/ AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE. 
 
 | PREACHED SUNDAY; JANUARY gth, 1887, 
 
 TO THE 
 
 . 
 
 CONGREGATION OF ST. PHILIP'S CHURCH, | 
 
 CHARLESTON, S. C., 
 
 BY 
 
 Lea JOM JOHNSON, Reever. 
 
 _ Printed at the Request of and by Members of the Congregation. 
 
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 | CHARLESTON, S. C. 
 THENNEWS AND COURIER BOOK PRESSES. 
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 ERS COLLECTION 
 
 SERMON. 
 
 PSALM 50:15. 
 
 ““T will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” 
 
 The Almighty God speaks thus through the lips of the 
 psalmist, addressing the words of the text to his feeble crea- 
 ture, Man: ‘I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” 
 The sentence is prophetic: it looks forward to the remote 
 deliverance of the Gospel with its resulting obligations, to 
 the remote event of the Incarnation, with all its blessings 
 and all its duties. But the words have also a direct, an im- 
 mediate reference to deliverence from dangers jn this pres- 
 ent life, and to gratitude for the same, giving glory to God 
 for present help in time of need. 
 
 ‘We live ina community, which in the past year has both 
 been visited and delivered by the hand of God. With the 
 City of Charleston, our Parish has been identified from the 
 earliest period of its foundation, two centuries ago, to the 
 present moment. Scarcely had the woodman’s axe cleared 
 a space for the first settlement, when among the colonists 
 there were steps taken to build the first Church of St. 
 Philip on the spot where St. Michael’s, forty years after- 
 wards, was erected and now stands. From that day to 
 this, throughall “the charges and chances of this mortal 
 life,’ through wars and peace, fire, pestilence and tempest, 
 the congregations of St. Philip’s, for eight generations, have 
 shared with their fellow-citizens the vicissitudes cf an event- 
 ful history. Fifty-two years ago, we saw our second colo- 
 nial Church in ruins, after a destructive fire. Twenty-three 
 years ago, our third church, the present one, was consider- 
 ably injured by the bombardment of the city, and its services 
 suspended for about two years. The cyclone of August, 
 1885, again damaged it. The earthquake of last summer 
 
 ‘nearly shook it to the ground. 
 

 
 4 
 
 No event in our local or parochial history can be compared — 
 
 with this last. For, over and beyond the loss of life and 
 property which it caused, the terrors and distresses of that 
 first night,, together with the anxious days, nights, and 
 weeks that followed, have registered themselves on our 
 hearts and minds in indelible characters. 
 
 True, there should mingle with those painful recollections 
 other memories of merciful escapes and glad deliverances in 
 that time of peril,—memories that should never be allowed 
 to fade away. To find ourselves, assembling together, this 
 New Year, with not one person missing, by reason of that 
 calamity, from our hundred and seventy-five families; to 
 remember that when we left our houses in alarm, our flight 
 was not in such wintry weather as now we have; to re- 
 member that, though deprived of our Church, we have been 
 permittted to assemble for divine worship with no intermis- 
 sion of services; to sum up, as was done in the Report of last 
 Sunday, a total of church offerings and contributions for 
 
 1886 only a hundred dollars less than that for 1885; to record 
 
 donations of money from many directions towards repairing 
 and rebuilding our Church property,—such considerations 
 should lift up our hearts in praise and gratitude to Almighty 
 God. ; 
 
 Yet, after all, the facts of public and private loss, of 
 municipal, parochial, and individual loss, remain to give us 
 serious thought and deep concern. Let us review together 
 some of the leading events of the Parish, since the end of 
 August last. . 
 
 As soon as examination could be made, the Vestry in- 
 formed itself concerning the damages received on the night 
 of the 31st of August. As regards the Church, it appeared 
 that the main body of its steeple was unhurt, but that a 
 section of it, immediately below the spire, had been partly 
 thrown down. The falling of some heavy masses of brick 
 and iron from that height caused three severe injuries to the 
 building below, viz: the breaking through of the roof over 
 the southern gallery, the destruction of the roof of the 
 southern porch, and the damaging of the: western porch. 
 

 
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 In the interior, but little plastering had been thrown down. 
 down. The beautiful Corinthian columns with’.the full 
 ornamentation of the order in stucco-work, appeared not at 
 all injured ; but cracks over the arches of the chancel, and in 
 the arch above and behind the organ, bore witness to the 
 destructive violence of the first heavy shocks. The organ 
 itself escaped injury, and so also did the stained-glass 
 windows. None of the wood-work of the pulpit, reading- 
 desk or chancel, or panelling of the galleries, was injured. 
 And yet it wasimpracticable to hold services inthe Church, 
 even if a part of the congregation had been willing to 
 venture there. The large breach in the roof over the 
 southern gallery rendered the building too open to the 
 weather, and fragments of loosened plaster might fall at any 
 moment. Accordingly, it was decided to seek soine 
 place for the worship of the congregation on the next 
 Sunday, and St. Stephen’s Chapel, Anson Street, became our 
 place of refuge during all the month of September; except 
 that on Sunday afternoons, a service was held, during that 
 month, in private rooms of a member of the Vestry, kindly 
 lent us for that purpose, in the lower part of the city. 
 
 I am sure we drew nigh to God in spirit and in truth, and 
 He drew nigh to us at those times of alarm, unrest, and 
 perplexity. For several reasons our congregations were not 
 large in September. Some families had been absent before, 
 some left the city after the great shock: some found the 
 places of assembly inconvenienly distant : others felt anxious 
 about leaving home for more than an hour at a time: all 
 felt strange in strange places and unaccustomed seats. But 
 it was good for us to be there where the Bread of Life was 
 broken: we did well in not forsaking the assembling of our- 
 selves together. Few of us can forget, how in Anson 
 Street, and in Gibbes Street, we humbled ourselves under the 
 mighty hand of God; how we reached out to feel, with the 
 touch of. faith, the reality of the everlasting arms of God, 
 that were, all the while, our unseen, but most strong 
 support. It was then, indeed, that we called upon Him, as 
 a congregation, in the time of trouble. He did deliver us, 
 according to His faithful word, and we should glorify Him. 
 
6 
 
 With the coming in of the month of October, our way 
 was made clearer by the very generous tender of this com- 
 modious room, in the name of a leading business firm of 
 Charleston.* The Vestry gratefully accepted the offer, 
 
 and immediately fitted the room for services, by bringing 
 
 hither some of the sacred furniture of St. Philip's, and 
 making everything ready for our use on the first Sunday 
 of that month. 
 
 It isto be hoped, that no further change, or removal, 
 may be found necessary, until the time for the re-opening 
 of our Church, and our glad return to its sacred courts. 
 
 Meanwhile, the work of repair has been begun, and every- — 
 
 thing is made to look forward hopefully to our holding 
 Easter services there, on the second Sunday in April. Not 
 that all work of restoration will then be completed, but 
 sufficient to enable us to resume the use of the main body 
 
 of the Church. We shall have to enter by the doors of 
 
 the cross-aisle, as neither the vestibule nor the organ-gallery 
 can be made ready by that date. As to the probable cost 
 of repairs, and the ways and means provided, or to be pro- 
 vided, your Vestry has not furnished me with definite infor- 
 mation. The work is done by day’s labor, and not by 
 contract. I can only say, that there was no authority for the 
 
 public statement made some weeks ago, which put the cost . 
 
 at fromm $25,000 to $30,000. I have never heard the Vestry 
 mention any probable cost higher that $15,000, nearly one- 
 half of which has already been provided through donations 
 from without the Diocese. Even though our hopes, from 
 
 the. Appeal of the House of Bishops to the Church in the 
 
 United States, have not been, and may never be, realized, 
 you should not let any spectre of debt rise before you to 
 discourage your outlook. The sum to be raised will not 
 
 be likely to exceed $6,000 or $7,000, and may be borrowed - 
 
 on the securiy of your Glebe lands. This latter property 
 has itself been injured, however, to the extent of about ten 
 per cent. of its estimated value. 
 
 Together with the Church, the Sunday-School building 
 
 has suffered damage, estimated at from $1,000 to $1,500. 
 
 
 
 *F, W. Wagener & Go, 
 
 
 
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 The St. Philip's Church Home, on the Queen Street wing 
 of the building, the older part, has been considerably 
 damaged, so much so as to require the disuse of those rooms 
 until the spring, when it is hoped that both repairs and im- 
 provements may be made. The Bishop has set-apart some 
 portion of the rebuilding-fund for that purpose, I am told, 
 three thousand dollars; but itis likely that more will be 
 required for actual improvements, over and above repairs. 
 
 At present, the lady inmates, though a little crowded, 
 have been made comfortable for the winter, occupying 
 almost entirely the Church Street wing of the building. 
 Under the trying circumstances of their danger and ex- 
 posure during the earthquake nights last summer, none of 
 them, I am happy to say, were made to suffer very seriously 
 in health. While some of them were very infirm, and all 
 were anxious and distressed at the calamity which suddenly 
 turned them out of doors to seek their safety in the open 
 air, I recall with pleasure, and a pardonable pride in woman’s 
 power of self-control, the admirable conduct which they 
 exhibited. I give glory to God for the testimony of His 
 grace granted them, to calm and steady their feeble nerves, 
 to brace their shrinking frames against impending danger. 
 
 Among the many vivid scenes my memory of that dread- 
 ful night has pictured on its tablets, there will ever remain 
 a group of houseless women, seated amid the graves of the 
 eastern church-yard, speaking in low tones to one another; 
 the starry vault of the midnight heavens overhead; and, 
 standing out from their heights of darkness, the steeple of 
 St. Philip's lighted up by threatening fires. 
 
 There remains a pleasing duty to be discharged in 
 chronicling for your information the generous gifts of indi- 
 viduals, and the offerings of some thoughtful congregations 
 of our Church in the United States, which have been sent 
 to me for distribution. A small part only came for the 
 designated purpose of rebuilding St. Philip’s. By far the 
 
 greater part came to be dispensed among the needy, the 
 
 sick, the suffering of the Parish and entire community. 
 First, towards rebuilding the Church, I received in Sep- 
 

 
 8 
 
 tember from a society of ladies connected with the Parish of 
 the Monumental Churchin Richmond, Va., $15. Later, from 
 Holy Trinity—New York City, through Rev. Dr. McKim, the 
 Rector, $156, and from a friend in Galveston, Texas, $35- 
 These latter sums were paid over by me to the Bishop: 
 the former to our Parish Treasurer, together with $5 
 from an individual; while $10 from two individuals were 
 paid by me to the Treasurer of the St. Philip's Church 
 Home. Altogether, under this head of rebuilding, I 
 received about $200. 1 am not exact in returning it 
 here, because the offering from New York was entered by 
 the Bishop in his general fund for the city Churches, St. 
 Philip’s having a certain part, as his books will show. The 
 large donation from Old Trinity Parish was received through 
 the Vestry, and was on a previous occasion referred to by 
 me in addressing you. 
 
 Then, from eight other Parishes, two in North Carolina, 
 two in Virginia, one in Central New York, one in. Massa- 
 chusetts, one in Vermont, and one in South Carolina, there 
 were sent me, for the sufferers by the earthquake, offerings 
 to the amount of $445.86. And, from a Parish in West- 
 chester County, New York, came a large box of clothing. 
 
 While, for the same object, donations from fourteen indi- 
 viduals were received by me, to the amount of $940. I say 
 fourteen individuals, that being the number of those only 
 who were known to me in the transaction or correspondence. 
 Thus two members of this congregation transmitted to me 
 sums received from Baltimore, amounting to $312.00. 
 Bishop Howe gave me for distribution $150.00, of the 
 amount sent him from other Dioceses. To summarise: 
 
 I received, for rebuilding.+:.). 3... .¥...3555 eee $200.00 
 From eight Parishes for the sufferers.......... 445.86 
 From fourteen or more persons for the sufferers.. 940.00 
 
 
 
 Of the funds sent for distribution, one hundred dollars 
 
 OT ae re ee 
 

 
 9 
 
 went by designation to one person, fifty dollars by designa- 
 tion to two persons, forty in like manner to four persons. 
 Where the distribution sas left to me, as it was for the 
 most part, I apportioned the money in sums, varying with 
 the necessity of the case, from two to twenty-five dollars, 
 and in this mode of distribution more than eighty‘individ- 
 uls and families were assisted, counting a family as but cne 
 individual. 
 
 It was, indeed. a privilige to cause ‘‘the widow’s heart to 
 sing for joy,” and the despondent to be cheered with hope, 
 at such a time of wide-spread anxiety and distress. It was 
 then that I was permitted through the bounty of others to 
 see and know with them, that “it is more blessed to give 
 than to receive.” Not that my blessing, as almoner, was to 
 be compared with theirs who gave me to distribute, but it 
 was mine to receive for them the pressure of a grateful 
 
 hand, the tribute of a tear-filled eye, the broken utterance 
 of “God. bless you,” from their beneficiaries. 
 
 : And so, the eventful year of our Lord, 1886, drew to its 
 close with many a thanksgiving to Almighty God, within 
 and without our Parish, for his great deliverance, and His 
 raising up friends to aid and comfort us in our adversity. 
 Our beautiful temple. threatened to its downfall, has yet 
 been ‘spared us, and we have been helped to restore it. Our 
 lives have been given us from the very jaws of death, to 
 glorify God in the years which remain. 
 
 ~ When I visited St. Philip's Church with your sexton to 
 €Xamine its interior, a few hours after the great shock, we had 
 first to clamber over the wreck of the roof piled up in the 
 southern porch. As we together entered the vestibule, 
 lighted by a candle, making darkness visible,and passed up 
 the middle aisle toward the chancel, a small object at my feet 
 attracted my attention. I stooped and picked it up. It 
 proved to be a perfect little flower, which had fallen from 
 among the stucco, or plaster, ornaments of the vaulted ceiling 
 overhead. I took it home and have kept it, for the lesson it 
 would teach us all—“cast down but not destroyed.” Again, 
 as I turned away from the chancel, and was passing to the 
 
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 vestibule, my eyes lifted upward, caught sight of the bright 
 stars shining down through the large break in the roof of the 
 south gallery. An unwonted, an unwelcome, sight to a 
 beholder in its bare reality of sense and substance, but oh, 
 how grateful, how familiar, in their emblematic lesson for 
 the children of God, seemed the stars to me that night! 
 Through !oss to gain! Through toil and turmoil to rest! 
 Through darkness to light! Through ruin and decay to 
 lasting habitations in glory unfading and eternal! 
 
 Sometimes our faith all but fails us, when much buffeted 
 by adversity, with clouded, darkened, skies above us, we 
 strive to penetrate, in human foresight, to the secret pur- 
 pose of the Most High. Our faith wou/d fail us; but what 
 is our faith? It is not in ourselves, our feelings, fervors, © 
 heats or raptures. All the value, all the eternal worth, of 
 “precious faith” comes from the fixed, eternal, heavenly 
 object, to which the eye of faith is directed. That object is 
 out of and above ourselves. It is the Divine Word. It is 
 the Divine Person of the Son of God, “Jesus Christ, the same 
 yesterday, to-day, and forever.” 
 
 Though, to our dust-clouded eyes, He should appear, at 
 times, but as a speck of light upon the face of darkness, but 
 as a dim star shining down upon us in the night of trouble, 
 * yet be it ours to keep the eyes ever turned to this Word of 
 God! In its light we shall see light : by its holy teaching 
 
 we shall be informed: by its guiding, as by a light shining 
 in a dark place,—as by the leading of a star, the wise men 
 from the east were at this season led to the babe in Bethle- 
 hem,—so, by the Word of God in these Holy Scriptures, as 
 we honour them, shall we be led, from faith to knowledge, 
 from knowing in part now, to knowing in perfection then, 
 to the full fruition of the Godhead, the complete and bliss- 
 ful enjoyment of the everlasting presence and love of God.— 
 Amen.