Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-11-30

/ equate sustenance of the Virginia His
/ torical Society. if, indeed, it can truly be
/ said TO be sustained at all. is derived
! chiefly from without the State, and more
/ largely from the genealogical interest
aroused by the fashionable, so-called
patriotic societies." than from any true
historical appreciation.
The Valentine Museum, recently opened
10 the public here, will, we hone, prove
10 be of immeasurable value. education
ally, and the efforts Of Its trustees should
be cordially appreciated and promptly
recognized By us. They should be aided
and sustained by US In every way in our
power.
The Virginia Baptist Historical Society.
has not been able TO secure or bring to its
support such an organization as is essen
tial for its success What 1t has accom-
rlished is very largely due TO the efforts
OF one man. To fulfil its mission ii must
enlist the cooperative efforts Of those
who have the taste for the collection
and preservation Of the materials for the
history Of Baptists in Virginia, en-
courage and foster the development Of
this taste, publish Systematically the
more valuable data secured, thus fixing
n continued interest in this work. and for
this of course. money Is required, and
ought readily to be provided.
INSTANCES OF THE CRIME"
Much valuable data is. through indiffer-
ence and neglect, past and present, al
ready lost. l we'll remember seeing when
boy, on the mantel Of a house in Ches-
terrified county. a vase full of rolls of
paper fashioned to economize the use
of matches, which, upon examination,
proved to be strips from the written
pages Of one Of the earliest, If not the
II % l.
Baptist church. The fire during the war
which destroyed the Southern Baptist
Publication Society's property i'm Charles
ton, and the recent destructive fire in
Philadelphia, consuming the collections
of the American Baptist Historical So
Ciety are notable instances of great loss
Of materials which. in many cases, can
never be duplicated. But enough will
now reward well-directed, energetic. and
systematic efforts to make accessible
much of the truth at present hidden and
unknown.
If the records from the order-books, still
preserved, OF the county courts presided
over by vestrymen of the Established |
Church, where Baptist ministers were con- |
fined in Jail, had been copied and printed, |
it Is not at all probable that the distin- |
guished Bishop of Southern Virginia would |
have boosted as he did IN his address |
of welcome TO the pilgrim bishops, cler- |
gy, and laymon at jamestown recently, |
II the liberation Of the church If Fne- |
and in the Colony Of Virginia The facts |
of history, evidences yet preserved but |
TO a large extent unpublished, show that
in this particular Virginia falls far below
the Roman Catholic Colony Of Maryland. |
We find the Rev +. l.. Hawks the ear
lest historian of the Protestant Episco-
pal Church in Virginia, writing page 12D:
mo Dissenters in Virginia experienced for
the time harsher treatment than did the
Baptists They were beaten and jmprison-
ed. and cruelty taxed its ingenuity 10
devise new modes Of punishment and an
noyance. The usual consequences folloy-
ed: persecution made friends for its VIC
Tins. and the men who were not permit
ted TO speak in public found willing audi
tors in the sympathizing crowds who
gathered around the prisons to hear them
preach from the windows"
A BRANCH IN EVERY CHURCH.
There ought TO be a branch of this So
,iety established in every Baptist church
IN the State each church organization
trained 10 carefully collect and preserve
he materials for fits own history. or
transmit them here for sakekeeping, and
hus you would so far toward securing
he materials for the history Of the de-
domination III lut StdNts anu ii the III |
erect of the preachers, deacons. and
male members OF the churches cannot be
Unlisted. in such work. / would favor
IN organization OF the women; they could
md | believe they would do this
We are. as a people, peculiarly--I had
lmost said stupidly-isnorant and 'ndif-
erent with respect to the value and care
4 ephcmeral publications. like. for ex-
nipple, the early printed pamphlets of
hose who, in 1774. conducted the contro-
ersy on the Doctrines Of Grace" or
he pamphlets OF jeremiah Walker and
reuben Ford, on "Episcopacy." issued
ust before the solemn ordination of Rev.
amuel Harris. the first Bishop OF the
BAPTIST Church in Virginia, whose "see'
fas just about the same territory as that
ow covered in the Episcopal Diocese of
outhern Virginia. Who has preserved
ny OF these pamphlets? How many /
,aptists In Virginia would recognize in !
hem any value If they were to come
pom them.
know more than one old country 4
ouse In Virginia. where the occupants, {
wing now in poverty. have valuable {
and pamphlet historical ma I