The strain and burden of a great message of deliverance to men has
again and again found the weak places in the faith and courage of the
most devoted and heroic of those to whom it has been entrusted. Moses
pleads under its pressure that another may be sent in his place, asking
despairingly, “Why hast thou sent me?” Elijah prays for death. Mohammed
passes years of despondency and hesitation under the sneers of those
who scoff, “There goeth the son of Abdallah, who hath his converse with
God!” Such shrinkings and doubtings enlist our sympathy, make us feel
the tie of a common humanity which binds us to such men. But no one,
I suppose, will maintain that perfect manliness would not suppress, at
any rate, the open expression of any such feelings. The man who has to
lead a great revolution should keep all misgivings to himself, and the
weight of them so kept must often prove the sorest part of his burden.