The Progress., 1893-12-16
THE PEOPLES WORK.
REV. THOMAS DIXON ON THE ERA OF
COMMON HUMANITY.


| Dixon, Jr., continued in Association hall
this morning the second series of ser
mons on the "Prophecies of the Worlds
Fair" The subject of today's discourse
was The Era of the Common People"
He declared that this great exposition
was the achievement of the common peo-
pie. Society" so called. was not there.
The common people conceived it. They
planned it. They managed it. They
! patronized it and made it a success.
| Class distinctions were lost in the vaster
idea of humanity. This triumphant ex-
preston of life by tho common people is
the prophecy of their early assumption
of the supreme control of the whole so
| cial order. The text chosen was from
John xii, 81, who is this Son of Nam"
1t is a most significant fact that Jesus
| Christ called himself the Son of Man
| This was his favorite designation of him
self. 1t was his chosen definition of him
| self. The greatest revelation Christ made
to the world was himself. And in this
title he declared himself to be the son of
humanity. He was not to be limited to
any one family, to any class, to any ma
ton, to any race-he was the Son of Man.
The Son of Man shall come in his glory,
he told us. The promise in this title ne
thus gives to humanity is full of richest
meaning. As this supreme representa-
tive of the human race shall triumph and
to him every knee bow at last, so shall
humanity, for which he lived, of which
he was born, find its day of emancipa-
ton and triumph. The Son of Man was
crucified, but he rose again. Humanity
has been crucified through centuries on
the Calvary of pharisaism, sacred" and
profane.
But 1T SHALL RISE AGAIN.
Class and sect and faction shall die at
length. never to live again.
The desire to be ont of the current of
the great humanity is the sure index of
the uncivilized animal. Whether he wear
purple and fine linen and fare sumptu-
ously every day, or whether he live from
hand to mouth and faunt the red flag Of
an anarchist, it matters not. The princi-
pie is the same. All class ideas and class
foundations as such are fundamentally
wrong. They are not only immoral. but
they are brutal. The self assertion of
class, whether of prOletariat or heredi-
tary title or millionaire, is the assertion
of the antisocial nature of man-the es-
sentially inhuman part of HMM short,
the brutal. There is no other name for it.
1t is a matter. then, for heartfelt con-
graduation that this great exposition
was in the highest and best sense of the
word by the people, of the people, for
the people.
1t was the affair Of Man-Man spelled
with big capital.
There were no personages there.
1t was the triumph of the genius of
humanity.
There was no exhibit of "sassiety."
The Four Hundred were not there to
see the exhibit. 1t was not their day.
True, the Duke of Veragua was pres
ent as the guest Of the United States
government. But he was present as a
relic. He was not exhibited as a mem
Der of society" He was shown strictly
as a relic of Columbus.
So the Spanish Infanta was a curio of
a romantic past surviving today. Only
in this sense were they part of the
show.
HUMANITY'S TRIUMPH.
For once class was lost in humanity.
The idea of the fair originated in the
brain and heart of the common people.
1t was created by them.
1t was planned and managed by them
and for them.
1t was patronized and made a success
by them.
1t could have been created by no less
power.
1t could have been sustained by no
less power.
No king or prince or emperor of any
nation or empire in this or any other age
could have done such work. 1t meant /
an expenditure first and last of about |
5000, 100000. And more, it meant the |
in heart and purpose of mil /.
lions of people of all races and nations |
with one thought and one purpose.
The vast crowds of people who poured |
those gates from day to day and /.
filled those palaces and grounds were
the best looking people of equal number
that ever gathered on this planet in one
place.
And "sassiety" was nowhere to be seen.
Let the dudes and loafers and buffers |
who crawl up the stoops of the so called |
great and count it an honor to wash their |
dishes make a note of this fact.
This was a worlds fair.
And the world was represented there. /
And the world was there to see it.
But society" was not there.
Where, then, is the place of this petty
mob that arrogates to itself so lofty
title?
Nowhere.
1T is A SUPERFLUITY.
1t has no mission in the real work of |
the world. 1t is froth. There are two
great problems that now weigh on the
minds of ''sassiety." They are the two
problems that always arose to trouble