Life and letters of Phillips Brooks . or twentyyears yet, even if I dare to think it then, that I have any rightto be painted. . Yours most faithfully, Phillips Brooks. There is one portrait of Phillips Brooks painted by Whitman, wherein has been preserved a certain qual-ity of expression which his photographs do not give. Notonly does it present the strength and grace of his stature,but the artist has caught what was, after all, the deepest, themost distinctive quality of his nature, the eternal child-like-ness, — something of that expression on his face, in thosewonderful afternoon
Life and letters of Phillips Brooks . or twentyyears yet, even if I dare to think it then, that I have any rightto be painted. . Yours most faithfully, Phillips Brooks. There is one portrait of Phillips Brooks painted by Whitman, wherein has been preserved a certain qual-ity of expression which his photographs do not give. Notonly does it present the strength and grace of his stature,but the artist has caught what was, after all, the deepest, themost distinctive quality of his nature, the eternal child-like-ness, — something of that expression on his face, in thosewonderful afternoon sermons in Trinity Church, which allremember and cherish, but no one can describe. The love of humanity for its own sake, the gifts of imagi-nation and sympathetic insight, these qualities, manifestedin his preaching from the first, explain, to some extent, theimpression he made as belonging to no one denominationor branch of the Christian church, but rather as belongingalike to all. A Swedenborgian lady remarked to her friend. jet. 50] MISUNDERSTANDINGS 597 as she came away from listening to him that Dr. Brookswas a Swedenborgian. She was told that others said thesame thing of him, that Unitarians claimed him, that Metho-dists held him as at heart one of their own, and so in otherchurches. That was all as it might be, she said, but sheknew ; Swedenborgians had certain unfailing tests of know-ing, and she could not be mistaken. Indeed, so far did thisconviction carry people, that they would sooner have believedthat Mr. Brooks was mistaken, or did not understand him-self, when he denied their claims, than that they could pos-sibly be mistaken in their judgment about him. There was danger in this situation, and trouble impendingfor Phillips Brooks. He was too great a man to be judgedby the canons of sectarian opinion. There was fear that hemight be entangled in a complicated network of misunder-standings. But so it was that Phillips Brooks was claimedby all alike, and listened
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