ecide and to act as he did. Had it been in some other
kind of place, some merely ordinary place, some quite usual place, he
might not have taken the important step. But it was Lexington, it was
brave old Lexington, inspiring Lexington; and he was inspired by it, for
the man who himself inspires nobly is always the one who is himself open
to noble inspiration. Lexington inspired him.

"When I was a lawyer in Boston and almost thirty-seven years old," he
told me, thinking slowly back into the years, "I was consulted by a
woman who asked my advice in regard to disposing of a little church in
Lexington whose congregation had become unable to support it. I went out
and looked at the place, and I told her how the property could be sold.
But it seemed a pity to me that the little church should be given up.
However, I advised a meeting of the church members, and I attended
the meeting. I put the case to them--it was only a handful of men and
women--and there was silence for a little. Then an old man rose and, in
a quavering voice, said the matter was quite clear; that there evidently
was nothing to do but to sell, and that he would agree with the others
in the necessity; but as the church had been his church home from
boyhood, so he quavered and quivered on, he begged that they would
excuse him from actually taking part in disposing of it; and in a deep
silence he went haltingly from the room.

"The men and the women looked at one another, still silent, sadly
impressed, but not knowing what to do. And I said to them: 'Why not
start over again, and go on with the church, after all!'"

Typical Conwellism, that! First, the impulse to help those who need
helping, then the inspiration and leadership.

"'But the building is entirely too tumble-down to use,' said one of the
men, sadly; and I knew he was right, for I had examined it; but I said:

"'Let us meet there to-morrow morning and get to work on that building
ourselves and put it in shape for a service next Sunday.'

"It made them seem so pleased and encouraged, and so confident that a
new possibility was opening that I never doubted that each one of those
present, and many friends besides, would be at the building in the
morning. I was there early with a hammer and ax and crowbar that I had
secured, ready to go to work--but no one else showed up!"

He has a rueful appreciation of the humor of it, as he pictured the
scene; and one knows also that, in that little town of Le