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intolerable to men of right mind, and the policy which aimed at its indefinite extension was judged and condemned.
Parker at this time had need in truth of the two-edged sword of the Spirit.
On the one hand he encountered the foes of religious freedom, on the other the advocates and instruments of political oppression.
His sermons on theism belonged to one of these domains, those which treated of public men and measures to the other.
Among these last, I remember best that on Daniel Webster, and the terrible ‘Lesson for the Day’ which denounced Judge Loring for the part he had taken in the rendition of Anthony Burns.
The discourse which treated of Webster was indeed memorable.
I remember well the solemnity of its opening sentences, and the earnest desire shown throughout to do justice to the great gifts of the great man, while no one of his public misdeeds was allowed to escape notice.
The whole performance, painful as it was in parts, was very uplifting, as the exhibition of true mastery must always be. Its unusual length caused me to miss the omnibus which should have brought me to South Boston in good time for our Sunday dinner.
As I entered the house and found the family somewhat impatient of the unwonted delay, I cried, ‘Let no one find fault!
I ’
Houghton and Mifflin Company, 1899.
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