The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-11-13
Y. M. C. A. IN OPERA HOUSE
MEETING or YOUNG MEN IN THE
 GRAND YESTERDAY.
Rev. Alexander F. Irvine Speaks ON "HOw God Measures Men"-A Good Sized Audience Present-An After Meeting Held.

"How God Measures Men"-A Good
 Sized Audience Present-An After. Meeting Held.
 The Rev. Alexander F. Irvine spoke at the Grand Opera house yesterday afternoon on the subject, How God
 Measures Man" His remarks were de-
 livered with great fervor and earnest
 ness and were in substance as follows:
 There are a great many men in this
 world who are willing to give money for mission work to build churches, but
 they are not willing to go to church They want to be left alone. They hold out their dollars; they build their churches and they say God, what do you want? Haven't l done enough? If you want churches you may have them; if money you may have it; if you don't want this, what do you want?" And yet God wants only to touch your hearts; to touch the human heart and to make it clean-to awaken in it love what religion is? Religion is to do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly! A carpenter once heard me speak and when he heard me give my idea of the true principles of religion he went home and carved a pillar. Here it is. The base represents justice, for there can be no true religion without justice. The shaft represents mercy. The capi- tai represents humility.
 You must be just in the first because it is the first factor and the first need in a religion. You must be Just to your neighbors, to the citizens of your city and to yourself. You must give every man his due and you must be just to Christ, who gave Himself for you Do you think that to remain away from your club little more of ten and spend more evenings with your wife and family is not justice? And you will find that it will take more heroism than you imagine.
 You must not sit quietly and allow the politicians to run the city if you want to be just to the citizens. Do you know New Haven is to me what was to the Jews This City of Elms' ought to be the most beau tiful, the most clean the most purified of all, It is not enough to be a howler and to hang out a flag, to be brass band feverish exctable sort of citi- zen. You ought to do all in your power to make your country country of jus tice, of honesty, and of cleanlness-a leader of nations.
 The next need is mercy. Are you in the true sense of the word? In many cases you owe stern justice cruel as it may be, but you also owe mercy. Beauty of character, culture of soul, will give you that beautiful gift, my friends There are workingmen 1ere to-day, carpenters, masons, etc, who will perhaps say: Very well; but ,n whom can l exercise mercy?" I'll ell you. Cultivate that beautiful trait md your eyes will be opened to thou and ways of using it.
 l wish that there could be more fel- | owship more associations, more large !
  If people get together there is that | estless criticism of one for the other ust like a cat whose fur has been ubbed the wrong way, You should | rave mercy-great mercy for one an ther-because whether we are million fires or scavengers, worlmen or min sters, we are all men-men who meet ere In the name of Christ, the savior f man.
 And the last part of the pillar we ave called humility. You will say How can a man who professes faith I God be humble to any but Him?" Don't you think they are in need of hu- lility who say T don't think I need hurch membership" and "I don't be- eve l feel the need of help?"' say ou must be humble in life--as your aviour was humble. All this is not
 creed. We have no creeds here to- ay. There are 10000 people who afe wing to amuse you to one who is try lg to make you think of your con- ition before God and of the need of a fe of usefulness. And how many of ou have religious ideals that are real? Il of us have religious ideals but in le intensely practical life we lead, how any of you have a religious ideal that
 real? l want you, my brothers, to y and make your ideals of religion as 'al as your politics and l want every an here to feel the reality of his re- gious ideal before he leaves this build g.
 At the close of the services an after eeting was held.