Smyrna times., 1871-07-26
MiSceIIU II e o Il s.
From the New York Tribune, July 81
The National Camp Meeting.

lnlS cOnVOcaLlOn, now III session at ROund
Lake, offers curious psychological study to
any outside observer who can look 1T it with
out sectarian prejudice or partaty. The
MethOdlsts in body continue to exhibit those
individual traits which give them their odd
mixture of power and weakness. In camp as
in class, he is sincere, unreticent, headloug;
he likes to feel himself the pioneer in the
Christian army has more relish for the chop
| ping down Of the buwarks Of Satan than the
slow, patient upbuilding Of the divine temple
| prays more than he reasons; sins weepS and
repents Of his sin of;ener than he eradcates t
| by the tardy construction Of opposing habit
! While the Episcopaan seeks to draw the sin
ner into the fold by the genial influences OF
association or aesthetic taste. and the PreSby
terian pauses to argue with him, our Wesleyan
brother has taken him by the throat, hailed
him to his knees, shown him the pit of hell
and the glOries Of heaven, and has him on
his feet again in trce, secure in saintship
The Methodist like the Catholic, moves the
masses by working upon the emotional part OF
their nature. There is an odd likeness, by the
way, between these antagonlstic sectS; one
scruples as little as the other to use all the
machinery of terror, hope, or superstition !;
in each the faithful see visions and dream
dreams, and in each, too. earthly Sauctifcation
is possible. The manner OF work is in essence
the same, however different are the creed and
aims, and the same class Of minds and TEN
peraments, educated or otherwise, are attract
J ed toward them.
As to the amount Of power that can be ex.
erted by any system which thus appeals to the
emotional mau, the action of the Methdist
church during the war, or its work in tn,
great movements Of temperance and Social Re
. form, offers us salient proofs every day. The
American, black or white, relishes hearty
enthusiasm in his politics or religion, and OF
fers himself willingly to the manipulation of the
Wesleyan. Fortunately Tor him the leaders o
this church are, as a rule well informed an'
clear-sighted as well as bold, and are likely t.
place him i'll position a. reasonable as heron
/! in the van of human progress.
Camp meetings usually offer the ludicrOu
side of this church system to the public (for
has its absurdities as we'll as any other), an,
even the just and charitable of other sects ar
too apt covertly to sneer at them. The inev
liable disorder, excess, and exaggeratiOn are o
the surface, and it is easier to laugh at ther
than to appreciate the vehement sincerity an
pure motives underneath. Putting aside a
ridicule, however, there are some points in tn
e conduct of the present meeting which seem t
nj us irrecOnciable with the Shrewd practica! goo
sense Of its leaders. We can understand
from their ordinary habit, why they shOul
enforce an uncertain dogma not by argumen
witnesses. But when they minge wit
y, their prayers sneers at the well-meaning teacl
ers in other sects because Of " the high coined
of their linen and silken robes, we must r
s mind our ardent brethren thar, while relglC
itself is a matter of the soul, its outward gu
'c' and symbols are the outgrOwth of heredital
nd or natural taste or temperament. " God,
a they tell us, is in hurry. We confess v
see no evidence of it. At least, He in leisure
! oh hoi 70
on on to Him in his own natural way, whether tn
al be by the decorated chancel of St. Adams
IN the crowded tents at Round Lake o.
friends, too, prayed en- mdSSe for certain prals
worthy objects p" for the reformation Of {
inebriate, just out of fit Of delirum tremens
ell for "a melancholy man who had not spokt
for four years for the " cure of a woman vi
refused medicine and trusted alone to God
' grace" Common sense and common revC
. ence would suggest that cure in these cas-
was to be found most rOtably in the ration
treatment of an inebrlate asylum, in the SIX
of physician who unders God cerebral diseaS
and in drug shop; and if our friends h
shown to their weaker brethren that the
m vine Economy is not only Almighty but t
basis of all system that itunjerleS all hum
i, means; that drugs doctors, and ssylums 8
A its appointed agents, as much as cries 81
IN. miracles in crowded cOnventicles, they wOU
not only have done more honor to their Nj
ter, but to their own capacity for compreher
for ing Him.
ew With all respect also for their sincerity
motive, we read with amazement the account
leirr children's meetings, melted and urged on
aia fathers and mothers, where babies of i've YET
old led in prayer the mass of children a
Z. admirng adults, and other infants OF seven a
. eight gave their version of Gods dealir
with their souls. Whether a child left
!. its ball and doll, and proper insignifcan
and taught the simple story of Jesus on
: mothers knee, or perched on a pulpit ch
tering, parrot-like, with inflated vanity a
feverish brain to an applauding crowd of
morbid attempts at self analyses, is on
surest way TO healthy manhood, or to rev
nc ence and humility, we leave for our brethl
"a to determine. The question demands m
q "a consideration than they appear to have gi'
a"U it.
nut