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[Letter from Rev. Calvin Bruce, D.D., of the Nazareth Avenue Church, Chicago, to Rev.
Philip A. Caxton, D.D., New York City.]
"My Dear Caxton:
"It is late Sunday night, but I am so intensely so overflowing with what I have seen and
heard that I feel driven to write you now some account of the situation in Raymond, as I
have been studying it, and as it has apparently come to a climax to-day. So this is my only
excuse for writing so extended a letter at this time.
"You remember Henry Maxwell in the Seminary. I think you said, the last time I visited you
in New York, that you had not seen him since we graduated. He was a refined, scholarly
fellow, you remember, and when he was called to the First Church of Raymond within a
year after leaving the Seminary, I said to my wife, 'Raymond has made a good choice.
Maxwell will satisfy them as a sermonizer.' He has been here eleven years, and I
understand that up to a year ago he had gone on in the regular course of the ministry, giving
good satisfaction and drawing good congregations. His church was counted the largest, wealthiest church in Raymond. All the best people attended it, and most of them belonged.
The quartet choice was famous for its music, especially for its soprano, Miss Winslow, of
whom I shall have more to say; and on the whole, as I understand the facts, Maxwell was
in a comfortable berth with a very good salary, pleasant surroundings, not a very exacting
parish of refined, rich, respectable people, such a church and parish as nearly all the
young men of the Seminary in our time looked forward to as very desirable.
"But a year ago to-day, Maxwell came into his church on Sunday morning, and at the close
of the service made the astounding proposition that the members of his church volunteer for
a year not to do anything without first asking the question, 'What would Jesus do?' and,
after answering it, to do what in their honest judgment He would do, regardless of what the
results might be to them.
"The effect of this proposition, as it has been met and obeyed by a number of members of
the church, has been so remarkable that, as you know, the attention of the whole country
has been directed to the movement. I call it a movement because, from the action taken
to-day, it seems probable that what has been tried here will reach out into the other churches
and cause a revolution in methods, but more especially in a new definition of Christian
discipleship.
"In the first place, Maxwell tells me, he was astonished at the response to his proposition.
Some of the most prominent members in the church made the promise to do as Jesus would
Among them were Edward Norman, editor of the 'Daily News,' which has made such a
sensation in the newspaper world; Milton Wright, one of the leading merchants in
Raymond; Alexander Powers, whose action in the matter of the railroads against the
interstate commerce laws made such a stir about a year ago; Miss Page, one of Raymond's
leading society heiresses, who has lately dedicated her entire fortune, as I understand, to the
Christian daily paper and the work of reform in the slum district known as the Rectangle;
and Miss Winslow, whose reputation as a singer is now national, but who, in obedience to
what she has decided to be Jesus' probable action, has devoted her talent to volunteer work
among the girls and women who make up a large part of the city's worst and most
abandoned population.
"In addition to these well-known people has been a gradually increasing number of
Christians from the First Church, and lately from other churches of Raymond. A large
proportion of these volunteers who pledged themselves to do as Jesus would do comes from the Endeavor Societies. The young people say that they have already
embodied in their society pledge the same principle in the words, 'I promise Him that I will
strive to do whatever He would have me do.' This is not exactly what is included in
Maxwell's proposition, which is that the disciple shall try to do what Jesus would probably
do in the disciple's place. But the result of an honest obedience to either pledge, he claims,
will be practically the same, and he is not surprised that the largest numbers have joined the
new discipleship from the Endeavor Society.
"I am sure the first question you will ask is, 'What has been the result of this attempt? What
has it accomplished or how has it changed in any way the regular life of the church or the
community?'
"You already know something, from reports of Raymond that have gone over the country,
what the events have been. But one needs to come here and learn something of the changes
in individual lives, and especially the change in the church life, to realize all that is meant
by this following of Jesus' steps so literally. To tell all that would be to write a long story
or series of stories. I am not in a position to do that, but I can give you some idea, perhaps,
of what has been done as told me by friends here and by Maxwell himself.
"The result of the pledge upon the First Church has been twofold. It has brought upon a
spirit of Christian fellowship which Maxwell tells me never before existed, and which now
impresses him as being very nearly what the Christian fellowship of the apostolic churches
must have been; and it has divided the church into two distinct groups of members. Those
who have not taken the pledge regard the others as foolishly literal in their attempt to
imitate the example of Jesus. Some of them have drawn out of the church and no longer
attend, or they have removed their membership entirely to other churches. Some are an
element of internal strife, and I heard rumors of an attempt on their part to force Maxwell's
resignation. I do not know that this element is very strong in the church. It has been held in
check by a wonderful continuance of spiritual power, which dates from the first Sunday the
pledge was taken a year ago, and also by the fact that so many of the most prominent
members have been identified with the movement.
"The effect on Maxwell is very marked.
I heard him preach at our State Association four years ago. He impressed me at the time as
having considerable power in dramatic delivery, of which he himself was somewhat
conscious. His sermon was well written and abounded in what the Seminary students used to
call 'fine passages.' The effect of it was what an average congregation would call
pleasing. This morning I heard Maxwell preach again for the first time since then. I shall
speak of that farther on. He is not the same man. He gives me the impression of one who
has passed through a crisis of revolution. He tells me this revolution is simply a new
definition of Christian discipleship. He certainly has changed many of his old habits and
many of his old views. His attitude on the saloon question is radically opposite to the one he
entertained a year ago. And in his entire thought of the ministry, his pulpit and parish work,
I find he has made a complete change. So far as I can understand, the idea that is moving
him on now is the idea that the Christianity of our times must represent a more literal
imitation of Jesus, and especially in the element of suffering. He quoted to me in the course
of our conversation several times the verses in Peter: 'For even hereunto were ye called,
because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that ye would follow His
steps'; and he seems filled with the conviction that what our churches need today more than
anything else is this factor of joyful suffering for Jesus in some form.
"I do not know as I
agree with him, altogether; but, my dear Canton, it is certainly astonishing to note the
results of this idea as they have impressed themselves upon this city and this church.
"You ask how about the results on the individuals who have made this pledge and honestly
tried to be true to it. Those results are, as I have said, a part of individual history and cannot be told in detail.
Some of them I can give you so that you may see that this form of discipleship is not merely
sentiment or fine posing for effect.
"For instance, take the case of Mr. Powers, who was Superintendent of the Machine Shops
of the L. and T. R. R. here. When he acted upon the evidence which incriminated the road,
he lost his position, and, more than that, I learn from my friends here, his family and social
relations have become so changed that he and his family no longer appear in public. They
have dropped out of the social circle where once they were so prominent. By the way,
Caxton, I understand in this connection that the Commission, for one reason or another,
postponed action on this case, and it is now rumored that the L. and T. R. R. will pass into
a receiver's hands very soon. The President of the road who, according to the evidence
submitted by Powers, was the principal offender, has resigned, and complications which
have risen since point to the receivership. Meanwhile, the superintendent has gone back to
his old work as a telegraph operator. I met him at the church yesterday. He impressed me
as a man who had, like Maxwell, gone through a crisis in character. I could not help
thinking of him as being good material for the church of the first century when the disciples
had all things in common.
"Or take the case of Mr. Norman, editor of the 'Daily News.' He risked his entire fortune
in obedience to what he believed was Jesus' action, and revolutionized his entire conduct of
the paper at the risk of a failure. I send you a copy of yesterday's paper. I want you to read
it carefully. To my mind it is one of the most interesting and remarkable papers I ever
printed in the United States. It is open to criticism, but what could any mere man attempt in
this line that would be free from criticism? Take it all in all, it is so far above the ordinary
conception of a daily paper that I am amazed at the result. He tells me that the paper is
beginning to be read more and more by the Christian people of the city. He was very confident of its final success.
"Read his editorial on the money questions, also the one on the
coming election in Raymond when the question of license will again be an issue. Both
articles are of the best from his point of view. He says he never begins an editorial, or, in
fact, any part of his newspaper work, without first asking, 'What would Jesus do?' The
result is certainly apparent.
"Then there is Milton Wright, the merchant. He has, I am told, so revolutionized his
business that no man is more beloved to-day in Raymond. His own clerks and employees
have an affection for him that is very touching. During the winter, while he was lying
dangerously ill at his home, scores of clerks volunteered to watch and help in any way
possible, and his return to his store was greeted with marked demonstrations. All this has
been brought about by the element of personal love introduced into the business. This love
is not mere words, but the business itself is carried on under a system of co-operation that is
not a patronizing recognition of inferiors, but a real sharing in the whole business. Other
men on the street look upon Milton Wright as odd. It is a fact, however, that while he has
lost heavily in some directions, he has increased his business, and is to-day respected and
honored as one of the best and most successful merchants in Raymond.
"And there is Miss Winslow. She has chosen to give her great talent to the poor of the city.
Her plans include a Musical Institute where choruses and classes in vocal music shall be a
feature. She is enthusiastic over her life work. In connection with her friend Miss Page, she
has planned a course in music which, if carried out, will certainly do much to lift up the
lives of the people down there. I am not too old, dear Caxton, to be interested in the
romantic side of much that has also been tragic here in Raymond, and I must tell you that it
is well understood here that Miss Winslow expects to be married this spring to a brother of
Miss Page who was once a Society leader and club man, and who was converted in a tent
where his wife-that-is-to-be took an active part in the service. I don't know all the details of this little romance, but I imagine there is a story
wrapped up in it, and it would make interesting reading if we only knew it all.
"These are only a few illustrations of results in individual lives owing to obedience to the
pledge. I meant to have spoken of President Marsh of Lincoln College. He is a graduate of
my alma mater, and I knew him slightly when I was in the senior year. He has taken an
active part in the recent municipal campaign, and his influence in the city is regarded as a
very large factor in the coming election. He impressed me, as did all the other disciples in
this movement, as having fought out some hard questions, and as having taken up some real
burdens that have caused, and still do cause, that suffering of which Henry Maxwell speaks, a
suffering that does not eliminate, but does appear to intensify a positive and practical joy.
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