Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1899-11-11

for the moment forgotten The song
while it lasted was food and work and
warmth end union with his wife and
babies once more The man who had
spoken 80 fercely 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 its 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 worlds 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 80 often regarded the
gift as something with which to make
money! Shall there be 20 martyrs
among the gifted ones Of the earth I
Shall there be no giving Of this great
gift as well as of others3"
And Henry Maxwell again. as before,
called up that other audience at the
Rectangle. with increasing longing for
a larger spread Of the new discipleship
What he had seen and heard at the set
tlement 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 OF
humanity, neglected and sinful, the
very kind of humanity the Saviour
came to save with all its mistakes and
narrowness, its wretchedness and loss
of hope-above all. its unqualified bit
terness toward the church1 That was
what smote Henry Maxwell deepest
Was the church. then, so far from the
Master that the people no longer found
him in the church, Was it true that
the church had lost its power over the
very kind of humanity which in the
early ages of Christianity it reached in
the greatesE numbers How much was
true in what the socialist leader said
about the uselessness Of looking to the
church for reform or redemption be-
cause of the selfshness and seclusion
andlaristocracy of its members3
He was more and more impressed
with the appalling fact that the COM
paratively few men in the hall. now
being held quiet for awhile by Rachel
voice, represented thousands of others
Just like them. to whom church and
a minister stood for less than saloon
or beer garden as q source Of comfort
or happiness Ought it to be sof If the
church members were all doing as Jesus
would do. could it remain true that
armies of men would walk the streets
for jobs and hundreds Of them curse
the church and thousands of them find
in the saloon their best friendP How
far were the Christians responsible for
this human problem that was personally
illustrated right in this hall tonight
Was it true that the great city churches
would. as rule. refuse to walk in Je-
sus' steps so closely as to suffer. actual
ly suffer- for his sakeY
Henry Maxwell kept asking this ques'
tion even after Rachel had finished sing.
ing and the meeting had come to an
end. after social gathering which was
very informal He asked it while the
little company Of residents. with the
Raymond visitors were having devo-
tional service. as the custom in the set
tlement was He asked itduring con.
ference with the bishop and DR.. Bruce
which lasted until 1 o'clock. He asked
it as he :kneeled again before sleeping
and poured out his soul in his petition
for spiritual baptism on the church in
America such as it had never known.
He asked it the first thing in the morn.
ing and all through the day as he went
over the settlement district and saw the
life of the people 80 far removed from
the life abundantly. Would the church
members. would the Christians, not
only in the churches of Chicago, but
throughout the country. refuse to walk
in his steps if. in order to do 80. they
must actually take up Cross and fol-
low him1
This was the one question that con.
tinually demanded answer He had
planned, when he came to the city, to
return to Raymond and be in his own
pulpit on Sunday, but Friday morning
he had received at the settlement call
from the pastor of one of the largest
churches in Chicago and had been in
vited to fill the pulpit for both morning
and evening services.
At first he hesitated, but finally ac-
cepted, seeing in it the hand of the
Spirits guiding power. He would test
his own question. He would prove the
truth or falsity of the charge made
against the church at the settlement
meeting. How far would it 60 in its