was not without
fellowship, and it gave him courage. Add to that the knowledge that he
had gained a place in the affection of the working-people, and that was
another reason why he kept up good heart and did not let his personal
sensitiveness enter too largely into his work. It was of course
impossible for him to hide from himself the fact that very many members
of the church had been offended by much that he had said and done. But
he was the last man in the world to go about his parish trying to find
out the quantity of opposition that existed. His Sunday congregation
crowded the church. He was popular with the masses. Whenever he lectured
among the working-men the hall was filled to overflowing. He would not
acknowledge even to himself that the church could long withstand the
needs of the age and the place. He had an intense faith in it as an
institution. He firmly believed all that it needed was to have the white
light of truth poured continually on the Christ as he would act to-day
and the church would respond, and at last in a mighty tide of love and
sacrifice throw itself into the work the church was made to do.

So he began to plan for a series of Sunday-night services different from
anything Milton had ever known. His life in the tenement district and
his growing knowledge of the labor world had convinced him of the fact
that the church was missing its opportunity in not grappling with the
problem as it existed in Milton. It seemed to him that the first step to
a successful solution of that problem was for the church and the
working-man to get together upon some common platform for a better
understanding. He accordingly planned for a series of Sunday-night
services, in which his one great purpose was to unite the church and the
labor unions in a scheme of mutual helpfulness. His plan was very
simple. He invited into the meeting one or two thoughtful leaders of the
mill-men and asked them to state in the plainest terms the exact
condition of affairs in the labor world from their standpoint. Then he,
for the church, took up their statements, their complaints, or the
reasons for their differences with capital, and answered them from the
Christian standpoint: What would Christ advise under the circumstances?
He had different subjects presented on different evenings. One night it
was reasons why the mill-men were not in the church. Another night it
was the demand of men for better houses, and how to get them. Another