“The duration of this epidemic was much shorter than that of most of those in Europe. In a little more than a twelve-month, it had almost entirely disappeared…. It was to the scenes enacted at this time, we believe, that the epithet ‘Jerks’ was first applied.”
“[O]ccasionally I attended [revival meetings in 1817], & witnessed the disorders of Jerking, dancing, swooning….”
“I have frequently thought that a history of the singular exercises, called the “Jirks,” and other strange operations which affected the subjects of the great Kentucky Revival, would be interesting to my readers….”
“The character of this revival is the least mixed with what is called irregularities or extravangancies of any that I ever saw. We have had nothing of what is called the jirks or dance among us….”
“I am sure she will never forget the ‘Holy Roller’ meetings she attended while here…. In their meetings they shout, dance, jerk, roll on the floor, jump wildly, or lie in a trance as if dead. These, they claim, are different ways of showing that the ‘power’ is on them….”
