The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1878-03-19
I Doc. =, t,,c Nartn Hroye2.

ICbESItA j MURNlNG,
j Does the Earth Move \.
| 4 sERMoN ON THE SUBJECT FROM REV. J0H
| JASPER, EoLoRED-HE THINKS THE EARTt
| STANDS STILL AND THAT THE SUN MOVES. I
Sunday evening Rev. John Jasper fcol
oTedJ, pastor OF Zion Baptist church, ON
.Duvni street, for the third time, preached,
by request, his sermon on the earth and
sun, taking for his text g The, Lord is a
Han of Var"
This ministerial for thirty-eight years de-
voted himself to the spiritual welfare OF
the colored people. He is a tall and stalwart
specimen OF his race; not at all snowy in
dress, and in speech vigorous and decided.
He by no means seems college-bred. He has
a way OF sswarming" up his hearers that is
not gift to all preachers. His memory is
an excellent one and his scriptural quota
tions most abundant, and, while he says
with pride that be has delivered $4,000 ser
mons, it is no less q soufce OF qualification
to him to state that he never wrote out q
single one Of them. though he often makes
notes. His style Of oratory is of that feryid
and enlivcning kind which finds most ac-
ceptability from the imaginative and reli-
giously.inclined colored people.
His reputation as an orator, and the no
velty OF his subject and his peculiar treat
ment OF ii, attracted to the church Sunday
evening great audience. The church build
ing was soon crowded. A small space re.
served for white people was as quickly filed
rs the ether portions, and hundreds OF
eolored people, unable TO 4get within the
walls, remained IN the yard about the
doxrs an -,,o1.op,opfc NJ
them behaved badly.
/ 1t is stated that such was the eagernesS
OF these people to hear this famous sermon
that a considerable number OF men and
women who were present at the morning
service, fearing that II they left their places
they would not be able to get admittance
again, remained in their seats until the eye-
ming.
Quite an excitement was created by par
ties endeavoring to force their way into the
church. In the fierce struggle which fol-
lowed several persons were knocked down
and trampled upon, while number OF
women lost their bonnets and other mili-
merry fixtures. One woman was so badly
injured, or rather frightened, that the city
ambulance had to be called to carry her
home. Captain Charles FL. Epps, of the
Third district, hearing OF the disturbance,
sent to the spot two or his officers for the
purpose. OF arresting the disorderly ones,
but as the guilty parties could not be iden-
tilted, and as order was by that time re-
stored, no arrests were made.
THE sERMoN.
The. minister, knowing nothing OF the
commotion outside, went on smoothly with
his sermon. He first passed around IN the
congregation paper containing the follow
ing scriptural quotations-the same being
the basis OF his argument and the authority
for his belief:
Psalms, 18th chapter, Sd verse: "From
the rising Of the sun unto the going down
of the same the Lords name IS to be
praised"
Malachi, the 1st chapter and 11th verse:
/" For from the rising Of the sun even unto
the going down of the same thy name shalt
be great among the Gentiles."
Ecclesiastes, 1st chapter and 5th verse:
"Thc sun also ar:seth, and the sun goeth
down and hasteneth to his place where he
arose."
Isaiah, 3Sth chapter, Sth verse: "Behold,
I will bring again the shadow OF the de-
erees which is gone down in the sun-dial OF
Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun
returned ten degrees, by which degrees it
was gone down."
Joshua, 10th chapter, 10Th, 18th, and 14th
verses: "Then spake Joshua to the Lord
in the day when the Lord delivered up the
Amorites before the children OF Israel, and
he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand
thou still upon Gibeon, and thou, Moon in
the Valley CT Aialon, and the sun stood still
and the moon stayed, until the people had
avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is
not this written in the book OF Jasper? So
the sun stood still in the midst Of heaven,
and hasted not to go down about Il whole
day."
Psalms, 50th chapter and 1st verse: "The
Mighty God, even the Lord, hath spoken
and called the earth from the rising OF the
sun unto the going down thereof"
Judges, 14th chapter and 18th verse :"And
the men of the city said unto him on the Tth
day before the sun went down, What is
sweeter than honey?" &C., DC.
THE PREACHERS POSITION.
The position OF Mr.. Jasper, stripped Of
hts own powerfully peculiar phraseology, is
that the Lord made the world and that he
ought to know all about it, and that the
Bible was written by inspired men, and is
therefore perfectly correct. The Bible says
the sun rises and sets, and therefore it is so.
Mr.. Jasper holds that the. philosophers are
in error about the worlds revolving upon
its axis; that it is & matter OF impossibility
for it to do so and not upset things. "Why,"
said he, "if the sun stood still and the earth
went round everything would go round
with the earth. Now see the difference.
The sun rose eastward OF my house on st.
James street this morning; now this eve
81, ,n,t CT ln nf I,
NV house hasn't moved, nor has the city,
nor has the world. Not bit OF i. My
house stands in the same place it did be-
fore: so does the world. II the earth
moved everything else would turn around
with it."
Dir. Jasper believes that the Bible was
given as the proper guide for the human
family, and he believes that it is superior to
ANYTHING. If he is misled he is misled by
the Bible. Where the philosophers SEQ
operate" with the Bible lie has respect for
them; where they run against the Bible he
throws "philosophy to the dogs" and
sticks to the Bible. t-lsf
That is about the long and short OF the
To reproduce his exact Ian
guage would be impossible. But if 1t could
be spread before our readers here, the tones,
the gestures, the surroundings which made
the evening memorable, would be wanting.
The picture would seem dull and untruth-
full to those whose eyes and ears were feasted
with the abundant richness OF the OCCASION.
A VOTE TAKEN.
At the conclusion OF the sermon the
preacher asked those who believed that he
had shown scriptorial grounds OF JUST,
fcation for saying the sun moved would
give sign Of the same by holding up their
hands,