Such did the old man
describe the fortunes of the old patriarchs to have been; and such,
having first entered into like obligations, pursuing them with the same
fond fixedness of purpose, did he promise should be the fortunes of all
who then listened to his voice.
As he proceeded to his peroration, he grew warmed with the broad and
boundless subject before him, and his declamation became alike bold and
beautiful. All eyes were fixed upon him, and not a whisper from the
still-murmuring woods which girded them in was perceptible to the senses
of that pleased and listening assembly. The services of the morning were
closed by a paraphrase, in part, of the psalm from which his discourse
had been drawn; and as this performance, in its present shape, is not to
be found, we believe, in any of the books devoted to such purposes, it
is but fair to conclude that the old man--not unwilling, in his
profession, to employ every engine for the removal of all stubbornness
from the hearts of those he addressed--sometimes invoked Poetry to smile
upon his devotions, and wing his aspirations for the desired flight.
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