“‘But your covenant with death shall be disannulled and your agreement with hell shall not stand.’”
As the speaker went on marshalling and massing with stern conviction the tremendous indictments and declarations of the Hebrew prophets, which the people before him had never heard thus definitely applied to their own social conditions, the dramatic effect became irresistible. A mighty blast of wind seemed to bow their heads, and many trembled and grew pale.
Suddenly John Gregory, whose whole face and figure had been rigid and set with the awe of what he spoke, stepped out to the very edge of the platform, and, with a gesture of gentleness and reconcilement, and a smile which relaxed the tense mood of his hearers, cried:—
“But this is not all! Never did the prophets leave the people without a ray of hope—never did they withhold
“‘Belief in plan of God enclosed in time and space,
Health, peace, salvation.’
“‘Is it a dream?
Nay, but the lack of it a dream,
And failing it life’s love and wealth a dream,
And all the world a dream.’”