Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1900-06-18
IN HIS STEPS.
"What Would Jesus DO?"
By CHARLES M. SHELDON.


the great pressure of work, he, with DR..
Bruce and Felicia, had come in from
the other building.
"Well, 1 have long thought of the
hired girl problem, said Felicia, with
an air of wisdom that made Mrs. Bruce
smile as she looked at the enthusiastic,
vital beauty of this young girl, trans
formed into a new creature by the
promise she had made to live the Christ
like life, land 1 have reached certain
conclusions in regard to it that you
men are not yet able to fathom, but
Mrs. Bruce here will understand me. "
eve acknowledge our infancy, Fe-
hcia. Go on said the bishop humb1y.
''Then this is what L propose to do:
The old saloon building is large enough
to arrange into a suit of rooms that
will represent an ordinary house. My
plan is to have it so arranged and then
teach housekeeping and cooking to girls
who will afterward go out to service.
The course will be six months long In
that time / will teach plain cooking,
neatness, quickness and a love of good
work -
''Hold on, Felicial'' the bishop inter
rupted. ''This is not an age of mira
cles''
''Then 1 will make it one,' replied
Felicia. 81 know this seems like an i'm
possibility, but 1 want to try it. know
a score of girls already who will take
the course, and if we can once establish
something like an esprit de corps among
the girls themselves 1 am sure it will
be of great value to them. L know al
ready that the pure food is working a
revolution in many families.
Felicia, if you can accomplish half
of what you propose to do, it will bless
this whole community said Mrs.
Bruce. II don't see how you can do it,
but 1 say God bless your as you try "
$50 say we all'' cried DR.. Bruce and
the bishop, and Felicia plunged into the
working out of her plan with the en-
thusiasm of her discipleship, which ev
cry day grew more and more practical
and serviceable.
1t must be said here that Felicia's
plan succeeded beyond all expectations.
She developed wonderful powers of per-
suasion and taught her girls with aston
ishing rapidity to do all sorts of house
work. In time the graduates of Felicia s
cooking school came to be priced by
housekeepers all over the city. But that
is anticipating our story. The history
of the settlement has never yet been
written. When it is, Felicia's part will
be found of very great Importance.
The depth of winter found Chicago
presenting, as every great city of the
world presents, to the eyes of Christen-
tha+ Of
riches and poverty, between culture,
refinement, luxury, ease and ignorance,
depravity, restitution and the bitter
struggle for bread. 1t was a hard win
ter, but gay winter. Never had there
been such a succession of parties, recep-
tions, balls, dinners, banquets, fetes,
gayeties; never had the opera and the
theater been so crowded with fashion
able audiences; never had there been
such lavish display of jewels and fine
dresses and equipages, and, on the 9th
er hand, never had the deep want and
suffering been so cruel, so sharp, so
murderous; never had the winds blown
so chilling over the lake and through
the thin shells of tenements in the
neighborhood of the settlement; never
had the pressure for food and fuel and
clothes been so urgently thrust up
against the people of the city in their
most importunate and CHASTITY form.
Night after night the bishop and DR..
Bruce, with their helpers, went out and
helped to save men and women and
children from the torture of physical
privation. Vast quantities of food and
clothing and large sums of money were
donated by the churches, the charitable
societies, the civic authorities and the
benevolent associations, but the personal
touch of the Christian disciple was very
hard to secure for personal work.
Where was the discipleship that was
obeying the Masters command to go it
self to the suffering and give itself with
its gift, in order to make the gift of
value in time 20 come? The bishop
found his heart sink within him as he
faced this fact more than any other.
Men would give money who would not
think of giving themselves, and the
money they gave did not represent any
real sacrifice because they did not miss
it. They gave what was the easiest to
give, what hurt them the least. Where
did the sacrifice come in? Was this fol-
lowing Jesus? Was this going with
him all the way2 He had been to many
members of his own wealthy and aris-
tocratic congregation and was appalled,
to find how few men and women of that
luxurious class in the churches would
really suffer any genuine inconvenience
for the sake of suffering humanity.
Is charity the giving of wornout gar
ments? Is it ten dollar bill given to
paid visitor or secretary of some be-
nevolent organization in the church?
Shall the man never go and give his
gift himself? Shall the woman never
deny herself her recention or her narty