On his return six hundred church members met him and gave him a royal welcome, and a large reception was held in The Temple to show how glad were the hearts of his people that he was restored to them in health. But it was not enough. The people of Philadelphia said, "This man belongs to us." In all parts of the city, in all walks of life, were men and women who had studied at Temple College, whose lives were happier, more useful because of the knowledge they had gained there, for whom he had opened these college doors. The Samaritan Hospital had sent forth people by the hundreds whose bodies had been healed and their spirits quickened because his kindly heart had foreseen their need and his generous hands labored to help it. Everywhere throughout the whole city was felt the leaven of his work, and the people as a body said, "We will show our appreciation of the work he has done for Philadelphia, we will show that we recognize him as one of the city's greatest benefactors and philanthropists." A committee of twenty-one citizens was formed, of which the Mayor, Edwin S. Stuart, was chairman, and a reception was tendered Dr. and Mrs. Conwell and the others of his party in the name of the citizens of Philadelphia. It was given at the Academy of Fine Arts. With its paintings and statuary, its broad sweeping staircases, it made a magnificent setting for the throngs of men and women who crowded to pay their respects to this man who had lived among them, doing good. The line of waiting guests reached for two blocks and more and for hours moved in steady procession before the receiving party. At last the final farewell was said and on toward midnight Dr. Conwell stepped into the carriage waiting to take him home. But the affair was not over. The college boys felt that shaking hands in formal fashion did not express sufficiently their loyalty and devotion, their joy in the return of their beloved "Prex." They unharnessed the horses, and with college cheers and yells triumphantly drew their president all the way from the Academy of Fine Arts to his home, a distance of two miles. As they passed Temple College, their enthusiasm broke all bounds and they drew up the carriage at the Doctor's residence, two blocks beyond the College, with a yell and a flourish that fairly lifted the neighbors from their beds. It was in every way a homecoming and a welcome that proved how wide-reaching has been the work Dr. Conwell has done, how deeply it has touched the lives of thousands of people in Philadelphia. This spontaneous act of appreciation was but the tribute paid by grateful hearts. CHAPTER XXXVI THE PATH THAT HAS BEEN BLAZED Problems that Need Solving. The Need of Men Able to Solve Them.