THE, MINISTRY 
 DAVID BALDWIN 
 
 E-BOYD-SMITH 
 
 HENRYT-COLESTOCK 
 
THE MINISTRY 
 
 OF 
 
 DAVID BALDWIN 
 
 A NOVEL 
 
 By 
 HENRY THOMAS COLESTOCK 
 
 NEW YORK 
 THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO. 
 
 Publishers 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1907, 
 BY THOMAS Y. CROWELL & COMPANY 
 
c 
 
 V 
 
 TO MY WIFE 
 
 M604691 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 " Answer me ! " (p. 249) . . Frontispiece 
 
 PACb 
 
 " Part with one of my wedding presents ? No ! " 122 
 
 On the next day the cruel words had to be 
 
 spoken . 286 
 
 With intense interest he watched Driver's pen . 296 
 
THE MINISTRY 
 OF DAVID BALDWIN 
 
 i 
 
 DAVID BALDWIN sat by his study-table 
 looking over the program of events for 
 the day. On the opposite side of the 
 room sat his chum, Oswald, reading the morning 
 paper. The room was a typical student's den, 
 with bookcases, dictionaries, drop-lamps, sofa- 
 pillows, canes, college colors, class designs, foot- 
 ball notices, relics of class victories still cherished 
 with the memories of undergraduate days, a pro- 
 fusion of photographs on the wall, a couple of 
 tennis rackets, together with many other nameless 
 and indescribable articles which go far toward 
 giving a distinctive character to a student's room. 
 One of these articles, an ingenious device for heat- 
 ing water over a gas jet, suggested the possibil- 
 ities of hot cocoa, and of little informal gatherings 
 in attires wholly unconventional. 
 
 David leaned back in his chair, throwing one 
 leg over a corner of his study-table. He looked 
 out of the window over the campus apparently at 
 the stream of human figures beginning to form 
 and which would ebb and flow throughout the 
 
 1 
 
2 THE MINISTKY OF 
 
 hours of the day. But he did not see these 
 streams of human beings: he ws,s only waiting 
 for the mail. 
 
 David had very few regular correspondents, and 
 there was no reason for his expecting a letter from 
 any of them this morning. The truth is, he was 
 not expecting a letter from any one in particular, 
 but was just hoping that the morning's mail would 
 bring him a letter; any tetter, even a circular 
 would be better than none at all. 
 
 The problem of his future was bearing hard 
 upon David Baldwin this morning. He had no 
 plans for to-morrow ; and to-day would close a 
 ten years' course in the schools. 
 
 His thoughts swept rapidly over the years of his 
 student life. Seven years ago on his graduation 
 from the academy, it had seemed as if the whole 
 world was waiting for him to put his shoulders 
 under some of its burdens. Indeed, he had felt 
 the world's need calling him so urgently, that it 
 had seemed quite out of the question to go on 
 with his college studies. A smile passed over his 
 face as he thought of the eagerness with which he 
 had then looked out on life. Yes, that graduation 
 from the academy marked the highest point he 
 had ever attained in his own estimation of him- 
 self. 
 
 Four years later, at the close of his college 
 course, his graduation had meant very little to 
 him, though he was among the honor men of his 
 class. He was certain that he knew much less 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 3 
 
 than he did when he left the academy at least it 
 seemed so to him. 
 
 And now, having come to the end of his 
 divinity course, the burden of his own ignorance 
 had increased with the passing of each year. 
 
 After all, had it really been wise for him to 
 spend these ten years in study years of struggle 
 in every sense of the word? Would he not 
 have been better prepared now to go on with his 
 life's work had he spent at least the last half 
 of this period in actual apprenticeship? How 
 much time he had given to the fighting over again 
 of the theological battles of past generations! 
 And how little he really knew of the present 
 struggles of his fellow men in the workaday 
 world ! 
 
 While filled with a longing to serve his fellow 
 men, David Baldwin was depressed with the 
 consciousness that his world and the one of every- 
 day people were not the same. His education 
 had, to a certain degree, exiled him from the com- 
 mon man. In his thought on religious subjects 
 especially he was conscious of a wide divergence 
 from the opinions and beliefs which possessed him 
 ten years ago. One by one he had battled for his 
 former views ; and one by one every religious 
 conception of his pre-college days had been dis- 
 placed. How well he remembered the anguish of 
 those former days when he was certain he was 
 losing his religion. What a revelation, what a re- 
 lief when he discovered, at the suggestion of a 
 
4 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 friend, that there is a vital distinction between re- 
 ligion and one's beliefs that beliefs are but ex- 
 planations of religion which is a life. 
 
 " Certainly, a man's religious beliefs are bound 
 to change as he develops intellectually. I see it 
 now. It is as clear as day. Religion is a life. 
 Creeds are but changing explanations of " 
 
 The tread of the postman on the floor below in- 
 terrupted David's reverie. Click, click resounded 
 the letter receiver as the carrier went from room 
 to room delivering the morning's mail. At some 
 of the rooms he stopped often ; at others very 
 seldom. And there was something truly pathetic 
 in the call which was heard occasionally after he 
 had passed some disappointed student's door. 
 
 " No mail this morning, James ? " The tone 
 would be one of mingled hope and doubt. 
 
 " Not this mornin', sir ; but perhaps I'll bring ye 
 some this afternoon." James seemed to under- 
 stand the heart-hunger which took possession oi 
 some of the boys, at times, when letters were slow 
 in coming. 
 
 The floor below was finished and the postman 
 was now coming up-stairs. David mentally fol- 
 lowed his progress along the hall, stopping at 
 most of the doors, but passing now one, now an- 
 other. He paused an instant before their door ; 
 the click of the letter receiver announced to David 
 and his chum that some mail awaited their atten- 
 tion. 
 
 " You're in luck, this morning, old man," said 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 5 
 
 Oswald, as he gathered up the mail from the 
 floor. 
 
 David picked up the two letters tossed before 
 him. His manner was listless and indifferent. 
 There could be no mistaking the fact : David was 
 blue. He tore open one of them, without noticing 
 its postmark. It was from Williams, a college 
 classmate, containing an invitation to supply his 
 pulpit during the summer. " Mrs. Williams and 
 your namesake have extracted a promise from me 
 to take a little rest this summer," he wrote. " Of 
 course, the youngster didn't do much talking, but 
 I can assure you, he has done his share in making 
 me feel the need of a few weeks' vacation. You 
 know, it is sometimes said that there's nothing like 
 a baby to light up a home. Well, we've experi- 
 enced the truth of that statement since our baby 
 came, our house has been lit up for weeks at a 
 time all night. 
 
 " How is everything with you ? My three years 
 here are telling, things are coming my way. I 
 should have written you sooner, but my plans were 
 indefinite until yesterday. But I hope this will 
 reach you before you have made other plans for 
 the summer." 
 
 " Thank gracious ! " exclaimed Baldwin, turning 
 toward his friend. " At last I've a place to go 
 when this graduating week is past." 
 
 Oswald looked up from the letter he was read- 
 ing he always received a letter from his sweet- 
 heart on Thursdays. 
 
6 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 " What did you say ? " he asked. 
 
 " You didn't hear what I said ? Of course you 
 didn't you were in another realm," glancing at 
 the letter in his hand. " I was saying that at last 
 I have somewhere to go after my graduation. 
 Williams wants me to supply for him during the 
 summer ; Mrs. Williams and he and their young- 
 ster are going to rusticate on a farm." 
 
 " Fortunate fellow ! " exclaimed Oswald. " Three 
 years ago he faced the world on the same footing 
 with us." 
 
 " And I've been wondering if he did not take 
 the wiser course ? " said Baldwin. 
 
 " You mean his entering the pastorate at once 
 without waiting for his divinity course ? " asked 
 Oswald, glancing at some of the pages where he 
 had discovered the two or three sentences which 
 meant more to him than all the rest of the letter. 
 For he had learned that in love letters, as in un- 
 threshed wheat, not every particle is of the same 
 value. 
 
 " Yes : now, he is established in his work while 
 we have not yet entered upon ours ; he is a clergy- 
 man known throughout his state as a safe and suc- 
 cessful pastor, while we are only divinity students 
 without reputation, without experience." 
 
 " And encumbered with the suspicion of being 
 doctrinally unsound," added Oswald. " But, old 
 man," said he, " there are those who are hunger- 
 ing for what Williams cannot give. Multitudes of 
 men and women are indifferent to the church to- 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 7 
 
 day simply because it is repeating a message 
 which it inherited, the underlying conceptions of 
 which mean nothing to the modern man. For my 
 part I prefer " 
 
 But Baldwin had opened his second letter and 
 was now deep into its contents, quite oblivious to 
 what his roommate was saying. 
 
 " Hello 1" he exclaimed, jumping to his feet, his 
 face expressing a curious mixture of emotions. 
 " Listen, while I read the queerest letter you ever 
 heard." 
 
 " I'm all ears." 
 
 Baldwin began 
 
 " * Tioga, Minn., June 20, 190 
 " ' REV. DAVID BALDWIN, 
 '" The Divinity School, 
 
 " 'University of the West. 
 " ' DEAR SIR AND BROTHER : I am writing 
 you to state that at a recent business meeting of 
 the First Church of this city it was unanimously 
 voted to extend you an invitation to become our 
 pastor ' " 
 
 " Congratulations, old man ! " exclaimed Oswald. 
 " So you call that the queerest " 
 
 " Just wait ! I haven't come to the queer part 
 yet." 
 
 He continued to read. 
 
 " ' Owing to the disturbance in our church life 
 caused by the marriage of our former pastor to 
 one of the young ladies of the congregation ' " 
 
8 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 " My ! but this is getting interesting," inter- 
 rupted Oswald. " But go on ; go on." 
 
 " ' the church voted soon thereafter not to 
 
 settle another unmarried pastor.' " 
 
 Baldwin paused an instant for this sentence to 
 have its full effect on his chum who was slapping 
 his legs and roaring with laughter. 
 
 " ' In extending to you this invitation,' " the let- 
 ter continued, " ' it is therefore necessary to stipu- 
 late that, in the event of your acceptance, you are 
 to come to us a married man.' " 
 
 This combination of ideas was too much for 
 Oswald. His laughter passed into a stage beyond 
 his control. He would stop for an instant, then 
 lose himself again. " O Lordy ! Lordy ! " he cried, 
 using an expression which seemed to be kept in 
 reserve especially for such occasions. 
 
 When his friend had calmed down a little, Bald- 
 win read on to the end of the letter. 
 
 " ' Your visits to us last winter during the illness 
 of our pastor are remembered with much pleasure ; 
 and it is the earnest hope of the church to receive 
 your early acceptance. Our salary is not large 
 we hope to increase it soon. At present we are 
 able to pay a thousand dollars a year. We give our 
 pastor one month's vacation during the summer. 
 
 " ' There have been some divisions in our 
 church but all parties unite in tendering you this 
 call. 
 
 " ' By order of the First Church of Tioga, Minn. 
 
 " ' J. E. STRONG, 
 " ' Chairman of the Standing Committee.' " 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 9 
 
 " Well," asked Baldwin, " what do you think 
 of it ? " 
 
 " Think?" repeated Oswald.^ "Why, I haven't 
 been able to think." Only with great effort could 
 he restrain himself from passing into another fit 
 of laughter. " That church is original or noth- 
 ing," he added. 
 
 "And I scarcely know what to think," said 
 Baldwin, knitting his brow. " It seems as if the 
 world was inviting me to enter all of its lists at 
 once" 
 
 " If you should want a substitute " began 
 
 Oswald. 
 
 " Well, suppose I turn the whole matter over to 
 you what would you do?" asked Baldwin, 
 thrusting his hands into his pockets and facing 
 the other inquiringly. 
 
 "What would / do?" cried Oswald, pacing 
 about the room. "I'd get out of here at once ! 
 my packing, well, I guess you could take care of 
 that and in the shortest possible time Fd meet 
 the stipulation of that church. By dad ! old man, 
 just turn the whole business over to me and you'll 
 see what I'd do with it ! " 
 
 " Perhaps," said Baldwin, smiling, " you would 
 not fill the bill with the church, I mean." 
 
 " Of course, there's the rub ! " and he drew down 
 the corners of his mouth. " But seriously, how 
 does the whole matter appeal to you?" 
 
 " I don't see how I can take it," Baldwin replied 
 somewhat ambiguously. " You know how matters 
 
10 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 stand with me. Marriage is quite out of the ques- 
 tion for a year and perhaps longer." 
 
 " But under the circumstances ? With this fine 
 opportunity of settling." 
 
 " No, even under the circumstances, I could not 
 arrange it. I have absolutely no choice in the 
 matter but to wait. You know Miss Mathews : 
 she would not think of marrying until she has paid 
 off every cent of her school debt" 
 
 " And about half of this remains? I remember 
 you said something to that effect the other day." 
 
 " Yes ; you see when Miriam was graduated at 
 Vassar last June she had a school debt of four hun- 
 dred dollars. One half of this she has worked off 
 this year." 
 
 " Good 1 " exclaimed Oswald. " I fear that is bet- 
 ter than you or I could have done." 
 
 " And her plan is to continue in her present posi- 
 tion for another year, she has a good position in 
 her home town as stenographer for Brown and 
 Brown." 
 
 " I see," said Oswald, " then her debt will be 
 worked off by the end of another year." 
 
 " Yes ; and I think nothing could dissuade her 
 from meeting every cent of her debt before marry- 
 ing," said Baldwin, dejectedly. " I know very well 
 what it means when she has once made up her mind 
 to do or not to do a thing," he added, signifi- 
 cantly. 
 
 "Without doubt," began Oswald, " she will carry 
 out her present plans unless " and he hesitated. 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 11 
 
 "Unless what?" interrupted Baldwin eagerly. 
 It had not occurred to him that there could be any 
 possible alternative : Miriam had made her plans 
 and would certainly continue paying off her in- 
 debtedness. " Unless what ? " 
 
 " Unless you can get her to see," continued 
 Oswald, " that it is to your advantage for her to 
 do otherwise." 
 
 "What do you mean?" asked Baldwin, in sur- 
 prise. " I am sure it's something profound, but I 
 cannot quite grasp it." 
 
 "Why I mean just this : a woman will do any- 
 thing for the man she loves when she sees that it 
 is plainly for his advantage. No, this is not an 
 original contribution to knowledge," he added, 
 laughing ; " I read it somewhere." 
 
 Baldwin was silent. In his mind a new idea 
 was struggling into form. The lines about his 
 mouth tightened ; his brow gathered, bringing 
 into sight deep furrows. He looked hard at 
 something on the rug just in front of him. Slowly 
 his intense expression grew relaxed ; the look in 
 his eye changed from one of doubt to one of hope ; 
 his face became suffused with emotion. The 
 transformation was little short of marvelous ! A 
 moment ago, dejection, indifference possessed 
 him ; now, a strange hopeful eagerness lit up his 
 countenance, energizing his whole body. 
 
 " Oswald, old man, I believe you are right ! " 
 he exclaimed. " You have struck one shackle 
 from my bondage. But I am still fettered by an- 
 
12 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 other. Leave not thy work half undone ! " he 
 pleaded, in a mock heroic tone. 
 
 " Show me, O my half unshackled friend, 
 wherein thy bondage lies, and trust my skill to 
 cleave the knot ! " said Oswald. 
 
 " You have opened my slow eyes to see that 
 Miriam may change her plans, that a woman 
 will do anything for the man she loves, when that 
 act is for his advantage. Now, that I've stated 
 the idea, it seems as self-evident as, as an axiom 
 in geometry. But my present difficulty is to to 
 
 see clearly how I am to " and Baldwin 
 
 hesitated. 
 
 " To make her see that this is really to your ad- 
 vantage this changing of her plans about marry- 
 ing before meeting the remainder of her school 
 debt?" interpreted Oswald. 
 
 " Yes ; that's it. How am I to make her see the 
 advantage ? I have little faith in my own per- 
 suasive powers when Miriam is the one to be 
 moved." 
 
 "My boy," said Oswald, "there is an adage, 
 born doubtless of such occasions as this, which 
 says, * Love will find a way.' ' 
 
 "You're right! I believe it will!" exclaimed 
 Baldwin. "I'm free both shackles gone!" 
 There was confidence in his tone. " Old man, I 
 am living in a different world from the one in 
 which I existed when the postman came." 
 
 Drawing paper to him, Baldwin at once began 
 to write as follows : 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 13 
 
 " Room 775, Divinity Hall, 
 " University of the West, 
 
 "June 21, 190 
 " MR. J. E. STRONG, 
 
 " Chairman Standing Committee, 
 
 " First Church, Tioga, Minn. 
 " MY DEAR BROTHER, I am replying to your 
 esteemed favor of yesterday. After prayerful con- 
 sideration " 
 
 David stopped. Surely that phrase " prayerful 
 consideration" sounded all right. Yes, it was con- 
 ventional, what the church would expect him to use. 
 Still his pen hesitated. " No," said he, " I will not 
 use it ; I'll be honest. God helping me, I will be- 
 gin and end my relations with this church in can- 
 dor and fidelity to the truth ! " He began the let- 
 ter on a new sheet. 
 
 " I am replying to your esteemed favor of yes- 
 terday in which you do me the honor of inviting 
 me, in behalf of your church, to become your 
 pastor. 
 
 " I have considered your invitation and also the 
 stipulation accompanying the same. 
 
 " To know that you still remember my visits of 
 last winter affords me much pleasure. In view of 
 the impression I gained of your church life and 
 activity while among you then, I too have a 'con- 
 dition ' which I wish to offer for the church to con- 
 sider, and my reply to your invitation will be de- 
 termined, in part at least, by your answer to the 
 following question : Will the church vote to adopt 
 what may be termed in general a modern aggres- 
 sive policy ? 
 
14 DAVID BALDWIN 
 
 " My answer to your invitation, in view of the 
 unusual condition imposed upon me, cannot be 
 given at once. I would therefore request that two 
 months be given me ; at the end of which time I 
 will be able to state whether or not I can meet your 
 stipulated condition. 
 
 " Thanking you for the honor of this invitation, 
 I am, 
 
 " Respectfully yours, 
 
 " DAVID BALDWIN." 
 
II 
 
 DAVID BALDWIN'S call to the pastorate 
 of the First Church of Tioga was the re- 
 sult of a peculiar combination of circum- 
 stances. 
 
 It will be necessary for us to go back, in point 
 of time, to a memorable business meeting of the 
 church, several weeks earlier. 
 
 Mr. Brand and Deacon Long, two of the most 
 prominent members of the church, were in earnest 
 consultation at the farther end of the lecture room. 
 
 " Even if several more on the other side do 
 come in later, we have already more than enough 
 to defeat the election," said the deacon, in a low 
 tone. 
 
 " But it's always best to be on the safe side/ 1 
 replied Mr. Brand, in the same low tone. " I was 
 expecting Driver to work up his side a little 
 stronger than he has, apparently." 
 
 " And it takes a three-fourths vote, too, for the 
 election of a pastor. Amos Driver will wish he'd 
 never had that clause inserted in the by-laws." 
 Deacon Long's usually serious face relaxed, not 
 into a smile, but into the semblance of one. 
 
 " Yes," observed Mr. Brand, " it's the old situ- 
 ation of the calf and the rope over again. Though 
 I fought that clause when Driver proposed it, it 
 will serve our purpose and not his to-night." 
 
 15 
 
16 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 " There are few things you haven't fought when 
 Amos Driver wanted them, I guess," said the 
 deacon. 
 
 " But there is no sense in letting one man run a 
 church," replied Mr. Brand, stroking his beard. 
 " You know, deacon, how it was before I came 
 here." 
 
 " Amos Driver certainly had things pretty much 
 his own way," acknowledged the deacon. 
 
 "Just because he's got more money than any 
 of the rest of us, I don't propose that Driver shall 
 dictate the policy of this church not so long as I 
 am a member of it." 
 
 " I am sure Amos Driver don't feel that way," 
 said the deacon, now taking the part of his neigh- 
 bor. " It's just his way. It's as much his nature 
 as breathing, to want things to go according to 
 his own notion. But, as I have often said to my 
 wife, we're not responsible for what's born in us ; 
 it's a part of our fallen depravity." 
 
 " But think how he opposed us in that business 
 meeting four weeks ago tQ-night ! And all be- 
 cause the meeting hadn't been announced from 
 the pulpit the preceding Sunday 1 It was a 
 disgrace to what length Driver carried things 
 that night. But it's a long lane which has no 
 turn," said Mr. Brand, nodding his head signifi- 
 cantly. 
 
 " But the by-laws were on his side as you were 
 forced to admit," said the deacon, again cham- 
 pioning his friend. 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 17 
 
 " Well, the by-laws are on my side to-night," 
 rejoined Mr. Brand. 
 
 Just then Amos Driver, watch in hand, ap- 
 proached the Sunday-school superintendent. 
 " This meeting was announced to open at eight- 
 thirty," said he, consulting his watch. " And it's 
 past that time now." His tone was sharp and 
 abrupt. 
 
 " Perhaps you are a few seconds fast, Brother 
 Driver," replied the superintendent, good-na- 
 turedly, as he consulted his own watch. In the 
 absence of a pastor, it was his duty to preside at 
 the business meetings of the church. 
 
 " The brethren will please come to order," said 
 he. In the superintendent's vocabulary " breth- 
 ren " was undoubtedly a generic term including 
 the sisters also ; for there were fully five times as 
 many women as men before him. 
 
 The hum of voices gradually ceased as the lit- 
 tle groups breaking up now settled down into the 
 straight-backed, hard-bottomed chairs, in which 
 one could approach a comfortable position only 
 by putting one's feet up on the rounds of the chair 
 in front. Was it because the chairs were so un- 
 comfortable that so many of the members seemed 
 to enjoy the ten minutes' social chat, while they 
 stood up and talked to one another, more than 
 they did the hour in which they sat down and 
 talked to the Lord ? 
 
 Mr. Brand and Deacon Long reluctantly 
 stopped their conversation and were the last to 
 
18 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 take their seats. The chairman waited a mo- 
 ment for them to get settled, then cleared his 
 throat and began. 
 
 " Brethren, there is some important business to 
 come before us this evening, the nature of which 
 was indicated in the notice given from the pulpit 
 last Sunday. Will the clerk please read that 
 notice now ? " 
 
 A young man, whose expression revealed the 
 beginnings of reflective habits, arose from the side 
 of a dark-haired young lady in the audience, came 
 forward to a little table near the chairman, and 
 read the following notice : 
 
 " In accordance with the requirements of section 
 4, article 6, of the by-laws of this church and so- 
 ciety, notice is hereby given of a special business 
 meeting of this church and society at the close of 
 the prayer-meeting of this weqk, to consider the 
 calling of a pastor. 
 
 " By order of the Standing Committee, 
 
 "J. E. STRONG, Chairman. 
 " PAUL GREEN, Clerk." 
 
 As the clerk read the words " section 4, article 
 6," Cora Stewart gave her sister Mary a vigorous 
 nudge with her elbow. Mary, who carried enough 
 gravity for the whole family, as her mother had 
 often said, turned and gave her sister a look of 
 dignified rebuke, though she afterward acknowl- 
 edged she didn't mean anything by it. The 
 Stone girls there were six of them, and all were 
 present this evening, though at the usual mid- 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 19 
 
 week service three attended one week and three 
 the next exchanged knowing looks and entered 
 into elbow communications. Miss Adams did not 
 smile. She always took the business meetings 
 very seriously. 
 
 But of " section 4, article 6," we shall learn more 
 later. 
 
 As the clerk sat down, the chairman, looking 
 over the audience, said, 
 
 " Brethren, what is your pleasure ? " 
 
 The eyes of the congregation were turned on 
 Amos Driver and Mr. Brand. All knew that the 
 meeting lay in the hands of these two men, sitting 
 on opposite sides on the front row of chairs. 
 
 " Mr. Chairman," said Amos Driver, taking the 
 floor, " as the notice of this meeting was duly 
 given out from the pulpit on the Sunday preced- 
 ing this meeting, we are legally convened in busi- 
 ness capacity according to the by-laws of this 
 church and society. You all know," he contin- 
 ued, " that I am hostile to any attempt to transact 
 the business of this church in meetings not legally 
 convened according to section 4, article 6, of our 
 by-laws," making an emphatic gesture with his 
 head and looking in the direction of Mr. Brand. 
 "But being now legally called together for the 
 consideration of such business, and only such busi- 
 ness, as was named in the announcement of this 
 meeting, I move that we at once proceed to cast 
 an informal ballot." 
 
 " I second the motion," said Mr. Brand. 
 
20 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 The informal ballot was taken, a young in- 
 structor in the University and a young lawyer, 
 acting as tellers. 
 
 " Mr. Chairman," said the clerk, " the result of 
 the ballot stands as follows : of the sixty votes 
 cast, twenty-nine are for Dr. Thompson, and 
 thirty-one, for Rev. John Upham." 
 
 A painful silence, some of the members almost 
 holding their breath, ensued. All felt that the 
 contest was on, and that the present silence was 
 but a calm before the storm. 
 
 There were present at this mid-week service 
 more than twice the usual attendance. As this 
 always happened when a business meeting was 
 announced to follow the prayer service, we cannot 
 help wondering whether this increased attendance 
 indicated that the members cared more for the 
 business interests of the church than they did for 
 the opportunity the church afforded for the culti- 
 vation of the spiritual life. But it would hardly 
 do to draw such a conclusion, else we might un- 
 wittingly carry our reasoning one step further and 
 say that those who absented themselves from all 
 forms of the mid-week service, were interested in 
 neither the business nor the spiritual affairs of the 
 organization to which they belonged ! Into what 
 absurd conclusions logic sometimes takes us I 
 
 But the business meetings of this church had 
 attained for themselves a reputation of being in- 
 teresting. Indeed, Cora Stewart was known to 
 have said she had rather attend a church business 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 21 
 
 meeting than to go to a circus. Such a remark 
 was promptly frowned upon by her elder sister 
 Mary, who sagely observed that the truth should 
 not always be spoken, that sometimes it did not 
 sound reverent. At this her sister only laughed. 
 
 Nevertheless, these business meetings did fre- 
 quently pass into a stage in which the word " inter- 
 esting" was altogether too mild a term to present 
 an adequate description of them. And the reason 
 for all this lay, for the most part, in the peculiar 
 quality of human nature embodied in our two 
 friends, Amos Driver and Sylvester Brand. 
 
 These two men each had a reputation for being 
 decidedly set in his ways and opinions. In their 
 church relations both were active and faithful 
 members, discharging their duties, as each saw 
 them, with far more than the usual zeal. In fact 
 the loss of either of these members would have 
 been a severe blow to the church. 
 
 In the business meetings of the church, how- 
 ever, it was positively certain that some disagree- 
 ment would always arise between them. Perhaps 
 this should be accounted for largely by the fact 
 of their very dissimilar temperaments. Deacon 
 Long, however, always found an adequate ex- 
 planation for the disagreement by saying that 
 they were born that way, and that they couldn't 
 help it : it was a part of their fallen depravity. 
 
 Amos Driver waited until the formal ballot was 
 taken, and the result, the same as that of the in- 
 formal ballot, was announced by the clerk. Then 
 
22 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 he arose, walked very deliberately into the open 
 space in front of the audience near the chairman's 
 desk, and stood facing the rest of the members. 
 His tall figure, held in perfect poise, gave little 
 evidence of his seventy years ; from his eyes 
 flashed something of the old fire with which, in 
 his younger days, in committee meetings and on 
 the floor of the lower House, he had thrown into 
 confusion many a political opponent. 
 
 " Mr. Chairman," said he, with a slight inclina- 
 tion of his head toward the chair, but without re- 
 moving his eyes from the audience, " Mr. Chair- 
 man, I rise to denounce a conspiracy." The tone 
 in which these words were uttered was charged 
 with ill concealed anger. 
 
 The lecture-room was becoming transformed 
 into an arena; the contest was now beginning. 
 Sister Wood sat with her head bowed in silent 
 prayer. For over forty years she had been going 
 through these business meetings and well she 
 knew the indications of the coming outburst. 
 
 " We have met here this evening," continued 
 Amos Driver, " legally convened together accord- 
 ing to our by-laws to consider the calling of a 
 pastor. And now, because of my opposition to 
 Brother Brand's desire to transact the business of 
 this church in a meeting not legally convened, as 
 he would have done four weeks ago but for me, 
 he has now hatched a conspiracy, yes, I said 
 hatched, hatched, Brother Brand, you have hatched 
 a miserable, contemptible conspiracy in order to 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 23 
 
 defeat the election of Dr. Thompson to the pas- 
 torate of this church. 
 
 " Now, I'm not going to say anything against 
 Brother Brand, you all know I love Brother 
 Brand and that he loves me, and that he is one of 
 the most useful men in our church and we couldn't 
 get along without him yet he has his faults like 
 the rest of us ; and one of them is that he always 
 wants his own way. 
 
 " As I was saying, we are legally convened to- 
 gether to elect a pastor. I came here this evening 
 expecting a unanimous vote for Dr. Thompson. 
 Every one I have spoken to was heartily in his 
 favor. Imagine my consternation, yes, consterna- 
 tion, when the clerk announced thirty-one votes 
 for the Rev. John Upham ! Why; up to that min- 
 ute I had not even so much as heard that any one 
 wanted the Rev. John Upham to be pastor of this 
 church ! And I do not believe that Brother Brand 
 wants him ; I do not believe that any of you who 
 were influenced by Brother Brand to vote for him, 
 really desire the Rev. John Upham to be pastor of 
 this church. It's nothing but a conspiracy, a rank 
 conspiracy, to defeat the election of a gentleman, 
 whom many of us would be " 
 
 " I rise to a point of order," said Mr. Palmer, 
 the young lawyer, interrupting Mr. Driver. 
 
 " State your point," said the chairman. 
 
 " There is no motion before us," said he. 
 
 "The point is sustained," said the chairman, 
 looking from Mr. Brand to Amos Driver, who still 
 
24: THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 held the floor. " If the brethren wish to speak 
 further, we must first have a motion before us." 
 
 " I move we adjourn," said Sister Wood. 
 
 " Second the motion," said the Sister Allen, 
 nervously. " I shall have one of my terrible head- 
 aches if I stay here much longer," she added in an 
 undertone to Miss North, who sat near her. 
 
 " Let us vote it down," said Cora Stewart to the 
 row of Stone girls. " Why, the fun's just begun ! " 
 
 " All in favor of the motion, please stand," said 
 the chairman. About fifteen ladies stood. The 
 motion was lost. 
 
 " Mr. Chairman," all eyes were turned toward 
 Mr. Brand " in order to bring the matter before 
 us, I move that we ballot for Dr. Thompson." 
 
 " Second the motion," said Deacon Long. 
 
 " Now, brethren," said the chairman, " there is a 
 motion before us : are there any further remarks? " 
 
 " Mr. Chairman." 
 
 " Brother Brand," said the chairman, acknowl- 
 edging the speaker. 
 
 " Mr. Chairman," Mr. Brand continued, very 
 calmly, as if stating a matter wholly impersonal, 
 " I have the honor to be called a conspirator. I 
 suppose this is owing to the fact that I differ from 
 Brother Driver. I am here to state that not my- 
 self alone but at least thirty other members now 
 present, are not so favorably disposed toward call- 
 ing Dr. Thompson to the pastorate of this church 
 as you are, Brother Driver. 
 
 " For myself, and I speak for others, I am op- 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 25 
 
 posed to the election of Dr. Thompson for several 
 good reasons. In the first place, Dr. Thompson 
 is too old a man for the pastorate of our church. 
 Here in this University town we need a young 
 man, one who can attract the students. Why, 
 there are more than one hundred students of our 
 denomination in the University, scarcely ten of 
 whom attend our church. Do we not owe it to 
 the denomination to do all we can for the boys 
 and girls who come here from all over the state ? 
 Do we not then need a young pastor, one in the 
 closest sympathy with the young people ? 
 
 " Further, I am opposed to the election of Dr. 
 Thompson because he is not in favor of church 
 suppers. I had a talk with him on this subject 
 and he expressed himself to me very freely. Of 
 course I did not tell him which side of the ques- 
 tion I was on. Why, we have the finest kitchen 
 and arrangements for giving suppers of any 
 church in this city. Last year the Ladies' Aid 
 Society netted three hundred dollars from these 
 suppers a convenient source of revenue as many 
 of us can appreciate. No, sir ; I'm not in favor of 
 calling any man to the pastorate of this church 
 who expresses himself on this subject as Dr. 
 Thompson did in my presence." 
 
 " If Brother Brand had as many dishes to wash 
 every day as we have at our house," said one of 
 the Stone sisters in an undertone to Miss Irving, 
 " he wouldn't be so fond of church suppers." 
 
 " Nor if he had to do the begging that I do 
 
26 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 every time," replied Miss Irving quickly. Miss 
 Irving always had a generous share of this 
 kind of " church work " laid upon her unwilling 
 shoulders. 
 
 4< You always have such good luck people 
 can't refuse you, you know," the president of the 
 Ladies' Aid Society had said. And there was 
 truth in the remark people just couldn't refuse 
 Miss Irving. 
 
 Meanwhile, during this conversation in the rear 
 of the house, Mr. Brand was gliding gracefully 
 into his third objection to poor Dr. Thompson. 
 (Let us hope his ears did not burn !) 
 
 " Neither can we, as one of the smaller churches 
 of the city," said he, " afford to ignore, in our con- 
 sideration of this subject, a fact which I would fain 
 leave unmentioned Dr. Thompson has a very 
 large family an unusually large family even for 
 a pastor, and on the moderate salary we can 
 afford to pay, he could not live in that part of the 
 city where we would like to have our pastor reside 
 rents are too high. He would need too large 
 a house. And the social standing of the churches 
 of this city is gauged more than we care to admit 
 by the residence of the pastor. If our church is 
 ever to rise, socially, we must see to it that our 
 pastor rents a house in a desirable quarter of the 
 city. I am not in favor of Dr. Thompson because 
 in his case this would be out of the question, his 
 family is too large ; with all of his other expenses 
 he could not afford it. 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 27 
 
 "And," continued Mr. Brand, pursuing his sub- 
 ject mercilessly, but hesitating as if loath to con- 
 tinue in the performance of an unwelcome duty ; 
 "I have heard more than one member of this 
 church state that she did not like Dr. Thompson's 
 appearance in the pulpit. One lady said to me, 
 * Dr. Thompson is too thick and too short ; he 
 looks too much like a butcher/ This remark, I 
 grant, may be carrying a criticism too far ; but 
 one cannot get around it Dr. Thompson does 
 lack a pleasing appearance in the pulpit. Of 
 course, it makes little difference to me, personally ; 
 but in attracting strangers to our church we must 
 have a preacher of pleasing manners and pulpit 
 appearance. 
 
 " As I said, these things have little weight with 
 me ; but in our consideration of such an important 
 subject as the calling of a pastor, we should keep 
 in mind that we are not acting for ourselves 
 alone. Every church exists to minister to the 
 needs of the community. And there are any 
 number of people in every cultured community 
 who do not enjoy looking at a preacher whose 
 over-studious life has robbed him of the greater 
 part of his hair. The fact that Dr. Thompson is 
 bald cannot but make him less attractive, and un- 
 fortunately, less desirable as a pastor. 
 
 " Now, while I have no desire to question Dr. 
 Thompson's ability to guide his own affairs, I 
 happen to have heard something about his eldest 
 son which I do not care to repeat in this presence. 
 
28 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 Young men, of course, will be young men, whether 
 in a preacher's family or anywhere else. But it is 
 especially unfortunate," here the speaker's voice 
 was lowered to a confidential tone, "when any 
 member of a clergyman's family so acts that the 
 father feels his own usefulness at an end where he 
 is now living. It is possible, however, that Dr. 
 Thompson has other motives for wishing to leave 
 his present pastorate. But this probable one should 
 not be passed over lightly by us. 
 
 " Further, in calling a pastor, are we not also 
 bound to consider the fitness of the pastor's wife ? 
 Is it not a matter of common observation that in 
 the ministry the pastor's wife often counts for more 
 than the pastor himself ? I am sure that many of 
 us have known personally of such instances. Is it 
 well, then, for us seriously to think of calling to the 
 pastorate of this church a clergyman whose wife is 
 almost, if not quite, an invalid ? Invalidism doubt- 
 less brings in its train many high and holy com- 
 pensations ; but it unquestionably unfits a clergy- 
 man's wife for taking that social leadership of 
 which we, as a church, now stand so much in 
 need. 
 
 " So far as Dr. Thompson's scholarship is con- 
 cerned," continued Brother Brand, suavely, " it is 
 true he is all that any church could reasonably de- 
 sire ; nevertheless, in view of what I have said, he 
 certainly is not the man for the pastorate of this 
 church. He is too far advanced in years, his per- 
 sonal appearance is against him, his family is too 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 29 
 
 large, one of his sons is in bad repute where they 
 are now living, his wife is practically an invalid 
 and he is not in favor of church suppers he told 
 me so himself. For these reasons, and others 
 which might be mentioned, Mr. Chairman, I am 
 opposed to calling Dr. Thompson to the pastorate 
 of our church." 
 
 Mr. Brand, glowing with the feeling of triumph, 
 sat down. Of course, what he had said was in be- 
 half of the welfare of the church ; yet there was un- 
 deniably a certain personal gratification in getting 
 the better of the man who had worsted him four 
 weeks ago. Dr. Thompson was Amos Driver's 
 candidate, and to show the reasons why Driver's 
 candidate should not be the choice of the church, 
 was a rare morsel to Brand, one which he had 
 rolled over and over again under his tongue. But 
 his opponent was not to be silenced by one broad- 
 side. 
 
 Instantly Driver was on his feet, pointing his 
 long index finger directly at Brand, and piercing 
 him with the steady look of his steel gray eyes. 
 
 " Sylvester Brand I " Driver always called Brand 
 by his Christian name when the discussion had 
 passed to an exasperating stage. " Sylvester 
 Brand ! " said he, shaking his long finger at his 
 opponent, " you ought to be the last man on earth 
 to find fault with another man's looks 1 But I did 
 not start out to make a speech on good looks, nor 
 do I need to say anything of Brand's beauty : a 
 mere allusion to the subject is sufficient. But I will 
 
30 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 say, people who live in glass houses should be care- 
 ful how they throw stones ; yes, Brother Brand, they 
 should be very careful how they throw stones. It 
 passes my understanding, the facts being as they 
 are, how any man utterly devoid of good looks 
 can find fault with the appearance of Dr. Thomp- 
 son. 
 
 "And as for Dr. Thompson's large family, of 
 which Brother Brand has spoken so solicitously, 
 fearing lest this would detract from some fancied 
 advantage to the church, I say that this whole 
 matter is none of our business, neither mine nor 
 Sylvester Brand's. If Dr. Thompson is blessed 
 with a large family, shall we, a body of Christian 
 men and women, think him unfit to preach the 
 Gospel to us because he has obeyed the divine in- 
 junction to be fruitful and multiply? Would you 
 have a celibate ministry ? Would you dictate to a 
 clergyman how many children he may have in 
 order to be acceptable to a congregation ?, Why, 
 Sylvester Brand, you had better become a Catho- 
 lic at once. But personal independence is a prin- 
 ciple of our denomination ; and as long as it so 
 remains, you, Sylvester Brand, have no call to in- 
 trude, yes, I say intrude, on the family affairs of 
 the ministry. 
 
 " As the members of this church know very well, 
 I, too, am hostile," continued Driver using a word 
 which he had frequent occasion to employ in the 
 business meetings of the church ; " I, too, am 
 hostile to church suppers. I always have been and 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 31 
 
 I always will be. Every time I see a lot of women 
 here a-working themselves sick when they ought 
 to be in their own homes, many of them attending 
 to their own children, I say to myself : what a lot 
 of geese I beg the pardon of the ladies what a 
 lot of geese for letting Sylvester Brand get them 
 into such unprofitable nonsense ! For if there is 
 anything that does not pay, it's certainly church 
 suppers. And I'm in favor of Dr. Thompson for 
 his sensible Christian views on that subject." 
 
 Miss Irving nodded her head approvingly. 
 
 " That's just what I've said many and many a 
 time," she whispered to Miss Adams. " Brother 
 Driver is right : the suppers don't pay. If we didn't 
 beg our supplies we'd " 
 
 " Lots of fun ! these business meetings, aren't 
 they ? " whispered Cora Stewart interrupting Miss 
 Irving. 
 
 " I can't see where the ' fun ' comes in," said 
 staid Miss Appleton. " I think the way these two 
 men carry on is just horrid ! " 
 
 " And I say so, too ! " quickly observed Miss 
 Fenwick. " There's nothing Christian about it." 
 
 While these and other opinions were being ex- 
 changed on the back seats, Amos Driver continued 
 to address himself to the audience in general but 
 specifically to Mr. Brand. 
 
 " The main thing we want in a pastor is sense, 
 good horse sense," rising a little on his toes and 
 giving an emphatic gesture with his whole body 
 " and Dr. Thompson has sense ; he's a man of 
 
32 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 ripe experience and as for being too old, why 
 he's not a day over fifty-five, just in his prime. 
 Dr. Thompson is just about your own age, Syl- 
 vester Brand, and you're one of the most ener- 
 getic men in this city. It's all nonsense, this 
 wanting a younger man. Why, we have just had 
 a young pastor, a young unmarried man, and see 
 what a disturbance he caused in this church ! 
 There was no rest nor peace until he got married. 
 I never could understand why unmarried ministers 
 should cause so much disturbance in a church I 
 But they always do. Of the twenty-four pastors 
 we've had since I've been a member of this church, 
 which will be fifty-three years come next October, 
 four were sin'gle men ; and it's been the same in 
 every case more or less disturbance in the con- 
 gregation. 
 
 " No, sir ; I'm not in favor of calling a young 
 man. Why, the young ministers of to-day don't 
 know what they believe. Not that I'm narrow or 
 think an opinion is always right simply because 
 it has been held in the past ; for there are some 
 of the old doctrines which I myself do not accept, 
 especially the Calvinistic doctrine of Election. 
 Yet, I want a pastor who has settled down to a 
 few plain, sensible convictions just such a man as 
 Dr. Thompson. 
 
 " Sylvester Brand ! " the old gentleman's eyes 
 flashed as he lifted his long index finger and 
 pointed it at the person addressed, " I charge you 
 with deliberately conspiring to defeat the election 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 33 
 
 of Dr. Thompson to the pastorate of this church 1 
 Your objections to him are nonsense, sheer non- 
 sense 1 It passes my understanding how a Chris- 
 tian man of your parts, with the judgment you 
 ordinarily manifest, can act so stupidly, can be so 
 utterly devoid of sense when it comes to the busi- 
 ness affairs of the church. I have known few 
 men, Sylvester Brand, more obstinate. You are 
 always opposing something which the rest of us 
 want. One would think that you felt called on to 
 run this church according to the notion of Sylves- 
 ter Brand ! That kitchen and the rest of this eat- 
 ing tomfoolery we have to thank you for. And 
 it's a curse to the church ; yes, sir, a curse to the 
 church 1 
 
 " And to think that this church is defeated in its 
 desire to call Dr. Thompson, just because of your 
 unchristian opposition ! I suppose you think you 
 are serving the Lord by opposing Dr. Thompson's 
 election. But let me tell you, Sylvester Brand, ac- 
 cording to my light, you're doing no such thing ; 
 you're bent on getting even with me for not letting 
 you go on with your meeting four weeks ago. 
 But you needn't think because you've got the best 
 of me to-night that I'm going to step aside and 
 let you run this church. I've been a member here 
 too long fifty-three years come next October, 
 I've contributed five times, yes ten times as much 
 to this church as you ever have. And yet you 
 seem to think because you're twenty years younger 
 than I am, you know what is best for the good of 
 
34 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 this church. Doubtless you are the people, Syl- 
 vester Brand, and wisdom will die with you." 
 
 A torrent of heated words was rushing to the 
 old gentleman's lips as he sat down, thoroughly 
 carried away by the rising tide of his ungovern- 
 able passion. His breath came quick and labored ; 
 his eyes flashed ; his whole frame quivered with 
 rage. Standing, he was an object for admiration 
 a fountain from which an irresistible stream of 
 energy flowed forth. But as soon as he sat down, 
 he became an object of pity. Poor Amos Driver ! 
 for the next two weeks you will have to wrestle in 
 your wilderness, with your legions of devils, chief 
 among which will be sleeplessness and indigestion. 
 
 Fortunately, Mrs. Driver was not present at the 
 meeting. She was a cultivated woman of fine 
 Christian spirit ; and she had learned years before 
 not to interfere with her husband. 
 
 " Mr. Chairman," said Mr. Brand, rising imme- 
 diately, "I am sure " 
 
 But the meeting was breaking up in confusion. 
 
 " I just can't stay here any longer ! " exclaimed 
 Mrs. Allen, as she withdrew with Miss North. 
 " I'll be sick from this meeting, now. These busi- 
 ness meetings always do bring on one of my nerv- 
 ous headaches." 
 
 " And it's no wonder ! " said Miss North. 
 
 " How can we expect our church to grow when 
 we have such scenes?" asked Miss Adams of 
 Elvira Stone. 
 
 "What made you people begin to go out?" 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 35 
 
 asked Cora Stewart. " I wanted to stay for the 
 next act. A circus, wasn't it ? " 
 
 " Not quite up to the one four weeks ago," said 
 Mr. Palmer, as he joined the group. 
 
 As Mrs. Strong was leaving the lecture room 
 with her husband, she passed near where Mr. 
 Brand and Deacon Long were quietly chatting, 
 apparently, as if they had not been the means of 
 throwing a church meeting into a state of hope- 
 less confusion. 
 
 " You men should be ashamed of yourselves 1 " 
 she cried. " You seem to delight in scrapping as 
 much as little boys do." She placed a hand on 
 Mr. Brand's arm and looked searchingly into his 
 face. " Do you feel that you have been manifest- 
 ing the Christ spirit to-night ? " she asked, looking 
 from one to the other ; and without waiting for a 
 reply, she passed on with her husband to the door. 
 
Ill 
 
 SUNDAY after Sunday passed, bringing to 
 the pulpit various candidates and supplies. 
 The number of clergymen wishing to ap- 
 pear before the church seemed almost limitless. 
 Very few, however, had written in their own be- 
 half ; nearly all had asked some brother clergyman 
 to bring their names to the notice of the church. 
 
 " Nine new names, this week," said the clerk, 
 laying a package of letters on the table in the 
 church parlor, where the Standing Committee 
 were gathered for their meeting that evening. 
 " If this keeps on/' added Paul, laughing, " I shall 
 soon be in need of a secretary." 
 
 " One with dark hair, who can write shorthand," 
 laughed Mr. Strong, quickly following up the op- 
 portunity Paul's remark had opened. 
 
 " Certainly," replied the young man, doing his 
 best to cover his embarrassment ; "I'd want an 
 expert stenographer none other would do. And 
 as for the color of her hair," pushing his fingers 
 through his own red locks, " black is one of the 
 indispensables." 
 
 Miss Adams looked up from her crocheting, her 
 fingers keeping on busily with their work, while 
 she entered heartily, in her quiet way, into the en- 
 
 36 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 37 
 
 joyment the rest of the committee were having at 
 Paul's expense. 
 
 "Are we all here?" asked the chairman, look- 
 ing around the room. " All but Deacon Long," 
 ha added. 
 
 " We can't wait for the deacon," said Amos 
 Driver, impatiently consulting his watch. "It's 
 time to begin. I want to get home before it gets 
 too late." 
 
 "Very well," replied Mr. Strong; "we'll not 
 wait. Perhaps the deacon may come in later. 
 We shall proceed at once to the reading of the 
 letters received since our last meeting." 
 
 " The first one," said the clerk, unsheathing the 
 letter from its envelope, " is from the pastor of the 
 First church of Palmyra, Minnesota. He writes : 
 
 " ' BRETHREN : In view of the vacancy in your 
 pulpit I am writing to you to commend to your 
 notice the Rev. James Armstrong, a personal 
 friend of mine, now pastor of the First church of 
 Norwich, Conn., a man whose gifts and training 
 give him a peculiar fitness, in my judgment, to 
 meet with more than ordinary success the exact- 
 ing demands of your pulpit, located as it is under 
 the shadow of a large university. 
 
 " ' Mr. Armstrong has been a successful pastor 
 in the East for some ten years ; but like myself 
 and many other brother clergymen, he has come 
 to feel that there is a larger freedom of utterance 
 in the pulpits of the West. Though the salary 
 you pay at present is much less than what Mr. 
 Armstrong is now receiving, I happen to know 
 that this fact would make no difference with him ; 
 
38 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 for he desires at almost any pecuniary sacrifice to 
 exchange his present location for one where he 
 can deliver his message with freedom. 
 
 " ' I am writing freely to you of his reasons for 
 wanting to come West, because, from your loca- 
 tion in a University town, it occurred to me that 
 your church would offer just the opportunity he 
 now desires. 
 
 " ' Mr. Armstrong is a thoroughly up to date, 
 progressive man. He is a writer of recognized 
 ability as you will see from the enclosed reviews 
 of two of his volumes. 
 
 " ' Believe me, as ever, 
 
 " ' Sincerely yours, 
 
 " ' H. W. HENDRICK.' ' 
 
 " That's the kind of letter I like," said Mrs. 
 Terry. " It's plain and to the point." 
 
 " Yes ; and I think we need just such a man," 
 said Mr. Strong. " Our pastors have been too 
 conservative ; we've lost a number of University 
 families who now attend other churches simply 
 because our preaching has been well, because in 
 other churches it is easy to find something more 
 modern." 
 
 " These families you speak of have gone doubt- 
 less where they belong," said Brother Brand 
 quickly. "If they had belonged to us they would 
 have enjoyed our preaching and stayed with us." 
 
 " Mr. Hendrick seems to take our liberality for 
 granted," said Mrs. Wood, smiling. 
 
 " Yes," replied Miss Adams, without losing the 
 count of her stitches. 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 39 
 
 " Perhaps if he knew us better, he would change 
 his opinion," continued Mrs. Wood. 
 
 " Yes," again assented Miss Adams, her atten- 
 tion divided between her crocheting and the con- 
 versation about her. In any other woman this 
 would have been intolerable ; but in Miss Adams 
 it was different. A little work-bag always accom- 
 panied her to committee meetings, church socials, 
 coffees, and to all other church gatherings during 
 the week except the midweek prayer-service. 
 
 " This review speaks very highly of Mr. Arm- 
 strong's book," said Mr. Driver, passing it on to 
 Mrs. Terry. 
 
 " ' Permanent and Temporary Elements in the 
 Teaching of Paul/" read Mrs. Terry. " That's 
 an interesting title." 
 
 " But do you not notice that the clipping is 
 from a Unitarian periodical ? " asked Brother 
 Brand. 
 
 "Is it?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " * Can any good thing come out of Nazareth ? ' ' 
 asked Mrs. Wood, the least suspicion of sarcasm 
 in her tone. Mrs. Wood's only sister was a Uni- 
 tarian. " Of course the book is heretical, being 
 favorably reviewed in a Unitarian paper 1 " 
 
 " Shows at least its affinity," said Brand. 
 
 " I should like to read that book ! " exclaimed 
 Mrs. Terry, as she finished the reviews. " I think 
 I shall send for a copy. Why, I never could 
 agree with all that Paul teaches. It certainly is 
 
40 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 reasonable to hold that there is an element in his 
 teachings which applied only to the conditions of 
 his day." 
 
 " For instance, his remark about women speak- 
 ing in meeting," said Driver, glad of the chance 
 to join with the ladies against Brand. 
 
 " Yes ; and I think some of his doctrinal state- 
 ments were colored by the prevailing atmosphere 
 and expectations of his day," continued Mrs. 
 Terry, warmly. 
 
 " But how can that be, when Paul was inspired ? " 
 asked Miss Adams, for the moment forgetting her 
 crocheting. 
 
 " Yes," said Brand, " if the Bible is inspired, 
 it's inspired, every word of it from Genesis to 
 Revelations." 
 
 " Granting Paul's inspiration, couldn't there 
 still be a temporary element in his teaching?" 
 asked the clerk, who was expecting to enter the 
 ministry. 
 
 Mrs. Terry looked at him gratefully and 
 continued. 
 
 " Yes, why couldn't he be inspired to deliver a 
 message with a temporary significance as well 
 as one whose significance and value were per- 
 manent ? " 
 
 " It's not a question what Paul might or might 
 not have done," replied Brand, severely ; " it's a 
 question of the authority of God's Word. If once 
 we begin to say, 'This is temporary and that's 
 permanent/ we've robbed the Word of God of its 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 41 
 
 divine authority. Might as well have no Bible at 
 all ! For each of us would throw out as a ' tem- 
 porary element' whatever didn't suit him." 
 
 " No ; not throw it away, but interpret it in 
 view of the conditions under which it was written,' 1 
 said Mrs. Wood. 
 
 " That is exactly what we women have to do with 
 many of Paul's statements," added Mrs. Terry. 
 
 " And is it not what we all do with practically 
 all of the Old Testament ? " asked Mr. Strong. 
 
 " Certainly ! " said Mrs. Terry. " Nor does this 
 destroy our belief in the Bible, either." 
 
 " It's a dangerous position to hold," persisted 
 Brand. " Ultimately it will land one in Unitarian- 
 ism ! " 
 
 " I've held it for twenty years," replied Mrs. 
 Terry, warmly; "and I'm just as good a church 
 member as as you are ! " Her voice was trem- 
 bling in spite of her efforts to appear undisturbed. 
 4< I never could see the reason why liberal views 
 may not be held by us as well as by Unitarians, 
 or any other denomination," she added, looking 
 around the room as if inviting support. 
 
 Mr. Strong was an excellent chairman. His 
 unfailing good nature and his keen sense of humor 
 enabled him frequently to divert the brethren from 
 threshing over too often old straw from which the 
 last kernel had long since been flailed. 
 
 " I believe," said he, smiling, " we are discussing 
 Mr. Hendrick's letter. What is your pleasure con- 
 cerning it ? " 
 
42 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 " I move that Mr. Armstrong's name be placed 
 on our * approved list/ " said Mrs. Terry. The 
 motion was carried, though Mr. Brand and Deacon 
 Long voted in the negative, and Miss Adams did 
 not vote either way. 
 
 The clerk entered Mr. Armstrong's name be- 
 neath twenty-three others, and, returning the letter 
 to its envelope, numbered it on the back, sixty- 
 seven, which meant that the committee had pre- 
 viously read and discussed sixty-six letters of 
 similar import as the one just added to the pile. 
 From these sixty-six communications the com- 
 mittee had selected twenty- three names for further 
 consideration. Already the first fifteen clergymen 
 on this approved list had been before the church, 
 supplying the pulpit from one to two Sundays 
 each. 
 
 " The next letter," said the clerk unfolding the 
 typewritten sheet before him, " is from Dr. Porter, 
 Chairman of the Board of Recommendations, of 
 the Divinity Faculty, of the University of the 
 West. He writes : 
 
 " ' MY DEAR BRETHREN : From an item in 
 the Weekly I learn that you are still without a 
 pastor. You are doubtless acting wisely in wait- 
 ing so long for the right man. Too many churches 
 act, in this important matter, wjth undue haste and 
 reap consequences painful to themselves ; for in 
 selecting a pastor, as in buying a pair of shoes, 
 few things are more painful than a misfit. 
 
 "'I should have 'written to you before, had it 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 43 
 
 not been that it is our policy to locate our students 
 as far as possible in churches smaller than yours. 
 In this way the inevitable mistakes of the young 
 pastor are kept in the background, as they could 
 not be if our students at once entered upon more 
 conspicuous fields. 
 
 " * But in the event of your not having been able 
 during the past six months to decide on a pastor, I 
 now feel called upon to write you. From the nature 
 of our student body, coming as the young men do 
 from all over the world, we are able to suit the de- 
 mands of different types of churches. We endeavor 
 to know our men as a merchant knows his wares, 
 so that when a church tells us what it wants we can 
 make the selection accordingly. Few things are 
 more distressing to us than misfits a liberal man 
 in a conservative pulpit, or vice versa ; or a man of 
 scholarly habits and tastes where the people want 
 most of all a pastor fond of making calls ; or a man 
 who would like to spend most of his time in making 
 calls, in a church which cares only to see its pastor 
 in the pulpit, and demands good scholarly sermons. 
 
 " ' Now, if you will indicate what type of pas- 
 tor you wish, whether married or single some 
 churches are very particular on this point, liberal 
 or conservative, a man of scholarly habits or one 
 who cares more to be among people than books, 
 one inclined to sociology we are beginning to 
 make a specialty of this type as it is freer from 
 theological eccentricities and less apt to dwell on 
 disputed doctrinal questions or one inclined to 
 literature, or to foreign missions, a man who 
 studies the Bible in the original languages and 
 reads the revised version in the pulpit, or one 
 who uses only the King James' version, a man 
 who reads his manuscript or who speaks from 
 
44 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 notes in fact, brethren, let us know what you 
 want and we will do our best to select a man of 
 such qualities, temperament, training, family, age, 
 and theological convictions as you may desire. 
 " ' Awaiting an opportunity to serve you, I am, 
 " ' Obediently yours, 
 
 " ' M. B. PORTER.' ' 
 
 " That letter contains sense ! " exclaimed Driver. 
 "Good common sense," he added, reaching his 
 long arm across the table. The clerk placed the 
 letter in his hand. " It's nonsense, sheer non- 
 sense, this trusting the Lord to send us the right 
 man 1 I've always said that since the Lord has 
 given us brains he expects us to use them, in the 
 election of a minister as well as in the buying of 
 a horse." 
 
 " But," interposed Deacon Long, pained by the 
 words which sounded to his ears very like sac- 
 rilege, "calling a minister is different from buying 
 a horse ; it's the Lord's work ; * and how shall 
 they preach except they be sent ? ' " 
 
 " Upon your theory, Deacon," said Driver with 
 his characteristic impatience with Deacon Long, 
 " the Lord is interested in only a mighty little of 
 what's going on." 
 
 " Do you call the salvation of immortal souls a 
 trifling affair?" asked the deacon, almost choking. 
 
 " If you give the words the meaning they ought 
 to have, certainly not," replied Driver. " But it is 
 nonsense to think that God is interested only in 
 church work ! I wouldn't want anything to do 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 45 
 
 with such a God." His tone and expression con- 
 veyed even more meaning than his word. " Why, 
 some men so belittle the Deity by their narrow, 
 bigotted conceptions of him that I wonder he lets 
 them live. When you wake up in the other 
 world, Deacon, I suspect you'll be surprised to 
 find that God is interested in many more things 
 than you ever dreamed of." 
 
 " I get my idea of God," rejoined the deacon, 
 "from the Bible ; I have no desire to feed on the 
 ungodly wisdom of this world, as some do. * Hath 
 not God made foolish the wisdom of this world ? ' ' 
 
 Mr. Driver arose from his chair and began 
 pacing up and down the room, without deigning 
 to reply. Driver never could sit still very long 
 while discussing any matter with the deacon. 
 There was something in the deacon's manner or 
 in the spirit of his replies which seemed to make 
 Driver always want to walk the floor while talk- 
 ing with him. 
 
 During the interval of silence, Miss Adams, un- 
 winding her worsted a little, remarked : 
 
 " This Divinity School must be a very interest- 
 ing place." 
 
 " It certainly is ! " exclaimed Brand. " They 
 have Unitarians, and Universalists, and Catholics, 
 and Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists, Bap- 
 tists, Congregationalists, Disciples all mixed up 
 together! Is it any wonder in such a mixture, 
 our young ministers get to holding all sorts of 
 unscriptural beliefs? Why, it's the most natural 
 
46 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 thing in the world for them to become like their 
 associates. After living in such a mottled atmos- 
 phere for three years, the marvel is that any of 
 them remain true to any creed." 
 
 " Then you think that this Divinity School is 
 doing our denomination harm?" asked Mrs. 
 Wood. 
 
 " Harm ? " cried Brand, excitedly. " Why it 
 couldn't do us more harm. If I know anything 
 about it, it's undermining the very foundation of 
 our existence ! " He spoke with deep feeling and 
 earnestness. 
 
 "Indeed?" 
 
 " Yes ; and the churches are beginning to find 
 it out, too. Why, there are any number of churches 
 already which will not permit a graduate from this 
 school to enter their pulpit." 
 
 " Indeed ? I had not heard of this before. Pray 
 what is it that makes the school so dangerous ? " 
 
 " Oh, one can't exactly name it : the fact is the 
 whole Divinity School is out of harmony with our 
 inherited conceptions and doctrines. For one 
 thing, all the professors are Higher Critics," 
 Mr. Brand pronounced the words "higher critics" 
 with the same intonation he would have used in 
 uttering the name of something exceedingly dia- 
 bolical. 
 
 " Are you sure, Brother Brand, that all the pro- 
 fessors there are Higher Critics ? " asked Deacon 
 Long, doubtfully. " I thought at least some of 
 them were Christians." 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 47 
 
 " But may not a person be a Higher Critic and 
 also a Christian ? " asked Paul Green. 
 
 " I do not so understand it," replied Deacon 
 Long. " The Higher Critic seeks to destroy our 
 faith in the Bible. He cuts it to pieces ; he tears 
 it up ; he explains away this ; he throws out that ; 
 he would destroy the whole Bible if he could. And 
 can such a minded person be a Christian?" Ob- 
 viously, from the deacon's tone there could be 
 but one answer to his question. 
 
 "I'm not quite clear on the subject, myself," 
 said Mrs. Terry. " But Pm sure, Deacon Long, 
 you carry your opinions a little too far." 
 
 " Impossible ! It's impossible to go too far in 
 defending the Word of God," cried the deacon. 
 
 " But we're all liable to be mistaken in our 
 opinions, Deacon Long," rejoined Mrs. Terry, em- 
 phatically. 
 
 "Yes," assented Miss Adams, to whom Mrs. 
 Terry had looked for support. Deacon Nelson, 
 also a member of the Standing Committee, but 
 seldom taking any part in the discussions, nodded 
 his approval to Mrs. Terry's statements. 
 
 "But tell me, Brother Brand, if this Divinity 
 School is, as you say, detrimental to the denomi- 
 nation, why do so many of our young ministers 
 go there?" asked Mrs. Wood, a perplexed look 
 settling upon her thoughtful face. 
 
 "Why do they go there?" repeated Brand. 
 " Why do you wear a certain style of hat ? Why ? 
 Because it's the fashion. And just now it's the 
 
48 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 fashion to attend the University of the West 
 From all over the United States our young min- 
 isters are flocking there with as little reason for 
 doing so as usually exists for following any of the 
 present day fads." 
 
 " But is not the instruction of a superior 
 grade?" 
 
 " What if it is ? That makes the matter only so 
 much the worse." 
 
 " How is that? I do not follow you." 
 
 " By their great intellectual ability these pro- 
 fessors are able to make their students believe al- 
 most anything." 
 
 "Indeed?" 
 
 " Yes ; they can take young men whose beliefs 
 on entering the Divinity School are sound, ortho- 
 dox, in full accord with the denomination, and in 
 three years make them over completely, filling 
 their heads with ideas no more in harmony with 
 our beliefs than black is like white ! " 
 
 " But Patterson writes in glowing terms of the 
 Divinity professors," said Paul. " You remember 
 he graduated here last year ? " 
 
 "That's just it!" exclaimed Brand. "These 
 professors by their great intellectual ability just 
 hypnotize their students." 
 
 " And I've heard it said," added Deacon Long 
 in a hoarse whisper, as if divulging some awful 
 secret, " I've heard it said that Dr. Hopper sends 
 souls to hell every day ! " 
 
 A look of horror settled on Miss Adams' face ; 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 40 
 
 one of incredulity on the faces of the other two 
 ladies : while the corners of Mr. Strong's mouth 
 showed marked indications of suppressed merri- 
 ment. Strong, while in any of the business or 
 committee meetings of the church, rarely indulged 
 in levity ; but afterward in talking over these dis- 
 cussions with his wife, some of the things that 
 were said or done seemed very funny and afforded 
 no end of amusement. His wife more than once 
 told him that it must be the humorous side of 
 these meetings which kept him in such regular 
 attendance. He acknowledged to her that there 
 might be something in it. 
 
 "Perhaps, brethren," he interposed, "we'd better 
 pass on to the reading of the next letter. Of 
 course this discussion is very interesting ; but 
 * tempus fugit? What is the pleasure concerning 
 this letter from Dr. Porter ? " 
 
 " Suppose we ask Dr. Porter to send us an 
 itemized description of two or three good men of 
 the sociological type, I believe he said that type 
 was a specialty," said Driver. 
 
 " You make that as a motion ? " asked the chair- 
 man. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 In the vote there was no opposition. 
 
 The remaining letters, similar to dozens they 
 had received, were disposed of with scarcely more 
 than a reading. 
 
 " What are we ever going to do ! " exclaimed 
 Mrs. Terry. "This continual listening to trial 
 
50 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 sermons is truly distracting I had almost said 
 demoralizing." 
 
 " I agree with you," said Mrs. Smith. " And 
 demoralizing is none too strong a word, either. 
 Indeed, you wouldn't think so if you could hear 
 the discussions at our dinner table, after every 
 Sunday morning service." 
 
 " Yes, it's the same with us. My family has re- 
 solved itself into a group of critics," continued 
 Mrs. Terry. " The way every candidate and his 
 sermon are discussed and torn to pieces is simply 
 awful. Such preaching doesn't do one particle of 
 good ! " 
 
 " I know it. One gets into the habit of being 
 critical. We are all feeling it," added Miss Adams. 
 
 " And our congregations are growing smaller 
 every week. Only yesterday Mrs. James said she 
 should not come any more until the church had 
 decided on a pastor." 
 
 " I hope we shall not lose the James family." 
 
 " But we will lose them and other desirable 
 families also, if this candidating keeps up much 
 longer," said Mrs. Strong, entering the room. 
 " If it wasn't for my husband I'd join some other 
 church next week, myself ! Our church is getting 
 into a terrible condition. I couldn't sit at home 
 any longer. I had to come to this committee 
 meeting. Something must be done ! " 
 
 Mrs. Strong's manner revealed her intense feel- 
 ing. She was a most interesting and unique per- 
 son, always saying or doing something unusual. 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 51 
 
 " We are doing all in our power to settle a pas- 
 tor,'* objected Deacon Long. " More than a half 
 a dozen letters were considered this evening." 
 
 " But what good does it do ? What if you do 
 have man after man preach for us? Whenever 
 it comes to a vote what is the result ? We all 
 know it has been thrust upon us so often. What- 
 ever Brother Brand wants, Brother Driver is cer- 
 tain not to want. Why not deal with the real 
 question the obstinacy of these two men ? " 
 
 Various members of the committee assented, 
 highly pleased at Mrs. Strong's direct attack of the 
 real problem. 
 
 " So far as I can see there is no end in sight. 
 Recall our recent business meeting. Doubtless 
 Deacon Long would say that these two brothers 
 cannot help persistently opposing each other's 
 wishes * 'twas born in them, a part of their total 
 depravity/ Be that as it may, it is quite clear that 
 we shall never be able to decide on a pastor if this 
 continues." 
 
 Both Mr. Brand and Mr. Driver were amused at 
 Mrs. Strong's directness. They accepted from her 
 in good grace what no other woman would have 
 had the courage to utter in their presence. 
 
 It was Mr. Driver who spoke. " What sugges- 
 tion have you to make, Mrs. Strong ? " 
 
 " Why not let some one else propose a candi- 
 date?" 
 
 The idea was revolutionary. For more than a 
 quarter of a century the function of proposing can- 
 
52 DAVID BALDWIN 
 
 didates had rested without question in the hands 
 of these two members. 
 
 " I have a name to propose," continued Mrs. 
 Strong. The members of the committee held 
 their breath. " You recall the young man who 
 preached for us last winter during our pastor's ill- 
 ness ? Yes, Mr. Baldwin. I suggest his name." 
 
 " I remember him well," said Paul Green. 
 " He impressed me very favorably." 
 
 " His sermons were so earnest," added Miss 
 Adams. " Do you suppose we could get him ? 
 Perhaps he is already settled." 
 
 Before the committee meeting closed, Mrs. 
 Strong's campaign, as it was styled, was well 
 under way. Mr. Baldwin became the all absorb- 
 ing topic of conversation. It was rather remark- 
 able how many of the characteristics of Mr. Bald- 
 win various persons were now able to recall. 
 
 In the business meeting which soon followed 
 both Mr. Driver and Mr. Brand expressed them- 
 selves in favor of Mrs. Strong's candidate. Mr. 
 Driver, however, was stubborn in his view that 
 their pastor should be married ; and so, to carry 
 their point, the others agreed to issue the remark- 
 able call which shortly afterward reached David 
 Baldwin. 
 
IV 
 
 " f I ^IOGA, Minnesota, please." 
 
 After several minutes of waiting in 
 -* the long line before the ticket office 
 window, the speaker's turn had come. 
 
 The agent selected the proper ticket, stamped 
 it, and made the purchaser's change which he 
 pushed with the ticket toward the young man 
 standing before him. As he did this, his at- 
 tention was arrested. He looked sharply at the 
 young man for a moment, and as he turned to the 
 next person in the line an amused expression 
 played over his face. Plainly the agent was more 
 than ordinarily interested. 
 
 The young man had just gathered up his 
 change, depositing the coins in a little wallet 
 which he dropped into his trousers pocket on the 
 right hand side, while the bills were carefully 
 folded in a pocketbook which was returned to a 
 pocket in the inner side of his coat. There was 
 nothing unusual in his appearance as he stood 
 folding his ticket and putting it in his card-case. 
 His movements were rapid, almost automatic, in- 
 dicating an orderly mind in which the traces of 
 habit were apparent. Doubtless he had gone 
 through with these movements a hundred times 
 during the past few years as he had purchased his 
 railway tickets, putting the coins of his change 
 
 53 
 
54: THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 into his trousers pocket on the right hand side, 
 the bills into the pocketbook, and the ticket into 
 the card-case. 
 
 In height this young man was neither tall nor 
 short perhaps about the average, with more than 
 the ordinary breadth of chest ; having a clean 
 shaven face save for a light mustache ; brown hair 
 with a scattering of gray on the temples ; eyes 
 which relieved the expression from being too se- 
 vere ; a chin such as men have who persist in a 
 certain line of effort though it takes years to ac- 
 complish their purpose ; lines about the mouth 
 which reveal acquaintance with suffering and 
 power to meet adverse circumstances ; the gen- 
 eral expression of one who could feel keenly the 
 pleasure of a word of appreciation or the pain of 
 harsh criticism. He easily wore the unmistakable 
 air of one accustomed to reflection, to living in 
 the realm of ideas, though he bore none of the 
 distinctive marks of the different professions. One 
 could not have said that he was a lawyer or a 
 doctor ; perhaps he was a teacher or a clergyman. 
 
 As the young man turned from the window and 
 took two or three steps away, he suddenly stopped 
 like one who had forgotten something, and then 
 tried to regain the place at the window which he 
 had just vacated ; but the line had pushed up and 
 this was impossible. How provoking ! He stood 
 waiting for a moment, as if loath to conform to 
 the inevitable ; then, walking to the end of the 
 line, took his place in it. With slow creeping 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 55 
 
 movement the line edged on, gradually melting 
 away at the upper end. 
 
 " Another ticket to Tioga, Minnesota," said he, 
 when his turn came. 
 
 The agent smiled. 
 
 " Not used to buying tickets for two ? " said he, 
 good-naturedly. 
 
 " No," replied the young man. 
 
 "I knew it; I knew you'd be back in a few 
 minutes for another," he laughed. 
 
 "Indeed! How is that?" asked the young 
 man, smiling. 
 
 " Oh, lots of newly married men make the same 
 mistake," said the agent, enjoying the other's em- 
 barrassment. 
 
 " Newly married men ? " repeated the traveler. 
 
 " Certainly, it's no uncommon occurrence for a 
 bridegroom to forget to buy a ticket for his 
 wife." 
 
 " But what makes you think I belong to that 
 class to the newly married ? " 
 
 "Three tickets to St. Paul, please," said the 
 gentleman next in the line ; and the young man 
 stepped aside without getting an answer. 
 
 "I wish I knew how that agent got on to it," 
 was his thought as he crossed the floor to the 
 ladies' waiting-room. 
 
 " Why, David, how long you were ! " exclaimed 
 a young lady, whose eager eyes welcomed him as 
 he approached her side. " I was becoming 
 alarmed : is anything wrong with the trains ? " 
 
56 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 " Oh, no," he replied, drawing a chair near her. 
 " Our connections are all right. We leave Chicago 
 in thirty-five minutes." 
 
 " But, dear, why were you so long?" 
 
 " Well, I hardly know whether I should tell you 
 or not," said David, laughing. " It certainly was 
 a good joke on me." 
 
 The young lady looked into his face but said 
 nothing. She felt that a fuller disclosure was com- 
 ing. 
 
 " I came pretty near going to Tioga alone," he 
 began. 
 
 " Alone ? " laying her hand lightly on his arm. 
 Even the suggestion of it startled her. 
 
 " Yes," he confessed. " I took my place in the 
 line and when my turn came, you cannot guess 
 what I did?" 
 
 "Tell me, David, what was it?" she asked, 
 eagerly. 
 
 " Well, being accustomed for so many years to 
 buying only one ticket, I forgot, for the moment, 
 that I now needed to buy two." 
 
 " Why, David 1 " with the slightest trace of re- 
 proach in her tone. " You surely didn't forget 
 that you had a wife 1 " 
 
 " Not exactly that, Miriam," said he ; "but I did 
 forget that I had to buy two tickets. The agent 
 was greatly amused. He said that many newly 
 married men did the same thing." 
 
 " Newly married men ? How did he know that 
 we were on our wedding trip? " 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 57 
 
 " I wanted to ask him myself, but the next pas- 
 senger took his attention." 
 
 " But the people on the train to Chicago took us 
 for an old couple, don't you think so ? " 
 
 " If they didn't, it certainly wasn't our fault," 
 replied David. " At least it wasn't mine. Didn't 
 I act as if I had enjoyed the training of domesticity 
 for a dozen years ? " 
 
 " Oh, I am sure that no one took us for bride 
 and groom," said Miriam. " Some bridal couples 
 act so foolishly ! " 
 
 There are some things, however, which nature 
 evidently intends shall not be concealed, among 
 which are the starry heavens, the perfume of the 
 carnation, and the presence of a bridal party. 
 And the truth of the matter is, that David 
 and Miriam's attempts to pose as an old married 
 couple deceived no one, and on their way to 
 Chicago they had afforded no little merriment to 
 their fellow passengers. But ignorance is bliss 
 under such circumstances. 
 
 After David Baldwin received the letter from the 
 First Church of Tioga, he lost no time in bringing 
 it to the attention of a certain young woman who, 
 he rightly surmised, would be almost equally in- 
 terested in it with himself. In fact following his 
 chum's hint he had come to regard the letter as 
 a double favor of providence. It would provide 
 him with a pastorate immediately upon gradua- 
 tion, and it would also prove a formidable weapon 
 
58 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 in overcoming the scruples of his fiancee against 
 an immediate marriage. 
 
 He had known Miriam Mathews since high 
 school days, and their early comradery there had 
 ripened into deep mutual affection. When they 
 were graduated, indeed, his love had carried him 
 to such bounds that he urged her to consent to a 
 hasty marriage. But Miriam's good sense per- 
 ceived that it would mean the curtailing of his 
 whole career. She steadfastly refused, although 
 her own heart pleaded for him ; while on his part 
 he was hurt almost to anger. 
 
 But with calmer moments David could not but 
 see her wisdom, although it doomed him to 
 separation from her for at least seven years. The 
 four years in the University, however, were at last 
 ended ; and the three years in the Divinity school 
 as well. Meanwhile, not to lose intellectual pace 
 with him, Miriam had pluckily worked her way 
 through Vassar, and was now paying off the re- 
 mainder of her school debt by the stenography al- 
 ready mentioned. It is small wonder, therefore, 
 that David should have been so jubilant over the 
 call to Tioga, which his old-time friend, Mrs. 
 Strong, had secured for him. It was, in effect, a 
 command to marry, and he believed that Miriam 
 would no longer be able to resist his plea, when 
 backed by such convincing proof of the necessity 
 for the step. 
 
 When Miriam first read the letter the church at 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 59 
 
 Tioga had written to David she was convulsed 
 with laughter. 
 
 " Did they not ask for a minute description, or 
 at least to see a photograph of your intended ? " 
 she asked. " You know, churches are sometimes 
 more particular about the minister's wife than they 
 are about the minister himself." 
 
 " No, they did not ask for a detailed description. 
 I wish they had 1 " he exclaimed. " Think of the 
 letter I could have written! Who could help 
 satisfying the most exacting critics when one has 
 such a subject?" And David carried the hand of 
 his sweetheart to his lips. 
 
 " Be not too certain of that," said Miriam. " I 
 have in mind an instance where an accurate de- 
 scription of myself would have been disastrous." 
 
 " Diastrous ? " 
 
 " Yes," replied Miriam, " disastrous to your set- 
 tlement. It was this way : one of my friends at 
 Vassar recently married a clergyman. On one oc- 
 casion when he was to preach a trial sermon, Mar- 
 garet accompanied her husband. Though the 
 church was highly pleased with the sermon and 
 found no fault with the young man, they did not 
 call him ; and the reason why leaked out a few 
 weeks later." 
 
 "You mean they did not like his wife?" asked 
 David. 
 
 11 There seemed to be one insuperable objection 
 to her: she has red hair." 
 
60 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 "But no church would refuse to call a man whom 
 they wanted, simply because his wife happened to 
 have red hair ! " said David, incredulously. 
 "Are you sure this is not an ungrounded 
 rumor ? " 
 
 "Indeed I am!" cried Miriam. "I have it 
 directly from my Aunt Julia who is a member of 
 the church where it occurred. She knew my ac- 
 quaintance with Margaret Mr. Jackson's wife 
 and wrote me that Mr. Jackson would certainly have 
 been called had his name been brought before the 
 church ; but the chairman of the pulpit committee 
 vigorously opposed bringing it up. Reluctantly 
 the other two members of the committee yielded, 
 though they were puzzled to account for their 
 chairman's attitude. Inadvertently the reason for 
 it came to light. The chairman's wife was a 
 woman of very strong prejudices, one of the 
 strongest of which was her prejudice against red 
 hair." 
 
 " I see," said David. "It is fortunate that I did 
 not write the church at Tioga a full description 
 of you ; perhaps there are some important women 
 there also who have strong prejudices," he 
 laughed. 
 
 " But, David, if the church knows of your en- 
 gagement they will not object to waiting a year 
 for us to be married. It will take another year to 
 pay off my school debt, you know." 
 
 " I hardly think they would wait," said David. 
 
 " But my debt I must meet this before we are 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 61 
 
 married. It would not be right to encumber our 
 future this way." 
 
 David wisely refrained from discussing the sub- 
 ject further just then. He described the work 
 which he hoped to do at Tioga ; how the several 
 hundred students at the university, whose religious 
 difficulties he understood so well, appealed to him ; 
 how he thought of having a student's class where 
 he could come into closer touch with these young 
 men and women, than it would be possible to do 
 in the more formal services. Doubtless the field 
 had its difficulties what church did not have 
 them? But the opening had come to him un- 
 sought when everything else seemed closed. Was 
 it not providential ? If he did not settle with the 
 Tioga church perhaps he would receive another 
 call, but the salary would not be more than 
 seven or eight hundred many of the fellows began 
 their first pastorate on even less salary than that 
 
 " Why, dearest," said he, eagerly, and as if the 
 thought had not been uppermost in his mind all the 
 evening, "the two hundred extra at Tioga would 
 pay your school debt during our first year there. 
 Suppose we called the salary only eight hundred 
 for the first year reserving two hundred for this 
 special purpose ? Would it not be better for us to 
 go to Tioga than for me to run the risk of not get- 
 ting another call ? " 
 
 "Are you quite sure we could reserve the two 
 hundred during the first year?" asked Miriam, 
 hesitatingly. 
 
62 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 " Why not ? We would then have as much to 
 live on as I would probably get elsewhere." 
 
 Miriam thought of the seven years which had 
 passed since David's first proposal ; how he had 
 waited so long in deference to her wishes, as it now 
 appeared to her. If she could be sure that her 
 school debt would be no encumbrance how her 
 heart thrilled with the thought of it ! Another year 
 was a long time to wait. Surely, they could live 
 on eight hundred ; and after the first year there 
 would be the entire amount the ten hundred. 
 
 " There would be some advantages in begin- 
 ning our work together," said Miriam, medita- 
 tively. 
 
 " Then you consent to our marriage during the 
 summer?" he cried, every nerve taut with 
 suspense. 
 
 " If you desire it, dearest," she replied, in a low 
 tone, more gracious, more thrilling than human 
 voice had ever sounded to him before. 
 
 " My darling ! This is more than I deserve," he 
 cried. 
 
 " Oh, I am so happy, David ! " she breathed, as 
 he drew her gently to him. " And I am so glad 
 we are not to wait another year," looking up into 
 his eyes. 
 
 For answer what else could he do ? his head 
 bent a little forward and his lips drew down to a 
 level with hers ; the old, old miracle was performed 
 again a touch of lips was transmuted into one of 
 the most blissful experiences of life 1 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 63 
 
 The train bearing David Baldwin and his bride 
 to their unexplored field of labor was rushing" on 
 toward the great Northwest. The heat of an 
 August day beat down upon them ; the atmosphere 
 was dry and filled with dust. 
 
 A mother with a restless little baby sat just in 
 front of David and Miriam, on the opposite side of 
 the aisle. The woman was scarcely twenty, with 
 low forehead, retreating chin, and large nose ; her 
 mouth was sensitive and her eyes kindly in their 
 look as she gazed upon her babe ; her expression 
 indicated a low grade of intelligence, a mind in 
 which there was much fallow ground ; hers was the 
 minimum of preparation for the responsibilities 
 of motherhood which she had thoughtlessly in- 
 vited or had had thrust upon her. The child 
 grew more restless and cried louder and louder. 
 The poor mother tried in vain to soothe it. 
 
 " Let me take the baby," said Miriam, crossing 
 to the mother's side. " You are tired. Let me re- 
 lieve you." 
 
 The mother looked into Miriam's face, then 
 yielded the infant willingly. 
 
 " Have you traveled far ? " Miriam continued. 
 
 " From New York before then, from old coun- 
 try," she answered, brokenly, with a strong for- 
 eign accent. 
 
 "Alone, and with this baby?" asked Miriam, in 
 surprise. 
 
 " Yes," replied the woman. 
 
 " No wonder you are tired out" 
 
64 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 The little babe was soon asleep in Miriam's 
 arms ; and as she returned it to the mother, the 
 woman's mute look of gratitude stirred her heart. 
 
 "I have been thinking, David," Miriam said, 
 after she had resumed her seat by her husband's 
 side, " I have been thinking of what the church 
 people will probably say when they know that I 
 am not a member of any church." 
 
 " We shall let them think whatever they please," 
 replied David. " So long as I am satisfied, I'm 
 sure they ought to be." 
 
 " I hope they won't expect too much of me," 
 she continued, " for I want to give my best energy 
 to our own home life." 
 
 " And that, dear, is just what I wish you to do. 
 " If any man needs the inspiration of his home, it's 
 a pastor. I shall never consent to any church's 
 robbing me of my wife." 
 
 "I think you said that the church does not 
 have a parsonage." 
 
 " No ; we shall have to rent a small house, or 
 perhaps a flat." 
 
 " Should we not rent as cheaply as possible for 
 the first year or two? there will be so many 
 things for us to buy." 
 
 " Yes, I think so," said David. 
 
 " Of course it will not matter to the church 
 where we live, so long as they have no parsonage." 
 
 "Certainly not; though I suppose churches 
 prefer to have their pastors live in good houses 
 and in a desirable quarter of the community." 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 65 
 
 " Yes, doubtless such a feeling is natural." 
 
 "But I have been thinking, Miriam, of trying 
 to get a house where we could be in close touch 
 with the uneducated and the poorer class of people ; 
 and of carrying out the settlement idea on a small 
 scale." 
 
 " Wouldn't that be grand ! " cried Miriam. " I 
 do hope we may." 
 
 " But, dearest, it would put us to many incon- 
 veniences." 
 
 " Yes ; but the Christ put up with many incon- 
 veniences by living among the lowly, did he not ? " 
 
 " And the members of the church would be sure 
 to criticise such a step." 
 
 " But should we mind what people say about 'us 
 when we are attempting to live the Christ life ? " 
 asked Miriam. 
 
 " I know ; but it's difficult not to mind," replied 
 David. " In many ways I wish we were going to 
 a social settlement : that kind of work appeals to 
 me very strongly, and I know your desires, dear, 
 are in the same direction. But the pastorate of 
 this church is before us now, and our first obliga- 
 tion will be to minister to the spiritual needs of 
 the church ; to get the members interested in some 
 definite lines of Christian service ; and to do what 
 we can to help as many of the students as possible 
 with their religious problems." 
 
 " Is the church open to modern thought ? " asked 
 Miriam. 
 
 " I can only judge from what they have done 
 
66 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 knowing that I am from the University of the 
 West, and having heard me preach four sermons 
 which I considered full of modern thought, they 
 have invited me to become their pastor. From 
 this one would judge that they are liberal." 
 
 "I am glad. I think it is very fortunate. I 
 fear, David, if you were to become pastor of a 
 church as conservative as the one at my home, 
 some very serious problems might arise." 
 
 " But I have no fears of any such thing happen- 
 ing at Tioga. Its being a University town makes 
 a great difference. But even if the circumstances 
 were otherwise, even if I were going to a conserv- 
 ative church, I should be compelled to deliver 
 the message as it burns in my heart. As I think 
 of it, the function of a minister is to bear witness 
 to the truth rather than to preach to people only 
 what they have been accustomed to hearing. As 
 Christ bore witness to the truth and was not care- 
 ful to present only such views as were in accord 
 with the opinions of his day, so the Christian 
 minister should bear witness to the truth as it 
 burns in his own heart. His work is worthy only 
 as he delivers the message that possesses him." 
 
 "I am so glad, David, that you think as you do 
 on these subjects. How I shall delight to hear 
 you preach ! " And Miriam's hand edged down 
 to the side of David's. " For so many years ser- 
 mons haven't meant much to me." Her hand 
 slipped into his. " But I know yours will." There 
 was a gentle pressure. " I shall always delight to 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 67 
 
 listen to you, dearest; you have made so many 
 of my own thoughts clearer to me." 
 
 " Now you are feeding me taffy," said David, 
 returning the pressure with interest "My first 
 lessons in modern religious thought I received 
 from you, dearest; it was from you that I first 
 learned the meaning of redemptive suffering, that 
 love suffers in saving because it cannot do other- 
 wise." 
 
 The possession of Miriam's hand thrilled David 
 like a draught of wine. Forgotten were his reso- 
 lutions to appear like one who had been married 
 a long time ; and during their remaining two 
 hours' ride, he was a bridegroom. And the joy 
 of it was disturbed only by their arrival at their 
 destination. 
 
 "Tioga!" finally announced the brakeman, 
 ending their present dream of bliss. Gathering 
 up their belongings, they made their way through 
 the busy station to the street 
 
 They had arrived unannounced save for David's 
 having written to Mrs. Meek to engage a suite of 
 rooms, and to Mr. Strong to assure the church 
 of his intention of being present for the next Sun- 
 day's services. 
 
 " A gentleman in the parlor, sir, wishes to see 
 you," said Mrs. Meek, as David and Miriam were 
 leaving the dining-room that same evening. 
 
 " I'll be up within a minute or two, dear," said 
 David, as Miriam passed on to their rooms alone ; 
 
68 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 and following Mrs. Meek to the parlor, David en- 
 tered. A tall young man with bushy black hair 
 arose to meet him. 
 
 " The Reverend David Baldwin, I believe," said 
 the young man, advancing and offering his own 
 card. 
 
 "Yes," said David. A glance at the card in- 
 formed him that his caller was a newspaper re- 
 porter. It was the first time he had been sought 
 out by a representative of the press ; and a highly 
 pleasurable emotion swelled his breast. 
 
 " Pardon me, Reverend, but with your permis- 
 sion I would like to ask a few questions," said the 
 reporter, opening his note-book. " I'll promise 
 you, Reverend, not to be long," he added apolo- 
 getically. 
 
 " Very well," said David, sitting down. " I can 
 spare a moment or two," glancing at his watch. 
 Since entering the room his time had become more 
 precious. As soon as we find that another person 
 wants anything belonging to us an old book, a 
 bit of china, or our time it immediately rises in 
 value in our own estimation. 
 
 " Our readers, Reverend," began the reporter, 
 in an easy, off-hand manner, " will want to know 
 something of the new pastor who has just come 
 among us. Now, Reverend, if you will write up 
 an account of yourself, I will send for it any hour 
 you name before midnight ; just so we have it at the 
 office by midnight, that's time enough. And in 
 this account, Reverend," the reporter's voice came 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 69 
 
 down to a confidential tone and he drew his chair 
 a little nearer David, " we would like to have you 
 include any particulars about yourself which you 
 care to have published some statements of your 
 education, your personal attitude on any of the re- 
 ligious problems of the hour. In fact, write any- 
 thing you please. The public, you know, is inter- 
 ested in ministers; and, of course, the more we 
 know of them, the better. At what hour, Rev- 
 erend, could you have the copy ready ?" 
 
 " I but isn't your request a little unusual this 
 writing up one's self ? " asked David, doubtingly. 
 
 " Oh, no, Reverend ; on the contrary, it is a very 
 common practice," the reporter hastened to ex- 
 plain. " But," he added, lowering his tone, " the 
 fact that a man has written up himself is, of course, 
 never made public. Our readers, Reverend, never 
 stop to ask how we get our information. Shall I 
 send for it at, say, eleven ? or would you wish a 
 little more time?" 
 
 David hesitated. The opportunity did indeed 
 appeal to him. Already, in imagination, he saw 
 in to-morrow morning's paper an account of him- 
 self, modestly written to be sure, yet containing 
 some little touches which a reporter would most 
 probably fail to bring out in writing up an inter- 
 view. Why should he not write the account? 
 Did not the reporter say the practice was a com- 
 mon one ? The public was interested in the new 
 pastor. Would it not be better to write up a full 
 and accurate account of himself than to trust 
 
TO THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 to the uncertain statements the reporter might 
 make? 
 
 These thoughts flashed through David's mind 
 in an instant ; but as he opened his lips to say that 
 he would gather together a few statements which 
 might interest the readers of the Times, the thought 
 of Miriam arrested him. Instantly her judgment 
 on the matter stood out before him. Very clearly, 
 very definitely, without the suspicion of a doubt, 
 David saw that she would condemn the act. 
 
 " I am sorry to refuse you sorry that I cannot 
 serve your readers in the way you ask, Mr. Waller," 
 said David, courteously ; " but I cannot write the 
 account. " 
 
 "I'm sorry, Reverend, very sorry ; for you could 
 work up the copy much more to your own satis- 
 faction than I can. However, I'm used to making 
 a stab at such things. You- arrived in the city this 
 evening?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 "Mrs. Baldwin accompanied you?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " This was your wedding trip also, was it not ? " 
 
 "Yes," said David, smiling. 
 
 " You are a graduate of a divinity school ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 "At the University of the West?" asked the 
 reporter. 
 
 " Yes," said David again. 
 
 " Then this is your first pastorate, is it not, Rev- 
 erend?" 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 71 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " But you have preached more or less before 
 this?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Did you not preach here two or three times last 
 winter ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " And the church extended their call from hav- 
 ing heard you then ? " 
 
 " Yes," assented David. 
 
 " Then you are comparatively a stranger in our 
 midst, Reverend ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 Both men laughed. The cumulative effect of 
 David's answers was becoming humorous. 
 
 " Would you mind, Reverend, stating the year 
 of your birth ? " asked the reporter. 
 
 " I am twenty-nine years old and was born in 
 Georgia," replied David. 
 
 " Indeed ? Have you lived in the North long, 
 Reverend ? " 
 
 " Since my fifth year." 
 
 After asking several other questions the re- 
 porter rose to leave. " Oh, I nearly forgot one 
 item," said he, opening his note-book again. 
 " Your subject for Sunday, Reverend may I get 
 its exact wording ? " 
 
 " Certainly," said David. " My theme for the 
 morning will be The Contagion of Life." 
 
 " A very interesting topic, Reverend ; a very 
 interesting topic. Think i shall have to drop in 
 
72 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 and hear what you have to say on it, though to 
 tell the truth, Reverend, I am not over-fond of 
 sermons." 
 
 " I shall be very glad to have you worship with 
 us Sunday morning," said David. 
 
 " Thank you, Reverend," said the reporter, ex- 
 tending his hand. " And as a representative of 
 the Times I am glad to welcome you to our thriv- 
 ing little city. Good-night, Reverend. Many 
 thanks for the interview." 
 
 " Good-night," said David. And he hurried up 
 to Miriam. 
 
 " To think, sweetheart, that I was detained for 
 a half hour 1 " exclaimed David, kissing his bride 
 as he entered the room. 
 
 " Only a half hour ? Why, dearest, it seemed 
 two hours ! " said Miriam. " And I was begin- 
 ning to be a little impatient with the man who 
 was keeping you. I was beginning to dislike 
 deacons " 
 
 " Deacons ? " laughed David. 
 
 " Why wasn't he one of the deacons of the 
 church ? Who else would think of searching us 
 out so soon ? " asked Miriam. 
 
 " No, he was not one of the deacons, only a 
 newspaper reporter," replied David carelessly, as 
 if being interviewed by a reporter was a matter of 
 common occurrence with him. " He wanted to 
 get the subject of my sermon for Sunday morning 
 and also a few facts for a little notice in the paper." 
 
 And he pulled up an easy chair in front of 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 73 
 
 Miriam and stretched himself into it. Both were 
 tired, for they had been traveling since Wednes- 
 day noon, having taken the train immediately after 
 an early wedding dinner at Miriam's home. This 
 was their first hour alone since their marriage. 
 
 " Well, sweetheart," said David, as he settled 
 himself into a comfortable position, " we are here 
 at last. And how does the little girl feel pretty 
 tired ? " 
 
 " Oh, no, not very tired ; the time passed so 
 quickly." 
 
 " But think, sweetheart, what a long and lonely 
 journey it would have been if I'd had to come 
 alone," said David. 
 
 " Are you sure, David, that you would have 
 missed me so much ? " Miriam asked, her face 
 suffused with tenderness, her eyes lifted for a 
 moment to his. What bride does not delight in 
 the reiteration of her husband's devotion, how- 
 ever much she may be assured of it ? But why 
 should this be? why should not one declaration 
 be sufficient ? Why does a woman's heart crave 
 to be told again and again what she already 
 knows that she is dearer to her husband than all 
 the rest of the world besides ? But the ways of a 
 woman's heart have always been past finding out. 
 A mystery to herself, woman is a deeper mystery 
 to man. It was so with the ancients ; it is more 
 profoundly true of us moderns. For with our 
 increase of knowledge the mystery has but 
 deepened. 
 
IT was Sunday morning, and Miriam was pre- 
 paring her toilet for church. 
 " Say, dear ? " she called. 
 
 " Well, sweetheart ? " answered David from be- 
 yond the portieres, in their little sitting-room. 
 
 "Am I interrupting you in your studying?" 
 she asked. 
 
 " Of course not, sweetheart," said David, put- 
 ting his finger on the line where he had stopped 
 in the reading of his manuscript. " Do you want 
 anything ? " 
 
 " Why, dear," continued Miriam, as she went on 
 with the making of her toilet, "if I'm not inter- 
 rupting you to ask, how long does it take to walk 
 to the church ? " 
 
 "Why, not long; only about ten minutes, 
 sweetheart," answered David, at the same time 
 glancing over the remainder of the page of his 
 sermon. " Yes, I remember from having walked 
 it last winter; it takes just about ten minutes." 
 His eyes began moving rapidly over the next page. 
 
 "Then, dear, suppose we start so as to get 
 there just on time ? " called Miriam. 
 
 " Very well, sweetheart, if you wish," said 
 David, scanning the contents of another page as 
 he answered. 
 
 74 
 
DAVID BALDWIN Y5 
 
 Miriam wished on this their first Sunday in 
 Tioga to avoid the embarrassment of sitting in 
 church several minutes before the opening of the 
 services, a conscious target to many a pair of 
 curious eyes ; so they waited until ten-twenty, ten 
 minutes before the opening of the service, before 
 they left their room. 
 
 The morning was warm, the last Sunday in 
 August. But Central Avenue was so well shaded 
 that it was scarcely necessary to carry a parasol, 
 though Miriam had brought along her dainty 
 affair, with its white handle and its lavender 
 colored silk and lace. The streets had been 
 sprinkled earlier in the morning and there was no 
 dust. The air was fragrant with a mixed perfume 
 of many late blossoms and shrubs; among the 
 trees the birds were still chirping, though with 
 less volume than two or three hours before ; while 
 up the trunk of a tree here and there squirrels 
 scampered as David and Miriam approached. 
 
 Miriam was modestly dressed in white. Her 
 face was full and rosy with just a trifle more color 
 this morning than usual. In height she was a little 
 under the average for a woman. Walking by her 
 side David appeared tall, though he was not. In 
 his hand he carried his study Bible, the revised 
 version not bound in limp cover, and a hymn book. 
 He was dressed in full clerical attire, with white 
 tie, white linen waistcoat, Prince Albert coat, and 
 enameled shoes. 
 
 According to his custom, David was meditating 
 
76 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 on his opening prayer as he walked along ; and in 
 so doing he lost himself to the extent that he quite 
 forgot to suit his pace to Miriam's, until he was a 
 step or two ahead of her. 
 
 " Pardon me, sweetheart ! " he cried, as he 
 noticed this. " Am I walking too fast for the little 
 girl?" 
 
 " Dear, I'm trying my best to keep up," panted 
 Miriam, who was becoming heated. 
 
 They walked on more slowly, David carefully 
 suiting his gait to Miriam's. 
 
 " If there isn't the last bell I " he exclaimed, 
 when they were yet several blocks from the 
 church. 
 
 " Why, dear, I thought you said we could walk 
 it in ten minutes ? " said Miriam anxiously. 
 
 " Ten minutes of my strides, I should have said," 
 answered David, grimly. 
 
 " But we'll be late, dear," said Miriam. " Hadn't 
 you better go on ahead, David ? " 
 
 "No," said David, "a minute or two will not 
 make much difference." 
 
 On they walked. Were blocks ever before so 
 long? And what a slow method of getting over 
 the ground walking was, anyway ! At last they 
 reached the church door, and handing Miriam to 
 one of the ushers, David went through the lecture- 
 room to the pastor's study, where two of the deacons 
 were awaiting him. Deacon Long was holding his 
 watch in his hand. 
 
 " I fear I'm a little late," said David hurriedly, 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 77 
 
 as he shook hands with the brethren. " But I've 
 learned," said he, as he wiped the perspiration from 
 his brow, "if it takes one person ten minutes to 
 walk to church, it will take two nearly twice as 
 long." 
 
 " When a man gets married," observed Deacon 
 Nelson, " he has many new lessons to learn." 
 
 " It's now four minutes late," said Deacon Long, 
 consulting his watch. "Perhaps you had better 
 go in at once. The congregation is waiting." 
 
 David stepped toward the door leading to the 
 pulpit. 
 
 " But shall we not have our usual prayer first?" 
 asked Deacon Nelson. 
 
 For many years Deacon Nelson had found his 
 chief enjoyment of the Sunday services in meeting 
 the pastor before the morning sermon and having 
 a short season of prayer. On several occasions 
 when too ill to leave the house during the week, 
 he would be well enough to attend church Sunday 
 morning, for he had set his heart upon it. And the 
 first Sunday with a new pastor was a red letter 
 day with the deacon, an occasion toward which he 
 would look forward for weeks, brooding the while 
 over the petition he would then offer. 
 
 David knew something of Deacon Nelson's 
 custom, and seeing the pained look on the old 
 gentleman's face, he said, 
 
 " Certainly, Deacon Nelson. The congregation 
 can wait a moment longer. Will you please lead 
 us?" 
 
78 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 They knelt and Deacon Nelson prayed. Though 
 an unlettered man, rude of speech in ordinary con- 
 versation, the deacon's language when praying was 
 beautiful ; the sentiment of the prayer was tender 
 and sympathetic. Under other circumstances 
 David would have wished the deacon to continue 
 praying as long as he desired : the prayer was so 
 unusual in its inspirational power. But there was 
 the waiting congregation ! And this fact turned 
 the eloquence of the deacon's petition into a scald- 
 ing stream, torturing poor David instead of blessing 
 him. But the deacon also was conscious of the 
 waiting audience, and with effort kept down the 
 rising flow of words ; and when the prayer was 
 finished David added a fervent "Amen," the 
 meaning of which was by no means limited to the 
 sanctioning of the deacon's prayer. Glancing 
 nervously at his watch as he rose from his knees, 
 David saw that he was seven and a half minutes 
 late. In not the best frame of mind to meet his 
 congregation, he stepped through the doorway and 
 took his seat behind the pulpit. 
 
 During the anthem before the sermon he re- 
 gained his composure sufficiently to glance over 
 the audience. A lady with a large black hat 
 moved a little to one side. David thought he saw 
 a familiar face. Could it be possible that the 
 portly gentleman sitting there was Dr. Graham, 
 president of Greene College ? For a moment the 
 lady's hat intercepted David's view, then it moved 
 to one side again. There was no doubting it 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 70 
 
 there sat the genial doctor, one of the best preach- 
 ers in the church. In another direction where the 
 faces were nearly all strange, David detected an- 
 other familiar face. Shades of the patriarchs ! if 
 there wasn't Dr. Harmon, one of his divinity pro- 
 fessors. In other parts of the audience David 
 recognized three more well-known clergymen. 
 Though David knew that Tioga was something 
 of a summer resort, with easy access to good fish- 
 ing and boating, he had never dreamed of having 
 to preach before such men. 
 
 Already embarrassed because he had kept the 
 congregation waiting so long, David's propensity 
 to perspire received a new impetus as he saw 
 these eminent clergymen sitting before him. 
 Every pore in his body seemed like a bubbling 
 spring. From his temples a little stream of per- 
 spiration trickled down the side of his face ; his 
 collar grew less and less able to maintain an up- 
 right position. 
 
 At this juncture the anthem was finished and 
 the time for the sermon had come. David arose, 
 and opening his study Bible to the tenth chapter 
 of John's Gospel, read the tenth verse as his text 
 As he did so, he noticed Mr. Waller, the reporter, 
 in one of the pews to the extreme left, begin 
 to take short-hand notes. This was David's first 
 experience in being reported ; in an instant as he 
 saw Mr. Waller, he forgot the introductory sen- 
 tences of his sermon. Without hesitation, how- 
 ever, he re-read the text and again announced its 
 
80 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 location. He glanced hurriedly at his notes ; he 
 never carried his manuscript into the pulpit ; but 
 his outline was meaningless to him as he now 
 looked at it 
 
 What should he do ? He could not recall a 
 single word he had intended to say. And worse 
 than this he could not remember any of the ideas 
 of his introduction. The whole section was a 
 blank. Stepping to one side of the pulpit with as 
 much deliberation as if he had planned to do so, 
 David said : 
 
 "My friends " 
 
 A hush passed over the congregation. Every 
 face turned toward him. Here and there persons 
 leaned a little to one side to get a better view of 
 the speaker. David looked over the audience as 
 a speaker does sometimes when he is waiting for 
 the people to get very still. The audience before 
 David, save for the slight noise produced by the 
 fans, became quiet. David had not the remotest 
 idea what he should say next ; but the occasion 
 demanded that something should be said and said 
 at once. Though the interval since he had pro- 
 nounced the first two words seemed painfully long 
 to him, it was in reality no longer than a breath. 
 As if continuing what he had planned to say, 
 David went on : 
 
 " for ten years I have been looking for- 
 ward to this moment." 
 
 Oh, what a falsehood ! He had never, never 
 looked forward to such a moment as this. How 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 81 
 
 different the moment was from anything he had 
 ever expected ! The people were all attention. 
 Deacon Long, sitting in the rear of the house, was 
 holding his right hand up to his ear to assist his 
 hearing. Again it seemed to David that he had 
 made a pause of intolerable length when in reality 
 it was no longer than the other. The words had 
 escaped him. He hardly knew how or why. 
 Now they must be followed up by some statement. 
 But what should it be? What? Again David 
 spoke. 
 
 " For the first time since I began studying for 
 the ministry," were the words that came. But 
 how should he finish the sentence ? Should he 
 frankly confess that for the first time since he 
 began speaking in public his senses had failed 
 him ? Perhaps it would be best to make this ex- 
 planation and dismiss the audience. No, no ; the 
 humiliation of it would crush him. But how to 
 finish that sentence? This debating in David's 
 mind having occupied no more time than it takes 
 to make a natural pause in the middle of a sen- 
 tence, the speaker, struggling to finish the sentence 
 in a way which would not appear utterly senseless, 
 said : 
 
 " it is possible " 
 
 Of all the possibilities imaginable which one 
 should it be ? was the thought in David's mind 
 as the word " possible" escaped from his lips. 
 But quick as a flash, without any perceptible hesi- 
 tation, the sentence was finished with these words : 
 
82 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 " for me to think of myself as a pastor and 
 
 of a congregation as my people." 
 
 The fog had lifted. As David uttered these 
 words his mind cleared. He knew what he had 
 said and now continued for a moment along the 
 same line, telling the congregation how much he 
 had looked forward during all of his student years 
 to the time when he should be a pastor ; how he 
 had almost envied those pastors who had held a 
 large place in the sympathy and prayers of a 
 church. And now that this opportunity had come 
 to him, the privilege of being a pastor, he asked 
 for a place in the affection of his people, and to be 
 upheld by their prayers and their sympathy. 
 
 As if all of this had been planned and was now 
 out of the way, David turned to his sermon. The 
 subject was one which possessed him " the con- 
 tagion of life." By a gradual approach he led up 
 to the statements that the great need of the world 
 is spiritual health, and that this could be attained 
 by the individual who would place his life daily 
 by the side of that of the Christ ; that this assimila- 
 tion of the thought and the spirit of the Christ is 
 salvation ; and that as Christ is the perfect source 
 of spiritual health, so his followers should be 
 sources in themselves, each in some worthy 
 measure imparting spiritual health to the lives that 
 are nearest. 
 
 During the delivery of the sermon David was 
 above his average ; indeed, seldom had his thoughts 
 so pressed for expression ; seldom had he been 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 83 
 
 carried into such flights of imagination and impas- 
 sioned oratory. The glow of utterance was upon 
 him; and, as if an illustration of the central 
 thought of the discourse, the audience caught 
 something of the speaker's glow and enjoyed it 
 with him. 
 
 At the close of the service David mingled with 
 the people in the rear of the church, shaking 
 hands with as many as he could as they passed 
 out. Dr. Harmon greeted him warmly. 
 
 " I wish to express my appreciation of the service, 
 Mr. Baldwin," said he. " I am well pleased with 
 it all, but especially with your opening remarks 
 which were all the more effective for being spon- 
 taneous and unstudied." 
 
 David did not think it worth while to make a 
 confession just then. As he joined Miriam who, 
 under the charge of Mrs. Strong, had been meet- 
 ing several of the ladies of the church, he was told 
 that they were invited to go home with Mrs. Strong 
 for dinner. 
 
VI 
 
 IF it were possible for a pastor to become both 
 invisible and omnipresent, and thus on Sun- 
 day morning at the close of the service ac- 
 company each of his hearers home, what do you 
 think would be the state of his mind after an hour 
 or two ? What do you think would be the state of 
 your pastor's mind ? How do you suppose you 
 would feel, if you were a clergyman, to hear re- 
 marks about the way you combed your hair, or, if 
 you happened to have but little hair, to hear your 
 bald spot discussed what a pity your hair is get- 
 ting thin, how did it happen ? did it come from 
 over-study ? too bad for a clergyman to have a 
 bald spot ! flies were always so annoying to minis- 
 ters with bald heads ; to hear further remarks and 
 sundry observations about your ears, your nose, 
 your teeth, your eyes, your hands, your, feet, the 
 shoes you wore, your height, your breadth, your 
 voice, your gestures, your way of sitting down, 
 your manner of getting up, your way of standing 
 too much on one foot or your feet were too far 
 apart the length of your prayers, the length of 
 your discourse, your diction, your enunciation, 
 your way of reading the Scripture, your manner of 
 announcing the hymns, how you opened the serv- 
 ice, how you closed it, how you looked up or how 
 you looked down, your peculiar way of closing 
 
 84 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 85 
 
 your mouth ; to hear opinions, quite the opposite to 
 what you hold, attributed to you ; to hear your own 
 thoughts, dear to you because your own mental off- 
 spring, repeated in such mutilated forms as to be 
 scarcely recognizable ; to hear comparisons drawn 
 between you and the Reverend Blank ; to hear 
 your family freely discussed how your wife was 
 dressed, and how she looked better than usual, 
 or was she not just a trifle paler ? It was too bad 
 her health wasn't better ; to hear some of your 
 audience speaking in extravagant praise of your- 
 self and of your sermon, while others were unable 
 to see why the good Lord had ever put it into 
 your head to preach at all ; to hear violent argu- 
 ments over whether you had said this or that, 
 whether you were not too conservative or too 
 liberal, et cetera, adinfinitum ; how do you suppose 
 you would feel to hear yourself discussed in this 
 way? 
 
 "But," you reply, "a clergyman doesn't know 
 what is being said about him, and if it does the 
 people any good, why let them talk." 
 
 Let it be hoped that these discussions and re- 
 marks about ministers do accomplish some good ; 
 but is it true that clergymen are unaware of what 
 the members of their congregation are saying of 
 them? They may be for a time, but sooner or 
 later it filters through unsuspected channels to the 
 ears of the pastor or the pastor's wife. Of course 
 this is all very well so long as the pastor is 
 in high favor ; it is likely he can do better work if 
 
86 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 he knows that his efforts are appreciated. But 
 when dissatisfaction has arisen, the channels un- 
 fortunately are still open ; and few conditions in 
 life are more painful than that of a clergyman's, 
 when the tide of popular favor has turned against 
 him. 
 
 As the congregation was leaving the church 
 after David's first sermon as pastor, Mr. Driver, 
 coming out of the lecture-room where, before the 
 service, he usually left his hat and Sunday mail, 
 accosted Deacon Long. 
 
 " Well, deacon," said .he, tapping him lightly 
 on the shoulder, /'that was what I call a down- 
 right sensible sermon. None of your pious non- 
 sense in that discourse, eh ? " 
 
 "The sermon was very good," replied the 
 deacon, " very good ; at least what I heard of it 
 was. But don't you think he talks too low ? In 
 the back of the church where I was sitting, one 
 could scarcely hear half what he said." 
 
 "Nonsense!" returned Driver. "The young 
 man has a very good voice. But say, deacon, 
 people who are hard of hearing shouldn't sit in 
 the extreme rear of the church." 
 
 " But Pm not hard of hearing," replied Deacon 
 Long, quickly. " I can hear very well anywhere 
 in the church if the speaker has a good voice." 
 
 Mr. Driver laughed as he passed on. He had 
 his own opinion of the sermon and cared very 
 little what other people thought of it. Not so 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 87 
 
 with Deacon Long. He was not always certain 
 whether he liked a sermon or not until he had 
 heard various remarks about it and had talked it 
 over with his wife. Sometimes it was nearly the 
 middle of the week before he came to any definite 
 conclusion. So while waiting to hear what some 
 of the other members might say, he met Mr. 
 Strong. 
 
 " Well, Deacon Long, how did you enjoy the 
 sermon this morning?" said Mr. Strong, shaking 
 the deacon's hand which moved up and down not 
 unlike a pump-handle. " Fine discourse, wasn't 
 it?" 
 
 "Better than I expected," acknowledged the 
 deacon ; "at least so far as I yes, it was very 
 good," said he, changing his sentence. 
 
 " Wasn't that a grand sermon ! " exclaimed 
 Mrs. Harrington, approaching the two gentlemen. 
 "And I'm glad we have at last got a minister 
 progressive enough to use the Revised Version." 
 
 "The deacon and I were just saying how much 
 we enjoyed the discourse," said Mr. Strong. 
 
 " Yes, it was better than I had expected," re- 
 peated the deacon ; " at least what yes, I liked 
 it very well," said he. 
 
 "Good-morning, Deacon Long," said Mrs. 
 Terry, a moment later. " It seems nice to have 
 a pastor again, doesn't it? I enjoyed the sermon 
 so much ! How did you like it ? " 
 
 " Good-morning, Mrs. Terry ; good-morning, 
 Deacon Long," said Miss Irving, breaking in 
 
88 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 before the deacon had time to reply. " Delight- 
 ful sermon, wasn't it ? His thought was so clear 
 that it was a pleasure to follow him." 
 
 The ladies passed on shaking hands with those 
 who stood near, and the deacon after greeting 
 two or three others, made his way to where Mr. 
 Brand was standing. 
 
 " The congregation seem well pleased with the 
 sermon," said the deacon without committing him- 
 self. The two walked a little aside. Mr. Brand 
 was silent. 
 
 " Don't you think his voice is pitched a little 
 too low ? " the deacon asked, trying to draw the 
 other out. 
 
 " Possibly, though I hadn't noticed it," was the 
 reply. 
 
 " Driver spoke very highly of the sermon," said 
 the deacon, knowing that this was what Brand 
 was waiting for. 
 
 " Did he ? " said the other. 
 
 "Yes. He said it was a 'downright sensible 
 
 sermon.' " 
 
 " Anything else ? " 
 
 " He said something about the discourse not 
 containing * any of your pious nonsense.' " 
 
 "E-um'm, e-um'm," responded Brand without 
 opening his lips and with significant nods of his 
 head. " Driver said that, did he ? " 
 
 " Yes," replied the deacon, anxious to discover 
 Brand's opinion. 
 
 " Of course, anybody knowing what Driver be- 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 89 
 
 lieves could have told what he'd thought of that 
 sermon. You didn't hear it all, did you ? " 
 
 " His voice didn't carry very well," said the 
 deacon, " and I guess I did miss about half of it." 
 
 " I thought so ; I thought so," said Brand with 
 more significant and mysterious nods of his head. 
 
 " You don't mean that you detected anything 
 unsound ? " Deacon Long asked in a low, eager 
 voice. 
 
 " I haven't made such a statement and I prefer 
 not to express my opinion either one way or the 
 other. But time will tell, time will tell," said 
 Brand, with the same mysterious air ; and seeing 
 his wife waiting for him, Brand joined her at the 
 main exit. 
 
 Deacon Long and his wife were among the 
 last to leave the church. " Everybody seem well 
 pleased with the sermon," ventured Mrs. Long, as 
 they were walking slowly home. 
 
 " Several spoke very highly of it," said he. 
 
 " Not everybody, then ? " 
 
 " I heard some remarks which were not so 
 favorable," admitted the deacon. 
 
 They walked a part of a block in silence. 
 
 "Was it Brother Driver?" she asked at length. 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Then it was Brother Brand ? " 
 
 -Yes." 
 
 After a moment in which neither had spoken, 
 the deacon continued, " I rather think that Brand 
 suspects something." 
 
90 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 " Suspects ?" exclaimed Mrs. Long, horrified. 
 
 " Yes. Though Brand didn't say so in just that 
 many words, yet I am positive that he suspects 
 Mr. Baldwin of being unsound in his orthodoxy." 
 This disclosure was made with apparent reluc- 
 tance. "You know, Mr. Baldwin is from the 
 University of the West," he added. 
 
 " But I didn't detect anything unorthodox in 
 the sermon, did you, Jacob ? " 
 
 " Not well, not exactly unsound, Josephine," 
 admitted the deacon, with hesitation. " But, then, 
 where I sat one couldn't hear all that he did say," 
 said he, as if excusing himself for having been de- 
 linquent in one of his important duties. 
 
 " Perhaps, Jacob," said his wife, " you had bet- 
 ter sit a little further front next Sunday." 
 
 " Why, what difference would that make, Jo- 
 sephine ? " asked the deacon, with the least bit of 
 irritation. " From the way you talk, one would 
 think I was deef." 
 
 " You know I don't think any such a thing, 
 Jacob," she hastened to reply. " But Mr. Bald- 
 win's voice doesn't seem to carry well, and I 
 thought if you'd a mind to sit a little nearer the 
 pulpit you might catch what was said better. For 
 the deacons cannot be too watchful, they cannot 
 be too particular, Jacob, if Brother Brand has rea- 
 sons for his suspicions. And I should feel terribly 
 humiliated, Jacob, if you, the senior deacon in the 
 church, let either of the others get ahead of you in 
 detecting unsound doctrine." 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 91 
 
 " Perhaps you're right, Josephine," said he ; 
 " mebbe I'd better sit a few seats nearer the pul- 
 
 pit.- 
 
 " I think you'd better, Jacob ; and wouldn't it be 
 well also to keep a note-book and take down some 
 of the suspicious statements? There's nothing 
 like getting such things down in black and white." 
 
 " Mebbe I'd better, Josephine," said he solemnly. 
 
 Having raised a family of five children, all of 
 whom had long since been married, Deacon Long 
 and his wife were gracefully approaching the even- 
 tide of their earthly existence. Their three daugh- 
 ters, on marrying, had removed to other cities ; 
 but the two sons had succeeded their father in the 
 bakery business. It was a source of grief to both 
 the deacon and his wife that neither of the sons 
 had ever joined the church. 
 
 The Brands and Mrs. Allen were waiting for the 
 street car when Dr. and Mrs. Wood joined them 
 at the corner. 
 
 " A thoroughly good sermon we had this morn- 
 ing," said the doctor, pleasantly. " Though not a 
 churchman myself, I always reserve the right to 
 enjoy a good sermon when I am fortunate enough 
 to hear one." 
 
 Dr. Wood was a physician, a highly cultivated 
 man whose views on religious subjects were known 
 to be extremely liberal. He was not a regular at- 
 tendant at church. 
 
 " Yes, I think we are to be congratulated for 
 
92 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 having secured such a man as Mr. Baldwin," said 
 Mrs. Wood, enthusiastically. 
 
 Mrs. Brand looked at her husband, whose opinion 
 of the service she had not yet learned ; but as he 
 did not immediately speak, she said, "Ye-s, I hope 
 he may do a great deal of good." But, having 
 taken her clew from her husband's reticence, there 
 was something in her tone which seemed to say, 
 " But I doubt it, though." 
 
 The arrival of the car cut short the necessity for 
 further conversation. Later, at the dinner-table, 
 Mrs. Brand asked, " Was there anything the mat- 
 ter, Sylvester, with the sermon this morning?" 
 
 " Why, you heard what the preacher said, didn't 
 you ? " was the reply. 
 
 " Ye-s, but I can't recall anything that was par- 
 ticularly out of place. What was it, Sylvester ? " 
 
 " Have I said that there was anything out of 
 place ? " he asked coolly. " Didn't you hear any 
 number of people speak in favor of the sermon?" 
 
 " But I know very well, Sylvester, that you're 
 not pleased with it." 
 
 " Well ? " he rejoined. 
 
 In the Brand household there were four sons, 
 the youngest of whom had recently secured a po- 
 sition as assistant city engineer somewhere in Wis- 
 consin ; the other three boys were at home, at 
 least they took their meals at home and slept there. 
 Though Mr. Brand had wished for one or two of 
 his sons to enter his office and, having grown up 
 in the business, to succeed him when the time 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 93 
 
 came, none of them could be persuaded to do it. 
 Whether it was that they did not fancy the coal 
 and wood business, or what was the difficulty, no 
 one knew ; but each one of the three had tried it, 
 and left the office in disgust, one to learn the 
 printer's trade, another to become a clerk in a 
 grocery store, while the third had not settled at 
 anything definite yet. As can be readily imagined, 
 there was not the most cordial feeling between the 
 father and his sons. 
 
 " Why, mother, can't you see why father don't 
 like the sermon ? Mr. Driver was pleased with it, 
 and that's reason enough," said Albert, the oldest 
 son. 
 
 " Some people think they are very smart," was 
 the father's reply. 
 
 " Now, Sylvester, if you saw anything wrong in 
 the sermon, I think you might say so. Some men 
 are so tantalizing 1 " 
 
 " Tantalizing ? What have I done now, I'd like 
 to know ? " 
 
 " Done ? You know very well what you're do- 
 ing keeping your opinion of the sermon all to 
 yourself and acting so mysterious about it." 
 
 " Perhaps I have no opinion," said he. 
 
 " Sylvester Brand I you know as well as I do 
 that you've got something in your mind which 
 you're holding back." 
 
 " Well, suppose I had would there be any great 
 harm in that ? " 
 
 " Harm ? If you're not one of the most ag- 
 
9 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 gravating men ! If there's anything provoking 
 in this world it's being mysterious about some- 
 thing." 
 
 " Never mind, mother," said Albert, " I'll go to 
 church next Sunday and size up the new dominie. 
 I can tell why father don't like him." 
 
 " I do wish you boys would go to church more," 
 said Mrs. Brand, with a sigh. " You used to go 
 every Sunday." 
 
 With the exception of Vincent, the youngest son, 
 who became a member of the church while attend- 
 ing the University, Mr. Brand's sons had dropped 
 out of the Sunday-school and from regular attend- 
 ance at church when they were fourteen or fifteen 
 years of age. 
 
 While the conversation at the Brand dinner 
 table was in progress much after its usual fashion, 
 several other groups were discussing the new 
 pastor's sermon, in characteristic fashion. 
 
 " Papa, you should have been at church this 
 morning ; we had the loveliest sermon," said Miss 
 Marshall with all of her usual overflowing enthu- 
 siasm. " Didn't we, mamma ? " 
 
 " Yes, dear ; Mr. Baldwin preached very accept- 
 ably," answered her mother. " Only a little of the 
 dressing, Rufus," addressing her husband as he 
 was serving her plate. 
 
 " Acceptably ? Why, mamma, that's altogether 
 too mild a term," said the daughter, dismayed at 
 this lack of support. 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 95 
 
 "What was the sermon about, daughter?" 
 asked Mr. Marshall, as he passed Ethel her plate. 
 
 " Oh, mamma can tell better than I can," said she. 
 
 " But I'm busy, dear. Go on and tell your papa 
 what the sermon was about." 
 
 "I hardly know where to begin, papa," said 
 Ethel. " But it was just grand 1 Of course I can- 
 not begin to tell you all of it, but his subject was 
 something about our lives being contagious. 
 And then he was so earnest I He was so intent 
 on making each of us feel what he felt and see 
 what he was seeing. He just forgot all about him- 
 self ! Oh, it was just grand 1 Have I got it right 
 so far, mamma ? " 
 
 " I think so, dear," the mother replied. 
 
 " But how did he develop his theme, daughter ? 
 What were his points ? you know ministers al- 
 ways have points in their sermons," said Mr. 
 Marshall. Ethel was his only child, and though 
 he had wished for a son, yet for these twenty 
 years his daughter had remained the sole idol of 
 his heart. 
 
 " What was his first point, mamma ? I don't 
 remember what he did say at first I was busy 
 looking at the minister's wife. I'm sure I shall 
 like her!" 
 
 " Yes, Mrs. Baldwin has a good face," said Mrs. 
 Marshall. 
 
 " If only she wasn't so short I " exclaimed Ethel, 
 who was tall and graceful. " Isn't it too bad, 
 mamma, that Mrs. Baldwin is so short ? " 
 
96 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 " But, my dear, she can't help it. We have to 
 take our figures as they come to us," said Mrs. 
 Marshall. 
 
 " Certainly, mamma ; but I think it's just too 
 bad for a minister's wife to be so short. One 
 likes to look up to the minister's wife, you know. 
 She should be grand and stately. But did you 
 notice her complexion, mamma ? I'm sure she 
 had the best complexion this morning of any lady 
 in the audience 1 I wonder what she uses ? " Ethel 
 looked at her mother inquiringly ; but it was her 
 father who replied. 
 
 " Doubtless," said he, " she takes plenty of ex- 
 ercise in the open air and doesn't eat too much 
 candy and pastry." 
 
 " Now, papa ! That's a horrid stab at me," 
 cried Ethel. "Of course I know I do eat too 
 many caramels but why do you, you old dear, 
 bring them home ? And, mamma, did you notice 
 Mrs. Baldwin's hair ? I simply dote on such hair ! 
 Her hair is perfectly exquisite, papa ! " exclaimed 
 Ethel, misplacing the accent of her adjective. 
 
 " But the sermon, daughter ; I'm waiting to hear 
 something more of this wonderful sermon," said 
 Mr. Marshall. 
 
 " Well, let me see," said Ethel, as if calling all 
 her mental powers to the task ; " of the first part I 
 don't remember very much I was enraptured 
 with that auburn hair. But the last part of the 
 sermon was grand, wasn't it, mamma?" 
 
 " I enjoyed the whole discourse very much, 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 97 
 
 dear," replied her mother, as she passed her hus- 
 band the marmalade. 
 
 " Then tell us, daughter, what he said in the last 
 part," suggested Mr. Marshall, who was always 
 delighted with his daughter's descriptions. 
 
 " But I can't begin to tell it as the minister did* 
 papa ; but it was something about the Christ-life 
 didn't he say Christ-life, mamma? something 
 about the Christ-life being contagious ; that religion 
 meant catching the Christ-life and giving it to 
 others. Wasn't that it, mamma ?" 
 
 "I think his idea was something like that," 
 replied the mother. 
 
 " Of course, papa, I don't mean that Mr. Bald- 
 win used just the words that I used," said the girl, 
 earnestly. 
 
 " I understand, daughter," said Mr. Marshall ; 
 " I am sure it must have been a sensible sermon, 
 though I fear ministers do not always preach com- 
 mon sense." 
 
 , Mr. Marshall was a keen student of human 
 nature, a man of good business capacity, able to 
 amass wealth but not always judicious in his in- 
 vestments. As president of the Tioga Gas and 
 Electric Company, he had at various times gath- 
 ered together considerable sums of money, but 
 these had disappeared in fruitless speculations. 
 No man in the city had a larger or a more tender 
 heart ; he was always helping somebody ; and 
 among his fellow-citizens none was held in higher 
 esteem. Just why he never became a member of 
 
98 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 the church, no one knew. His wife and daughter 
 seldom thought of the fact ; for through all ex- 
 ternal relations, the eyes of those who love us see 
 deep down into what we really are ; and this wife 
 and daughter saw and were satisfied. 
 
 At the Stewarts', the dinner was begun, as 
 usual, in comparative quiet. The father sat in his 
 big chair at the head of the table ; on one side of 
 him sat Elizabeth, the youngest daughter, on the 
 other side, the eldest son ; Tom, Walter and 
 Robert came in order of their age next to Duncan, 
 with Cora and Mary on the opposite side, bring- 
 ing Mary, who always poured the tea, next to 
 her mother. There was one married daughter, 
 Althea, whose chair next to Mary's was always 
 placed at the table and more than half of the time 
 was occupied by some friend who chanced either 
 to be staying a few days with them, or who had 
 merely dropped in with one of the younger mem- 
 bers of the family. To-day, Miss Andrews, an 
 intimate friend of Cora's, sat down to dinner with 
 the family. 
 
 Mrs. Stewart was in many ways a remarkable 
 woman. Marrying at an early age, she managed 
 in the midst of her numerous and exacting house- 
 hold duties to give herself a broad and generous 
 intellectual culture. This was possible only be- 
 cause many generations of New England ancestry 
 had poured forth their finest mental and moral 
 fibre into her inheritance. Her husband, a most 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 99 
 
 genial man though quite unlike his wife in many 
 particulars, was very proud of her and of his chil- 
 dren. The whole family, before the mother's par- 
 tial loss of the use of her left leg, was very regular 
 in attendance at church on Sunday mornings ; 
 but for a few years the mother had been unable to 
 walk more than a part of a block at a time, and 
 frequently her husband remained at home with 
 her while the rest of the family attended the morn- 
 ing worship. On this morning Mrs. Stewart had 
 urged him not to remain with her but to go and 
 hear the new minister. 
 
 " The children do not always get the full under- 
 standing of the sermon, Ephraim, and I would 
 like very much to know what the new minister 
 will say in his first discourse." 
 
 " Very well, mother ; I will go," said he. " I 
 guess it's not too late to get in before the sermon 
 begins." Selecting his favorite walking-stick, Mr. 
 Stewart hastened to church and slipped into one 
 of the seats near the door just as the preacher was 
 beginning his sermon. 
 
 So David had eight listeners that morning who 
 were all intent on carrying to " the little mother," 
 as they fondly called her, the substance of the ser- 
 mon ; and it is probable that these eight persons 
 listened far more keenly than they would other- 
 wise have done, had not each known that the 
 mother would be sure to get at the bottom of the 
 matter as to how much each one had brought 
 away from the service. 
 
100 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 When the last plate had been served and the 
 meal was well under headway, the mother 
 asked : 
 
 " And how was the sermon this morning ? ' 
 
 Immediately the general conversation around 
 the table subsided ; and though the question was 
 addressed to no one in particular, as the father 
 had attended the service, the rest waited for him 
 to speak first. 
 
 " The young man handled his subject very well, 
 mother," was all that he said. 
 
 There was silence for a quarter of a minute. 
 
 " And what did he say, Ephraim ? Was the dis- 
 course logical ? " said she, plunging at once into 
 the very heart of the subject. 
 
 " It was a very meaty discourse, mother, a very 
 meaty discourse ; and if I am not mistaken," he 
 continued, " the young man has a leaning toward 
 what's called the ' newer thought/ " 
 
 " His text was John 10 : 10, 'I came that they 
 may have life, and may have it abundantly,' " said 
 Elizabeth, glad to make her contribution before 
 some one else had gotten ahead of her. 
 
 " He used the Revised Version," said Walter. 
 
 " His theme was The Contagion of Life, if I un- 
 derstood it correctly," said Cora. 
 
 " Yes, I remember that," said Elizabeth. 
 
 " Ephraim," said Mrs. Stewart, " was this what 
 you meant by his leaning toward the ' newer 
 thought'?" 
 
 " Not exactly, mother, though of course that 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 101 
 
 was a part of it. His whole sermon was different 
 from the old type, not that I can explain just how 
 it differed, but one could feel that there was a dif- 
 ference, mother." 
 
 By this time the tongues of all were loosened, 
 and with such a tableful it was simply out of the 
 question for each to wait his or her turn : all were 
 eager to enlighten " the little mother " who seemed 
 to have no trouble in catching what each one said 
 though two or three did talk to her at the same 
 time. 
 
 " Yes, I too felt that the sermon was different," 
 said Mary. " Duncan, will you please to start the 
 bread around that way ? It struck me that Mr. 
 Baldwin's conception of salvation was scarcely 
 orthodox." 
 
 " Then I am classified," said Tom ; " for Mr. 
 Baldwin agreed with me perfectly." 
 
 " But it seems to me," persisted Mary, " that he 
 reduces salvation to something very vague and 
 indefinite catching the Christ-life, I think he 
 called it." 
 
 " Are you sure you understand what that term 
 means ? " asked Tom. " Perhaps you would not 
 find fault with it if you did." 
 
 "Whatever it may mean, it does not express 
 my idea of being saved," said Mary, somewhat 
 warmly. " I for one want a more definite con- 
 ception of salvation than that." 
 
 " Can a person who is sick have a more definite 
 conception of getting well than the gaining of 
 
102 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 strength little by little ? Can a patient, sick with 
 typhoid, get well in an instant ? " 
 
 " But being saved is different," said Mary, 
 insistingly. 
 
 " Perhaps not so different as you seem to 
 think," said Tom with provoking deliberation. 
 " Mr. Baldwin, you remember, said that salvation 
 is to our spiritual nature what health is to our 
 bodies. And he agrees with me exactly ; but he's 
 the first minister I ever heard make such a liberal 
 statement." 
 
 " But what about the atonement? If we are 
 saved by * catching the Christ-life,' why was it 
 needful for Christ to be punished for our sins? 
 Why couldn't he just have come into the world 
 and lived among people without being cruci- 
 fied ? " 
 
 " It is very probable," said Tom, quietly, " that 
 the atonement doesn't mean that Christ was pun- 
 ished in our stead." 
 
 Mrs. Stewart, wishing to divert this strain of 
 the conversation into another channel, asked, 
 " Then you quite agree with Mr. Baldwin, do you, 
 Thomas ? " 
 
 " Very heartily, mother," he replied, detecting 
 her wish and governing himself by it. 
 
 This little act of Tom's revealed one of the secrets 
 of this well-managed household much of the ma- 
 chinery was noiseless and out of sight. 
 
 " Mother, let's ask the minister and his wife to 
 take tea with us soon. Wouldn't it be great fun 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 103 
 
 all of us asking him questions at once ! " cried Cora, 
 laughing at the thought of it. 
 
 " Isn't his wife a nice little body ? " said Eliza- 
 beth. 
 
 " Not so very little, Puss," said Duncan ; " she'll 
 weigh more than you do." 
 
 " I mean she isn't very tall," corrected Eliza- 
 beth. 
 
 " She's good natured, I'm sure," said Cora. 
 
 " And not at all bad looking," ventured Robert. 
 
 " Yes, she has a good look, but I wouldn't call 
 her handsome." 
 
 u On most women I just cannot bear that color 
 of hair, but on her it isn't so bad." 
 
 " For one, I'm thankful that red hair doesn't 
 run in the Stewart family," ejaculated Cora. 
 " Red hair must be a great trial to a woman." 
 
 " Did you hear any of those who were present 
 expressing their opinion of the sermon ? " asked the 
 mother, tactfully bringing the conversation back to 
 the main subject. 
 
 " Oh, yes, I heard several speak in glowing 
 praise of it," replied the father. 
 
 " I heard Mr. Driver," said Robert, " tell Deacon 
 Long something about its being a * sensible ' ser- 
 mon, that it contained ' none of your pious non- 
 sense.' He tapped the deacon on the shoulder as 
 he always does when he is well pleased." 
 
 " Then one can easily tell what Mr. Brand's at- 
 titude will be," said Walter. 
 
 " Yes ; those two men are never on the same side 
 
104 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 of any question," said Mary. " I do wish you boys 
 and father would attend the business meetings some- 
 times." 
 
 "Perhaps we shall," said Tom. "Though I 
 have no particular taste for such meetings, yet I'll 
 be willing to do almost anything if I can help make 
 it possible for Mr. Baldwin to stay with us for any 
 length of time." 
 
 " You may depend upon it," said Duncan, " that 
 Mr. Brand is not the man to let things go on quietly 
 with such a liberal man as Mr. Baldwin in our 
 pulpit. In general, every one is well pleased, espe- 
 cially Mr. Driver. Consequently Mr. Brand will 
 not be able to see any good in him." 
 
 " But what can he do ? " asked Walter. 
 
 " Why, it's plain enough," answered Tom. " It 
 is never the most difficult thing in the world for 
 one person to create a centre of influence against 
 a pastor, and Mr. Brand will seek to develop a 
 suspicion concerning Mr. Baldwin's orthodoxy. 
 And you might as well, in some congregations, 
 kill a minister as to suspect his orthodoxy." 
 
 " Ephraim," asked Mrs. Stewart, " what is your 
 opinion about the new minister's orthodoxy?" 
 
 "Well," answered the old gentleman, not will- 
 ing to commit himself too definitely on this sub- 
 ject, " from this one sermon I cannot tell very much 
 about it, mother ; but it's certain he has a strong 
 leaning toward the newer thought." 
 
 " And the majority of his congregation will like 
 his preaching all the better for it," said Tom. 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 105 
 
 Two or three other strains of conversation were 
 in progress around the table at the same time. 
 When the dinner was ended, Mrs. Stewart had 
 perhaps as good an understanding of David's ser- 
 mon as had many who heard him speak. 
 
 Mrs. James gave her husband a fuller and a 
 more detailed account of the service. " I couldn't 
 help but wonder," said she, " what Mr. Brand and 
 Deacon Long will think of such a modern dis- 
 
 course." 
 
 " The deacon, my dear, will" not know that the 
 sermon was modern unless some one tells him," 
 observed her husband. 
 
 " Very probably," replied Mrs. James, smiling ; 
 " but with Mr. Brand it will be different. Hav- 
 ing been a minister once himself, he has very 
 decided opinions as to what constitutes sound 
 doctrine." 
 
 " For the sake of the First Church here in 
 Tioga," said Mr. James, "I am glad that Mr. 
 Baldwin has a message of his own : that he is not 
 content simply to repeat words which, though 
 they meant something in the past, have now lost 
 their value for this generation. But in view of the 
 influence that Mr. Brand has in the church, I do 
 not envy the young man his task." 
 
 " Yes, this church needs just such a man as Mr. 
 Baldwin : some one must introduce the newer re- 
 ligious thought ; it must come some time, though 
 I fear that the one who introduces it will call 
 
106 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 down Mr. Brand's strongest opposition upon 
 him." 
 
 " But I think the newer thought could be very 
 easily introduced if it were not for Mr. Brand ; for 
 Mr. Driver is delightfully modern in much of his 
 religious thinking, though I shall be surprised if 
 the young pastor does not find that he has a prob- 
 lem on his hands in this direction also." 
 
 " Yes, Mr. Driver is especially fond of having 
 everything done in exactly the way it was done 
 when he was a young man. While he is, as you 
 say, liberal in his theology, no one could be more 
 conservative in methods of church work." 
 
 " And Mr. Brand is just the opposite extremely 
 conservative in his religious opinions, yet in meth- 
 ods of church work no one could possibly sur- 
 pass him in wanting to be up to date. Thus the 
 two of them," continued Mr. James, " surely make 
 a most interesting combination for a pastor to 
 deal with. It's like steering between Scylla and 
 Chary bdis." 
 
 " It's really too bad that our church has been 
 handicapped in this way so long." 
 
 "Yes," replied Mr. James, "and people gen- 
 erally outside of the church seem to recognize 
 this. Only yesterday, while in the bookstore, Mr. 
 Maxwell said something to me about it. He 
 pointed out what every one knows very well 
 that during the past twenty-five years while the 
 other churches of the city have more than doubled 
 their membership, the First Church has barely 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 107 
 
 held its own ; and he was free to name Mr. Driver 
 and Mr. Brand, especially the latter, as the cause 
 of this lack of growth." 
 
 " I do hope, Lawrence, that Mr. Baldwin will be 
 permitted to do something here. It must be very 
 trying to a young minister to encounter such oppo- 
 sition, especially in his first pastorate." 
 
 In happy unconsciousness of all that was being 
 said of them, David and Miriam were enjoying a 
 delightful repast with Mr. and Mrs. Strong. Their 
 hostess was one of those women who have the 
 happy faculty of making it easy for one to feel 
 and appear at one's best in their presence ; and 
 their host, though very different from his wife, was 
 also gifted in the rare art of entertaining. Mr. 
 Strong was the university florist and professor of 
 horticulture ; and though still under forty, he had 
 attained a wide reputation as an authority in his 
 line, owing to his successful experiments in hybrid- 
 izing and to the able text-book he had recently 
 written on that subject. 
 
 After the dinner, Mrs. Strong proposed a walk 
 through the university conservatory: here her 
 husband was at his best, and during a delightful 
 hour he unfolded many interesting and surprising 
 facts to his guests. 
 
 " What a happy home ! " exclaimed Miriam, as 
 she and David were walking back to their 
 rooms. 
 
 "Yes," said David. "And I hope, sweetheart, 
 
108 DAVID BALDWIN 
 
 it will not be long before we are in a little home 
 all by ourselves." 
 
 " Oh, I can hardly wait ! " exclaimed Miriam. 
 "And I'm so glad, dear, that we didn't that I I 
 mean that you didn't come to Tioga alone." 
 
VII 
 
 - dear," said David a few days later, 
 "this matter of selecting a house we 
 must decide at once." 
 
 Something had happened. David's manner and 
 the unusual emphasis in his tone plainly indicated 
 that. 
 
 Already the young bride was beginning to in- 
 terpret the inner, unspoken life of her husband by 
 the little changes in his expression and tone, an 
 art in which she later gained great proficiency. 
 With true wifely tact she now waited an instant 
 before speaking : if David wished to disclose what 
 was in his mind would it not be better for him to 
 do so unquestioned ? 
 
 "Yes," continued David his tone was still very 
 determined " we must not wait any longer ; we 
 must select our house at once." 
 
 The day's heat had been very oppressive, for at 
 Tioga the hottest summer weather usually comes 
 in September. David and Miriam were walking 
 along the shore of the lake. A gentle breeze, as 
 it stirred the face of the lake, was causing the 
 numerous small row boats, tied up here and there 
 to the private landings, to beat the water with 
 their prows as they bobbed up and down, keeping 
 time to the rude music made by the water coming 
 
 109 
 
110 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 in contact with the shore a peculiar rhythmic 
 sound impossible to forget when once it has 
 sounded in your ears. 
 
 Within a few minutes those patient water-steeds 
 would be unloosed and speeding toward the centre 
 of the lake some were already departing, going 
 early to gain a certain coveted spot from which to 
 watch the sun go down. This was the fashion of 
 the town to watch the sun set from the centre of 
 the lake. 
 
 The origin of this custom was as follows : In 
 the early days of Tioga a woman of unusual ar- 
 tistic insight and ability, a Miss Scott by name, 
 some of whose works are now included in nearly 
 all of the best American collections, had resided 
 here for a time with a brother. One evening in 
 early September, while crossing the lake, Miss Scott 
 became enraptured with the beauties of the sunset. 
 The boat was brought to a standstill and held as 
 near as possible to a certain position while Miss 
 Scott caught the peculiar coloring effect and trans- 
 ferred it to her folio. Evening after evening she 
 returned to the same location, studying the sunset. 
 Later she transferred the results of her study to 
 canvas, giving, as it has been called by those 
 qualified to speak with authority in such matters, 
 a truly remarkable interpretation of a sunset as 
 seen from the centre of the lake. 
 
 On leaving Tioga, Miss Scott presented her pic- 
 ture to the town, with the stipulation that it should 
 always be accessible to the public. With due 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 111 
 
 ceremony the picture was received and given the 
 most conspicuous place in the reading-room of the 
 town library, where, since Miss Scott's pictures 
 have become famous, many distinguished visitors 
 have come to look at it. During the first decade 
 of this picture's existence, however, the inhabitants 
 of Tioga paid little attention to it ; many even forgot 
 its existence. But one day a stranger approached 
 the city officials and offered to buy Miss Scott's 
 sunset scene. The figure named by the stranger 
 aroused their suspicions. They hesitated. The 
 picture was a gift : ought they to sell it ? 
 
 "You need a new library building. If you will 
 transfer Miss Scott's picture to me, I will deposit 
 money sufficient to erect one. In that way," said 
 the stranger, " you will not be selling a gift but 
 only changing its form." 
 
 Instantly the picture took on a new value. 
 Everybody became interested in it. Men and 
 women and children flocked to the reading-room 
 to look at it. No, indeed, the city would not part 
 with it, not even for two library buildings ; and all 
 subsequent cash offers were indignantly refused by 
 public opinion, i 
 
 And gradually the custom grew up of going out 
 to the centre of the lake on the anniversary of the 
 painting of the picture, to watch the sun set from 
 the same spot from which the artist had seen it go 
 down. Year after year the custom had grown. 
 Some went because they remembered the occasion 
 of the picture's birth ; others because they had seen 
 
-112 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 the artist ; others because they had seen the pic- 
 ture ; while some went simply because it was a 
 local custom. 
 
 David and Miriam had seen the picture ; and as 
 they stood before it, drinking in its inspirational 
 power, they too were seized with a desire to wit- 
 ness a sunset from the middle of the lake. In 
 company with Mr. Palmer and Miss Fenwickthey 
 had enjoyed this treat on the evening before. 
 
 As they walked along the path by the shore, 
 watching the boats depart, Miriam's position 
 enabled her, without appearing to do so, to study 
 her husband's face while apparently looking be- 
 yond him over the water. Never before had 
 Miriam seen her husband look so determined, so 
 fierce. What could be the matter ? But instead of 
 questioning him, as a woman less wise might have 
 done, Miriam said, 
 
 " And the three places we now have in mind are 
 all so different such different motives enter into 
 the consideration of each." 
 
 " Yes ; but if I felt free," said David whose tone 
 was softening somewhat, " if I felt free to follow my 
 own inclinations in this matter, I would decide upon 
 that cottage in the iron-foundry district. There, we 
 could come in closest contact with a number of fam- 
 ilies who are wholly outside of the influence of the 
 church. I'm sure that the only way a minister 
 can help such people is to live among them : they 
 will not come to him, he must go to them. But in 
 discussing this subject with some of the members 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 113 
 
 of the church, I find that they do not take at all 
 kindly to such a plan. There is a desire, on the 
 part of some, for us to live where our residence 
 will contribute something to the social standing of 
 the church. At least this is what Mr. Brand in- 
 timated when he called my attention to that half- 
 house on Fourth Street." 
 
 " Yes," said Miriam, " the subject has evidently 
 been discussed ; for Mis. Marshall and Mrs. Har- 
 rington, in speaking with me about our probable 
 location, made some remark concerning the social 
 importance of the pastor's residence." 
 
 " When one becomes pastor of a church," said 
 David, " I suppose it is necessary to take into con- 
 sideration the wishes of his congregation. But 
 since this church, I suppose I should say our 
 church, has no parsonage, the members ought to 
 be willing for us to select our home wherever we 
 desire. Some of the members undoubtedly have 
 social ambitions for us." 
 
 " Is it not possible," asked Miriam, " that they 
 do not understand our motive for wishing to live 
 among the iron-foundry families?" 
 
 " Of course. There's just where the difficulty 
 lies. But how are we to get them to understand 
 it ? Church life has become so conventional, and 
 the pastor's activity is so restricted to certain pro- 
 fessional duties, that the ordinary church is shocked 
 if its pastor departs from the path beaten hard by 
 his predecessors. But I'm inclined to think that 
 it would do a church good to have a pastor just 
 
114 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 go ahead and do whatever he wanted to do with- 
 out regard as to whether it was conventional or 
 not." 
 
 " Perhaps it would," said Miriam. " But I'm 
 not sure, David, that he would do the most good 
 in that way." 
 
 " Then you think, Miriam, we'd better not take 
 that cottage ? " he asked, still looking out over the 
 waters. " That community, of all places in Tioga, 
 is where we could doubtless be of greatest use." 
 
 " Of greatest use to our immediate neighbors, 
 without doubt," replied Miriam. " But since we 
 get our support from the church, are we not under 
 obligations to take into consideration the wishes 
 of those who support us ? But then, David, you 
 must decide this matter. You know best." 
 
 " Well," said he, " suppose we decide by the 
 process of elimination. First, suppose we strike 
 out that place on Fourth Street. To live there 
 would be too expensive ; it would cost too much 
 in every way. So out goes all further consider- 
 ation of that possibility." 
 
 " Together with the social ambitions of some of 
 our members," added Miriam. 
 
 " But of not many, I hope. I'm beginning to 
 think that Mr. Brand himself is at the bottom of 
 this. He seems to have a great deal of influ- 
 ence in the church. But if anything further is said 
 about it, we'll say that as soon as the church owns 
 a parsonage on Fourth Street we shall be ready 
 to move into it." 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 115 
 
 " The other churches own their parsonages, do 
 they not ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Then that will be an excellent way to meet 
 any further suggestions in that direction." 
 
 " Now for the cottage on Mill Street. I may as 
 well confess, Miriam, that in thinking it over this 
 afternoon I was on the point of deciding to take 
 that cottage among the iron-foundry families 
 whether the church liked it or not." 
 
 " On the point of deciding ? What hindered 
 you, David, from coming to a decision ? " asked 
 Miriam, looking up inquiringly. 
 
 " I wouldn't wonder," replied David, " if a cer- 
 tain little girl has had something .to do with it. 
 You see, Miriam," said he, picking up a willow 
 twig lying by the side of the path, " it's like this : 
 whenever I am about to decide any question, 
 your judgment on the matter, what you would 
 think about it, gets all mixed up with my own 
 ideas, and " 
 
 " What a curious mixture it must be ! " laughed 
 Miriam. " But go on, dear." 
 
 " Well, I'm finding that in forming my judg- 
 ments and decisions, your thoughts, Miriam, creep 
 in and give color to all of my thinking." 
 
 " But, David, how did you know what my 
 thoughts were? Personally, I would like very 
 much if we could take that cottage on Mill Street" 
 
 " Oh, I could tell. Though I knew you would 
 like to live there, that nothing would suit your 
 
116 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 personal wish better, yet I could feel that you did 
 not deem it wise for us to go against the wishes 
 of the church. I had practically settled the mat- 
 ter before supper, settled it not so much in view 
 of my own inclinations, as of your thought on the 
 subject" 
 
 " But, dear, how could my judgment influence 
 you when I had not expressed it ? " 
 
 " You will have to tell ; I can't. But I know 
 that it did influence me," replied David. " Why 
 sometimes, dearest, I can just feel what you would 
 think about this or that, and I cannot get away 
 from your thought in forming my own decisions. 
 This has happened more than once." 
 
 " And I must confess to similar experiences," 
 breathed Miriam lowly, as if touching upon a sub- 
 ject very precious to her. " Strange, isn't it, that 
 the lives of two persons should so blend ? " 
 
 " Indeed it is. I wonder if other married peo- 
 ple have ever experienced anything like this ? " 
 
 " Oh, undoubtedly. Have you never noticed 
 that two elderly people who have lived happily 
 together for many years even come to have the 
 same thoughts on nearly all subjects ? " 
 
 "Then we are in only the first stage of the 
 process of blending," laughed David. " But to 
 return to that cottage. We are agreed, are we 
 not, Miriam, to strike that also from our list ? " 
 
 " Did you not say, David, that you had already 
 settled the matter this afternoon?" she replied 
 slyly. " But it is not too late for me to agree 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 117 
 
 with you. Under the circumstances, it is probably 
 the wisest thing to drop the cottage on Mill Street 
 from further consideration. Perhaps at some later 
 time we may be able to carry out our plans in that 
 direction." 
 
 " With these two places disposed of, the question 
 now is Will Professor Wilson's house, on Monroe 
 Avenue, suit us ? It is pretty large, but we can 
 get it very reasonably, while the professor and his 
 family are abroad." 
 
 " I like the house very well," said Miriam ; " and 
 even without the two rooms up-stairs, reserved for 
 storage, there is an abundance of room for us. 
 But isn't the rent two hundred dollars almost 
 more than we can afford to pay ? " 
 
 " It does seem like making quite a hole in our 
 salary," admitted David. " But under other condi- 
 tions we'd have to pay at least three hundred dol- 
 lars for that house. Rents are fearfully high here in 
 Tioga. They always are in a university town 
 where the institution has no dormitory system." 
 
 " I noticed," said Miriam, " when we were look- 
 ing at that house, that the range and some 
 other such things are left in the kitchen. If we 
 rented almost any other house we'd have to buy 
 these." 
 
 " Suppose, dear, we walk around to the agent's 
 and get the key. It might be well for us to look 
 through the house once more before making up 
 our minds definitely. I want to get this matter 
 settled just as soon as we can," said David, some- 
 
118 DAVID BALDWIN 
 
 thing of his former tone and fierceness becoming 
 apparent. 
 
 Turning off from the path by the lake, they set 
 out for the home of the real estate agent. 
 
 " I hope Mr. Robbins will not be out," he con- 
 tinued as they neared the agent's residence. " If 
 we can get the key, and look through that house 
 again, we may be able to decide the matter to- 
 night." 
 
 " It would be nice if we could," replied Miriam. 
 " So soon one gets tired of boarding." 
 
 " Yes," answered David, grimly, " one does soon 
 get tired of it especially when hash is set before 
 you three times a week ! If there's anything 1 
 do detest, it's hash ! When we get to housekeep- 
 ing, Miriam, if we ever have hash on our table, 
 I'll " 
 
 " But we shall never have it, my dear," inter- 
 rupted Miriam, quietly, as they turned up the walk 
 to Mr. Robbins' residence. 
 
 How small a matter it sometimes takes to dis- 
 turb the equilibrium of even so unworldly minded 
 a person as a minister! Miriam smiled. But 
 David's face was set with a look of grim determina- 
 tion. Fortunately, Mr. Robbins had not yet left 
 for the lake; and getting the key to Professor 
 Wilson's house, these two home-seekers were soon 
 doing what you and I have probably done more 
 than once looking the house over a second or a 
 third time to see if it would suit. 
 
VIII 
 
 IF our knowledge of life were limited to certain 
 interpretations commonly found in books, it 
 would be easy to draw the conclusion that 
 the culmination of all human interests is marriage, 
 and that beyond this event there is nothing worthy 
 of being recorded. But to what a different con- 
 clusion a study of life itself leads ! From observa- 
 tion, or better still, experience vastly more relia- 
 ble sources than the imaginings of any man (or 
 woman) we may learn the true place of marriage : 
 it is rather a new beginning than the culmination 
 of life. While courtship, with all of its interests, 
 its alternating joys and sorrows, its expectations 
 and disappointments, its hopes, its fears, its com- 
 promises and adjustments, its contests, its vic- 
 tories, its glow and its radiance, is a truly impor- 
 tant period in the life of the individual, a period 
 whose significance is often far too lightly esteemed ; 
 yet does not courtship itself gain its importance 
 and its significance from the fact that it is but 
 preparatory to a larger life, of which marriage is 
 the beginning ? 
 
 But faithfully to interpret life after marriage is 
 a most difficult task. Here the problems become 
 more complicated ; the interests more vital ; the 
 joys and sorrows and fears and hopes and contests 
 
 119 
 
120 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 and adjustments and expectations are more closely 
 entwined about the deeper things of existence. 
 Two lives are now joined for better or worse. Will 
 the union aid or hinder the working out of the 
 destiny of each? When a chemist unites two 
 substances whose action and reaction are not fully 
 understood, with what intense interest, what abated 
 breath he watches the experiment ! Will there be 
 a violent explosion ? Will the elements utterly re- 
 fuse to coalesce ? or will they blend quietly ? and 
 what will be the exact nature of the new combina- 
 tion ? How absorbed the observer as, with these 
 questions in mind, he watches the result! And 
 marriage is not altogether unlike the union of two 
 such substances. 
 
 Having rented Professor Wilson's house on 
 Monroe Avenue, David and Miriam filled the days 
 of the following week with unusually busy hours, 
 as they made preparations for entering their new 
 home. It is no easy task (so I have been told) to 
 fit out a home de novo, even when one has an ample 
 bank account on which to draw ; but under such 
 circumstances the task is relatively light compared 
 with the one which now was engaging the thought 
 and the strength of this young minister and his 
 brave little wife ; for they were face to face with 
 the problem of trying to furnish a house empty- 
 handed. 
 
 You whose parents, on one side or the other, 
 furnished your first home may feel inclined to com- 
 miserate the lot of this newly married couple. But 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 121 
 
 do nothing of the kind. They do not need your 
 pity. Though every article bought represents 
 some sacrifice, something else given up, how much 
 dearer to them is each piece of furniture because 
 it has to be so carefully considered before being pur- 
 chased ! Indeed, it is you who have never had 
 any such beginning in life as this, you who know 
 nothing of the luxury of such an experience, you 
 who should be commiserated ! For some pleasures 
 cannot be counterfeited nor duplicated in any other 
 form. It is only the barefooted boy getting the 
 cows on a cold frosty morning in early autumn 
 who knows the absolutely unparalleled pleasure of 
 warming his feet on the warm spot where a cow 
 has lain 1 
 
 Of course, at their wedding, David's friends had 
 remembered him in much the usual manner; and 
 Miriam also had received a number of gifts. But 
 all these, while dearly cherished for the affection 
 they represented, would go but a little way in the 
 furnishing of a house. David had just opened the 
 two boxes, not very large ones, in which their 
 presents had been shipped from the East. 
 
 "My dear," said he, arranging four similar 
 packages side by side on the table, " not every 
 newly married couple begins housekeeping so well 
 supplied with teaspoons." 
 
 " We might exchange two of the sets for some- 
 thing else," said Miriam, examining the cards at- 
 tached to each of the packages. " But whose gift 
 shall they be ? Belle's or Gertrude's or Blanche's 
 
122 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 or Mary's ? I cannot bear to think of parting with 
 any of them." 
 
 " Nor shall you, dearest," replied David. " We'll 
 keep the four sets, and what's more, we'll keep 
 every gift we've got." David was arranging an- 
 other row on the table. Already there were five 
 similar articles side by side. He was hunting in 
 the box for the sixth. 
 
 Finding it, David placed the article by the side 
 of its five mates, and taking a step backward, 
 stood viewing the array. Though they were of 
 different design, and varied a little in shape and 
 size, these six gifts, all from different people, be- 
 longed unmistakably to the same genus, that of 
 soup-ladles. Six silver soup-ladles ! 
 
 " No," said he, making a mock heroic gesture 
 at the row, "we'll not part with a single one of our 
 presents." 
 
 " But, David, six soup-ladles ! We can never 
 make use of that many. With the teaspoons it 
 is different," protested Miriam. 
 
 " Yet I cannot think of bartering, yes, bartering 
 is the right word, I cannot think of bartering one 
 of our gifts, no, not if there were twenty-six soup- 
 ladles among them. Who can tell the serious con- 
 sequences that would probably follow in the train 
 of such an act?" 
 
 " Serious consequences, David ? " asked Miriam, 
 not wholly penetrating his fun. 
 
 David was scowling terribly in his effort to keep 
 his face straight. 
 

DAVID BALDWIN 123 
 
 "Yes, serious consequences," he repeated sol- 
 emnly. "For if a man will barter his wedding 
 presents, gifts about which cling the tenderest of 
 sentiments, if he will traffic with these things, what 
 will he not do ? Is country or honor or truth safe 
 in the hands of such a man ? Would he not also 
 barter these if a suitable opportunity presented it- 
 self ? Part with one of my wedding presents ? No ; 
 not if they were all soup-ladles 1 " 
 
 Miriam was unwrapping a pickle-dish. David 
 looked into her face, but it was as non-committal 
 as his own. 
 
 "Why," he continued, " I can see Henly racking 
 his brain and spending sleepless nights in his effort 
 to decide what present he should send us. I can 
 see him going from store to store, the trial of men 
 clerks, the despair of salesladies. What care, what 
 anxiety rests on his brow ! At last one day, having 
 exhausted the patience of the head clerk, who for 
 an hour or more had been vainly endeavoring to 
 suit him, Henly is handed over to the proprietor. 
 This superior person has had many years of ex- 
 perience with such cases. In two minutes he has 
 helped Henly to a decision. In five minutes more 
 Henly leaves the store with the article properly 
 packed for shipping. In the hands of the pro- 
 prietor, a happy thought has come to him. He 
 recalls that I am fond of soup. *A soup-ladle/ 
 says he to the proprietor ; * how would that do for 
 a wedding present ? ' * Just the thing ! ' replies 
 that august person. ' No one else will probably 
 
124 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 think of sending your friend a soup-ladle/ What 
 a burden of anxiety and indecision rolls from 
 Henly's shoulders as he pays for his purchase ! 
 His stalwart frame stands erect once more. No, 
 Miriam ; I cannot bring myself to barter his gift. 
 It would be worse than sacrilege ! " 
 
 David was trying to look dignified ; but as 
 Miriam caught his eye, she burst into laughter. 
 
 "And the other five?" she asked. 
 
 " Each undoubtedly represents some similar ex- 
 perience," replied David. " They're all from some 
 of the boys, all except one ; and you can have no 
 idea, Miriam, how difficult it is for a young man to 
 select a wedding present, especially if he hasn't 
 much money to invest in one." 
 
 " More difficult than for a woman, do you 
 think?" 
 
 " Oh, Fm sure of it," said he, placing a tooth- 
 pick holder which he had just unpacked, on the 
 table. He stood a moment looking again at the 
 row of soup-ladles. " I'll tell you, Miriam, what 
 we can do with these," said he. 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 "Why, when some of our friends are to be 
 married, we can just pass them on. Five wed- 
 dings ! A soup-ladle for each. Think of it l 
 From what perplexity of making selections these 
 five extra soup-ladles will save us 1 " 
 
 As the unpacking continued, more articles of 
 fancy silverware, dainty cups and saucers, some 
 exquisite pieces of hand-painted china, and several 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 125 
 
 nondescript articles of fancy needlework were ar- 
 ranged on the table ; while on the floor near the 
 wall, David stood up the half-dozen pictures. In 
 the bottom of the last box were several books 
 some well-bound copies of the poets, a set of 
 George Eliot, and a well-worn volume of Spur- 
 geon's sermons, this last from an estimable lady 
 who had been David's first Sunday-school teacher. 
 
 So much for a beginning. The unpacking of 
 the presents had taken place in the kitchen of the 
 new home, and they were piled up on the table 
 belonging to that room. The house had been 
 thoroughly cleaned, and as Miriam was putting 
 some of the things away in the cupboards, David 
 carried the empty boxes to the basement 
 
 " Now Miriam," said he, " we'll take that inven- 
 tory of what we haven't got." 
 
 David produced a little memoranda book from 
 his vest pocket, and on the top of the first blank 
 page he wrote the word " Kitchen." 
 
 " I think, dear, you'd better allow two pages for 
 the kitchen," said Miriam, as he was about to 
 write the word " Dining-room " on the next leaf. 
 " The list for the kitchen will include so many lit* 
 tie, inexpensive articles, you know." 
 
 " And how much for the other rooms ? " 
 
 " One page will be sufficient." 
 
 On the tops of other leaves, David wrote re- 
 spectively such words as " Sitting Room," " Bed 
 Rooms," " Study," " Hall," " Guest Chamber," 
 " Parlor." 
 
126 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 " But I doubt, Miriam, whether we'll ever get to 
 the parlor if we keep within our limit," said David 
 as he penciled the word. 
 
 "Then, dear, we can let the furnishing of the 
 parlor go," she answered, bravely. 
 
 " But, Miriam," persisted David, " how will it 
 look for us to have no parlor? All the ladies of 
 the church will call on us, and we should have a 
 suitable place in which to receive them." 
 
 " I have thought of that, David," she replied ; 
 "and our sitting-room will do very nicely for a 
 while at least until we can furnish a parlor with- 
 out going in debt for it. I have a horror of 
 debt." 
 
 " Oh, of course it would be better if we had the 
 money to pay down for all of our furniture ; but 
 Mr. Cooper I saw him this morning about it 
 very kindly offers to let me have from his depart- 
 ment store whatever we may need, and says we 
 can pay him so much a month. I like this plan 
 much better than borrowing the money from Mr. 
 Driver." 
 
 " Yes ; so do I, though it was very nice of Mr. 
 Driver his offering of his own accord to let you 
 have the money for a year without interest. But, 
 dear," continued Miriam, earnestly, " if you think 
 best to get our furniture of Mr. Cooper and to pay 
 him as he suggests, we should be just as careful, 
 shouldn't we, to keep within our limit ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes ; I suppose so," answered David, a lit- 
 tle reluctantly. " But if we wanted to, we could 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 127 
 
 now go fifty or a hundred dollars over, just as well 
 as not. You see, Miriam, we are sure of our 
 salary every month. I would not think of incur- 
 ring any debt for furniture if my salary was not 
 absolutely certain and large enough to justify my 
 doing so. While we can't get everything, of 
 course ; yet on a thousand dollars a year we can 
 afford to furnish our home reasonably well, I 
 think." 
 
 To David, who had never before received a defi- 
 nite salary, and whose expenses hitherto had 
 never exceeded four hundred dollars annually, his 
 present salary of a thousand a year seemed a 
 resource almost inexhaustible. He knew of many 
 ministers who were living on much less than that 
 amount, ministers with large families, too. Surely 
 it was not necessary for him to economize too 
 severely. This he had had to do all his life. But 
 now it was different. 
 
 Miriam had thus far succeeded in keeping the 
 proposed limit of their furnishings down to two 
 hundred and fifty dollars. David had wanted to 
 make it at least three hundred ; Miriam thought 
 two hundred ought to be enough. They had 
 compromised on two hundred and fifty ; but David 
 was being held to this figure rather unwillingly, 
 now that he had found it possible to get whatever 
 he wanted at Cooper's, on the instalment plan. 
 
 They spent the whole afternoon making entries 
 on the various pages of David's note-book. Of 
 all the problems in higher mathematics none had. 
 
128 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 ever been so difficult as the one now before them ! 
 Time after time these lists were revised, something 
 left out of this room in order to put some other 
 more needed article into that one. The " limit " 
 was severely tested without making a single entry 
 on the parlor-page. David reluctantly yielded to 
 Miriam's judgment and no provision was made 
 for the furnishing of the parlor. 
 
 In making out the list for David's study, Miriam 
 had insisted on his selecting a much more expen- 
 sive chair than he had intended to get ; but he 
 would not consent to it. He declared that he 
 just would have his way about the chair in which 
 he was to sit. If she was bound to let the parlor 
 go unfurnished, he would buy the cheapest chair 
 he could get for his study. 
 
 But at last the furniture was ordered and the 
 new home began to take on a definite character, 
 the two young people attending to all the work of 
 getting the rooms in order. 
 
 " Why, David ! This will never do ! " exclaimed 
 Miriam, coming into the sitting-room where her 
 husband had just finished hanging some pictures. 
 
 " Never do ? Why, dear, what's the matter ? 
 Aren't they hung straight?" asked David who 
 was beginning to mistrust his own ability of 
 arranging anything in a room, for Miriam always 
 had to give a few womanly touches to whatever 
 he did before it looked just right. Before Miriam 
 had come into the room he was certain the pic- 
 tures were all right. 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 129 
 
 " Now, Miriam," said he, surveying his work 
 from the middle of the floor, " these pictures are 
 hung as straight as any one could hang them ; 
 except perhaps that one in the corner by the win- 
 dow that does seem to be just a little too much 
 to the right/' said he, adjusting the wire of the 
 picture in question. 
 
 " But, you dear old lover boy ! " cried Miriam, 
 " can't you see that they must every one of them 
 come down ? " 
 
 " Come down ? " echoed David, nonplussed. 
 
 " Yes, every one of them must come down. 
 That dark one has too little light on it ; those two 
 yonder do not harmonize well ; and this 'one is 
 altogether too high." 
 
 As Miriam pointed out these defects, David 
 instantly recognized the justice of her criticism in 
 each case. Mounting the step-ladder, David soon 
 had the pictures all rearranged according to 
 Miriam's suggestions. 
 
 "There! Doesn't that look better?" asked 
 Miriam, as David stood by her side, looking at 
 the new arrangement. 
 
 " No-o," answered David, shaking his head ; 
 but from the look in his eyes and the way he said 
 it, Miriam knew that he meant just the opposite. 
 
 " You old dear, your eyes betray you ! " cried 
 Miriam. " Of course you think it is better ! " She 
 stood before him looking up into his face. 
 
 " My eyes betray me, do they ? " said he. " Then 1 
 they must tell you lots of things ; they must tell 
 
130 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 you how much I would like to " and he quickly 
 enfolded her in his arms and printed a kiss on her 
 cheek. 
 
 " Ah, the finishing touch ! " cried a merry voice 
 from the hallway. " You must pardon me," con- 
 tinued Mrs. Strong, advancing and blushing very 
 prettily at the confusion of the married lovers be- 
 fore her ; " but the hall door stood so invitingly 
 open that I came in without stopping to ring. I'm 
 curious to know," she went on sweetly, talking 
 more with her eyes than with her voice, " if you 
 finish settling each room in that way ? " 
 
 " Why, no, Mrs. Strong ; we hadn't thought of 
 it before," answered David, rallying. " But thank 
 you ever so much for the suggestion. Come on, 
 Miriam, let's go back and put the ' finishing touch ' 
 on the rest of the rooms." 
 
 " Be still, you silly boy ! " said Miriam. " You 
 must be good or you'll have to stand up in a 
 corner." 
 
 "With my face to the wall?" asked David, 
 plaintively, trying to imitate a little child. 
 
 " Yes ; with your face to the wall," said she, 
 laughing at him. 
 
 " Then I'll be good," said he submissively. But 
 as Miriam turned to address Mrs. Strong, David 
 quickly stole a kiss from her other cheek. 
 
 "What shall I do, Mrs. Strong, with such a 
 naughty boy ? " asked Miriam. " But come," she 
 added, " let us show you the rooms we have 
 .already settled." 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 131 
 
 Together they stepped through the archway 
 into the dining-room, David holding aside the 
 portieres as the ladies preceded him. 
 
 " What a cheery dining-room ! " exclaimed Mrs. 
 Strong, taking in at a glance the table neatly set 
 for two, a beautiful table-fern gracing the centre, 
 and the simplicity and harmony of the whole ar- 
 rangement of the room, with its unmistakable air 
 of refinement, reflecting the character of the one 
 who had given it form. " What a fine view from 
 this window looking out over the lake ! I've 
 always regretted that our house has no view of the 
 lake, at least none to speak of save from the front 
 veranda." 
 
 "You may consider that circumstance, Mrs. 
 Strong, a part of your good fortune," said David, 
 approaching the ladies as they were looking out 
 of the window. " Do you know," said he, " this 
 view of the lake came very nearly plunging the 
 members of this household into an interminable 
 controversy ? " 
 
 " Indeed ? " said Mrs. Strong, looking inquir- 
 ingly from one to the other. 
 
 " Yes," said David, " it was this way : Miriam 
 wanted the table turned around the other way," 
 indicating with his hand. " But both of us wanted 
 to sit at this end " 
 
 " With your backs to the window how gener- 
 ous ! " interrupted Mrs. Strong. 
 
 " Yes ; and Miriam wouldn't give in." 
 
 " And neither would you," retorted Miriam, 
 
132 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 good-naturedly. " Don't you think, Mrs. Strong, 
 that it's a man's place to yield in such things to 
 his wife ? " she asked. 
 
 Mrs. Strong, with intuitive diplomacy, replied, 
 
 " Certainly, he should, my dear ; but we women 
 would think less of a man who always did it." 
 
 " There ! there 1 " they exclaimed in the same 
 breath. 
 
 " You should have yielded to me." 
 
 " But you would think less of me if I had," he 
 replied, glad to keep up his part of the pleas- 
 antry. 
 
 " So you compromised by turning the table 
 about? Well, I think this side view is all the 
 better. How interesting this home-making must 
 be to you two people ! It almost makes me want 
 to begin all over again." 
 
 In each room Mrs. Strong saw evidences of 
 economy and likewise of good judgment and a 
 refined taste. Her praise and words of apprecia- 
 tion were unbounded. 
 
 " You are a model housekeeper, I'm sure," she 
 said to Miriam, whose glowing cheeks took on a 
 very pleased expression at this honest praise. 
 " Do you like housework ? " she asked. " I am 
 sure you do." 
 
 " Yes," answered Miriam ; " I am very fond of 
 it." 
 
 " I wish I were ; but I am not." 
 
 " Indeed ? " 
 
 " No ; I cannot bear it. I should have been a 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 133 
 
 man. I think I should have liked to be a min- 
 ister," glancing at her pastor. 
 
 They were entering David's study. 
 
 " And here is where you will write your ser- 
 mons our sermons, I should have said. What a 
 privilege it must be to give one's life to the study 
 of religious subjects, Mr. Baldwin." 
 
 "It is a privilege," replied David, gravely ; 
 " but one from which many men honestly 
 shrink." 
 
 " I like to hear you say that ! " she replied, se- 
 riously. " Religious knowledge, I suppose, is 
 sometimes gained at great cost." 
 
 " Yes," said he, wondering at her insight 
 
 " But it's worth having at any cost this deeper 
 knowledge of life, and of its meaning and its 
 destiny ? " 
 
 " Yes, it's worth having at any cost," repeated 
 David, again wondering how far this woman's ex- 
 perience had led her into an appreciation of his 
 own position. 
 
 "I want to tell you," continued Mrs. Strong, 
 " that I have been so interested in your sermons. 
 I suppose," said she, turning to Miriam, " I sup- 
 pose this is because he has unfolded many of my 
 own immature thoughts." 
 
 " I think most people enjoy sermons in which 
 the pastor can do that. I know I always do," an- 
 swered Miriam. 
 
 " But the trouble is," said David, " nearly every 
 congregation to-day is divided into two classes, 
 
134 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 and what feeds the one often means very little or 
 nothing to the other." 
 
 " I know that is so," replied Mrs. Strong. 
 " Now, our former pastor was a very good man 
 no one could possibly find any fault with his 
 goodness ; but somehow a great many of his ser- 
 mons didn't mean anything at all to me. And 
 every once in a while I would get so hungry for a 
 sermon that did feed me, that I just had to go 
 where I could get it to some other church." 
 
 "I shall know what's the matter," laughed 
 David, " if you are not at church some Sunday 
 morning. But seriously, Mrs. Strong, I quite 
 agree with you ; I have done the same thing my- 
 self." 
 
 " Oh, I think it will not be necessary for me to 
 run away any more not so long as you preach 
 the kind of sermons we've been having," answered 
 Mrs. Strong. 
 
 " That's very kind of you to say so, Mrs. Strong," 
 said David. 
 
 " So many questions come up in my mind some- 
 times when I am thinking on religious subjects. 
 During the last year or two I have often wished 
 for a pastor or some one in sympathy with modern 
 thought with whom I could talk over my perplexi- 
 ties. Many of the older conceptions and state- 
 ments mean absolutely nothing to me now. I am 
 not at all settled as to just what I do believe. 
 Would you mind," Mrs. Strong asked, looking 
 up at David, " would you mind my running in to 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 135 
 
 ask you some questions once in a while ? It would 
 be such a relief ! " 
 
 " No, indeed," replied David, eager to be of as- 
 sistance to any one in that trying period of transi- 
 tion in religious opinions. " I shall be only too 
 glad, Mrs. Strong, to give you what little light I 
 may have on any question that at times perplexes 
 you." 
 
 "Yes," added Miriam, seconding her husband's 
 invitation, " why shouldn't we feel as free to con- 
 sult our pastor as our physician that is, if the 
 pastor is one whom we care to consult ? Unfor- 
 tunately, I never had such a pastor." 
 
 " Until now ! " laughed David. 
 
 " Oh, I used to get all wrought up over some 
 of these religious subjects," continued Miriam. 
 " I used to think I was very wicked because I 
 couldn't believe everything just as our minister 
 presented it." 
 
 " But now ? " asked Mrs. Strong. 
 
 " Oh, I think I agree thoroughly with the preach- 
 ing I've heard since coming to Tioga. You know, 
 I never heard Mr. Baldwin preach before we were 
 married." 
 
 As Mrs. Strong was leaving, Miriam and David 
 again urged her to drop in on them whenever she 
 wished to do so. 
 
 " Mr. Baldwin will be glad to have you interrupt 
 him whenever he can serve you. We have both 
 passed through some trying experiences in ad- 
 justing our religious beliefs to modern conditions, 
 
136 DAVID BALDWIN 
 
 and I feel that he will be able to say just the right 
 word in helping 1 one to understand the newer 
 thought. He has been of such help to me." 
 Miriam followed her friend to the door. 
 
 Among other things, Mrs. Strong had learned 
 that the Baldwins were not intending to furnish 
 their parlor, and that they were planning to have 
 their first meal in their new home on the following 
 evening. 
 
IX 
 
 MRS. STRONG, on her way home from the 
 Baldwins', stopped to see Mrs. Driver ; 
 and within a few minutes the two ladies 
 were in the midst of a most absorbing conver- 
 sation. Mr. Driver, on entering the room where 
 the ladies were chatting, was also admitted to the 
 council, and heartily expressed his approval of the 
 project under consideration, which was that the 
 church families should each make some contribu- 
 tion toward stocking the pastor's pantry with the 
 usual household supplies. 
 
 "The church insisted on his marrying," said 
 Mrs. Strong, explaining their purpose to Mr. 
 Driver, " when perhaps he was scarcely prepared 
 financially to take such a step." 
 
 " I have my doubts about his needing very much 
 urging to get married," said Mr. Driver, drily. 
 " But that's neither here nor there. I admire that 
 little woman his wife. She's got more common 
 sense than two ordinary women, just the kind of 
 woman for a minister's wife." 
 
 " My husband, you see, is quite taken with our 
 pastor's wife," said Mrs. Driver, highly pleased 
 that it was so. " Mr. Baldwin is certainly to be 
 congratulated on his choice. Everybody speaks 
 in the highest praise of Mrs. Baldwin. And now 
 about these little remembrances we are to send 
 
 137 
 
138 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 them : we should avoid too many duplications, 
 should we not? " 
 
 " Yes," said Mrs. Strong, " we must try to send 
 in as great a variety as possible ; and as you say, 
 not too many duplicates." 
 
 " And these orders should all be delivered to- 
 morrow afternoon ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 "Well," said Mr. Driver, withdrawing to the 
 library, " the rest of the family can send whatever 
 they wish. I will order a jar of butter. That little 
 woman shall have a jar of the best butter in the 
 market." 
 
 "I'll send some fruit," added Mrs. Driver, 
 " some apples, they're always acceptable, and some 
 grapes." 
 
 Mrs. Strong made a note of these articles. " And 
 we will send an assortment of breakfast foods," 
 said she, after a moment's reflection. 
 
 By the aid of the 'phone the ladies at once 
 reached a number of the church families, and Mrs. 
 Strong's list grew apace ; and that evening at the 
 midweek service many more additions were made 
 to it, while word was sent to other families not 
 present. 
 
 Just after dinner on the following day, David 
 had their trunks and other belongings transferred 
 from their boarding-house to their new home. 
 That morning Miriam had left a modest order at 
 one of the grocery stores, with the request that it 
 be delivered in the early part of the afternoon. 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 139 
 
 While busily engaged in unpacking her trunk and 
 getting her own room settled, she heard a knock- 
 ing at the kitchen door. 
 
 "The groceryman," said she to herself. "I'm 
 glad he has come so early." She paused to watch 
 the boy as he began to unload his basket on her 
 kitchen table. 
 
 " But this is not my order 1 " she exclaimed, see- 
 ing before her a number of articles she had no 
 thought of buying. "There's a mistake, some- 
 where. You have stopped at the wrong house." 
 
 The boy consulted the duplicate order. " This 
 number is 405 Monroe Avenue, ain't it?" he 
 asked. 
 
 " Yes," replied Miriam. 
 
 " Then there ain't no mistake, ma'am," said he. 
 " See, that's what it reads on the order 405 Mon- 
 roe Avenue." 
 
 " But I haven't ordered these things," persisted 
 Miriam. " The mistake must have been made at 
 the store." 
 
 " I can't say as to that, ma'am," said the 
 boy. 
 
 " The lady who gave the order will be disap- 
 pointed if she does not get these things in time," 
 continued Miriam. " So you'd better find out at 
 once where they belong." 
 
 "Very well, ma'am," said he, loading up his 
 basket again with a package of coffee, a small 
 bag of sugar, a can of cocoa, some celery, a small 
 basket of peaches, and some canned stuff. 
 
140 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 Miriam returned to her work. She was begin' 
 ning to get just the least impatient with her gro- 
 cer, when another delivery wagon stopped in front 
 of the house. The boy brought in two baskets. 
 As he began to pile the contents of the first on the 
 table, Miriam recognized the articles she had or- 
 dered. But the boy unloaded the other basket 
 also. 
 
 " No, no," said she. " These things do not be- 
 long here," indicating the contents of the second 
 basket. 
 
 "But the order has the same name and ad- 
 dress," said the boy. 
 
 " What can this mean ? " she remonstrated, ex- 
 amining the piece of paper which he held before 
 her. 
 
 " Perhaps the mister gave the order," suggested 
 the boy. 
 
 " I but my husband knows that we never use 
 tea," said she, inspecting the packages in ques- 
 tion. 
 
 " Mebbe he wanted some on hand for company." 
 
 " And that white flour he knows we are to use 
 only the whole wheat. I and three kinds of fresh 
 fruit at once ! Such extravagance 1 No," said 
 Miriam, turning to the boy, "I am positive that 
 Mr. Baldwin never gave this order." 
 
 " Well, mistakes do sometimes occur," said the 
 boy, philosophically. " But I'll just leave these 
 things here and pick them up on my way back. 
 Sorry, ma'am, to cause you any trouble. But this 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 
 
 don't occur very often. The boss is very partic- 
 ular, and he'll make it hot for somebody," said the 
 boy as he disappeared. 
 
 Miriam returned again to her work. David was 
 spending the afternoon in the city library and 
 would not be back till about five-thirty. In less 
 than a quarter of an hour there was another rap- 
 ping at the kitchen door. Hastening to see what 
 was wanted, Miriam was astonished to find another 
 deliveryman awaiting her. He asked her where 
 she wanted this bag of potatoes put ? And with- 
 out waiting for her to reply, the boy ran back to 
 his wagon and got a large basket piled full of 
 various articles, which he began to unload on the 
 kitchen floor. Miriam stood speechless ; but the 
 boy was too busy to notice her very much. He 
 was late and must make up for lost time. 
 
 While he was thus engaged, another delivery 
 boy entered unannounced and began to unload his 
 basket. Packages of oat flakes, shredded wheat, 
 and other breakfast foods, wafers, cakes, canned 
 corn, canned tomatoes, canned peas, canned 
 salmon, canned beef, canned soups, a sack of 
 sugar, some tea, some coffee, and a number of 
 other packages whose label or aroma did not re- 
 veal their contents, were piled up on the kitchen 
 floor. At this juncture a third boy appeared with 
 a bushel of apples. Putting the bag down on the 
 floor, he hastily withdrew and in a moment re- 
 turned with his basket, which was also heaped up 
 with small packages. The other boys watched 
 
U2 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 him as he added its contents to the pile already on 
 the floor. 
 
 " But who sent you with all of these things?" cried 
 Miriam, utterly forgetful that she was the wife of a 
 minister. " It cannot be that my husband has done 
 this ! " 
 
 The boys laughed, knowingly, and winked at 
 one another. " Shouldn't wonder, ma'am, if the 
 church people had something to do with it," 
 ventured one of them, as the three left the room. 
 
 "Jiminy cracks!" cried another, slapping his 
 knee, as they turned the corner away from the 
 kitchen door, " but wasn't she s' prised ! " 
 
 " Jest mighty nigh took away her breath ! " 
 
 " She couldn't speak for a minute ! My ! But 
 it was rich!" 
 
 " If only the preacher hisself had been there 1 
 What'll he say, when he sees all them s'pplies? " 
 
 " If his wife only don't tell him, he'll be mad, as 
 mad as a wet hen, I'll bet." 
 
 " Why, Bill ? " 
 
 " Why ? That's plain 'nough. He'll think he's 
 got the most extrav'gant woman in the state ! " 
 
 The boys were climbing into their wagons. 
 
 " Say, Bill ? " called one in an undertone. 
 " Wouldn't you like to be a preacher ? Think of 
 gettin' all that stuff without having to pay for it ! " 
 
 " But being a minister ain't such a snap after all. 
 They have to send all their money to the heathen," 
 was the reply. 
 
 " Then that's why the church folks has to give 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 143 
 
 'em things hadn't thought of that," said the other, 
 as the wagon started down the avenue. 
 
 Three or four more delivery wagons stopped 
 before David returned from the library. Miriam 
 let everything remain spread out on the kitchen 
 floor, as the boys had left it ; and when David re- 
 turned, she met him in the hall, saying that her 
 order had been delivered and for him to look at 
 the things and see if they were all right. 
 
 " The packages are in the kitchen, dear. You 
 can step in and look at them. I'll be witl^you in 
 a moment," said she, going into the sitting-room 
 on some pretense. 
 
 " Why of course they are all right, dearest. 
 Anything that you've ordered is all right. I hope 
 
 you didn't stint " but the sentence was never 
 
 finished. " Shades of the patriarchs ! " he ex- 
 claimed, as his eyes rested on the array of pack- 
 ages piled up miscellaneously on the kitchen floor. 
 "Whatever possessed her to order all this!" he 
 added beneath his breath. He remembered that she 
 had asked him to accompany her to a grocery and to 
 help in selecting the supplies ; he remembered also 
 that he had begged off, telling her that she knew 
 best what they needed, and for her to order what- 
 ever she wished. 
 
 His heart sank within him. This was her first 
 purchase alone since their marriage. He'd had 
 such perfect confidence in her judgment. But 
 now ! He groaned as he thought of it such ex- 
 travagance ! He could not understand it. It was 
 
THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 so unlike Miriam to order all of these things. His 
 face was a study as he stood thus, the object of 
 conflicting emotions. Perhaps he'd have to look 
 after ordering the supplies himself in the future. 
 It would doubtless pain Miriam if he expressed 
 dissatisfaction with what she had done. He would 
 not say anything about the matter now. It might 
 be after all that he did not understand how 
 many things were needful at the beginning of 
 housekeeping. But and his eye ran over more 
 than a dozen packages of breakfast food he was 
 utterly nonplussed. Still he must not appear to 
 be displeased. 
 
 Miriam entered the kitchen and stood watching 
 him. 
 
 " I wish you had gone along, David ; when one 
 is just beginning, ordering supplies is no small 
 task, as you can well imagine." 
 
 " Yes, it must be quite a task," said he. He 
 did not say that in his own mind he was de- 
 termined to go along or to do the ordering him- 
 self hereafter. "Are you sure, dear, that you 
 ordered enough?" he asked. He would say al- 
 most anything rather than let her know how he 
 felt. But, foolish man that he was to attempt to 
 deceive his wife, Miriam interpreted his tone and 
 expression and understood them, while his words 
 said quite the opposite. 
 
 " Oh, we can easily get along now, dear, for a 
 day or two, don't you think so ? Then we can 
 order the rest. But I fear, David, you think I have 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 145 
 
 already ordered somewhat extravagantly. I see it 
 in your face ! " 
 
 " Really, dearest, I don't think any such thing," 
 persisted the poor fellow, striving in every way he 
 knew to keep from hurting his wife's feelings. 
 "Why," said he, "if I'd been with you we'd 
 ordered all this and perhaps more not one pack- 
 age less, I assure you, dearest." David was 
 dangerously near the dividing line between truth 
 and falsehood. Indeed it was doubtful on which 
 side of that line he stood at that moment. But the 
 wistfulness and simulated anxiety on Miriam's face 
 had driven him to it. 
 
 " After these things were delivered," said 
 Miriam, " it did seem as if we could have started 
 in on less. I was so afraid you'd think I'd been 
 extravagant. And you know, dearest, that would 
 break my heart." 
 
 Drawing her head to his shoulder David caressed 
 her rosy cheek. " Extravagant ! " he exclaimed. 
 " What put such an idea into your mind ? I am 
 sure that you are the most economical little woman 
 in all this world." 
 
 "And you'll trust me just the same to do the 
 ordering after this?" 
 
 " Certainly, sweetheart." With that face look- 
 ing up into his own, it was impossible for him to 
 give any other reply. 
 
 " For I couldn't stand it, dearest, to have you 
 distrust my judgment in such things," said Miriam, 
 disengaging herself from his arms. " Every woman, 
 
146 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 you know, likes to feel that her husband has full 
 confidence in her judgment." 
 
 " Why certainly. That's no more than natural 
 and right," he assented. 
 
 " But, David, you old lover boy ! I'm sure you 
 were displeased when you first saw all these things 
 piled up on the table and on the floor. Now, con- 
 fess ! Weren't you ? " 
 
 " Well, I," began David hesitatingly, as he 
 sorted out the various kinds of breakfast foods. 
 " At first I did think the pile was rather large. 
 But of course no up to date family could begin 
 housekeeping on less than eleven different kinds 
 of breakfast foods. But what's this tea, coffee, 
 white flour ? And here are four bottles of olives, 
 three baskets of assorted fresh fruits, two packages 
 of English walnuts, three twenty-five pound sacks 
 of sugar, five packages of breakfast cocoa and 
 four packages of biscuit ! Sweetheart ! " cried 
 David. " I am positive you never ordered all 
 these things ! " 
 
 " I'm somewhat in doubt about it myself, come 
 to look them over," confessed Miriam. 
 
 " Then how in the name of father Abraham did 
 they get into this kitchen?" 
 
 " Here's what I did order," said Miriam, point- 
 ing to her modest quantity set on one side of the 
 table. "How the rest came here I am not alto- 
 gether certain. But I have my suspicions." 
 
 " The church people ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
DAVID BALDWIN H7 
 
 " How kind and thoughtful of them 1 " he ex- 
 claimed drawing Miriam again to him, while his 
 brow cleared up as if by magic. " But to think, 
 dearest, for a quarter of a minute I " 
 
 " But, dear, you had the best of reasons. I 
 know it was almost cruel of me to leave you 
 under the impression that I had ordered all of 
 this. You endured the ordeal nobly. But come 
 now to your reward." She led the way to the 
 dining-room. 
 
 It was their first meal with each other by them- 
 selves. Through the windows the mellow light 
 of an early October sunset streamed and played 
 about Miriam's head, making her rich auburn hair, 
 always one of her charms, a crown of silken gold. 
 In the boarding-house they had been accustomed 
 to sitting side by side ; but now as David took his 
 seat opposite his wife it seemed to him that no 
 woman had ever before looked half so beautiful. 
 In her eyes was kindled a love-light, imparting a 
 radiance to her whole face ; in her hair the sun- 
 beams were all entangled so that he could not tell 
 which was sunbeam and which was hair, the blend- 
 ing was so exquisite. 
 
 Just outside, and within view, though not ob- 
 structing their range of vision to the lake, stood 
 two or three oak trees arranged in holiday attire 
 as if in honor of the occasion ; and in the branches 
 of one of them sat a squirrel eating an acorn and 
 chattering to his mate in the other tree. There 
 was a little breeze passing over the surface of the 
 
US DAVID BALDWIN 
 
 lake, roughening the water just enough to make 
 it reflect the sunlight like many little mirrors set 
 at different angles. The two or three fleecy clouds 
 on the western horizon were blushing with un- 
 feigned coyness as the sun was giving them his 
 good-night caress. If this were the only spot 
 where such a sunset could be seen, men would 
 cover it with gold, if necessary, in order to call it 
 their own. To David and Miriam it was the only 
 spot. The glory of it rilled their souls as for a 
 moment they sat drinking in the beauty of the 
 scene. Bowing their heads, David gave thanks. 
 
 " How good it seems to be alone, to have a 
 dining-room all to ourselves," observed Miriam. 
 " I am sure we shall be very happy, dear, in our 
 new home-nest." 
 
 " Happy ? Why I never enjoyed a meal like 
 this before. Such a feeling of satisfaction to sit 
 down to a table where one is confident that he will 
 not be confronted with a dish of " 
 
 *' David ! " interrupted Miriam, shaking her 
 finger at him playfully. "You were about to 
 speak a word which must never, never be uttered 
 in this dining-room." 
 
ONE of David's newly found joys after his 
 marriage was their reading of some book 
 together, or rather his listening to Miriam 
 while she read to him, during the evenings in 
 which there were no demands of the church to 
 disturb them. These evenings together were all 
 too few. The midweek service, the committee 
 meetings and other evening gatherings of the 
 church for one purpose or another, together with 
 the various social functions to which they were 
 being invited outside of the church, left sometimes 
 only two evenings a week to be spent by them- 
 selves. David was heartily interested in his work, 
 yet it must be confessed he was more in love with 
 his wife ; and to watch her face while she read to 
 him from some interesting book was to feed upon 
 such food as the dwellers on high Olympus had 
 never tasted. His soul thrilled within him as he 
 would sit and watch Miriam as she read. She 
 seemed the embodiment of purity, innocence, 
 goodness, love ; and to look upon these, when 
 one's heart is open to their message, is to be made 
 a better man. 
 
 David had seated himself in his easy chair some 
 distance from the reading lamp in the centre of 
 their cozy sitting-room, and was waiting Miriam's 
 coming. When she entered the room a moment 
 
 149 
 
150 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 later, it was with some unfinished sewing in her 
 hands. David looked up inquiringly. 
 
 " I thought perhaps you wouldn't mind reading 
 this evening, dear ; I have some sewing which I 
 feel must be finished this week ; and this evening 
 is the only time I can give to it," said Miriam, 
 handing David the copy of "Janice Meredith" 
 they were enjoying together. 
 
 " But, sweetheart, can't you let the sewing go ? 
 You know how much more I enjoy it when you 
 read. Must it really be finished to-night ? I fear 
 the little girl is getting too industrious." 
 
 " No fear of that ! " she laughed. " But, David, 
 I must do some of my sewing during the even- 
 ings ; for I do not feel free to go to Mrs. Strong's 
 any more." 
 
 " To Mrs. Strong's ? " inquired David, some- 
 what mystified. 
 
 " Yes ; you see I've been doing the most of my 
 sewing on her machine and to-day while I was 
 using it, it broke." 
 
 "Broke?" 
 
 "It was an old machine and something just 
 gave way. Mrs. Strong was very nice about it, 
 yet I feel dreadfully to have it happen." 
 
 " Of course you insisted on getting it fixed ? " 
 
 " Certainly ; but Mrs. Strong wouldn't hear to 
 it. She said it would have happened anyway." 
 
 " I am sorry," said David, as he drew his easy 
 chair nearer the reading lamp. " I am sorry that 
 the accident happened. I hadn't thought of it 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 151 
 
 before, sweetheart, but we'll have to get a sewing- 
 machine, won't we?" 
 
 " As soon as we can afford it, dear. We haven't 
 the money saved up yet." 
 
 David opened the book and read for an hour 
 while Miriam diligently pursued her sewing, 
 stitch by stitch. The evening finally wore away 
 without bringing to David its usual enjoyment, for 
 the few glances he had stolen of Miriam's face did 
 not thrill him ; the expression was not of the same 
 elusive character as when she was reading; it 
 was when some incident of the story stirred her 
 emotions that her face carried such depth of 
 feeling, such richness of inner life as one seldom 
 sees, save in some great painting of some great 
 master. But as she bent over her sewing, her ex- 
 pression was commonplace, though even then she 
 was good to look upon. 
 
 For some time David had been wondering what 
 he should get Miriam for a birthday present. 
 This thought was in his mind as he walked down 
 town the next afternoon. The year before he had 
 given her a copy of Whittier's poems. Though 
 it seemed hardly the right thing to present his 
 wife with another book, he seemed unable to de- 
 cide on anything else. The matter perplexed him. 
 In this state of mind he was walking to the ex- 
 press office to send off a package. 
 
 Now it so happened that the store next to the 
 express office was one where sewing-machines 
 were sold ; and as David was passing this, he 
 
152 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 suddenly stopped, stood a moment, then entered 
 the store. 
 
 " Good-afternoon," said the proprietor, advanc- 
 ing to meet him. 
 
 " You keep sewing-machines ? " 
 
 "Yes, though we sell more than we keep," 
 laughed the proprietor. 
 
 " That's what I meant, of course/' said David, 
 laughing. The two men seemed to understand 
 each other at once. 
 
 After a few minutes, David remarked, " Forty- 
 five dollars ? Isn't that rather high ? " 
 
 " Not for that machine," replied the proprietor, 
 taking his bearings skilfully. " But of course 
 we have other machines, made by another firm, 
 practically as good for less money." 
 
 " How much less?" 
 
 "Twenty dollars less," replied the proprietor. 
 " That machine there," indicating with his hand, 
 " can be sold by us for twenty-five dollars : we 
 warrant it in every respect. We have forty-five 
 dollar machines for those persons who think an 
 article is not worth having unless we charge them 
 a good round price. But the twenty-five dollar 
 machine is as well made and will give equally 
 good service." 
 
 David stood knitting his brow. "You said 
 twenty-five dollars ? " 
 
 " Yes," replied the dealer. 
 
 David wanted to buy the machine but he didn't 
 have the money with him and he knew he would 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 153 
 
 not have it until the beginning of the next month, 
 nearly three weeks off ; and even the twenty-five 
 dollars would make a big hole in his month's 
 salary. The storekeeper read something of all 
 this in his customer's face. 
 
 " That machine is cheap at twenty-five dollars, 
 cash," said he, emphasizing the word cash. " But 
 whenever it is desired, we sell it for the same 
 price on what is called the monthly payment plan 
 five dollars down and five a month till paid for. 
 In this way," continued the dealer, " a family can 
 have the use of the machine while saving up the 
 money to pay for it. With most young people 
 just beginning to keep house there are so many 
 things to buy all at once that this plan of paying 
 so much a month is frequently adopted." 
 
 " You said five dollars down, and then five a 
 month?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " That would make five months before the last 
 payment," said David more to himself than to the 
 dealer. 
 
 " Yes, and your wife would have the use of the 
 machine all that time." 
 
 " I it hadn't occurred to me to buy a sewing- 
 machine till last evening," said David, laying a 
 bill in the hand of the dealer. " So I'm not pre- 
 pared to-day to pay for it in full. You send up 
 the machine this afternoon, and I'll drop in and 
 see you on the first of each month till the account 
 is balanced. Will that be satisfactory ? " 
 
154 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 " Perfectly," replied the dealer. 
 
 That evening at the supper table Miriam said, 
 " It was so good of you, dear, to get it especially 
 when you need so many books for your study. 
 But I don't see how I could do without a sewing- 
 machine much longer sewing by hand is so 
 tedious." 
 
 The next evening they had together David en- 
 joyed the satisfaction of watching Miriam's face 
 as he listened to her well-modulated voice, while 
 she read further into the story of " Janice Mere- 
 dith." 
 
 The week had not passed before there was a 
 change in the weather. The delightful days of 
 October had given place to the beginnings of No- 
 vember, with clouds heavy and lowering, jealous 
 of letting too much sunshine through. 
 
 " My ! but it's cold up in the study," said David 
 rubbing his hands over the kitchen fire. He had 
 come down early to dinner, without being called, 
 a thing very unusual for him who prized each one 
 of the morning hours. 
 
 " Cold ? So it must be," said Miriam, busy put- 
 ting the finishing touches to the dinner. " I fear, 
 David, this roast is not as good as what we've 
 been getting. It's so tough ! " 
 
 " Tough ? Why I told the man two weeks ago 
 if he sent us any more tough pieces we'd deal else- 
 where." 
 
 ;< I know. And, dear, the meat has been very 
 good since then till to-day. This piece is simply 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 155 
 
 awful as tough as sole leather. I know we won't 
 be able to eat it." 
 
 " I'll have to blow him up again," said David. 
 " Perhaps he needs it every week or two." 
 
 Though the dining-room was immediately off 
 from the kitchen it was too cool even there for 
 comfort. 
 
 " Hadn't you better start the furnace this after- 
 noon, dear ? This sudden change in the weather 
 may continue for several days, and it's hardly safe 
 to depend longer on our little wood stove in the 
 sitting-room." 
 
 " That reminds me ! I haven't ordered any fur- 
 nace coal yet. I must do so at once." 
 
 As Mr. Brand dealt in wood and coal, David 
 went to his office to order a ton of furnace coal 
 sent over to the house at once. 
 
 "You're living in Professor Wilson's house? 
 For the past three years we've furnished Professor 
 Wilson with coal, and it takes nine tons to run his 
 furnace through an ordinary season. One year 
 he had to order a ton extra. But that was a very 
 severe winter, two years ago. It will save you 
 considerable annoyance to say nothing about the 
 dirt if we put in all you want at one time." 
 
 "I'm sorry, but " began David. 
 
 " And so far as paying for it is concerned," con- 
 tinued the clerk, with whom he was talking, " you 
 can suit your own convenience about that. Many 
 of our customers pay so much a month till the 
 whole amount is balanced." 
 
156 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 " Very well," said David. " If you prefer to do 
 so, put in the nine tons to-morrow and I will drop 
 in and see you once a month. Here's pay for one 
 ton." David handed the clerk a five dollar bill on 
 top of which were three silver dollars. 
 
 " Costs something to run a furnace here in Min- 
 nesota," he observed as the clerk was making out 
 his receipt. 
 
 " Yes, coal is rather expensive, though the deal- 
 ers are handling it at a pretty close margin. It's 
 the railroads that make the money. Freight rates 
 from Chicago here are very high." 
 
 " Oh, I almost forgot. We shall need some 
 more coal for the kitchen stove before long. How 
 much will I need for the season ? " 
 
 "Perhaps two tons more. Shall we add two 
 tons of chestnut coal to your order ? " 
 
 "Yes," said David, turning to go. "Though 
 we do not need it just yet, it might as well be put 
 in with the other. By the way, is Mr. Brand 
 here?" 
 
 " Yes. Do you wish to see him ? " 
 
 " If I may." 
 
 The clerk withdrew through a door marked 
 " private." 
 
 " Step this way, Mr. Baldwin," said he, reap- 
 pearing after a moment. 
 
 Mr. Brand met his young pastor very cordially, 
 pressing him to sit down for a few minutes' chat. 
 As his caller rose to leave a few minutes later, Mr 
 Brand said, 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 157 
 
 " My wife and I will be glad to have you and 
 Mrs. Baldwin take dinner with us next Monday 
 evening." 
 
 " Thank you. I'm sure Mrs. Baldwin has no 
 engagement for Monday evening, and we shall be 
 glad to come." 
 
 " If anything should come up, feel perfectly free 
 to let us know/' said Mr. Brand, following David 
 to the door. "A pastor's time, as I know very 
 well, is not always at his own disposal." 
 
 David, on leaving Mr. Brand's office, spent the 
 remainder of the afternoon making calls, the first 
 of which was on a family living some two miles 
 out in a little suburb called Glen Park. The father 
 and mother were old people, too old to get out to 
 church, both bowed down with the effects of many 
 years of hard work. The other member of the 
 home was a son, himself a man almost past mid- 
 dle life, an invalid, having suffered for many years 
 from articular rheumatism. As David sat and 
 talked with these three old people, for the son 
 seemed as aged as either of his parents, it was easy 
 to speak of the deepest things of human experience ; 
 the atmosphere of the home invited it ; and as the 
 conversation continued, David felt that he was in 
 the presence of those who could teach him many 
 things the unobtrusive sanctity of that home was 
 so real and genuine, the hard experiences of life 
 had developed and ripened so many of the rarer 
 qualities of spirit. Religion of the highest type 
 was here embodied, for they had learned to live 
 
158 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 their lives in the consciousness of the divine Pres- 
 ence. Before leaving, David knelt with the family 
 in prayer it seemed the only natural way of clos- 
 ing his call. 
 
 " Pastor, we've enjoyed your call so much. 
 Wife and I can't get out to church as we once 
 could ; but our hearts are there." 
 
 " I know you must be very busy," said the wife. 
 " But come and see us as often as you can. Will- 
 iam, poor boy, is so glad whenever any one calls." 
 
 David's heart was full as he walked out to the 
 car ; a great uplift had come into his soul, some- 
 thing like that which comes when one has been lis- 
 tening to certain kinds of music. His two other 
 calls that afternoon were quite different ; the con- 
 versation was stilted, without purpose, on any 
 casual topic, flitting from one subject to another. 
 Yet as the young pastor walked away from each of 
 these it seemed to him that he had done the best 
 he could. But how poor that best seemed ! 
 
 It was not long after this that David began to 
 feel the need of increasing his library. 
 
 " Yes," said he to Miriam at supper, " I must 
 have some more books. Thus far I have been 
 able to prepare only one sermon a week." 
 
 " But you have preached twice every Sunday." 
 
 " In the evenings," he continued in reply, " I 
 have used sermons which I had on hand have 
 worked them over a little and they have answered 
 pretty well. I have only a very few more in re- 
 serve three or four which amount to anything. 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 159 
 
 When these are gone it will be necessary to pre- 
 pare two new ones each week, and I don't see how 
 I can do it without increasing my working 
 library." 
 
 " Of course you must get more books, David." 
 
 " I see no way out of it," said he ; " though I dis- 
 like to go in debt for them." 
 
 " Wouldn't the Publication Society send you 
 what you find are really necessary, and let you pay 
 for them by remitting so much a month ? This 
 wouldn't be exactly going in debt for them." 
 
 " Yes, I am sure they would." 
 
 " And you could be having the use of the books 
 all the time you are paying for them." 
 
 That evening David made out a list of books he 
 felt would be of greatest use to him. More than 
 once he crossed off one title to give place to an- 
 other which he felt he must have. The Publica- 
 tion Society wrote that they would be pleased to 
 forward the selection and let him pay so much a 
 month as he suggested. After much self-denial 
 and many substitutions David succeeded in keeping 
 his list down to forty odd dollars' worth. He wrote 
 the society that he would meet this sum by send- 
 ing five dollars on the first of each month. 
 
 " Books count up so," said he to Miriam. " I 
 had to leave out of my list so many I ought to 
 have : but I set the limit at fifty dollars." 
 
 " It won't be long before you can send in an- 
 other order, dear. You can add the others then." 
 
 On the first of December the church treasurer 
 
160 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 handed David an envelope containing his salary 
 for the month just expired. 
 
 " Suppose I give this to you, Miriam ; what 
 would you do with it ? " asked David, tossing the 
 envelope into her lap. 
 
 " What would I do with it? Why, just what you 
 are going to do with it, dear." 
 
 " But how do you know what I am going to do 
 with a whole month's salary eighty-three dollars 
 and thirty-three cents? You must be a mind 
 reader?" 
 
 " Perhaps I am," answered Miriam. " Suppose 
 you write on this piece of paper what I dictate, 
 and then you can tell whether I am or not." 
 
 " Very well," said David. " Though I'm more 
 than half inclined to believe you are a mind reader 
 without the formality of a test." 
 
 Miriam shutting her eyes dictated a few lines 
 which read as follows : 
 
 Living expenses $20.00 
 
 Rent 16.66 
 
 Monthly payment on furniture - 20.00 
 
 " " " sewing-machine 5.00 
 
 " coal - 8.00 
 
 " " " books - 5.00 
 
 " " " encyclopaedia 
 
 " Encyclopaedia? " exclaimed David, astonished, 
 " I haven't ordered any encyclopaedia." 
 
 " But you know you wanted one so badly. I 
 couldn't bear to think of you not having it." 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 161 
 
 " And you've ordered it ? " 
 
 " Yes, David, dearest, I ordered it. I knew you 
 needed an encyclopaedia worse than I needed my 
 sewing-machine. And I couldn't bear to use the 
 machine so long as you were without necessary 
 books, for your work." 
 
 " But, Miriam, I ' 
 
 " I wanted to get it as a Christmas present for 
 you. You remember you told me you were going 
 to get it as soon as we could afford it. Just after 
 you sent off that order to the Publication Society 
 bookstore, an agent called. You were out. So, 
 dear, I ordered it as your Christmas present, 
 though it will be shipped before that time." 
 
 " Perhaps it will be better if you leave such things 
 to me after this." David was displeased and 
 couldn't help showing it. " Of course, I suppose I 
 did say something about intending to get the en- 
 cyclopaedia some time. But I can get along very 
 well without it there are any number of books I 
 need worse just now ; and, besides, oh, well, I sup- 
 pose there's no use saying any more about it." 
 
 Miriam sat speechless. David, picking up a 
 newspaper, buried himself behind its open double- 
 page. Neither spoke. Miriam's under lip began 
 to quiver ; she opened her mouth as if to speak, 
 yet did not speak, as if afraid to trust her voice. 
 With set face David sat reading the newspaper 
 it mattered not that it was day before yesterday's 
 paper. It absorbed him. He did not see his wife 
 get up, hesitate an instant as if wavering between 
 
162 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 a desire to be alone, and a longing to throw her 
 arms about her husband's neck ; he did not look 
 up till she was nearly through the door, but it was 
 soon enough to catch a side view of her face. 
 The tears were streaming down her cheeks. 
 
 Though the sight of Miriam's tears scalded 
 David to the heart, he did not speak ; and Miriam 
 passed on to her room. Left alone David began 
 pacing the room, his mind confused, perplexed; 
 yet he was sure he had not done anything uncalled 
 for. What had happened, anyway ? Could it be 
 that he was to blame ? He did not think so, yet a 
 suspicion haunted him. He had not meant to 
 speak unkindly. He tried to recall what he had 
 said. What was it that had hurt her so? 
 
 One of the most delicate problems of life had 
 arisen in this newly established home the problem 
 of mutual adjustment between husband and wife. 
 Their love for each other was beyond question, yet 
 almost without an instant's warning this storm had 
 arisen, a thunder-bolt from a clear sky ; so deli- 
 cately poised are the affections between man and 
 woman, so easily disturbed by look or word, so 
 uncertain are the moods and caprices of our human 
 nature ! The art of living is sometimes called the 
 finest of the arts. But is not the finest of the arts 
 that of living together ? 
 
 David was beginning to feel thoroughly un- 
 comfortable, pacing up and down that little sitting- 
 room. The ice in his heart had all melted, leav- 
 ing opportunity for the warmth of his true affec- 
 

 DAVID BALDWIN 163 
 
 tions to do its work. A few more turns about the 
 room, a few more futile attempts to keep down 
 the rising pressure, and David was back to his 
 better self. ' He went to Miriam's room where he 
 found her lying on her bed, sobbing as if her heart 
 would break. 
 
 Kneeling by her side he put his arms about her 
 neck and drew her head to his shoulder. 
 
 " Will you forgive me, Miriam, dearest ? I am 
 sorry that I spoke to you as I did. I do not know 
 why such harsh words " 
 
 " Don't say that, David ! I was to blame. I 
 should have told you. It was wrong of me to 
 give the order without consulting you; it was 
 wrong to spend so much money. But the agent 
 said we could pay for the set by sending him five 
 dollars a month ; and, dear, I did so want you to 
 have the books. But perhaps he'll take them 
 back if I " 
 
 " Indeed, sweetheart, we'll not think of such a 
 thing ! I wouldn't have you cancel the order for 
 anything. The encyclopaedia is just what I want." 
 
 " But the other books the ones you need 
 more " 
 
 "Miriam, dearest, there are no books I need 
 more. Forgive me for saying the cruel word. 
 Let's rub it out. I didn't mean it, though I thought 
 I did at the time." 
 
 " Are you very sure, David ? " 
 
 " Very sure, sweetheart absolutely certain." 
 
 Miriam's tears had ceased flowing, but her sobs 
 
164: THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 kept surging up one after another in spite of her 
 efforts to keep them down. David kissed her as- 
 suringly on the cheek. 
 
 " The ' old man ' gets the better of me once in a 
 while, sweetheart. But come, let us get back 
 where we left off." 
 
 With his arm about her they returned to the 
 sitting-room. 
 
 " You were giving me a sample of your power 
 at mind reading, sweetheart, when that that 
 storm came up." 
 
 "Yes. The last item was the monthly payment 
 on the encyclopaedia." 
 
 "Which makes," said David, casting his eye 
 over the column of figures, " seventy-nine dollars 
 and sixty-six cents. I must confess, sweetheart, 
 that so far your mind reading ability is beyond 
 question. Can you give me still further proofs 
 of it?" 
 
 " Yes. Next month and the month after and 
 the one after that you will spend this much money 
 in exactly the same way." 
 
 " Correct again," laughed David. " You are 
 accurate enough to be a professional. But what 
 am I going to do with all the rest of each month's 
 salary the three dollars and sixty-seven cents 
 which we may, so to speak, call our own ? " 
 
 " For one thing, David, you must get yourself a 
 pair of shoes. You are needing them badly. 
 That will take " 
 
 " Three dollars and fifty cents," admitted David 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 165 
 
 as he glanced down at the crack in the side of the 
 shoe on his left foot. " My right shoe seems very 
 good yet: I don't need to buy two shoes one 
 will do," he laughed. " I'll buy a left one this 
 month and perhaps we will be able to get the 
 right one next month. Seems to me you must be 
 needing something by this time also, sweetheart ?" 
 " No," she hastened to answer, drawing her feet 
 under her dress as she did so, " my best shoes are 
 almost as good as new." 
 
XI 
 
 ABOUT eight o'clock one Saturday evening 
 the door-bell rang furiously and long, and, 
 before Miriam could answer, the ring was 
 followed by a vigorous knocking, the one desiring 
 admittance not having heard the bell ringing far 
 away in the kitchen. 
 
 " Is he in the parson ? I was told he lived 
 here." 
 
 " Yes, Mr. Baldwin is in," replied Miriam. " You 
 wish to see him ? Will you please step into the 
 sitting-room ? I will call him." 
 
 " In jest a minit," said the young man turning 
 to a horse and cutter which Miriam now observed 
 in front of the house. She heard him say : 
 
 " This is the place, Mandy, and the parson's in." 
 
 The young man tied and blanketed his horse, 
 and helped a young woman out of the cutter. She 
 said something to him in an undertone, and he, 
 reaching down under the seat, brought along 
 with them into the house something tied up in a 
 bag. 
 
 "I'd clean furgot about it, Mandy," said he. 
 " Shows how much a feller needs a body to look 
 after J im." 
 
 The girl smiled gratefully as he looked fondly 
 into her face, lit up from the light on the porch. 
 
 166 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 167 
 
 " We had an awful time a findin' where the par- 
 son lived," said he, as Miriam conducted the two 
 into her comfortable sitting-room. " Mandy, 
 p'r'aps you'd better set up to the stove I'll be 
 gol b u t there ain't any stove in th' room." 
 
 Meanwhile Miriam had taken the girl in hand. 
 
 " You've been riding ? Just loosen your wraps 
 and sit here by the register. I'll put on a little 
 more draft " pulling the chain up a notch or two. 
 "It must be very cold riding this evening?" 
 
 " Yes," answered the girl, taking the proffered 
 seat. " It was quite cold, but I didn't mind it one 
 bit." 
 
 " You bet 'twas cold ! " exclaimed the young 
 man, rubbing his hands over the heat from the 
 register. "One of them things is 'most as good 
 es a stove, ain't they, Mandy?" indicating the 
 register. " I know how they work," he continued, 
 addressing himself to his sweetheart. "They 
 have a big stove down in th' celler, an' on this is 
 a big tank. They fill this tank with a lot of air 
 jest jam it in they heat this air real hot an' then 
 they have pipes a leadin' this air thet's het to th' 
 different rooms. It's quite a scheme, ain't it? 
 Pretty dum nigh es good es havin' a stove. 
 Mebby we'll have one some day, Mandy." 
 
 " I guess I'd ruther have a stove," answered the 
 girl, pleased with the display of knowledge her 
 lover had given before the wife of the minister. 
 She knew that her present choice of a stove would 
 elevate her in her lover's esteem. 
 
168 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 David's study door opened and closed and he 
 was heard coming down the steps. 
 
 " Good-evening," said he, entering the sitting- 
 room and shaking hands with the two callers. 
 " You have driven in from out of town ? " glanc- 
 ing at their heavy wraps. 
 
 " Yes ; from Carr's Corners thet's nine mile 
 from here a good nine mile." , 
 
 "All of that, I should say," said David. "You 
 remember, dear," turning to Miriam "we rode 
 out there on our wheels not long ago." 
 
 "Very good farmin' land outthet way," said the 
 young man. " Some of it's a little rough yet 
 we're jest agettin' it in shape. Produces big 
 crops none better in the state." 
 
 For ten minutes or more David had to sit and 
 talk " crops " to this caller who persisted in sticking 
 to that subject, even though David tried once or 
 twice to get him away from it. The girl was 
 silent, though at first she had talked a little to 
 Miriam. Catching her lover's eye, she gave him 
 a sign as if to say, "Why don't you tell the min- 
 ister what you want and let's be done with it ? " 
 
 Plainly the young fellow was honestly attempt- 
 ing to do that very thing to let the minister know 
 what they had come to him for. But, somehow, 
 no good place came, as it seemed to him, to in- 
 troduce the subject uppermost in his mind. So 
 he struggled on bravely for another ten minutes, 
 talking animatedly on the qualities of various 
 kinds of stock, which varieties were better for but- 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 169 
 
 ter and which for beef; then the conversation 
 turned to the topic of farm implements and ma- 
 chinery. 
 
 David was beginning to get restless. He had 
 planned to give the evening to putting the finish- 
 ing touches on his morning sermon for the mor- 
 row, as his time had been broken into by a funeral 
 on Thursday of the week. Again he tried to lead 
 the young man to declare the object of his visit, 
 by asking him some questions concerning his 
 home. This led to a graphic, if disjointed, ac- 
 count of his caller's family history. David began 
 to feel, however, that he had touched the right 
 chord. He was amused if a little impatient ; the 
 young man was now approaching the point. His 
 father had died some time ago ; they had had 
 their struggles to keep the mortgage from being 
 foreclosed. But they had done it. Lately, dur- 
 ing the year, his mother had died and he had 
 been getting along as best he could with a younger 
 sister as housekeeper. 
 
 " But a man needs a wife, specially when he's 
 got cows to look after," said he, glancing at the 
 girl, who seemed greatly relieved that her sus- 
 pense was now so near at an end. " Things have 
 been runnin' behind ever sence mother died I 
 mean in the house. Not that my little sister hain't 
 done th' best she knowed how. She hes. But 
 she's young too young to look after cows. And 
 es me and Mandy had been keepin' company to- 
 gether now goin' on nigh two years an' " 
 
170 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 " It will be two years come Easter," interrupted 
 the girl. 
 
 "Two years come Easter," he continued. 
 " Well, only this week we d'cided to git married. 
 And so we've druv in to see if you'll do the job 
 and how much it'll cost us ? I've heard of fellers 
 payin' es much es five dollars. I couldn't go thet 
 steep. But I thought es both o' our families, 
 mine and Mandy's, had allers leaned toward your 
 church, you'd do it fur us es cheap es anybody, 
 an' p'r'aps a little cheaper, seeing how thet we'd 
 allus had a leanin' in your d'rection." 
 
 He looked at Mandy, who nodded her head in 
 support of her lover's statements as to their re- 
 ligious " leanin'." 
 
 " I can't pay no five dollars ; but I thought 
 p'r'aps you might do the job for us, say, fur a dol- 
 lar?" The young man raised his eyes to the 
 minister's face. 
 
 " It's not customary for a clergyman to make 
 any definite charge for performing the marriage 
 ceremony," answered David, succeeding with 
 some effort in keeping down his amusement. 
 " We take whatever fee the groom sees fit to 
 give." 
 
 "Then you'll do it fur a dollar?" asked the 
 prospective groom. The moment was filled with 
 anxiety, as David hesitated. " You see we jest 
 d'cided this week to have it done so soon, 
 an' " 
 
 A look from Miriam brought David to a de- 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 171 
 
 cision. "Yesi if that is what you wish to give, 
 I will perform the ceremony. You have your 
 license, of course?" 
 
 " Yes," handing David a long envelope badly 
 crumpled which he took from his overcoat pocket. 
 David examined the license. 
 
 " Very well," said he ; " I'll get my book." 
 
 In a moment David returned from his study, 
 having his pastor's manual opened at one of the 
 shorter forms of the marriage service. The 
 lovers were holding a whispered consultation, and 
 David considerately occupied himself at the other 
 end of the room. From snatches of the conversa- 
 tion which reached his unwilling ears, it seemed 
 that the girl was urging the young man to make 
 some disclosure before the ceremony. This he 
 seemed unwilling to do. She, however, insisted 
 and finally gained her point. 
 
 " Mandy thinks," began the young man with 
 evident reluctance, " thet I should tell you b'fore 
 the job's done thet we ain't got no dollar with us 
 seein' there wa'n't nothin' much to take to 
 market jest now to get no money with. But we 
 thought mebby you wouldent mind takin' your 
 pay in something we could bring along. So 
 we've brung along some beeswax. I told her thet 
 beeswax was jest exactly es good es cash and thet 
 you could sell it at any of the stores, seein' we 
 didn't get to town time enough. You don't mind 
 takin' your pay in beeswax, do you? I told 
 Mandy you wouldent mind I knowed you 
 
172 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 wouldent ; but she says I must tell you before 
 the marry in' s done and not wait till afterward, es 
 I wanted to, knowin' you wouldent mind." 
 
 David, again amused at this unexpected turn 
 of affairs, waited patiently for the young man to 
 conclude his speech which seemed difficult to 
 draw to a close. The girl sat looking appre- 
 hensively from the face of her lover to that of the 
 minister, anxious, yet confident she had insisted 
 on what was right. Just inside the doorway, 
 where the young man had left it on entering the 
 room, was a bag containing, doubtless, the pro- 
 posed fee. 
 
 " Under the circumstances," began David, " I 
 won't mind taking as my fee a dollar's worth of 
 beeswax, though it was well to mention this fact 
 before the ceremony was performed. It puts the 
 matter on a different basis." 
 
 " Thet's what I told John," said the girl, pleased 
 that the minister had taken her view of the matter. 
 "Tell him the rest of it, John." 
 
 John hesitated. 
 
 " But, Mandy, there ain't no use till after 
 
 "John, tell th' parson th' rest now or there 
 won't be any after" 
 
 " Well, Parson," began the reluctant John, 
 " what Mandy wants me to tell you is jest this 
 by actual weight th' beeswax we've got in thet 
 there bag ain't wuth quite a dollar. But it's A 
 Number One every pound of it ! At market 
 price it 'ud fetch jest about seventy-five cents. 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 173 
 
 But it's all thet me an' Mandy could scrape up 
 'tween us, seein' thet we had nothin' else to turn 
 off jest now. Would you mind doin' the job an' 
 waitin' on us till spring, say, for th' rest of your 
 pay?" 
 
 This further explanation of the prospective 
 groom aroused in David the suspicion that the 
 young man had over-persuaded the girl to consent 
 to this hastily arranged marriage, and that very 
 probably she would be glad to have the marriage 
 postponed till John could get his financial condi- 
 tion in better shape. 
 
 " It is my opinion," said he, ignoring the young 
 man's question and addressing both of them, " it 
 is my opinion that you two had better wait a 
 while before getting married. Would it not be 
 better to get a little money ahead before taking 
 this important step? Suppose you wait until 
 spring. Come to me then." 
 
 The minister's well-meaning advice was in- 
 terrupted by the young woman herself. Touch- 
 ing John on the arm, she whispered some words 
 not intended for the minister's ear. 
 
 " Say, John, ask him if if he couldn't marry us 
 now as far as as," as far as the beeswax goes?" 
 
 With no little effort David with outward gravity 
 faced the new situation. 
 
 "But if both of you really wish to be married 
 now," said he, before the young man had time to 
 speak, "I will perform the ceremony at once. 
 As for the fee take the beeswax home with you, 
 
174 DAVID BALDWIN 
 
 and some time next spring when it is perfectly 
 convenient you may bring us a jar of butter or 
 some fresh eggs as many or as few as you wish, 
 and it will be all right." 
 
 Within five minutes David was reascending the 
 stairs, two steps at a time. But as he sat down 
 to work on his sermon, the flow of his thoughts 
 was more than once interrupted by the remem- 
 brance of the phrase " marry us now as far as the 
 beeswax goes." 
 
 He laughed aloud. 
 
 " Did she think that the marriage ceremony 
 could be performed on the instalment plan, I 
 wonder ? " 
 
XII 
 
 THE days of each week slipped by all too 
 rapidly for the comfort of the young pas- 
 tor ; for each Sunday brought with it the 
 necessity of having two sermons in shape. By 
 the time his first year at Tioga was half over, 
 David was beginning to be sorely perplexed for 
 sermon material ; he had preached, as it seemed to 
 him, on almost every conceivable phase of the 
 Christian life and experience ; and he was filled 
 with an awful dread lest he should be found repeat- 
 ing himself. 
 
 On Sunday evenings he and Miriam had their 
 lunch after the service, and for an hour or more 
 they would sit at the table visiting, like like the 
 lovers they were. 
 
 " I wonder what in the world I can get to preach 
 about next Sunday ? " he sometimes would say. 
 " I haven't a single idea left." 
 
 " But you said the same thing last Sunday 
 evening, dear; and see what excellent sermons 
 you had worked out by the end of the week." 
 
 " Well, perhaps my morning sermon wasn't so 
 bad ; but this evening I had to go pretty much on 
 my muscle, as we boys used to say in college." 
 
 " But I didn't notice anything out of the way 
 this evening, dear ; it was all right. And this 
 morning several of the ladies, Mrs. James, Mrs. 
 
 175 
 
176 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 Wood, Mrs. Terry and perhaps some others, yes 
 and Mrs. Strong, of course, all had something nice 
 to say of the sermon as I met them after the service." 
 
 "That's only because you are the minister's 
 wife." 
 
 " I am sure these ladies are sincere, David. 
 They wouldn't say they enjoyed the sermon, if they 
 didn't mean it. You don't believe that Mrs. James 
 would commend anything unless she really thought 
 it was good ? " 
 
 " Well, no ; I hardly think Mrs. James would," 
 admitted David reluctantly. "Isn't she a fine 
 woman ! I hope, Miriam, when you get to be her 
 age, about forty years from now, you'll be just like 
 her." 
 
 " Indeed, nothing would please me more. To 
 be in her presence is such an inspiration just to be 
 near her makes one feel that goodness is worth 
 while." 
 
 " And I can always preach better when she is at 
 church. You know she was away a few weeks 
 visiting her daughter in Chicago. I felt the dif- 
 ference. What sermons a man could preach if he 
 had a house full of such listeners as Mrs. James 1 " 
 
 " Deacon Long isn't he a good listener? " 
 
 " My dear, don't mention Deacon Long in the 
 same breath with Mrs. James. They're as unlike 
 as lead and gold." David had folded his napkin 
 and was pushing back from the table. 
 
 " I know, dear, they are very unlike. Yet the 
 deacon must be a very good man." 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 177 
 
 " What makes you think so ? " 
 
 " He seems to prize your sermons very highly. 
 Nearly every Sunday while you are preaching I see 
 him taking notes, writing your best thoughts down 
 in a little book." 
 
 " Is that so? I hadn't noticed it. Perhaps the 
 deacon is more interested than I have been giv- 
 ing him credit for being. Somehow I'd got the 
 impression he didn't care very much for my ser- 
 mons. You know he is very conservative." 
 
 " But he listens so attentively, and though some- 
 times his eyes are shut, I know he is listening just 
 the same. For when you've said something espe- 
 cially helpful, even when he seemed to be asleep, 
 out comes his note-book and pencil and he writes 
 the sentence down. Isn't it fine that so old a 
 man, even if he is conservative, can appreciate the 
 newer ideas ? " 
 
 " Perhaps the deacon doesn't always recognize 
 the new theology when he hears it. At any rate I 
 am glad he is interested. It may be I'll have to re- 
 vise my opinion of him yet." 
 
 " Does he never say anything to you about your 
 sermons, dear ? I should think he would he's the 
 only one in the audience that takes notes on them 
 except, of course, the reporter, Mr. Waller, when 
 he is there." 
 
 " Well, no ; nothing in particular. Yes, once he 
 did say something, and at the time I thought it 
 gave me a clue to his attitude toward me." 
 
 "What did he say?" 
 
178 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 "It's scarcely worth repeating, but he asked me 
 one Sunday whether or not I believed in the 
 divinity of Christ. His question was very abrupt ; 
 and when I assured him that I did so believe, he 
 seemed, I fancied, disappointed. 
 
 "'I got the impression,' said he, 'from some- 
 thing you said last Sunday morning, that you 
 didn't accept the virgin birth of our Saviour.' 
 
 " ' Perhaps we may look at this subject from dif- 
 ferent angles of vision, deacon,' I replied, not wish- 
 ing to enter into a discussion with the old gentle- 
 man ; * yet rest assured,' said I, ' no one accepts the 
 divinity of Christ more heartily than I do.' 
 
 " ' But if he wasn't conceived of the Holy Ghost, 
 how can he be divine?' the deacon persisted. 
 Fortunately some other people came toward the 
 door just then and without appearing to do so I got 
 away from him. I have a suspicion, Miriam, that 
 Deacon Long is not altogether easy in his own 
 mind as to my orthodoxy." 
 
 " Has he said anything further to you on the 
 subject?" asked Miriam. 
 
 "No. Though I shouldn't wonder if he has 
 come to know what my position is." 
 
 " How is that, if you didn't tell him ? " 
 
 " It was this way. Mr. Brand, you know, has 
 put himself out of the way to be nice to us." 
 
 " Yes ; he has invited us to his home, time after 
 time, yet I never feel altogether comfortable in his 
 presence." 
 
 " But he was doing so much to make it pleasant 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 179 
 
 for us, and as he had been a pastor himself years 
 ago before his health failed, I suppose it was only 
 natural for me to be a little more confidential with 
 him than I would have been otherwise ; but if I 
 had it to do over again, I wouldn't take Mr. Brand 
 into my confidence on any subject. I have felt 
 since that he was just leading me on." 
 
 " Why, David, I never mistrusted that Mr. 
 Brand would do such a thing as that 1 May it not 
 be possible that you are misjudging him ?" 
 
 " Indeed, I wish it were so. But I am morally 
 certain that I am not misjudging him. The last 
 time we were up there, was the week after Deacon 
 Long had questioned me on the divinity of Christ. 
 Well, somehow, I do not remember just what did 
 bring the subject up Mr. Brand and I got to talk- 
 ing on the same topic the divinity of Christ ; on 
 the attitude of modern scholarship toward the vir- 
 gin birth narratives, and what views the various 
 Chicago professors in the Divinity school held ; 
 and during our conversation which by no means 
 was a one-sided one, I felt he was quite in sym- 
 pathy with the modern position. At least his re- 
 marks created that impression in my mind ; and in 
 reverting to Deacon Long's attempt to catechise me, 
 I frankly stated my own conviction that in accept- 
 ing the divinity of Christ it did not seem at all 
 necessary to adopt the early church's attempt to 
 explain it. I told him that I preferred to look 
 upon the virgin birth accounts as attempts on the 
 part of the early biographers of Christ to put a 
 
J80 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 physical basis or explanation under a life which 
 they recognized as divine and felt the need of ex- 
 plaining ; but that it seemed best to me not to at- 
 tempt to explain the divinity of Christ by any such 
 physical circumstance or condition as that alluded 
 to in the virgin birth accounts, but to leave the 
 whole matter unexplained, to accept Christ as the 
 master of our lives and joyfully live in the inspira- 
 tion of his presence, believing in him for what he 
 was and is the incarnation of God's highest and 
 holiest message to the human race." 
 
 David was greatly animated in giving Miriam 
 this account of his conversation with Mr. Brand ; 
 the subjects of the new theology always stirred 
 him. 
 
 " Of course you felt freer to discuss these sub- 
 jects with him than you would with many others 
 in the church," observed Miriam, as she began to 
 gather up the dishes and set the things away. 
 "It's so hard not to be confidential, especially 
 when people are so kind as the Brands have 
 been." 
 
 " Yes ; but in view of what has since happened, 
 I see that Mr. Brand was just leading me on ; that 
 he is not at all in sympathy with modern thought." 
 
 " That was very, very mean of him ! I had no idea 
 he was such a man. I can scarcely believe it." 
 
 " Nor I. Yet I am coming to think he is a most 
 perfect combination of Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde. 
 In some respects he is goodness personified. In 
 others, well, I am being compelled to believe he 
 

 DAVID BALDWIN 181 
 
 is capable of almost any underhanded trick or 
 meanness to carry his purpose." 
 
 " Why, David ! I am surprised to hear you 
 speak in this way ! They have been so good to 
 us. You've never said a word of this to me 
 before." 
 
 " No. I was waiting to be certain. Mrs. Wood 
 you know she is very much in sympathy with what 
 I am trying to do the other day she advised me 
 to be very careful of what I said to Mr. Brand. 
 She had been calling at the Longs', and the deacon 
 had given her a full report of my conversation 
 with Mr. Brand. She said though the deacon was 
 simply horrified at my heresy, as he terms it, yet 
 he was strangely elated over the fact of having 
 made the discovery; for it seems that he and 
 Brand have been working together to get me to 
 commit myself on some of these subjects which I 
 have studiously and religiously refrained from pre- 
 senting from the pulpit." 
 
 " But you refrained from presenting them only 
 because you thought the people many of them 
 were not yet ready for these newer ideas, didn't 
 you, dear?" 
 
 " Yes. While the University element of the con- 
 gregation is eager for the newer thought and 
 ready for it, that part of the audience not touched 
 by the University or by the modern ideas in edu- 
 cation and literature, had to be prepared, little by 
 little for many of the things I would like to say to 
 them." 
 
182 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 "That's only natural. Christ found the same 
 necessity ; and so does every teacher of new ideas 
 in religion. We must be content to go slowly, 
 dear ; and yet one can remain true to the message 
 that burns within his own heart, even though he 
 may think it best to keep some things in reserve 
 for a while, as you are trying to do, dear." 
 
 " But being true to his message led Christ to the 
 cross. It was just such people as Brand and Long 
 who brought him there people who regarded it 
 a crime for another to have ideas of God different 
 from their own. I am afraid these two men will 
 cause me trouble yet. Mr. Brand has great in- 
 fluence in the church." 
 
 " But, dear, think of the number of families who 
 are so much in sympathy with the newer thought, 
 and the increasing number of students coming to 
 hear you. I wouldn't mind what these two men 
 do think, though of course it is annoying." 
 
 "They are watching me, that's certain. Of 
 course, I shall continue to be moderate as mod- 
 erate as possible in my pulpit utterances. But. 
 any one can see that all of my sermons are 
 based on and grow out of the newer point of 
 view." 
 
 " That's what makes them so helpful, dear ; 
 they are so vital and make religion such a real 
 part of life. I couldn't bear to listen to you if you 
 preached such sermons as Mr. Brand evidently 
 would like to hear. But I must go now, dear. It's 
 getting late." She kissed him on the forehead as 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 183 
 
 she was leaving the room. " Don't stay up too 
 long burying your sermons under that story. 
 Good-night, dear." 
 
 "Good-night, sweetheart ; pleasant dreams." 
 
 David adjusts himself to his easy chair, throw- 
 ing one leg carelessly over an arm of the chair, 
 and leans back so that a good light falls on the 
 page. The book is one he has drawn from the 
 city library, a very interesting story the librarian 
 had said, when he inquired for something to read 
 Sunday evening after church. The librarian had 
 come to know about what the pastor of the First 
 Church wanted ; for just before retiring on Sunday 
 evening, David always read the most interesting 
 book he could get, until he became thoroughly 
 interested in the story and was loath to give it up. 
 Then he would go to bed and soon be fast asleep. 
 If he did not lose himself thus, in some story be- 
 fore retiring, his sermons of the day would be 
 going through his mind all night, either keeping 
 him awake or disturbing his rest. 
 
 David hears the clock on the mantel strike 
 twelve ; he will read only fifteen minutes more ; 
 the half hour strikes and David starts he will go 
 to bed in just a minute or two just as soon as he 
 finishes that chapter. At the end of the chapter 
 the situation is almost too interesting to leave 
 just one more chapter, is his resolve. 
 
 With interest at the keenest point, David closes 
 the book and steals softly to bed. The clock 
 strikes one, but he does not hear it. Blessed, 
 
184 DAVID BALDWIN 
 
 blessed sleep God's choicest gift to weary brain 
 and tired body ! Sleep well and long. 
 
 Blessed, blessed gift of imagination ! For 
 through its gracious service this tired preacher 
 had, so to speak, taken his jaded mind out walk- 
 ing amidst scenes delightful and refreshing, 
 changing his thought, inviting relaxation, en- 
 abling him to dismiss everything which tended to 
 frighten that shy and capricious visitor, the angel 
 of repose. 
 
XIII 
 
 " "IT ET me see when is the time for our an- 
 nual collection for foreign missions ? It's 
 
 -* * a week from Sunday, isn't it ? " 
 
 " Yes, a week from next Sunday. " 
 
 "So far as I can see, it will be just impossible 
 for us to give anything this year. I am sorry, but 
 I don't see how we can do otherwise. This liv- 
 ing on the instalment plan, having so many 
 things to meet each month, cuts us down to the 
 last notch." 
 
 " But, David, we're having the use of the things 
 and we couldn't very well do without any of them. 
 Of course the sewing-machine is all paid for. 
 That's one thing less to think about." 
 
 " But its place was soon taken by that suit of 
 clothes I had to order. I wonder if we'll ever get 
 out of the woods, having commenced this way ? " 
 
 " Why, yes, dear. It won't be long before sev- 
 eral of the things will be paid for." 
 
 " But for every one we pay off it seems we have 
 two other things we ought to get." 
 
 It was Monday and David was blue. Blueness, 
 however, was not always an accompaniment to 
 David's Mondays, only to one now and then, 
 whose color became occasionally so intense as to 
 make up for the Mondays that were not blue. On 
 these days Miriam had learned to discount many 
 
 185 
 
186 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 things her husband said by about fifty per cent. 
 She was learning also how she could best break 
 the power of these spells : that one of the surest anti- 
 dotes was to take tea with the Stewart family 
 where the abounding life currents were so normal 
 and so strong. David would soon catch some- 
 thing of their movement, be drawn out of his little 
 eddy where the water was getting unwholesome, 
 and before the time for their return home, he would 
 be quite himself again. During these blue times, 
 calls on some of the other church families had 
 just the opposite effect, making his mood more 
 severely intense. These families Miriam endeav- 
 ored to shun during these trying days, as she 
 would have endeavored to shun exposing David 
 to some terrible disease ; but at the Strongs', the 
 Stones', the James' and the Stewarts', especially at 
 the Stewarts', it was always well to call when David 
 had the blues. And a call there usually meant 
 staying to supper. Nor did this inconvenience 
 the Stewart household in the least two more 
 plates were laid, though more often only one, for 
 there was usually one extra plate on their ample 
 board. Not a single thing extra was cooked, and 
 there was no flurrying, no fussing, no stewing, no 
 apologies ; just a hearty welcome and always the 
 same. 
 
 But before Miriam said anything of all this 
 which was in her mind, David continued, anent 
 their financial situation and the missionary collec- 
 tion. 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 187 
 
 " It will not be setting a very good example un- 
 less we contribute something," said he, dejectedly ; 
 " yet for the life of me I don't see how we can do 
 it. I shall not be able this month to pay for those 
 things we had to get at the drug store." 
 
 " I have been thinking of this collection for some 
 time, dear ; and I've succeeded in saving nearly a 
 dollar toward it." 
 
 " Saving nearly a dollar ? Miriam, what can 
 you mean ? " Astonishment was written all over 
 David's face. 
 
 " Well," confessed Miriam, " for several weeks 
 I've had this collection in mind, as I knew just 
 how we are situated financially ; so I set out to 
 save a little and I'll have a dollar by a week from 
 Sunday." 
 
 "But how how have you done it?" persisted 
 David. 
 
 Miriam hesitated. " That's my secret ; per- 
 haps I don't care to let you know all my secrets." 
 
 " Very well " the little blue devils were ac- 
 countable for the tone in which he said it " very 
 well." 
 
 " Of course, dear, if you really want to know ; 
 but I've enjoyed keeping it so far very much. I 
 know it's selfish and I should have shared it with 
 you long ago. I have been " 
 
 " There are some books I must return to the 
 city library this afternoon," interrupted David, 
 ashamed of having spoken as he did. " Do you 
 wish me to return yours ? " 
 
188 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 " No, dear ; I'm not through with it yet. It's 
 not due for another week." 
 
 " Perhaps I'll get back in time to make one or 
 two calls. Are there any special places we should 
 go ? " he asked, as he gathered up his book. 
 
 " How would it do to take tea with the 
 Stewarts' ? We haven't been there for some time, 
 at least Mary wanted to know yesterday if we 
 weren't ever going to come and see them any 
 more." 
 
 " Why, we call there twice as much as we do 
 anywhere else seven times more than at some 
 places." 
 
 In good season David returned from the 
 library ; and after making one other call, they set 
 out, at David's own suggestion, for Auntie 
 Stewart's, as he had come to designate that 
 household. 
 
 Mary welcomed them heartily at the door. 
 
 " Just come right in. I'll call mother. So you 
 did repent of your sins, and decide to call on us 
 again ? " 
 
 " Yes, we thought it was about time for you to 
 have a call from the minister some people, you 
 know, need looking after oftener than others." 
 
 "'So I've heard. And I know some people who 
 are so bad they have to go to church twice a Sun- 
 day it must be awful trying on one's constitution 
 to have to go to church twice on Sundays, as 
 preachers have to do." 
 
 Mary Stewart always had an answer ready for 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 189 
 
 David ; and these two found great fun in parrying 
 the other's thrusts. 
 
 Such original ideas as this young lady had on 
 so many theological topics ! " The Bible presents 
 such funny conceptions of heaven," she once said 
 to David. " Now I don't take any stock in golden 
 streets and walls of jasper and harps and all such 
 things." 
 
 " Indeed ? " 
 
 " No. The heaven that I believe in is far dif- 
 ferent." 
 
 " Different ? " 
 
 " Yes ; anybody can see that it was a man and 
 not a woman who wrote that account in the Bible. 
 If Mrs. St. John had had hold of the pen I fancy 
 it would have been very different. Men have so 
 little imagination on some subjects especially 
 heaven." 
 
 " What do you fancy Mrs. St. John might have 
 written ? " asked David. 
 
 " Well, if she's had to get up all her life, and 
 get the breakfast for a family as large as ours, I'm 
 sure she'd have written something about heaven's 
 being a place where everybody could just lie abed 
 till breakfast was ready. Now I'm sure that'd be 
 a very sensible thing to say about heaven, and 
 much more consoling to us women than golden 
 streets and jasper walls, especially if we happen 
 to be the ones who've had to get the breakfasts 
 every morning since we can remember." 
 
 " Listen to that, Mrs. Baldwin ! Mary's trying 
 
190 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 to make a heretic of your husband ! " exclaimed 
 Cora, who had entered the sitting-room as her sis- 
 ter was talking. 
 
 Miriam and Mrs. Stewart always found much in 
 common, and had some of the best of visits, the 
 only hindrance being the attempts of three or four 
 of the other members of the family who were try- 
 ing to engage in conversation with Miriam at the 
 same time, not with disrespect to their mother, 
 however, but just edging in overflow remarks now 
 and then. When the boys were all in after sup- 
 per, the seven young people were well nigh irre- 
 sistible, but Tom was the acknowledged leader in 
 wit and repartee, while even the youngest mem- 
 ber of the family, Elizabeth, was shyly learning to 
 enter the lists with the rest. 
 
 With David and Miriam in their midst conver- 
 sation simply ran wild, three or four centres going 
 at full speed all at one time, reminding an observer 
 of a three or four-ringed performance at a circus. 
 
 In the old gentleman, the sense of humor was 
 highly developed, and few things pleased him 
 more than to get off a joke on his wife. 
 
 " Do you believe in family prayer, Mr. Bald- 
 win ? " Mr. Stewart asked, having waited two or 
 three minutes for a suitable opportunity for wedg- 
 ing his question in. " I would like to know if you 
 as a minister advise newly married couples to 
 have family prayer ? " 
 
 "Now, Ephraim!" protested his wife. "I 
 thought you'd forgotten all about that long ago." 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 191 
 
 " Forgotten ? Why, Susan, I haven't forgotten 
 it any more than you have." 
 
 The younger members of the family had heard 
 the story before some of them more than once ; 
 but attention spoke eloquently of their desire to 
 enjoy it again. David mistrusted that something 
 was coming. 
 
 "If I am to state my practice, as I have had 
 only one marriage, I fear, Mr. Stewart, there wasn't 
 anything said one way or the other on the subjects 
 of prayers." 
 
 " Well," continued the old man almost shaking 
 with suppressed laughter, " when Susan and I 
 were married, the minister was very careful to en- 
 join upon us the solemn duty and great privilege 
 of family worship. We were both duly impressed. 
 It so happened that we did not go to keeping 
 house for a few weeks ; but when we did, the old 
 minister's exhortation was fresh in our ears. 
 
 " It was the first evening in our little home. 
 * Susan/ said I, ' shall we not follow the good 
 minister's advice and establish a family altar?' 
 
 "'His words have ever been in my mind, 
 Ephraim, and I am agreed to it,' she replied. 
 
 " * Don't you think it would be better for both 
 of us to pray each making a short prayer, than 
 for just one of us to pray? 1 I asked knowing 
 that Susan was very fluent in the prayer-meetings 
 from which I used to see her home. 
 
 " * Why, just as you like, Ephraim just as you 
 think best.' 
 
192 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 " ' I always enjoy your prayers, Susan/ said I. 
 
 "So it was agreed that after reading a few 
 verses of Scripture, each of us should lead in 
 prayer. Now, though I was a member of the 
 church I had never been much of a hand at pray- 
 ing out loud, and at my father's home we were 
 not accustomed to having family worship. So it 
 is not to be wondered at if I didn't get in all the 
 customary phrases. I just plunged ahead asking 
 the Lord for what I wanted and thanking him for 
 his many blessings. 
 
 "Well, somewhere in the prayer I wanted to 
 say something about Susan. As nearly as I 
 could remember afterward I said : * O Lord, help 
 Susan to be a better woman.' I don't know just 
 why I used those words ; guess I simply wanted 
 the Lord to bless her, that was all. I didn't mean 
 anything special by it, not in the least. 
 
 "But evidently Susan didn't think so. The 
 first part of her prayer was very eloquent, she 
 seemed even more animated than usual. But all 
 of a sudden her tone changed. *O Lord,' said 
 she, as if in offset to my petition for her, ' O Lord, 
 keep Ephraim from being such a fool.' ' 
 
 Even Mrs. Stewart joined in the hearty laugh 
 which greeted the end of her husband's reminis- 
 cence. 
 
 " Since that time, Mr. Baldwin," continued Mr. 
 Stewart when he was able to make himself heard, 
 " since that time Susan and I have each made our 
 communications to the Lord privately." 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 193 
 
 During the moments they were listening to 
 their father, Mary and Tom and Cora and the 
 rest, having each thought of some incident too 
 good to keep, were eager to plunge into the midst 
 of the competition for a listener. Four to five 
 were talking at once, some at Miriam and some 
 at David. Doubtless it is custom that has re- 
 stricted us to being able to listen to only one 
 speaker at a time ; for Mrs. Stewart had no 
 trouble in keeping in touch with the several con- 
 versations going on about her. 
 
 As the callers rose to go Mr. Stewart ap- 
 proached David. 
 
 " That was a grand sermon you gave us Sunday 
 morning, Mr. Baldwin, a grand sermon. It gave 
 me an entirely new conception of the book of Job. 
 But why shouldn't a Hebrew write a drama as 
 well as a Greek? Why shouldn't a Hebrew 
 writer use his creative imagination the same as 
 writers of all other nations have done ? For one I 
 am proud that the First Church of Tioga has a 
 pastor who is in sympathy with these modern 
 views of the Bible." 
 
 "Thank you, Mr. Stewart: I am glad if you 
 found the sermon helpful." 
 
 "Indeed I did. The book of Job has never 
 meant anything to me it was all a jumble what 
 Bildad, Eliphaz and Zophar said being all on the 
 same plane with what Job said. But now, when, 
 as you pointed out, the writer puts what he does 
 not believe in the mouths of the three friends, and 
 
194 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 has Job get the best of them in the debate, I can 
 see some meaning to it all. The old ideas of that 
 day are shown to be inadequate. And those 
 scenes before the debate begins why I always 
 was taught to look upon them as actual occur- 
 rences." 
 
 " Of course. So was I." 
 
 " I used to get into all sorts of difficulties when 
 I thought about it, when I read it as actual oc- 
 currences. But as the work of creative imagina- 
 tion, a setting or background for the rest of the 
 drama, it gives one no trouble at all I can under- 
 stand it. But, Mr. Baldwin, all this requires a dif- 
 ferent view of the inspiration of the Scriptures 
 from what we've been accustomed to." 
 
 " Yes ; that is the point at which all other ques- 
 tions converge these new views do require us to 
 reconstruct our beliefs concerning inspiration, con- 
 cerning the way the Biblical literature came into 
 existence." 
 
 " I think I am coming to understand your posi- 
 tion, Mr. Baldwin. To tell the truth," lowering his 
 voice to a confidential whisper, "for years I've 
 been growing away from a number of the old 
 traditional beliefs. A man who reads can't well 
 help it ! " 
 
 " Father ! Are you talking to Mr. Baldwin 
 yet ? " called Mary from the hall where she was as- 
 sisting Miriam to put on her wraps. " Father does 
 enjoy your husband so much," she added to 
 Miriam. 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 195 
 
 " I'm so glad we came. We always have such 
 a very pleasant time," answered Miriam, as David 
 at last joined her at the door. 
 
 " Come back again, soon," called Mrs. Stewart, 
 as the young pastor and his wife stepped out into 
 the cool night air. 
 
 David's blues had vanished. His conversation 
 had its old hopeful ring ; he was his normal self 
 again, and Miriam was glad. She was early be- 
 coming an adept in one of the finest of the arts 
 that of managing a husband without his knowing 
 it ; for David would surely have resented his wife's 
 suggestion to take tea with the Stewarts', if he had 
 known her purpose. 
 
 A few minutes' brisk walking brought them to 
 their own door. 
 
 " I haven't shared my secret with you yet, dear," 
 said Miriam as they stepped into the house. 
 
 " Forgive me, sweetheart ; I was rude in asking 
 about it in the first place. Don't tell me at all un- 
 less you wish." 
 
 " Oh, I'm happy to share it with you, though I 
 did enjoy having it all to myself for a while." 
 
 " What a mysterious secret it must be 1 " 
 
 " Oh, it don't amount to much. Yet I've gotten 
 a lot of pure enjoyment out of it You'll laugh, I 
 know you will, when I tell you what it is, what 
 a silly little secret it is. But I won't care one 
 bit if you do. David, dear, I've saved nearly a 
 dollar by by not eating any butter for some 
 time." 
 
190 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 " By not eating any butter ! You did this to get 
 some money for the missionary collection?" 
 
 " Yes, dear. There didn't seem to be any other 
 way to get it ; and I didn't mind doing it at all. 
 Indeed, I've thoroughly enjoyed saving the money 
 in this way." 
 
 " The idea ! Who ever heard of such a thing ! 
 the minister's wife going without butter in order 
 to send a dollar to the heathen ! Here I've been 
 spreading my bread just as plentifully as ever, 
 while you've been going without." 
 
 " I had such fun in keeping you in the dark ! 
 More than once I thought you had found me out ; 
 but you didn't. You were just as good and stupid 
 about it as you could be." 
 
 " But now I'm going to pay you back with in- 
 terest. You'll see that I'll get even with you," he 
 laughed. 
 
 "Even with me?" 
 
 "Yes. I'm bound, you see, to make up for 
 lost time. It wouldn't do at all for the minister 
 to let any member of his congregation surpass 
 him in self-denial ! Until that collection is taken 
 I shall eat neither butter nor nor mutton chops 
 nor " 
 
 " Why, David, we haven't had mutton chops 
 since we commenced keeping house," protested 
 Miriam. 
 
 " Well, you see, sweetheart, I must catch up 
 with you. I must deny myself of more than you 
 did, since you took advantage of me by getting 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 197 
 
 started first I'll not stop by simply going with- 
 out butter. What I've lost in time must be made 
 up in quantity. Yes, I shall add mutton chops. 
 Please don't prepare any mutton chops for me till 
 this missionary collection is taken." 
 
 " Anything else ? " asked Mirian laughing. 
 
 " I shall eat no butter, nor mutton chops, nor 
 green corn on the cob, nor " 
 
 " Green corn on the cob, David, in April ? " 
 
 " Certainly, my dear," David did not smile, " I 
 shall deny myself of all green corn on the cob till 
 after that collection. I shall add also to my list all 
 pie from now on you'll have to eat your pie 
 alone, for I solemnly affirm I shall not touch a sin- 
 gle piece." 
 
 " Nor have you tasted a piece of pie in this 
 house since we came to live in it." 
 
 " Miriam, dear, any one can easily see that your 
 statement has no bearing whatever on the subject 
 under discussion. I repeat it is my determina- 
 tion to deny myself of all kinds of pie, mince pie, 
 apple pie, lemon pie, pumpkin pie, peach pie and 
 pie by whatever name it may be known. Now 
 please do not try to dissuade me, dear, from mak- 
 ing this sacrifice. I am determined to do it. 
 Nothing shall stop me. I must get even with you 
 in some way. Tea and coffee shall also be denied ; 
 white bread, hot rolls, doughnuts, sausage, sauer- 
 kraut, lobsters, venison, fried potatoes, new peas 
 and and well, I think that will do. Please re- 
 member the list and in preparing any of these 
 
198 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 things, cook only what you may want for yourself. 
 I shall religiously deny myself of them all." 
 
 " What an immense sum we'll have by a week 
 from Sunday ! " laughed Miriam. 
 
 When the treasurer was looking over the en- 
 velopes, transferring to his church account book 
 the amounts each family had given, he paused a 
 moment when he came to the pastor's envelope, 
 wondering not so much at the smallness of the 
 sum as why it had been made one dollar and 
 twenty-three cents rather than a dollar and a 
 quarter. 
 
 " Doubtless the pastor forgot to put in the other 
 two cents," said he to his wife. 
 
 " But, Jacob, it reads $1.23 on the outside of the 
 envelope," said Mrs. Long. "And the '3' is 
 made very plainly, too." 
 
 "That's so! I wonder what could be the 
 reason? " 
 
 " Why, Jacob, it must be that they give a cer- 
 tain per cent, of his salary to foreign missions, and 
 it figured out just that amount." 
 
 " I guess you're right, Josephine. I guess 
 you're right," replied the deacon writing the 
 figures down in his ledger. " I don't see how you 
 can account for it in any other way." After care- 
 fully blotting the name and the figures, Deacon 
 Long turned back and compared this amount 
 with what the previous pastor had contributed for 
 foreign missions the last year he was with them. 
 
 " Brother Baldwin don't seem to be nearly so 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 199 
 
 much interested in missions as our previous pas- 
 tor was," he observed. 
 
 "It's no more than you can expect, Jacob, from 
 the kind of sermons he's preaching." 
 
 "I've been waiting to hear him preach a sermon 
 on missions, but he never has yet." 
 
 " Perhaps he don't believe that the heathen are 
 all doomed to suffer in the bottomless pit. Can it 
 be possible, Jacob, that our church has a pastor 
 who believes that there is salvation out of Christ 
 that the heathen are not doomed to eternal 
 punishment, unless snatched as brands from the 
 fire?" 
 
 " Brother Brand and I are both waiting to hear 
 what he'll say on this subject. Brand suggests 
 that we have some of the ladies request him to 
 preach a sermon or two on missions. I guess 
 that'll work all right. We're quietly getting his 
 beliefs on as many subjects as we can. I've got a 
 number of his unsound statements already in my 
 note-book, but Brand says we must keep still till 
 we get considerable more." 
 
 " It's a pity Mr. Baldwin is so unorthodox ! 
 Otherwise he's a real nice man. Sister Hunter 
 was telling me the other day how much she en- 
 joys the pastor's calls. She says that no pastor 
 we've had since she has been blind has been 
 more attentive in calling on her. She said that 
 Mr. Baldwin's conversations with her were so help- 
 ful and his prayers helped her so much. I can't 
 understand, Jacob, how it is that a pastor who 
 
200 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 holds such unorthodox beliefs as Mr. Baldwin 
 surely does, can be so good a man ? " 
 
 " But natural goodness, Josephine, don't count. 
 Good works will never save any man. Neither 
 Brand nor I have any fault to find with the pastor's 
 goodness. It's his beliefs that are the important 
 thing. We want a pastor to preach sound doc- 
 trine. What's the use of having a denomination 
 unless we're going to have sound doctrine 
 preached in it, I'd like to know ? And Brand 
 thinks just as I do about it." 
 
 " Of course, that's so. It's the doctrine that's 
 the important thing." 
 
 "Certainly, Josephine." 
 
 The deacon and his wife worked on transcrib- 
 ing the accounts to the church ledger, finding a 
 peculiar joy in what they were doing ; for was 
 not looking after the collection for the heathen a 
 kind of church work especially pleasing to the 
 Lord ? They were sure it was, and their joy in it 
 was in exact ratio to the strength of their assur- 
 ance. 
 
 These two devout souls were unconsciously 
 playing a pathetic, a tragic part in one of the 
 great dramas of life, a drama which in varying 
 degrees of intensity has continued to be reenacted 
 since the earliest memory of the race. It reached 
 its climax once with Socrates as the central actor; 
 at other times and in other places it has come to a 
 climax with such central figures as Isaiah, Paul, 
 Savonarola. In a way most preeminent it reached 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 201 
 
 a climax with the Christ. This perpetually react- 
 ing drama is the action and reaction between the 
 leaven of new ideas and the lump of human con- 
 servatism. 
 
 It is one and the same spirit which drank the 
 hemlock, suffered on the rack, endured the fagots, 
 or died on the cross. It is one and the same spirit 
 which brewed the hemlock, constructed the rack, 
 piled the fagots, erected the cross. Not that these 
 things were done necessarily by bad men far 
 from it. In perhaps every instance they believed 
 they were serving their day and generation to the 
 best of their ability. Such is the tragedy, such is 
 the pathos in the problem of the lump and the 
 leaven 1 
 
XIV 
 
 IT was one of those perfect days in the latter 
 part of August, made especially for people 
 who wish to spend the time out of doors lying 
 under the trees, drinking in that inspiration which 
 comes from first hand contact with the chirp of 
 birds, with the soft music of running water, with 
 the lapping of the waves, with the varied sounds 
 of insect activity, with the open sky peeping down 
 through the trees ; a day neither too warm nor too 
 cool, with a few clouds but without the first sug- 
 gestion of rain. Such was the day only better 
 on which came the first anniversary of David 
 and Miriam's marriage. 
 
 With a basket packed full of lunch, leaving only 
 room enough for a couple of magazines and a 
 book to be tucked in at the side, these two mar- 
 ried lovers mounted their wheels about ten-thirty 
 in the forenoon and rode out of town, up past the 
 university grounds, and soon came to the drive 
 around the lake. This driveway was smooth and 
 well kept. Now the cyclists came to a sharp turn 
 and a bit of a hill which was easily ridden without 
 dismounting ; they passed through a cluster of pine, 
 and down a gentle slope along which the wheels 
 sped like things endowed with life. Farther on 
 the drive led for an eighth of a mile over the neck 
 
 202 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 203 
 
 of a marsh, with tall reeds and marsh hay on either 
 side. 
 
 Emerging from the marsh, they ascended a 
 gradual slope, and another half of a mile brought 
 them to the foot of a hill too steep and too long to 
 ride ; dismounting, they walked to the top, which 
 was some distance from the lake. A fringe of 
 trees entirely shut the lake from view. Mounting 
 their wheels again the cyclists coasted along a 
 delightful declivity not too steep, yet with down 
 grade sufficient to carry them swiftly along past 
 the wild cherry trees and the old rail fence, gath- 
 ering momentum which would carry them far up 
 the approaching ascent. 
 
 The top of this ascent being gained, the drive 
 turned abruptly to the right ; they rode on a short 
 distance, when, suddenly, the thin fringe of trees 
 gave way and the lake lay before them. 
 
 " Isn't it grand ! " Miriam exclaimed. 
 
 Two or three miles of water lay between them 
 and the city on the other side, with its church 
 spires and tall university buildings looming up in 
 contrast to the less pretentious structures. Viewed 
 across the water the scene was most beautiful. 
 
 " Yes," answered David, " the suddenness with 
 which the view of the lake breaks upon one, must 
 have something to do with it." 
 
 Slowly they rode along this open space, and 
 after a few minutes came into another bit of wood- 
 land, the road winding this way and that, up hill 
 and down, now wholly shaded by trees arching 
 
204: THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 from either side, now with the blue of the sky 
 peeping down through the overhanging branches, 
 until it passed over a rustic bridge, their proposed 
 destination. 
 
 The approach to this rustic bridge is one of the 
 most charming bits of scenery to be found in many 
 a day's travel. It breaks upon you as a surprise 
 when you come to it for the first time, and addi- 
 tional visits only add to your first impression. As 
 you ride out of a stretch of quite dense woods the 
 drive makes a graceful curve and brings you at 
 once to an opening in the foliage, caused by a deep 
 ravine, over which this rustic bridge several yards 
 in length joins bank to bank. At the farther end 
 of the bridge the driveway is immediately lost to 
 view owing to a decided bend to the right, giving 
 to the scene, in an unusual degree, the effect of 
 completeness joined with mystery. 
 
 Dismounting on this bridge, David and Miriam, 
 after enjoying the view for a few minutes, retraced 
 their way to the side of the ravine they had 
 just approached, and turned off into the trees. 
 The shore of the lake was a few rods down the 
 slope. 
 
 A little more than half way from the drive to the 
 lake was the spot they were seeking. Here was 
 shade or sunshine as one wished, with soft velvety 
 carpet to lie upon ; to the left was the ravine with 
 its low music of running water keeping time to the 
 swish of the waves a little distance below. On all 
 sides the woods were untouched, while through 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 205 
 
 the trees came glimpses of the lake and of the city 
 beyond. 
 
 The hour before luncheon passed rapidly as 
 Miriam read aloud the closing chapters of " The 
 Reign of Law," by one of their favorite authors. 
 
 "I do not like the way it closes," said David. 
 "It is a masterful treatment of a great problem ; 
 but to my mind the story in its closing is not true 
 to the situation." 
 
 " You mean that the young man shouldn't have 
 lost his religion?" 
 
 " Certainly. Our author seems to indicate that 
 the natural transition, in the instance he has por- 
 trayed so well up to a certain point, is from a be- 
 lief in a personal Deity to a belief in the reign of 
 Law. I do not think his conclusion is true to the 
 situation." 
 
 " Doubtless it is true in the experience of many 
 a student this transition indicated by the author." 
 
 " Yes, doubtless ; and it might have been true 
 in my case had it not been for one of my professors. 
 This makes me all the more confident that the 
 struggle ought not to close as the author ends it. 
 I have half a mind to write a book and set forth 
 the matter as I know it from experience." 
 
 "Why don't you?" 
 
 " Why don't I write a book ? " David laughed 
 merrily as he repeated the question. "Why 
 why, perhaps I may some day who knows? 
 There are enough things connected with my pas- 
 torate already to make an interesting book, if only 
 
206 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 I could get them in shape. Think of being called 
 to a church with the stipulation that I must come 
 as a married man ! " 
 
 " But, David, you wouldn't put things that have 
 actually happened in your book, would you ? " 
 
 " Why not ? I've read of many writers doing 
 it. The best fiction doubtless has a basis of fact 
 in it" 
 
 " I wonder how an author prepares to write a 
 work of fiction? Does he know all about the 
 story before he begins, or does he work it out as 
 he goes along ? " 
 
 " Oh, I suppose some do one way and some 
 another. In twenty-five years from now I may 
 be able to tell you more about it" 
 
 Both laughed. 
 
 " At the present moment, however," continued 
 David, " I prefer to discuss lunch ; my ! it's al- 
 most one o'clock." 
 
 While they were eating, a little chipmunk came 
 out of his hole near by, and after watching them 
 a moment with a sort of nervous curiosity, disap- 
 peared and soon came to the surface again ac- 
 companied by its mate. The two of them, after 
 making sundry observations, began to draw a little 
 closer to the strangers, but at the least sudden 
 move on their part, the little creatures would 
 scamper back into their hole. On finding they 
 were not pursued, they would soon reappear. 
 David threw them some crumbs ; for which the 
 chipmunks seemed to say " Thank you " as they 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 207 
 
 packed these dainty morsels away in their capa- 
 cious cheeks. 
 
 " I suppose these chipmunks have their own 
 problems to meet and solve, just like human 
 beings have theirs." 
 
 " Without doubt they do in their own way," 
 answered Miriam. 
 
 " I hope they are able to solve their problems 
 better than some of us do ours," continued David. 
 " You remember, Miriam, how confident I was 
 just a year ago that we could save, during our 
 first year, two hundred dollars to pay off that 
 school debt ? Well, here we are at the end of the 
 year without a single cent ahead." 
 
 " But, dear, never mind that. We've done the 
 very best we could. There's no hurry. We've 
 had so many necessary things to buy this year. 
 But I hope that during the coming year we may 
 be able to reduce my school indebtedness some 
 say fifty or a hundred dollars." 
 
 " I hope we may, sweetheart ; but if we carry 
 out certain plans we have in mind, it will crowd us 
 pretty close to save very much." 
 
 " You mean our plans concerning a baby ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " But the necessary expense need not be very 
 much, dear ; and I do hope we shall not have to 
 wait much longer. A home is incomplete without 
 children." 
 
 " As to the expense, I suppose one can never tell 
 what it will amount to." 
 
208 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 " No, I had in mind the preparations. We need 
 not get anything expensive. A very simple outfit 
 would do. And as for the other expenses, I am so 
 well and strong I'm sure the expense wouldn't 
 be so very much. Of course, it's best that we've 
 waited this long; but now we're getting several 
 of our things paid for, and and, David, you can 
 never know how my heart hungers for a little baby 
 all our very own." 
 
 "But we must consider the matter very care- 
 fully, sweetheart. To my mind it is a crime to 
 summon a young life into this world without 
 planning for its needs. The little folks have noth- 
 ing to say in the matter. I sometimes wish they 
 had. How many children out of every hundred 
 would respond if they had their say in deciding 
 whether they would come ? Think of the kind of 
 welcome many of them get 1 " 
 
 "But don't you think, dear, that more people 
 are coming every year to think and plan over 
 these matters? Parenthood is the most sacred 
 function of life. It seems to me almost incredible 
 that any one could incur its responsibilities 
 thoughtlessly." 
 
 " Yes, I think more people are giving to parent- 
 hood the serious thought it deserves ; but at the 
 same time there are any number of intelligent peo- 
 ple who plan as to times and seasons and proper 
 conditions for the propagation of horses and cattle 
 and dogs, and yet give no thought to these things 
 when their own kind is concerned." 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 209 
 
 " They have never been awakened to the im- 
 portance of such planning," said Miriam. " Most 
 people seem to take the coming of children as a 
 matter wholly beyond their control. How my 
 heart aches for women who have motherhood 
 thrust upon them time after time without having 
 any choice in the matter at all." 
 
 "Yes. And what a heritage such children come 
 into. The mother's thought and state of mind 
 have such an influence in forming the disposition 
 and temperament of the child." 
 
 " As many a mother has learned when it was 
 too late. This must be one of the saddest experi- 
 ences of life." 
 
 " How ? " asked David. 
 
 " Why, for a mother to realize that certain un- 
 desirable traits in the disposition of her child were 
 due to her own state of mind when she held the 
 young life near her heart. I know of one or two 
 cases like that. What wouldn't a mother give to 
 be able to undo what is then too late to change ? " 
 
 " But why didn't some one tell them their own 
 mothers before they had incurred parenthood ? 
 Here is something I cannot understand. Parents 
 let their sons and daughters grow up in ignorance 
 of many things they should know, and for the lack 
 of such knowledge irreparable blunders and even 
 crimes are committed, which would have been 
 avoided if parents had done their duty by their 
 children." 
 
 "I cannot understand it either," said Miriam, as 
 
210 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 she finished packing away the remains of their 
 lunch. " Parents seem to enter into a conspiracy 
 to keep their children from knowing many things 
 concerning their own bodies which they ought to 
 know." 
 
 " Yes ; a false modesty or a desire to keep chil- 
 dren from knowing too much of the mysteries of 
 life, or an utter indifference is at the bottom of it 
 all. I've been thinking, Miriam, how would it 
 do for me to give a series of Sunday evening talks 
 on some of these topics to give them in the place 
 of the evening sermon ? " 
 
 " That would be fine 1 I hope you will do it, 
 David." 
 
 " Well, I've had it in mind as a possibility for 
 several weeks. There's need enough of some one 
 undertaking it, and I have half a mind to try." 
 
 During the weeks following this conversation 
 David could not get away from the conviction 
 that he should give his proposed series of Sunday 
 evening talks. Gathering a few books about him 
 he set to work. The task was no easy one, but he 
 brought to it a high and holy motive which sus- 
 tained him more than once when he was about to 
 give the whole matter up, owing to the difficulty 
 he had in developing his subjects in a manner 
 suitable for public presentation. 
 
 From September to January he gave odd mo- 
 ments to this work, all the time his conviction 
 growing stronger that he was engaged in a work 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 211 
 
 that should be done. On the Sunday morning 
 after New Year's, David announced from the pul- 
 pit his intention of beginning that evening a series 
 of sermon-lectures on the general topic of " Getting 
 Acquainted with Ourselves." 
 
 " For some time," he went on, " I have been im- 
 pressed with the fact that on some of the most 
 vital questions of life there is little or nothing said 
 in the form of public instruction ; and in private 
 there is, I fear, only a very little more attention 
 given to these same vital considerations. 
 
 " It is not surprising, therefore," he continued, 
 as the auditorium grew breathlessly still, "it is 
 not surprising, in view of the lack of information 
 given to young people on some topics concerning 
 which they ought not to remain in ignorance, that 
 the period of youth is filled with needless anxieties 
 and questionings and not infrequently with mis- 
 steps which no amount of fervent repentance can 
 retrace." 
 
 The silence of the church was oppressive as the 
 pastor paused to take a deep breath before con- 
 tinuing. His face was kindled with a terrible 
 earnestness. 
 
 " Only last week," said he, speaking in a low 
 voice but which could be heard in all parts of the 
 room, " I was talking with a young man, one of 
 the students in the university, who told me with 
 tears in his eyes that he would gladly give the 
 next ten years of his life, if he could but go back 
 to the age of twelve and live his life over again. 
 
212 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 Till my talk with him, I was not absolutely certain 
 that I could bring myself to deliver the addresses 
 on which I had been studying for some time. But 
 after that conversation I determined to wait no 
 longer ; for I am convinced that the case of the 
 young man to whom I have alluded is no solitary 
 instance : all about us are young men who, through 
 lack of suitable instruction and guidance, have 
 been led into a bondage whose tyranny is equaled 
 only by its pernicious effects. Oh, for some one 
 to guide the course of life as the mysterious 
 powers of sex are awakening ! 
 
 " Not only with boys is there, the need of in- 
 struction and guidance as they pass into a con- 
 sciousness of their larger selves; the need is 
 equally imperative in the case of the other half of 
 the human family. What anxieties, what mis- 
 takes, what missteps could have been avoided, if 
 mothers had only shared with their daughters 
 such knowledge as they possess ! 
 
 "If children are not instructed chastely and 
 lovingly as to the nature and use of the functions 
 of sex, they will get a vulgar knowledge of these 
 things from other children at school or on the 
 street. And few things can be more pernicious to 
 a child than a perverted idea of the meaning of 
 sex. Ideas control action, and the safest way to 
 keep a child from having a wrong idea or con- 
 ception is to give him the conception you would 
 like for him to hold. My friends, ignorance is a 
 dangerous safeguard to virtue. 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 213 
 
 "As one called and set apart to guide and in- 
 struct and inspire to right ways of thinking and 
 doing, I feel strongly moved toward doing what- 
 ever I may be able to arouse the members of this 
 congregation to an adequate appreciation of the 
 problems lying so near the heart of every home. 
 Therefore," he concluded, "instead of the usual 
 evening service which some of you feel called 
 upon to support by your presence through, I doubt 
 not, a sense of duty, we shall have a service in 
 which I shall attempt to discuss some phase of 
 the problem of sex. For around this problem 
 cluster nearly all the other great and vital problems 
 of life." 
 
 When David Baldwin entered his pulpit that 
 evening he found a crowded house awaiting him, 
 a circumstance very unusual, as Tioga was pre- 
 eminently a place of morning audiences. 
 
 " In no language is there a word filled fuller of 
 mystery than is the word life" began the preacher 
 as every face turned toward his. " Life we talk 
 of it as if we knew what it was, what it is, yet we 
 are unable to define it ; perhaps we are as far away 
 from an adequate definition of life to-day as were 
 the ancients before us. Like electricity, we may 
 know considerable about it, but the reality itself 
 eludes our search. 
 
 " In plant, in animal, in man we recognize a dif- 
 ference when there is life and when life is gone ; 
 but just what that difference is we cannot tell. 
 
214: THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 Those who have given the subject prolonged at- 
 tention and study, and who are thus qualified to 
 speak with authority, tell us that wherever found, 
 whether in animal or plant or man, life is essen- 
 tially the same, differing in quality and quantity, 
 yet retaining so much in common, we may say 
 that all life is related ; that the life of the universe 
 is essentially one thing plants, animals and the 
 human race being but different embodiments, dif- 
 ferent manifestations of this life. 
 
 " There are very good reasons," continued the 
 speaker, " reasons which I cannot go into now, as 
 it would take me too far afield from my purpose, 
 but which are open to any one wishing to investi- 
 gate the subject there are very good reasons for 
 believing that life started on this planet in its 
 lowest forms and that through the ages there has 
 been a gradual ascent, bringing into existence the 
 whole range of plant and animal families, and cul- 
 minating in the form known as the human race. 
 No more fascinating story exists than the broken 
 record of the rise of life from lower to higher 
 forms. In this ascent many of the steps are now 
 lost to our view, but enough do exist to indicate 
 more or less clearly the path along which the pro- 
 cession marched. 
 
 " Of all the many mysterious things connected 
 with life, there is perhaps none more profoundly 
 mysterious than its transmission ; whether it be in 
 plants or animals or man, the passing on of life 
 from one generation to the next, is wholly beyond 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 215 
 
 our comprehension. Like other vital processes, 
 this also cannot be explained : it can only be de- 
 scribed. And all life if left to its natural course 
 tends to perpetuate itself. 
 
 " In some of the lower animal forms life is per- 
 petuated by segmentation the parent simply 
 dividing itself into various segments or offspring. 
 Some plants are endowed with the same property : 
 those that can be propagated by cutting off a piece 
 of the parent plant. Leaving out of consideration 
 one or two other methods, the one most commonly 
 brought to our notice is the reproduction of life 
 through the seed or the egg. Now it is a matter 
 of observation and a fact taught in every school 
 botany, that in plants which transmit their life 
 through seeds there must be a mingling of pollen 
 in the blossom or there will be no seed. What 
 does this mean ? It means that here we have the 
 beginnings of sex : that in the blossoms of plants 
 there are both the male and the female elements 
 and that these two elements must mingle if there 
 is to be fruit or seed." 
 
 The preacher thus led his audience away from 
 any morbid or unchaste curiosity which may have 
 impelled certain persons to desire to hear what he 
 had to say. He sought to create the scientific at- 
 titude or atmosphere, and in a fair measure he ac- 
 complished his purpose. The rest of the half hour 
 was given to setting forth the different methods by 
 which life in the animal kingdom is passed on 
 from parent to offspring, dwelling at length on the 
 
216 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 preparation sometimes made by insects for off- 
 spring they were destined never to see, as their 
 own death came before their eggs were hatched. 
 
 " Next Sunday evening," said David Baldwin in 
 concluding his discourse, " I shall speak further on 
 this same topic The transmission of life with 
 especial reference to some facts concerning the 
 possibilities of pre-natal culture, facts which all 
 should carefully ponder who expect to invite the 
 responsibilities of parenthood. " 
 
 After the dismissal of the audience, Dr. Ell wood, 
 head of the biological department of the univer- 
 sity, waited to greet Baldwin. 
 
 " I wish to thank you, Mr. Baldwin," said he, 
 shaking the preacher's hand warmly, " for the dis- 
 course this evening, and more especially for what 
 is promised to follow. Often, very often indeed, I 
 have wished to do what you are now undertak- 
 ing ; but the right opportunity in my case never 
 seemed to appear. I most heartily approve of 
 your purpose, and in my judgment you are doing 
 a valuable service to the community." 
 
 " Thank you, Dr. Ell wood ; your approval is 
 worth very much to me. I am aware that I am 
 laying myself open to all kinds of criticism." 
 
 " Quite possible," replied Dr. Ellwood. " Who- 
 ever has dared to do any new or neglected duty 
 has had plenty of people to carp at him. But 
 criticism should not deter you from going on." 
 
 Mr. Strong interrupted them. 
 
 "That was fine, Dominie," said he, using a term 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 217 
 
 of address with which he usually accosted Mr. 
 Baldwin. " It was worth any ten evening sermons 
 we've had in a long time. Let the good work go 
 on I' 1 
 
 " I was so interested ! " added Mrs. Strong, 
 touching her pastor on the arm. " Why shouldn't 
 a pastor discuss these topics ? Do they not lie at 
 the centre of things ? I can't tell how many times 
 I've come to church of a Sunday evening just to 
 help sustain the service, as you said. But now I 
 shall come because I want inspiration and guidance 
 to aid me in doing a parent's duty to my chil- 
 dren." 
 
 "Thank you very much. I only hope that 
 others will feel in sympathy with what I'm trying 
 to do." 
 
 " You mean the Triumvirate ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Of course there will be objections in that 
 quarter : there always are objections from some, 
 whenever anything new appears. But you mustn't 
 mind. The Master had just such men to contend 
 with, didn't he?", 
 
 In another part of the room two of the " trium- 
 virs " Deacon Long and Mr. Brand were stand- 
 ing together. Mr. Driver rarely attended church 
 of an evening. 
 
 "Well, what did you think of it?" asked the 
 deacon, confidentially. 
 
 " A fine audience," replied the other, keeping 
 the deacon in suspense. 
 
218 DAVID BALDWIN 
 
 " But his discourse ? " 
 
 "Well, if that's what he calls preaching the 
 gospel, I would like to hear what the other thing 
 would be." 
 
 " That's what I thought that's what I thought, 
 Brother Brand. Did you detect anything espe- 
 cially unsound in his discourse ? " 
 
 The reply was lost as they passed out into the 
 street. 
 
XV 
 
 ON the following Tuesday afternoon as 
 David Baldwin was leaving the Uni- 
 versity library, he met Dr. Ell wood, and 
 the two men walked up the avenue together. 
 
 "I've been thinking, Mr. Baldwin, of transfer- 
 ring my membership to your church," said Dr. 
 Ellwood, during the conversation, as they walked 
 briskly along, facing a stiff breeze from the lake. 
 
 " Indeed ? I am glad to hear it. You and Mrs. 
 Ellwood will be most heartily welcome. Our 
 church has altogether too few of the university 
 families." 
 
 "Yes, too few; but it's not their fault. When 
 we came here five years ago I attended the First 
 Church several Sundays ; both Mrs. Ellwood and 
 myself belonged to your denomination. But we 
 soon stopped going ; we found nothing there for a 
 modern man instead, the emphasis, the point of 
 view, the conceptions of life and duty, the attitude 
 toward the Bible, were all of a century ago. I 
 hold that it's a man's duty to go to church where 
 he can get something that feeds him ; so after a 
 time we became members of Dr. Crockett's church. 
 Here we have found a very congenial church home ; 
 but now though denominationalism means very 
 little to me I would like to have some little part, 
 
 219 
 
220 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 Mr. Baldwin, in helping on what you are under- 
 taking to do here in Tioga." 
 
 " Thank you, Dr. Ellwood." 
 
 " Yours, I fancy, is not the easiest pastorate in 
 the world. Of course, nearly everybody knows 
 that the First Church here is run practically by 
 two or three men. Some of us are watching with 
 interest to see how far they will permit the new 
 leaven to do its work. Now, about transferring 
 our membership : if you will step into the house a 
 moment, I will hand you our letters; I called for 
 them at our last midweek service." 
 
 Dr. Ell wood's study was generously filled with 
 books on two sides of the room, the cases reach- 
 ing almost to the ceiling. 
 
 " Just make yourself at home a moment or two. 
 I find that I have left the envelope containing those 
 letters in the pocket of another coat. Excuse me, 
 and I will get it" 
 
 David Baldwin seated himself near the open 
 grate ; but as his eyes wandered over the titles of 
 the volumes in the case, at his left, he arose, his 
 interest growing as he read shelf after shelf. 
 
 "I see that you are interested in comparative 
 religion," said he, as Dr. Ellwood returned to the 
 room. " I haven't seen so complete a collection 
 of books on Comparative Religion since I left the 
 University." 
 
 "Yes, the subject interests me. Several years 
 ago I devoured everything I could find along that 
 line." 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 221 
 
 "Indeed?" 
 
 " I was searching for light. It was becoming 
 impossible for me to hold the religious conceptions 
 upon which I had been brought up. The study of 
 those works enabled me to find myself, to under- 
 stand that religion is one thing " 
 
 " A life." 
 
 " and our beliefs, quite another." 
 
 "How well I remember the day when that dif- 
 ference was made clear to me." 
 
 "I can believe it. In my case it dawned 
 gradually ; but the relief was none the less great. 
 Here are our church letters, Mr. Baldwin." 
 
 " Thank you. We will act on them this week. 
 Next Sunday is our regular time for communion 
 and you can receive the hand of fellowship then. 
 I want you to feel at home among us at once." 
 
 As David walked on home he felt that the tide 
 was turning in his favor. The Ellwoods were 
 considered among the most cultured families of 
 the city. Accordingly, it was with no small ela- 
 tion that he presented their letters at the close of 
 the midweek service on the following Thursday 
 evening. 
 
 " I have here," said he, " the church letters of 
 Dr. and Mrs. Ellwood, who desire to become 
 members with us." 
 
 That Dr. Ellwood had found the preaching in 
 Dr. Crockett's church more to his liking, though 
 he was denominationally allied to the First Church, 
 was generally known ; but for several Sundays 
 
222 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 he had been one of Baldwin's most attentive 
 hearers. 
 
 A silence settled over the little company as the 
 pastor made his announcement. 
 
 "What is your pleasure ?" he asked, looking 
 over the audience. Any one could see that he 
 was pleased to be able to present these names for 
 membership. 
 
 At once Deacon Long rose to his feet. 
 
 " Before a motion is made," said he, "I wish to 
 ask a question." 
 
 "Very well." 
 
 "Are these letters of Dr. and Mrs. Ellwood 
 granted by a sister church of our denomination, in 
 good and regular standing?" All eyes were 
 riveted on the deacon whose attitude was that of 
 a prosecuting attorney questioning a criminal. 
 
 " No," answered the pastor. " Dr. and Mrs. 
 Ellwood come to us with letters granted by Dr. 
 Crockett's churoh of this city." 
 
 The deacon's eyes snapped as he answered 
 savagely : 
 
 " Then we cannot act upon them. Churches of 
 our denomination receive letters only from sister 
 churches in good and regular standing in the 
 denomination." 
 
 Mr. Strong was instantly on his feet. 
 
 " But I see no reason, Brother Pastor, why the 
 First Church should not receive letters from other 
 churches." 
 
 "That's what I say!" exclaimed Mrs. Terry, 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 223 
 
 without rising. " To think of our hesitating to re- 
 ceive Dr. and Mrs. Ellwood 1 " 
 
 " It's unchristian ! " exclaimed Mrs. Strong. 
 
 "Brother Pastor," it was Mr. Brand who had 
 risen and was addressing the chair, "as every 
 member of our denomination ought to know, it is 
 a settled practice with us to receive letters only 
 from churches of like faith and order. To deviate 
 from this practice would result in all sorts of irreg- 
 ularities. We believe in certain definite things. 
 Now, if we accept letters from other denomina- 
 tions, we thereby acknowledge the validity of their 
 creeds, and from that moment we cease to be a 
 regular denominational church." 
 
 " Brother Chairman," said Mrs. Wood, as she 
 rose with quiet dignity and waited an instant for 
 the pastor's recognition, "I am in favor of re- 
 ceiving these letters. Dr. and Mrs. Ellwood are 
 well known to each of us. Their excellent Chris- 
 tian character is beyond question. Would they be 
 any better if they came to us with letters from a 
 church of our own denomination ? I for one care 
 not what our past usage has been. If it is not 
 broad and Christlike, let's change it. By all 
 means let us not place any obstacle in the way of 
 the Ellwoods becoming members with us ! " 
 
 Immediately Deacon Long rose to reply. 
 
 " It's not a matter of placing obstacles in the 
 way of any one who wishes to join our church ; it's 
 not a matter which pertains to Dr. and Mrs. Ell- 
 wood's Christian character. The point is: as a 
 
224 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 regular church of our denomination we cannot ac- 
 cept letters from churches of other faith and practice. 
 Further, article 3, section 20, of our by-laws reads 
 as follows : * No change in the policy or established 
 custom of this church shall be made by any officer 
 or committee, or by any action in any mid-week 
 service.' This means that the policy of this 
 church can be changed only by vote at the annual 
 business meeting." 
 
 " Are we to understand," asked the pastor try- 
 ing to speak calmly, " that this section of the by- 
 laws is meant to compel us to walk in the exact 
 steps of our predecessors ? that because they did 
 things in a certain way, we must do the same ? " 
 
 " It means," replied Deacon Long with more 
 warmth than was absolutely becoming in a deacon 
 when speaking to his pastor, " it means that this 
 church is intended to remain true to the practices 
 of the denomination however much some may de- 
 sire to the contrary." 
 
 " Brethren," said the pastor, his calm, deliberate 
 manner little indicating the indignation he was 
 holding in check, "at the next annual business 
 meeting of this church I shall propose to drop this 
 section from our by-laws. It's suicidal ! But at 
 present I suppose there is nothing to do but abide 
 by it. The meeting is adjourned." 
 
 Several of the members at once gathered about 
 the pastor. 
 
 "Such a shame!" cried Mrs. Strong. "It's 
 the most unchristian thing these men have 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 225 
 
 done in a long time. What will the Ell woods 
 think ?" 
 
 "But what I cannot understand is why that 
 section has been permitted to remain in the by-laws 
 so long nearly forty years, I'm told," said Bald- 
 win to those near him. 
 
 " Just bring the subject up at the next annual 
 meeting and you will know more about it," said 
 Mrs. Terry. 
 
 " Yes, that section is one of his pets." 
 
 "Whose?" 
 
 " Mr. Driver's." 
 
 " I see," said Baldwin. 
 
 While this conversation was going on near 
 the pastor, Mrs. Long, Mrs. Brand, Mrs. Good- 
 win, and Mrs. North held themselves stiffly aloof. 
 
 "If it wasn't for my husband and Brother 
 Brand," Mrs. Long was saying to Mrs. North, 
 " I can't imagine what would become of this 
 church ! " 
 
 " They certainly do have their hands full. Mr. 
 Baldwin don't seem to know exactly what belongs 
 to our denominational usage." 
 
 " That's because he's not a true member of the 
 denomination ! " exclaimed Mrs. Brand who had 
 overheard the remark. " How can a man be a 
 member of the denomination and hold such beliefs 
 as he does ? My husband you know he used to 
 be a pastor years ago before his throat gave out 
 my husband says that Mr. Baldwin is terribly 
 unsound in his doctrine. Such a pity, isn't it? " 
 
226 DAVID BALDWIN 
 
 " It is a pity. His sermons would be so helpful 
 if it wasn't for that." 
 
 " Yes. My husband says that so many of the 
 young ministers are unsound in their doctrine, 
 nowadays. I wonder what the church is coming 
 to?" 
 
 " What do you suppose is the matter ? " asked 
 Mrs. North, as they stepped into the vestibule, 
 stopping a moment to adjust their wraps before 
 facing the outside zero atmosphere. 
 
 " Why, my husband says it's all due to what's 
 called the * new theology.' But just what that is I 
 can't make out. But it must be something dread- 
 ful to attack religion in that way.' 1 
 
 "Yes, it must be something very dreadful. 
 There's my car. Good -night." 
 
 " Good-night," responded Mrs. Brand. 
 
XVI 
 
 MRS. HARRINGTON was born a diplo- 
 mat : she had a natural aptitude for 
 taking advantage of circumstances. 
 Further, this aptitude had been so persistently cul- 
 tivated during her 'little more than twoscore of 
 years that it had developed into a passion this 
 taking advantage of circumstances which led her 
 to do many things of which she otherwise would 
 never have thought. So thoroughly did this pas- 
 sion become a dominating factor in her life that it 
 was absolutely painful to her to let any opportunity 
 for exercising her skill go unused. When this is 
 understood it will be easy to comprehend that 
 Mrs. Harrington was not infrequently impelled to 
 turn circumstances to her own account, even when 
 it required a little duplicity to effect the desired 
 end. 
 
 So long had she continued using phrases and 
 expressions she did not really mean, the habit had 
 become not only second but first nature to her. 
 It must be confessed, however, that Mrs. Harring- 
 ton was not very unlike many other people in this 
 respect. The principal difference is, perhaps, one 
 of degree. Mrs. Harrington's mastery of the 
 diplomatic art made her a charming person to 
 meet in casual conversation, and her friends she 
 had her full share soon learned to value her word 
 
 227 
 
228 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 for just about what it was worth ; and in this way 
 her many good qualities were not neutralized by 
 her ruling passion. 
 
 Mrs. Harrington was an ardent admirer of her 
 pastor, the Reverend David Baldwin, as she always 
 introduced him to her friends. Rarely did she 
 leave the morning service without meeting him 
 long enough to express her admiration of his 
 "beautiful and eloquent sermon." 
 
 In making his calls, the pastor had met her a 
 few times in her own home ; but he had never 
 found it convenient to stay to dinner, as she had 
 more than once pressed him to do, owing to some 
 other demands on his time. 
 
 Not long after the holidays, in making his round 
 of calls in that part of the city, David Baldwin 
 called at the Harrington home. As usual, Mrs. 
 Baldwin accompanied him. 
 
 Mrs. Harrington herself answered their ring. 
 
 " Come right in. I saw you coming up the 
 walk and didn't wait for Nora to admit you. How 
 glad I am to see you ! Seems an age since you 
 were here last. Mrs. Baldwin, what a fine color 
 you have. No, take this chair ; you will find it 
 more comfortable." 
 
 " We scarcely had time to stop, but we thought 
 we would run in for a few minutes." 
 
 "Indeed! I should have felt slighted if you 
 hadn't. It's early yet." 
 
 " But Mr. Baldwin has to attend a committee 
 meeting at an unusually early hour this evening." 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 229 
 
 " Miss Adams, whose mother is ill, as you know, 
 wished the hour at a quarter before seven. This 
 cuts the afternoon short," added the minister. 
 
 "That's too bad. Excuse me just a moment 
 while I speak to Nora." 
 
 Mrs. Harrington withdrew to the kitchen. 
 
 " Don't be in any hurry with the dinner, Nora. 
 The minister and his wife are here. I shall ask 
 them to stay, of course ; but I'm quite certain that 
 they " 
 
 " I was just goin' to ask what extra preparations 
 I should make." 
 
 " Oh, make none at all." 
 
 "Why " 
 
 " Of course, Nora, I shall have to ask them to 
 stay to dinner, but they'll not stay. He has to at- 
 tend an early committee meeting. It's fortunate, 
 too, with only those odds and ends in the pantry, 
 left from yesterday. So make no changes in our 
 picked up dinner." 
 
 On her return to the parlor Mrs. Harrington 
 found Mrs. Baldwin alone, examining some new 
 music which lay open on the piano. 
 
 " Lillian has just carried Mr. Baldwin off to the 
 library." 
 
 " Oh, to show him her new set of Scott. Her 
 grandmother gave it to her as a birthday present." 
 
 " Lillian is fond of reading ? " 
 
 "Very. She divides her time between books 
 and music." 
 
 " This piece of music interests me especially : I 
 
230 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 notice it is composed by an old friend in the 
 East." 
 
 " Cogswell ? Are you acquainted with Homer 
 Emerson Cogswell? Tell me about him. His 
 music has recently become so very popular. He 
 is quite the rage, you know." 
 
 Mrs. Baldwin's narrative consumed several 
 minutes. 
 
 " I am so glad to meet some one who knows 
 him personally ; it's almost like meeting the man 
 himself knowing him by proxy, as it were." 
 
 " His success, however, is not without quali- 
 fication." 
 
 "Indeed! How is that?" 
 
 " You see his earlier compositions were but in- 
 differently received ; it was not until he set to mu- 
 sic some of the poems of this author that he came 
 into prominence. The words have a charm of 
 their own. Taken together, the effect of the com- 
 position is highly pleasing." 
 
 " You are acquainted with the writer of the 
 words also ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes ; while in Vassar I knew her well. 
 She was our president's wife ; I noticed the other 
 day a flattering review of a volume of verse she 
 has recently published." 
 
 " What a privilege to meet such celebrities. 
 That's part*of the advantage of a college course, 
 isn't it ? Let me see, the name of the president 
 at Vassar is " 
 
 " Smith." 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 231 
 
 " Oh, yes ; I should have remembered. I can- 
 not tell you, Mrs. Baldwin, how delighted I am to 
 hear of these people. Here in Minnesota we are 
 a little removed from literary and musical genius. 
 You and Mr. Baldwin must stay to dinner with 
 us : Mr. Harrington is absent from the city and 
 will not be back till a little after six, but we need 
 not wait for him." 
 
 " Thank you, Mrs. Harrington ; it's kind of you 
 to want us to stay. But it's impossible this even- 
 ing. Mr. Baldwin desires to meet with that com- 
 mittee ; and we must hurry back. We have our 
 own dinner, you know, at one, and take only a 
 light lunch at six." 
 
 " But you have never eaten with us yet," per- 
 sisted Mrs. Harrington, more and more certain of 
 her ground ; " and I am beginning to feel just the 
 least bit jealous of some of the members of the 
 church with whom you have " 
 
 " Indeed ! Mrs. Harrington, we have called 
 here quite frequently ; more often, in fact, than on 
 many of the church families." 
 
 " None too often, and far from often enough to 
 suit me; but you and Mr. Baldwin have never 
 taken lunch or dinner with me yet. I always like 
 to have my pastor feel at home at our house, to 
 just drop in any time and take a meal with us." 
 
 " We will surely do so soon, Mrs. Harrington ; 
 and I regret that it is impossible for us to stay 
 now." 
 
 " Yes ; Lillian would be so pleased to hear you 
 
232 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 relate whatever you could recall concerning the 
 authors of her favorite music. Shall I not speak 
 to Mr. Baldwin ? Do you not think I could per- 
 suade him to stay ? " 
 
 "If it wasn't for that committee meeting; he 
 has promised to meet a committee from the 
 Young People's Society and assist them in outlin- 
 ing some new work for the rest of the winter. I 
 know he considers the meeting very important 
 and " 
 
 " Well, I am so disappointed. I had hoped that 
 you could stay this time ; but of course a pastor's 
 time is not his own. We are very proud of our 
 pastor, Mrs. Baldwin. How the evening audiences 
 have increased I Why, last Sunday evening the 
 church was filled to overflowing they had to 
 open the lecture room a thing they haven't had 
 to do before since the day of its dedication ! 
 Why, Lillian, where have you left Mr. Baldwin?" 
 looking up at her daughter who was entering the 
 room alone. 
 
 " He is at the 'phone, mamma. He thinks my 
 set of Scott is just splendid ! " 
 
 "Mrs. Adams is worse," said the minister re- 
 turning to the parlor. " Her daughter has been 
 trying to reach me for the last half hour. She 
 tells me that it will be impossible for her to meet 
 with the committee and asks to have the meeting 
 postponed." 
 
 " And you have postponed it ? " 
 
 " Yes ; for Miss Adams is the central force of 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 233 
 
 that committee. I've just sent word to the other 
 members." 
 
 " I am sorry about Mrs. Adams ; it's too bad that 
 her health is so uncertain. Mrs. Harrington has 
 asked us to stay for dinner : I told her we couldn't 
 possibly stay this time, but " 
 
 " Thank you, Mrs. Harrington ; now that com- 
 mittee meeting is postponed, we can stay just as 
 well as not. Come to think about it, we have 
 never broken bread with you yet, have we?" 
 
 Mrs. Harrington covered her confusion by ask- 
 ing Lillian to play something, and excusing her- 
 self again she fled to the kitchen. 
 
 " Goodness gracious, Nora ; they are going to 
 stay after all ! We haven't a single thing in the 
 house that's fit to eat." 
 
 " And it's too late now to send in any orders," 
 added Nora. 
 
 "Well, we must do the best we can with what 
 we have on hand," groaned the woman who 
 prided herself on the presentableness of her table. 
 " What a shame to be caught this way by the 
 minister and his wife, too 1 " 
 
 Nora had her own opinion on the matter, but 
 she discreetly refrained from giving it utterance. 
 
 Meanwhile Lillian was relating to the minister 
 and his wife some instances concerning her little 
 brother Edgar. 
 
 " He wanted a wheel, a bicycle like papa's ; 
 and in his prayers he asked the Lord to send him 
 one for a birthday present. For several weeks be- 
 
234 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 fore his birthday he added this petition to his 
 little prayer every night. Well, papa and mamma 
 thought he was not quite old enough to manage 
 a bicycle so they bought a nice tricycle for him ; 
 and on the morning of his birthday we put it in 
 his room where he could see it the first thing when 
 he awoke." 
 
 " What did he say when he saw it ? " 
 
 "That was just what we wanted to hear. Some 
 of us hid in the corner where he couldn't see us 
 but where we could see him. We didn't have 
 to wait long. Soon he began to stir and rub his 
 eyes; then all at once he raised himself up on 
 his elbow and looked around. His eyes fell on 
 the tricycle. A look of disgust swept over his 
 face. I could hardly keep from laughing. 
 
 " * Why, Dod,' said he, looking scornfully at the 
 object which had aroused his disgust, * tought 
 you noo mor'n dis. Humph ! not to know th' 
 dif'erence 'tween a bike an' dat ting 1 ' We 
 thought it was too cute for anything." 
 
 " Did he use the tricycle? " 
 
 " He wouldn't touch it ! And for several nights 
 he didn't want to say his prayers. Mamma just 
 had to make him say 'em." 
 
 " The poor little man ! " said Miriam. 
 
 " Yes, he took the matter so much to heart, papa 
 bought him a wheel." 
 
 " Did he think that the Lord sent it ? " 
 
 " Yes ; you should have heard him the night 
 after he got it. He told the Lord all about how 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 235 
 
 glad he was, and even promised to forgive him for 
 the mistake he had made in not sending the * bike ' 
 at first." 
 
 "Such little folks must be very interesting. 
 Some children are so much more original than 
 others." 
 
 " Indeed, they are. And Edgar is so original. 
 He is all the time asking such unexpected ques- 
 tions. But I must tell you of another one of his 
 prayers. It was some time ago. Mamma was 
 just teaching him to kneel and repeat a little 
 prayer. One of the phrases in the prayer was 
 ' And keep Edgar a good boy.' He was still in 
 dresses and he had been teasing mamma to make 
 him a pair of pants. Well, one night mamma was 
 ill and papa put Edgar to bed. The little fellow 
 was sleepy and when he came to say his prayers 
 papa had to help him in two or three places. 
 
 " * And make Edgar ' papa began, when they 
 came to that part of the prayer. Now mamma 
 had always used the words, * And keep Edgar a 
 good boy.' But papa used the word ' make ' and 
 it aroused an unexpected response in the little 
 boy's sleepy brain. 
 
 " * And make Edgar a pair of pants,' was the 
 way he finished the phrase." 
 
 " He knew what he really wanted even if he 
 was half asleep," laughed the minister. 
 
 " And such questions as he asks ! I'm sure I 
 never asked such questions when I was his age. 
 One day he came into mamma's sewing-room, 
 
236 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 walked right up to her and asked if God could 
 make anything he wanted to. Mamma replied that 
 she thought he could. Edgar stood a moment. 
 
 " ' I wish he'd make some wasser wivout th' 
 wet to it,' said he, glancing down at his wet 
 shoes." 
 
 " Water without the wet to it 1 That was quite 
 an idea." 
 
 " At another time he wanted to know if God 
 could make a piece of paper with only one side to 
 it. And if he has asked one, he has asked a thou- 
 sand questions. Sometimes they are the result of 
 his own observation. 
 
 " ' What is it that has two wings and cannot 
 fly ? ' Papa tried to guess but had to give it up. 
 
 " * A robin with a broken wing/ shouted Edgar 
 gleefully. He had seen one that morning out in 
 the back yard." 
 
 " It must have taken considerable reasoning to 
 ask such a question. Children doubtless learn to 
 reason much earlier than we are accustomed to 
 think." 
 
 " But Edgar, we think, is quite the exception. 
 You would have laughed to hear him one night 
 last summer. One of the neighbor boys was over 
 to play with Tom, and these two didn't want 
 Edgar about ; he was too little to join in their fun, 
 whatever it was. So they thought they would 
 scare him ; and then he'd leave them alone. 
 
 " The two older boys managed tQ slip away from 
 Edgar and hide in the cellarway. He looked 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 23 T 
 
 around and finally opened the cellar door and 
 peered down. All was dark. Thinking to 
 frighten him, Tom, in a very sepulchral voice, 
 said 
 
 " ' Pm a boogger.' 
 
 " VPm a boogger/ said the other boy, in the 
 same unearthly tone. 
 
 "They supposed Edgar would close the door 
 and run away. But he didn't. He put his head 
 a little further in the darkness, and in a voice ex- 
 actly similar to the other boys', said 
 
 " < And Pm a boogger, too 1 ' " 
 
 " Couldn't fool him." 
 
 " No. The boys had to let him play with them, 
 though he was three or four years younger." 
 
 " I suppose there are some stories told about 
 you and Tom what you did or said when you 
 were real young ? " said the minister. 
 
 " Not many. Edgar seems to be the only one 
 in our family in that line. Though Tom did get 
 his hand into a crock of milk one time when he 
 thought he was reaching up where the cookies 
 were. But mamma had moved them. He didn't 
 know what to do with the cream that stuck to his 
 fingers. He tasted of it and it was sour. He was 
 about to wipe it on his trousers when he hap- 
 pened to think that mamma would be sure to see 
 it if he did that. At last a happy thought struck 
 him : his hair was long and curly just the 
 place. 
 
 " After a few minutes he walked into the sitting- 
 
238 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 room where mamma had callers. Soon she ob- 
 served something strange about his head. 
 
 " Why, Tom, what's this in your hair ? ' she said, 
 drawing him nearer the window. 
 
 " ' NothinY said Tom. 
 
 " ' Why, child, it looks like cream. Oh, I know 
 all about it now. I changed the cookie crock 
 this morning. So Tom has been into mother's 
 cookies ? ' 
 
 " Tom's reply has passed into a proverb. 
 
 " ' No, mamma ; I wasn't into the cookies. I 
 was just a looking for my fishline.' " 
 
 " Tom will be sent to Congress some day," ob- 
 served the minister. " And now, Lillian, what 
 stories do they tell about you ? " 
 
 " Oh, nothing of any importance." 
 
 " But let us hear one of them." 
 
 " It doesn't amount to very much. But I've 
 heard mamma tell it several times. When I was 
 a little tot she found me one rainy Sunday after- 
 noon up-stairs, kneeling down by my bed, and 
 saying my prayers over and over and over. Finally 
 she asked me what I was doing it for. 
 
 " 'Why, don't you see? I'm sayin' a lot of 'em 
 up ahead.' 
 
 " ' Saying your prayers up ahead ? ' asked 
 mamma, astonished at my remark. 'What are 
 you saying your prayers up ahead for ? ' She says 
 that I replied : 
 
 " ' So I won't be bovered with 'em for a dood 
 while.' " 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 239 
 
 " You were quite in line, Lillian, with a very 
 popular custom," laughed the minister ; " that of 
 packing enough religion into Sunday to last the 
 rest of the week." 
 
 The dinner was late. When they went out, 
 though a heroic effort had been made to save the 
 day, it was evident that Mrs. Harrington had not 
 expected them to stay, despite the fact that she 
 had warmly urged them to do so. Let us not 
 blame Mrs. Harrington too severely, for it is more 
 than probable that other ladies not born diplo- 
 mats either have urged their friends to stay to 
 dinner when at the same time they were fearful 
 lest their invitations be accepted. If only we were 
 all gifted with some subtle power of insight to en- 
 able us to discern when our hosts really meant 
 what they said ! Yes, but what revelations would 
 sometimes appear! Doubtless human society is 
 better off without such power of insight. 
 
 His church calls troubled David Baldwin not a 
 little. He soon found that all the elderly ladies 
 in his congregation felt they had a special claim 
 on him and expected him to call every few weeks ; 
 and if he did not call as often as their former 
 pastor had done, they felt slighted. There were 
 also several families who needed to be called on 
 frequently to keep them regular in their church 
 attendance. If the pastor did not call about so 
 often, they would relapse into indifference toward 
 their church duties. 
 
240 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 While Miriam accompanied him as often as 
 possible in making his calls, there were times 
 when her duties at home made this impossible. 
 As the male portion of the family was usually ab- 
 sent when he called, David soon learned, instinc- 
 tively, to skip certain places when Miriam was not 
 with him. 
 
 " Why ? " asked Miriam, innocently. 
 
 " People would soon begin to * talk.' " 
 
 "Surely, David, you cannot mean " and 
 
 Miriam hesitated. 
 
 " Yes ; I mean that it would be the easiest thing 
 in the world for the minister to lose his reputation 
 by thoughtlessly calling a few times alone on some 
 of the families of his congregation." 
 
 " But, David, what wrong would there be in 
 your calling alone?" 
 
 " No wrong whatever in itself ; the harm consists 
 in what certain other people neighborhood gos- 
 sips would say about it." 
 
 " Is that the reason you always take me with 
 you to certain places ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " But how can you tell where such places are 
 the homes where people would talk if you called 
 there alone ? " 
 
 " By instinct or, in a woman, I suppose it would 
 be called intuition. Of course in the majority of 
 cases I feel that nothing, whatever, would be said. 
 I run in quite frequently at Mrs. Wood's the 
 doctor is nearly always out or busy, but that 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 241 
 
 doesn't make any difference. Mrs. Wood and 1 
 have the best of chats. She says she sometimes 
 gets more out of them than from my sermons." 
 
 " She was telling me just the other day how 
 much she enjoyed your calls." 
 
 "It's so easy to talk with her on religious sub- 
 jects. She has been unsatisfied with many of the 
 older positions for a long while, but has been 
 holding on to them because she thought she 
 must." 
 
 " Possessing beliefs that did not possess her." 
 
 " She couldn't have stated her own case more 
 exactly herself. She was brought up on the sub- 
 stitutionary theory of the atonement that Christ 
 was punished in our stead. When she came to 
 think independently on these great themes, this 
 view of Christ's work that his sufferings were to 
 appease the wrath of God gave her such a ter- 
 rible conception of God that she began to doubt 
 and question it." 
 
 " I am so glad that you have been able to help 
 her. It must be such a satisfaction 1 " 
 
 " Indeed it is I A few such experiences go a 
 good way in offsetting some others not so agree- 
 able. I shall never forget the time when Mrs. 
 Wood caught the newer conception of Christ's 
 sacrifice. Her countenance, always clothed with 
 serenity, fairly glowed as the cloud of perplexity 
 disappeared. 
 
 " I shall not soon forget the joyous note in her 
 tone as she said 
 
242 DAVID BALDWIN 
 
 " * I see it now ! Why, it is what I have always 
 wanted to believe, but did not dare : Christ's suf- 
 ferings were not punishment, but the inevitable re- 
 sults of living a life of holy love in a sinful world/ 
 
 " After we had talked a while longer she made 
 another statement that I shall always remember." 
 
 "What was it?" asked Miriam. 
 
 " * Oh, how much more humane God becomes 
 when we look at Christ's sufferings in that way 1 ' 
 
 " Indeed, I feel that there are few greater priv- 
 ileges or deeper joys than to open doors into 
 newer and broader and deeper conceptions of real- 
 ity. But the cost of it ! " 
 
 Miriam looked into her husband's eyes, ques- 
 tioning. 
 
 " Yet the man who would not give his life for 
 the privilege of opening doors, is unworthy of that 
 high service to his age." 
 
 "That was the price that the Christ had to 
 pay." 
 
 "Yes," repeated David with unwonted so- 
 lemnity ; " that was the price the Christ had to 
 pay." 
 
XVII 
 
 IT was the third Monday after Easter David 
 Baldwin's second Easter as pastor of his 
 church. The pastor was in his study writing 
 some letters. While the forenoon was yet young, 
 a caller was announced. 
 
 "Ah, good-morning, Mr. Driver.' 1 
 
 David Baldwin rose from his desk and extended 
 his hand. 
 
 " Let me take your hat. You will find that 
 chair by the window quite comfortable." 
 
 Mr. Driver took his pastor's hand very coldly. 
 
 " No can't stay won't be worth while to sit 
 down." 
 
 With no attempt to conceal a disturbed state of 
 mind, the pastor's caller jerked these words out, 
 bit them off savagely and hurled them into the air 
 with an intensity which charged the atmosphere 
 with their heat. Baldwin felt the difference even 
 if the thermometer did not. 
 
 " No," ignoring the chair, and holding his gray 
 felt hat in his hand, " I'll not sit down. When I've 
 got something to say to a man, I want to stand on 
 my feet." 
 
 He walked nervously from one side of the room 
 to the other, then, turning, he faced his pastor with 
 a question, 
 
 "That ritualistic nonsense! I want to know, 
 243 
 
THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 young man, how much longer you are intending 
 to keep it up ? " 
 
 The speaker's gray eyes fairly snapped ; his out- 
 stretched arm quivered with unspoken rage ; his 
 tone, had he been denouncing the most heinous 
 practice known to man, could not have expressed 
 more venom ; his words fairly hissed as he spat 
 them out of his throat. 
 
 "I've come to ask you a fair and square ques- 
 tion it's not my way to beat 'round the bush, for 
 when I've got anything to say, I say it right to a 
 man's face I want to know how long you pro- 
 pose to keep up that ritualistic nonsense you 
 started three Sundays ago ? " 
 
 " Why, I " began the pastor, utterly un- 
 conscious till that moment that he had given 
 offense in the direction indicated. 
 
 " For if you are determined to persist in con- 
 tinuing this thing, I am here to say, young man, 
 that I am hostile to it ! " He ground the word 
 " hostile " almost to powder as he held it an instant 
 between his teeth. " Yes, sir, I am hostile to it 1 " 
 raising his voice to an exclamatory pitch. 
 
 "These responses, this ritualistic nonsense, 
 you've introduced, smack of the ritualism of 
 Rome," he hissed. " If this goes on unchecked, 
 if we tamely submit to this pernicious innovation, 
 young man, who can tell but that the next thing 
 you do you'll be burning incense and wearing a 
 surplice the very livery of hell 1 " 
 
 David Baldwin stood at the back of his study 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 245 
 
 chair, his hand tightening nervously as he grasped 
 the projecting corner. To reply or to interrupt 
 was alike useless ; for Driver, with only a pause to 
 get his breath, poured forth another broadside. 
 
 " So far as your preaching is concerned I have 
 little fault to find. In many ways I like it : your 
 sermons often accord with my own thoughts. 
 Doctrines come and go. We have ours; other 
 generations have had their own. But, young man, 
 the customs of this church, if you intend to in- 
 sist on changing the customs of this church, that 
 is quite a different matter. I want you to under- 
 stand you are not hired for that purpose. For 
 over fifty years I've been a member of this church, 
 its customs are dear to me, associated as they 
 are with the most sacred things of my life and do 
 you suppose Pll tamely submit to your innovations 
 at this late date ? I tell you I'll fight 'em to the 
 bitter end yes, to the bitter end ! 
 
 " I'm hostile to that ritual you have introduced. 
 If you feel bound to continue using it, let me say 
 to you right here and now : this church will soon 
 need another pastor. For either you or I will have 
 to get out, and / don't intend to leave. I have 
 told you plainly how I feel about these responses 
 and the rest of your ritualistic nonsense. Now 
 that you know my opinion, perhaps you can tell 
 me what you intend to do ? " 
 
 He stood in the middle of the floor, in the atti- 
 tude of a superior power, having just issued an 
 ultimatum, a fine picture if only the occasion had 
 
246 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 been more worthy of his mettle. In his own mind 
 it was worthy more's the pity for while he was 
 favorable to many of the newer positions in doc- 
 trine, to changes in customs or methods, he was 
 uncompromising in his opposition. In his mind 
 the First Church was identified with certain cus- 
 toms and practices : these were the central things , 
 these he loved with partisan intensity, loved as the 
 martyrs had loved the things which led them to 
 endure the blaze of fagots, the torture of the rack. 
 If occasion could have arisen, he would gladly 
 have given his life for the things he held dear 
 the customs and practices of his church ; as his 
 martyr ancestors had given their lives in witness 
 to cherished doctrines and beliefs. 
 
 Unfortunately, the zeal of the martyr, when op- 
 portunity permits, is all too easily transformed 
 into the zeal of the inquisitor, a matter of attitude 
 determined by the lack or the possession of power. 
 Are not the pages of history replete with such ex- 
 amples where the lack of power makes the inquis- 
 itor into a martyr, and the possession of power, 
 the martyr into an inquisitor ? 
 
 Power of a most convincing nature lay in the 
 hands of Amos Driver: he was the largest con- 
 tributor in the membership of his church. In full 
 consciousness of this power, he stood before his 
 pastor. 
 
 " I slept scarcely a wink last night," he went on 
 fiercely ; " this perverse nonsense you've intro- 
 duced into the church service has upset me so ! 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 247 
 
 And it was the same thing last week. Why, I 
 didn't get settled down so that I could sleep till 
 the middle of the week. Young man, I'm too old 
 to stand any changes in our church service. For 
 fifty years things have gone on unchanged. Some 
 few of your predecessors have felt called upon to 
 introduce pernicious innovations, but I have fought 
 'em, every one to the bitter end. 
 
 " And what became of every one of these men 
 that insisted on changing the customs of this 
 church ? Young man, I ask again what became 
 of these men ? They soon found it convenient to 
 resign. Yes, sir ; they all had to leave, persuaded 
 doubtless that the Lord had work for them in some 
 other field. Humph ! What excuses ministers 
 trump up sometimes when they are forced to re- 
 sign ! The Lord calling them to another field. 
 Bah ! But that's neither here nor there. What I 
 want you to understand is that no man can long 
 remain the pastor of this church without my con- 
 sent. And now I want to know if you are de- 
 termined to keep up the use of that ritual you in- 
 troduced three Sundays ago?" 
 
 " I am sorry, Mr. Driver," began David Baldwin, 
 speaking calmly, his voice giving evidence of re- 
 strained pressure ; " I am exceedingly sorry that 
 anything I have done " 
 
 " That's not the point ! Answer my question ! 
 What do I care whether you are sorry or not. 
 Just as if that would mend matters. Humph ! 
 Are you going to continue the use of that ritual ? 
 
248 THE MINISTKY OF 
 
 That's what I want to know. Answer ^my ques- 
 tion," fiercely, taking a step near his pastor, and 
 glaring at him with eyes emitting intense anger. 
 
 " Perhaps I don't quite understand what you 
 mean, Mr. Driver," began David Baldwin. " Your 
 language is more familiar to yourself than to me. 
 But if I am able to comprehend your meaning, 
 you are displeased with certain changes I have 
 made in our church service, changes calculated to 
 add richness and variety to our worship. You are 
 the first one, Mr. Driver, who has had anything 
 to say against these changes, while a score of 
 people have said something to me in their 
 favor. 
 
 " Without the least previous intimation of your 
 displeasure, you now demand that I discontinue 
 the use of these responses, though their use is 
 sanctioned by the rest of the church. You " 
 
 " Young man ! I didn't come here to debate 
 this subject with you," snapped Mr. Driver, im- 
 patiently. " I don't care what the rest of the con- 
 gregation want. Most people have no mind of 
 their own. Whatever the minister does is law and 
 gospel to them. But I've a mind of my own ! / 
 know what belongs to the service of a church of 
 our denomination, if they don't. And I want 
 these innovations, that smack of popery, to cease. 
 Understand?" 
 
 " I think I understand, Mr. Driver." 
 
 " Well ? You haven't answered my question 
 yet." 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 249 
 
 " The only answer I can give at present is that 
 I will take into consideration what you " 
 
 "Consideration your grandmother! What do 
 I care whether you take the matter into consid- 
 eration or not," scornfully. "You have got 
 ordinary common sense, ain't you? Well, then, 
 answer my question at oncel I will repeat it 
 again, very slowly, so that even a blockhead 
 I'm not saying that you are one could under- 
 stand it and give his answer without all this de- 
 lay : Will you or will you not discontinue dis- 
 continue means, young man, to stop and stop at 
 once that ritualistic nonsense which you have 
 seen fit to lug into our church service during the 
 past three Sundays ? Answer me/" 
 
 " The only answer I can possibly give you, Mr. 
 Driver, is that I will take into consideration what 
 you have said, and whatever seems best, in view 
 of everything concerned, why, that will be the 
 course to pursue. But just what that course will 
 be, I cannot at this moment tell." 
 
 " But I insist," shouted Driver, angrily. " I in- 
 sist on your answering my question ! " 
 
 " My hearing is very good, Mr. Driver. There 
 is no need of shouting. I can understand perfectly 
 what you say if you speak in an ordinary tone. 
 You have my answer. I can give you no other. 
 But permit me to say, Mr. Driver, I am exceed- 
 ingly sorry " 
 
 " Your grandmother ! " exclaimed Driver, unable 
 in other words to give vent to his scorn, his pas- 
 
250 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 sion something- beautiful to behold. "HI had as 
 little sense, young man, as some ministers seem to 
 have, I'd I'd yes, I'd become a preacher myself. 
 But thank the Lord, I haven't come to that yet. 
 Go on, young man ; go on. I fight in the open. 
 Don't blame me if this church is needing another 
 pastor before long blame your own perversity. 
 Now do just what you see fit." 
 
 He turned upon his heel and vanished. 
 
 Left alone, David Baldwin stood as one in a 
 trance. Could it be true ? could it possibly be 
 true ? Was it not all an awful dream ? Had he 
 actually heard the words that were still ringing in 
 his ears ? What had he done to call down upon 
 himself this terrible avalanche of scalding words ? 
 His temples throbbed, his face burned, a tightness 
 clutched him about the heart, a brick of immense 
 size seemed to be lodged in his stomach. He 
 went to the window and opened it wide the air 
 of his study was charged with those hissing 
 words ! 
 
 He sat down and tried to think. 
 
 " I might have been a little more conciliatory : 
 but it was all so sudden. Did I do right in refus- 
 ing to comply with his demand? Should a 
 church " 
 
 A soft knocking at his study door brought him 
 out of his reverie. 
 
 " Why, Mrs. Wood ! Come right in. How are 
 you this morning ? " 
 
 " I'm well, thank you," taking the chair he of- 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 251 
 
 fered her. " Mr. Driver has been to see you, hasn't 
 he?" 
 
 " Yes, he has just gone." 
 
 " Mrs. Driver told me last evening on our way 
 home from church that her husband had taken a 
 violent dislike to the changes you have made in 
 the morning service. Mrs. Driver feels so sorry ; 
 she was afraid that he would cause you some 
 trouble. Strange, that he should get so worked 
 up over such a matter ! Mrs. Driver said he was 
 so upset that it was impossible for him to sleep ! " 
 
 " I am very sorry. Mrs. Driver or some one 
 should have told me. It is not my desire to annoy 
 any one ; and as a personal matter I would have 
 done almost anything rather than discomfort Mr. 
 Driver or any one else. But coming to me as he 
 did, in the spirit of a dictator, I feel that it is alto- 
 gether another matter." 
 
 " I can imagine what he said was not very 
 pleasant to hear." 
 
 " Well, of course, he is an old man and scarcely 
 knew what he was saying. I tried hard to be 
 patient with him." 
 
 " His temper is something awful when it's 
 aroused. It's hard to understand how he can be so 
 delightfully liberal in his theology and so, so im- 
 movably conservative in regard to the customs and 
 practices of the church." 
 
 "One would think that these customs had been 
 delivered to the church by special revelation, and 
 that he was their divinely appointed guardian. 
 
252 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 Has he always been this way ? I mean since you 
 have known him, Mrs. Wood ? " 
 
 " Yes ; only I think he is worse as he gets 
 older." 
 
 " From what he said I begin to understand why 
 this church has had nearly twenty-five pastors dur- 
 ing the past fifty years. No church can thrive 
 under such conditions." 
 
 " I know it. We all know it. But what are we 
 to do ? Our membership is small." 
 
 " No wonder." 
 
 " And most of the members are in very ordinary 
 circumstances, financially. Mr. Driver is our only 
 wealthy member. Mr. Brand comes next. Mr. 
 Driver gives very liberally to the church. His 
 pocketbook is always open. But he has his 
 notions and is very set in his way. We have al- 
 ways given in to him because that was the only way 
 we could get along." 
 
 " I feel sure, Mrs. Wood, that the church would 
 be much stronger to-day if the rest of the members 
 had not given in to him. Why, during the past 
 quarter of a century the other churches in this city 
 have doubled their membership, some of them, 
 two or three times. What has this church done ? 
 Scarcely held its own." 
 
 " I know it. I sometimes think that this church 
 has wonderful vitality or it must have died long 
 ago. How provoking that Mr. Driver should an- 
 noy you now that we seem to be taking on new 
 life again. It was nice of the Ellwoods, wasn't it, 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 253 
 
 to keep on coming to our church after that dis- 
 graceful haggling over their church letters ? That 
 section in our by-laws, we owe to Mr. Driver." 
 
 " I can well believe it from the use he makes of 
 it." 
 
 " Oh, I think a minister's life must be so hard. 
 I used to think it would be grand to have Harold 
 study for the ministry ; but I have changed my 
 mind. I wouldn't want a boy of mine to be a 
 minister for the world. Such haggling 1 Such 
 unreasoned opposition ! I don't see how a minis- 
 ter can stand it. / couldn't it would kill me 1 " 
 
 " You have heard, haven't you, of backs being 
 fitted for their burdens ? Well, I'm coming to be- 
 lieve that there's a good deal of truth in the say- 
 ing. Why, if any one had told me two years ago 
 that I could have stood some of the things I have 
 stood, I wouldn't have believed it If I deviate 
 the least particle from the established customs of 
 the church, Mr. Driver hauls me up ; if I present 
 any phase of the religious experience in a different 
 manner, or give a new emphasis to any old truth, 
 or in any way interpret life from the modern point 
 of view, then Mr. Brand and Deacon Long are 
 after me." 
 
 " Oh, it's a shame ! I do wish something could 
 be done. Are other churches like this?" 
 
 " Indeed, I hope not, Mrs. Wood. The church 
 situation is something like this : in every denomi- 
 nation now there are coming to be two parties or 
 rather groups ; and there is more distinctive dif- 
 
254 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 ference between these two groups within the de- 
 nominations than there is between the denomina- 
 tions, themselves." 
 
 " You mean that in every denomination, some 
 hold to the older thought, and some to the new ? " 
 
 " Yes. Broadly speaking the religious world is 
 not divided into denominations, but rather into 
 these two great divisions those who cherish the 
 doctrines they have inherited and believe that 
 these are final expressions of religious truth ; that 
 all men should accept them, this is the one 
 great group. Its members are found everywhere." 
 
 " The group to which I used to belong," said 
 Mrs. Wood. " I thought it was a sin to doubt 
 any of the beliefs on which I had been brought 
 up." 
 
 " Yes, most of us were brought up in this group 
 and know by painful experience those of us who 
 have left it how hard it was, the transition into 
 the other section. Many have made this transition 
 not of choice but of necessity, being unable longer 
 to interpret their religious experience in the terms 
 of their inherited beliefs." 
 
 " Indeed, I know just what that means, Mr. 
 Baldwin. For years I held to some of the older 
 doctrines, though they didn't satisfy me. I was 
 driven into the newer thought even against my 
 will." 
 
 "In most churches," continued Mr. Baldwin, 
 " there are adherents of both of these great sec- 
 tions. Of course in some instances churches are 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 255 
 
 all one or the other. With us the contest is 
 on." 
 
 " It certainly is. But it must be some relief to 
 be able to understand it," rising. " I must be go- 
 ing. How is Mrs. Baldwin ? " 
 
 " She is well, thank you. Feel free to run in any 
 time. Good-morning." 
 
 David Baldwin sat down again at his desk. He 
 was calm now and it seemed a long time ago, 
 that other call from Mr. Driver. 
 
 " I will ask the members at the midweek service 
 to express their opinion concerning the changes I 
 have made in the morning service. That will be 
 the best way, and I'll ask Mr. Driver to be present, 
 so that both sides may be heard." Having for- 
 mulated this plan, David Baldwin dismissed the 
 subject so far as he could from his mind. 
 
XVIII 
 
 " \"T THY, girls, what's the matter?" asked 
 \/\/ Mrs. Stewart, as her daughters were 
 returning from prayer-meeting. 
 
 " Oh, such a time as we had to-night ! " 
 
 " A perfect circus, mother ! 'Twas worse than a 
 circus." 
 
 " I never witnessed such a disgraceful affair ! " 
 
 Mary and Cora and Elizabeth were all talking 
 at once. 
 
 " And in a church, too ! " 
 
 " It was worse than any political meeting, 
 mother." 
 
 " I felt so sorry for Mrs. Baldwin 1 " 
 
 " And for Mr. Baldwin, too 1 " 
 
 Mrs. Stewart looked from one to the other of her 
 daughters as they entered the sitting-room. 
 
 " Oh, mother, such a time as we had at prayer- 
 meeting to-night 1 " 
 
 " It broke up in confusion ! " 
 
 " It was this way, mother," said Mary disregard- 
 ing the interruptions of the other girls ; " before 
 the close of the service Mr. Baldwin said that he 
 wished to know how the members present felt 
 about the value of the responses and other changes 
 he had introduced in the morning service ; that 
 some had spoken to him heartily in their favor, 
 
 256 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 257 
 
 while there were others who did not approve of 
 them." 
 "Well?" 
 
 " He went on to say," continued Mary, " that 
 the church was a community of individuals bound 
 together for their common good that each should 
 desire what was for the good of the greatest num- 
 ber." 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " He said he did not wish to bring the matter 
 to a vote, but simply to know how various indi- 
 viduals regarded these changes whether they 
 were helpful or not in adding richness to the 
 church service." 
 
 " I see nothing in this to get excited over," 
 commented Mrs. Stewart. 
 
 " But; wait, mother ; just wait ! " cried Cora. 
 " The excitement came after this." 
 
 " Yet you could almost feel that something was 
 going to happen. I know I did," added Elizabeth. 
 
 " After the minister said he wanted everyone 
 to feel perfectly free to say exactly what they 
 thought as to these changes, before any one else 
 had time to get on their feet or say a word, Mr. 
 Driver got up and " 
 
 " From the look on his face, the rest of us just 
 sat there and held our breath," said Cora. 
 
 " Yes," added Elizabeth ; " the room got so 
 still ! " 
 
 " The Stone girls, sitting near me, were if any- 
 thing more frightened than I was." 
 
258 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 " Mr. Driver," repeated Mary, " got up and 
 without saying a word made his way to the open 
 space in front " 
 
 "Just off to the left of where the pastor sits." 
 
 " Near the door leading into the auditorium." 
 
 " and stood so that he faced both the pastor 
 
 and the rest of us." 
 
 " His eyes snapped ! " 
 
 " Oh, mother, it was simply awful ! " 
 
 " But, Mary, what did he say ? You don't mean 
 to tell me that Mr. Driver simply stood there with- 
 out saying anything. Tell me, child, what did he 
 say ? " with some impatience. 
 
 " What didn't he say ? Why, mother, for fifteen 
 minutes he poured forth such a stream of abusive 
 language as I hope never to be compelled to listen 
 to again. He charged Mr. Baldwin with attack- 
 ing the established customs of the denomination ; 
 that he, a young man, was taking it upon himself 
 to reform the settled practices of centuries ; that 
 he was introducing the ritual of Rome and would 
 soon be burning incense. Oh, I can't tell you 
 what he didrit say ! " 
 
 " He addressed the pastor personally he said 
 'you' 'you* are doing this 'you' are doing 
 that." 
 
 " His words were simply awful. But the tone in 
 which he spoke was a thousand times worse! " 
 
 " Yes, his manner gave a double edge to every- 
 thing he said." 
 
 " I never knew that a man could be so abusive ! " 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 259 
 
 "What did Mr. Baldwin do?" asked Mrs. 
 Stewart. 
 
 "What did he do? Why, mother, just what 
 the rest of us did he sat still amazed non- 
 plussed spellbound. Oh, it was like witnessing 
 the rush of Niagara : one simply forgot all else. 
 I've heard Mr. Driver explode before ; but never, 
 never like this ! There wasn't an abusive word 
 in the dictionary in his dictionary that he didn't 
 use. He couldn't possibly have been more in- 
 sulting than he was to Mr. Baldwin." 
 
 " And at the close of a prayer-meeting ! " 
 
 "You see, mother, Mr. Driver is very much op- 
 posed to changing any of the customs of the 
 church. He was afraid lest some of us should 
 speak in favor of these changes : so he opened 
 fire first. He talked so long and so abusively, the 
 meeting simply broke up before any one else 
 could say anything. Many of the ladies left the 
 room in tears." 
 
 "And was the minister's wife there, you say?" 
 asked the mother, anxiously. 
 
 "Yes. She left the room. Great tears were 
 streaming down her cheeks as she went out." 
 
 " Too bad ! Too bad ! The worst possible thing 
 for a woman in her condition," said Mrs. Stewart, 
 sympathetically. " She should be saved from all 
 excitement." 
 
 " But, mother," persisted Mary, " a prayer-meet- 
 ing should be a safe place for any one to go even 
 an expectant mother shouldn't it?" 
 
260 DAVID BALDWIN 
 
 " Certainly, my dear ; certainly, under ordinary 
 circumstances. But in our church, it seems, one 
 can never tell what's going to happen next" 
 
 " I suppose it will be Mr. Brand's turn now. 
 These men usually take turns in creating such 
 disturbances." 
 
 Strange to relate, this remark contained the ele- 
 ments of a prediction. 
 
XIX 
 
 THERE are some experiences in life im- 
 possible of description. Before your first 
 visit to the seashore you had read well- 
 written descriptions of the ocean ; but words and 
 sentences and skill of rhetoric did not convey to 
 you a hundredth part of the meaning which you 
 yourself found as you sat for hours gazing far out 
 upon that restless, boundless deep. So, too, the 
 young soldier, in his first actual engagement with 
 the enemy, learns that less than a thousandth part 
 of the reality of battle has ever been transferred 
 to the printed page or could be thus transferred. 
 
 In a similar manner Mary Stewart and her 
 sisters found words but poor, weak instruments, in 
 their endeavor to make their mother realize what 
 had happened at that memorable prayer-meeting, 
 although they were accustomed to using words, 
 were these sisters. But more than once Mary had 
 to resort to such phrases as, " Why, mother, it 
 was simply awful ; it was terrible." 
 
 The opinions of others at the meeting were 
 equally decided. 
 
 " The most abusive speech one man could pos- 
 sibly make to another," said Mrs. Strong. And 
 Mrs. Terry corroborated, 
 
 "A more venomous tirade I never heard. It 
 took us so by surprise we didn't know what to do. 
 
 261 
 
262 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 I had heard Mr. Driver say some pretty harsh 
 things before, but never anything so unchristian, 
 so outrageous as this. Truly, I do not believe the 
 man is in his right mind. In many respects Mr. 
 Driver is a good man. But to-night he couldn't 
 have acted worse if he had been possessed of the 
 devil." 
 
 " Who knows but that he was ? " suggested Miss 
 Terry, whose religious ideas were strictly of the 
 modern type. " You know, mother, some people 
 still believe in demoniacal possession as mentioned 
 in the New Testament." 
 
 " I more than half believe in it myself," said 
 Mrs. Terry. " My daughter and I do not agree 
 on many of these questions," she added. " But 
 truly it would be a relief to believe that Mr. 
 Driver was possessed. His .eyes emitted sparks. 
 I never saw a human being so fierce." 
 
 " No, it's out of the question, Dominie, for you 
 to think of preaching on Sunday," said Mr. 
 Strong, who with several others had stopped at 
 the pastor's home on their way from the church. 
 " You and Mrs. Baldwin must go away for a few 
 days and try to get this miserable affair out of 
 your minds. If you don't you will be sick, both of 
 you. We'll see to the services." 
 
 Mrs. Terry and Mrs. Wood heartily seconded 
 Mr. Strong's suggestion. 
 
 For an hour they sat and discussed the situa- 
 tion. 
 
 " Well, let us say no more about that meeting. 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 263 
 
 It seems like a horrid nightmare, too awful to be 
 true," said Mrs. Strong. " The best thing we can 
 do is to dismiss it from our minds if we can. 
 The avalanche has struck us : we must repair the 
 damages as far as possible." 
 
 " Yes, as far as possible. But some damages are 
 irreparable," observed Mrs. Terry. 
 
 " I wonder how you could sit there and endure 
 it as you did ! " exclaimed Mrs. Strong addressing 
 her pastor, forgetful of the advice she had just 
 given. 
 
 " Indeed, I am surprised at it myself, now that I 
 look back on it," replied Mr. Baldwin. "While 
 Mr. Driver was talking, it seemed to me as if he 
 were berating some one else, yet all the time I 
 knew that I was the one. But how I managed to 
 sit still under it all, is more than I can under- 
 stand." 
 
 " Why didn't some of you men get up and stop 
 him ? " asked Mrs. Wood. 
 
 " We'll take a constable with us to prayer-meet- 
 ing after this," said Miss Appleton. 
 
 " I for one don't feel very much like going to 
 prayer-meeting again very soon," said Miss Fen- 
 wick. 
 
 With an unexpected leave of absence thrust 
 upon them, the next question was where should 
 they spend it ? It was finally decided to call up 
 the Hiltons by long distance 'phone. 
 
 " Yes, we're home and will be delighted to see 
 
264 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 you. By all means come if you can get away," 
 came back over the wire. 
 
 "Well, that's settled. We'll take the nine 
 o'clock train in the morning." 
 
 The Hiltons had visited them during the holi- 
 days. Tom Hilton and Baldwin had known each 
 other intimately in the Divinity School ; but like 
 many other such friendships theirs would doubtless 
 have languished and perhaps finally died, had it 
 not been for the fortunate circumstance that Tom 
 Hilton had married one of Miriam's intimate Vas- 
 sar friends. He was now pastor of an important 
 church in Madison. 
 
 Hilton was a little older than Baldwin, a very 
 brilliant man, known in his student days as a warm 
 champion of the newer thought ; a man of large 
 soul and endowed with a keen sense of humor 
 just the kind of a man to make one forget, when 
 to forget is the imperative duty. 
 
 He was at the station as their train pulled in. 
 His welcome was characteristic. 
 
 " I am mighty glad you could come," said he. 
 " The fishing season has just opened, and I'm in 
 sad need of some one to do the rowing while I pull 
 'em in. Say, but you won't mind rowing all the 
 time, will you ? " 
 
 Taking the street car they rode up past the 
 capitol square and down on the other side to 
 within a block of the parsonage. Mrs. Tom, as 
 her husband fondly called his wife, welcomed 
 Miriam with open arms. 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 265 
 
 " It was so nice of you to think of us. We shall 
 have such a good visit there are so many things 
 for us to talk about." As if this was something 
 unusual between two members of her sex, especially 
 when they had been in college together ! But 
 even though it were unusual, the present occasion 
 more than fully justified the remark of Miriam's 
 friend, since both were approaching the high and 
 holy experience of desired motherhood. 
 
 On Saturday morning while the men were out 
 on Third Lake fishing, Mrs. Tom took Miriam 
 into her own room ; and opening a drawer in the 
 lower part of her dresser, she proceeded to exhibit 
 certain dainty little garments for Miriam's inspec- 
 tion, with all the joy and pride of her happy heart. 
 
 Meanwhile Tom and David, though their friend- 
 ship was in its way as intimate as the friendship 
 between their wives, said nothing whatever to 
 each other concerning the great event in question. 
 Did it mean nothing to them ? Far from it. It 
 was one of their most constant subjects for 
 thought ; but being men, they did not discuss it 
 between themselves. 
 
 " I ought to insist on your preaching both 
 morning and evening," said Tom, reeling in his 
 line, the boat being anchored near a patch of 
 reeds at the upper end of the lake. " I fancy I'll 
 get that fellow this time," and away his line flew 
 off to the right of the bunch of reeds. It struck 
 the water and sank a few feet. Tom reeled 
 slowly, his eyes fixed on a certain spot, his body 
 
266 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 held in instant readiness to obey when the signal 
 came traveling up to his hands. An instant he 
 waited; an instant more. The current carried 
 the line a little farther out. Would that big 
 fellow never take the hook ? Tom knew he was 
 there. Again the line was cast in exactly the 
 same spot. It floated off as before and Tom be- 
 gan to reel it in. The fish was sulky, and would 
 not bite. 
 
 " I'll try the other side," thought Tom. He be- 
 gan to reel in the line when a quick jerk told him 
 that the big bass had changed his mind also. 
 
 " Watch him, Baldwin! Watch him ! He 
 races like a mustang ! " 
 
 Tom let him have plenty of line, so long as the 
 pull was strong ; but the instant the strain eased 
 up, he held his captive well in check, taking in 
 the line or paying it out as was necessary. Sev- 
 eral minutes elapsed. Tom let the fish take its 
 own time in getting thoroughly tired ; he was 
 then able to lead him with little difficulty. 
 
 " That makes seven," said he, safely landing the 
 bass. " Aren't they beauties ! Yes, I'll let you 
 off this time with only the morning service. My 
 congregation, you know, doesn't often get the 
 chance of hearing a good sermon. Two in one 
 day, I fear, might prove too much of a good 
 thing." 
 
 " I agree with you," said Baldwin ; " especially 
 since I wish to hear you preach." 
 
 So Baldwin preached in the morning and Hil- 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 267 
 
 ton in the evening. When their lunch after the 
 evening service was finished, the ladies withdrew, 
 leaving the two men alone. They sat for an hour 
 and talked of old times. 
 
 " Tom, there's one thing I want to ask you," 
 said Baldwin, turning somewhat abruptly from 
 the topic they were discussing. 
 
 " All right ; fire away, old man, only don't make 
 your question too hard." Hilton looked at his 
 friend rather curiously. 
 
 " Well, it's this and you needn't answer it un- 
 less you have a mind to but I would like to 
 know, Hilton, how it is that a man holding the 
 views you do, can preach the sermon you preached 
 this evening ? " 
 
 Hilton slid down in his easy-chair, crossed one 
 foot over the other, pursed his lips, and from 
 eyes half shut looked steadily for a moment into 
 the serious face of his friend. Baldwin's question 
 probed deeper than it was intended it should. 
 While the sermon Hilton had preached that even- 
 ing was a well prepared discourse, delivered with 
 grace and energy, the conceptions of life and of 
 the religious experience which it contained were 
 conceptions which in their student days both men 
 had found impossible to retain, in view of the 
 teachings of modern psychology. 
 
 " Your question, old man," began Hilton, at 
 last, speaking very slowly, " is one I wouldn't 
 care to answer before a houseful you understand. 
 But inter nos it's different. I don't mind telling 
 
238 THE MINISTRY OF . 
 
 you, frankly, since you have asked me the ques- 
 tion, that my reasons for preaching that kind of a 
 sermon have just gone up to bed." 
 
 " You mean " hesitated Baldwin. 
 
 " Yes ; I mean my wife and the prospective 
 little one." 
 
 Neither of the men spoke for a moment. 
 
 " I beg your pardon, Tom, old man ; I shouldn't 
 have asked so personal a question," said Baldwin 
 finally. 
 
 " Oh, that's all right, Baldwin. Don't think of 
 it for an instant. I'm sure there's no need of 
 secrets between us. But it does cut a little to face 
 the issue squarely. The fact is, the martyr-stuff 
 is not over-abundant in my make up. I have a 
 good church here and want to stay ; I have a 
 family to support ; the ruling element in my 
 church is very conservative ; and well the 
 truth of the matter is, Baldwin, between you and 
 me I am not preaching just the kind of sermons 
 I'd like to preach. The conceptions of life that are 
 dearest to me, I don't put into my sermons. 
 Why ? Because I have a family to support. And 
 God only knows how this fact bears down upon 
 a man sometimes ! " 
 
 Baldwin knit his brow. Here was food for 
 thought. 
 
 " And mine is no solitary instance, I can assure 
 you," continued Hilton ; " though, of course, that's 
 nothing really in my favor. In nearly all of the 
 denominations the younger ministers are having 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 269 
 
 to meet the same situation. Some are solving 
 it in one way, and some in another." 
 
 " Yes, this transition from the old to the new 
 is not confined to any community or church. It's 
 taking place everywhere that men and women 
 are being awakened to think for themselves ; and 
 to my mind this revolution in religious thinking 
 is a greater one than was the Reformation in 
 Luther's time." 
 
 " I think so too," answered Hilton. " Do you 
 know, Baldwin," he went on, " if I had my time 
 to go over again, I should not marry, or else I 
 should give up the ministry one or the other. 
 No man loves his family more than I do, God 
 knows, and no man is more lost without a home 
 of his own ; yet if I had it to do over again, I 
 should remain single. For a minister to have a 
 free hand in helping on this movement, he should 
 have either no family or an independent income. 
 That is the way I feel about it. With a family de- 
 pending on him, a man is not free to preach the 
 message that burns in his own soul, when to do so 
 endangers his support." 
 
 " In my case, however," rejoined David, " the 
 church stipulated as one of the conditions in my 
 call, that I should get married before beginning 
 my work. And I am glad they did. For my 
 part I haven't come to feel just as you do ; but, of 
 course, each one must solve these problems in his 
 own way. We have our problems at Tioga, I 
 can assure you ; the fact is -but I have promised 
 
270 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 Miriam that I would not get to discussing the 
 situation at Tioga at all. We had an explosion 
 at our midweek service last week but I must not 
 say another word about it. By the way, have you 
 had any wedding experiences that come up to my 
 * beeswax fee' ?" 
 
 " I've had two interesting cases since the holi- 
 days but I do not think they quite equal that ex- 
 perience you were telling me about. I've laughed 
 over that a half-dozen times." 
 
 "What were yours like?" asked Baldwin set- 
 tling himself to hear Hilton's story. 
 
 "Well, the first one," began Hilton with a zest 
 characteristic of clergymen when they are ex- 
 changing stories, " the first one was quite a swell 
 affair, the bride being a wealthy spinster, a typical 
 old maid but with money enough to support 
 several ordinary families. The groom I had 
 never seen before nor since. He was a man past 
 middle life, dressed in the height of fashion and of 
 very imposing appearance, a man with a million 
 couldn't have cut a wider swath. 
 
 " Well, after I had performed the marriage, the 
 groom himself very graciously handed me an en- 
 velope, accompanying the act with unbounded 
 dignity. I carefully tucked the precious envelope 
 into one of my deepest pockets. It was, of course, 
 some time before I got the opportunity to open the 
 envelope ; and when I did so, its contents, neatly 
 folded, slipped out into my hand. My surprise 
 couldn't have been greater." 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 271 
 
 " How much was it ? " asked Baldwin. 
 
 " I stared at it for a moment, unable to believe 
 my eyes. The envelope contained, instead of a 
 fee, an advertisement for corns and bunions ! 
 The man was a fake. The woman came back 
 without him, after a few weeks." 
 
 " That was one on you," laughed Baldwin. 
 " You will be tempted to make them pay in ad- 
 vance, after this. But what was your other ex- 
 perience like?" 
 
 " Oh, the other one wasn't funny. It was simply 
 a mistake, yet it was laughable, too. It came out 
 all right in the end, however, and that was the best 
 of it. 
 
 " We'd had a nice church wedding, and the best 
 man handed me a neat little parcel done up in tis- 
 sue paper. It looked about the size of one or two 
 bills folded together very compactly. When I 
 opened the package I knew that some one had 
 made a mistake, but I didn't say anything. 
 
 " A few weeks later when the bridal party re- 
 turned from Europe, the young man who had 
 handed me the package came to me and said that 
 he hoped I would pardon his blunder and gave 
 me another little package quite similar in appear- 
 ance to the one he had given on the day of the 
 wedding. 
 
 " ' Do you wish the other one back? ' I asked. 
 
 " ' I hardly think it would be worth while,' he 
 answered laughing. ' Tobacco is too cheap.' " 
 
 " Tobacco ? " said Baldwin. 
 
272 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 " Yes. The first package contained a nice lit- 
 tle wad of chewing tobacco. The fellow was so 
 grateful to me for keeping the matter quiet that, 
 out of pure gratitude, he went and got married 
 himself so that I might have another fee." 
 
 " Very probably," laughed Baldwin. " Let me 
 see, yes it was since I saw you last that I had a 
 very peculiar case in the way of a marriage. A 
 man came to me and wanted to know if I would 
 marry him and his wife over again." 
 
 " Marry them over again ? Had they parted ? " 
 
 " No. They were living together happily as 
 they had been doing for twelve or fourteen years. 
 There were several children in the family and the 
 man was a steady, industrious fellow employed in 
 the iron foundry. I knew the family quite well. 
 
 " ' Why do you wish to be married again ? ' I 
 asked. 
 
 " * Well, it's this way,' said he, showing no little 
 embarrassment and confusion, * when the minister 
 married us, we didn't get no certificate, an' we 
 haven't anything to show that we ever were really 
 married. You see our children are now growin' up 
 and Kate and me felt kinder uneasy on their ac- 
 count, an' we thought p'raps it would be safer to 
 get married now I mean over again. It would 
 be safer in case anything should ever happen.' 
 
 " I asked him a number of questions and from 
 his replies I became convinced that he had never 
 been married at all. I hardly knew what to do. 
 What would you have done ? ' 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 273 
 
 " I would have married them, of course. Didn't 
 you ? " 
 
 " Yes. I thought it best not to make any in- 
 vestigation. I took the case as he represented it 
 and married them over again." 
 
 " It was strange that they didn't ask you to date 
 their certificate back to the time when they began 
 living together," said Hilton. 
 
 "They did ask it. But of course I couldn't do 
 it. I never have done such a thing and I never 
 will." 
 
 "It is sometimes exceedingly hard to refuse, 
 though. I had such a case last year. The young 
 man all but got down on his knees to me. I knew 
 him well, too ; but I told him that was one thing 
 I could not do, misdate a marriage certificate. I 
 tell you what, Baldwin, a preacher has lots of op- 
 portunity for making a first-hand study of human 
 nature. He meets people intimately and under 
 all kinds of conditions and circumstances. Human 
 nature is a pretty big subject, too, isn't it ? I feel 
 that I am only on the ragged edge of it and in the 
 primer class at that ; but I am learning some les- 
 sons which I hope never to forget. One of them 
 is this : I am convinced that in cases of wrong- 
 doing, if we could only know the circumstances 
 more fully, we would be more lenient and merciful 
 in our judgments. The great sin of the world, to 
 my mind, is neither drunkenness, nor immorality, 
 nor dishonesty, nor any of the vices for the com- 
 mittal of which society places a stigma upon its 
 
274 DAVID BALDWIN 
 
 members. The great sin of humanity is some- 
 thing quite different and, in my humble judgment, 
 does more harm in every community than all of 
 these I have named put together. 
 
 "No," he continued as they rose to retire; "I 
 will not tell you the name of what I have in mind. 
 But think it out for yourself. I am quite sure you 
 will agree with me. Good-night, old man, and 
 pleasant dreams." 
 
XX 
 
 " ^ ~\ 7 HAT is your subject this morning, 
 
 YY dear? " 
 
 The Baldwins were starting for 
 church. On the previous day they had returned 
 to Tioga from their visit with the Hiltons, greatly 
 benefited by their week's relaxation. All too short 
 had been the days for Miriam and her dear friend 
 Mrs. Tom so many topics were there for these 
 two women to discuss, so many questions each had 
 to ask the other. In Mrs. Tom, Miriam found all 
 that her heart had been hungering for some one 
 with whom she could share her great happiness. 
 
 The trip had done David good, also. He had 
 looked at his work from a distance a very need- 
 ful thing for any one to do now and then ; for 
 nearness is apt to destroy one's sense of per- 
 spective. In coming back to his work he de- 
 termined to be more moderate, more conciliatory, 
 if possible ; he could understand that it was diffi- 
 cult for some of the older members of his congre- 
 gation to adjust themselves to new ideas and to 
 modern methods, having been all their lives ac- 
 customed to those they had inherited ; doubtless he 
 had advanced more innovations than he had been 
 aware, even though he had studiously endeavored 
 to be moderate, so completely a part of his life 
 were the newer thoughts and ways. 
 
 275 
 
276 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 In keeping with this determination he decided 
 to drop the responses and other changes he had 
 introduced in the morning service, to drop them 
 not because of Mr. Driver's threat, but because he 
 was a minister of peace and it was sometimes a 
 higher virtue to yield than to contend. Further, 
 in selecting topics for his sermons he would try to 
 pick out themes containing a large element of com- 
 mon ground, common to both the older and the 
 newer thought ; themes on which he could express 
 himself freely without disturbing his conservative 
 hearers. 
 
 "I shall speak this morning on missions," he 
 replied to his wife's question. " A long time ago 
 some of the ladies asked me to preach a sermon 
 on missions, but I kept putting it off, and now I 
 am glad I did. The subject will come in all right 
 just at this time." 
 
 " Yes, missions ought to be a safe subject for any 
 one to speak on in almost any church. While it is 
 doubtless best, dear, for you to be as moderate as 
 you can be, I wouldn't for the world have you 
 adopt Tom Hilton's policy of suppressing the 
 newer thought altogether." 
 
 " I think you need have no fears along that 
 line," laughed David. " I couldn't suppress it if I 
 tried. It's too large a part of my life. I shall 
 make a desperate effort, however, to be very mod- 
 erate, to emphasize the points we hold in common, 
 as strongly as I can. But what a delightful morn- 
 ing this is ! " 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 277 
 
 " Yes ; it's the first Sunday in May. The mira- 
 cle of returning life is in evidence everywhere." 
 
 " See those buds ! Those trees will soon be 
 covered with leaves. When I was a boy we always 
 planted corn when the maples began to leaf out." 
 
 "Why was that?" 
 
 " It was thought that all danger of frost was then 
 past. But I mustn't talk any more now or my 
 opening prayer will suffer for it." 
 
 With joyous step these two worshipers joined 
 the stream of people on their way up town to the 
 various churches. 
 
 On the moment that the organ voluntary began, 
 Baldwin entered his pulpit. The service was con- 
 ducted without response or chant, with all the se- 
 vere simplicity of the old-time New England meet- 
 ing house. By the close of the opening exercises, 
 two or three of the older brethren, whose names 
 are not to be mentioned in this narrative, settled 
 themselves down into the most comfortable position 
 possible, closed their eyes and were soon, to all 
 intents and purposes, enjoying their usual morn- 
 ing worship ; I had almost used another word. 
 
 In front of the speaker, nor far from the middle 
 of the church, sat Dr. and Mrs. James ; behind 
 them, on the left, were the Ellwoods ; in the rear 
 half of the central block of seats were a number of 
 university students. On one side of the church 
 sat Mr. Brand and his wife ; on the other side, Mr. 
 Driver and his family. The church was well filled 
 and many strange faces were in the audience. 
 
278 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 Sermons in books are not often interesting read- 
 ing. Too often they fail to hold the attention even 
 when reinforced by the preacher's voice and per- 
 sonality. But Baldwin's audience gave him ex- 
 cellent attention. It is highly probable, however, 
 that very few of his hearers could have told on 
 the next day much about the sermon, had it not 
 been for what happened immediately at its close, 
 while the preacher was opening his hymn-book to 
 announce the number of the closing hymn. What 
 happened set a hundred tongues to discussing the 
 discourse for many days to come. 
 
 And the thing that happened was this : Mr. 
 Brand quickly rose from his seat, stood in the 
 aisle by his pew, and without addressing the pas- 
 tor, began to speak. His words came as a shock 
 a proverbial thunderbolt out of a clear sky. 
 
 " We have been hearing strange things this 
 morning, brothers ; strange doctrines to come from 
 the pulpit of a church of our denomination ! " 
 
 The effect was electrical. The preacher paused 
 with hymn-book half open ; instantly half of the 
 congregation turned in their seats, while the rest 
 leaned forward with eyes in Brand's direction. 
 All held their breath in the intenseness of their 
 expectation. What would he say? What was 
 he going to do ? What strange things have they 
 been listening to, unsuspectingly? Miriam sat 
 where she could not see Mr. Brand without turn- 
 ing, and she did not move in her seat ; but she in- 
 stantly recognized his voice, and the color left her 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 279 
 
 cheek. A strange apprehension seized her as she 
 clutched the arm of the seat, awaiting she knew 
 not what. A tightness settled about her heart and 
 she began to feel faint for the first time in her life. 
 
 " I repeat that we have been hearing strange 
 doctrines this morning, very strange indeed to 
 come from the pulpit of this church," said Mr. 
 Brand, still holding every one in suspense. " If 
 what our pastor says be true, then I for one, and 
 I am persuaded that there are many others in this 
 audience, have been studying the Bible in the 
 bondage of error, lo these many years. For our 
 pastor tells us one thing and our Bible, as we 
 have studied it, tells us another. But it may be 
 that our pastor's Bible is not like ours. I have 
 more than once thought that his Bible must be a 
 different kind from mine." 
 
 Miriam grasped her seat tighter and tighter as 
 these words sounded in her ears ; the feeling of 
 suffocation was almost overpowering her, as Mr. 
 Brand went on. 
 
 "My Bible teaches very plainly that without 
 Christ the heathen will be cast into eternal perdi- 
 tion, punishment everlasting and without end. 
 But our pastor has just told us that the present 
 missionary motive is not to rescue the heathen 
 from eternal punishment ; he tells that though the 
 earlier missionary motive was undoubtedly to res- 
 cue the heathen from such punishment, that now 
 in the light of our modern conceptions of God I 
 believe I am using his exact words the Christian 
 
280 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 world is finding it impossible to continue holding 
 that belief. 
 
 " Brethren, it is such teaching as this that is 
 sapping the very life of missionary effort in some 
 of the other denominations. I for one protest 
 against its introduction into our denomination. 
 We stand with both feet on the Word of God. 
 We acknowledge no other authority. For us 
 there is no other authority than the Bible. In the 
 inspired Word, which I accept from cover to 
 cover, God has revealed his holy will once for all 
 time. But our pastor does not quote the Bible as 
 the authority for his statement. His authority is 
 of an entirely different kind ' in the light of our 
 modern conceptions of Deity ' I believe he used 
 the word ' deity.' 
 
 " Brethren, in my humble judgment, the time 
 has fully come when we should decide whether 
 this church is to remain true to the fundamental 
 doctrines of the Word of God, or not. For one, 
 and I speak for others, it is exceedingly painful 
 for me to have to listen, Sunday after Sunday, to 
 the proclamation of doctrines not only not biblical, 
 but calculated to undermine the very foundations 
 of our denominational existence." 
 
 David Baldwin stood behind his pulpit as one 
 paralyzed, speechless. The audience, amazed, 
 nonplussed, held its breath, as one man. Miriam 
 was nerving herself with all the command of will 
 she could summon, to keep possession of her 
 senses. If only she could get up and go out ; but 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 281 
 
 she did not dare trust herself to make the effort 
 she felt so faint and dizzy. Oh, if only Mr. Brand 
 would stop talking ! 
 
 But Mr. Brand was speaking rapidly and had 
 no thought of stopping yet. Too long, far too long 
 had the pent up force of this outbreak been gath- 
 ering. 
 
 " To many of you," he continued, including the 
 audience with a gesture, " not having been trained 
 by special study in the beliefs of the denomina- 
 tion, the danger I have indicated may not be ap- 
 parent. But, brethren, as most of you know, I 
 spent three years in studying theology and I know 
 whereof I speak. I have prayed to be delivered 
 from this unpleasant and painful duty ; but if I 
 should keep still any longer I should feel recreant 
 both to my God and to my conscience, and would 
 no longer be able to look my brethren in the face. 
 Knowledge brings with it responsibilities and im- 
 perative duties. I have sometimes even wished 
 that I did not possess this knowledge of sacred 
 things ; at this moment I would gladly have it laid 
 upon the shoulders of any of my brethren, feeling 
 certain that it would compel him to arise in this 
 church service and defend the doctrines we cherish 
 so dearly, doctrines delivered to us as a priceless 
 heritage, made doubly sacred by the multitude of 
 men and women who have willingly endured im- 
 prisonment, nameless tortures, and even the stake, 
 rather than be faithless to these beliefs, leaving us 
 a noble example. 
 
282 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 " Now, brethren, it is our turn. Shall we prove 
 ourselves worthy of the high task committed to 
 our care? Shall we hand down to succeeding 
 generations these beliefs and practices as pure and 
 undefiled as when we received them ? I know the 
 answer that lies in your hearts, friends, neighbors, 
 members of this church ; I know your loyalty to 
 truth ; I know your love for the good old beliefs of 
 your fathers and mothers ; I know it is needed only 
 to bring this subject to your attention in order for 
 you to see your plain, your unmistakable duty. 
 You are resolved, I know I read your hearts 
 aright, you are resolved, let other denominations 
 follow after the uninspired teachings of modern 
 thought if they will, you are resolved to demand 
 that the preaching in this church shall no longer 
 be antagonistic to the beliefs and practices we 
 dearly cherish ; that our pastor be requested either 
 to conform to " 
 
 " Stop ! Not another word ! Not another 
 word more, or I'll pitch you headlong out of that 
 door ! " interrupted Professor Strong facing Mr. 
 Brand with a look which plainly indicated he 
 meant all he said and more. " Sit down ! I say, 
 sit down ! Can't you see that you have already 
 killed the pastor's wife ? " 
 
 Brand, silenced, sat down. 
 
 Miriam had fainted. David, leaping from the 
 pulpit platform, was at her side in an instant. 
 Dr. Wood arose and hurried to Baldwin's assist- 
 ance. 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 283 
 
 The audience, not having been dismissed, and 
 held by the habit of awaiting the benediction, re- 
 mained seated. Mr. Strong stepped to the front. 
 
 " We are dismissed," said he. " Please pass out 
 as quietly and quickly as possible. Mrs. Baldwin 
 is ill no one knows how seriously. Wait ! There 
 will be no further services in this church to-day. 
 That is all. We are dismissed." 
 
 With soft tread and hushed voices the people 
 passed quietly out of the auditorium, many linger- 
 ing a moment at the doors to cast a backward 
 glance at the little group about the pastor's wife. 
 The physician's face was very grave. This stop- 
 ping of the action of the heart might mean, in her 
 case, something far more serious than ordinarily. 
 
 Strong had a carriage at the door within a few 
 minutes. Tenderly David and the doctor and Mr. 
 Strong carried the unconscious woman to her home, 
 taking her thus from the church service to which 
 she had set out so joyously two hours before. 
 What an unexpected experience the hours had 
 brought her ! 
 
 All that day and all that night David Baldwin 
 was at Miriam's bedside. A trained nurse was 
 summoned and the physician was present a large 
 part of the time. As the dawn was breaking over 
 the eastern horizon, a double sorrow was meted out 
 to this anxious, watching husband : he gazed upon 
 the face of his first-born son, but it was the face of a 
 child born dead. His heart seemed torn asunder 
 as this sad fact beat in upon his slow powers of 
 
284 DAVID BALDWIN 
 
 comprehension. His child dead ! Impossible ! 
 He could not believe it. But the cruel fact was as 
 obstinate as it was cruel. The child to whose com- 
 ing he and Miriam had looked forward so fondly, so 
 expectantly, who seemed to them already the third 
 member of their little family this child was dead 
 born a corpse ! 
 
 And the other sorrow was even greater, if pos- 
 sible, than the first : but the full meaning of it was 
 not borne in on his confused mind till later only 
 little by little and after hours and days of hoping 
 against hope, did he comprehend the bitterness of 
 the cup placed to his unwilling lips the powers 
 of Miriam's mind were dethroned, her reason had 
 fled! 
 
 Crushed and broken-hearted, David Baldwin re- 
 fused to be comforted ; for his anguish of heart was 
 great. 
 
 " Oh, the mystery of human suffering ! " he 
 cried. " Who can solve it ? Who can add a ray 
 of light to its meaning ? Not one step in human 
 progress can be taken but that some one must suf- 
 fer. Not one new idea can make its way into 
 human thought except some one must pave its 
 way by suffering. What, oh, what can be the 
 meaning of it all ? " 
 
 Such were some of the thoughts surging through 
 David Baldwin's mind. He was unconsciously 
 echoing a cry never very far from the human heart 
 since man began to think on the great experiences 
 of his existence. 
 
XXI 
 
 THE hands of the little clock on David 
 Baldwin's study desk were nearing the 
 midnight hour, yet he was still sitting 
 there, a sheet of paper, finely written, in his hand. 
 On his face were traces of the inner conflict in 
 whose midst he was still held after a whole even- 
 ing's struggle. 
 
 The six interminable weeks of Miriam's mental 
 derangement had grown deep lines on David's 
 face and sprinkled his temples generously with 
 gray ; but those weeks, thank God 1 were past and 
 for the space of a month she had been slowly re- 
 gaining her strength both of mind and body. Her 
 first question, as her mind was clearing, was to see 
 her baby she did not know it was dead. 
 
 " Is the baby all right ? " she asked. " I hope it 
 is a boy ; David so wanted a boy." Her eyes 
 searched the nurse's face. 
 
 " Yes, dear Mrs. Baldwin, your baby is a boy," 
 answered the nurse. 
 
 " Oh, I am so glad." 
 
 " You are not at all strong yet and you must 
 not talk any more now," added the nurse. 
 
 "But you will let me have just one look at him, 
 nurse, just one look at my dear, dear baby, won't 
 you, before I go to sleep again ? " 
 
 285 
 
286 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 " Dear Mrs. Baldwin, I would like to bring him 
 to you but he ought not to be disturbed just 
 now." 
 
 " Of course. If he's asleep I can wait." 
 
 On the next day, however, the cruel words had 
 to be spoken. 
 
 " It's a boy, David; aren't you glad?" Miriam 
 said looking into the eyes of her husband, her 
 mind quite clear again. " But I haven't seen him. 
 You will show him to me, won't you, dear?" 
 
 For an answer David stooped and kissed her 
 cheek. A tear escaped him and fell upon her fore- 
 head. Miriam's eyes searched his own. 
 
 " Why don't you speak, dear ; is anything the 
 matter? Isn't the baby all right? Is he de- 
 formed ? Is that why no one will show him to 
 me? Why, David, I'll love him just the same. 
 I'll love him even more. Please let me see him 
 if only for one little minute," she pleaded. 
 
 " Miriam, dearest sweetheart, our baby is not 
 deformed." 
 
 "Oh, I am so thankful." The anxious look 
 faded away. " Now you will bring the dear little 
 fellow to his mother who loves him so ? Bless his 
 heart, he must be getting hungry." 
 
 " Miriam, dearest, I cannot bring him to you." 
 
 "Why?" she cried. 
 
 David buried his face in his hands, unable to 
 speak, the great lump in his throat making utter- 
 ance impossible. 
 
 " David, dear, I know what you would say to 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 287 
 
 me : our baby is dead ? " Though she meant it 
 for a statement, the question was in her voice. 
 
 David managed to say, "Yes " 
 
 44 Dead? My God ! My baby dead 1 " A mer- 
 ciful unconsciousness stole over her, robbing the 
 hour of further anguish. 
 
 The direful consequences following Mr. Brand's 
 outbreak at church that Sunday morning had 
 brought down upon him such severe criticism that 
 he was forced to take refuge in silence and inac- 
 tion. Among others, Mrs. Strong and Mrs. Wood 
 called on him and begged that he cease his oppo- 
 sition to their pastor's work. 
 
 " You older members have had your day 1 " ex- 
 claimed Mrs. Strong, as they were taking their 
 leave. " Why attempt to mould the religious life 
 of the younger generation after the pattern of a 
 former one ? There are any number of the younger 
 people who are hungering for just the kind of 
 preaching our pastor has been giving us. Why 
 not let us have it ? " 
 
 " Yes," continued Mrs. Wood, " it is only nat- 
 ural for Mr. Baldwin to be in sympathy with the 
 newer thought, since he is a young man, educated 
 thirty years after you were, and during this time 
 great advances have been made along all lines of 
 thought. Mr. Baldwin's preaching has been very 
 helpful to me, Mr. Brand. But you and Mr. Driver 
 are making it very hard for him." 
 
 "Think how that poor woman has suffered, 
 too ! " added Mrs. Strong. " How can you men 
 
288 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 continue your persecutions with all of that on your 
 consciences ! Dear Brother Brand, you will not 
 oppose Mr. Baldwin any further, will you ? " 
 
 " See how the congregations are building up ! " 
 continued Mrs. Wood. " Dr. James comes every 
 Sunday. He told me the other day that he was 
 very much pleased with Mr. Baldwin's sermons. 
 That should count for a great deal, I think. Dr. 
 James is one of the best educated men in the 
 city." 
 
 " But education doesn't make him sound in his 
 religious thinking ! " exclaimed Brand impatiently. 
 " Do not think," he went on reverting to the former 
 topic, " that I have not suffered enough over this 
 matter already. God knows I have ! But can I 
 sit still, I who know what the denomination stands 
 for, while our beliefs are undermined in the very 
 pulpit set for their defense ? I assure you, if Mr. 
 Baldwin will preach the doctrines of the denomi- 
 nation, no one could be a more zealous supporter 
 of him than I would most gladly become." 
 
 Thus the interview ended. 
 
 " Why can't he see that the world has grown 
 away from him ! " exclaimed Mrs. Strong while 
 they were waiting on the corner for a car. " He 
 is just where he was thirty years ago." 
 
 It soon became evident to Mr. Brand that Bald- 
 win was growing on the community more rapidly 
 than ever, gathering about him a strong following 
 which might become dangerous any day to his 
 own long established position of leadership. The 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 289 
 
 summer vacation would soon end and the students 
 would be back. Baldwin would then be more 
 popular than ever. If anything was ever going 
 to be done, it should be done at once. 
 
 Mr. Brand had a talk with Deacon Long. It 
 was soon the deacon's opinion also that something 
 should be done. 
 
 " Hadn't we better talk this over with Driver 
 before we formulate any definite plans? " asked 
 the deacon. 
 
 " But Driver is usually so obstinate ; he nearly 
 always opposes what the rest of us want." 
 
 " I know it. As I was saying to my wife not 
 long ago, he was born that way it's a part of our 
 fallen depravity. We shouldn't be too hard on 
 him. He can't help it. And if we don't get him 
 on our side at the start, he will surely be opposed 
 to everything we try to do." 
 
 " I believe there's something in what you say, 
 deacon." 
 
 " Oh, I know Driver like a book. I never have 
 any trouble with him." 
 
 " Come to think about it, deacon, I guess that's 
 so. How do you manage it ? " 
 
 " Oh, I learned how to get along with Driver 
 years and years ago, soon after I joined the church. 
 I found out that the only way to keep him from 
 opposing what I wanted done was to get him in it 
 at the very start, and get him to thinking it was 
 all right. But if I couldn't get Driver to thinking 
 the plan was his'n, I've learned that the best thing 
 
200 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 to do is to give it up yes, sir, every time. Oh, I 
 can get along with Driver ; I never have any dif- 
 ficulty with him. It's you and him that upset the 
 church so often." 
 
 " But he is so obstinate ! And you know, dea- 
 con, you're always on my side." 
 
 " Of course he's obstinate. Most people are. 
 That's why they have to be managed. As I was 
 saying to my wife, the reason why any two peo- 
 ple don't get along, nine times outer ten, is be- 
 cause both of them want their own way. This 
 holds in church work and in matrimony and I 
 guess in other things, too. Now if we manage 
 Driver just right, he'll join us ; if we don't, he'll 
 oppose us as certain as his name is Amos Driver." 
 
 " I declare, deacon, you have given me some 
 pointers. Of course I've always known that if 
 there was a man in the church who could get 
 Driver to do a thing, you were that man ; but I 
 never stopped to ask the reason for it. Something 
 must be done soon. Our church will be com- 
 pletely swamped if we don't. These new doctrines 
 will destroy any church unless they are checked. 
 Just look at the First Church in St. Thomas ; every- 
 body knows what the heresies of modern thought 
 have done for that church. While claiming to be 
 a regular church of the denomination the members 
 are wholly given over to this damnable new 
 theology! Why, they hold scarcely one of the 
 distinctive beliefs of the denomination. And if we 
 don't bring matters to a climax here before another 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 291 
 
 year rolls by, we will be in practically the same fix : 
 those of us who are loyal to the truth will have to 
 step down and out or keep still." 
 
 " Yes, as I was saying to my " began Dea- 
 con Long, but Brand interrupted him, saying that 
 he must be going. Before leaving, it was agreed 
 that they should call on Driver that evening. 
 
 " I suspect you have come to see me rather than 
 the rest of my family," said Driver, conducting 
 them into the library which he used both as a den 
 and an office. "The young people have some 
 sort of a gathering here to-night ; but we won't 
 be disturbed in here. Have a cigar, deacon ; 
 Brand I know doesn't smoke. What 1 you don't 
 smoke either, Deacon Long ? Well 1 well ! " For 
 forty years Driver had been offering the deacon 
 cigars and professing astonishment when they 
 were refused. 
 
 With more skill on the part of the deacon than 
 Brand had ever given him credit for possessing, 
 Driver was led to join them in writing a letter to 
 their pastor. 
 
 " Yet I tell you I have little heart for this busi- 
 ness. Gad 1 as if I haven't already suffered all 
 that my seventy years can stand 1 " 
 
 " Certainly you have. And so have we all. 
 We've all suffered. And why ? Because our 
 pastor will not conform to the usages and customs 
 of the denomination. He is to blame. As I was 
 saying to my wife he has brought this upon us 
 
292 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 and upon himself. If only he would preach sound 
 doctrines " 
 
 " I tell you I find no fault with his preaching 1 " 
 interrupted Driver savagely. "If he would only 
 conform to the usages of this church, and of the 
 denomination, I'd find no fault whatever with 
 him." 
 
 " But he don't conform to the denominational 
 practices. Remember that ritual 1" urged the 
 deacon. 
 
 " But with his wife in the condition she is, I have 
 little heart for writing this letter. We should go 
 very careful. God knows I don't want to cause 
 that woman any further suffering." 
 
 " Of course, we would all be glad if nothing 
 further had to be done," added Brand in his 
 suavest tone. " I for one would give a neat little 
 sum any day if I could wash my hands of the 
 whole affair. But can we do it ? As members of 
 this church, can we do it?" 
 
 " In conducting the services, Mr. Baldwin has 
 evaded the issue we raised some time ago," added 
 the deacon. " He does not conform to the es- 
 tablished customs of the church ; he does not 
 preach sound doctrines ; he " 
 
 "I repeat, deacon, I find no fault with Mr. 
 Baldwin's doctrines ! " roared Driver, getting up 
 and walking impatiently about the room. The 
 other two men wisely sat still. "The central 
 thing of any organization is its customs, its 
 practices. These, being handed down from age 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 293 
 
 to age become hallowed with sacred memories, 
 become dear to us like the portraits of our an- 
 cestors. I cherish these customs and practices 
 of the church in which I was reared. What dear 
 associations cling to them ! They bind me to the 
 past. It's sacrilege to smash such precious heir- 
 looms." 
 
 " But that's just what Mr. Baldwin set out to do 
 when he began using that ritual ! " 
 
 " I know it, deacon. And if I hadn't entered a 
 protest, robes and candles and incense would have 
 doubtless followed by this time." , 
 
 "We are all indebted to you; as I was saying 
 to my " 
 
 " If there is anything under God's heavens I do 
 detest," said Driver, sitting down at his desk 
 again, " it is a surpliced minister. It's nonsense ! 
 I'm hostile to it ! " 
 
 " But we came pretty near having one in our 
 own church. The rest of us look to you to take 
 the lead in such matters. And this letter will be 
 right along that line. It may save us from further 
 trouble, from other innovations that might be in- 
 troduced at any moment, if we don't write this 
 letter." 
 
 " Well," said Driver taking up his pen again, 
 " if I thought we could keep Mr. Baldwin from 
 making further transgressions on the customs of 
 this church, I'm ready to join in writing him a 
 note. But I still insist that we must be care- 
 ful." 
 
294 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 " Yes, we must be careful," repeated the deacon. 
 " We all agree to that." 
 
 " And we must not put anything in the letter 
 calculated to disturb or upset him." 
 
 " Certainly, nothing calculated to upset him." 
 
 " For I will not be a party to the doing of any- 
 thing that's going to bring any more suffering to 
 that poor woman. Understand ? " . 
 
 " Of course. None of us would think for a 
 moment of doing such a thing." 
 
 Driver glared fiercely at the two men sitting 
 near him. 
 
 " I have little heart for this matter," said he, 
 dipping his pen again in the ink. He sat looking 
 intently at the sheet of paper before him ; but he 
 wrote no word. Brand remained seated. The 
 deacon arose and stood near the back of Driver's 
 chair. Brand wisely kept silent. The wrong 
 word at this moment would spoil everything. 
 Driver placed a blotter under his hand, but the 
 pen was held above the paper. Anxiety was 
 written all over the deacon's face. His hands 
 worked nervously, rubbing one over the other. 
 
 " As I was saying to my wife," began Deacon 
 Long, " the doctrines of the denomination are no 
 longer being preached from our pulpit. Why, I 
 have in my note-book here page after page of our 
 pastor's unsound utterances ; but " 
 
 " Unsound your grandmother ! I tell you I 
 find no fault with his doctrines," snapped Driver 
 savagely. 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 295 
 
 " Of course," assented Deacon Long. "As I 
 was going on to say his unsound utterances are 
 bad enough, but we could stand them if that was 
 all. But it ain't. He does worse than merely 
 preaching unsound doctrine, as I was saying to 
 my wife just yesterday. He could be endured if 
 he did nothing but that ; but he goes further we 
 all know he goes further. And where would our 
 church be to-day if he hadn't been checked? 
 Candles and incense, as Brother Driver has said, 
 would soon have followed that liturgy." 
 
 " And a surplice," added Brand. 
 
 "Yes, and a surplice," repeated Deacon Long. 
 " Who knows what changes he'll introduce next ? 
 I for one can't stand any more changes. They up- 
 set me," watching closely the side of Driver's face. 
 " No man of our age can stand them." 
 
 Driver dipped his pen in the ink again. 
 
 "A few words from us just now may save 
 trouble later ; and of course none of us want any 
 more trouble we have all suffered enough, God 
 knows," repeated the deacon, rubbing his hands. 
 
 " If I could know it wouldn't disturb that poor 
 woman," said Driver, meditatively, as he re- 
 arranged the blotter under his hand. 
 
 " When I was a pastor, " said Brand, quietly, " I 
 frequently received letters that I never showed to 
 my wife." 
 
 " It's a blamed pity, Brand, you are not a pastor 
 somewhere now." 
 
 " Yes, I suppose it is." 
 
296 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 " That poor woman wouldn't be where she is to- 
 night if you " 
 
 " I guess you had your share in it ! " retorted 
 Brand. 
 
 "Well, I guess I did," acknowledged Driver. 
 " I guess we have all had our hand in it even the 
 deacon, here. Now one thing I'm hostile to : I 
 will not be a party to bringing any more trouble to 
 that sick woman. God Almighty knows I've suf- 
 fered enough ! And if a letter from us will do any 
 good in keeping Mr. Baldwin as pastor of this 
 church where he belongs " 
 
 " Of course it will do good," said the deacon, 
 still unconsciously rubbing his hands as Driver 
 dipped his pen into the ink-well again and began 
 to write. 
 
 Deacon Long had developed a sportsman's 
 relish in hunting out unsound spots in his pastor's 
 theology. Every Sunday morning as he set out 
 for church, armed with pencil and note-book, his 
 mental attitude was scarcely that of a devout wor- 
 shiper ; rather it was that of a sportsman. Any- 
 thing in his pastor's sermons dressed in unfamiliar 
 garb, any truth delivered with new emphasis, or 
 anything different from what he had been accus- 
 tomed to hearing aroused the deacon not unlike 
 the call of quail, the chatter of squirrels, and the 
 drumming of partridge arouse other sportsmen 
 after other game. 
 
 Now, as the deacon stood behind Driver's 
 chair, watching the pen as it began to leave dark 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 297 
 
 traces on the white paper, his eyes glowed with 
 keen satisfaction which was further expressed as he 
 unconsciously rubbed one hand caressingly over 
 the other. Surely he was stalking big game 
 now ! 
 
 Brand's thoughts were different. He was an in- 
 tense religious partisan, strong willed, and exceed- 
 ingly narrow, having no use for any one holding 
 religious opinions different from his own. To him 
 religion meant adherence to certain creedal state- 
 ments. He tolerated other church organizations 
 only because the spirit of the age compelled him 
 to do so. Had he lived in the Middle Age he 
 would have made a zealous inquisitor-general. 
 
 To Brand, his denomination was the bearer of 
 the ark of the covenant in this new age ; its doc- 
 trines were drawn from the pure Word of God. 
 In the acceptance of these doctrines was salva- 
 tion ; without them well, God's mercy was the only 
 source of refuge for those Christians held in the 
 bondage of error outside of his denominational 
 fold. Doctrine was everything ; character, noth- 
 ing. A good character was a snare of the Evil 
 One, if the person's beliefs were wrong. 
 
 With intense interest he, too, watched Driver's 
 pen as it began to obey the writer's will, quietly 
 exulting in the consciousness that these two men, 
 Driver and the deacon as well, were carrying out 
 his will rather than their own. He had sown 
 the seeds of suspicion in the deacon's mind and 
 was grimly pleased with the crop these suspicions 
 
298 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 had produced. He had primed the deacon as to- 
 gether they had planned to get Driver to join in 
 writing this letter to Mr. Baldwin. Silently, con- 
 scious of his power, Brand watched the man at the 
 desk. 
 
 Brand cared little what words that pen was 
 writing, so long as the letter served his purpose 
 which was to bring matters to a climax. 
 
 Sitting before his study desk on the following 
 evening, David Baldwin was face to face with one 
 of the gravest problems of a minister's life. The 
 letter, honestly intended by the one who penned it, 
 to contain nothing to disturb him, had in truth, as 
 Brand knew it would, brought matters to a 
 climax. 
 
 In the letter were expressed deep regrets for the 
 sad experiences of the recent past ; warm acknowl- 
 edgment of the pastor's scholarship and ability ; 
 entire satisfaction with him and his work save in 
 one respect. 
 
 " We write to assure you," the letter concluded, 
 " of our most cordial and hearty support, if you will 
 conform to the usages of the denomination and 
 preach Scriptural doctrines, the beliefs commonly 
 accepted in our denomination." The last clause 
 was written in as a correction. 
 
 " As a minister of the denomination," the letter 
 went on, " this should not be hard for you to do, 
 nor do we think we are asking anything strange 
 or unreasonable in making this request. Your 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 299 
 
 sermons and your conformity to the established 
 customs of our church will be sufficient answer to 
 this unofficial communication." 
 
 For hours David Baldwin faced this " unofficial 
 communication," signed by Amos Driver, Sylvester 
 Brand, and Jacob Long, without coming to any 
 satisfactory conclusion. That these three men 
 could control the situation, he had no doubt, un- 
 less he should mass his adherents against them, 
 which would mean a church quarrel and the rend- 
 ing of the church from top to bottom. 
 
 " No, this must not be done," was his thought. 
 " There must be no church fight. I must either 
 conform to their demands and be permitted to 
 stay ; or I must decline to suppress the mes- 
 sage that burns in my heart and take the conse- 
 quences." 
 
 The consequences ? Ah, yes ; why should he 
 hesitate to take the consequences ? His thoughts 
 turned to Miriam lying helpless in her room, in 
 need of constant care ; he thought of his financial 
 prospects, should he be forced to resign, of the un- 
 paid obligations to physician and nurse, and his 
 inability to meet these on demand ; he thought, 
 too, of the difficulty a churchless minister nearly 
 always has in getting another location that 
 churches always seek men who are serving a 
 church and look with suspicion on ministers with- 
 out pastorates. He thought of men who had en- 
 dured almost everything rather than resign before 
 getting a call elsewhere. 
 
300 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 In the midst of these meditations, Baldwin re- 
 membered the words of his jovial friend Hilton, 
 " The reasons for that kind of a sermon have just 
 gone up to bed." He had thought Hilton lacking 
 in spirit, but now that the iron had entered his own 
 soul, Baldwin felt that he had judged his friend 
 harshly. 
 
 The little clock, whose hands were pointing to 
 the hour of one, was ticking the minutes away re- 
 gardless that a human soul was there struggling 
 with one of the profoundest problems of its exist- 
 ence whether it would be bound or free ; whether 
 it would sink into the undifferentiated mass or 
 maintain its individuality at any cost ; whether for 
 bread it would render meaningless service, receiv- 
 ing a hireling's pay for a hireling's work, or, stand- 
 ing before God alone, perform the service for 
 which it was born. 
 
 Twice David Baldwin decided to proclaim the 
 message glowing in his own heart, let come what 
 might. Twice thoughts of Miriam and of his 
 financial condition caused him to reconsider the 
 problem. Upon his knees he wrestled with the 
 subject anew. If his decision touched only him- 
 self he could have settled it easily. But there was 
 Miriam 1 In her delicate condition could he do 
 anything that would bring discomfort to her? 
 And these men had promised their support if he 
 would but preach what they wanted to hear ! 
 They had said that it ought not to be hard for him, 
 a minister of the denomination, to conform to de- 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 301 
 
 
 nominational practices and to preach the beliefs of 
 
 the Church. 
 
 " O God ! " he cried. " What am I to do ! The 
 vision of truth thou hast granted unto me how 
 can I stand before thee and not bear witness to it ? 
 How can I preach and not give utterance to the 
 message burning in my heart ? " 
 
 Sobs escaped him as he buried his face in his 
 hands. 
 
 " Thou knowest how joyfully I would bear wit- 
 ness to the heavenly vision, even to the yielding 
 of life itself, if it touched me alone ; but, O God, 
 another life, dearer than mine how can I bring 
 further suffering to her ? I cannot ! O God, save 
 me from this hour ! " 
 
 His bowed frame shook with grief too deep for 
 words. 
 
 " I cannot ! I cannot bring further calamity 
 upon Miriam," he repeated, after a moment. But 
 the conflict still raged. " How can I suppress the 
 message thou hast given me ? " he cried. 
 
 " My God 1 " lifting his gaze upward, " I cannot 
 decide unless thou help me. Oh, clarify my vision 
 that I may see plainly very plainly, dear heavenly 
 Father, the path in which I should walk ! " 
 
 In the intensity of his struggle, David Baldwin 
 had been oblivious to the objects about him. In 
 his upward gaze he did not see the ceiling of the 
 room it made no impression on his senses, so in- 
 tent was he in his endeavor to realize the nearness 
 of the divine presence. But directly in his line of 
 
302 DAVID BALDWIN 
 
 
 
 vision as he lowered his gaze was a picture of the 
 Christ ; it held him with a strangely fascinating 
 power. As David Baldwin looked upon that kneel- 
 ing figure, into his own soul came a feeling of kin- 
 ship, born of fellowship in suffering. He remem- 
 bered that the Christ, too, shrank from drinking his 
 cup, shrank from the consequences of bearing wit- 
 ness to his own inner vision of truth. 
 
 A full moment Baldwin looked at the Gethsemane 
 picture, scarcely breathing, as he drank in its silent 
 message of sympathy. An unwonted peace crept 
 in and possessed his soul, a peace which fortifies 
 and strengthens men so strangely, so mysteriously 
 in their hours of deepest need. Over his face 
 spread something like a radiance. He, too, would 
 follow the example of the Christ would drink the 
 cup placed before him. 
 
XXII 
 
 THE last plate had been served and their 
 Sunday dinner was getting well under 
 way at the Stewart home. The usual 
 silence prevailed. All were waiting for the little 
 mother to give her customary signal. The morn- 
 ing sermon had provided an interesting topic for 
 discussion, but not a word concerning the pastor's 
 discourse had any member of the household ut- 
 tered. The mother who could not attend church 
 must hear what each one had to say. 
 
 " And what did the minister preach about this 
 morning ? " 
 
 Seven active brains and as many vocal organs 
 were held in restraint while the father made his 
 reply. 
 
 " He preached on temptation, mother, and a very 
 good sermon it was." 
 
 There was silence for about a quarter of a 
 minute. 
 
 " How did Mr. Baldwin treat his subject ? Was 
 he logical ? " 
 
 " His points seemed well arranged, mother, very 
 well arranged." 
 
 After having waited for their father to reply to 
 the first two or three questions, as was their cus- 
 tom, then the flood-gate opened and the seven 
 young people poured forth their observations on 
 
 303 
 
304 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 the pastor's morning sermon. Only years of train- 
 ing could enable one to follow what each speaker 
 was saying ; but Mrs. Stewart had had the train- 
 ing. 
 
 " But Mr. Baldwin's last point," observed Mary 
 after several minutes of discussion had elapsed, " I 
 didn't quite catch his meaning." 
 
 " About the Church leading her ministers into 
 temptation?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 "Why, I thought he was very clear on that 
 point. It was this way, mother," said Tom ; " Mr. 
 Baldwin said that the Church was offering a very 
 subtle temptation to her ministers " 
 
 " The Church tempting her ministers ? " 
 
 " Yes, tempting them to suppress their message ; 
 he " 
 
 " Oh, he was very eloquent, mother ! " 
 
 " You should have heard him ! He never be- 
 fore spoke with such earnestness." 
 
 " He said," continued Tom edging in his re- 
 mark, "that it was only natural for a minister 
 to desire to keep in sympathetic touch with the 
 pillars of his church, and to do this he was some- 
 times tempted " 
 
 "To preach what the people wanted to 
 hear " 
 
 " Rather than the message of his own heart." 
 
 "That powerful motives were brought to 
 bear upon a minister sometimes owing to his 
 family " 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 305 
 
 " Because he had no other support." 
 
 " He told of a certain instance " 
 
 " Of a minister whose reasons had gone to 
 bed," interposed Elizabeth. 
 
 The rest laughed. 
 
 " But he did say it," persisted Elizabeth. " I 
 heard him." 
 
 " But what did he mean, dear ? " asked Mrs. 
 Stewart. 
 
 "Oh, I didn't understand just what he did 
 mean. I never understand all that a minister 
 says." 
 
 " I think it was this way, mother ; this minister 
 to whom Mr. Baldwin referred preached a sermon 
 which did not represent his own views, and a 
 former classmate visiting him asked why he 
 did it." 
 
 " Asked how he could preach that kind of a 
 sermon." 
 
 " Believing as he did." 
 
 "And this minister replied that his reasons 
 had just gone up to bed." 
 
 " His wife and child, mother, you see, had 
 just gone up-stairs to bed." 
 
 " Having a family to support he was preach- 
 ing what the pillars of his church demanded of 
 him rather than the message of his own heart." 
 
 " The pillars were conservative and insisted 
 on the minister preaching the creed of a previous 
 generation." 
 
 " The minister was a man of modern ideas." 
 
306 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 " The Church tempted him." 
 
 " The pillars showed themselves unfriendly to 
 modern interpretations of life." 
 
 " And to retain his pulpit he gave them the 
 type of sermon which would permit him to remain 
 their pastor." 
 
 " Mr. Baldwin said that the situation was by 
 no means an uncommon one the Church tempt- 
 ing her younger ministers to repeat a message 
 they had outgrown." 
 
 " Indeed, mother, Mr. Baldwin was very 
 eloquent this morning. He spoke with the ear- 
 nestness, the impressiveness of a prophet." 
 
 " Like an Isaiah or a Savonarola." 
 
 " Indeed, mother, you missed a rare treat ! " 
 
 " But Savonarola wasn't a prophet, was he, 
 mother?" objected Elizabeth. "He lived several 
 centuries after Bible times." 
 
 " Certainly, dear, he lived after Bible times, 
 as you call it," answered Mrs. Stewart. "What 
 Tom means is that any man in any age who pro- 
 claims a high imperious message, speaking in the 
 name of the deity is a prophet. In this sense 
 prophets are not confined to Bible times nor to 
 the Hebrew people. Is this what you meant, 
 Tom?" 
 
 "Yes, mother. And I'm so glad to find that 
 Mr. Baldwin holds the same view. We were dis- 
 cussing the subject the other evening while out 
 fishing. He said that one of the fundamental 
 differences between the older and the newer re- 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 307 
 
 ligious thought was right here ; that the advocates 
 of the new theology hold that God is in as close 
 and as vital contact with humanity to-day as ever ; 
 that to men of every age, qualified to interpret 
 spiritual truths, there came visions of truth, mes- 
 sages from above, so possessing the recipients as 
 to give them no rest until they spoke forth what 
 was stirring in their own hearts. Mr. Baldwin 
 says that when a man has accepted this conception 
 of God's relationship to his world that God is as 
 near to mankind now as in the time of Abraham 
 or Moses all the other positions of the new 
 theology will follow as a matter of course." 
 
 " I can't see what Mr. Baldwin means by the 
 new theology," said Mary. " Mother, let me refill 
 your cup. Of course God is in his world now as 
 much as he ever was. Don't all people believe 
 that ? What is this new theology, Tom ? I for 
 one do not understand what you mean by 
 * modern religious thought.' " 
 
 " Let's ask Mr. Baldwin to give us private les- 
 sons also. Why should Tom be the only member 
 of the Stewart family so highly favored ? " said 
 Cora. 
 
 "Just the thing! Let's invite him over some 
 evening and the whole Stewart family can sit at 
 his feet at the same time." 
 
 "A capital idea! There are few men with 
 whom I find more pleasure and profit in private 
 conversation than with Mr. Baldwin. But, mother, 
 the children have strayed a little way from the 
 
308 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 morning discourse. There was one other thought, 
 mother, which struck me in anew light. Whether 
 it be new theology or not I do not know. It was 
 this : Mr. Baldwin said that Jesus himself had to 
 meet this temptation that he was tempted to 
 suppress his message ; that this is the meaning of 
 the Gethsemane struggle. Should he bear wit- 
 ness to his larger, truer conceptions of life and 
 truth and endure the consequences or should he 
 suppress his message and conform to the dom- 
 inant opinion of his day, thus saving himself from 
 the heresy trial and its certain ignominious conse- 
 quences which he knew would follow ? This in- 
 terpretation of the struggle in the Garden of 
 Gethsemane was new to me." 
 
 " How does it fit in with your own thoughts, 
 Ephraim ? " 
 
 " I confess, mother, that I had no clear or well 
 defined ideas on what Gethsemane really did 
 mean. I suppose there lingered in my mind 
 something of the traditional view that Jesus was 
 shrinking from the sacrifice which he was about to 
 make for the sins of the world, the old Calvinistic 
 view of Christ's sufferings being an equivalent for 
 the punishment of the redeemed, or something of 
 that sort. But I must say," continued Mr. Stewart, 
 " that Mr. Baldwin's interpretation has given me 
 something to think about." 
 
 " Indeed, all of his sermons do that." 
 
 " Mr. Baldwin is evidently probing some of the 
 profound experiences of life," said Mrs. Stewart, as 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 309 
 
 Mary rose to bring on the dessert. " But, Ephraim, 
 can a man speak as he did to-day without having 
 gone into the depth of a similar conflict himself ? 
 My word for it, no man rises to such utterances 
 and such insight save through experience." 
 
 " You don't mean, mother, that he has been 
 tempted to suppress his message?" 
 
 "What else? Could Mr. Baldwin have 
 preached that sermon in the way he did, other- 
 wise?" 
 
 All eyes were fixed on Mrs. Stewart as she 
 made this statement. 
 
 " You're right, mother. The more I think of it 
 the more I am sure you're right. That sermon, no 
 man could have preached it who had not himself 
 been in Gethsemane ! " 
 
 " What I'd like to know is what part has Mr. 
 Brand played in the affair?" 
 
 " But the discourse was wholly impersonal." 
 
 " Yes, not a word, not even an allusion to any 
 experience of his own. Such a thought didn't 
 even occur to me till mother suggested it." 
 
 " Nor to me either." 
 
 " Well, one thing is certain. We'll hear more 
 of this. If Mr. Brand insists on hearing sermons 
 loaded with medieval conceptions of life, let him 
 preach them to himself. He's capable of produc- 
 ing such discourses. But for one, I'm not going 
 to sit idly by and let him drive Mr. Baldwin from 
 the pulpit of our church." 
 
 " Good for you, Tom ! " cried Cora. " We need 
 
310 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 a little variety in our business meetings. Driver 
 and Brand have become monotonous. Surely 
 Brand and Stewart would make an attractive 
 combination. I predict a full house at the open- 
 ing performance." 
 
 " And we'll stand by you, Tom ; all we need is 
 a leader," said Robert. " Mr. Brand has consid- 
 erable influence in the church. But there's no 
 sense in his dictating what Mr. Baldwin shall 
 preach." 
 
 " But of course we don't know with certainty 
 whether he has interfered or not." 
 
 " I wish I was as certain of a million." 
 
 " Well, what can we do ? Tom, you've been ap- 
 pointed captain or general, whichever you wish. 
 The campaign is in your hands." 
 
 " I've been thinking," responded Tom, as they 
 rose from the table, "I've been thinking for some 
 time about a Monday evening class for young 
 people, so that Mr. Baldwin might come into 
 closer contact with more of the young men and 
 women of our congregation, who know him only 
 through his morning or evening sermons. In 
 such a class as I have in mind he could speak 
 more freely than he could in the pulpit, and, if I 
 am not mistaken, win a closer personal follow- 
 ing." 
 
 "Talk about strategy ! Under the cover of this 
 class or club you would build up a personal fol- 
 lowing to checkmate Mr. Brand and his ad- 
 herents?" 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 311 
 
 "Certainly. Without organization very little 
 could be accomplished." 
 
 " But will Mr. Baldwin consent ? " 
 
 " I think so. More than once I have heard him 
 express a desire for something of this kind where 
 he could ask questions find out what the young 
 people were thinking about where he could help 
 any one who might be struggling with some prob- 
 lem concerning religious beliefs. Of course we 
 must not let him know that we are forming this 
 organization for any other purpose." 
 
 " Of course not." 
 
 " And we must get under motion as soon as 
 possible." 
 
 " By next week, if nothing happens." 
 
 The reply Mr. Brand received in his pastor's 
 sermons had upon him the effect of a challenge. 
 Having persuaded himself of his magnanimity in 
 offering Mr. Baldwin a chance to turn from the er- 
 ror of his way, a chance flatly refused, Mr. Brand 
 told himself again and again while driving from 
 his home to his office, what else could he who 
 knew what his beloved church stood for, do but 
 begin to devise plans for forcing Bald win's resigna- 
 tion? 
 
 During the frequent intervals between pastor- 
 ates, Mr. Brand usually supplied the pulpit when 
 there was no candidate to preach ; if a marriage 
 or a funeral had to be looked after, while the 
 church was without a pastor, Mr. Brand was on 
 
312 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 hand to officiate ; if any member of the congre- 
 gation became ill, Mr. Brand always called to ex- 
 press his sympathy, and if opportunity permitted 
 he would read some verses of Scripture and offer 
 a short prayer before leaving the home. It was 
 not strange, therefore, that many of the more con- 
 servative members of the church, unaccustomed to 
 independent thinking on religious subjects, should 
 look up to Mr. Brand and perhaps unconsciously 
 follow his leadership. Without seeming to do so, 
 it was not difficult for him to sow seeds of suspi- 
 cion broadcast among this element in the church. 
 A word here, a question there, and the pastor's 
 orthodoxy was brought under suspicion. 
 
 Mr. Brand had, as we know, not been free from 
 questioning the pastor's orthodoxy before ; now, 
 however, he was persistent and untiring in his ef- 
 forts to bring Mr. Baldwin into disfavor with the 
 people. With skill he selected certain members of 
 the congregation whom he could most easily in- 
 oculate with his suspicions. 
 
 After a conversation with Mr. Brand, Mrs. 
 Goodwin and Mrs. North happened to meet a few 
 blocks from the church on their way to the mid- 
 week service. 
 
 ." And how did you like the sermon last Sun- 
 day ? A very helpful discourse, wasn't it ? " said 
 Mrs. North, after they had proceeded a half a 
 block. 
 
 " Helpful ? Well, ye-as, in a way ; but I can't 
 say that I approve of all that he said." 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 313 
 
 " Mr. Baldwin spoke with great earnestness, 
 didn't you think ? " 
 
 " Ye- as ; but earnestness is a snare and a delu- 
 sion if what the preacher says is unsound." 
 
 " Unsound ? Why, what have you heard ? I 
 didn't detect anything, did you ? " 
 
 " Well, at first I wasn't altogether certain 
 whether I agreed with all he said or not." 
 
 " I I felt a little that way, too," admitted Mrs. 
 North. 
 
 " Last evening Mr. and Mrs. Brand were in, 
 and incidentally we got to talking about the 
 pastor's discourse. Mr. Brand, you know he's had 
 training in theology, he gave me to understand 
 that the sermon Sunday morning was very un- 
 sound." 
 
 " You don't say ! " 
 
 " Yes. And he ought to know." 
 
 " Of course, he ought to know, having been a 
 pastor himself." 
 
 " It's fortunate we have Mr. Brand to point these 
 things out to us." 
 
 " It certainly is for I never dreamed of that ser- 
 mon being unsound." 
 
 Only Deacon Nelson was in the lecture-room 
 as the two ladies entered. After an exchange of 
 the usual greetings, the deacon said, 
 
 " A fine sermon we had Sunday morning ! 
 Such a discourse refreshes the soul like the dews 
 of Lebanon the grass on the hillside." 
 
 " Ye-as, but " 
 
314 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 " You don't mean, Deacon Nelson, you were 
 able to agree with the doctrines of that discourse, 
 do you ? " interrupted Mrs. North, a trifle eager to 
 display her power of discrimination. 
 
 " Agree with its doctrines ? To what do you 
 refer, Sister North ?" 
 
 " I er ah Sister Goodwin here can express 
 it perhaps better than I can. But the sermon 
 Sunday morning was positively unsound. 'Tis a 
 great pity ! Mr. Baldwin's such a gifted man ! " 
 
 " You say that the sermon was unsound," tak- 
 ing a seat near the two ladies so that they could 
 continue their conversation while the others were 
 coming in ; " it may be that you're right. I'm 
 not trained in such matters, as you know. In 
 what points was the discourse unsound?" 
 
 Mrs. North waited for Mrs. Goodwin to answer. 
 
 "Why, it was unsound all the way through, 
 Deacon Nelson. When a sermon is unsound, it's 
 unsound, isn't it ? " 
 
 " But that's just what I wanter git at. I don't 
 understand what some of the brethren means when 
 they say a sermon's unsound. This is a new word 
 to me leastwise when applied to sermons. I'm 
 used to calling a sermon powerful or lacking in 
 power or something of that sort. Now, since I've 
 been hearing the word occasionally I've been 
 trying to find out what it means Sister North 
 just said that the sermon Sunday morning was 
 unsound. Not having any early eddycation, I've 
 been a learnin' all my life. Now, I'd like to know 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 315 
 
 the meanin' of unsound when you're talking of a 
 sermon." 
 
 Mrs. North again looked at Mrs. Goodwin and 
 waited for her to reply. Mrs. Goodwin fidgeted in 
 her chair. Deacon Nelson was a devout, simple- 
 hearted man whom every one held in high esteem 
 for his childlike spirit, his earnest piety. To 
 ignore his question was impossible. 
 
 " Unsound? Why unsound, Deacon Nelson, 
 when applied to a sermon means why it means 
 that the sermon is is unorthodox, yes unorthodox. 
 Yes, I don't think I can make it any clearer than 
 that. Of course every one knows what's meant 
 by a sermon's being unorthodox." 
 
 " But that also is a new word in my vo-ca-bu- 
 lery, Sister Goodwin. I've often wanted to ask 
 lately the meanin' of that word. Deacon Long 
 used it while talking with me the other day." 
 
 Mrs. Goodwin rose from her chair. 
 
 " Pardon me ! " she exclaimed. " I see Mrs. 
 Marshall coming in the side door. I must speak 
 with her about same committee- work." 
 
 Deacon Nelson turned to Mrs. North. 
 
 " As I understand it, Deacon Nelson, a sermon 
 is orthodox when here comes Mr. Strong. He 
 can express it better than I can. We were talk- 
 ing, Mr. Strong, about the exact meaning of the 
 word orthodox. What is your opinion? Of 
 course everybody has a general idea of the mean- 
 ing of the term ; but what we were after is its 
 exact meaning. Now what is your opinion ? " 
 
316 DAVID BALDWIN 
 
 " My opinion ? Well I think the * exact mean- 
 ing of the term ' is something like this. A sermon 
 is orthodox when it agrees with my own beliefs 
 and opinions ; it's unorthodox when it doesn't." 
 Mr. Strong suppressed a laugh as he passed on 
 to his usual seat on the other side of the room. 
 
 " That's it, Deacon Nelson ; a sermon is ortho- 
 dox when it agrees with what one believes." 
 
 The look of perplexity on the good old man's 
 face showed that he was not satisfied. As he was 
 about to venture another question, the pastor 
 entered the lecture room and conversation ceased. 
 Mrs. North gave a sigh of relief and joined heart- 
 ily in the opening hymn. 
 
XXIII 
 
 " T WAS on my way down to see you," said 
 Brand, halting his horse as he met Baldwin 
 
 -*- on the street. " No, it's not necessary to 
 go back. Just a word about the funeral . of 
 Brother Pratt's little girl." 
 
 Baldwin stepped to the edge of the curb as 
 Brand drove in a little nearer. 
 
 " I was expecting to hear that the child was 
 dead. When I was in to see her last evening, she 
 was patiently awaiting her release. Such a pa- 
 tient, brave little soul ! I'm glad for her sake that 
 the end has come." 
 
 " Yes," assented Brand. " I was there when she 
 passed over to the other side," hesitating a mo- 
 ment. Baldwin waited for him to proceed. " The 
 family have requested me," he continued, lifting 
 his eyes to Baldwin's face, " they've requested me 
 to take charge of the funeral." 
 
 A blow in the face could not have surprised 
 Baldwin more. Instantly, he felt a great anguish 
 settle over his spirit. Brand, noting the effect of 
 his thrust, with a note of triumph in his voice, 
 went on. 
 
 " But the family wanted me to ask you to be 
 present and take some part in the service, say, the 
 prayer before the address." 
 
 " If they've asked you to take charge of the 
 317 
 
318 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 service," replied Baldwin stiffly, in spite of his 
 efforts at self-control, " it will scarcely be necessary 
 for me to be there." 
 
 " Oh, well, as you like. Shall I tell them that 
 other demands on your time, other pressing duties 
 interfere?" the note of triumph was now almost if 
 not quite a taunt. 
 
 Baldwin's eyes flashed as he met squarely the 
 other's shifting gaze. 
 
 " A pastor, Mr. Brand, as you should know, as 
 you do know very well, is never too busy, he never 
 has other duties so pressing that he cannot serve 
 the members of his church when the shadow of 
 death has fallen on the threshold of any home. 
 Good-morning." Baldwin, turning abruptly on 
 his heel, walked rapidly up the street. 
 
 Under ordinary circumstances this incident 
 might have very little significance ; but the rela- 
 tions between the two men were such that Baldwin 
 could not fail to perceive the professional indignity 
 Brand had intended. 
 
 " The scheme will work all right," was Brand's 
 thought as he watched the retreating figure. " No 
 man with his temperament will stand such treat- 
 ment long." 
 
 Brand was right. Some men could endure such 
 treatment. But to David Baldwin it was worse 
 than torture on the rack. The incident stuck in 
 his mind, he couldn't dismiss it. His thoughts 
 clustered about it night after night as he spent 
 hours vainly courting sleep. His digestion suf- 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 319 
 
 fered. It was into the second week before Bald- 
 win was himself again, before the wound his spirit 
 had suffered was healed. 
 
 His peace of mind, however, was of short dura- 
 tion. The thrust came this time by way of Deacon 
 Long, the church treasurer. 
 
 " We're some twenty dollars short this month," 
 complained the deacon, handing the envelope to 
 Mr. Baldwin. 
 
 " How is this ? " asked Baldwin. " I understood 
 that the subscriptions were ample to meet all our 
 financial needs." 
 
 " So they are. The subscriptions are sufficient. 
 But some of the members are refusing to meet 
 what they subscribed at the first of the year." 
 
 " For what reason ? " asked Baldwin bluntly, 
 knowing very well what the deacon wanted to say. 
 " For what reason do some of the members refuse 
 to meet their subscriptions ? If they are out of 
 work or have met with financial reverses, we must 
 take these things into consideration." 
 
 " But they are not out of work. They could pay 
 easily enough if they wanted to. As I was saying 
 to my wife, all we need is " 
 
 " But why, then, do they not meet their sub- 
 scription?" interrupted Baldwin. 
 
 "Because," retorted Deacon Long, nervously 
 fingering his hat, " because they're tired of paying 
 any longer for what they don't get. Sister Good- 
 win said to me, says she, * I won't pay any more 
 till there's a change. We're not hearing the gos- 
 
320 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 pel.' Them's her words. And Sister North has 
 stopped her subscription also. She said to me, 
 says she, ' I have nothing agin Mr. Baldwin, but 
 his sermons are unsound.' Them's her words as 
 I reckoleck them. And there're others feeling the 
 same way. We're short twenty dollars this month 
 and the Lord only knows where we'd be if Brother 
 Brand and some others who don't let such matters 
 interfere with their paying if they should stop 
 paying too we'd have to close up, I guess. But 
 as I was saying to my " 
 
 "You have made the situation quite clear, 
 Deacon Long. May I ask one question ? This is 
 not the first time I have heard it said that I was not 
 preaching the gospel. I greatly desire, Deacon 
 Long, to know what is meant by that statement. 
 In what respects have I not been preaching the 
 gospel ? " Baldwin's tone was cordial, almost con- 
 fidential, inviting a friendly reply to his question. 
 " The one and sole ambition of my life," he con- 
 tinued earnestly, " is to preach the gospel. Please 
 make it plain to me, Deacon Long, wherein I have 
 not been preaching the gospel." 
 
 The deacon was plainly embarrassed. 
 
 "Well, er ah," stammered the deacon, "there 
 has been more or less of a feeling from the first 
 that your sermons were ah er at times un- 
 sound." 
 
 "Yes, I've heard that, too, before. May we let 
 that pass ? Let us try to get at the meaning of 
 that other statement, about my not preaching the 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 321 
 
 gospel. Please give me your opinion. What did 
 Mrs. Goodwin mean ? What would you mean by 
 that expression ? " 
 
 " Why ah ah any one knows what preach- 
 ing the gospel means." 
 
 "And to the best of my knowledge /have been 
 preaching the gospel, Deacon Long. Not for 
 one minute have I knowingly preached anything 
 else." 
 
 " But you you don't believe in the divinity of 
 Christ, do you ? How can one preach the gospel 
 if he don't believe in the divinity of Christ?" 
 
 " Deacon Long, I believe in the divinity of 
 Christ just as firmly as you do. With all my 
 heart I accept the divinity of Christ." 
 
 "Why, er er, I er ah, Brother Brand was 
 a-saying that you denied the divinity of Christ. 
 Of course I never heard you say much about it 
 one way or the other. All I know is what he told 
 me." 
 
 The deacon was beginning to perspire. 
 
 "Mr. Brand has drawn an unwarranted conclu- 
 sion from a conversation we had one day," replied 
 Baldwin, in an even tone. " I find he is apt to do 
 that sometimes. It is exceedingly easy to mis- 
 interpret the beliefs of those who do not agree 
 with us." 
 
 " But you do not accept the Immaculate Con- 
 ception of the Virgin Birth, do you?" said the 
 deacon, mixing up theological terms with his usual 
 lack of discrimination as to their meaning. 
 
322 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 " The Immaculate Conception and the Virgin 
 Birth are two distinct subjects, Deacon Long. The 
 dogma of the Immaculate Conception grew up in 
 the medieval church and was the subject of great 
 controversy. It means that the Virgin Mary was 
 born sinless and has therefore only indirect refer- 
 ence to Christ Do you believe, deacon, that the 
 Virgin Mary was born sinless ? " 
 
 " Why, of course I believe it. I believe what 
 the Bible teaches from cover to cover. When 
 once we begin to throw this or that out of the 
 Bible, as I was saying to my wife, we " 
 
 " But the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception 
 is not taught anywhere in the Bible, Deacon 
 Long." 
 
 " It ain't ! Why ah, where is it taught, then ? 
 Mebbe you'll be a-saying pretty soon that there 
 ain't any such doctrine ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, there is. The doctrine is one of the 
 accepted dogmas in the Catholic church. The 
 term Immaculate Conception has of course passed 
 into general literature. But the doctrine does not 
 belong to Protestantism at all." 
 
 " Not belong to Protestantism ! Do you mean 
 to tell me that I've been all these years a-holding 
 a Catholic belief?" 
 
 " A doctrine, Deacon Long, if it is true, is none 
 the worse for being a dogma of the Catholic 
 church." 
 
 " And you say the Immaculate Conception ain't 
 in the Bible ? " persisted the deacon. 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 323 
 
 " Any well informed clergyman will tell you," 
 replied Baldwin, " that the idea grew up in the 
 thought of the middle ages. Indeed, it was not 
 formally accepted by the Catholic church until the 
 middle of the nineteenth century. Protestantism 
 has never, in any of its great bodies, shown a 
 friendly attitude toward the idea. It may of 
 course be true. In many respects it is a beautiful 
 thought that Christ's mother was sinless. Of 
 course such a thought naturally leads to the wor- 
 ship of the Virgin. But any religious belief which 
 satisfies the human soul, helping men and women 
 to bear the burdens of life, is a boon to humanity. 
 But as the individual grows his beliefs must grow 
 with him. So is it with the race." 
 
 The deacon, unable to appreciate the meaning 
 of his pastor's remarks, reverted to his former 
 question. 
 
 " But the birth of Christ Brand told me you 
 denied the birth of Christ," said he, not a little 
 confused. 
 
 " You mean, I suppose, what is called the Virgin 
 Birth of Christ," corrected Baldwin. 
 
 " Yes, ain't that what I said ? " 
 
 " What you meant, probably. This subject, the 
 Virgin birth of Christ, Deacon Long, is one of the 
 great topics in present day religious thinking. 
 Many devout scholars are slowly thinking their way 
 into it. Books are being written upon it To you 
 and to the great majority of church people the 
 problem has not yet arisen. It is to the New 
 
324 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 Testament something like what the creation- 
 problem was to the Old Testament. But these, 
 Deacon Long, are questions for the specialist. 
 We need not concern ourselves overmuch about 
 them. Creation is that's the great fact. Each 
 age is bound to explain this fact according to all 
 the knowledge it possesses. The people thou- 
 sands of years ago had their explanations, em- 
 bodying their best thought ; and each succeeding 
 age has the same right to explain the fact over 
 again, if the former interpretation seems inade- 
 quate." 
 
 " But that makes the Bible untrue, don't it?" ob- 
 jected the deacon. " What you say seems all 
 right if it if it didn't upset our belief in the Bible, 
 the Word of God. As I was saying to my " 
 
 " That all depends, Deacon Long, on what our 
 attitude is toward the Bible. Here again is an- 
 other of the great present day problems in religious 
 thought. Many earnest workers in the intellectual 
 realm are giving their lives to it. Believe me, 
 greater problems confront the Christian scholar to- 
 day than ever before in the history of the church. 
 Indeed, the Reformation in the time of Erasmus 
 and Luther was no greater movement than the one 
 now on. The struggle then as now embodied a 
 contest between the Old and the New. Fully to 
 understand these great movements and their bear- 
 ings on religious beliefs is the task, I might say, of 
 a lifetime." 
 
 Plainly the deacon was mystified. Though he 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 325 
 
 understood each separate word, the meaning of it 
 all could not have been more obscure had 
 Baldwin spoken to him in an unknown tongue. 
 One impression, however, had beaten itself in 
 upon him. The minister's task was not so simple 
 as it had seemed. 
 
 "But why does a minister have to study about 
 all these things ? What good does it do ? Why 
 not just preach the gospel which is able to save 
 to the uttermost ? " 
 
 " Every problem of life, Deacon Long, is in some 
 way related to the gospel, some very closely and 
 some more remotely. Is it not one of the high 
 functions of religion to help a man solve his prob- 
 lems rightly ? How can a minister proclaim the 
 gospel unless he knows the problems of his age ? " 
 
 " But what has that to do with salvation ? " ob- 
 jected the deacon, edging his way toward the 
 door. " Ain't it enough to save men's souls and 
 build 'em up in the faith ? That's what I'd call 
 preaching .the gospel. All this worldly knowledge, 
 as I was saying to my wife, says I, it's a snare 
 and a delusion. Give me the simple gospel. 
 And there* re many others in the church who feel 
 jest as I do. We feel, to speak plain, that we're 
 not a-getting in the sermons which have been 
 preached in our pulpit during the past year or two, 
 the simple gospel." 
 
 " Deacon Long, do you honestly believe that 
 the financial condition you have reported to me is 
 due to a belief among the people that I am not 
 
326 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 preaching the gospel ? " Baldwin's eyes were 
 kindly but earnestly fixed on the old gentleman's 
 face. 
 
 " Why, ah er, to what else could it be due ? " he 
 replied evasively, as he was leaving Baldwin's 
 study. 
 
 " The families you've mentioned pay so little that 
 I thought there must be some other reason for a 
 large part of the deficiency." 
 
 " You question my honesty ! " cried the deacon, 
 working himself into a rage. 
 
 " Not at all, not at all, Deacon Long. No one 
 questions your honesty. Only I thought that 
 perhaps you could suggest some additional 
 reason for the present financial condition, that's all. 
 Good-morning, Deacon Long, good-morning." 
 
 On taking the car at the end of the next block, 
 Deacon Long was so confused that he did not 
 notice it was going in the wrong direction until 
 he had been carried seven blocks out of his way. 
 
 " Twist number two ! " commented Baldwin, as 
 he counted the contents of the envelope which the 
 deacon had handed him. " There is more than 
 one way of putting a man on the rack. I be- 
 gin to wonder just how many twists of the wheel I 
 shall be able to withstand." 
 
 Still he sat looking at the pile of currency, com- 
 posed of nickels, dimes and quarters in large pro- 
 fusion, together with half dollars, dollars, and a few 
 larger bills. For several minutes Baldwin was lost 
 in meditation. 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 327 
 
 " No," was his conclusion, " there is no remedy, 
 no redress without a church fight, which would 
 simply wreck the church. I could never stand 
 that. It would simply kill me. I must seek an- 
 other pastorate." 
 
 But how ? He would write to some of the boys 
 whom he knew well in the divinity school. Per- 
 haps they could put him in touch with some 
 churches about to make a change. 
 
 In due time replies came from each of the men 
 to whom he had written. These letters from half 
 a dozen ministers scattered in neighboring states 
 were very similar in their essential feature sorry 
 to hear he . was thinking of leaving Tioga, still 
 sorrier that they were unable to suggest his name 
 to any available church ; but if an opening should 
 occur within their notice, they would be only too 
 glad to present his name to the pulpit com- 
 mittee. 
 
 Before the returns were all in from the first half 
 dozen letters, Baldwin wrote to a dozen more fel- 
 lows whom he knew not quite so well. 
 
 " Surely, something favorable will come from 
 some of these," was his comment as he dropped 
 the letters into the office. 
 
 Anxiously he awaited results. Two days pass 
 and two more ; the evening's mail brings two re- 
 turns. Carlin's letter was very cordial, though 
 Baldwin had known him only a short time during 
 his last half-year ; if only he had known a little 
 sooner that Baldwin was thinking of a change 
 
328 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 there was a good church near him but they had 
 called a new man only the week before. 
 
 " It would have been just the field for a man of 
 your type. I can understand your problem at 
 Tioga and you have my sympathy. I know the 
 men the man you are up against. No need of 
 saying any more. Be assured I shall keep you in 
 mind." 
 
 Rhodes' reply was almost a duplicate of some 
 he had already received. For a week answers 
 kept coming in, and the more they came the lower 
 David's expectations sank. It seemed that no one 
 of his clerical friends knew of a vacant pulpit. 
 Talk about a dearth of ministers 1 Why, where 
 was the room for a single one more ? Nearly 
 twenty letters had failed to locate the spot 1 
 
 Brand, meanwhile was tireless in his opposition, 
 and Baldwin was made to feel more keenly the 
 growing defection when the Fawcett-Brown wed- 
 ding occurred without his presence Mr. Brand 
 being invited to officiate. 
 
 The Monday evening club, however, was truly 
 a newly found source of support. He told Miriam 
 more than once that he did not see how he ever 
 got along without it. 
 
 " We have such good times ! The members 
 seem so eager for what I am able to give. I 
 shall always bless Tom Stewart for his sugges- 
 tion." 
 
 " But, dear, I think you ought not to undertake 
 so much. You are doing altogether too much. 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 329 
 
 You do not know what a care-worn look has 
 settled upon your brow," Miriam kept telling him. 
 
 " But now that you are getting at the helm 
 again, sweetheart, I shall soon be all right. A 
 man without a wife to look after him is a pretty 
 poor stick, isn't he? Some of us need so much 
 looking after, perhaps the old plan of having two 
 or half a dozen wives wasn't so bad after all." 
 
 " But, David, dear, you are working too hard. 
 You seem well, not like your natural self." 
 
 " I I don't sleep as well as I used to," he ad- 
 mitted, guardedly. "A little indigestion prob- 
 ably." 
 
 " And you have so little relish for your food 1 " 
 she added with increasing concern. 
 
 "But now that you're getting about again, 
 you'll soon see what an appetite I'll have, sweet- 
 heart. But you must not worry about me. My 
 work is a little hard just now. This heat, I sup- 
 pose, has something to do with it." 
 
 " You should take a rest. Why are you not 
 taking any vacation this summer ? " 
 
 "Perhaps we will, dear, a little later. It has 
 not suited me to do so yet." 
 
 Miriam had almost recovered her physical 
 strength and her mind was clear ; but the phy- 
 sician had cautioned Baldwin to use the greatest 
 care in keeping her free from worry, and all 
 anxiety, all mental stress or strain. 
 
 " Anxiety or worry may suddenly undo all that 
 these weeks have built up. Mrs. Baldwin needs 
 
330 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 absolute freedom from mental strain. In fact, it 
 is her only hope," said Doctor Wood. " Neither 
 yourself nor any member of the church must dis- 
 cuss the affairs of the church in her presence." 
 
 So David Baldwin with aching heart continued 
 to bear alone the burden which he did not dare to 
 share with his wife. But human hearts like his 
 are not made to bear burdens alone. The condi- 
 tion would be so much easier to endure with 
 Miriam's sympathy. 
 
 That night after Miriam had retired, David 
 wrote five more letters, addressing one to Dr. 
 Harmon, his favorite professor in the divinity 
 school, one to the president of his alma mater and 
 the other three to prominent ministers in the de- 
 nomination. 
 
 " O God ! " he prayed, his head bowed on his 
 writing table, " direct thou me. Lead me, O God, 
 for I cannot find my way alone. Let some relief 
 come to thy servant. Thou, O Lord, knowest that 
 his need is great." 
 
 The conscious need of the human heart has in 
 all ages brought humanity into closer relations 
 with deity. Perhaps this is the meaning of the 
 hard experiences of life who knows ? Is not life 
 a school ? Was not David Baldwin facing one of 
 the age-long lessons of the race, that only 
 through the individual's conscious need is he 
 brought into closer fellowship with God ? But in 
 the midst of the lesson its meaning was anything 
 but clear. But day after day as he poured forth 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 331 
 
 his soul in fervent petition for guidance, praying 
 as he had rarely prayed before, the divine Pres- 
 ence seemed to him more real. Is spiritual vision 
 ever raised from lower to higher degree of clear- 
 ness save through suffering? The question is an 
 old one. Who is able to answer it ? 
 
 But the answers to his letters brought no relief. 
 Must he resign and enter that class so much 
 dreaded by his profession that of becoming a 
 churchless pastor? The dread of the morrow 
 settled more heavily upon him. 
 
TT 
 
 XXIV 
 
 HAT there is a meaning in the hard ex- 
 periences of life, the pain, the sorrow, the 
 
 -*- anguish of spirit which comes sooner or 
 later in some form to all, David Baldwin had more 
 than once presented in his sermons. 
 
 " These experiences are but means of developing 
 in us a higher quality of spirit," he had said. 
 
 It had been easy to utter these words, urg- 
 ing solace and comfort to others ; but to learn 
 the lesson himself that quality of spirit comes 
 through suffering was indeed quite a different 
 matter. Gradually, however, without relaxing his 
 efforts to secure another church, Baldwin was 
 brought into a closer, a more personal knowledge 
 of many of the spiritual conceptions he had previ- 
 ously held only as theory. His sermons became 
 more vital, more human and less scholastic as the 
 discipline of his own heart clarified his spiritual 
 vision. Through his own sufferings he was en- 
 tering into a larger, a more intimate brotherhood 
 with the common man. The language of books 
 was being displaced by the language of life. 
 
 To Sylvester Brand this deeper note in his 
 pastor's sermons was but another evidence of Bald- 
 win's doctrinal unsoundness. Accordingly his op- 
 position became even more relentless. When the 
 month closed the financial condition was a little 
 
 332 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 333 
 
 worse than at the end of the preceding one. Bald- 
 win made no complaint, knowing that such a move 
 on his part would precipitate matters that much 
 sooner. With nothing definite in view, he con- 
 tinued writing letters to various clergymen in the 
 denomination, with the hope of securing informa- 
 tion which might lead to another settlement. 
 Surely something must open soon. David Bald- 
 win's extremity drove him into closer fellowship 
 with God. His greater need held him more fre- 
 quently and longer in intense communion with 
 deity. 
 
 On the following Sunday morning as Baldwin 
 poured forth his soul in a remarkable sermon, 
 Prisoners of the Present being his theme, there 
 were many persons in his congregation who felt 
 while under the spell of his utterances that the 
 preacher was reading and interpreting some of 
 their own innermost thoughts. 
 
 " It was a most searching sermon, mother, one 
 of the most searching discourses I ever heard," 
 said Mr. Stewart, opening the discussion at their 
 Sunday dinner. " In many of his statements he 
 seemed to be looking into the depths of my own 
 heart." 
 
 To Deacon Long the sermon afforded con- 
 siderable material for his note-book. His sports- 
 manlike instinct was literally satiated with heretical 
 statements, heretical because they contained an 
 emphasis he had not been accustomed to hearing 
 in his earlier days. 
 
334 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 Meanwhile, the Monday evening club under the 
 efficient leadership of Tom Stewart was a large 
 factor in making Baldwin's situation bearable. 
 These meetings held for an hour or two in the 
 church parlors afforded Baldwin an opportunity 
 which he had long coveted. Any religious ques- 
 tion perplexing the minds of his young people, he 
 would take up and discuss with them. These 
 meetings sometimes fairly bristled with interroga- 
 tion points. 
 
 " The vital thing," he kept telling them at the 
 end of various discussions, " is not what you be- 
 lieve about the Bible or about the Christ. The 
 vital thing is Do you accept the Christ as 
 the Master of your life ? To be possessed by the 
 Christ-spirit to the central thing in Christianity." 
 
 "Would you accept a man for membership in 
 your church who while believing in the divinity of 
 Christ, could not believe that explanation of his 
 origin the Virgin Birth ? " asked Mr. Parker the 
 young lawyer. 
 
 " Certainly I would, Mr. Parker. If the man has 
 accepted Christ as his master, other things are 
 secondary. By emphasizing considerations which 
 are not fundamental we divide Christendom into 
 numerous rival sects, and thus impede the work of 
 the church in many communities. Rival churches 
 in small towns not infrequently do more harm than 
 they do good." 
 
 Baldwin was surprised and delighted to find 
 that his young people were thinking for them- 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 335 
 
 selves on many religious subjects through which 
 he himself had struggled little by little into more 
 liberal conceptions. His own experience enabled 
 him to guide others walking along the same path. 
 
 " How thankful I am," said he to Miriam as 
 they were returning from one of these Monday 
 evening meetings, " that my own experience en- 
 ables me to guide the thinking of these young 
 people. If I were not liberal in my own thinking 
 I would be under the necessity of repressing their 
 questions." 
 
 " Yes ; and make them feel that they were wicked 
 for having liberal thoughts," replied Miriam. 
 " That is the way my pastor at home always made 
 me feel whenever he talked with me. I am sure, 
 dear, that you are doing for these young men and 
 women just what would have been so helpful to 
 me, if I could have had such a pastor." 
 
 " Thank you, dearest. And I'm so glad to have 
 you attend some of the services again. I think 
 you are right in not wanting to go to the regular 
 church services yet. But it does seem so good, 
 sweetheart, to have you at these Monday evening 
 meetings." 
 
 " I haven't heard you say anything special about 
 Mr. Brand for some time, dear. I hope he has 
 ceased annoying you ? " 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Brand and I ? Well, come to think 
 about it, I haven't said much about him lately, 
 have I ? We are we are getting on, after a 
 fashion, yes, after a fashion." 
 
336 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 " And Mr. Driver ? You haven't mentioned him 
 for some time. Has he been away ? " 
 
 " Let me see ? Yes, Driver has been away 
 some. I pay no more attention to Driver and 
 Brand than I find is necessary. There are so 
 many others in the church whom I find more con- 
 genial. By the way, how are you liking Mrs. 
 James?" 
 
 " She's splendid ! She's my ideal. And she 
 speaks so highly of your sermons, dear. She 
 wants us to take dinner with them Friday even- 
 ing." 
 
 "That will be fine," said David, breathing a 
 sigh of relief. He was glad to get Miriam away 
 from any thoughts or questions concerning the 
 pillars of the church. Anxiety would even yet 
 undo the slow gain of many weeks. To shield 
 her from this anxiety David Baldwin was leading 
 a double life. He compelled himself to wear a 
 smile in her presence when often his heart was 
 heavy and sad ; he found himself reading the 
 funny column in the papers in order to have 
 something cheerful to say at their meals. But 
 many of the funny things he read he could not 
 remember ; so this led to his keeping a joke-book. 
 
 "You see, I can't use these as illustrations in 
 my sermons," he told Miriam, laughingly. " So 
 you have to suffer. You see, I have to share them 
 with some one. Half the enjoyment of a good 
 joke consists in telling it again." Thus the situa- 
 tion was saved by humor. 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 337 
 
 "No," objected Sylvester Brand to Deacon 
 Long's proposal of calling a church meeting. 
 " The time hasn't come for that yet. Some things, 
 I tell you, deacon, have to be done under cover, 
 and this is one of them." 
 
 "But my note-book what's the good of all 
 them unsound statements if we're not a-going to 
 use them?" complained Deacon Long, turning 
 the leaves of a leather-bound note-book he was 
 holding in his hand. "And I've listened through 
 many a sermon to get all them statements, every 
 one of 'em unsound. If we want him to go, what 
 more do we need ? If we can prove to the church 
 that he's unsound, ain't that all that's necessary? 
 As I was saying to my " 
 
 " Your idea, deacon, is all right when the proper 
 time comes ; when the proper time comes, deacon. 
 Your notes are valuable, of great value ; and we'll 
 use them, too ; but not now. We must not think 
 of letting this matter come openly before the 
 church, when we can accomplish our purpose a 
 thousand times better by working along other 
 lines." 
 
 " But don't we want to get rid of him because 
 he's unsound? Ain't that the reason we want 
 him to go ? " persisted Deacon Long, querulously. 
 
 " Yes, certainly," assented Brand. 
 
 "Then why not have a church meeting and 
 show up his unsoundness ? " demanded Deacon 
 Long, contending with unusual obstinacy for his 
 point. " We've got the material right here," pat- 
 
338 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 ting his note-book complacently. " Every page 
 in this little book contains one or more of his un- 
 sound utterances. As I was saying to " 
 
 " Your plan would work to perfection, deacon, if 
 it were not for one thing, for just one thing," Brand 
 repeated in his quiet impressive manner which al- 
 ways had great weight with Deacon Long. " I 
 would join you in a moment, in calling a church 
 meeting if it were not for one thing," pronouncing 
 the last two words with great solemnity. Brand 
 was finding the simple minded deacon a little more 
 difficult to manage than usual. " The one objec- 
 tion is this. There are any number of members 
 in this church, as in most congregations, who don't 
 know what unsound doctrine is, and what's more 
 neither you nor I could convince them, either. We 
 know he's unsound. But to save your soul, you 
 couldn't convince one half of the members of this 
 church of that fact. I know what I'm talking 
 about," significantly. 
 
 " Couldn't convince 'em ? I don't see why we 
 couldn't with all these statements right here in 
 black and white ! If a statement's unsound, it's 
 unsound, ain't it ? I don't see, Brand, that your ob- 
 jection holds. I'm for fighting the Lord's battles 
 openly. To speak plainly, I I am not, well, I do 
 not fully approve of of some of the things we've 
 been a-doing." At last Jacob Long had brought 
 himself to register the protest which had been 
 struggling for weeks to express itself. 
 
 Sylvester Brand looked at the deacon for a mo- 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 339 
 
 ment. " You want him to resign, don't you ? " he 
 asked quietly. 
 
 " You know that as well as I do," retorted the 
 deacon. 
 
 " You believe that he's undermining the very 
 foundations of this church ? " 
 
 Long answered only with a nod of his head. 
 
 " The officers of this church have a most solemn 
 responsibility placed on their shoulders," continued 
 Brand. " Strange doctrines, upsetting the very 
 foundations of this church, are being proclaimed in 
 our midst. And what's more, a considerable ele- 
 ment in the church is already carried away by these 
 doctrines. I tell you, deacon, this is no time to 
 quibble ! I myself feel much as you do about 
 some of the things we have done. But the blame 
 deacon, rests upon him, not upon us. Has not 
 God raised us up for this very purpose to be de- 
 fenders of the faith ? 
 
 " I have no quarrel with Mr. Baldwin, person- 
 ally," he went on. " Indeed, I more than half like 
 him in spite of his heresy. But can a man evade 
 his destiny ? Willingly, I tell you, I would evade 
 mine, if I could. But I cannot. The doctrines of 
 my church are dear to me, dearer than life. At 
 the peril of my soul would I defend them." 
 
 Jacob Long was plainly overawed by these 
 solemn words of his colleague. One thought he 
 caught and turned over and over in his mind, 
 finding consolation in it. 
 
 " As you say, the blame is his'n. If there was 
 
340 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 no necessity we wouldn't have to do nothing. 
 But since he's unsound, the blame is his'n." 
 
 " Yes, and what we must work for is to bring 
 about his resignation quietly. He won't be able 
 to stand this much longer all we've got to do is 
 to keep it up. Now that the Marshalls have taken 
 a stand with us we shall be able to give the wheel 
 another turn," unconsciously using an allusion to 
 the old inquisitorial instrument of torture. 
 
 " What do you have in mind, now ? " asked the 
 deacon with little show of interest. 
 
 " The Marshalls are about to issue invitations to 
 a reception quite an elaborate affair." 
 
 " Yes, I know." 
 
 " And Mrs. Marshall has finally consented to 
 leave the Baldwins off her list." 
 
 " Do you think Mr. Baldwin will care ? " asked 
 the deacon with scorn in his tone. " I'm never in- 
 vited to Mrs. Marshall's receptions and /don't care. 
 I wouldn't go if I was invited. These fashionable 
 receptions how often do you see these same peo- 
 ple in prayer-meeting ? As I was saying to my 
 wife, these " 
 
 " But if you were a pastor, deacon, and one of 
 your prominent families were to ignore you 
 socially, in the most public manner, I tell you, 
 you would care. Ministers feel such things very 
 keenly." 
 
 " I suppose there's a difference when one is a 
 minister," admitted Deacon Long. " But I have 
 little faith in your scheme. If it don't produce re- 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 341 
 
 suits, I shall insist on having a church meeting 
 called." The deacon had risen from his comfort- 
 able chair in Mr. Brand's private office. " If the 
 resignation ain't forthcoming within, say, three 
 weeks, I shall insist on bringing the material of 
 my note-book before a church meeting. Do you 
 agree to this ? " he asked facing the other man al- 
 most savagely. 
 
 Brand hesitated. " Yes," he finally answered ; 
 " if the resignation isn't forthcoming at the end of 
 three, no, make it four weeks, I am agreed to call- 
 ing a church meeting." 
 
 Victory at last! Jacob Long's sombre face 
 wore a shadowy smile as he took his departure. 
 For weeks and months he had been collecting 
 specimens of unsound doctrine ; these he would 
 now have the opportunity of exhibiting. 
 
 "I never before saw him so persistent," mut- 
 tered Brand, turning to a pile of correspondence. 
 " Humph, that note-book ! How he has enjoyed 
 that note-book ! But what does it amount to ? 
 Nothing, nothing at all. And a church meeting ? 
 The very thing we should avoid. Whatever pos- 
 sessed me to agree to it ? But it shall not occur. 
 That resignation shall be on hand if, if, well there 
 are more ways than one of causing a minister to 
 want to resign." 
 
 Gathering several papers in his hands and ar- 
 ranging others before him, he touched a button at 
 the side of his desk. Immediately his stenog- 
 rapher entered. 
 
342 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 " We'll get these letters off now, John," said he. 
 The defender of the faith had become a captain of 
 industry. 
 
 Sylvester Brand's office was equipped in a man- 
 ner similar to any one of ten thousand offices of 
 successful business men, that is, with all the 
 modern, labor-saving devices which have com- 
 pletely transformed the business world within the 
 past quarter of a century. 
 
 His business had grown steadily and for a few 
 years his sales were in excess of any of his com- 
 petitors in the city. He had attained this position 
 at the head of the coal and wood business in 
 Tioga only by adjusting himself a little sooner 
 than his associates to new methods of handling 
 his business, in the changing conditions of a grow- 
 ing city. 
 
 He had done in the coal and wood industry ex- 
 actly what Baldwin had done in his special line 
 kept up with the times. Progress in business had 
 brought the telephone, the typewriter, the stenog- 
 rapher, and a sharp division of labor, giving to 
 each man his special task. Evidences of progress 
 were on all sides, and men not in business ac- 
 cepted these changes without questioning their 
 right to exist. 
 
 In the sphere of religious thought the last 
 quarter of a century has witnessed progress equal 
 at least if not surpassing that of the industrial 
 world. In his business, the realm in which he was 
 intellectually alert, and in which he really lived, 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 343 
 
 Mr. Brand was an ardent advocate of progressive 
 ideas ; but in the realm of religious thinking he 
 had not lived, he was intellectually inactive, and 
 his very definite set of theological conceptions 
 owing to their very definiteness, became a hin- 
 drance to his further development. 
 
 Further, in his psychology there was no dis- 
 tinction between religious faith and explanations 
 concerning this faith. Religious faith which is an 
 attitude of the heart toward deity he confused 
 with doctrines and beliefs, formal explanations of 
 faith, but of necessity transient and bound to 
 change with the growing knowledge of the indi- 
 vidual or of the race. 
 
 His religious zeal not finding its natural outlet 
 in the work of the ministry for which he had pre- 
 pared himself but was compelled to relinquish 
 owing to some throat difficulty, it was not un- 
 natural for a man of his temperament to drift into 
 the attitude of a self-appointed guardian of ortho- 
 doxy. The standard of right belief which to him 
 was absolutely final was of course the theological 
 conceptions he had reached at the close of his 
 brief career as a pastor. These he identified with 
 the beliefs of the denomination. 
 
 In his opposition to modern religious thought 
 Brand was honest. In his mind modern thought 
 was a more dangerous foe to religion and the 
 church than infidelity had ever been or could be. 
 Immorality and drunkenness were less a menace 
 to the church than this hydra-headed monster, 
 
344 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 modern thought. How his soul stirred within 
 him as he saw this plague of pernicious ideas 
 sweep over the land ! Oh, for the power to quar- 
 antine the church against the ravages of this 
 plague ! if not all Christendom, at least his own 
 beloved denomination. 
 
 When every community contains its own guard- 
 ian of orthodoxy, its own defender of the faith, 
 it is needless to employ further words in this nar- 
 rative to set forth the attitude of Sylvester Brand. 
 His type is too well known. He exists every- 
 where, the champion of religious beliefs which the 
 intellectual world has outgrown. He thinks he is 
 a champion of religion. Herein is a thousand 
 pities. What he really desires to accomplish the 
 promotion of religion he seriously obstructs. 
 For he would make the thought of yesterday a 
 substitute for the thinking of to-day. 
 
 Perhaps it is well that these guardians and de- 
 fenders of the faith do not know how much suf- 
 fering they sometimes cause. Sylvester Brand 
 knew that David Baldwin was suffering under his 
 treatment of him, yet such is the power of re- 
 ligious zeal when unbalanced with the common 
 sentiments of humanity, Brand pursued his prey 
 without compassion or mercy. O Religion, how 
 many crimes have men committed in thy fair 
 name ! 
 
 The records of yesterday and of the day before 
 tell us of tortures in dungeons, of burnings at the 
 stake, of the wheel and the rack, and of instru- 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 345 
 
 ments of torture almost beyond the imagination 
 of man to construct ; of men and women and 
 little children suffering deaths too horrible to por- 
 tray. But to die for a cause is not a greater sac- 
 rifice than to live and suffer for it. 
 
 Into the weeks following Brand's promise to 
 Deacon Long there was pressed all the annoy- 
 ance, humiliation, indignity for David Baldwin 
 that Sylvester Brand's fertile brain could devise 
 and accomplish. What an inquisitor-general he 
 would have made if only the spirit of the times 
 permitted ! 
 
 Tom Stewart and other friends of the pastor, 
 though they knew of only a few of the indignities 
 Baldwin had to endure, were determined to mar- 
 shall the members of the church in favor of the 
 present regime and suppress Brand's persecution, 
 which his opposition to Baldwin had now virtually 
 become. 
 
 " No, friends, we must not have a church fight," 
 Baldwin kept telling them. " There are few more 
 regrettable affairs on earth than a church torn 
 asunder." 
 
 " But, man, this thing can't go on. It's simply 
 killing you," protested Tom Stewart. " How any 
 Christian can act as Sylvester Brand has is be- 
 yond me. To judge from his actions toward you, 
 one would think that you were the very devil." 
 
 " Rather, that Brand himself is a devil," said 
 Mr. Strong who was calling on Mr. Baldwin at the 
 time. 
 
346 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 "Well, either way or both," replied Tom sav- 
 agely. "Sylvester Brand is working night and 
 day to bring about your resignation," he contin- 
 ued, addressing Baldwin. " You have already 
 endured too much, far too much from his hand. 
 Not one man in ten would have stood his treat- 
 ment as long. And he has fully a third of the 
 members of this church under his thumb. He's 
 their priest. He does their thinking. He uses 
 every method known to the politician to bind these 
 people to him. He's a regular boss a church 
 boss." 
 
 " And we must organize to checkmate him or 
 he will accomplish his purpose," said Mr. Strong. 
 " Dominie, you must untie our hand. Withdraw 
 your veto and we'll attend to this matter in short 
 order. As Tom says, this state of affairs cannot 
 go on much longer. Why, I'm getting on the 
 ragged edge of nervous prostration myself. The 
 whole church is in a state of strain. If you don't 
 withdraw your veto, why we'll have to proceed, 
 veto or no veto, dominie." 
 
 " You have promised me, both of you, to do 
 nothing of the sort. I stand where I've stood from 
 the beginning we must not split the church. I'm 
 glad for your support. Life here would be un- 
 bearable without it. Perhaps it would be best if I 
 should resign at once. That would relieve the 
 situation." 
 
 " I tell you, dominie, you shall do nothing of 
 the kind. Not while a considerable majority of 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 347 
 
 the members desire you to continue with us. You 
 are doing for us what no other pastor has done. 
 Your sermons are of the kind we want. If Brand 
 doesn't fancy them, let him go elsewhere. Some 
 of us have had to feed in other churches occasion- 
 ally when he was having his type of preaching in 
 this church." 
 
 " Yes, or let him stay home and preach to him- 
 self," said Tom. "Fll double my subscription in 
 a moment if he would." 
 
 " There's no danger of his staying away he's 
 too good a fighter for that," said Strong. " But 
 I'm in a quandary, dominie." 
 
 "Indeed?" 
 
 " Yes, I promised Mrs. Strong I'd get your con- 
 sent to our doing something. You may expect a 
 call from her as soon as I get home." 
 
 "I always enjoy her calls," replied Baldwin, 
 lightly. 
 
 " She's determined that this matter shall be ad- 
 justed one way or the other. After coming home 
 from the Marshalls' the other evening, she was so 
 stirred up she didn't sleep any all night. She de- 
 clares she will not rest till something is done. So, 
 dominie, it's up to you, as the boys say. Which 
 will it be your consent to some move on the part 
 of your friends or your resignation ? " 
 
 " I'm exceedingly sorry that Mrs. Strong has 
 had to lose any sleep over this condition. Sleep- 
 less nights are terrible. What a luxury to go to 
 bed and sleep till morning ! But with reference to 
 
348 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 calling a church-meeting as you proposed a while 
 ago, I fear the consequences. In the present con- 
 dition of affairs, would not such a move be the first 
 step toward a church fight ? I am certain it would 
 be better for the community for me to resign." 
 
 " But we don't want you to resign," persisted 
 Tom, vehemently. " And may I ask the ques- 
 tion I know is personal but have you any church 
 in mind to which you could go ? " 
 
 " No," answered Baldwin, slowly. " I have no 
 other church in view. But that needn't matter," 
 he added. 
 
 "If it comes to the worst and you feel that you 
 must resign rather than let your friends organize 
 against this opposition, would it be difficult for 
 you to get another church ? " Tom asked. " I I 
 feel that we should know what your prospects 
 would be. Is it easy or not for a minister in our 
 denomination to get a suitable church, one that 
 would furnish a reasonable support, when he re- 
 signs without having anything in view ? " 
 
 Baldwin replied, "The situation is something 
 like this : When a man doesn't want to make a 
 change, he usually has various opportunities and 
 invitations coming his way, if he is doing good 
 work. But let that same man resign without a 
 call elsewhere and thus become a minister without 
 a church and at once he becomes discounted by at 
 least ninety per cent. He is practically in no de- 
 mand whatever. Churches look upon him with 
 suspicion. Indeed, I know of more than one in- 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 349 
 
 stance where pastors have endured shameful treat- 
 ment a year or two years rather than resign before 
 obtaining a call elsewhere." 
 
 " Great God 1 Is this what it means to be a 
 minister?" cried Tom Stewart, jumping to his 
 feet. " Come, Strong, we have heard enough ! " 
 
 " No, don't ask what we're going to do," said 
 Strong interrupting Baldwin's question. "And 
 see here, dominie, you might as well tear up that 
 resignation you've got tucked away somewhere in 
 your desk. You're not going to resign the pas- 
 torate of this church under any such circum- 
 stances. Your friends simply cannot permit it. 
 Tear it up, dominie ; tear it up. If ever the time 
 comes to use such a document, you can write an- 
 other. But that time has not come yet You are 
 in the hands of your friends. Rest content. Our 
 regards to Mrs. Baldwin. Good-bye." 
 
 Not trusting himself for further speech, Baldwin 
 silently pressed their hands as the two men left 
 his study. When he was alone, Baldwin turned 
 the key in the central drawer of his desk, took out 
 a sheet of paper and carefully read it. 
 
 " How did Strong know, I wonder?" he mused. 
 " It has certainly given me some relief just to 
 write the thing. Oh, if only I could see my way 
 clear to hand it in 1 " 
 
 Baldwin sat at his desk, lost for the moment in 
 the intensity of his meditation. 
 
 "Why don't I? Why do I not free myself 
 from this terrible strain? The remedy lies in 
 
350 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 using that sheet of paper. Why, then, don't I use 
 it ? What makes me hesitate ? Ah, it's the dread 
 of the morrow the dread of facing a morrow 
 without anything to do ! " 
 
 Who of us does not appreciate such a motive ? 
 To half of the world at least the bread and butter 
 problem is never out of sight. The wage-earner 
 is bound to his task by the dread of facing a 
 morrow in which he can find no work. What 
 self-abasement individuals endure, thousands of 
 them, rather than endanger their means of sup- 
 port 1 And what robs a man sooner of his dignity, 
 his self-respect than being without work? A 
 miserable sense of defeat settles like a cloud upon 
 the soul of the man who cannot find work the 
 work he has fitted himself to perform. 
 
 From the very nature of a minister's prepara- 
 tion for his life-work together with the professional 
 and social dignity attached to his position in the 
 community as a clergyman, David Baldwin was 
 filled with a great reluctance toward taking up 
 any other means of earning his support. He re- 
 called with a shudder the fate of his friend Thayer 
 at Oak Park. After his resignation from the 
 Calvary church Thayer had been forced to take 
 up the insurance business to support his family. 
 And having once thus unclassed himself Thayer 
 had never been able to regain his professional 
 standing. 
 
 " Save me, O God, from such a fate," breathed 
 Baldwin. "Something must open soon. I will 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 351 
 
 wait a little longer," replacing the sheet in the 
 drawer and turning the key. 
 
 Though it was in the middle of the forenoon 
 and in the early part of the week, Baldwin found 
 he could not study. After repeated efforts to hold 
 his mind to his work, he went out into the street 
 and walked rapidly up town but without any 
 definite object in view. As he walked and walked 
 an objective point emerged in his consciousness. 
 Without any thought of doing so when he left his 
 study, he determined to call on Mrs. Hunter. 
 The need of his spirit seemed to guide him to this 
 little home where he had called so often. For 
 Mrs. Hunter was one of the saints to be found in 
 every community. She was past sixty and blind. 
 
 In her presence Baldwin always found an atmos- 
 phere of peace, of spiritual repose. The need of 
 his restless spirit took him into this atmosphere 
 now. As he waited a moment on the threshold, 
 he thought what a high function it was to create 
 about one's self such a spiritual restfulness. The 
 mere gathering of possessions was as nothing in 
 comparison to it. Nor should the mere accumula- 
 tion of knowledge be mentioned in the same 
 breath. Hers was an attainment in quality of 
 spirit. 
 
 After spending a half hour in conversation with 
 Mrs. Hunter, Baldwin felt the burden of unrest 
 had slipped away from him and in its place he 
 had gained something of this godly woman's own 
 attitude toward the perplexities of life. The high 
 
352 DAVID BALDWIN 
 
 quality of her spirit had passed by an irresistible 
 contagion into his own heart. Dear saint, you 
 will never know how David Baldwin's troubled 
 spirit was calmed and strengthened by these half 
 hours in your presence. Such a service, however, 
 is, in being able to render it, a sufficient reward in 
 itself. 
 
XXV 
 
 DAVID BALDWIN was conscious that he 
 was rapidly approaching the limit of his 
 endurance. After each successive evi- 
 dence of Brand's efforts against him, he found 
 himself so disturbed that whole nights were spent 
 in vain endeavors to lose consciousness of the 
 indignity he had suffered. He prayed for sleep, 
 he watched innumerable flocks of sheep jump over 
 the pasture fence, he stood by his bedside and 
 raised himself upon his toes hundreds of times, he 
 read chapter after chapter of interesting narrative, 
 he even read some of the chapters backward, but 
 all to no avail. The moment he turned out the 
 light and began to compose himself for sleep, that 
 moment the church situation would insist on pos- 
 sessing his mind. Dismiss it he could not. With 
 the need of sleep pressing hard upon him, he 
 found himself shut out from its restful, restorative 
 embrace. 
 
 Torture? Who would not prefer to be sub- 
 jected to the physical pain of the rack or the wheel 
 or any of the other terrible instruments of the in- 
 quisition than to be a helpless victim in the power 
 of one who stood between you and sleep? To de- 
 prive a man of food is an act so inhuman that no 
 civilized community permits such treatment to be 
 
 353 
 
354 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 inflicted even upon its most dangerous criminals ; 
 but any man can live longer without food than 
 without sleep. What, then, must be the nature of 
 that treatment whereby one man deliberately plans 
 to stand between another human being and his 
 sleep ? Sylvester Brand, in his zeal to protect the 
 creed of his fathers from the contamination of 
 modern thought, was doing exactly what Tor- 
 quemada did four hundred years before, only he was 
 accomplishing his purpose by a slower method of 
 killing off the heretic. Their spirit and motive 
 were very similar. Yes, both were honest men ; 
 men with strong religious convictions ; men who 
 truly believed they were serving not only their 
 God but also their day and generation, by com- 
 pelling the acceptance or preservation of a creed. 
 
 Brand was right. Baldwin could not endure his 
 treatment much longer. His step had lost its 
 elasticity, his face was thin, and on his brow sat 
 anxiety. He no longer cared to eat the processes 
 of digestion refused to make use of the food he did 
 manage to swallow. He longed to become a free 
 man but he did not dare use the means which 
 would make him free. He had written over two 
 score of letters without obtaining any prospects of 
 another settlement should he resign. But from 
 Miriam he carefully concealed all these things. 
 
 " Mrs. Baldwin is gaining slowly, making some 
 progress every week/' Doctor Wood told him. 
 " We have every reason to hope for a complete 
 mental recovery. But it is still imperative that 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 355 
 
 she be kept free from mental strain, from all 
 anxiety or worry. As you value her life you must 
 keep from her all knowledge of this church situa- 
 tion." 
 
 " I know, doctor ; that is what I am trying to 
 do. Several of the church families have conspired 
 with me to keep her in ignorance of what Mr. 
 Brand has been doing. But daily I live in dread 
 of what the morrow may by chance word reveal to 
 her." 
 
 " Isn't there some way in your church of sup- 
 pressing a man like Mr. Brand?" asked Dr. 
 Wood. 
 
 " There is, but I do not care to use it. It would 
 mean a church fight." 
 
 " Ah ! I see. But your friends, Mr. Baldwin, 
 cannot permit this to go on indefinitely. Too 
 long, much too long the First Church has been 
 dominated by two or three of its members. In- 
 deed, I have said to Professor James more than 
 once that the best thing that could happen to the 
 First Church would be two or three first class 
 funerals." 
 
 " It certainly is a good thing that some men do 
 not live forever," admitted Baldwin. 
 
 "Yes, if the age limit were doubled, other 
 things remaining as they are, human progress 
 would be sadly retarded. It has not infrequently 
 happened that champions of the Old have had to 
 die off before the newer ideas could have a chance 
 to grow. This has been true not only in medicine 
 
356 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 and theology but in government and doubtless in 
 every department of human activity." 
 
 " I agree with you. Yet I recall at this moment 
 certain men old enough to be my father who are 
 fresh and vigorous in their thinking and who 
 champion the thought of to-day rather than the 
 ideas of a generation ago." 
 
 " We have, I am glad to say, some men of that 
 type in our community. But most men are like 
 Mr. Brand they grow and keep up with the world 
 in certain sections of their life, while in other sec- 
 tions they have made no progress for years. 
 With us physicians, however, it makes little dif- 
 ference whether a patient's ideas of medicine are 
 up to date or not. In medicine the layman does 
 not question the decision of the specialist. With 
 you preachers it is different. The preacher is a 
 specialist in his realm. Yet every layman in his 
 audience sits in judgment on his utterances, and 
 feels qualified to put his own untrained thinking up 
 as a standard by which to measure the theology of 
 his pastor. In medicine this attitude would not be 
 tolerated." 
 
 " Yet what we need in our churches is not less 
 thinking on the part of the members ; for this al- 
 ways tends to make the preacher into a priest. 
 Our great need is the general recognition that 
 creeds are only incidental to religion that re- 
 ligion is relationship or attitude toward God. It 
 is not the acceptance of this or that belief about 
 Christ but the acceptance of Christ himself as our 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 357 
 
 master, our ideal which is the central thing in 
 Christianity." 
 
 " Would you on that basis accept me for mem- 
 bership in your church ? " asked Dr. Wood, turn- 
 ing about in his office chair. 
 
 " Most assuredly I would," answered Baldwin. 
 
 " Even if I told you of my inability to accept 
 the virgin birth accounts of his origin ? " persisted 
 the physician. 
 
 " That would make no difference. Men are not 
 saved from sinning by the acceptance of this or 
 that belief about Christ. It is belief in Christ ; it 
 is the possession of his spirit, his attitude which 
 makes a man a Christian, Dr. Wood." 
 
 "You utter my own thoughts, Mr. Baldwin. 
 For years I have held these opinions. They have 
 kept me outside the church, while in my own way 
 I have daily endeavored to follow the Christ." 
 
 " I see no reason why they should keep you any 
 longer out of the First Church, Dr. Wood." 
 
 " Nor I. Surely one may be as liberal as his 
 pastor. I want some part in what you are trying 
 to do, Mr. Baldwin. As a member of the church 
 I believe I could mean more to your work than I 
 possibly could outside. You may propose my 
 name for membership whenever you think best." 
 
 " Thank you, Dr. Wood," Baldwin said, tears 
 of gratitude and joy suffusing his eyes. " Your 
 words have put heart into me again." 
 
 It was well for David Baldwin that he was thus 
 strengthened, as it were, in the inner man by this 
 
358 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 conversation with Dr. Wood ; for on his way 
 home that afternoon he heard of Brand's purpose 
 of calling a church meeting. A church meeting ? 
 Brand could have but one object his resignation. 
 This public move seemed to Baldwin to be the 
 climax of the series. And Miriam ? How could 
 he keep Miriam from knowledge of this public 
 meeting? It would doubtless be in the papers. 
 Dr. Wood's warning rang in his ears. What 
 could he do ? Before reaching his home Baldwin 
 was resolved to take Miriam away from Tioga. 
 It would be to imperil her life not to act at once. 
 
 During the evening his opportunity came. 
 
 " My dear," said Miriam solicitously, " you are 
 working too hard ; you are getting so thin and 
 
 worn." 
 
 " I am feeling the need of a few days' change, 
 sweetheart," David admitted, as he drew her 
 down upon the arm of his easy chair. " How 
 would you like to visit the Hiltons for a few days ? " 
 
 " That would be fine ! Are you really thinking 
 of going, dear ? The visit would give you a few 
 days of rest and you need it so much." 
 
 "Yes, sweetheart, I'm really thinking of going. 
 Could we plan to leave here, say, next Monday 
 morning?" 
 
 " But the Monday club ? " 
 
 " Oh, we can arrange to postpone the meeting 
 for a week." 
 
 " Of course I can get ready any time, dear. 
 What a treat it will be to see Gertrude again." 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 359 
 
 " And to go out on the lake with Tom for black 
 bass. Tom is such a jolly fellow. A few days 
 with him is better than a tonic." 
 
 Baldwin was glad that the matter had been ar- 
 ranged without arousing Miriam's suspicions. He 
 had acted his part well. He fell to musing whether 
 other people were driven to the necessity of acting 
 a part in order to save another from calamity or 
 sorrow? Could it be true that men and women 
 were all actors, no one ever knowing the real life 
 of those about him ? The thought held him with 
 strange fascination. 
 
 The strain already existing in the congregation 
 of the First Church kept increasing to alarming 
 proportions. Other topics of conversation lost 
 their interest in church circles when on the follow- 
 ing Sunday it was announced that at the request 
 of the required number of members of the church 
 the Standing Committee issued a call for a church 
 meeting on the Wednesday evening of the 
 week. 
 
 " * The purpose of this meeting,' " read the pastor, 
 " ' is to consider matters of vital interest to the 
 welfare of the church.' " 
 
 What the sermon was about, few of Baldwin's 
 listeners could have told at the close of the service. 
 After the benediction the preacher, with a great 
 heaviness of spirit, withdrew through the church 
 study and set out on a brisk walk. He could not 
 trust himself to meet the people in the foyer of the 
 church as was his usual custom. Could he meet 
 
360 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 Miriam without revealing to her the bruised and 
 bleeding condition of his heart? He knew he 
 could not. He was certain that Miriam's eyes 
 had been searching his face of late as if she would 
 know the meaning of the expression he could not 
 always successfully hide. 
 
 Two blocks he walked, and two more, turning 
 first down one street and then another. 
 
 "Yes, I will call on the Churchills," was his 
 thought as he searched about in his mind for some 
 reasonable excuse to account for his late appear- 
 ance when he should reach his home. The car 
 soon brought him to Glen Park and a short walk 
 covered the distance to their door. 
 
 In this home as at the Hunters', Baldwin always 
 found a restful atmosphere. Affliction and suffer- 
 ing found their compensation in quality of spirit. 
 At the end of a brief call, Baldwin's face wore an 
 expression reflecting a calmer state of mind than 
 when he had entered this humble home. For- 
 tunate the man whose duties bring him in con- 
 tact with such fountains of healing power ! A few 
 minutes later than his usual time of getting home 
 from the morning service, David Baldwin came 
 into Miriam's presence prepared to meet her lov- 
 ing but searching eyes. His burden had been 
 lightened. 
 
 During the afternoon, Professor and Mrs. Strong 
 dropped in for a little chat. 
 
 " We missed you, dominie, after the service," 
 said Strong, as he shook his pastor's hand. " The 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 361 
 
 sermon doesn't seem quite complete unless you 
 are at the door, shaking" hands with us at its 
 close." 
 
 " Of course we can understand how you must 
 have felt," said Mrs. Strong, forgetting for the 
 moment that Miriam knew nothing of the present 
 condition in the affairs of the church. " I 
 was " 
 
 " And so was I. I was nearly suffocated," in- 
 terrupted Baldwin. " The church was very close 
 this morning. I got out into the open air as soon 
 as I could." 
 
 " Yes," added Strong with a knowing look in 
 his wife's direction. " I too felt the effects of the 
 bad ventilation. We must look into this matter 
 and see if it cannot be remedied." 
 
 * ' Preaching is such energetic work I do not 
 wonder you want a breath of fresh air as soon as 
 you are through," was Mrs. Strong's comment as 
 she joined the other two actors in keeping 
 Miriam unacquainted with what might do her ir- 
 reparable injury. 
 
 " Has Mr. Baldwin told you ? " asked Miriam as 
 the two ladies were chatting. " We are going 
 away for a few days." 
 
 " Oh, I am so glad ! " exclaimed Mrs. Strong, 
 again forgetting herself. 
 
 " Mr. Baldwin's work has been pretty hard and 
 a little rest will do him good," said Miriam. 
 
 " Yes," said Mrs. Strong, again getting her 
 bearings. " Mr. Baldwin does need a rest. The 
 
362 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 change will do him good. It will do you both 
 good." 
 
 The slip did not escape Baldwin's ear. Mrs. 
 Strong was not accustomed to weighing her 
 words. Baldwin knew this and sat as it were on 
 pins until they had gone. 
 
 When they boarded the 8:30 train the next 
 morning Baldwin heaved a sigh of relief. At 
 last Miriam was safe. The church and Brand 
 and his church-meeting would be left behind. 
 
 " Why, good-morning ! " said a familiar voice 
 behind him. " Are you going to leave town, 
 too?" The speaker was Miss Appleton. She 
 took the seat opposite. " This is what I call a 
 streak of pure good fortune. I do so dislike to 
 travel alone." 
 
 Baldwin could not recall whether he had ever 
 spoken to Miss Appleton about not discussing 
 church matters in the presence of Miriam ; and 
 for three hours he kept such a lead on the conver- 
 sation that Miss Appleton had only one oppor- 
 tunity of introducing the church situation. 
 
 " Will you be back for the church-meeting ? " 
 she asked, innocently enough. 
 
 Baldwin winced. He succeeded in deadening 
 the last part of her question by clearing his throat 
 as the words were being uttered. 
 
 " No, Miss Appleton," he replied after he had 
 coughed two or three times thus removing, let us 
 hope, the cause of the irritation, " we shall not re- 
 turn in time for any of the meetings of the church 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 363 
 
 this week. When a man goes fishing, you know, 
 he cannot be expected to return until he has to." 
 
 He wiped the perspiration from his brow and 
 plunged into another hour's continuous talking, 
 not giving Miss Appleton another chance to get 
 near any church topics. When they parted com- 
 pany at Sherman Junction it was with great 
 pleasure that Baldwin assisted the young lady to 
 a seat in the other train. 
 
 " Thank heavens ! " he exclaimed beneath his 
 breath as he was leaving Miss Appleton's coach. 
 " Now I hope we are safe." 
 
 Tom Hilton met them at the station. " Well, 
 well," said he after they had exchanged greetings, 
 " what have they been doing to your husband, 
 Mrs. Baldwin ? He has escaped I should say by 
 a pretty close margin." 
 
 Miriam was troubled. "He is thin, isn't he? 
 He has been working altogether too hard." 
 
 Baldwin's work had not hurt him. Work sel- 
 dom unfits any man. It's worry that drives men 
 under the sod before their time. Anxiety for 
 the morrow, who does not know its life-destroy- 
 ing power? In David Baldwin's case anxiety 
 had been raised to actual dread of what each suc- 
 ceeding day might unfold. The thought of 
 Miriam's welfare was never long absent from his 
 mind. 
 
 At his earliest opportunity he explained the 
 situation to Hilton. 
 
 " We will do everything in our power to aid 
 
364 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 you. I will caution Mrs. Hilton at once. When 
 did you say this meeting takes place ? " 
 
 " Wednesday evening." 
 
 " And you have no idea what will be the re- 
 sult?" 
 
 " Only that Brand usually accomplishes his 
 purpose. I know well enough what his purpose 
 is." 
 
 " But your friends in the church, can't they 
 do anything ? " 
 
 " I have pleaded with them not to get into a 
 church fight. Any organized move on their part 
 would mean a church fight. I have done all in 
 my power to avoid such an issue." 
 
 " Well, old man, I don't envy you your state 
 of mind, surely. But it's a good thing that this 
 meeting is going to bring the affair to a climax." 
 
 "Yes, God knows I've had this thing hang- 
 ing over me too long already. But what could 
 I do ? I was tied hand and foot." 
 
 "If only Mrs. Baldwin had been in her usual 
 health " 
 
 " It would have made all the difference in the 
 world." 
 
 " I can believe that. Human hearts were not 
 made to bear their burdens alone." 
 
 " You're right. If ever I have the privilege 
 again of sharing all of my problems with Mrs. 
 Baldwin. you can count me the happiest man in 
 the state." 
 
 " Let us hope that the time is near at hand. 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 365 
 
 Mrs. Baldwin seems in excellent health phys- 
 ically ?" . 
 
 " She is. Physically she is quite herself again. 
 Her mental recovery has been much slower, 
 however." 
 
 " How long was she " Hilton hesitated 
 
 for the right word. 
 
 " Out of her mind ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Several weeks, or eternities, I do not know 
 which. Hilton, I cannot tell you what it was like. 
 It was in some ways a greater blow than death it- 
 self. With such an experience behind me, you 
 can image what has been my solicitation to avoid its 
 repetition. With this latest move of Brand's con- 
 fronting me, it would have been at the peril of her 
 reason for us to have remained in Tioga this week." 
 
 " Undoubtedly. And for her sake as well as 
 your own you must keep this church meeting out 
 of your mind as much as you can. Women, and 
 especially wives, have sharp eyes. Do you know, 
 I believe Mrs. Hilton can read me like a book. I 
 very much doubt if I could keep as much of my 
 life from her as you have succeeded in doing from 
 Mrs. Baldwin." 
 
 " Hilton, no man knows what he can do until 
 the necessity is laid upon him. God grant that you 
 may never know the necessity for excluding Mrs. 
 Hilton from the chief activities of your life." 
 
 Meanwhile Miriam and her friend Gertrude were 
 enjoying each other as only old school friends can. 
 
366 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 They had so much to tell each other, so much to 
 talk about. Since their last visit how much had 
 happened ! 
 
 As Miriam clasped to her heart Gertrude's little 
 babe, nearly the same age as her own would have 
 been had it lived, her mother heart went out in a 
 great yearning for the child she had lost. For a 
 moment she held the little one in her arms. All 
 the suppressed motherhood of her strong nature 
 seemed to flow out toward it. Though she said 
 not a word as she handed the babe to its mother, 
 tears sprang unbidden to each woman's eyes. 
 Gertrude's sympathy thus expressed was more 
 eloquent than words, and Miriam felt its power. 
 Soon a great calm displaced her disquietude. 
 And as they talked the hearts of these two were 
 drawn into yet closer bonds of fellowship. 
 
 We may trust David and Miriam to the kind 
 and efficient care of the Hiltons while we return to 
 Tioga. Here ancient Time, who not infrequently 
 plays havoc with the plans of men, sent forth one 
 of his imperial decrees ; and in response to the 
 summons the soul of Sylvester Brand took its 
 mysterious departure from the body it had 
 animated these sixty years. On the burial certif- 
 icate read the words " Heart failure." 
 
 On Wednesday morning Baldwin received a 
 telegram from Strong. For a moment and only 
 for a single moment conflicting emotions struggled 
 in his breast for supremacy. For he was human. 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 36T 
 
 Then only sorrow for those in bereavement was in 
 his heart. Though Baldwin was incapable of en- 
 tertaining consciously an ignoble sentiment, he 
 could not suppress a new and gladsome sense of 
 freedom and relief. He returned to Tioga at once, 
 leaving Miriam to finish her visit with the Hiltons. 
 
 The January temperature outside was below 
 the zero mark fully ten degrees. Miriam sat in 
 David's study reading Ibsen while she waited 
 David's return from the annual business meeting 
 of the church. As he came up the steps, she laid 
 aside her book and looked into his eyes as he en- 
 tered the door. 
 
 " What ! Still reading Ibsen ? He's fine, isn't 
 he ? You must read his * Letters.' I got them 
 only yesterday." 
 
 "I like him. He fascinates me and yet 
 
 But tell *me about the business meeting. What 
 kind of a meeting did you have ? " 
 
 "A very unusual meeting, sweetheart." 
 
 "Unusual?" 
 
 " Yes. For one thing there were many present 
 who had never before attended a business meet- 
 ing of the church." 
 
 "For instance?" 
 
 "Well, Professor James was there and Mrs. 
 James, and " 
 
 " Their presence would give tone to any gather- 
 ing. Isn't it fine, David, that they are now tak- 
 ing so much interest in your work ? " 
 
368 THE MINISTRY OF 
 
 " Yes, sweetheart, it helps a man to believe in 
 himself when such a man believes in him. Be- 
 sides Professor and Mrs. James, the Ell woods were 
 there and for the first time in his life, Dr. Wood 
 was there, Tom Stewart and two of his brothers, 
 Mr. Parker and " 
 
 " Was Mr. Driver present ? " 
 
 "Yes. He always attends." 
 
 " Did he have anything anything unpleasant 
 to say, dear ? " 
 
 " Well, he did have something to say," answered 
 David solemnly, avoiding Miriam's penetrating 
 look. "He " 
 
 " Oh, David, I was so hopeful that the business 
 meetings of the church would be different. Every- 
 thing has gone on so smoothly since " 
 
 " But I didn't finish telling you what Mr. Driver 
 said, sweetheart," David interrupted, his face be- 
 traying the character of his next sentence. " I said 
 that Mr. Driver had something to say. He made 
 a ten minute speech. And somewhere in his 
 speech he seconded Tom Stewart's motion to in- 
 crease my salary by one half." 
 
 " Oh, David 1 I am so glad 1 " cried Miriam 
 winding her arms about his neck and hiding her 
 face on his shoulder. 
 
 " What ! Does the little girl care so much for 
 the money as all this? " he teased. 
 
 "No, no I It's not the money, dearest. It's 
 what such an act means." 
 
 " Of course ; I understand, sweetheart." For a 
 
DAVID BALDWIN 369 
 
 moment he stood holding her to his heart. Into 
 that moment was pressed the joy which should 
 have been his during the weeks and months when 
 sorrow and anxious dread held him within their 
 terrible grasp. 
 
 Reverently he lifted his heart in silent prayer. 
 " I thank thee, O God, that thou didst not let 
 me escape from the task for which I was born." 
 
 A new era had dawned in the life of the First 
 Church at Tioga. Baldwin, happy and joyous in 
 his work, was freely proclaiming the message of the 
 Christ in terms of modern thought. For a while, 
 in his isolation, he had thought he was standing 
 alone ; but as his knowledge of the situation 
 widened he came to know of scores of pulpits in 
 his denomination where the same problem was 
 being worked through. 
 
 And Miriam? While actively sharing again the 
 labors of her husband, her mental strength being 
 fully restored, she was finding time to fashion 
 anew some dainty little garments, and as she 
 sewed each stitch she breathed a prayer. 
 
 THE END 
 
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