kount’nens, we might well laugh day an’ night. -Wat cuts inter my soul is, dat all dese men seem ter me dat dey is -hittin’ at de Bible. Dat’s wat sturs my soul an’ fills me wid reichus -wrath. Leetle keers I wat dey says ’bout de sun, purvided dey let de -Word uv de Lord erlone. But nevur min’. Let de heethun rage an’ de -people ’madgin er vain thing. Our King shall break ’em in pieces an’ -dash ’em down. But blessed be de name uv our Gord, de Word uv de Lord -indurith furivur. Stars may fall, moons may turn ter blood, an’ de sun -set ter rise no mo’, but Thy kingdom, oh, Lord, is frum evurlastin’ ter -evurlastin’.</p> - -<p>“But I has er word dis arternoon fer my own brutherin. Dey is de people -fer whose souls I got ter watch—fur dem I got ter stan’ an’ report at -de last—dey is my sheep an’ I’se der shepherd, an’ my soul is knit -ter dem forever. ’Tain fer me ter be troublin’ yer wid dese questions -erbout dem heb’nly bodies. Our eyes goes far beyon’ de<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> smaller stars; -our home is clean outer sight uv dem twinklin’ orbs; de chariot dat -will cum ter take us to our Father’s mansion will sweep out by dem -flickerin’ lights an’ never halt till it brings us in clar view uv de -throne uv de Lamb. Doan’t hitch yer hopes to no sun nor stars; yer -home is got Jesus fer its light, an’ yer hopes mus’ trabel up dat way. -I preach dis sermon jest fer ter settle de min’s uv my few brutherin, -an’ repeats it ’cause kin’ frens wish ter hear it, an’ I hopes it will -do honour ter de Lord’s Word. But nuthin’ short of de purly gates can -satisfy me, an’ I charge, my people, fix yer feet on de solid Rock, yer -hearts on Calv’ry, an’ yer eyes on de throne uv de Lamb. Dese strifes -an’ griefs ’ll soon git ober; we shall see de King in His glory an’ -be at ease. Go on, go on, ye ransom uv de Lord; shout His praises as -yer go, an’ I shall meet yer in de city uv de New Jeruserlum, whar we -shan’t need the light uv de sun, fer de Lam’ uv de Lord is de light uv -de saints.”</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>XIV</span> <span class="smaller">ONE JASPER DAY IN THE SPRING TIME OF 1878</span></h2> - -<p class="center"><i>The Story of a Spectator</i></p> - -<p>The paper which follows is a composite, embodying many incidents and -facts connected with the Jasper sensation, and designed to reflect, so -far as possible, the impression made by the fiery old philosopher upon -those who though out of sympathy with his astronomical notions fell as -helpless victims beneath the spell of his eloquence and honesty.</p> - -<p>For quite a while the Jasper sensation had grown acute in Richmond. -Beginning as a freak, it bloomed into a fad, got in the air, and -actually invaded private homes. It was a pentecost for the curious, a -juicy apple for the hard-driven reporter, a festival for the scoffer, -and a roaring financial bonanza for the saints of Sixth Mount Zion.</p> - -<p>I confess that, for my part, it struck me as a ridiculous business -at best, the big bubble of an hour, and that if not caught at the -exact moment it would speedily disappear, and while I was a sprig of -a reporter it was the sort of thing which did not come my way. Being, -however, of a prying and curious turn of mind I determined<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> to take -one glimpse at the black elephant. It took time, however, to get my -purpose into working order, but my day came in due course. I awoke one -morning to find the Saturday papers “festering” with Jasper. He was in -the advertisements, in the communications, and in the local columns, -and the show was to come off the next day. They told once more of his -astronomical absurdities, as I believed them to be, and informed me -that the exhibition would come off at 3 <span class="smaller">P. M.</span> on the next -afternoon. At noon, I dropped into Reugers’ for my lunch, and a table -of hayseed legislators were filling the room, with noisy gabble about -Jasper and his planetary crochets. I found that some of them had signed -a paper asking for the approaching Jasperian exhibition, and others of -them were twitting and punching them for their folly; but I found that -both sides of them were going.</p> - -<p>Later in the day, I got into a West Main Street car and found a seat -next to three ladies who evidently had a serious attack of Jasper, -and they, too, were bargaining to go. At the supper table in my -boarding-house that evening I found a sickly old Yankee minister -loafing in Richmond for his health, in a swivet of excitement about -Jasper and his coming oration. My landlady’s fourteen year old boy told -me that his mother had promised that he should go to hear Jasper, on -the hampering condition that he could get some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> gentleman to go with -him, and his appeal for my company would have beaten Jasper in the -point of passionate eloquence. To me, it all seemed a stew of folly, -and yet I found myself gratified to have this earnest lad as an excuse -in favour of my going.</p> - -<p>I finally bargained with the eager youngster that I would waylay him -the next morning on his early escape from the Sunday-school, and we -would stroll out into the vicinity of the Sixth Mount Zion Church, and -make a preliminary reconnaissance of the general situation. We did not -find it quite a well-odoured stroll at all points, particularly as we -got in the neighbourhood of the church, for we encountered a tangle of -streets and alleys some of which were not in the best condition.</p> - -<p>Not long after crossing Broad Street we began to run afoul of squads -and groups of coloured people, and the total strain of their chat was -Jasper and what was coming later on. The nearer we came to the church, -the combat, as the poet said, deepened, that is, the groups multiplied -and the Jasperian element grew. A huge negro woman hanging on a -side-gate on Clay Street was shouting in a piping voice about Jasper -and the sun, and telling to several dumb listeners that “she wuz gwine -ter be dar ef de Lord ‘sparred’ her an’ it wuz de las’ thing she done -on de yerth.”</p> - -<p>I observed also several of those Virginia solons<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> already -mentioned,—those big footed, badly shaven, and consequential -legislators,—prowling in the neighbourhood of the church, as if they -were studying and planning for burglaries. As we meandered the crooked -streets which admitted us to a sight of the great Sixth Mount Zion, -we saw in every direction the sign of a prodigious expectancy. Front -yards, streets, and alleys had their contingents, and you could not get -within ear-shot without getting some novel and surprising hints as to -John Jasper and the Solar System. We could hear singing in the church, -and we assumed that something in the way of worship was in process. -That, however, was not IT. That was a tame and pithless performance, -and if Jasper was in it at all he was evidently resting his better -forces for the bigger battle at three o’clock in the impending -afternoon.</p> - -<p>The attraction on the inside was out of gear and didn’t draw. My young -companion, who was vastly my superior as to the Jasper situation, -informed me with marked conviction that the thing for us to do, and -to do at once and with a rush, was to go back to the house, swallow -our dinner, and get back with the utmost speed. We did not get away, -however, before we noted that all avenues in the vicinity of the church -seemed to be filling. Some were coming and going; some were knotted -into groups looking very solemn and apparently awestruck, and some -were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> crowding in like late comers at a circus; but whenever you caught -a word it had to do with Jasper. As we walked away, the son of my -landlady, full of the fidgets and outraged by my slow motion remarked -sagely: “Ain’t he got ’em?” I had to admit it; he had ’em,—by a grip -tighter than if he had ’em by the nape of the neck. Evidently enough, -he had them, and in a bunch as big as the town.</p> - -<p>But I didn’t know it fully then. Being untutored in Jasper’s holding -power, I was fresh enough to suppose that all that buzzing, swarming -gang of negroes would scatter away to their frugal Sunday meal, and -that the alleys and streets would empty into their usual vacancy, -though the boy’s mien of hurry and eagerness was warning me to the -contrary. He mentioned several times that from what other boys had told -him we must go very early, and in order to gratify him we got out of -the boarding-house at a quarter after one, and we needed only fifteen -minutes of quiet walking to get a front seat.</p> - -<p>Shades of the Pharaohs and shadows of the Pyramids! As we headed -towards the seat of planetary conflict the streets looked like black -rivers. Great lines of blacks, relieved here and there by companies of -whites, thronged the sidewalks. Were Hannibal’s Carthagenian legions -being turned loose in Richmond? Or had some mighty earthquake ripped -open the foundations<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> of Richmond, and were the people, caked with the -soot, fleeing for life? It was more tranquil than that, thank heaven! -It was however the town, upheaved and agitated, striving fiercely for -Sixth Mount Zion, to hear the supreme sensation of all his race,—as -I now began to realize he was. Squares before we got to the church we -collided with the returning tide. “No use of going,” they said,—“house -already packed; streets full, men fighting and women fainting,” and a -deal more of the same sort.</p> - -<p>But these appalling things only urged me on. If there was to be a -congestion or a catastrophe, it was just to my taste as well as to -my profession to attend. Besides, I had in me a desperate purpose to -get into that house, and I promised the boy that we’d sink or swim -together. I understood it was perfectly scriptural to rip off the roof -as the last resort. The occasion had jumped the common road, and it -was folly to falter now before any obstacle. The fight through that -mob has left me some marks to be noticed when I am dressed for my -burial. My toes were tramped into jelly. At one time I was lifted by a -rush, and one of my knees aches yet in bad weather as a consequence. -Several times I thought the landlady’s boy was doomed to become an -unrecognizable mangle. It began to sift into me that Jasper was more -than a man, and nothing short of an entire situation and a public -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>menace. My business was more and more to see him.</p> - -<p>The church, when first seen, looked like a tall boat borne on the heads -of thousands, and yet I pushed along. Now, right here, I have to drop -my honesty and become a hypocrite. How I got into that house must not -be told. There is a muscular, ginger-bread fellow who stays in the -office down town, and he broke all rules and I know not how many bones, -and, miraculous as it was, landed me and the boy into the pulpit with -blood on the boy’s nose.</p> - -<p>Now, excuse me from describing the music and the praying, though I -would like to mention that the song that the old darkey in the Amen -corner with the white nape and the quivering voice started up, and -which it looked to me like all the people in the world were singing, -rather jerked me out of myself and took me off on its waves, and when I -got back I had to use my handkerchief in an unusual way.</p> - -<p>Jasper made a prayer also, and the way he talked to the Lord about his -own meanness and his ignorance, knocked out of me about half of my -notion that he was a dribbling old egotist and numbskull. He caused -cold chills to pass up my back by several surprising things which he -said to the Lord in a most serious way, and I have to own that by the -time he said “Amen,” I was a little prejudiced in his favour. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span></p> - -<p>Further, allow me to say right here that I know positively that I -never saw so many people in a house of that size at one time as was in -the church that afternoon. Women sat in each other’s laps, the pulpit -was piled up, and all the spaces chinked, packed, and doubled up. I -ought to add that the look of eagerness, expectation, and attention -was oppressive. No whispering, no looking around; only silence, except -when Jasper started them. Then you felt the mastery and the subduing -sovereignty of the man. I saw that the white people had been favoured -in getting seats, and there were hordes of them. The legislators -abounded, and there were preachers, lawyers, notable men, fashionable -women, and not a few strangers in Richmond, all herding together and -very serious. It wasn’t, I confess, what I expected. I looked for a -circus, and had hooked a funeral,—no, not a funeral; it wasn’t dismal -enough for that, but far more thoughtful and wakeful than a funeral can -be.</p> - -<p>I looked Jasper over with a critical eye, and before he began to -preach I had his age down for sixty-two, but when he began to career -over the pulpit I knocked off ten years. He had an unattractive bulge -on his face around his cheekbone, but his head looked like an alpine -cliff. His eye, I noted, was an all sufficient redeemer, and its flash -and laugh would cover acres of ugliness. His whiskers were decidedly -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>undistinguished, except in their cut, and I marked his blood as -unmixed. He dressed in a manner best suited to prevent people from -noticing how he dressed, and his tall form and alert action made him -attractive in the pulpit.</p> - -<p>During the sermon he had something to say about himself. “I’ll be -sixty-six years old on de fo’th day uv dis coming July. I set out ter -seek de salvation uv my Gord in 1839. I have never been in any school, -but I spent some months trying ter learn ter spell. I wuz converted in -Marse Sam Hargrove’s terbakur fac’try in dis city, on de 25th day uv -July, 1839, and frum dat day I have know’d dat Gord had anintid me wid -de Holy Ghost ter preach de Gorspil uv His Son.”</p> - -<p>You couldn’t hear Jasper say that and doubt. He seemed to assert a -mastery over me from the start as to his sincerity. It was impossible, -moreover, to question the honesty of anything he said. He made another -remark at the outset which made everybody smile, but it was not a -frivolous smile by a long shot. He said he was so ignorant when he -first felt he must preach that he thought maybe God wouldn’t want a man -to preach who could not read, and that maybe the devil had put that -notion into him. Then he stopped, and with a decided smile he said, “I -got a notion dat ef de debbul put dis thing in me, den he wuz a bigger -fool dan I ever thought he cud be. I don’t think he hav made<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> much by -settin’ me out ter preach ef he did fer I done knocked his kingdom hard -blows many a day, but arter more dan forty years servin’ my Gord I know -who I hev b’lieved. I feel dat wenever I stan’ up in His name, de Lord -is wid me.”</p> - -<p>After these remarks he gave out his text and started in.</p> - -<p>“Ef I don’t prove ter you by de word uv my Gord ter day dat de sun do -move, den I ergree never ter preach agin es long es my head is ’bove -de clods. I spek ebbry lady an’ gentl’man presunt dis evenin’ ter say -wedder wat I say is so or not, arter dey hear wat I hav ter say. I’ll -speak out’n de Bibul, an’ I want evrybody ter mark de words dat I giv -’em.”</p> - -<p>I found that Jasper had a keen eye for business. He did things -according to the book. He had ferreted out of the Bible every passage -that bore upon the motions of the sun, and he had them all printed in a -sort of tract. A copy of these passages he placed in the hands of every -one who could read and wished to follow him. He stumbled considerably -over the big words, but he skipped none, and kept along, and when he -would read a passage he would ask to be corrected if, in any small -degree, he had not read it as it ought to be. He was greatly set on -doing clean work, and not seeming to be willing to fool anybody. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span></p> - -<p>After reading a passage, then “the fun” would begin. He would pluck out -of it the part that helped his argument, and it was a sight to see him -with this passage as if it were a broad sword. He would charge upon his -antagonists, shouting and laughing, and whacking them as he went until -he would close that part of his work in a storm of eloquence. How he -did move the people! He moved with the stride of the conqueror.</p> - -<p>I am not skilled in religious reporting and cannot undertake to follow -Jasper in that fusillade of comment and criticism with which, for a -full hour and a half, he bore down upon his adversaries, crashing and -scattering them as he went. A few of his sayings, however, stuck. He -drove them into my flesh like fangs, and possibly a concrete show of -them may help outsiders towards a conclusion as to what Jasper is after.</p> - -<p>His text, so far as I could see, was not within ninety-five millions -of miles of the question as to the movement of the sun. It did however -suit exactly for that part of his sermon which had to do with the Lord -as the defender of His ancient people. He grew vivid in picturing -ancient Israel travelling through the great wilderness, and in showing -how God delivered them from all their foes.</p> - -<p>His wonder as an orator broke out in <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>unmeasured splendour as he -portrayed the power of God at the crossing of the Red Sea. A pathetic -spectacle were the Hebrew slaves, as they fled out of Egypt pursued by -the embattled legions of Pharaoh. As the Lord’s people, as he called -them, got hemmed up with the sea in front of them and the great armies -charging in the rear, he actually made the people cry in dread and -terror lest these refugees should be totally extinguished. The scene -was so lifelike and overmastering that shudders swept through the -crowd, and women were wild with actual fright. Then when Moses came; -when the rod was stretched over the sea and the waters, as if appalled -by the presence of the Lord God, began to part and roll back until they -left a clear passage between;—why everybody could see it. It was as -plain as a great road in the broad daylight, and as the Hebrews, with -revived hope, in solid columns, moved across, his people took fire; -they literally shouted the children of Israel over. Jasper himself was -leading the host, cheering, shouting to them not to be afraid, and -telling them that God would bring them safely through. It looked to me -as if half of the women were clapping their hands or dancing, and the -other half were rolling off the benches in the excess of their rapture, -as the last of the children of Israel came trudging out upon the banks.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span></p> - -<p>But instantaneously Jasper brought a revulsion of feeling. He -discovered the vast host of Pharaoh marching with music and with -banners through the parted walls of the Red Sea. <i>They</i> were coming -too! After all, the people had shouted too soon. The triumphant -Egyptians would soon be upon them, and the chosen of the Lord, after -all, must be destroyed.</p> - -<p>Why, look! The host is half-across; three-fourths now, getting nearer -and nearer. “Oh, my God,” Jasper cried, with a shriek of despair. -“Help! help! or Thy people will be blotted out.”</p> - -<p>All over the house there were sobs and groans and cries of fright. Once -more the hand of the master was upon them, and he swayed them as he -would. Then with a shout he cried: “De walls of de Red Sea are fallin’! -De partid waturs rush inter each udder’s imbrace. Oh, ye heavens, shout -an’ let de earth be glad. Let hell ter its mos’ remotes’ dep’s quake -and cry: ‘De Lord Gord is a man uv war. De Lord is His name!’ Tell de -tidin’s. Shout it everywhar dat Gord hav’ delivured His people.”</p> - -<p>I have always liked fine speaking. Oratory has a resistless charm -for me. I bow to the man who thrills me. If Jasper wasn’t the soul -of eloquence that day, then I know not what eloquence is. He painted -scene after scene. He lifted the people to the sun and sank them down<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> -to despair. He plucked them out of hard places and filled them with -shouting. As long as I live all that Red Sea business, with Egypt and -the fleeing Hebrews and Pharaoh and his great legions and the sea and -the ruin and the great deliverance, are mine to keep as long as my -mental powers can act. True, Jasper made me ridiculous three or four -times by so convulsing me with laughter that I wanted to roll on the -floor, but it didn’t make me frivolous a bit. I never knew that wit was -such a deep and serious thing before.</p> - -<p>The old orator had to stop “to blow” awhile, and it was a strictly -original noise he made, as he refilled his exhausted lungs with a -fresh supply of oxygen. The rush of air fairly shook the glass in the -windows and could have been heard perhaps for a square off. All at once -his face began to brighten with a smile, which almost amounted to an -illumination. He said it “kinder ’mused him ter ubsurv Gord’s keen way -uv wurryin’ Pharo’ inter lettin’ His people go.”</p> - -<p>I am a failure on dialect, but this part of the afternoon’s -entertainment came with such surprise that it was photographed on my -memory in a way it can never be blotted out. Jasper took up the several -plagues which he asserted that God sent upon the Egyptian monarch, -declaring that as Pharo’ was too much of a brute<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> to hear reason, or to -feel afraid, the Lord decided to tease and torment him with reptiles -and insects, and then he added: “I tell yer, my brudderin, dis skeme -did de buzniss fer Pharo’. He kum frum ridin’ one day an’ wen he git in -de pallis de hole hall is full uv frogs. Dey iz scamperrin’ and hoppin’ -roun’ tel dey farly kivur de groun’ an’ Pharo’ put his big foot an’ -squash’d ’em on de marbul flo’. He run inter his parler tryin’ ter git -away frum ’em. Dey wuz all erroun’; on de fine chars, on de lounges, -in de pianner. It shocked de king til’ he git sick. Jes’ den de dinner -bell ring, an’ in he go ter git his dinner. Ha, ha, ha! It’s frogs, -frogs, frogs all erroun’! Wen he sot down he felt de frogs squirmin’ -in de char; de frogs on de plates, squattin’ up on de meat, playin’ -ovur de bred, an’ wen he pick up his glas ter drink de watur de little -frogs iz swimmin’ in de tum’ler. Wen he tried ter stick up a pickul -his fork stuck in a frog; he felt him runnin’ down his back. De queen -she cried, and mos’ faintid an’ tol’ Pharo’ dat she wud quit de pallis -befo’ sundown ef he didn’t do somthin’ ter cler dem frogs out’n de -house. She say she know wat iz de mattur; twuz de Gord uv dem low-down -Hebrews, an’ she wantid him ter git ’em out uv de country. Pharo’ say -he wud, but he wuz an awful liar; jes’ es dey tel me dat mos’ uv de -pollitishuns iz.” </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></p> - -<p>Just then my vagrant eye caught the string of legislators who had high -seats in the synagogue and it looked to me as if every Senegambian in -that seething herd was sampling those rustic statesmen while they took -on an awfully silly look; or rather I think it was on most of them -before. “I can’t pikshur up all dem plagues, but I mus’ giv you more -’sperunce uv dem brutish people in de pallis dat wuz so cruel ter de -Hebrew folk. One mornin’ de king wake up an’ he wuz ackin’ from bed -ter foot. He farly scratch’d his skin off his body, an’ out he jumps, -an’ as I liv’ he finds hisse’f farly civured ovur wid vermin. ’Bout -dat time de queen, she springs up, an’ sich scratchin’ an’ hollerrin’ -Pharo’ nevur herd frum her befo’, an’ when he look at her dey is -crawlin’ all over her an’ she, fergitten her queenship, iz dashin’ -erroun’ de room shakin’ her rappurs an’ scratchin’ and screamin’ tel -presn’tly she brek loose on de king agin. ’Bout dat time dar wuz a yell -in de nussery, an’ in kums de little Pharoes an’ dey runs scratchin’ -and hollerin’ an’ kickin’ ter der mudder. Der heds wuz full wid ’em; -dere hands wuz all bit an’ swell’d, an’ wen der mudder jerk’d off der -nite gowns jes’ thousans uv ’em iz runnin’ over ’em frum hed ter foot. -Pharo’ wuz rich, but riches don’t kill fleas. Pharo’ had big armis, -but soljeers can’t conquer an army of lice. Pharo’ had servunts by -de thousans, but all uv ’em put <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>togedder cudn’t pertek’ dem little -Pharoes an’ princesses frum dat plague dat an angry Gord sent ter -skurge Pharo’ an’ mek ’im willin’ ter let His chil’n go.”</p> - -<p>This is a sample. Jasper’s imagination was like a prairie on fire. The -excitement in the congregation was of a new order; he was tickling -them in a new spot, or rather in forty spots at once, and the noise -in the house was almost like the roar of a tempest. I never was in -such a conglomerate mood. His picture of the plagues convulsed me with -laughter,—would have killed me dead, I verily believe, but for the -counteracting effect of the horror excited in me. And more than that, -the trials of the Hebrew slaves loomed up before me all the time. I -was subconsciously pitying them, and anxious to get my fingers on the -damnable throat of the tyrant. I never knew what it was, until that -day, to have all sorts of feelings at the same time. It seemed to me -that the strain would have to be ended without going further.</p> - -<p>But Jasper wasn’t done, and things were coming on which it was -impossible to foresee. Suddenly I found Jasper on a new trail. This -time it was what he called the assassination of Isaac. I discovered -that Jasper could talk quite grammatically when he was on his dignity; -but, when he struck the abandon and lawlessness of his imagination, he -dropped back into his dialect and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> then he was at his greatest. I found -also that he delighted in ponderous and sesquipedalian words. He rolled -them under his tongue,—save when the words themselves sometimes rolled -his tongue up,—and when he hit assassination, the pronunciation would -have made a thoughtful mule smile. But the word was simply a bit of -dynamite to blow up his crowd and to kindle new flames in his fancy.</p> - -<p>Jasper’s picture of Abraham had the flavour of a poem. He stood him up -on a lofty pedestal, painted him as a man without a vice;—the pink of -a gentleman, the prince of his tribe, the companion of the Lord God, -the faithful father and the Father of the Faithful. Since that day, -whenever I get tired or feel that I have done something mean, and want -to give my moral nature a set up, I recall Jasper’s poem on Abraham.</p> - -<p>The incident upon which he fastened was the tragical story of the -sacrifice of Isaac. He told how the Lord waked Abraham up at night and -tickled the old gentleman with the thought that there were some new -honours coming on for Isaac, and then in a flash, commanded him to take -the boy and go on a three days’ run to a mountain and kill and burn him -up. The way he portrayed the mental and emotional conflicts of Abraham -during those days was like a steel pointed plow in the soil of the -soul. Then when they got in sight of the mountain and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> Abraham halted -the cavalcade, and he and the boy, parting from the rest, set out to -climb the mountain alone I got mad and felt like ripping the whole -schedule into fragments. There was a deadly hush on the crowd. The air -was tense, and all who were capable of it turned pale. Just then Jasper -gave a slight jerk to the turn of things and came to my relief.</p> - -<p>“Why yer reckin Gord try dis thing on Abraham?” Jasper asked in a -singularly cool manner. “I tell yer why. Gord not only wants ter know -His people iz all rite, but He wants de wurl’ ter know dat dey iz all -rite, an’ more dan dat, He wants His people ter hev de comfut dat dey -is all rite too. Over in de Hebrews, most near de en’ uv de Bibul, we -iz inform’d dat by faith Aberham, wen he wuz tried, offur’d up Isuk. -God know’d dat Aberham lov’ Isuk better dan anything on de earth, an’ -dat he got mity big hopes ’bout his son’s futur. So de Lord broke on -’im onexpectid an’ order’d ’im ter git out ter Mount Morier an’ put -his son ter death. It look mity hard an’ strange ter Aberham, but he -wuk’d it out. He say ef Gord es gwine ter carry out de plan ’bout Isuk -raisin’ a gret nashun an’ he kill Isuk, den de Lord hay ter rais’ ’im -up agin, an’ so he say I’ll do wat de Lord tel me an’ ax no questions.</p> - -<p>“By de way, yonder dey iz, on de top uv de mountin. Aberham put up thar -a big altur an’<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> he done tuk dat wood dat Isuk kerried an’ put it under -de altur to start de fire. He also got de knife laid out dar shinin’ -in de sun, sharp es a razer. He call Isuk an’ Isuk walk up pert an’ -willin’ an’ mity intristid in wat’s gwine on, an’ wonderrin’ whar his -father gwine to git an offrin’, whar de lam’ fer de slaughter wuz. Den -Aberham ondress Aisuk an’ tie his feet an’ han’s an’ lay ’im up on dat -altur. Solem time, I tell yer. Den he turn roun’ an’ pick up dat blade -an’ he turn roun’ ter de altur an’ up he lif’ his gret arm high over -his hed wid de knife in his han’. It stay up dar a sekkun’, an’ den wid -a suddin flash down it starts.</p> - -<p>“Oh, my Gord! Aberham’s han’ ’s parrerlized; fer de earth farly shuk -wid de mity vois uv de Lord Gord: ‘Aberham, Aberham, hol’ on! Lay not -thy han’ erpon de chile uv de Promis’. I jes’ wan’ ter try yer!’ Wat -dat out dar in de brush erblatin’ and erscramblin’? Gord had prepar’d -de sacrerfice, an’ Aberham, undoin’ de boy’s han’s an’ feet, hugs ’im -ter his hart and cries and shouts tell it look lik de pillers uv de -heavens trimbul’d wid de joy.”</p> - -<p>Now this is the way I remember it, but Jasper was never put on paper. -If you were not there, you don’t understand. Of course, it was foolish -in me, but that great crowd was in such a tumult, and John Jasper -seemed in some way so transfigured, and, without knowing why, I was -greatly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> tempted to let out one tremendous yell. There was something in -me that needed to be let off, and I cannot tell what I really did, and -no matter any way. The strain was so pitiless that I wanted fresh air -and would probably have gone out, except that it was the one thing that -was physically impossible.</p> - -<p>Yet another scene comes back to me. Jasper had paraded his Scriptures -in long array in support of his view, that the sun do move, and he -had such a tempestuous sense of victory that he turned loose all -of his legions upon his scientific antagonists. He called them his -“Ferloserfers” and talked hotly about the books which they were all the -time sending him. He said that he would like to “huddle all dese books -in a pile an’ cornsine ’em ter de flames. Dat’s wat ought ter be done. -Dey ar weppuns wid wich Satun wud ’stroy de Word uv Gord.”</p> - -<p>The approval of this radical proceeding was accentuated with groans, -and shouts, and scornful laughter, which surged through the house -like a maddened river. As a fact, I am not much ahead of Jasper in -scientific knowledge, but I am not one of those flabby sort who jumped -up to say that Jasper was simply voicing what they had believed all the -time. Through it all, I kept on believing in the rotation of the earth, -just as I had before, and I really thought before I got there that I -would get enough fun out of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> the occasion to supply me for scores of -Sundays. The curious result of it all was that Jasper didn’t convert -me to his theory, nor did he convert me to his religion, but he did -convert me to himself. I found myself turning to him with a respect and -kindliness of feeling that greatly surprised me. I felt his greatness. -I believed in his sincerity, and to me he was a philosopher, sound in -his logic, mighty in his convictions, though he might be wrong in his -premises.</p> - -<p>Now in plain contradiction of what I have said I must make an -admission. In the triumph of his ending Jasper polled his crowd to see -how his theory was prospering. He bade everybody who really endorsed -his theory that the sun moved to show the hand. I stretched up my arm -about four feet, and would have punched the ceiling with my fingers if -it could have been done. Yes, I voted that the earth was flat and had -four corners, and that the sun drove his steeds from the gates of the -morning over to the barns in the West, and I never asked the question -for a moment as to how the team was got back during the night. Call me -a hypocrite, if it will comfort you to do it; that’s a very gentle way -to speak to a reporter, but I was dead sincere. My vote was in favour -of Jasper’s logic, his genuineness, his originality, his philosophic -honesty, and his religion. If it was hypocrisy to hold up the hand on -that occasion, then there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> was a mammoth pile of hypocrites; for it -seemed to me that there were forty hundred of the Brirareus family -present and that the last one of them tried to hold up each one of his -hands higher than all of his other hands and higher than anybody else’s -hands.</p> - -<p>I got full wages for my vote. To look at old Jasper with his parted -lips, his smile, which belied every sign of his oratorical ferocity and -vengefulness, and his unspeakable aspect of conquest and glory as the -people wrung his hand and poured their happy benedictions upon him.</p> - -<p>After the sermon the old brother, with the snow-capped head and the -shaking voice, struck up one of the prayer-meeting choral songs. He -spun it out rather thin, but reinforcements came in, and by the time -they struck the chorus the tramp of the feet all in unison seemed to -me strong enough to crash down the bridge over Niagara, and as for the -singing, its appeal was to the imagination,—at least to mine,—and I -actually fancied that I could hear the invisible choirs in which armies -of angels and nations of the ransomed were joining with full voice.</p> - -<p>I had Jasper for breakfast, dinner, and supper that week. Down at -the office they called me “Jasper,” and up at the boarding-house the -landlady’s boy, who stayed in bed next day from his bruises, was -constantly singing, and making me help him, the choral song with which -the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>meeting broke up and the old Yankee preacher and the inevitable -boy had me telling all the time of the multitudinous things that -happened at Jasper’s church.</p> - -<p>Months and months have since gone. The Jasperian uproar has ebbed, and -I am still the bad reporter, and latterly have changed my desk and work -on Sunday, but often and often I dream about Jasper, and every time I -dream I fancy that I have joined his church and that he and I shouted -when he baptized me. No, I have never been back. I do not wish to build -on to my experience, and I do not want it marred by finding Jasper less -commanding and kinglike than he was on that spring time Sabbath that -afternoon of ’78.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>XV</span> <span class="smaller">JASPER’S PICTURE OF HEAVEN</span></h2> - -<p>I never heard Jasper preach a sermon on heaven, nor did I ever hear -of his doing so. So far as my observation goes, sermons on heaven -have failed to edify the thoughtful—sometimes proving distinctly -disappointing. It was not to Jasper’s taste to argue on heaven as a -doctrine. With him it was as if he were camping outside of a beautiful -city, knowing much of its history and inhabitants, and in joyous -expectation of soon moving into it. The immediate things of the kingdom -chiefly occupied his attention; but when his sermons took him into the -neighbourhood of heaven, he took fire at once and the glory of the -celestial city lit his face and cheered his soul. This chapter deals -only with one of his sermons which, while not on heaven, reveals his -heart-belief in it, and its vital effect upon his character.</p> - -<p>Imagine a Sunday afternoon at his church—a fair, inspiring day. -His house was thronged to overflowing. It was the funeral of two -persons—William Ellyson and Mary Barnes. The text is forgotten, -but the sermon is vividly recalled.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> From the start Jasper showed a -burden and a boldness that promised rich things for his people. At the -beginning he betrayed some hesitation—unusual for him. “Lemme say,” he -said, “a word about dis William Ellersin. I say it de fust an’ git it -orf mer min’. William Ellersin was no good man—he didn’t say he wus; -he didn’t try to be good, an’ de tell me he die as he live, ’out Gord -an’ ’out hope in de worl’. It’s a bad tale to tell on ’im, but he fix -de story hissef. As de tree falls dar mus it lay. Ef you wants folks -who live wrong to be preached and sung to glory, don’ bring ’em to -Jasper. Gord comfut de monur and warn de onruly.</p> - -<p>“But, my bruthrin,” he brightened as he spoke, “Mary Barnes wus -difrunt. She wer wash’d in de blood of de Lam’ and walk’d in white; her -r’ligion was of Gord. Yer could trust Mary anywhar; nuv’r cotch ’er in -dem playhouses ner friskin’ in dem dances; she wan’ no street-walk’r -trapsin’ roun’ at night. She love de house of de Lord; her feet -clung to de straight and narrer path; I know’d her. I seen her at de -prarmeetin’—seed her at de supper—seed her at de preachin’, an’ seed -her tendin’ de sick an’ helpin’ de mounin’ sinn’rs. Our Sister Mary, -good-bye. Yer race is run, but yer crown is shure.”</p> - -<p>From this Jasper shot quite apart. He was full of fire, humour gleamed -in his eye, and freedom was the bread of his soul. By degrees he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> -approached the realm of death, and he went as an invader. A note of -defiant challenge rang in his voice and almost blazed on his lips. -He escorted the Christian to the court of death, and demanded of the -monster king to exhibit his power to hurt. It was wonderful to see how -he pictured the high courage of the child of God, marching up to the -very face of the king of terrors and demanding that he come forth and -do his worst. Death, on the other hand, was subdued, slow of speech, -admitted his defeat, and proclaimed his readiness to serve the children -of Immanuel. Then he affected to put his mouth to the grave and cried -aloud: “Grave! Grave! Er Grave!” he cried as if addressing a real -person, “Whar’s yer vict’ry? I hur you got a mighty banner down dar, -an’ you turrurizes ev’rybody wat comes long dis way. Bring out your -armies an’ furl fo’th your bann’rs of vict’ry. Show your han’ an’ let -’em see wat you kin do.” Then he made the grave reply: “Ain’t got no -vict’ry now; had vict’ry, but King Jesus pars’d through dis country -an’ tord my banners down. He says His peopl’ shan’t be troubled no mo’ -forev’r; an’ He tell me ter op’n de gates an’ let ’um pass on dar way -to glory.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, my Gord,” Jasper exclaimed in thrilling voice, “did yer hur dat? -My Master Jesus done jerk’d de sting of death, done broke de scept’r of -de king of tur’rs, an’ He dun gone inter de grave<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> an’ rob it uv its -victorous banners, an’ fix’d nice an’ smooth for His people ter pass -through. Mo’ en dat, He has writ a song, a shoutin’ anthim for us to -sing when we go thur, passin’ suns an’ stars, an’ singin’ dat song, -‘Thanks be onter Gord—be onter Gord who give us de vict’ry thru de -Lord Jesus Christ.’” Too well I know that I do scant justice to the -greatness of Jasper by this outline of his transcendent eloquence. The -whole scene, distinct in every detail, was before the audience, and his -responsive hearers were stirred into uncontrollable excitement.</p> - -<p>“My bruthrin,” Jasper resumed very soberly, “I oft’n ax myself how I’d -behave merself ef I was ter git to heav’n. I tell you I would tremble -fo’ de consequinces. Eben now when I gits er glimpse—jist a peep into -de palis of de King, it farly runs me ravin’ ’stracted. What will I do -ef I gits thar? I ’spec I’ll make er fool of myself, ’cause I ain’t -got de pritty ways an’ nice manners my ole Mars’ Sam Hargrove used to -have, but ef I git thar they ain’t goin’ to put me out. Mars’ Sam’ll -speak fur me an’ tell ’em to teach me how to do. I sometimes thinks if -I’s ’lowed to go free—I ’specs to be free dar, I tell you, b’leve I’ll -jest do de town—walkin’ an’ runnin’ all roun’ to see de home which -Jesus dun built for His people.</p> - -<p>“Fust of all, I’d go down an’ see de river of life. I lov’s to go down -to de ole muddy Jemes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>—mighty red an’ muddy, but it goes ’long so -gran’ an’ quiet like ’twas ’tendin’ to business—but dat ain’t nothin’ -to the river which flows by de throne. I longs fer its chrystal waves, -an’ de trees on de banks, an’ de all mann’rs of fruits. Dis old head of -mine oft’n gits hot with fever, aches all night an’ rolls on de piller, -an’ I has many times desired to cool it in that blessed stream as it -kisses de banks of dat upper Canaan. Bl’ssed be de Lord! De thought of -seein’ dat river, drinkin’ its water an’ restin’ un’r dose trees——” -Then suddenly Jasper began to intone a chorus in a most affecting way, -no part of which I can recall except the last line: “Oh, what mus’ it -be to be thar?” “Aft’r dat,” Jasper continued with quickened note, -“I’d turn out an’ view de beauties of de city—de home of my Father. -I’d stroll up dem abenuse whar de children of Gord dwell an’ view dar -mansions. Father Abraham, I’m sure he got a grate pallis, an’ Moses, -what ’scorted de children of Israel out of bondige thru’ de wilderness -an’ to de aidge of de promised lan’, he must be pow’rful set up being -sich er man as he is; an’ David, de king dat made pritty songs, I’d -like to see ’is home, an’ Paul, de mighty scholar who got struck down -out in de ’Mascus road, I want to see his mansion, an’ all of ’em. Den -I would cut roun’ to de back streets an’ look for de little home whar -my Saviour set my mother up to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> housekeepin’ when she got thar. I ’spec -to know de house by de roses in de yard an’ de vine on de poch.” As -Jasper was moving at feeling pace along the path of his thoughts, he -stopped and cried: “Look dar; mighty sweet house, ain’t it lovely?” -Suddenly he sprang back and began to shout with joyous clapping of -hands. “Look dar; see dat on de do; hallelujah, it’s John Jasper. -Said He was gwine to prepar a place for me; dar it is. Too good for a -po’ sinner like me, but He built it for me, a turn-key job, an’ mine -forev’r.” Instantly he was singing his mellow chorus ending as before -with: “Oh, what mus’ it be to be thar!”</p> - -<p>From that scene he moved off to see the angelic host. There were the -white plains of the heavenly Canaan—a vast army of angels with their -bands of music, their different ranks and grades, their worship before -the throne and their pealing shouts as they broke around the throne of -God. The charm of the scene was irresistible; it lifted everybody to a -sight of heaven, and it was all real to Jasper. He seemed entranced. -As the picture began to fade up rose his inimitable chorus, closing as -always: “Oh, what mus’ it be to be thar!”</p> - -<p>Then there was a long wait. But for the subdued and unworldly air of -the old preacher—full seventy years old then—the delay would have -dissolved the spell. “An’ now, frenz,” he said,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> still panting and -seeking to be calm, “ef yer’ll ’scuse me, I’ll take er trip to de -throne an’ see de King in ’is roy’l garmints.” It was an event to -study him at this point. His earnestness and reverence passed all -speech, and grew as he went. The light from the throne dazzled him -from afar. There was the great white throne—there, the elders bowing -in adoring wonder—there, the archangels waiting in silence for the -commands of the King—there the King in His resplendent glory—there -in hosts innumerable were the ransomed. In point of vivid description -it surpassed all I had heard or read. By this time the old negro -orator seemed glorified. Earth could hardly hold him. He sprang about -the platform with a boy’s alertness; he was unconsciously waving his -handkerchief as if greeting a conqueror; his face was streaming with -tears; he was bowing before the Redeemer; he was clapping his hands, -laughing, shouting and wiping the blinding tears out of his eyes. It -was a moment of transport and unmatched wonder to every one, and I felt -as if it could never cease, when suddenly in a new note he broke into -his chorus, ending with the soul-melting words: “Oh, what mus’ it be to -be thar!”</p> - -<p>It was a climax of climaxes. I supposed nothing else could follow. We -had been up so often and so high we could not be carried up again. -But there stood Jasper, fully seeing the situation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> He had seen it -in advance and was ready. “My bruthrin,” said he as if in apology, “I -dun fergot somethin’. I got ter tek anuth’r trip. I ain’t visit’d de -ransum of de Lord. I can’t slight dem. I knows heap ov ’em, an’ I’m -boun’ to see ’em.” In a moment he had us out on the celestial plains -with the saints in line. There they were—countless and glorious! We -walked the whole line and had a sort of universal handshake in which no -note of time was taken. “Here’s Brer Abul, de fust man whar got here; -here’s Brer Enoch whar took er stroll and straggled inter glory; here’s -ole Ligie, whar had er carriage sent fur ’im an’ comed a nigher way -to de city.” Thus he went on greeting patriarchs, prophets, apostles, -martyrs, his brethren and loved ones gone before until suddenly he -sprang back and raised a shout that fairly shook the roof. “Here she -is; I know’d sh’d git here; why, Mary Barnes, you got home, did yer?” -A great handshake he gave her and for a moment it looked as if the -newly-glorified Mary Barnes was the centre of Jasper’s thoughts; but, -as if by magic, things again changed and he was singing at the top of -his voice the chorus which died away amid the shrieks and shouts of his -crowd with his plaintive note: “Oh, what mus’ it be to be thar!”</p> - -<p>Jasper dropped exhausted into a chair and some chief singer of the -old-time sort, in noble scorn of all choirs, struck that wondrous -old song, “When Death Shall Shake My Frame,”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> and in a moment the -great building throbbed and trembled with the mighty old melody. -It was sung only as Jasper’s race can sing, and especially as only -Jasper’s emotional and impassioned church could sing it. This was -Jasper’s greatest sermon. In length it was not short of an hour and a -half—maybe it was longer than that. He lifted things far above all -thought of time, and not one sign of impatience was seen. The above -sketch is all unworthy of the man or the sermon. As for the venerable -old orator himself he was in his loftiest mood—free in soul, alert -as a boy, his imagination rioting, his action far outwent his words, -and his pictures of celestial scenes glowed with unworldly lustre. He -was in heaven that day, and took us around in his excursion wagon, and -turning on the lights showed us the City of the Glorified.</p> - -<p>What is reported here very dimly hints at what he made us see. Not a -few of Richmond’s most thoughtful people, though some of them laid no -claim to piety, were present and not one of them escaped the profound -spiritual eloquence of this simple-hearted old soldier of the cross.</p> - -<p>Valiant, heroic old man! He stood in his place and was not afraid. He -gave his message in no uncertain words—scourged error wherever it -exposed its front stood sentinel over the word of God and was never -caught sleeping at his post. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span></p> - -<p>When his work ended, he was ready to go up and see his Master face to -face.</p> - -<p>The stern old orator, brave as a lion, rich in humour, grim, and a -dreamer whose dreams were full of heaven, has uttered his last message -and gone within the veil to see the wonders of the unseen. If the -grapes of Eschol were so luscious to him here, “Oh, what must it be for -him to be there.”</p> - - -<p class="center space-above">Printed in the United States of America</p> - -<div lang='en' xml:lang='en'> -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK <span lang='' xml:lang=''>JOHN JASPER</span> ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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