THE MAN CHAMBLESS BY JOHN HAYNES HOLMES

 It was about two years ago that a tall, gaunt, pale young man entered my church study and said, in quite confident terms—“I want a long talk with you, sir, for I’ve got something that I believe will interest you.”

 

Being not wholly unused to the ways of agents, promoters, inventors and various kinds of visionaries, I felt somewhat impatient at this unhesitating demand for a liberal share of my time; but I told my visitor, as pleasantly as possible, to be seated and to describe the thing which he thought would “interest” me. This was the beginning of my acquaintance with Mr. Edgar Chambless, the author of this book, and the opening words of my introduction to Roadtown.

 

At that time, Roadtown was nothing but a dream,—a crude and imperfect idea, as compared8 with the careful and well-tested conception which is here given to the public. To its inventor it appeared even then, in its original form, to contain the solution of most every perplexing problem of modern social life,—to me, to whom it came not as a slowly dawning idea but as an immediate¹ revelation, it appeared to be only one more extravagant² and utterly³ impracticable vision, akin⁴ to that invention, once laid before me by a dear old man, whereby light and heat might be endlessly generated without the combustion⁵ of any fuel, or to that other wonderful idea, commended to me by a devoted⁶ enthusiast⁷, whereby the drama was to be made the oasis⁸ of all ethical⁹ instruction and the theater the school of morals.

 

Something in Mr. Chambless’ personality, however, held my attention and won my sympathy. In our first talk together, I was made to believe in him even while I could not find it within reason to believe in the revolutionary possibilities of his conception, and so I asked him to call again. And from that time to this, I have met him and talked with9 him frequently. I have seen his dream become transformed from an ill-conceived vision into a well-conceived and thoroughly¹⁰ practical idea. I have seen the man himself rise from the position of a visionary dreamer, seeking the ears of any who would listen, to that of a recognized genius, welcomed in the offices of editors and publishers, and received on equal terms by the best known architects and inventors of the nation. I have seen Roadtown subjected by competent men to the most rigid¹¹ mechanical and economic criticisms, and beheld¹² it emerge triumphant¹³. I have seen Mr. Chambless convert architects, mechanics, charity workers, philanthropists, and cost-of-living experts from scoffing¹⁴ impatience¹⁵ to enthusiastic faith. I have had the privilege, in a word, of watching the triumphant progress of a great and original idea, and the heroic personal victory of a true inventive genius.

 

During all of this time I have done nothing but “lend my ears” to Mr. Chambless. Unable to help him to work out his ideas in any practical way, I have tried to serve him as a friend and confidant. To me he has unfolded10 his joys and his sorrows—revealed his feelings of alternating despair and hope—told the tales now of success and now of failure. For two years past, I have watched and listened, and all the while my faith in Mr. Chambless has grown ever stronger and my sympathy with his endeavor ever deeper. Indeed, for some months it has been my feeling that I had no higher duty than that of helping¹⁶ as best I could, by the word of good-will, the handclasp of friendship, and the listening ear of personal faith, one of the few men I have ever met in my experience who was truly laying down his life for the sake of a great and unselfish idea.

 

Mr. Hawthorne, in his Foreword, has testified to his belief in the idea of Roadtown; I would here testify, in my Foreword, to my belief in Mr. Chambless. He is made of the stuff of heroes—those who have sacrificed home, friends, social positions, money, personal comfort, yea life itself, in the service of humanity. His is the spirit of perfect devotion to an ideal. He represents in his person the type of valiant¹⁷ martyrdom, which I have11 read about a thousand times in books, but have met not more than a half-dozen times in real life. As to whether his scheme is practicable or not, I cannot say. Experts, not accustomed to being swept off their feet by bursts of enthusiasm over chimerical¹⁸ ideas, have testified that it is. As to whether his conception will solve all the problems of social life which he says it will solve, I again cannot say. Experience teaches that every original idea has revolutionary possibilities.

 

But as to Mr. Chambless himself, I can say, and say with enthusiasm, that he is a man deserving of the confidence of men. Mr. Hawthorne commends Roadtown to the earnest consideration of all thoughtful persons for itself. I commend Roadtown in a similar way for its inventor. Prove him wrong if you can, but first master his ideas.

 

Church of the Messiah, June 15th, 1910.

Park Ave. and 34th St.,

New York City. 12

1 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

2 extravagant   

adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的

参考例句：

• They tried to please him with fulsome compliments and extravagant gifts.他们想用溢美之词和奢华的礼品来取悦他。
• He is extravagant in behaviour.他行为放肆。

3 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

4 akin   

adj.同族的，类似的

参考例句：

• She painted flowers and birds pictures akin to those of earlier feminine painters.她画一些同早期女画家类似的花鸟画。
• Listening to his life story is akin to reading a good adventure novel.听他的人生故事犹如阅读一本精彩的冒险小说。

5 combustion   

n.燃烧；氧化；骚动

参考例句：

• We might be tempted to think of combustion.我们也许会联想到氧化。
• The smoke formed by their combustion is negligible.由它燃烧所生成的烟是可忽略的。

6 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

7 enthusiast   

n.热心人，热衷者

参考例句：

• He is an enthusiast about politics.他是个热衷于政治的人。
• He was an enthusiast and loved to evoke enthusiasm in others.他是一个激情昂扬的人，也热中于唤起他人心中的激情。

8 oasis   

n.（沙漠中的）绿洲，宜人的地方

参考例句：

• They stopped for the night at an oasis.他们在沙漠中的绿洲停下来过夜。
• The town was an oasis of prosperity in a desert of poverty.该镇是贫穷荒漠中的一块繁荣的“绿洲”。

9 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

10 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

11 rigid   

adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的

参考例句：

• She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
• The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严，几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。

12 beheld   

v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟

参考例句：

• His eyes had never beheld such opulence. 他从未见过这样的财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soul beheld its features in the mirror of the passing moment. 灵魂在逝去的瞬间的镜子中看到了自己的模样。 来自英汉文学 - 红字

13 triumphant   

adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的

参考例句：

• The army made a triumphant entry into the enemy's capital.部队胜利地进入了敌方首都。
• There was a positively triumphant note in her voice.她的声音里带有一种极为得意的语气。

14 scoffing   

n. 嘲笑, 笑柄, 愚弄 v. 嘲笑, 嘲弄, 愚弄, 狼吞虎咽

参考例句：

• They were sitting around the table scoffing. 他们围坐在桌子旁狼吞虎咽地吃着。
• He the lid and showed the wonderful the scoffing visitors. 他打开盖子给嘲笑他们的老人看这些丰富的收获。

15 impatience   

n.不耐烦，急躁

参考例句：

• He expressed impatience at the slow rate of progress.进展缓慢，他显得不耐烦。
• He gave a stamp of impatience.他不耐烦地跺脚。

16 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

17 valiant   

adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人

参考例句：

• He had the fame of being very valiant.他的勇敢是出名的。
• Despite valiant efforts by the finance minister,inflation rose to 36%.尽管财政部部长采取了一系列果决措施，通货膨胀率还是涨到了36%。

18 chimerical   

adj.荒诞不经的，梦幻的

参考例句：

• His Utopia is not a chimerical commonwealth but a practical improvement on what already exists.他的乌托邦不是空想的联邦，而是对那些已经存在的联邦事实上的改进。
• Most interpret the information from the victims as chimerical thinking.大多数来自于受害者的解释是被当作空想。