"
Here Mr. Hawke ended rather abruptly; his earnest manner, striking
countenance and excellent delivery had produced an effect greater than
the actual words I have given can convey to the reader; the virtue lay
in the man more than in what he said; as for the last few mysterious
words about his having heard a voice by night, their effect was
magical; there was not one who did not look down to the ground, nor
who in his heart did not half believe that he was the chosen vessel on
whose especial behalf God had sent Mr. Hawke to Cambridge. Even if
this were not so, each one of them felt that he was now for the
first time in the actual presence of one who had had a direct
communication from the Almighty, and they were thus suddenly brought a
hundredfold nearer to the New Testament miracles. They were amazed,
not to say scared, and as though by tacit consent they gathered
together, thanked Mr. Hawke for his sermon, said good-night in a
humble, deferential manner to Badcock and the other Simeonites, and
left the room together. They had heard nothing but what they had
been hearing all their lives; how was it, then, that they were so
dumbfounded by it? I suppose partly because they had lately begun to
think more seriously, and were in a fit state to be impressed,
partly by the greater directness with which each felt himself
addressed, through the sermon being delivered in a room, and partly by
the logical consistency, freedom from exaggeration, and profound air
of conviction with which Mr.
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