Dr. Lyman Abbott gave a very interesting informal talk to a large number of students at the Christian Association rooms last evening. He spoke briefly of some of the problems of city life as he had seen them. The tendency he said, of people to herd together is as marked abroad as in our own country. The common opinion that this is a great evil is a mistaken one. The evils in the large cities, as they are more concentrated, are of course more apparent, but he average is not much if any worse in the cities than in the towns.

A great city attracts men of all classes; it draws men of great force whether good or bad because it demands men of force; it draws weak imperfect men because they think that in the cities they can depend on others. Work of most kinds can be done to better advantage in the cities than elsewhere. The problem then becomes not how we can do away with cities but how we can utilize them.

For the divisions between rich and poor which exist in he c+++, the churches are themselves largely responsible, for they have been planted for the most part in fashionable quarters leaving the poorer districts to chapels and missions. In a great city, the congregations cannot be composed only of those people living in the neighborhood of the church. The church must be a large one with its work well organized and carried on six days in the week. It must not be simply a preaching place.

Dr. Abbott then described briefly the different branches of work in his own church. It we are going to get hold of people outside of our churches we must lay aside all conventionality in tone and manner and go to them in a strait forward open way.

Our great cities are governed as well today as they deserve to be governed. As long as men devote themselves simply to private interests, people will take hold of public affairs from what they can make out of them. One of the first duties of young men today is to take hold of political work and the place to do it is in towns and cities.

It is said that Christ went into society: he did, but he always brought something with him. Society today is too much an interchange of small talk: it ought to be an interchange of vital living experience.