CORRESPONDENCE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 19 April 1907, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE.

NOT UNDERSTOOD. To the Editor. Sir,— l read with intense regret the letter by a local correspondent in which he condemned the Rev. R. J. Campbell, and your correspondent is in much need of better light. If I can explain in simple language what I fully understand in Mr Campbell's phrase I should be entirely satisfied. But it is not within the scope of a short local letter that one could attempt to square the great British preacher with the humble mind of the unlettered and , unread class who cannot enter into the fine touches of the English language. Your correspondent is on the right path, for he understands that Mr , Campbell requires thinkers to follow him, and the workman has not time to do him justice. It is only logical to say that your correspondent is condemning real progress. Let us seek to raise the workmen to the height of Mr Campbell. Cultivate! Cultivate! If a happier home is assured the effort is worth the expenditure. Only one point I wish to talk about. Your correspondent mentions the time when Mr Campbell talked plainly to the British workmen. The workmen did not understand, and the British press victimised and misrepresented Mr Campbell. There is another scene ( which I would proudly raise to the I exiled mind. It is right among the homes and haunts of the workman : There Mr Campbell met the men he • had talked about in their own club. ! Tt was an invitation to Mr Campbell I from them, and there he stood and rej ' peated word for word, and the men i knew that they had a worthy brother j before them. The press became quiet I then ; and I leave my correspondent ! with this as an answer to whether Mr ■ Campbell really understands the workman ; it should prove helpful. I am, etc., E.H.