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"I have to produce a sermon for next Sunday," he once wrote to a
friend. "For me a sermon is always a spontaneous production; I cannot
get one up. The idea must arise and grow up in my own mind. It is
usually hard labor for me to produce it outwardly and give it
suitable expression." But the effort did not appear in the delivery,
for his style, although emphatic, was easy and familiar; his
delivery, if not altogether according to the rules of elocution,
nevertheless gained his point completely. No word of his was
dead-born. His voice was not always clear, as he often suffered from
bronchial troubles, but it was not unpleasant, and had a penetrating
quality, being of that middle pitch which carries to the ends of a
large auditorium without provoking the echoes. His appearance was
very dignified, his tall frame, his broad face and large features
showing with striking effect. His action was simple and not
ungraceful, though frequently exceedingly energetic. As he never
sought emotional effects his power may be known by his unfailing
success in holding his audience perfectly attentive throughout long
argumentative discourses. Energy of conviction was one of the
strongest forces he possessed, and it took the shape of a gentle
constraint with which his positive utterances of Catholic principles
compelled assent. Sincerity of belief and liberty of soul were
admirably blended in his manner. He never appeared in public without
attracting many representatives of the mottled sectarianism of our
population; and this pleased him much, for he loved them, felt at
home with them, and was full of joy at the opportunity of addressing
them.

He was chagrined at the apathy he sometimes met with among Catholics
concerning the American apostolate. He found priests who would devote
much labor to collecting money for the propagation of the faith among
distant heathen races, but very few who would make a serious effort
for the conversion of their American fellow-citizens. Are Americans
of less worth in God's eyes than pagans and Buddhists? he would ask.
He thought no differently of the people of the United States than St.
Paul did of the Corinthians and Macedonians, groaning and travailing
with them to bring them forth members of Christ; or than St. Francis
Xavier did of the Japanese.

If asked how he was going to convert people, he would answer: "I am a
Catholic, and I know that I am right. I can prove that I am right.
What more do