Los Angeles herald., 1892-06-20
A QUAINT CUSTOM.
where the Washing Of Feet ~ Rslig1oul
Ceremony Still Survives.

W Wn0A1E INV s]@90144k ~ = ~ - - AVWX
Ceremony still Survives.
Civilization III its onward march has
swept away from this country many of the
peculiar customs and ceremonies OF half !
century ago, but there Is no trner rule
than that there Is an exception to every
rule" and accordingly many outlandish
practices are still in vogue in sparsely set,
tied parts of the Union. Every section o.
country has something uncouth or ole.
fashioned within its borders, to which =
few of the old inhabitants will cling, bns
if they are all as harmless as ceremony
still being occasionally performed in Ger
tain parts of the south no one is injured.
In the section alluded to, which embraces
Georgia, the Carolinas and northern Ale
bama, Is a small and widely scattered re
ligious sect known as Hard Shell, or anti
missionary Baptists. whose custom of wash
ing one another's feet Is worth noting ON
the score of novelty If nothing else. The
operation is one which always attracts a
crowd. With the increase Of schools in the
country, where these churches are invaria-
bly, situated. the practice is fast dying out,
however, and in short time will doubtless
be unknown.
This denomination claims to be the prim.
tive Baptist church and traces its origin
directly to John the Baptist. 1t was in
1887 that the Georgia "Hard Shells" with
drew from the orthodox Baptist church on
account of difference in opinion on the
subject of foreign missions, and so bitter
were they against this work that they de-
clared in infancy against all forms of mis-
sionary teaching. Tract societies, Sunday
schools, temperance and Bible organiza-
tions fell under the edict which went forth
when they declared themselves the primi-
tive church and began to wash each others
feet during their religious meetings. In
Middleton, Ga, a paper is published bi.
monthly in the interests of this sect, and
the late editor, Gilbert Beebe, is said to
have been very brilliant writer. At any
rate, when he went to Georgia to preach
every member of the church in the neigh
borhood would go to see him. His sons
now run the paper, which takes no adver
tisements.
The members of these churches are ex.
cellent farmers.
The crowning glory of their religion CON
sists in carrying out the biblical injunc-
tion, "Ye call me Master and Lord and ye
say well; for so | am. If am then your
Lord and Master have washed your feet;
ye ought also to wash one another's feet
For have given you an example that ye
should do as have done to you.
The washing process is exceedingly sim.
pie, the women sitting on one side of the
church and the men on the other. At the
conclusion of the service basins are brought
to the front Of the church, and with them
buckets of water and towels. When all il
ready the women march in groups up to
the front bench on their side of the church,
and the men the same on their side. Half
of the group of each side sit down and
remove their shoes and stockings and the
remainder wash their feet in a semiagony
of religious fervor, carefully drying them
after the process. This is continued until
all have had their feet washed-those who
sat down first always washing immedig
ately afterward the feet OF those who per
formed like service for them.
The ceremony differs in various parts of
the section in which the Hard Shells" are
found, but us it always provokesa spirit of
levity on the part of the ever present crowd |
of spectators, only the old people now en-
gage in it.-New York World.