Page:The silent prince - a story of the Netherlands (IA cu31924008716957).pdf/35

 A dagger hung by his side. In fact, every man present had a weapon of some kind concealed about his person. The Netherlanders believed in the righteousness of armed resistance, and their preachers were of necessity men of war.

When Francis Junius rose to speak, Hugo Berlaymont forgot everything else, and gazed as one fascinated into the dark, attractive face. Junius was pre-eminently an orator. Feeling deeply the truth of the message he had to bring, he swept others by storm. Yet he never so far forgot himself but what he held immense forces in reserve. He possessed the graceful eloquence, the picturesque diction, and striking imagery of the south, combined with a magnetic voice, which was capable of expressing every shade of emotion.

God's pioneers in the Reformation were strong, rugged, uncompromising men, like Martin Luther, John Knox, John Calvin. These men were like the backwoodsman, who with axe in hand hews a path through the primeval forest. Junius was the representative of a class of preachers who came after, and who by their persuasive logic won by love what the others had gained through fear. Each type of reformer was necessary in God's plan.

The preacher's text was in the words of Jesus, “I came not to bring peace upon the earth, but a sword”; and his discourse included a vigorous