Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1888-05-23

1
the manner of the conversion of certain
man who had just been dipped Said she ex-
citedly:
eff ever dar was man ez seemed to be
cut out fo' hell dat man was him He was
playin' cards night fo' last an drunk as a
loon. Las evenin' he walked out TO de
cemetery am dar de Lo'd cotched i'm. De
gate pests seemed to cry out GLORY to Je-
sus! An dc ma'ble slabs seemed to cry
out GLORY 70 Jesus' An de hesses hoofs
seemed to cry out GLORY to JesusI An
when he hosses' hoofs done cry out GLORY
to Jesus den he couldn't hold out no lon
gah. He clean plump done glib in den." I
have been informed that the cemetery is a
favorite place with the negroes for expert
encing conversion.
Still another, with an eye to the aesthetic
even in baptism, remarked soto voce to a
companion:
GLOW much bettah it 'ud look if dey
could all take hold OBJ string an go down
in togeddahl"
In one place I discovered a couple of
members of another church who were in
du1ging in supercilieus comments, and con-
graduating each other that the pool where
their church baptized was located at a much
more eligible point and had better sup
ply of water. At another place two good
brothers were engaged in an excited, almost
angry dispute over the difference between
the way in which the Methodist dies and
the way in which the Baptist dies.
Not only did the 'fpower'' descend upon
those who were baptized, but many among
the audience were seized by it. Every now
and then some woman would flop almost at
my elbow; while over on the hills opposite
I could see them drop irregulaTly here and
there ikeo the desultory popping of guns
toward the close Of battle. Some would
remain under the spell of the strange in.
Huence that seized them for an hour, or so,
1,7t 4ho itvC - TO fbc
phraseology of the negroes themselves, with.
in few minutes,
am credib1y informed by A. NJ A. workers
| that thereare plenty of instances on record in
which people have laid in such trance-like
state in the church where they were seized,
here in Atlanta, for one, two and even three
full days before they ''came through" This
period during which the person is uncon-
| scious,- or at least controlled by myste-
rious influence, is called the period of mourn
ing in the valley. When he comes out he re-
ioices on the hilltop.
That this strange experience through which
the negro passes is not wholly affected I am
sure have seen the tears roll down the shi-
ny black faces and the eyes glaze over too
often for that No doubt, however, the will
of the victim has everything to do with his
yielding, just as the will of the spiritualistic
medium may ordinarily invite or resist a
| sscontrol."
And that suggests the great question, isn't
| this religious demonstration on the part of
| the negro closely akin to score of<other
| forms of emotionalism which may be encoun-
tered even at the North! Why call it heath
enism when we do not apply that term to
very similar experiences on the part of cul-
| tivated. refined people? Or, if it is heathen-
ism don't some of the best of US frequently
lapse back into heathenisma Wasn't that
wave OF religious gymnastics known as the
ssjerks,n which swept over the whole North a
fArx n Qcrn an6 mn
attention even of men of severe culture
wasn't that religious craze every. whit as bad
as anything which I witnessed last Sundays
| And why are the phenomena of spiritualism
| or mesmerism any mora mysterious than
those witnessed last Sundays May it not be
| that all these curious phases of emotionalism
and many others, such as puzzle and mystify
| the wor d for short time and then pass into
history, outgrown and forgotten by the
| world, are but different forms of the same
general thinga I believe there is a religious
sect in Russia that practices demonstrations
| almost exactly like those in vogue among the
| negroes, even to the extent of swooning and
| lying in a trance-like state for hours or days.
It seems to me that you have only to change
the form without altering the value of this
| thing as may be done inde6nitely--and you
have new religion, or new scientific dis.
/ covery. At least that's the logical inference
from the multiplication of sects based appa-
rently on this principle.
| One of the curious outgrowths of the ne
gro awe of death is a system of secondary
| funerals. After a person has been dead a
| year OF two his friends will suddenly take it
| into their heads to commemorate his virtues
| by holding another funeral. I happened in
upon one such few Sundays ago out in the
| suburbs of this city. The minister, who ev-
| identity couldn't read, began in this wise:
| ''My tex will be foun' in de seeon' chap
tab OBJ Adam, 1eyenth verse: DE Lo'd CUB
| an de I.od tuck away My brederin', hopes
| based on dis worr am illusive an ghosty.
| Folks as gets filed up wild pempediousness
| hez got to die jess as much as de humble kim.
| The beautiful blue canopy OBJ heaven hangs
| from de ssberal horizons fo' you an me jess
| as much as it do fo' any oder man."
| Then he went on to eulogize the deceased,
| speaking ali the time as if the remains were
| present in the church. Said he:
| can yet aftah takin' all kin's OBJ topies an
anecdotes our brudder lies befo' us now,
wrapped in his shroud, a victim OBJ deathp'
| In his prayer he said:
80 Lod, we prays dat we may be able to
| wag an strag along. We prays eben fo' dem
| as ebil spites US. o sabe us, eben as Daniel
| want clinched in de lions jaw, but came out
| whole, clothed an in his right min.'"
A. L. S.