Virginia and Dr. West leaned forward with intense interest to listen and Stanton went on.

Chapter Six

“First of all,” Stanton began, “as soon as we reached the Chancellor’s, we went right out to lunch. Six of the professors were present.” He stopped abruptly to ask Dr. West, “Do you know Chancellor Clark very well?”

“No. Not very.”

“Neither do I. I went there determined to carry an unbiased mind. Chancellor Clark is a smart man. A great lobbyist for the University and all that. But I had wondered why he wanted a person like Jesus to speak to the students. I soon found out. He was present Sunday morning at the church, and from some things said there, he judged that Jesus would deliver an interesting address to the students and add to its reputation. The Chancellor, I am told, has always been eager to get celebrities to appear at the University.”

Dr. West nodded.

“Mr. Maxwell had prepared me for the habits of the Chancellor, so I was not surprised to see liquor and tobacco at the luncheon. But I was surprised when Jesus appeared to take no notice of them in any way.”

“Did he . . . ?”

“No. He did not touch them. But he said nothing. It is not possible to describe in detail his talk at the table. I have never heard anything like it. We have very few great speakers nowadays. He did not monopolize the conversation, but led it, and every man at the table did his best to follow.

“But nothing unusual occurred, and the strange thing I could not avoid thinking about was that no one seemed particularly impressed with the tremendous fact that Jesus was actually the guest of the University. I believe all the impression those men received, including the Chancellor, was of a clever, distinguished man of modest bearing, who was perhaps unusually well informed, but in other respects not so very far superior to any one of them.

“When the luncheon was over and we were in the auditorium facing the student body, it seemed to me that something unusual was about to occur.

“First of all, Jesus had requested of the Chancellor that he omit all words of introduction. This was while we were seated at the table. When the time came for the address, the Chancellor evidently intended to pay no attention to this request. He rose and began with a reference to ‘our distinguished guest,’ and was apparently going on with a long speech, when it seemed to me—and I think it must have been the same with the others—that Jesus was addressing the students as if the Chancellor were not present. And yet it did not strike me in any way as rude or discourteous. It all seemed so natural that no one questioned Jesus’s right to act just as he did. For the next ten minutes, I think it is safe to say that every person in that great audience was simply overwhelmed by the eloquence of the Master.