Sweeping, incisive, withering, blasting denunciation, logic
and poetry combining in one torrent of genuine eloquence, poured
confusion and dismay upon head and heart of all who set themselves
up for pillars of the church without practising the first principles
of the doctrine of Christ--men who, professing to gather their
fellows together in the name of Christ, conducted the affairs of
the church on the principles of hell--men so blind and dull and
slow of heart, that they would never know what the outer darkness
meant until it had closed around them--men who paid court to
the rich for their money, and to the poor for their numbers--men
who sought gain first, safety next, and the will of God not at all
--men whose presentation of Christianity was enough to drive the
world to a preferable infidelity.
Clementina listened with her very soul. All doubt as to whether
this was Malcolm's friend, vanished within two minutes of his
commencement. If she rejoiced a little more than was humble or
healthful in finding that such a man thought as she thought, she
gained this good notwithstanding--the presence and power of a
man who believed in righteousness the doctrine he taught. Also she
perceived that the principles of equality he held, were founded
on the infinite possibilities of the individual--and of the race
only through the individual; and that he held these principles
with an absoluteness, an earnestness, a simplicity, that dwarfed
her loudest objurgation to the uneasy murmuring of a sleeper.
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