People's voice., 1900-03-29
CHAPTER XII.


ever before faced such an audience in
his life. 1t is quite certain that the
city of Raymond did not contain such
a variety of humanity. Not even the
Rectangle at its worst could furnish so
many men and women who had fallen
entirely out of the reach of the church
and all religious and even Christian in
fuences.
What did he talk abouti He had al
ready decided that point He told in
the simplest language he could COM
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
of right and truth, and what little some
Of them still retained was taken from
the person Of the peasant of Galilee.
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
hall leaned forward in 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 do2" Suppose that were
the motto not only Of the churches, but
Of the business men, the politicians, the
newspapers, the workingmen, the So
ciety people How long would it take,
under such a standard of conduct, to
revolutionize the worldl What was the
trouble with the world? 1t was suffer
ing from selfshness 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 new life.
Henry Maxwell never knew how
much it meant to hold the respectful
attention of that hall full of diseased
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 selfshness,
marveled that even so socn, under the
influence of the settlement life, the
softening 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-
ceptiOn 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 were 20 or 80
out 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 a bitter night, and
the saloons were full, but in that whole
district of over 80, 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 a
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
lngs 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-
.sentp'
The bishop sat down, and Immediate
Iva man near the middle of the hall
rose and began to speak.
Il want to say that what Mr.. Max
well has said tonight comes pretty close
to me. l knew Jack Manning, the fel-
low he told about, who died at his
house l worked on next case to his in
printers shop in Philadelphia for two
years. Jack was a good fellow. He lent
me S. once when l was in hole, and
l never got a chance to pay it back He
moved to New York. owing to change
in the management of the office that
threw him out, and l never saw him
again. When the linotype machine
came in, was one of the men to 90
out, just as he did. l have been out
most of the time since. They say in
ventions are good thing won't al
ways see it myself, but suppose I'm
preludiced A man naturally is when
he loses steady job because machine
takes his place. About this Christianity
ne tells about it's all right, but never
expect to see any such sacrifice on the
part of church people. So far as my OBJ
servation goes. they're Just as selfish
and as greedy for mnnav nr rorldlv