While
he was preaching, a tall thin young woman, in deep mourning, came in,
and room was made for her to sit down next to a very fat negress, whom I
had observed at our own church in the morning. The latter passed her arm
round the shoulder of this young woman, as they sat together, and I
observed that at various solemn passages of the old man's address, they
began to rock their bodies, gently at first, but afterwards more and
more violently, till at last they got into a way of rocking themselves
quite forward off their seat, and then on it again, the fat woman
cuddling up the thin one more and more closely to her. There seemed a
sort of mesmeric influence between the two, occasioning in both similar
twistings and contortions of the body, shakings of the head, lookings
upward, lookings downward, and louder words of exclamation and
approbation. This was not continuous in its violence, though there was
generally _some_ movement between them; but the violence of it came on
in fits, and was the effect of the old man's words. It was very curious
that whenever he repeated the text (a far from exciting one, I thought),
the agitation became most violent. The other women continued to murmur
applause, and one woman in advance of the others (a very frightful one)
looked upwards, and frequently smiled a heavenly (?) smile.
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