night it was the subject of strikes and the attitude of Christ on wages
and the relative value of the wage-earners' product and the capitalists'
intelligence. At each meeting he allowed one or two of the invited
leaders to take the platform and say very plainly what to his mind was
the cause and what the remedy for the poverty and crime and suffering of
the world. Then he closed the evening's discussion by a calm, clear
statement of what was to him the direct application of Jesus' teaching
to the point at issue.

Finally, as this series drew to a close at the end of the month, a
subject came up which roused intense feeling. It was the subject of
wealth, its power, responsibility, meaning, and Christian use. The
church was jammed in every part of it. The services had been so unusual,
the conduct of them had so often been intensely practical, the points
made had so often told against the existing Church that great mobs of
mill-men filed into the room and for the time took possession of Calvary
Church. For the four Sunday nights of that series Philip faced great
crowds, mostly of grown-up men, crowds that his soul yearned over with
unspeakable emotion, a wonderful audience for Calvary to witness, the
like of which Milton had never seen.

CHAPTER XX.

We cannot do better than give the evening paper account of this last
service in the series. With one or two slight exaggerations the account
was a faithful picture of one of the most remarkable meetings ever held
in Milton. The paper, after speaking of the series as a sensational
departure from the old church methods, went on to say:

"Last night, it will be safe to say that those who were fortunate enough
to secure standing-room in Rev. Philip Strong's church heard and saw
things that no other church in this town ever witnessed.

"In the first place, it was a most astonishing crowd of people. Several
of the church-members were present, but they were in the minority.
They[sic] mill-men swarmed in and took possession. It is not exactly
correct to say that they lounged on the easy-cushioned pews of the
Calvary Church, for there was not room enough to lounge, but they filled
up the sanctuary and seemed to enjoy the comfortable luxury of it.

"The subject of the evening was Wealth, and the President of the Trades
Assembly of Milton made a statement of the view which working-men in
general have of wealth as related to labor of hand or brain. He stated
what to his min