, 1870-05-08

again. He danced, be puHed, be snoEted, he
laughed, he made faces at his wife, he looked
ogre-lke at his children, and be jumped upon
down that the table broke down itself and
scattered itself upon the floor. Then came
another indulgence N the apple-jack and the
spirit agsin left, and the man began tha work
Of repairing the demolished table.
Nens Of The strange revelation spread Ike
wildfrs Throughout the village. Some of the
old Calvinist remarked, '9I tell you he's got
the devil IN i'm, and it outer be taken out Of
i'm" Others, however, did not take this view
OF the caso, and number at once accepted
the affair ns revelation, out Of which was
destined to grow DOW and powerful sgHtem
OF religion.
Here it ought to he said that every n1an,
woman, and child IN Macopin is q church goer.
This ia = religious community in every Bense
Of the phrase Positive piety has always been
leading characteristic Of the people who 1--we
in this region. Most OF them were originally
Methodiats, although some were Bsptis!ts OF
the hxri-ehe1 order, and few Here -.naulhezs
Of the Presbyterian Denomination,
As already eaid, Merrill w.a Me.hod;at
regular old-f fashioned sbou sng M1;ha1ist trha
delighted in his "amens enI II bajIelnr.rs' !"
and made The lonssst prss; sc;erfs u offered Up By
sny person usane W. country round. The dsy
Iono%1nG tne -te2aion he called number Of
I
suited with them IS to the course that ought to
be pursued in order to establish religion
based on the new revelation, which he claimed
was the work Of Il the spirit"
While the deliberations were going On, &
young man rnshcd into the house and began
| jumping, rolling on the floor, standing On his
hest, and doing many other thinga. lie, too,
!, " me spi,it-" The manifestations On this day
did not stop here, for suddenly The whole
| gathering began shouting and putting and
performing al the other things which 81 the
| spirit had already caused Merrill and the
young man to do.
soon as ''the spirit" took rest, . ferEent
prayer WIS offered, and then the assemblage
talked tho matter over agafn. Finally, it was
resolved that on the following Sunday an ef-
fort should be made to convert the pastor OF
[ the Methodist church-the Rev. Mr.. WleY-to
The new dispeneation..
When Sunday came. the usual services OF
| the church went On until the time came where
| tho pastor usually took his text End began
| preaching At this moment Merrill jumped
up, and. declaring that he Was full of '.the
spirit, ," began putting, blowing, and dancing,
clsrgymon resumed lis seat and patient
1y waited to1 Brother Merrill 70 subeide.
But the spirited brother did not Hnhside.
He called upon others in IN ths assem-
| BIZ 70 initiate LIS exampiA, prom
ieinE them that if they would F" the spirit y
would also enter them, and they would be
made all right. At this about twenty persons
several women among the uumber-spranG
up and went through the same performance a.
thoae with which Brother Merrill had enter
tained tue congregation. The result WEB thai
the meeting for that day was broken up.
| Merrill succeeded in making many proselEtes
to his new religion. Among them was MAJ
| bzr- i 4
] both OF them men OF property and influence
These were also members Of the Methods
| Church In less than = year nearly 100 per
cons were converted In the meantime the be-
| IeEets had formed q society under the uame ol
.'Jelloyah's Band, " and by this name tho sec'
| is still known.
| number Of clergymen belonging to the
| Newark Conference Of the NJ E. Church hsye
been sent to this place, but in every instance
| they have been driven away. No violence to.
ward them has been peTpetEated, but they
hnvo been sneered at and advised to go to
gone other quarter Of the globe, that their re-
| igion WAS not n1ed-not" enough, and they
| should espouse the new faith and join Je
horah's Band" Other clergymen from Patar-
eon and Newark have visited this place, and
| undertaken to persuade the believers IN this
new jumping, dancing, and putting religion
that they are in error, and that the spirit which
Eas ente1ea tneGn ~ noe the Hoy Ghost, as
devil
The regular meetings OF che baud are held
on Sunday, on which. day not even cooking is
allowed Tea-kettlea are not even permitted
to sing, and children are warned that II they
laugh er p1sy on that day they viii meet with
prompt and dreadful punishment from :" the
spirit. A mid-week meeting is held on Thurs
day night at the house Of some member OF the
band Children are not permitted to attend
this meeting; and young people are not al
lowed to join in the athletic performances. If
any persons happen to laugh an honest laugh,
they. are nr1aigned on the spot and severely
roFr!manded. + tho offenderis a Young lady,
she Is leptosed by . venerable member Of her
own sex r the offending person is young
man, ho is eh4stised by oneof the male officers
od 1ne oano. -.-,
t'.t;e Conse1te 70 .ne ne" iattn a1e pnt On ahoEI
piooan,on, p,e LIZ no one u pe!ma.ted to become
a1sna 4tat r ehsa ~ st'es onnIaAaoie
~, sne9 a. .1ao eaon US .. a s1s spis INTO
he = taken 70 2 large pond near the village
a1a+r;tt a..u osp.t1a u spels 9i e1e Eeet
a1o tnfasF, nugai reopse. ana exhibit fuN as
n;ficaa1 mHsa iahse q y 70 pa 1ouno IN moss
sa41ges sa.ouenous tno co1nnS.
tho na mni,a Son'eIsa.1om % WIN .ssent eo1seft
a1:d tnia morning. 81 rofmetly pc res1aed u Mont.
cbnTc II H. as;d that ha ~ III 81 oap,st ;.
ve.-s se arf hs;arad IT, 4; ~ E ~ sp..i. t.l.
IND nGsb;na- ciss ,sIa,7 hin. = r., r. .tutb saat
ancarteS ~ docf,,na - Gh-;a4;s,,;t .ao ~ Sc.
mnir.ta1 ~ tfe siatT.o3is+ GhnIrI, ~ plo~
0EaS Il ~ n,,a,se...5 t;La IT,
B;ble and New Testament cra.V cnn3 ~ > ~
Tao.s, ~ ~, J>.,.t hn1;a. esi5y moiu "
t;cna hnra kent n.ra ,s;tf, rs.o1st;a ~ W.
tba Ir1e raj;e3n1;sta ~ ~ 49, WI w ~
10 ~ III ~ VII y. ,a sIe 41tt H. nnH We WI
thaT casarna,,ce s,os1, ~ a. .oo o .tn,,
cot 10 be-" NV "-''% >-o. "
nRut y T asked nrcn don.t ccn,r,,ro r,,-.
selves. Il the Mor1nons. d. ynn ~ s'e1'
NNot nnrb. y ha ran1ied live ara M ,o1,<,..
no,sts- We be,icva + ~, ono.u;9a ~ 5ac,95sa p5a
WHIT ue bej;eya ;a that ~ba,, ta ,;-;+ - :,
rs re ira ent;re1v 1,rder ~ .nrtro, n5 ~ -
That va Il, vshiia nnssr ,Set nnntrrf - - .aas
corflanco With the 1own 49, 49, ~
1tran .-a-s- 49, -. -,.:..-,
!. 4I Ma1i ny 1m PetSon III N. yen yons secs.
<,; Mttn, T., ~ .sA {ou. ne answerea, we're
eoane % sp.eao .nl8 leae1on !arodshous tns
ena LII, ne ,s, vs ~ efeae r. mss.en 70 Ps1aom,
fn1s "" ~ a!a o11s s"3s 'n1 "a LIZ Ia
osa nons 'i ~ ~ uu ~ le eaat al ~ ~ l. any ma
" ths III; Ho ~ ~ ~ y ~ - pe ~
" au1 W. " ne ep1!'s anu w taosu m "
asaan!gu g heA, puH, oance, ana "1e7tle'
wren fe 1t gag una comes 1ol mum 70 40 IL
-, 1ua oetese saaI Pais9n oaGe cpnVel.ea
VII WI nnsEt ~ 70 eatae4y noanooue" W ene sp'i''
oon sou'
yes When ma9 1eany gets the spn1l
INTO nun ne never can =. 20 resny "iskeo man
asa.n Ra;, YOU see' nsss s y nay 20 Thara;s
- ~ ae N.Y. - ~ sg ue.u o. r,f;1;o,.
- = ~ .;aer ~ ua IN Son1, 49, tire3
~ ~ in-n4,;,,@ 80 ~ ~. m r. N = ha ha-
in,,s.a ~ - ~ !aIGSs ( IaGbnSSssbss III hfand - - "
heAEs ~ "eAps'a q A'"A- - ......-