The speaker's desk was moved back as a sign of the president's superior position, and directly in the center of the platform the president stood to speak.

He was dressed in a Prince Albert suit of finest black.

He wore a standing collar and a necktie snowy white.

The hair was combed away from that noble brow of his, and his handsome face showed that he was nerved for what he regarded as the effort of his life.
In his fierce, determined glance you could discover that latent fires, hitherto unsuspected even in his warm bosom, had been aroused.

The whole man was to speak that day.