St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1899-08-23

He thought he had never seen so many
earnest faces during the entire pastor
ate. He was not able yet to tell his peo-
pie his experiences, the crisis through
which he was even now moving but
something Of his feeling passed from
him to Them and it did not seem to
him that he was acting under careless
impulse at all to 60 on and break to
them this morning something of the
message he bore in his heart. So he
went on:
"The appearance and words of this
stranger in the church last Sunday
made very powerful impression on
me. / am not able to conceal from you
or myself the fact that what he said,
followed, as it has been, by his death
in my house, has compelled me to ask
as / never asked before, What does fol-
lowing Jesus meanY' am not in po-
sition yet to utter any condemnation
of this people Or to certain extent of
myself, either in our Christlike rela-
tions to this man or the number he rep
resents in the world. But all that does
not prevent me from feeling that much
that the man said was SO vitality true
that we must face it in an attempt to
answer it or else stand condemned as
Christian disciples. A good deal that
was said here last Sunday was in the
nature of challenge to Christianity as
it is seen and felt in our. churches. l
have felt this with increasing emphasis
every day since, and / do not know
that any time is more appropriate than
the present for me to propose plan or
a purpose which has been forming in
my mind as satisfactory reply to
much that was said here last Sunday"
Again Henry Maxwell paused and
looked into the faces of his people.
There were some strong, earnest men
and women in the First church. The
minister could see Edward Norman,
editor of the Raymond Daily News. He
had been member Of First church for
in the community. There was Alexan-
der Powers, superintendent Of the rail
road shops There was Donald Marsh,
president of Lincoln college, situated in
the suburbs of Raymond. There was
Milton Wright. one Of the great mer-
chants of Raymond, having in his en-
| ploy at least 100 men in various shops.
There was DR.. West, who, although
still comparatively young, was quoted
as authority in special surgical cases.
| Thara Choca fha
author, who had written one successful
book and was said to be at work on
new novel There was Miss Virginia
Page, the heiress, who through the re-
cent death of her father had inherited
a million at least and was gifted with
unusual attractions of person and in
tellect. And, not least of all, Rachel
Winslow from her seat in the choir
glowed with her peculiar beauty Of
light this morning because she was SO
intensely interested in the whole scene.
There was some reason perhaps in
view of such material in the First
church, for Henry Maxwell's feeling of
satisfaction whenever he considered his
parish as he had the previous Sunday.
There was large number of strong in
dividual characters who claimed men,
bership there But as he noted their
faces this morning Henry Maxwell was
simply wondering how many of them
would respond to the strange PROPOSE
ton he was about to make. He con-
tinued slowly, taking time to choose
his words carefully and giving the peo-
pie an impression they had never felt
before, even when he was at his best,
with his most dramatic delivery.
"What l am going to propose now is
something which ought not to appear
unusual or at all impossible of execu-
ton, yet am aware that it will be so
regarded by large number perhaps of
the members of the church. But, in
order that we may have a thorough
understanding of what we are consid-
ering, | will put my proposition very
plainly perhaps bluntly. l want volun-
teers from the First church who will
pledge themselves earnestly and honest
ly for an entire year not to do anything
without first asking the question,
What would Jesus dor And after ask
ing that question each one will follow
Jesus as exactly as he knows how, nc
matter what the results may be. l will,
of course, include myself in this COM
pany of volunteers and shall take fol
granted that my church here will not
be surprised at my future conduct as
based upon this standard of action and
will not oppose whatever is done if they
think Christ would do it. Have / made
my meaning clear? At the close of the
service here l want all those member.
of the church who are willing to joir
such a company to remain, and We
will talk over the details of the plan
Our motto will be, What would Jesu,
dor Our aim will be to act just as hi
! would if he were in our places regard
,, less of immediate results. In othel
words, we propose to follow Jesus step
as closely and as literally as we believ,
he taught his disciples to do And thos,
who volunteer to do this will pledg
. themselves for an entire year, begin
ming with today, so to act. "
u Henry Maxwell paused again an,
q !. looked over his church. 1t is not cas-,
!. to describe the sensation that such
y simple proposition apparently made
. Men glanced at one another in aston
Il ishment. 1t was not like Henry Max