had been a good deal recently, was before them; that
doctrines and statements running counter to the received
religious language of the day, doctrines about which,
in confident prejudice, they had perhaps bandied about
off-hand judgments, had more to say for themselves
than was thought at first; that the questions thus
raised drove them in on themselves, and appealed to
their honesty and seriousness; and that, at any rate,
in the men who were arresting so much attention, however
extravagant their teaching might be called, there was
a remarkable degree of sober and reserved force, an
earnestness of conviction which could not be doubted,
an undeniable and subtle power of touching souls and
attracting sympathies. One by one, and in many
different ways, these young men went through various
stages of curiosity, of surprise, of perplexity, of
doubt, of misgiving, of interest; some were frightened,
and wavered, and drew back more or less reluctantly;
others, in spite of themselves, in spite of opposing
influences, were led on step by step, hardly knowing
whither, by a spell which they could not resist, of
intellectual, or still more, moral pressure. Some
found their old home teaching completed, explained,
lighted up, by that of the new school. Others,
shocked at first at hearing the old watchwords and
traditions of their homes decried and put aside, found
themselves, when they least expected it, passing from
the letter to the spirit, from the technical and formal
theory to the wide and living truth. And thus,
though many of course held aloof, and not a few became
hostile, a large number, one by one, some rapidly,
others slowly, some unreservedly, others with large
and jealous reserves, more and more took in the leading
idea of the movement, accepted the influence of its
chiefs, and looked to them for instruction and guidance.
As it naturally happens, when a number of minds are
drawn together by a common and strong interest, some
men, by circumstances, or by strength of conviction,
or by the mutual affinities of tastes and character,
came more and more into direct personal and intimate
relations with the leaders, took service, as it were,
under them, and prepared to throw themselves into
their plans of work. Others, in various moods,
but more independent, more critical, more disturbed
about consequences, or unpersuaded on special points,
formed a kind of fringe of friendly neutrality about
the more thoroughgoing portion of the party.
And outside of these were thoughtful and able men,
to whom the whole movement, with much that was utterly
displeasing and utterly perplexing, had the interest
of being a break-up of stagnation and dull indolence
in a place which ought to have the highest spiritual
and intellectual aims; who, whatever repelled them,
could not help feeling that great ideas, great prospects,
a new outburst of bold thought, a new effort of moral
purpose and force, had disturbed the old routine; could
not help being fascinated, if only as by a spectacle,