Middletown transcript., 1900-03-03
! CHAPTER XII
By Charles NJ Sheldon.

10 14&c E0HtH C1DWe4Ce sAAD
hall that night. it is doubtful If be had
ever before faced such an audience In
his lie. It Is quite certain that the
city OF Raymond did not contain such
variety Of humanity. Not even the
Rsctangie at its worst could furnish %
many mon and women who had fallen
entirely out Of the reach Of She church
and ali religious and even Christian in.
fiuences.
What did be talk abouti He had al
ready decided that point. He told IN
the simplest language he could com.
Inand some Of the results Of Obediencf
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 o1
his character. and, however much they
had grown bitter toward the forms oi
I 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
1 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 OF Raymond. The audience waf
respectfully attentive. 1t twas more than
that. It was genuinely interested Al
Mr.. Maxwell went on faces all over the
hall leaned forward in a way very sci.
dom seem 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. bui
Of the business men, the politicians. the
newspapers. the workingmen, the so.
ciety people. How long would it take,
: under snch a standard Of conduct, tc
revolutionize the worldf What was the
/, trouble with the worldf It was suffer.
ing from selfshness No one ever lived
who had succeeded in overcoming, self.
ishness like Jesus. II men followed him.
regardless Of results. the world would
ut once begin to enjoy new life
Henry Maxwell never knew how
much II meant to hold the respectful
attention of that hall full of diseased
and sinful humanity The bishop and
DR. Bruce. sitting there. looking on.
eeing many faces that represented scorn
Of creeds, hatred of the social order,
desperate narrowness and seifshness,
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 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 8 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 a man without
home or without work or without
friends naturally go unless to salooni
It 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 wEoever
took part was tc 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 number of voices from
men who had been at previous meetings
of this kim exclaimed. Consent. con-
senti''
The bishop sat down, and Immediate
iy 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. / knew Jack Manning, the fell
low he toll 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 30 once when ! was in hole, and
! 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 ! never saw him
again When the linotype machine
came in, 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 1t myself, but suppose I'm |
preJudiced A man naturally is when |
ne loses Q steady job because machine |
takes his place. About this Christianity |
ne tells about. it's all right, but I never |
expect to see any such sacrifice on the
part OF church people. 30 far as my OBJ
Bervation goes, they're just as selfish
and as greedy for money or worldly
success as anybody. except the bishop
and DR.. Bruce and few others, but / |
never found much difference between
men OF the world, as they re called, and
church members when it came to bust
ness and money making One class il
Just as bad as another there.
Cries Of That soi'' g You re rightp,
'tOf coursei" interrupted the speaker.
and the minute be sat down two men
who were on their feet for several sec
onds before the FIRST speaker was through
began 70 talk at once.
The bishop called them 10 order and L
indicated which was entitled to the |
aoor. The man who remained standing
,egan eagerly
This is the FIRST time / was ever in
here, and maybe it'll be the lest. Fact
Z, I'm about at the end of my string
We tramped this city for work until
,zn mck I'm In plenty Of company.
'ay. Id like 70 ask q question 81 the
ainister II its fair. May III.
That's for Mr Maxssell 10 say.
aid tbs bishop.
skTsx Iii sy,oessr ~ sss..s: " Nx A.