And he did it by faith more than by all other things put together--a
faith so rapt that, to our less passionate natures, it seems to have
been the very insanity of fanaticism. But it did the work; and that is
the thing after all.
His sermons do not seem to be more remarkable when you read them than
those of many another pulpiteer, although they are full of thought. We
are told, however, that his voice had in it a terrible earnestness,
and his manner was so impassioned that he sometimes seemed to forget
himself.
But all agree that the magic with which he wrought his wonders from
the pulpit was the feeling that everybody had that Fra Girolamo
_believed what he said_, _knew_ what he said, _meant_ what he said.
The immediate effect was astonishing--(the after effect still thrills
the world). Mrs. Oliphant quotes Burlamacchi's description of
Savonarola's influence over the people thus: "The people got up in the
middle of the night to get places for the sermon. They came to the
door of the cathedral waiting outside until it should be opened,
making no account of the inconvenience, neither of the cold nor the
wind nor the standing in winter with their feet on the marble.
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