“I presume not to condemn the persons thus influenced [by the jerks], nor to detract from the sincerity of their devotion; but my wish is to remove the delusion of supposing it to be a bodily disease, and leave the intrinsic merits of the subject to Him, who “searcheth the hearts and trieth the reins of the children of men….”
“When any ask me to explain all these antics or exercises, I say I do not explain what I do not understand. Many who had these exercises did not understand them—would not account for them. I am not called to analyze or methodize the jerks: have no tools for that work….”
“O Lord, if thou wilt grant me the blessing she seems to enjoy, I will willingly have the jerks or anything else thou may please to put upon [me.]”
“It was about the year 1814, as near as we can ascertain—for there was no record kept of the matter—that the singular religious phenomenon called the “jerks” began to make its appearance at the camp-meetings….”
“Here I first saw what was called the jerks, a very strange as well as disgusting exercise….”
