Now
his words ring like the voice of doom, filled with thunder and
lightning, now they become soft and persuasive with smiling mien.
With a single cadence, or a play of the facial muscles, or a
slight gesture, he can portray a person, a situation, or an
object, so that it appears living in the sight of his hearers.
And what the word alone cannot do, is accomplished in the most
brilliant manner by the virtuosity of his delivery. He does
not speak his words, he presents them; they take bodily form
and seem alive."
In his more intimate relationships, on the other hand, in
face to face conversation or in the home circle, the man
takes on a quite different aspect; the prophet has become
the friend, the impassioned preacher has become the genial
story teller, and shares the gladsome or mirthful mood of
the hour. Such a personality as this may be analyzed; it
defies any concise synthesis. One resorts to figures of
speech, and they were abundantly resorted to by those who
paid him the tribute of their admiration and love upon the
occasion of his seventieth anniversary. Let us take an
instance at random from one of these tributes.
"The cataract that roars down to the free foaming sea.
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