p, with the assurance of a very positive
but spiritually-minded man. He never thought his Master was honored by
asking him for small things, or doubting the power of Christianity to do
great things.

And always when he said "I," he simply meant, not Philip Strong, but
Christ in Philip Strong. To deny the power and worth of that incarnation
was, to his mind, not humility, but treason.

The Sunday following, Philip made this announcement to the people:--

"Beginning with next Sunday morning, I shall give the first of a series
of monthly talks on Christ and Modern Society. It will be my object in
these talks to suppose Christ Himself as the one speaking to modern
society on its sins, its needs, its opportunities, its responsibilities,
its every-day life. I shall try to be entirely loving and just and
courageous in giving what I believe Christ Himself would give you, if He
were the pastor of Calvary Church in Milton to-day. So, during these
talks, I wish you would, with me, try to see if you think Christ would
actually say what I shall say in His place. If Christ were in Milton
to-day, I believe He would speak to us about a good many things in
Milton, and He would speak very plainly, and in many cases He might seem
to be severe. But it would be for our good. Of course I am but human in
my weakness. I shall make mistakes. I shall probably say things Christ
would not say. But always going to the source of all true help, the
Spirit of Truth, I shall, as best a man may, speak as I truly believe
Christ would if he were your pastor. These talks will be given on the
first Sunday of every month. I cannot announce the subjects, for they
will be chosen as the opportunities arise."

During the week Philip spent several hours of each day in learning the
facts concerning the town. One of the first things he did was to buy an
accurate map of the place. He hung it up on the wall of his study, and
in after days found occasion to make good use of it. He spent his
afternoons walking over the town. He noted with special interest and
earnestness the great brick mills by the river, five enormous structures
with immense chimneys, out of which poured great volumes of smoke.
Something about the mills fascinated him. They seemed like monsters of
some sort, grim, unfeeling, but terrible. As one walked by them he
seemed to feel the throbbing of the hearts of live creatures. The
unpainted tenements, ugly in their unfailing similarity, affected Phil