Dr. Henry Van Dyke, of Princeton University preached in Appleton Chapel last night, taking as his text the twenty-first verse of the second chapter of St. Peter's first epistle: Leaving us an example that we should follow His steps."

The influence and example of Jesus Christ has been the most potent factor of the world's history; it has inspired men, it has moulded destiny, and leavened the whole structure of society. The surest way in which men can add power to their lives it to shape them by the rules which Jesus laid down for His life, and the straightest road to influence among men for God follows the footsteps of Christ.

The power of Christ came, first, from his unwavering devotion and obedience to the will of God. Men of strength who acknowledge no higher strength, men of genius, who do not acknowledge the superior wisdom of God, do not lead men but repel them; only those who point, like the compass needle, unchangingly to a pole where lies all power and influence are those who direct and guide the world. Jesus Christ by a standard of right above and beyond himself was able to point men to ideals and attainment, higher than their own and was able to make them follow Him towards them.

The second secret of Jesus' influence was the consecration and the joyousness of His work, thirdly, the influence of Christ was powerful because it was unconscious. He did not set examples, but by the constant nobleness of His life He was an example. From such a life power and strength and influence flowed by no conscious effort, but inevitably, because they were the elements of which it was made.

Epochs in the world's history came and are gone, and through them all and shaping the eras that are ushered in, abides the influence of Jesus Christ, working through the lives of men. Those men will inspire and lead the world who, like Christ, live their lives by divine laws and for definite and exalted work.