“I always looked upon the jerks as a judgment sent from God, first, to bring sinners to repentance; and, secondly, to show professors that God could work with or without means…, and do whatsoever seemeth him good.”
“I am awair that those that have never saw these things [the jerks] will be ready to say it is utterly imposable and cannot be true. But who has not seen persons in fits…preform faits [feats] intirely beyand the power of man while in the exercises of reason?”
“[The Jerks consist] in a sudden inclination, or reclining, of the shoulders, and is so quick, that the head appears to move too slow for the shoulders…. This is common to both sexes, but with this difference, that men seldom have more than one jerk…; whereas, a woman will frequently continue a repetition of that motion…for ten or fifteen minutes, reclining backwards as far as her feet, or some other obstacle will permit her, and bending so far forwards, as almost to touch the floor with her head….”
“Charity M. came about 10 A.M. with the Jerks & in trouble & opened her mind to B. She said She received the Jerks to be a compelling power from God….”
“Mr. McGready said sometime afterwards that we could not account for jerking &c. on any natural principle, that the jerks were designed to answer the end of miracles, in drawing the attention of mankind & convincing infidels of the power of God….”
