PRE-12-Chapter Twelve
Chapter Twelve Not a Eulogy, but a Life—Pen Portrait by David Walk—Meeting at Memphis—Notices by the Memphis Press.
“Paint me as I am,” said Oliver Cromwell to the artist, who was transferring his features to the canvas, and thought to flatter him by leaving out of the picture the unsightly wart by which his face was disfigured. The stern old warrior did not wish to appear different from what he really was; he wanted his picture to be, not a flattering resemblance, but a faithful likeness, and to this, even the wart was necessary. The biographer often falls into a similar error, when painting character; by smoothing that which is rough, or omitting that which is unsightly; but this is always a mistake, as weakness and imperfection belong to all characters, and no character is drawn to the life when these are left out. To say that Brother Shaw had no defects would be to claim more than can be claimed with truth for any mortal. The rude surroundings of his early life, his want of mental training, his lack of social culture, were all great drawbacks, and left such traces that none who knew him could fail to see. The disadvantages under which he labored were such as many a man would never have surmounted, and the wonder is, not that the rudeness, hardships, privations, and associations of early life left their indelible impress upon him; but that he was able to overcome and outgrow them to the extent he did. But even his defects were his own. They did not arise from a vain attempt to imitate the excellencies of others. They were not failures, but peculiarities, as much his own, as the outlines of his figure, the features of his face, the expression of his eyes, and the tones of his voice. Sometimes he would shock the sensitive natures of a city audience by his disregard of stereotyped proprieties, but he more than atoned for it by a tenderness and pathos which they were unable to resist; and many a preacher whose sense of propriety he violated by his rough logic and peculiar mannerisms, would gladly have exchanged his own purer style and more refined manner for Shaw’s wonderful power over the minds and hearts of men.
There were times when his tall, angular, and somewhat ungainly figure, assumed an air of majesty, and the message he delivered lost nothing by the appearance and manner of the messenger; for self was forgotten, and the message engrossed all his thoughts. He looked and spake, as we may imagine the prophets and apostles did when they rebuked the people of Israel for their sins, or entreated lost sinners to be reconciled to God. His deep, unfeigned earnestness rendered his hearers unmindful of any defects in manner, and his evident sincerity disarmed criticism. Dead though he be, we desire the reader to see him as when living, and shall present him as he appeared to his most impartial critics, ere death had turned all criticism into tenderness, and eyes that might have been keen to observe defects were dimmed with tears. The following sketch is from the pen of David Walk, in the winter of 1877:
“I first met Brother Shaw in Edinburgh, Indiana, January 3d, 1863. He was devoting a portion of his time to the church in that town, and I think a portion to the church called New Hope, in the country, a few miles south of the former place. At all events, after the close of my meeting at Edinburgh, he was with me in a meeting at New Hope, and subsequently at Columbus, the county seat of Bartholomew County, still south of New Hope.
“The first impression made upon me by Brother Shaw was unique. He did not strike me as possessing any of the commonly-accepted and conventional characteristics of a preacher; tall, raw-boned, angular, and awkward, he gave no promise then of the wonderful career he afterward accomplished. He seemed to me to be a “Jack of all trades.” He was agent for a sewing machine, and much of his time was spent in this behalf. In our walks around the town and country he would unceremoniously dodge into a house, sit down at the machine, adjust it, and then sew for dear life on whatever garment was in hand. Oftener than otherwise, it would be some article of a lady’s clothing. All this he did with the utmost coolness, and apparently unconscious of anything unusual in his conduct. He was very fond of playing the violin, and often, after the services, would spend an hour or two in this not unpleasant diversion. He was all unschooled in the conventionalities of polite society. One rainy afternoon, at New Hope, a number of candidates were to be baptized. As I did all the preaching, he proffered his service as baptist. We repaired to a beautiful stream in the near neighborhood, where the ordinance was administered. Returning to the house of our host, he refused to make any change in his clothing, but stood and sat around the fire-place all the afternoon, in his bare feet, drying his clothes, regardless of all around. This was quite shocking to my notions of decorum, but he seemed to make no account of the circumstance. In some respects, he seemed to me to be as simple and unaffected as a little child, and in others, to be entirely self-conscious. He thought that what he did was all right, and better than any one else could have done it. He affected, even at this early date, considerable literary skill, and did not hesitate to correct my grammar, rhetoric, and logic. He even undertook to show me how to preach, and succeeded more to his own satisfaction than to mine.
“After this, I met him occasionally at our general Conventions, at Cincinnati and elsewhere, but had no special or personal knowledge of him for many years. Notes of his peculiar fame, and the reputation he was making in the field, from time to time reached me. All that I heard and read concerning him caused me to wonder greatly, remembering, as I did, his unpropitious beginning. After I had been pastor at Memphis some seven or eight years, the brethren, with my approval, determined to give him a trial in that eminently conservative, and socially and religiously moss-grown city. Soon after his meeting closed I prepared the following notice of it for the Christian Standard, which will sufficiently set forth the character and results of his first effort there:
“ ‘KNOWLES SHAW IN MEMPHIS.
“‘MEMPHIS, March 7, 1877.
“‘Dear Brother Errett:—I did not intend to say much about our late meeting in this city; for, apart from other reasons, you have already published a lengthy and very just notice from one of our daily papers. But from all quarters the cry comes: “Tell us about your meeting.” “How did Brother Shaw take in Memphis?” “What do you think of his work?” etc., etc. From all of which I am led to understand, there is a general and widespread desire for some information beyond a mere statement of the facts and results of the effort. I shall endeavor, therefore, to give an honest and faithful report of the preacher, his methods, and the results—as they appear to us here on the ground.
“‘In the first place, I may say that we were agreeably disappointed in every way. With us it was an experiment. We had heard so much of Brother Shaw’s eccentricities that it was with sober misgivings we finally concluded to invite his aid. He came unheralded. No one outside of our church had so much as heard of him. He at once took the community captive. No man ever before created so profound an interest among all classes. Soon our large house was filled to its utmost capacity, while hundreds were turned away for want of room. And he held this audience steadily to the end. Many of the ministers of the city put in an appearance—some of them very often—and expressed their hearty sympathy with the work, and were earnest in prayer, and expressions of good will, until Brother Shaw included obedience as a part of the gospel; then they dropped him. I shall always honor Brother Shaw for his fidelity to the whole, round gospel of Jesus Christ. Amid the greatest temptations to concede, to modify, to tone down something of the truth, he stood like a wall of fire in defense of the whole truth. No man was ever more faithful to the gospel. I want this fact to be distinctly noted. He could have carried the whole city, and every church and preacher in it, had he consented to stop where Moody, Whittle, and other celebrated revivalists stopped; but no: he preached the gospel as it was preached by those who were first divinely commissioned to preach it by the anointing of the Holy Spirit. There might be a thousand objectionable things in Brother Shaw’s methods, but this one fact would make me overlook them all. But is there anything objectionable? Well, that is largely a matter of taste. I have yet to hear and see the man who in all respects is unobjectionable according to my ideas of taste and propriety. I suppose there are some who would object even to—me! He has some oddities, some idiosyncrasies, but they are so obviously natural to the man as not to appear very incongruous or inharmonious. I rather like them. I would not like to see Brother Errett, or Brother Pendleton, or Brother Lamar, undertake the same pulpit, philological and rhetorical feats; but I see no impropriety in Brother Shaw attempting them, for he succeeds in them; whereas, the brethren above mentioned would make sorry work of it. For example: Imagine Brother Pendleton leaving the pulpit in the midst of his sermon, and, going to the remotest corner of the house, mounting a bench, and singing with most lugubrious air and whine—
“‘How tedious and tasteless the hours,’ in illustration of the half-hearted, back-slidden Christian, who needs a protracted meeting every six months in order to keep any life in him.
“‘But when the protracted meeting has well advanced, this same remote-corner-Christian rushes to the front, singing with great vim—
“‘Am I a soldier of the cross?’ just as Brother Shaw did, suiting the action to the word. Well, this is precisely what he did, and what is more, he did it successfully.
“‘Of course, his ability to sing adds greatly to his power, and is a large element to his success in attracting and holding great audiences. He is as good a singer as either Sankey or the lamented Bliss, an infinitely better preacher than either Moody or Whittle. There! I have done it. But if anybody can show to the contrary, let him do it.
“‘I do not mean to be understood as approving all Brother Shaw does and says. Far from it. I would not like him as a regular diet all the year round. He would be none the less useful and powerful were he to leave off some things, while at the same time he would conciliate hypercritical enemies of our cause. I told him this eight or ten times, but I do not think he heard me. He is too much absorbed in his work, and himself, to listen to the suggestions of age and wisdom. He has, I observe, a very fine opinion of Knowles Shaw. He will read these strictures, laugh at them, and the first time he meets me slap me on the shoulder and say: “Walk, that was a good thing. Ha, ha, ha!” And that will be the end of it. He will die thinking it a good joke, and never will believe that I am in solemn earnest.
“‘He repeats himself too much. Many of his most effective sermons are marred by personal allusions, which, often repeated, lose their original force. Twenty-seven times he referred to the fact that he had made five funeral marches to the grave from his broken and desolated home. The first time he told this, it took the house by storm. Sixty-nine times he stated that in early life he fiddled for balls, parties, and theaters. He intended to illustrate the point that he was a great sinner saved by grace. Well, for the first forty or fifty times this fact of his youthful history had considerable power, but after that it became monotonous. But he cannot be judged by any ordinary rule. Perhaps if he were to leave off the things of which I complain, he would be shorn of his power, and become altogether like the rest of us—weary, respectable plodders, who utterly fail, with all our refinement and elegance, to stir the public heart.
“‘To show my sincerity, I will say that, if it were God’s will, I would be glad to exchange my gifts for his. But it does appear to me that if I could sing as he can, and preach as he can, I would not need some of the accessories which he deems indispensable.
“‘What was the outcome of all this? Well, hundreds of people heard the gospel who never heard it before. And an interest was created in behalf of the cause in this city that never existed before.
“‘We love Brother Shaw so much that we are determined to have him again. We have actually engaged him for another meeting, and the time is set, but for prudential reasons we want nothing said about the time.
“‘We are going to make one more effort to win men to Christ. We need and we ask the prayers of the whole brotherhood. Brethren, pray that God will give us the victory in this wicked city. DAVID WALK.’ To many, the above may seem severely just, but it has the merit of being a faithful picture, which those who knew Brother Shaw best will not be slow to recognize. He said of it himself that it was the best, most appreciative, just notice, that had ever been written of him. Brother Walk adds: “He was my guest five weeks, slept every night in my house, and ate nearly every meal at my table, and whatever criticisms either I or any member of the family had to make concerning his peculiarities, all were agreed in the judgment often expressed: ‘Brother Shaw is a good man.’”
Brother Shaw’s own brief report of the above meeting is as follows: “I held a meeting of near three weeks with the Linden Street Church in Memphis, Tennessee, of which Brother Walk has been the faithful and successful pastor for over eight years, which closed on the 14th inst. There were twenty-eight confessions, and during the entire meeting the house, which has capacity to seat seven hundred, was filled, and sometimes hundreds had to go away. Brother Walk is the best manager of a church I have found in my rounds. Backed by a good, intelligent, and zealous board of elders and deacons, success is not wonderful. I have received a call to return and hold a two weeks’ meeting before long, as we could hardly call the other work finished.” The Memphis papers speak of Brother Shaw’s work with warm and unqualified approval, as the following extracts show:
“THE SINGING EVANGELIST.
“Our religious reporter was in attendance at the Linden Street Christian Church both morning and night on Sunday last. He had heard much of the marvelous revivalist now conducting services in that sanctuary; and he concluded to see and hear for himself, and then to favor the public with his views of the situation. Mr. Shaw is a tall, rawboned, rather ungainly specimen of the genus home, standing about six feet four inches in his boots. His hair and beard are very luxuriant as to quantity, and dark auburn as to color. His articulation, while unusually rapid, is at the same time wonderfully distinct. In style and manners he defies all known and unknown rules. He is emphatically a law unto himself. He gets right down to business without wasting any time in prosy preliminaries. The first sentence is of as much consequence, and likely to be as sharp, as any that follows. He is intensely in earnest. He evidently believes the message which he brings to others. It absorbs and controls every faculty of his mind, and exercises every muscle of his body. He is very plain and practical. A little child can easily follow him. We judge that he lays no claim whatever to being a chaste and finished orator, for such he certainly is not; but it must be confessed that he wields a strange power over his audience — one moment the face is wreathed in smiles, the next the eyes are overflowing with tears.
“As to his ability as a singer we have heard a variety of opinions expressed by those competent to judge, the average opinion being that he is about the equal of the late Mr. Bliss. It is agreed that in the low notes Mr. Bliss was his superior, but in the highest register, and in strength, volume, and sweetness, Mr. Shaw is greatly the superior of the lamented Bliss. This, of course, gives him an immense advantage over the mere preacher, for long before he has announced his subject, he has sung his audience into deep and earnest sympathy with himself. But our readers must go and judge for themselves. No brief notice, such as we are able to give, will do justice to this really extraordinary man. They will see and hear some things which they will doubtless not approve; but, on the other hand, they cannot but be benefited by the pure, and wholesome teachings of the evangelist. The audiences were immense on both occasions, and the capacity of the house is likely to be taxed more than it can pay. We suggest to the deacons, Greenlaw Opera-house. Give the masses a chance.” The progress of the meeting was noticed as below:
“The work of evangelism, under the conduct of Knowles Shaw, still continues at the Linden Street Church. On Sunday night the audience exceeded nine hundred persons, one-third of whom stood during the long services, and as many turned away because of lack of comfortable accommodations. The preacher took for his subject, ‘Decision of Character,’ addressing himself particularly to young men and women. He delineated with unerring certainty, with the skill of a deft limner, the characteristics essential to the perfection of manly or womanly virtue, and to their value as influential entities in the social, moral and religious sphere. Mr. Shaw seized hold of Daniel and Esther, of Scripture, as models of decision of character, pointing out what in them evoked their useful and influential development. This lecture was listened to with seeming interest by the congregation, among which our reporter counted ten lawyers, two judges, eight doctors of medicine, and six ministers of the gospel. The services of last evening were also largely attended, the theme of the sermon being, ‘Almost Persuaded.’ Upon this occasion some half-dozen persons were added to the church by open confession. We understand that the meetings will continue during the succeeding nights of the week, the subject for this evening being, ‘Honoring God.’
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“The revival services, conducted by Mr. Shaw, at the Linden Street Christian Church, were again largely attended last night. The house was crowded to its utmost capacity. Many persons stood during the exercises, while others, not being accommodated with seats, went away. Mr. Shaw, selecting a text from Amos, one of the minor prophets, the fourth chapter and twelfth verse, warned the people to ‘Prepare and meet their God.’ The discourse was well balanced between the individual experiences and observations of the speaker and the way of the preparation which every man should adopt in order to meet the great ‘Judge of the quick and the dead.’ The sermon was strongly doctrinal, involving in its development the tenets or principles of the church represented by the evangelist. He defined with frankness, fullness, and clearness his views in reference to the purposes of baptism, without in any way alluding to, or discussing the modes of administration of this solemn ordinance. He stated that he dwelt particularly upon the subject of a preparation because of the fact that his people (the Campbellites) had been misunderstood as to the intent and purposes of baptism under their practices. The attention of the congregation was marked by courtesy, and if the vanity of the preacher can be excited by the crowd and interest manifested, then the evangelist should be satisfied. Some additions were made to the church at the close of the exercises.
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“Mr. Shaw held forth last night at the Linden Street Christian Church to a crowded house, the subject of his discourse having been, ‘Heavenly Recognition.’ The speaker presented the subject clearly, although the discourse was less replete than any preceding one with scriptural citations. He handled the matter most interestingly, and, at times, spoke with deep feeling and touching pathos. His sermon consumed one hour and five minutes, but the audience manifested no impatience, nor disposition to retire before the conclusion. On the other hand, a large body of the congregation lingered after the closing to talk with Mr. Shaw, and with one another. He announced that since beginning the services of the evening, he had been handed a copy of the last song ever composed by his friend and late singing companion, Mr. P. P. Bliss, and though entirely new to himself, he would sing the same this evening. That, as this sweet singer in Israel was held in such affectionate remembrance by the people of Memphis, and everything connected with his life and death would be so gladly received by them; at the close of to-night’s services, he would give to the audience some facts, both of the work of Mr. Bliss, and also everything that had been discovered in reference to the last moments of the lamented man and wife, and the memorial services after their death. The subject of Mr. Shaw’s discourse, to-night, will be: ‘The fullness of the times, or the great consummation.’ It is probable that the labors of the evangelist in this field will then close, as he has engagements elsewhere.” From the above we gather that the interest was great, but by no means unusual. Even greater interest, and much greater success, had attended his labors at St. Louis, Covington, South Bend, and many other places, before that visit; and not long after New Orleans was visited, and did not prove an exception to the rule.
We cannot close this chapter without calling attention to the fact, that Brother Walk’s first impressions with regard to Shaw were received, when the latter had been but a short time before the public, and these May have had more influence than he was aware of in regard to the views expressed in the latter part of his article. We think it therefore eminently proper to give the views of other competent judges with regard to him when he had outgrown much that Brother Walk noted in the early part of his career, which we shall do in the next chapter.