He poured forth a "flood of argument and passion" which achieved the sublimes" earthly good, and happily exemplified the description which Percival has given of indignant patriotism expressed in eloquence:
"Its words
Are few, but deep and solemn, and they break
Fresh from the fount of feeling, and are full
Of all that passion, which, on Carmel, fired
The holy prophet, when his lips were coals,
The language winged with terror, as when bolts
Leap from the brooding tempest, armed with wrath
Commissioned to affright us, and destroy."—E. L. Magoon.
OTIS COMPARED WITH AMERICAN ORATORS.
"His eloquence, like that of his distinguished successors, was marked by a striking individuality.
"It did not partake largely of the placid firmness of Samuel Adams; or of the intense brilliancy and exquisite taste of the younger Quincy; or the subdued and elaborate beauty of Lee; or the philosophical depth of John Adams; or the rugged and overwhelming energy of Patrick Henry; though he, most of all Americans, resembled the latter."—E. L. Magoon.
OTIS COMPARED WITH ENGLISH ORATORS.
"Compared with English orators," Dr. Magoon says, "our great countryman was not unlike Sheridan in natural endowment.
"Like him, he was unequaled in impassioned appeals to the general heart of mankind.
"He swayed all by his electric fire; charmed the timid, and inspired the weak; subdued the haughty, and enthralled the prejudiced.
"He traversed the field of argument and invective as a Scythian warrior scours the plain, shooting most deadly arrows when at the greatest speed.