The record-union., 1897-11-14


the middle classes; that is to say. the
class of society that is known as the
boor''-
Pink forget-me-nots. Pink forget-me-
nots trembling under gas lamp. the
large hat throwing into deep shadow the
face that was underneath Mr.. Laws
stopped and gripped tightly hold of the
back of the chair on which he was
standing. She looked up to the sky, ana
the light from the lamp above illuml-
mated her face for moment.
Pardon me for 'esitating ontil our
comrade addressing meeting close
andy had moderated his voice. AS
was saying when | was INTERRUPTED,
propose this evening, during the short
space of time accorded unto me, to point
out that if we could only prevent money
from getting poured into the laps. SO
to speak. of the few it would be jolly
sight better both for the individual
and for the general body of our fellow
countrymen.'
The pink forget -me-nots seemed TO
wave dissent; the face beneath them
looked up again and the lamp showed
an obvious expression of disagreement.
She stepped back so that the light fell
without interruption upon her face ana
raised her eyebrows wonderingly at the
young orator
when 1 say jolly sight better he
shouted, with some confusion, L don [
mean to say but what there are eXcep-
tions"
Agreement from Miss Molyneux IN
the shape of acquiescent mods of the
head.
II don't mean to say that there isn't
members of the upper ten that Keep
UP good establishments, and speno their
money freely, and do no arm worth
speaking of, and are kind to those peioW
them, and SO forth"
Emphatic agreement now from MISS
MolyneuX.
..In fact, l don't mind going so far as
to saw that there arc members OF tne
unner classes that-that have the cause
of the people at cart, and-Weil' II ,
rather difficult to make distlnclloh'
but' with his eyes fixed nervously Oh
the Uehted-up face of Miss MolyneuO
s.but there's no doubt to my NINA tna.
many of em-I might go further anu
saw the yawst majority OF eni-ai {
prompted by good d-hearted motives aiiu
show a-wel. a kindness TO those Win
which. I mean to say with whom thes
como in contact that many of US migh.
co well to copy. a
,rbera was movement in the croWo,
and the members of the Earnest Re-
formers standing near the chair looheu
up rather anxiously at the coiiau'e ~
loud-voiced young orator. lne9e
whispered to each other ana cousheA ''''
significantly as they could.
"Hear. heart" said shriii voice he"i
the lamp-post Hear, hear.
"P1n glad" continued Mr. LaWs'w WIN
something of an effort, I'm slao -
ave the approval of the lady on my
left because I don't doubt Tor an III.
stant that she has good knowledge VI
the class of society to which re1er,
ha, hoino a member of that class OIL
society. as any one can see with nall d
aveo The semi-circle with unanlnh.y
looked around at Miss Molyneux, anu
that Young lady bowed her head SO
that the shadow of the large hat cover
Oh her face. I've no doupI
if we got better acquainted Win
the upper classes we snoulu
find that their position is surrounded
by Tculties-difficulties that most Oh
us can form no idea Of But, at the
same TINT. that, of course, doesn't al
feet the argument that we have 'eld
forth in this park and in other parks
on various occasions-namely, that
there's something rotten in the present
system when we see one person, from
mere accident of birth. living IN lux
ury near, say, Portman Square, ana
another. of equal worth, living IN one
common room and earning bare ex-
istence." CMurmur of approval and re-
lief on the faces of the Earnest Re-
formers. y s'And what / propose to show
Won tonight is that these things need
not be-that under a fairer and squarer
system
Mr.. Laws stopped. The young wo-
man with the pink forget-me-nots IN
her hat had looked at him with such
steady gaze of incredulity and con-
tempt mingled that his breath was
nearly taken away. She turned as
though to go.
perhaps I'm wrong" shouted Mr..
Laws hastily, perhaps I'm mistaken IN
the views / take of the matter. To
err is human, and I don't profess to be
anything more than human. / feel
bound to say that it's a large question,
and that many of us who speak in this
park have not sufficiently studied the
matter" The Earnest Reformers look
ed at each other amazedly and confer
red. 'I know that some of my friends
and comrades will not agree with me-
"'Earear,'' strenuously from the
friends and comrades.
"But that's the conclusion I've come
to tonight, and, as straightforward,
honest man, it's my duty to say so.
There's a good deal too much grum-
bling between class and class and l think
if we tried to understand one another
we should-well, we should be trying
to understand one another a good deal
more than we do at the present time.
Meanwhile let us have, my friends,
what I call a feeling of compromise, II
you understand what / mean; let us
mix more with one another; let us lis
ten to what the other sides got to say
The impatience of the Earnest Re-
young man reached his peroration.
They spoke to each other hurriedly,
and Mr.. Parsons, the silk-hatted youth
of the encounter near Portland Road
Station, stepped near to the chair and
cleared his throat in readiness to be-
gin Mr.. Laws finished his address
with a confused and inappropriate
verse from Longfellow and stepped
down.
I'm off, he said. hurriedy.
Yes" said the Secretary OF the Earn
est Reformers with much bitterness,
yes, you are
And Mr. Laws, fixing on his soft hat
went fIlrtiyply round the dim 1iniS ID