During this string of disappointments, Ernest has become a spry but aged man. He has progressed from being a hill farmer to the position of local lay preacher. The writer, who (in contrast to the first three contestants) frankly acknowledges his failure to fulfill the prophecy, caps his visit to the notch by attending one of Ernest's impromptu sunset sermons. By popular demand, the congregation has asked Ernest to deliver his sacred remarks from a site at the base of the notch where the worshipers can see the Great Stone Face high above.
Hawthorne describes the climax of Ernest's sermon: