While seeking his true relation to the infinite, Tolstoy was also seeking his true relation to mankind. - Robert Hunter

It was this spirit of the masses and the revolt of the poor which so often found voice in the words of Jesus. But these condemnations are not solely expressive of the intense heat that so often burns in the heart of great agitators and reformers, they are also expressions of the conviction of Jesus that material possessions corrupt and destroy the souls of men. ...censure for the rich and love for the poor both in spirit and in worldly goods helped him to drive home a great truth that you cannot love God and mammon.

From the facts of distress, as given, and from opinions formed, both as a charity agent and as a Settlement worker, I should not be at all surprised if the number of those in poverty in New York, as well as in other large cities and industrial centers, rarely fell below 25 per cent of all the people.

It was not until Mr. Charles Booth published in 1891 the results of his exhaustive inquiries that the actual conditions of poverty in London became known. ...about 30 per cent of the entire population of London were found to be unable to obtain the necessaries for a sound livelihood. ...About ten years later Mr. B. S. Rountree incited by the work of Mr. Booth undertook a similar inquiry in his native town York. ...His comments are as follows: "...we are faced by the startling probability that from 25 to 30 per cent of the town populations of the United Kingdom are living in poverty."