Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-10-19

| Yet lackcst thou one thing Sell all that thou
hast and distribute unto the poor and thou shalt
have treasure in heaven. And, come; follow me.
When Henry Maxwell began to speak
No the souls crowded into the settlement
hall that night, it is doubtful if he had
|hver before faced such an audience in
lhis life 1t il quite certain that the
|rity of Raymond did not contain such
N variety of humanity. Not even the
|Rectangle at its worst could furnish so
Imany men and women who had fallen
entirely out of the reach of the church
land all religious and even Christian in
tluences.
What did he talk about? He had al
|rcady decided that point. He told in
the simplest language he could cont
|mand some of the results of obedience
to the pledge as it had been taken in
Raymond. Every man and woman in
THAT audience knew something about
Jesus Christ, They all had some idea Of
| his character, and, however much they
|had grown bitter toward the forms of
/ Christian ecclesiasticism or the social
System, they preserved some standard
| If right and truth, and what little some
Of them still retained was taken from
ihe person of the peasant of Gailee.
So they were interested in what Max
well said. "What would Jesus do?' He
began to apply the question TO the social
problem in general after finishing the
story of Raymond. The audience was
respectfully attentive, 1t was more than
' that. 1t was genuinely interested As
Mr. Maxwell went on faces all over the
Ihall leaned forward in a way very sell
| dom seen in church audiences or any
where else except among workingmen
or the people of the street when once
they are thoroughly aroused. ''What
would Jesus doT" Suppose that were
the motto not only of the churches, but
of the business men, the politicians, the
newspapers, the workingnen, the So
ciety people How long would it take,
under such a standard of conduct to
revolutionize the world What was the
trouble with the world2 1t was suffer
' ing from selfishness. No one ever lived
who had succeeded in overcoming self
ishness like Jesus. If men followed him,
regardless of results, the world would
at once begin to enjoy a new life,
Henry Maxwell never knew how
much it meant to hold the respectful
attention of that hall full of diseased
I and sinful humanity. The bishop and
DR. Bruce, sitting there, looking on,
seeing many faces that represented scorn
of creeds, hatred of the social order,
desperate narrowness and selfishness,
marveled that even so soon, under the
influence of the settlement life, the
sottenlng process had begun to lessen
| the bitterness of hearts, many of which
. had grown bitter from neglect and in
. difference.
And still, in spite of the outward
show of respect of the speaker, no one,
not even the bishop had any true con-
! ccption of the pent up feeling in that
room that night. Among the men who
had heard of the meeting and had re-
| sponded TO the invitation We're 90 or 30
ont Of work, who had strolled past the
| settlement that afternoon, read the no.
tice of the meeting and had come in
| out of curiosity and to escape the chill
east wind. 1t was bitter night, and
the saloons We're full, but in that whole
district of over 30 600 souls with the
exception of the saloons, there was not
a door open to the people except the
clean, pure Christian door of the settle
ment. Where would a man without n
home or without work or without
friends naturally go unless to a saloon
1t had been the custom at the settle
ment for free and open discussion to
follow an open meeting of this kind,
and when Henry Maxwell finished and
sat down the bishop, who presided to-
! night, rose and made the announcement
that any man in the hall was at liberty
to ask questions, to speak out his feel
ings or declare his convictions, always
with the understanding that whoever
took part was to observe the simple
rules that governed parliamentary bod
les and obey the three minute rule,
which, by common consent, would be
enforced on account of the numbers
present.
Instantly a number of voices from
men who had been at previous meetings
of this kind exclaimed, Consent, con
sent"
The bishop sat down, and Immediate
ly man near the middle of the hall
rose and began to speak.
II want TO say that what Mr. Max
well has said tonight comes pretty close
to me. / knew Jack Manning, the fel-
low he told about, who died at hi,
house. j worked on next case to his il
printer shop in Philadelphia for two
gears. Jack was a good fellow. He lent
me So once when | was in hole, and
never got a chance to pay it back. He
moved to New York, owing to a change
IN the management of the office that
threw him out, and | never saw hin
again. When the linotype machine
came in, | was one of the men to &c
out, Just as he did. ! have been out
most of the time since They say in
ventions are good thing, wont al
ways see it myself, but suppose Tn
prejudiced. A man naturally is wher
he loses a steady job because machine
takes his place. About this Christianity
he tells about, it's all right, but | never
expect to see any such sacrifice ON tn,
part of church people, So far as my OBJ
servation goes, they're just as selfish
and as greedy for money or worldly
success as anybody. / except the bishol
1 a