The Princeton union., 1899-09-28

ing Of sinners, not the righteous, to re-
pentance. How would Jesus speak :?
What would he say? He could not tell
oil that his message would include, but
he felt sure Of part of, it, and in that
certainty he spoke on Never before
had he felt compassion for the multi
tude. What had the multitude been
to him during his ton years in the First
church but vague, dangerous, dirty,
troublesome factor in society. outside
of the church and his reach; an element
that caused him occasionally an un-
pleasant feeling of conscience: factor
in Raymond that was talked about at
associations as the "masses" in papers
written by the brethren in attempts to
show why the "masses'' were not being
reached. But tonight as he faced the
''masses' he asked himself whether,
after all, this was not just about such
multitude as Jesus faced oftenest, and
he felt the genuine emotion of love for
a crowd which is one of the best indi-
cations preacher ever has that he is
living close to the heart Of the world 9
eternal life It is easy to love an indi-
vidual sinner, especially if he is person
ally picturesque or interesting. To love
q multitude of sinners is distinctly a
Christlike quality.
When the meeting closed, there was
no special interest shown. The people
rapidly melted away from the tent, and
the saloons, which had been experience
ing a dull season while the meetings
progressed, again drove a thriving
trade. The Rectangle, as if to make up
for lost time, started in with vigor on
it's usual night life Of debauch Henry
Maxwell and his little party, including
Virginia, Rachel and Jasper Chase,
walked down past the row of saloons
and dens until they reached the corner
where the cars passed.
"This is a terrible spot" said Henry
Maxwell as they stood waiting for their
car. 81 never realized that Raymond
had such fostering sore. 1t does not
seem possible that this is city full of
Christian disciples.
He paused and then continued:
"Do you think any one can ever re-
move this great curse of the saloon?
Why don't we all act together against
the traffic2 What would Jesus do2
Would he keep silent? Would he vote
to license these causes Of crime and
death2'
Henry Maxwell was talking to him
self more than to the others. He re-
membered that he had always voted for
license, and so had nearly all of his
church members. What would Jesus
do2 Could he answer that question:
Would Jesus preach and act against the
saloon if he lived today2 How would
he preach and act? Suppose it was not
popular to preach against license. Sup
pose the Christian people thought it
was all that could be done-to license
the evil, and so get revenue from a nec-
essary sin. Or suppose the church mem
bers owned property where the saloons
stood. What then? He knew that these
were the facts in Raymond What
would Jesus do2
He went up into his study the next
morning with that question only partly
answered. He thought of it all day. He
was still thinking Of it and reaching
certain real conclusions when The
Evening News came His wife brought
it up and sat down a few minutes while
he read it to her.
The Evening News was at present
the most sensational paper in Raymond
That is to say, it was being edited in
such remarkable fashion that its sub
scribers had never been so excited over
a newspaper before First they had no.
ticed the absence of the prizefght, and
gradually it began to dawn upon them
that The News no longer printed ac-
counts Of crime with detailed descrip-
tions or scandals in private life Then
they noticed that the advertisements of
liquor and tobacco were being dropped,
together with certain other ADVERTISE
ments Of a questionable character The
discontinuance Of the Sunday paper
caused the greatest comment Of all, and
now the character of the editorials was
creating the greatest excitement. A
quotation from the Monday paper of
this week will show what Edward Nor
man was doing to keep his promise
The editorial was headed:
''THE MORAL SIDE OF POLITICAL QUEs-
TIONs
"The editor of The News has always
advocated the principles Of the great
political party at present in power and
has therefore discussed all political
questions from a standpoint of expedi-
ency or Of belief in the party as opposed
to other organizations. Hereafter, to
be perfectly honest with all our read
ers, the editor will present and discuss
political questions from the standpoint
Of right and wrong. In other words,
the first question will not be, is it in
the interest of our party?' or is it &C.
cording to the principles laid down by
the party?' but the question first asked
will be, is this measure in accordance
with the spirit and teachings of Jesus
as the author of the greatest standard
Of life known to men?' That is, to be
perfectly plain, the moral side Of every
political question will be considered, its
most important side, and the ground
will be distinctly taken that nations as
well as individuals are under the same