The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1881-12-08
Concerning brother Harrison.

Brother Harrison.
California Advertiser.
Exactly what constitutes "relig
is something very difficult of
and it is still o diff
cult to define what constitutes a ''re-
vivar' of religion. The writer once
hadth pleasure of witnessing q ne
gro camp-meeting on the Blue Ridge
Mountains, IN Virginia. At that
meeting mold celered woman got
religion" so powerfully that it laid
her fiat on her back, in which posi-
tion she sang hallelujah and worked
her passage clear down to the foot Of
a ravine at least thirty yards deep.
This may have been religion" We
are not prepared to say that it was
not, but, if it was, it bore a strange
resemblance to a wild corroboree
dance which tie same person once
witnessed among the native savages
of Australia. We are led thus to re-
fleet by contemplating the strange
proceedings which have been taking
place in a church located on Howard
street, in this city, for several weeks.
THE "Boy Preacher" who has been
engineering these proceedings, is a
professional "revivalist." The in
sufferable egotism with which he an
nounees the number of converts each
evening, the number that have been
converted during the revival" and
the total number converted fy him
during his twelve years struggle
with the Prince of Darkness, resem-
bles largely the manner in whicht the
ordinary run of quack doctors boast
LOT the number of cures which they
have effected, and smacks Of the
same spirit as that which causes the
Indian brave to exultingly exhibit
the string of scalplocks which bear
testimony Of his personal prowess
and. blood-thirsty instincts. Brother
Harrison may be a benevolent-mind-
ed man, who is laboring to do good
according to his lights, and for the
simple sakeo of doing good. But if
the Reverend Brother be a benevo-
lent minded man, his countenance,
carriage and manner libel him, and
that sardonic grin which occasional
ly fits across his harsh face utters
indispensable and outrageous SLAM
ders concerning him. In short, with
;jout q very violent stretch of the i'm
~Ilagination no intelligent person, who
has closely watched Brother Harri.
sons doings and sayings, can come
to any other conclusion than that he
is the exact counterpart of the alleg
urfca1 money-changers who were once
driven out of the Temple of Jerasa
Hem by Christ.
It is, however, in regard to The
! methods which he employs in con.
+ ducting his work that the ~reverent
brother gives the greatest offense
, Brother Harrison is neither an ora
tor nor a philosopher; he is a ranter
of the intense style. In his preach
ing, or, as he calls it, exhorting h,
never utters an impressive idea, anl
! it is an open question whether hi
marrow mind contains one. Mr.
! Harrison's style is the anecdotical
In other words, his sermons or ex
hortations consist of a series of sym
pathetic, tenr-appealing. heart i'm
| pressing f~alsehoods. In this partic
.fular line the News LETTER is free Il
, confess that Brother Harrison stand
: preeminent. Other revivalists hay,
told anecdotical falsehoods, but as
double -barreled, copper-fastened
back action, side-delivery falsifief
the Reverend Boy discounts tn,
l whole crowd. During the short pc
Rod that this young man has beel
| holding forth at the Howard stree
Church he has killed off, under dis
| tressingly painful circumstances
enough members of his own famil,
to people a whole State. Indeed,
. the Recording Angel has been care
t fully taking down every breach o
: the Ninth Commandment made b,
i this young man during his ministra
). tions on this coast, his duties having
, been very excessive. We do no
3 believe that this lying for the SAX,
i of religion is a good thing. In fact
| we do not think that anything iusti
/ ffes a man in deliberately violatin.
truth, and we are profoundly i'm
/ pressed with the fact that when sucl
t asthing is done in the sacred nam
of religion, religion is disgraced.
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