The speaker’s voice died away in a sob, and everybody understood what the trouble was which had made him prematurely old and grey.
And then Mr. Felix Stapleton arose, and everybody looked at him with interest. “I am sorry for the fathers whose sons bring trouble to them,” he said, “and I am also a little sorry for those whose sons condemn them. What many a man dreads more than anything in these days, when, thank God, the boys of England are enlisting by thousands in the army of the Young Crusaders, is the calm, clear-sighted judgment of his own children. What would they think of us if they knew all the secrets of our business transactions? How would they rate our pious talk about Christian brotherhood if they knew precisely our treatment of those who work for us? Mr. Knight’s rousing words are like a summons to arms; but the soldiers in Christ’s army must be men without reproach. And who among us is? We need grace to be true, and courage to do the right. We are called to rule the world for the world’s good, and to stem the tide of sin and misery; but first of all we must rule ourselves, and our hands can only be strong if they are clean. God pity me; I am speaking of myself.”
There were a few who looked puzzled when Mr. Stapleton thus concluded his short address, but his words would have awakened more curiosity at another time. On the present occasion most men were busily searching their own hearts, and were, therefore, less disposed to criticise others.
When he left the hall, Arthur Knight left with him, and the few minutes which they spent together in conversation helped Stapleton at this turning-point in his life to take the right course.
“Let us concentrate our thoughts upon two points,” said another speaker. “What ought to be done, and how shall we do it? We must not infringe upon the liberty of the subject—no Englishman will stand that; neither must we constitute ourselves a company of private detectives. But every man must bring his personal knowledge of the world of human nature to bear upon any new work which he may undertake. We all believe that the best way to aid men is to help them to help themselves. This cannot be done in the mass, but by one individual influencing another. Before we go farther, let us resolve upon this one thing—let none of us become beggars for money; there has been far too much of that already. Let us use the means that we have for the development of our own idea. And let us each begin at home. Let every man amongst us who is an employer of labour ask himself whether he is fair and honest in the matter of wages. Is there any man, woman, or child working for us at starvation prices? If so, our first duty is to remedy that. No Christian man who is making money can grind down his servants—no matter how unskilled may be their work, nor how overstocked the market—without disgracing his religion. Some of us have done this without knowing it, because we let all these things be settled by middlemen; but the responsibility is ours, and this ought to be seen to first.”
Another speaker said: “Every church or chapel must be the centre of all sorts of helpful ministries for the poor who are around us. There is a great outcry because some of us have moved away into the suburbs; but the people are around these buildings in large numbers. Let us use some of these places every day for the social work of the churches. Many of us are looking out for good investments. Cannot we find our opportunity here? I will take or buy one of the cottages in the street nearest my own chapel, and make a workshop for the unemployed of the bottom story, and an evening recreation room of the top. At the chapel we have particularly good arrangements for teas; I will see if we cannot provide cheap and good dinners for the people there. We must care more for the people and less for the buildings.”
It will be seen how ready for immediate action these men were, and indeed the need was then very pressing, both at Granchester and everywhere else, for the winter had brought more than the usual misery.
In some towns there was formed what was called “The Committee of Helpfulness,” and it had abundant work on its hands. An account of one will serve for all. Anything and everything that love and thought could do was to be done; but the main idea and aim before it was to secure the young. The members of the committee could themselves only feel their way to the full development of the new ministry, and they called for volunteers.
“We will begin with the smallest,” said a lady. “I will belong to the Needlework Guild, because there is nothing else I can do. There are poor women in the parish who are overworked with their large families, and who will feel it a very neighbourly thing if we send strong shirts for the boys and dresses for the girls. I will try and enlist others who, like myself, have been do-nothings; and we will utilise such odds and ends of materials as we can find in our own houses, or that may be given to us. If we have more than we need, we will send some to London. Many children would attend both the Sunday and day school more regularly but for the difficulty of dress. This is only a little thing; but it will be a relief to some of the mothers, which they will greatly appreciate.”
“I ask to be put upon the committee of the Neighbours’ Union,” said another member of the conference—a man of fair means. “There are old persons and poor widows who have appealed to our Poor Law Guardians in vain. They, in order to keep down the rates, and to stamp out pauperism, refuse outdoor relief, and offer the hospitality of the union workhouse. But we can do better than that. Every parish is probably able to take care of its very poor, and also to become sufficiently acquainted with the people to know who could be wisely helped, and who ought not to be helped at all. Certainly we can undertake this. In twenty or thirty years’ time there may be some national system of insurance against sickness and old age; but we need not wait for that. The strong and the active will have to help the sick and the old. We have been doing it all along. Only now, let it be understood, that the Neighbours’ Union exists in obedience to the example of the Good Samaritan. It has been a disgrace to the church organisations of any place, where life has been rendered miserable, through poverty, to the sick and the old.”