insistent claim that he was a God-sent man. This he asserted in
almost every sermon, and with such evident conviction that he forced
other people to believe it. Even those who differed with him were
constrained to own his sincerity and Godliness. It was impossible to
be with him much without being impressed that he was anointed of God
for his work. It was in this that his people gloried. Their faith in
him was preëminent,--far above every question--and he was also full of
inspiration. You may talk with his disciples now, wherever you meet
them, and they are quick to tell you that “Brer Jasper was certinly
aninted uv God,” and even the more intelligent of the people ascribed
his greatness to the fact that he was under the power of the Holy
Ghost. Many wicked people heard him preach, and some of them still went
their wicked way, but they felt that the power of God was with Jasper,
and they were always ready to say so. In many points, John Jasper was
strikingly like John the Baptist,--a just man and holy, and the people
revered him in a way I never met with in any other man.
VII
THE PICTURE-MAKER
In the circle of Jasper’s gifts his imagination was preëminent. It
was the mammoth lamp in the tower of his being. A matchless painter
was he. He could flash out a scene, colouring every feature, defining
every incident and unveiling every detail. Time played no part in the
performance,--it was done before you knew it. Language itself was of
second moment. His vocabulary was poverty itself, his grammar a riot
of errors, his pronunciation a dialectic wreck, his gestures wild
and unmeaning, his grunts and heavings terrible to hear. At times he
hardly talked but simply emitted; his pictures were simply himself in
flame. His entire frame seemed to glow with living light, and almost
wordlessly he wrought his miracles. But do not misunderstand. Some
insisted on saying that education would have stripped John of his
genius by subduing the riot of his power and chastening the fierceness
of his imagination. I think not, for John in a good sense was educated.
He was a reverential and laborious student for half-a-century. He
worked on his sermons with a marked assiduity and acquired the skill
and mastership of faithful struggle. Even his imagination had to work,
and its products were the fruit of toil. There was no mark of the
abnormal or disproportionate in his sky, but all the stars were big
and bright. He was well ballasted in his mental make-up, and in his
most radiant pictures there was an ethical regard for facts, and an
instinctive respect for the truth. Moreover, his ministrations fairly
covered the theological field, were strongly doctrinal, and he grappled
with honest vigour the deepest principles of the Gospel. He was also
intensely practical, scourging sin, lashing neglect, and with lofty
authority demanding high and faithful living.
Think not of Jasper merely as a pictorial preacher. There were wrought
into his pictures great principles and rich lessons. But now and then
he would present a sermon which was largely a series of pictures from
beginning to end. His imagination would be on duty all the time and
yet never flag. I cannot forget his sermon on Joseph and his Brethren.
It was a stirring presentation of the varied scenes in that memorable
piece of history. He opened on the favouritism of Jacob, and was
exceedingly strong in condemning partiality, as unhappily expressed
in the coat of many colours. That brief part was a sermon itself for
parents. From that he passed quickly to the envy of his brothers,
jealousy was a demon creeping in among them, inflicting poisonous
stings, and spreading his malignant power, until murder rankled in
every heart. Then came Joseph, innocent and ignorant of offending, to
fall a victim to their conspiracy, with the casting of him into the
pit, the selling of him to the travelling tradesmen, the showing to
Jacob of the blood-stained coat, with scene after scene until the happy
meeting at last between Jacob and his long lost son.
One almost lived a lifetime under the spell of that sermon. It was
eloquent, pathetic, terrific in its denunciations, rich in homely
piety, and with strains of sweetness that was as balm to sorrowing
souls. The effects were as varied as human thoughts and sentiments. The
audience went through all moods. Now they were bent down as if crushed
with burdens; now they were laughing in tumults at the surprises and
charms of heavenly truth; anon they were sobbing as if all hearts were
broken, and in a moment hundreds were on their feet shaking hands,
shouting, and giving forth snatches of jubilant song. This all seems
extravagant, without sobriety entirely, but those that were there,
perhaps without an exception, felt that it was the veritable house of
God and the gate of heaven.
At other times, Jasper’s sermons were sober and deliberate, sometimes
even dull; but rarely did the end come without a burst of eloquence
or an attractive, entertaining picture. But, remember, that his
pictures were never foreign to his theme. They were not lugged in
to fill up. They had in them the might of destiny and fitted their
places, and fitted them well. Often they came unheralded, but they were
evidently born for their part. On one occasion his sermon was on Enoch.
It started out at a plodding gait and seemed for a time doomed to
dullness, for Jasper could be dull sometimes. At one time he brought a
smile to the faces of the audience, in speaking of Enoch’s age, by the
remark: “Dem ole folks back dar cud beat de presunt ginerashun livin’
all ter pieces.”
As he approached the end of his sermon, his face lighted up and took on
a new grace and passion, and he went out with Enoch on his last walk.
That walk bore him away to the border of things visible; earthly scenes
were lost to view; light from the higher hills gilded the plains. Enoch
caught sight of the face of God, heard the music and the shouting of a
great host, and saw the Lamb of God seated on the throne. The scene was
too fair to lose, and Enoch’s walk quickened into a run which landed
him in his father’s house. It was a quick, short story, told in soft
and mellow tones, and lifted the audience up so far that the people
shouted and sang as if they were themselves entering the gates of
heaven.
One of his more elaborate descriptions, far too rich to be reproduced,
celebrated the ascension of Elijah. There was the oppressive
unworldliness of the old prophet, his efforts to shake off Elisha,
and Elisha’s wise persistence in clamouring for a blessing from his
spiritual father. But it was when the old prophet began to ascend that
Jasper, standing off like one apart from the scene, described it so
thrillingly that everything was as plain as open day. To the people,
the prophet was actually and visibly going away. They saw him quit the
earth, saw him rise above the mountain tops, sweeping grandly over the
vast fields of space, and finally saw him as he passed the moon and
stars. Then something happened. In the fraction of a second Jasper was
transmuted into Elijah and was actually in the chariot and singing with
extraordinary power the old chorus: “Going up to heaven in a chariot of
fire.” The scene was overmastering! For a time I thought that Jasper
was the real Elijah, and my distinct feeling was that the song which
he sang could be heard around the world. Of course, it was not so; but
there was something in the experience of the moment that has abided
with me ever since.
At a funeral one Sunday I saw Jasper attempt a dialogue with death,
himself speaking for both. The line of thought brought him face to face
with death and the grave. The scene was solemnized by a dead body in a
coffin. He put his hands over his mouth and stooped down and addressed
death. Oh, death--death, speak to me. Where is thy sting? And then with
the effect of a clairvoyant he made reply: “Once my sting was keen and
bitter, but now it is gone. Christ Jesus has plucked it out, and I
have no more power to hurt His children. I am only the gatekeeper to
open the gateway to let His children pass.” In closing this chapter an
incident will largely justify my seemingly extraordinary statements as
to the platform power of this unschooled negro preacher in Virginia.
In company with a friend I went very often Sunday afternoons to hear
Jasper and the fact was bruited about quite extensively, and somewhat
to the chagrin of some of my church-members. Two of them, a professor
in Richmond College and a lawyer well-known in the city, took me to
task about it. They told me in somewhat decided tones that my action
was advertising a man to his injury, and other things of a similar
sort. I cared but little for their criticism, but told them that if
they would go to hear him when he was at his best, and if afterwards
they felt about him as they then felt, I would consider their
complaints. They went the next Sunday. The house was overflowing, and
Jasper walked the mountain tops that day. His theme was “The raising
of Lazarus” and by steps majestic he took us along until he began to
describe the act of raising Lazarus from the dead. It happened that
the good professor was accompanied by his son, a sprightly lad of
about ten, who was sitting between his father and myself. Suddenly the
boy, evidently agitated, turned to me and begged that we go home at
once. I sought to soothe him, but all in vain, for as he proceeded the
boy urgently renewed his request to go home. His father observed his
disquietude and putting an arm around him restored him to calmness.
After the service ended and we had reached the street, I said to him:
“Look here, boy, what put you into such a fidget to quit the church
before the end of the service?” “Oh, doctor, I thought he had a dead
man under the pulpit and was going to take him out,” he said. My lawyer
brother heard the sermon and with profound feeling said, “Hear that,
and let me say to you that in a lifetime I have heard nothing like it,
and you ought to hear that man whenever you can.”
I heard no later criticisms from any man concerning my conduct in
evincing such cordial interest in this eloquent son of Fluvanna.
It was only necessary to persuade Jasper’s critics to hear him, to
remove all question as to his genuine character and effective spiritual
ministry.
VIII
JASPER’S STAR WITNESS
The domestic history of this rare and gifted man was not without
its tragical incidents. One of the worst features of slavery, as an
institution in the South, was the inevitable legislation which it
necessitated, and under which many grievous wrongs were perpetrated.
The right of the slave owner to the person of the slave carried with it
the authority to separate man and wife at the dictate of self-interest,
and that was often done, though it ought to be said that thousands of
kind-hearted men and women did their utmost to mitigate the wrongs
which such legislation legalized. In the sale of the negroes regard was
often had for the marriage relation, and it was arranged so that the
man and wife might not be torn asunder. But it was not always this way.
Too often the sanctity of marriage and the laws of God concerning it
were sacrificed to the greed of the slaveholder.
If the tradition of Mr. Jasper’s first marriage is to be accepted as
history, then he was the victim of the cruel laws under which the
institution of slavery was governed. In the changes which came to
him in the breaking up of the family to which he belonged his lot was
cast for a while in the city of Williamsburg. The story is that he
became enamoured of a maiden bearing the name of Elvy Weaden, and he
was successful in his suit. It chanced, however, that on the very day
set for his marriage, he was required to go to Richmond to live. The
marriage was duly solemnized and he was compelled to leave his bride
abruptly, but was buoyed with the hope that fairer days would come
when their lot would be cast together. The fleeting days quenched the
hope and chilled the ardour of the bride, and in course of time the
impatient woman notified Jasper that unless he would come to see her
and they could live together, she would account herself free to seek
another husband. He was not a man to brook mistreatment, and he made
short work of the matter. He wrote her that he saw no hope of returning
to Williamsburg, and that she must go ahead and work out her own fate.
Naturally enough, the difficulties under which the married life had to
be maintained served to weaken seriously the marital tie and to imperil
the virtue of the slaves. But this remark ought not to be made without
recalling the fact that there were thousands and tens of thousands of
happy and well-governed families among the slaves of the South.
Jasper felt seriously the blight of this untimely marriage and he
seems to have remained unmarried until after he united with the church
and became a preacher. In time, his thoughts turned again to marriage.
He was then a member of the First African Baptist Church of Richmond.
He took the letter which his wife had written him some time before
and presented it to the church and asked what was his duty under the
circumstances. It was a complex and vexing question, but his brethren,
after soberly weighing the matter, passed a resolution expressing the
conviction that it would be entirely proper for him to marry again.
Accordingly, about five years after his conversion, he married a woman
bearing the unusual name of Candus Jordan. According to all reports,
this marriage was far more fruitful in children than in the matter of
connubial peace and bliss for the high-strung and ambitious Jasper. It
seems that the case must have had some revolting features, as in due
time Jasper secured a divorce and was fully justified by his brethren
and friends in taking this action. Evidently this separation from
his wife, which was purely voluntary, in no way weakened him in the
confidence and good-will of the people.
Years after his divorce, Jasper married Mrs. Mary Anne Cole. There were
no children by this marriage, but his wife had a daughter by her former
marriage who took the name of Jasper, and was adopted in fact and in
heart as the daughter of this now eminent and beloved minister. This
wife died in 1874, and Jasper married once more. His widow survived him
and still lives, a worthy and honoured woman whose highest earthly joy
is the recollection of having been the wife of Elder John Jasper, and
also the solace and cheer of his old age. This is a checkered story of
a matrimonial career, but justice loudly demands the statement that
through it all John Jasper walked the lofty path of virtue and honour.
It was impossible, however, for a man like Jasper to escape the arrows
of the archer. Jealousy, envy, and slander were often busy with his
name, and if foul charges could have befouled him none could have
been fouler than he. But his daily life was a clean and unanswerable
story. Reproaches would not stick to him, and the deadliest darts fell
harmless at his feet. His noble seriousness, his absorption in the
study of the Bible, his enthusiasm in the ministry, and, most of all,
his quiet walk with God, saved him from the grosser temptations of life.
Perhaps the finest incident in all the story of his life was the
perfect faith of the people in Jasper. This was true everywhere
that he was known, but it was most powerfully true among those who
stood nearest to him and knew him best. Jasper, to them, was the
incarnation of goodness. They felt his goodness, revelled in it, and
lived on it. Their best earthly inspirations sprang out of the fair
and incorruptible character of their pastor. If his enemies sought
to undermine and defame him, they rallied around him and fought his
battles. Little cared he for the ill things said about him personally.
Conscious of his rectitude, and, embosomed in the love of his great
church, he walked serenely and triumphantly in the way of the Lord. He
believed in the sanctity of his home, and he hallowed it by the purity,
honesty, and charity of his brethren.
Anxious to get some living testimony in regard to the personal
character of Jasper, I determined to get in contact with a few
persons who stood very close to him, and that, for many years. In
what follows is found the testimony of a truly excellent woman, to
whom I was directed, with the assurance that what she said might be
taken as thoroughly trustworthy. She gave her name as Virginia Adams,
and, judging from her appearance and manner, one would probably write
her down as not far from threescore and ten. She was for many years
a member of his church. The following story from her lips is not
connected, but it is simply the unmethodical testimony of a sensible
woman, bearing about it the marks of sincerity, intelligence, and
reverential affection.
“Brer’ Jasper was as straightfor’d a man es you cud see, and yer cud
rely ’pon ev’ry word he told yer. He made it so plain dat watuver he
tol’ yer in his sermon yer cud read it right thar in yer heart, jes’
like he had planted and stamped it in yer. I can’t read myse’f, but I
kno’ well when anybody mek any mistake ’bout de passages which Brer
Jasper used to preach ’bout. I’ve got ’em jes’ de same es if I had ’em
printed on my mem’ry. His mi’ty sermon on Elijer is in me jes’ es he
preached it. I kin see Elijer es Elisha is runnin’ arter him,--kin see
de cheryot es it kum down, see Brer Jasper es he wuz pintin’ ter de
cheryot es it riz in its grand flight up de skies,--see Elijer es he
flung his mantul out es he went up, and I tell yer when Brer Jasper
began ter sing ’bout goin’ up ter heaven in a cheryot uv fire I cud see
everything jes’ es bright es day, and de people riz such a shout dat I
thought all de wurl’ wuz shoutin’. Yes, Brer Jasper wuz de kindes’ man
I reckon on de urth. Yer cudn’t finish tellin’ him ’bout folks dat wuz
in trouble and want, befo’ he’d be gittin’ out his money. He didn’t
look lik he keer much ’bout money,--he warn’t no money-seeker, and yit
he look lik he allus hev money, and he wuz allus de fust ter give. Jes’
tell him wat wuz needed, and he begun fer to scratch in his pocket.
“Brer Jasper kep’ things lively. People wuz talkin’ all de time ’bout
his sermons, and yer cud hear their argiments while yer wuz gwine ’long
de streets. Often his members an’ udder folks too wud git tangled up
’bout his doctrines and dey wud git up texs an’ subjiks an’ git him
ter preach ’bout ’em. Ef any uv his brutherin had trubbul wid passiges
uv de scripshur and went ter him ’bout ’em, you’d sure hear frum him
nex Sunday. He luv ter splain things fer his brutherin.
“It wuz Bruther Woodson, de sexton uv de church, and anudder man dat
got Brer Jasper in ter dat gret ’citemint ’bout de sun. Dey got inter
a spute es to wheddur de sun went ’roun’ de wurl’ ur not, and dey took
it ter our pastor, and really I thought I nevur wud hear de end of dat
thing. Folks got arter Brer Jasper in de papurs and everywhar; but I
tell yer dey nevur skeered him. He wuz es brave es a lion, an’ I don’
kno’ how often he preached dat sermon. It look lik all de people in de
wurl’ want to kum.
“No, Brer Jasper wuz no money-grabbur. When de church wuz weak and
cudn’t raze much money, he nevur sot no salary. Yer cudn’t git him ter
do it. He tell ’em not ter trubble ’emselves, but jes’ giv him wat
dey chuze ter put in de baskit and he nevur made no kumplaint. Wen de
church got richer dey crowd ’im hard ter kno’ how much he wantid, and
he at las’ tell ’em dat he wud take $62.50 a month, and dat he didn’t
want no more dan dat. Wen de gret crowds got ter kummin’ and de white
folks too, and de money po’ed in so fas’ de brutherin farly quarl’d wid
him ter git his sal’ry raz’d, but he say No! I git nuff now, and I
want no more. I’m not here to gouge my people out of es much money es I
kin. He say he got nuff money to pay his taxes and buy wat he needed,
and if dey got more dan dey wantid let ’em take it and help de Lord’s
pore. Sometimes we used ter ’poun’’ de ole man, kerryin’ ’im all kinds
uv good things ter eat. He didn’t lik it at all, but tuk de things and
sont ’em ’roun’ ter de pore people.
“Brer Jasper wuz nun uv yer parshul preachers. His church wuz his
family, and he had no favrites. He did not bow down ter de high nor
hol’ ’imsef ’bove de low. Enny uv his people cud kum ter him ’bout all
dere struggles and sorrers. He hated erroneyus doctrines. His faith in
de Bibul wuz powerful, and he luved it ’bove everything. He had awful
dreds ’bout wat mite kum ter de church wen he wuz gone. He sometimes
said in a mity solem way, ‘Wen I am daid and gone, yer will look out
ter whar my ashes lay and wish I wuz back here ter ’part ter yer de
pure wurd uv Gord agin. I got a fear dat dose dat kum arter me will try
ter pull down wat I built up. I pray Gord, my children will stand by de
ship uv Zion wen I’s gone.’
“Brer Jasper got troubles ’bout de way young childun wuz got inter
de church. He say ‘all yer got ter do is to pitty-pat em (making the
motion in the pulpit with his hands) on dere haids and dey are in de
kingdom. Sum uv yer duz the convertin’ of dese little uns instid er
leavin’ it ter God ter do de work.’ He believed in regenerashum of
folks. He preach’d ter de very last on being born agin, and he didn’t
want nobody ter kum inter his church wat ain’t felt de power uv de
sperrit in dere souls.
“But Brer Jasper wuz a mity luver uv de childun. He had a great way
of stoppin’ and talkin’ ter dem on de street. He wuz a beautiful
story-teller, and de childrun often flocked ter his house ter hear
’im tell nice stories and all kine uv good tales. He kept pennies in
his pockets and often dropped ’em along for de chilrun--he had great
ways,--til de chilrun ud think he wuz de greatest man dat ever put foot
on de yearth.
“Brer Jasper wuz sosherbul wid everybody, and nobody cud beat him as a
talker. He knew lots ’bout Richmond, and de ole times, and he had de
grandest stories and jokes dat he luved ter tell and dat de folks went
wild ter hear. He wuz great on jokes and cracked ’em in sech a funny
way dat folks most killed de ’sefs laughin’. But yer mus’ kno’ dat he
wuz mity keerful ’bout how he talked. Yer neer hear no bad words frum
his mouth. His stories he could tell ennywhar, and wuz jes’ as nice ter
de ladies as ter der men. He didn’t b’leve in no Sercities. Dey tried
ter git ’im in de Masons, and I don’t kno’ wat all, but he ain’t tech
none uv’em. He sez dar ain’t but one Grand Past Master and dat is King
Jesus.
“Dey orf’n wanted ’im at de big public suppers war dey et an’ drank
an’ made speeches, but he wouldn’t go near; and den our high people
had der big suppers in dere houses and wanted de ’onur uv entertainin’
Brer Jasper, but he didn’t hanker arter dose kind uv things. He wanted
his meals simple and reglur and uv de plain sort, and as fer dese high
ferlootin’ feasts dey didn’t suit his taste.
“It look lik Brer Jasper couldn’t stop preachin’. It wuz his food and
drink, an’ enny time he’d git way beyond his strength. I’ve seen ’im
wen it looked lik de las’ bref hed gone out’en his body, and sometimes
some uv de brutherin say he did not look like a natchul man. He seemed
more in hevun dan on urth. I most reckun some uv de brutherin thought
he wuz gone up in ter heavun like Lijer. Dey go in de pulpit and tek
hol’ uv ’im and say Brer Jasper yer dun preached nuff. Don’t wear
yerself down. Tek yer seat and res’ yersef. He knew dey did it fer luv,
and he took it kind, but he didn’t always stop at once.
“Brer Jasper had a walk mity remarkbul. Wen he went in de streets he
wuz so stately and grave lik dat he walk diffrunt from all de people.
Folks wud run out uv all de stores, or out on der porches, or turn back
ter look wen Jasper kum ’long. Oh, it made us proud ter look at him.
No other preacher could walk like him. Yer felt de ground got holy war
he went ’long. Sum uv ’em say it wuz ekul ter a revival ter see John
Jasper moving lik a king ’long de street. Often he seemed ter be wrappd
up in his thoughts and hardly to know whar he wuz. De people feared ’im
so much,--wid sech a luvin’ kind uv fear, dat dey hardly dared to speak
ter him.
“Brer Jasper wuz mity fond uv walkin’ in de pulpit. It wuz a great
large place, and he frisked round most lik he wuz a boy. Wen he filled
up wid de rousement of the Gospel on him, it was just glor’us to see
him as he whirled about the stand; the faces of his folks shone wid de
brightness of de sun, and they ofen made the house ring with laughter
and with their shouts.
“One thing he did dat always made his congregasons rock wid joy, an’
dat wuz ter sing wile he wuz preachin’. He wuz mos’ ninety years old,
but he never lost his power ter sing, an’ wen he struck er tune de
note uv it shot in de people lik arrurs from anguls quivur. Yer cudn’t
hol’ still wen Jasper sung. Soon as he started, de people would ’gin
to swing an’ jine in tel de music filled de house. He cud sing a heap
uv songs, but he had a few great songs. Yer orter to hear him sing by
hiself his favrite piece.” Here it is:
EV’BUDY GOT TER RISE TER MEET KING JESUS IN DE MORNIN’