Professor Ticknor, speaking in one of his letters of the intense
excitement with which he listened to Webster’s Plymouth address, says:
Three or four times I thought my temples would burst with the
gush of blood; for, after all, you must know that I am aware
it is no connected and compacted whole, but a collection of
wonderful fragments of burning eloquence, to which his manner
gave tenfold force. When I came out, I was almost afraid to come
near him. It seemed to me that he was like the mount that might
not be touched, and that burned with fire.
The lips of the prophet of old were touched by the live coal. No great
thing is ever done without earnestness. (Text.)
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* * * * *
When Patrick Henry concluded his well-known speech in March,
1775, in behalf of American independence, “no murmur of applause
followed,” says his biographer. “The effect was too deep.” After
the trance of a moment, several members of the assembly started
from their seats. The cry, “To arms!” seemed to quiver on every
lip, and glance from every eye. What was the secret of his
power? The spirit of freedom so completely filled him that it
overflowed into all other lives with which he came in contact.
Every Christian is given a message that makes for eternal
freedom. With what earnestness ought we to advocate this much
greater cause. (Text.)
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