Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-12-31

nz1z@Al35z. F the old slave
~ customs Of the
y, q southern states,
~<a ~ a now that the ne
ES%zssaRsy&E8y z groes have been
rssSD free for nearly
81 - quarter of a CEN
~ I tury, mary are Oh
w. solete. The .'old
%zhn.. sperretuasn cs the
@~zss9~ aged colored Chris
Hafzs call their peculiar hymns, are either
ss given up entirely or nlodernized and refined
Till they are barely recognizable But as the
old goes and the new takes It's place, We can
still see-and it is persistence of type"
worth the attention of philo<ophers-tha the
genius of the original African is still there.
The song may be an ADMIRATION from Watts
s Hymns; but all the same it Is an Africauized
Wasts
When G Traveller or mar of science attends
ns'coloresl revival in the back districts Of
I e The gulf states and hears this roaring chorus
- from one thouaapd tliroats--
: a. fse-s St. Petah.a startiu ia tlado'.
Dip in tho Golden ..
49, = An eIIuly fi+eH witSt went beF5,
Dir IN the Golden sea-
O, dip me. battle ne, ststals, You;
o, brDtaarS wont y1l help me through2-
Well s-stlde l.oiiipl ahe milk white sIt7.,is-
An di? ia the toldea 6sa.
he perceives 81 once 81 his is African,
not Saxon, iliarery. Ard b. TIC eye OF
: sscientifc faith be can look back so years to
the time when the ancestors Of these people,
i = under the palm or on the sandy shore. sang
and rioted IN praise Of Benngnucka or
Murbo Jumbo.
The negroes have also had one experience
II 4 common TO all freed people. At first there
was violent reaction against everything
that belonged 20 slave times ;hey carefully
discarded the most trIfiug customs which
might serve to imply tt slave origin. By and
by, when their freedom was an assured thing
& and taken as matter Of course, there was a
counter reaction they took up the old songs
and customs, but gsvo them a tone that i'm
piled of deliverance. Thus, Roll,
Jordan roll becalAe an emancipation song,
and "0ld Eicodemu5' was completely trans
formed And By similar evolution one
phase of the old "Jnba daues' became
''Walling Egypt" Thisis, ia plain English,
only mildly religioniEed form of the walk
ia ing dance or dancing walk which the Afri
cans, like all heather people, have Away;
had The Indians corn dance and ''sur
dancan are but variations of the saTae thing
But walking EgIpt.n AS it now is date
from emancipation, and is performed oil
New ) eNe-tI3dl - 'li't' 't4 Naitt'
the old year out and SIC new year in On
description, by a white iady WIN saw it from
the gallery of Georgia chfrca, is as fol
lows
'srhe leader took his place ol the hoor an
began the wild, hall barbarf chant; the
one by one, as the excltemet grew, tn
T. others followed Soon the whcs line was i
tremor OF excitement, and SHUTS and in
provised lines like these:
Who's dat yondah dressed in leek'
Oh it's an angel dressed in blaot
'sThe walk is by aslight forwaraterk of tt
foot As the walkers warmed opeir wor
m and grew wilder in their movemhts It we
easy to SEQ Why the better educate colore
people are opposed TO the walk; II the Inc
and women took most aoandoned attitude
WTbe scene recalled pictures OF thehrgles
'nasaish' maddened fanatics. The wllk wei
on for hours, up one aisle and tl3wn Il
other, new ones taking the place If tho