Page:Upbuilders by Lincoln Steffens.djvu/71



follower of Christ; no patron of organized charities, but a giver of kindness, sympathy, love. Like a disciple, he has carried “the greatest of these” out into the streets, through the railroad yards, up to the doors of the homes and factories, where he has knocked, offering only service, honest and true, even in public office. And that is why he is the marvel of a “Christian” community in the year of our Lord, 1909. And, believe me, that is how and why Mark some day will make his Jersey City “pretty.” This gentle man has found a way to solve his problems, and ours, graft, railroad rates and the tariff. There may be other ways, but, verily, if we loved our neighbour as ourselves we would not then betray and rob and bribe him. Impracticable ? It does sound so — I wonder why ?—to Christian ears. And maybe we are wrong; maybe Christ was right. Certainly Mark Fagan has proved that the Christianity of Christ — not as the scholars “interpret” it, but as the Nazarene taught it, and as you and I and the Mayor of Jersey City can understand it — Christianity, pure and simple, is a force among men and — a happiness. Anyhow, that is all there is to the mystery of Mark Fagan; that is what he means.