The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1899-11-02

Jesus would do, and her great talent o.
song had been fully consecrated to the
service Of her Master, When she began
to sing tonight at this settlement meet
ing, she had never prayed more deeply
For results to come from her voice the
voice which she now regarded as the
Master s, to be used for him.
Certainly her prayer was being an
swered as she sang. She had chosen the
words: H.
Hark, the voice Of Jesus calling,
Follow me, follow me!
Again Henry Maxwell, sitting there,
was reminded of his first night at the
Rectangle in the tent when Rachel sang
the people into quiet The effect was
the same here. What wonderful power
a good voice consecrated to the Masters
service always isl Rachel's great nat
ural ability would have made her one
Of the foremost opera singers OF the age
Surely this audience had never before
heard such melody. How could iii The
men who had drifted in from the street
sat entranced by voice which ':back
in the world never could be heard by
the common people because the owner
of it would charge So or So for the
privilege. The song poured out through
the hall as free and glad as if it were
foretaste Of salvation itself. H..
Carlson, with his great black bearded
face, absorbed the music with the deep
love of it peculiar to his nationality,
and tear ran over his cheek and glis-
tened in his beard as his face softened
and became almost noble in it's aspect.
The man out of work who had wanted
to know what Jesus would do in his
place sat with grimy hand on the back
of the bench in front of him, with his
mouth partly open, his great tragedy
for the moment forgotten. The song
while it lasted was food and work and
warmth and union with his wife and
babies once more The man who had
spoken SO fiercely against the churches
and the ministers sat with his head
erect at first, with a look of stolid re-
sistance, as if he stubbornly resented
the introduction into the exercises Of
anything that was even remotely con.
nected with the church or it's form of
worship, but gradually he yielded to
the power that was swaying the hearts
Of all the persons in that room. and a
look of sad thoughtfulness crept over
his face.
The bishop said to himself that night
while Rachel was singing that if the
world of sinful, diseased, depraved, lost
humanity could only have the gospel
preached to it by consecrated prima
donnas and professional tenors and altos
and bassos he believed it would hasten
the coming of the kingdom quicker
than any other one force. "Why, oh.
why,' he cried in his heart as he lis
tened, "has the world's great treasure in
song been so often held far from the
poor because the personal possessor OF
voice or fingers capable of stirring di-
vinest melody has SO often regarded the
gift as something with which to make
money? Shall there be no martyrs
among the gifted ones of the earth
Shall there be no giving of this great
gift as we'll as of others?''
And Henry Maxwell again, as before,
called up that other audience at the
Rectangle, with increasing longing fol
a larger spread Of the new discipleship.
What he had seen and heard at the set
Element burned into him deeper the be
lief that the problem of the city would
be solved if the Christians in it should
once follow Jesus as he gave command
ment. But what Of this great mass O.
humanity, neglected and sinful, tn,
very kind of humanity the Saviour
came to save with all it's mistakes ani
narrowness its wretchedness and los
Of hope-above all, its unqualified bit
terness toward the church? That wa
what smote Henry Maxwell deepest.
Was the church, then, SO far from tn
Master that the people no longer fount
him in the church? Was it true tina
the church had lost it's power over tn
very kind of humanity which in tn
early ages of Christianity it reached j,
the greatest numbers? How much wa
true in what the socialist leader sal,
about the uselessness of looking to tn
church for reform or redemption be
cause of the selfsAness and seclusio1
and aristocracy of it's members?
He, was more and more impresse
with the appalling fact that the com
paratively few men in the hall, nov
being held quiet for awhile by Rachel
voice, represented thousands of other
just like them, to whom a church an
minister stood for less than a saloo
or beer garden as source Of comfor
or happiness Ought it to be so? If tn
church members were all doing as Jesu
would do, could it remain true tina
armies Of men would walk the street
for jobs and hundreds of them ours
the church and thousands of them fin
in the saloon their best friend? Ho,
far were the Christians responsible fo
this human problem that was PERSONAL
illustrated right in this hall tonight
Was it true that the great city churche
would, as rule, refuse to walk in Je
sus' steps so closely as to suffer, actual
, ~ suffer. for his sake?
Henry Maxwell kept asking this ques
ton even after Rachel had finished sing
mo and the rmantinr had come to a