n he began reading it in a tone he might have used had he been
delivering a sermon:

"My dear brothers and sisters, peace be with you.

"Hitherto I had thought that I and you, who have embraced my
teaching, were alone in this our faith. But, praise be to God! here
in Chicago we have found brethren who are likeminded, who think
and act in accordance with the principles.

"For be it known unto you that here, in Chicago, there lived in the
early eighties a man by the name of Edward Gordon. He and his wife
were God-fearing people. They were sorely grieved at seeing so much
distress in the world, and prayed God that grace might be given
them to help the sorrowing ones.

"It so happened that the wife of Edward Gordon had to make a long
voyage across the sea, where she suffered shipwreck and was cast
upon the waters. When she found herself in the most extreme peril,
the Voice of God spoke to her. And the Voice of God commanded her
to teach mankind to live in unity.

"And the woman was saved from the sea and the peril of death, and
she returned to her husband and told him about the message from
God. 'This is a great command our Lord hath given unto us--that we
should live in unity--and we must follow it. So great is this
message that in all the world there is but one spot worthy of
receiving it. Let us, therefore, gather our friends together and go
with them to Jerusalem, that we may proclaim God's holy commandment
from the Mount of Zion.'

"Then Edward Gordon and his wife, together with thirty others who
wanted to obey the Lord's last holy commandment, set out for
Jerusalem, where all of them are now living in concord under one
roof. They share with one another all their worldly goods, and
serve one another, each protecting the other's welfare.

"And they have taken into their home the children of the poor, and
they nurse the sick, they care for the aged, and succour all who
appeal to them for aid, without expecting either money or gifts in
return.

"But they do not preach in the churches or on street corners, for
they say, 'It is our works that shall speak for us.'

"But the people who heard of their way of living said of them:
'They must be fools and fanatics.' And those who decried them the
loudest were the Christians who had come to Palestine to convert
Jews and Mohammedans, by preaching and teaching. And they said:
'What sort of persons are these who do not preach? No doubt they
have come hither to lead an ev