The true northerner., 1900-03-21

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system. they preserved some standard
of right and truth. and what little some
of themistill retained was taken from
the person of the peasant of Galilee.
So they were interested in what Max
well said what would Jesus dor" He
began TO apply the question to the social
problem in general after finishing the
story !. Raymond The audience was
respectfully attentive 1t was more than
that Ii 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 dor 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 standard of conduct to
revolutionize the world2 What was the
trouble with the worldf 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 new life.
Henry Maxwell never kne,y how
much il meant to hold the respectful
attention of that hall full of diseased
ant 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 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 90 or 30
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, 900 souls, with the
exception of the saloons. there was not
door open to the people except the
clean. pure, Christian door of the settle
ment. Where would man without
home or without work or without
friends naturally go unless to 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
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.
81 want to say that what Mr.. Max
well has said tonight comes pretty close
to me. / knew Jack Manning, the fell
low he told about who died at his
house. / worked on next case to his in
printers shop in Philadelphia for two
years. Jack was good fellow. He lent
me So once when / was in hole, and
l 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 him
again. When the linotype machine
came in, i was one of the men to go
out, just as he did. / have been out
most of the time since. They say in
ventions are good thing. / won't al
ways see it myself, but i suppose I'm
prejudiced. A man naturally is when
he loses a steady job because machine
takes his place. About this Christianity
he tells about, it's all right, but l 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 money or worldly
success as anybody. l except the bishop
and DIR. Bruce and few others. but i
never found much difference between
men of the world, as they re called. and
church members when it came to busi-
ness and money making. One class is
just as bad as another there.
! Cries of "That's sol" "You re right u
"Of course" interrupted the speaker,
and the minute he sat down two men
who were on their feet for several sec
onds before the first speaker was through
began TO talk at once.
The bishop called them to order and
indicated which was entitled to the
floor. The man who remained standing
began eagerly:
"This is the first time / was ever in
here, and maybe it'll be the last. Fact
is, I'm about at the end of my string.
I've tramped this CITY for work until