the county of Orange,
[Virginia], that my eye was caught by a cluster of horses tied near a
ruinous, old, wooden house in the forest, not far from the roadside.
Having frequently seen such objects before, in travelling through
those States, I had no difficulty in understanding that this was a
place of religious worship.

Devotion alone should have stopped me, to join in the duties of the
congregation; but I must confess that curiosity to hear the preacher
of such a wilderness, was not the least of my motives. On entering, I
was struck with his preternatural appearance. He was a tall and very
spare old man; his head which was covered with a white linen cap, his
shrivelled hands, and his voice, were all shaking under the influence
of a palsy; and a few moments ascertained to me that he was perfectly
blind.

The first emotions that touched my breast were those of mingled pity
and veneration. But how soon were all my feelings changed! The lips of
Plato were never more worthy of a prognostic swarm of bees, than were
the lips of this holy man! It was a day of the administration of the
sacrament; and his subject was, of course, the passion of our Saviour.
I have heard the subject handled a thousand times; I had thought it
exhausted long ago. Little did I suppose that in the wild woods of
America, I was to meet with a man whose eloquence would give to this
topic a new and more sublime pathos than I had ever before witnessed.

As he descended from the pulpit to distribute the mystic symbols,
there was a peculiar, a more than human solemnity in his air and
manner, which made my blood run cold, and my whole frame shiver.

He then drew a picture of the sufferings of our Saviour; his trial
before Pilate; his ascent up Calvary; his crucifixion; and his death.
I knew the whole history; but never until then had I heard the
circumstances so selected, so arranged, so colored! It was all new;
and I seemed to have heard it for the first time in my life. His
enunciation was so deliberate that his voice trembled on every
syllable; and every heart in the assembly trembled in unison. His
peculiar phrases had the force of description, that the original
scene appeared to be at that moment acting before our eyes. We saw the
very faces of the Jews; the staring, frightful distortions of malice
and rage. We saw the buffet; my soul kindled with a flame of
indignation; and my hands were involuntarily and convulsively
clinched.

But when he came