PRE-13-Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Thirteen The Editor of the Christian Preacher on Shaws Method and Manner—Elder Caskey’s Review of Wilmeth, and Opinion of Shaw—The Editor’s Rejoinder.
It is quite likely that Brother Shaw never had fuller and freer command of his powers than during the meeting at Memphis, which is described at length in the preceding chapter. He was then forty-three years of age, mature in body and mind, and as full of purpose as ever to spend the remainder of his life in his chosen work. In the next year, which none who knew him thought would be his last, before his vigor had departed or any of his powers had suffered a sad eclipse, he labored with wonted zeal and with great success; and during his last meeting at Dallas, Texas, he was described as follows by two different writers, who never had met him till then. The first was the editor of the Christian Preacher, published at Dallas, Texas, who thus sketched him in the columns of his paper:
“Knowles Shaw, as a revivalist and musician, has a national name. He is tall and well proportioned, has a searching eye, a cheerful countenance and luxuriant whiskers, and is past the meridian of life. “He has preached about nineteen years; in almost all the States of the Union; and has baptized over eleven thousand. He is the author of a number of music-books; sings in several languages; and plays on many kinds of instruments. He reasons like Paul; is as bold as Peter; and as tender as John. He is natural like Shakespeare; witty like Swift; and pathetic like Burns. He is as independent as Beecher; as idiosyncratic as Talmage; and as indefatigable as Moody. He sings with the energy of Sankey; and plays with the action of Blind Tom. He can support the character, in the same scene, of clergyman and clown, actor and ape, nightingale and parrot. During his discourse, you may see him pacing the platform singing some thrilling song of Zion, or seated by the organ playing some touching sentimental ballad. You may behold him on bended knee, before some cruel king, in tender tones imploring mercy; or perched upon the end of a bench, off in the amen corner, stiff as a poker and cold as a midnight spook, burlesquing the lukewarm Christian to the tune of “‘How tedious and tasteless the hours.’
You may behold the audience baptized in tears, while he stands in memory by the bed-side of a beautiful dying daughter, who says, ‘I’m going home, dear father, and after a few more years of toil and tears you’ll follow me;’ or you may see them convulsed with laughter, as he portrays, in pantomime, with walled eyes and distorted countenance, gestures and grips, grimaces and grins, a balky horse or a bad boy.” The second article shows that the first impression was strengthened by his subsequent efforts:
“Brother Shaw has been with us a month, and has added more than a hundred to the Commerce Street congregation. At other places, he has added, in the course of a single meeting, several hundred. During a ministry of twenty years, he has averaged over five hunded additions a year. Besides these ‘visible results’ of his preaching, of course the good seed is sown in many other hearts, and the church is generally strengthened in its faith and zeal. These extraordinary results make us inquire, What are the secrets of his success? It has been suggested by some of the Baptists that they create a chair in their Theological Seminary to teach how to hold revivals; and one of their editors mentions Major Penn as a suitable professor to fill that chair. Certainly Knowles Shaw would make a better Professor of Revivals than Major Penn; and, as he cannot take the time from evangenzing to formally fill a collegiate chair, we propose, in lieu of that, to gather up for our readers some of the golden filings that fall from his evangelistic machinery. First, he wins the people’s ears before he woos their hearts. His reputation gives him the vantage ground in this. But a reputation cannot hold a congregation after a first hearing, if a reputation is all the speaker possesses. He says that if he were called upon to give the three elements of success, he would say, ‘First, work; second, work; third, WORK.’ So he works from the commencement of a meeting to its close—all over and in every way. He sometimes sees to the proper ventilation of the room, and to the seating of the audience. He plays the instrument and leads the music. He reads the Scripture, and comments and illustrates as he reads. He does some of the praying and all of the preaching. If another baptizes, he directs and assists actively all the time. With all the assistance that a live congregation can give, yet there is as great a proportion of Shaw in one of his meetings as there is water on the world. While something may be lost by not having others to labor, this very individuality always attracts the people; and, being a ‘master of assemblies,’ he leads them along, step by step, without offense. Secondly, he utilizes music to its utmost. Not only does he train the audience rigidly upon new songs, and the proper rendition of the more familiar; but occasionally he sandwiches into the rehearsal a solo, or into the sermon a sentimental, thereby stirring the emotions from their very depths. Although his voice is somewhat impaired by protracted preaching, yet he sings with such remarkable clearness and precision that it greatly compensates for the lack of volume and tone. The chief charm of his singing is his invariably distinct enunciation. Every word is distinctly heard, though it be a whisper. His music bears the precious truth straight to the heart. If he seems to unscientifically snap off a strain, it is simply to put a cracker on it which will be felt. Though we have heard finer vocalists, we scarcely have met a man who could so successfully sing his sentiments into the souls of the people. Thirdly, his preaching is attractive, instructive, and powerful. He has much of ‘the milk of human kindness’ in his heart; so that his sermons abound in touching illustrations from experience and observation. The hand of affliction has been laid heavily upon him, having buried out of his sight in one year five of his family; and, knowing the sorrows of this life, he can persuade men to prepare for a better. He depends largely upon the power of God’s word. He does not trust to his singing, his prayers, and his illustrations, but to the incorruptible seed to enliven the sinner. His preaching is equally divided between saint and sinner, and he is as pointed to the saint as the sinner. His scathing of sin in professed Christians cannot be too highly commended, while it is all done in a kind spirit and an inoffensive style. His language is generally beyond criticism, and is often very elegant, though sometimes tinctured with uncanonized words. He is not pedantic, makes no pretensions to profundity; being rather desirous of making things plain and pointed. Finally, he is true to one of his mottoes, ‘Much go-ahead-itiveness and never-let-go-itiveness.’ He continues a meeting till it is concluded, and only concludes it when he concludes there are no others to be reached by it. This is an improvement upon what is common in our country. We surrender the field as soon as we have thrown up a few intrenchments. We sow a few seeds, generally, and leave them to germinate and die without watering or cultivation. He sometimes remains with a congregation for a year after an ingathering, which, in entirely new congregations, we deem eminently necessary and scriptural.
“Much is yet to be learned by us about planting the gospel; and it is hoped that the above may help us on to some better knowledge of preaching the truth. While in every man we may find faults, we do not wish to copy; we should ever be ready to separate the golden wheat from the worthless chaff, and appropriate it for good. It would be gross presumption to say that we could learn nothing from Knowles Shaw, who has stirred Dallas to its depths.”
Some expressions in the foregoing were regarded as ill-chosen and called forth the following from Elder T. W. Caskey, well known through the South as one of the ablest preachers in the State:
CASKEY ON SHAW “SHERMAN, TEXAS, May 18, 1878.
“Brother Mac:-Some of Brother Shaw’s friends are somewhat grieved at your pen-portrait of the man, but I think they are more sensitive than need be, for you attribute to him the leading and best element of many of the greatest names that have brightened the pages of sacred or profane history: Paul, Peter, John, Shakespeare, Swift, Burns, Beecher, Moody, Talmage, Sankey, and last, but not least in his line, Blind Tom, the greatest musical genius of the world. The mail who possesses these, certainly stands upon the head of the highest of his fellows. Give me but half of these, and I’ll agree to pack the whole spotted breeches family, the whole monkey tribe, the parrot and all other discordant-noted birds, together with Blind Tom and the whole African race thrown in. The versatility of genius ascribed to him is simply wonderful, not more so than true.
“If any injustice is done to Brother Shaw, it is in the latter part of your article, where you use the terms latitudinarianism, preaching through envy, etc. If you intend this to apply to Brother Shaw, you have done him great injustice, and I know you will make the amende honorable; for doctrinally, as far as I have heard him, he is as narrowgauged as Brother Ben. Franklin would have him to be. As to his eccentricities, they are God-given and not assumed, and to accomplish one-half as much as he does would agree to shoulder them all and as many more. Brother Shaw says and does many things I could not do if I would, and would not if I could, and which, of course, I do not approve; but this is not the trouble with me. My trouble is T. W. Caskey does the same, and I certainly don’t want him to come to my standard.
“If Brother Shaw preaches Christ through envy, then my prayer to God is, to greatly increase his envy; if the Commerce Street Church is having it done through envy, and are working as they have been and are, then may a Pentecostal shower of it fall upon all the churches in Texas.
“T. W. CASKEY.” This called forth the following explanation:
“In our article, alluded to above, some things were said which no doubt jarred upon the ears of some persons. On the contrary, however, it struck a vein of approval and applause in the hearts of a host of brethren.
“The comparison to Blind Tom was not made because he is a negro, but because he is a musical genius, well known and universally admired. The point of comparison was not as to color, sense, or profession, but as to ‘action.’ It is sometimes said of those who cannot refrain from dancing when they hear music, that their music is located in their feet; but Brother Shaw’s is located all over him. His body sways to and fro, like a tall pine in a storm; his head bobs up and down and about, his long beard following like the train of a comet; his face is now bowed horizontal with the floor and then upturned to the ceiling; his eyes turning by times to all points of the compass; and his left hand has a peculiar crow-hop from the key-board of the organ over his head, there hanging, while he dwells on a long note. This is Knowles Shaw, and it reminds us of Blind Tom’s action at the piano, and his after clapping of hands. As to the expressions ‘clown,’ ‘ape,’ ‘parrot,’ etc., they were simply the most suitable words by which to give forcible expression to the facts in the case. “We did not accuse Brother Shaw of latitudinarianism, but of the ‘semblance of latitudinarianism.’ In the earlier part of his meeting he spoke of his preaching having resulted in some places in adding members to the Baptist and Methodist Churches as well as to his own; used the term ‘Campbellism’ in such a way that opposers quoted him as sanctioning its use; and now and then ridiculed such principles as, ‘Where the Bible speaks, we speak; and where the Bible is silent, we are silent.’ Be it said to his praise, however, that the inferences drawn from such slipshod expressions have been chiefly dispelled by plain and pointed discourses, upon first principles and lucid and touching lectures upon Christian duty. He fights carnality and uncleanness with all the vim that’s in him. He even gave Brother Caskey some sharp raps on the knuckles for chewing his quid and squirting his tobacco juice. The dance and the dram-shop receive no mercy from his hands; and right well did we enjoy his thunderbolts against them. He can beat the man that makes them, telling temperance anecdotes.” No man of ordinary abilities could have called forth such unstinted praise as this from strangers; and one of them, Elder Caskey, says that before hearing him he had been somewhat prejudiced against him by the reports he had heard with regard to his eccentricities and peculiarities. Not only was this prejudice removed by what he saw and heard, but he declared, “Such a man I never met before on life’s journey, and never expect to meet again till its journey ends.”
“But, apart from all that has been said of him, we have twenty years of such faithful and earnest work as the world has seldom seen; and this will give the best idea of the man, and it is hoped will lead others to a noble emulation of his labors.