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diff --git a/old/368-h.htm.2021-01-27 b/old/368-h.htm.2021-01-27 new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6af45b2 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/368-h.htm.2021-01-27 @@ -0,0 +1,5083 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + Acres of Diamonds, by Russell H. Conwell + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Acres of Diamonds, by Russell H. Conwell + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Acres of Diamonds + +Author: Russell H. Conwell + +Release Date: June 29, 2008 [EBook #368] +Last Updated: November 3, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ACRES OF DIAMONDS *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Keller and David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + ACRES OF DIAMONDS + </h1> + <h2> + By Russell H. Conwell + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h4> + Founder Of Temple University <br /> Philadelphia + </h4> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + <i>His Life And Achievement By Robert Shackleton</i> + </h3> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h3> + With an Autobiographical Note + </h3> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> AN APPRECIATION </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> <b>ACRES OF DIAMONDS</b> </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> <b>HIS LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> I. THE STORY OF THE SWORD </a> + </p> + <p class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> II. THE BEGINNING AT OLD LEXINGTON </a> + </p> + <p class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> III. STORY OF THE FIFTY-SEVEN CENTS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> IV. HIS POWER AS ORATOR AND PREACHER </a> + </p> + <p class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> V. GIFT FOR INSPIRING OTHERS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> VI. MILLIONS OF HEARERS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> VII. HOW A UNIVERSITY WAS FOUNDED </a> + </p> + <p class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> VIII. HIS SPLENDID EFFICIENCY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0014"> IX. THE STORY OF ACRES OF DIAMONDS </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0015"> <b>FIFTY YEARS ON THE LECTURE PLATFORM</b> + </a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + AN APPRECIATION + </h2> + <p> + THOUGH Russell H. Conwell’s Acres of Diamonds have been spread all over + the United States, time and care have made them more valuable, and now + that they have been reset in black and white by their discoverer, they are + to be laid in the hands of a multitude for their enrichment. + </p> + <p> + In the same case with these gems there is a fascinating story of the + Master Jeweler’s life-work which splendidly illustrates the ultimate unit + of power by showing what one man can do in one day and what one life is + worth to the world. + </p> + <p> + As his neighbor and intimate friend in Philadelphia for thirty years, I am + free to say that Russell H. Conwell’s tall, manly figure stands out in the + state of Pennsylvania as its first citizen and “The Big Brother” of its + seven millions of people. + </p> + <p> + From the beginning of his career he has been a credible witness in the + Court of Public Works to the truth of the strong language of the New + Testament Parable where it says, “If ye have faith as a grain of + mustard-seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, ‘Remove hence to yonder + place,’ AND IT SHALL REMOVE AND NOTHING SHALL BE IMPOSSIBLE UNTO YOU.” + </p> + <p> + As a student, schoolmaster, lawyer, preacher, organizer, thinker and + writer, lecturer, educator, diplomat, and leader of men, he has made his + mark on his city and state and the times in which he has lived. A man + dies, but his good work lives. + </p> + <p> + His ideas, ideals, and enthusiasms have inspired tens of thousands of + lives. A book full of the energetics of a master workman is just what + every young man cares for. + </p> + <p> + 1915. {signature} + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + ACRES OF DIAMONDS + </h2> + <p> + <i>Friends</i>.—This lecture has been delivered under these + circumstances: I visit a town or city, and try to arrive there early + enough to see the postmaster, the barber, the keeper of the hotel, the + principal of the schools, and the ministers of some of the churches, and + then go into some of the factories and stores, and talk with the people, + and get into sympathy with the local conditions of that town or city and + see what has been their history, what opportunities they had, and what + they had failed to do—and every town fails to do something—and + then go to the lecture and talk to those people about the subjects which + applied to their locality. “Acres of Diamonds”—the idea—has + continuously been precisely the same. The idea is that in this country of + ours every man has the opportunity to make more of himself than he does in + his own environment, with his own skill, with his own energy, and with his + own friends. RUSSELL H. CONWELL. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + ACRES OF DIAMONDS + </h2> + <p> + <a href="#linknote-1" name="linknoteref-1" id="linknoteref-1"><small>1</small></a> + </p> + <p> + WHEN going down the Tigris and Euphrates rivers many years ago with a + party of English travelers I found myself under the direction of an old + Arab guide whom we hired up at Bagdad, and I have often thought how that + guide resembled our barbers in certain mental characteristics. He thought + that it was not only his duty to guide us down those rivers, and do what + he was paid for doing, but also to entertain us with stories curious and + weird, ancient and modern, strange and familiar. Many of them I have + forgotten, and I am glad I have, but there is one I shall never forget. + </p> + <p> + The old guide was leading my camel by its halter along the banks of those + ancient rivers, and he told me story after story until I grew weary of his + story-telling and ceased to listen. I have never been irritated with that + guide when he lost his temper as I ceased listening. But I remember that + he took off his Turkish cap and swung it in a circle to get my attention. + I could see it through the corner of my eye, but I determined not to look + straight at him for fear he would tell another story. But although I am + not a woman, I did finally look, and as soon as I did he went right into + another story. + </p> + <p> + Said he, “I will tell you a story now which I reserve for my particular + friends.” When he emphasized the words “particular friends,” I listened, + and I have ever been glad I did. I really feel devoutly thankful, that + there are 1,674 young men who have been carried through college by this + lecture who are also glad that I did listen. The old guide told me that + there once lived not far from the River Indus an ancient Persian by the + name of Ali Hafed. He said that Ali Hafed owned a very large farm, that he + had orchards, grain-fields, and gardens; that he had money at interest, + and was a wealthy and contented man. He was contented because he was + wealthy, and wealthy because he was contented. One day there visited that + old Persian farmer one of these ancient Buddhist priests, one of the wise + men of the East. He sat down by the fire and told the old farmer how this + world of ours was made. He said that this world was once a mere bank of + fog, and that the Almighty thrust His finger into this bank of fog, and + began slowly to move His finger around, increasing the speed until at last + He whirled this bank of fog into a solid ball of fire. Then it went + rolling through the universe, burning its way through other banks of fog, + and condensed the moisture without, until it fell in floods of rain upon + its hot surface, and cooled the outward crust. Then the internal fires + bursting outward through the crust threw up the mountains and hills, the + valleys, the plains and prairies of this wonderful world of ours. If this + internal molten mass came bursting out and cooled very quickly it became + granite; less quickly copper, less quickly silver, less quickly gold, and, + after gold, diamonds were made. + </p> + <p> + Said the old priest, “A diamond is a congealed drop of sunlight.” Now that + is literally scientifically true, that a diamond is an actual deposit of + carbon from the sun. The old priest told Ali Hafed that if he had one + diamond the size of his thumb he could purchase the county, and if he had + a mine of diamonds he could place his children upon thrones through the + influence of their great wealth. + </p> + <p> + Ali Hafed heard all about diamonds, how much they were worth, and went to + his bed that night a poor man. He had not lost anything, but he was poor + because he was discontented, and discontented because he feared he was + poor. He said, “I want a mine of diamonds,” and he lay awake all night. + </p> + <p> + Early in the morning he sought out the priest. I know by experience that a + priest is very cross when awakened early in the morning, and when he shook + that old priest out of his dreams, Ali Hafed said to him: + </p> + <p> + “Will you tell me where I can find diamonds?” + </p> + <p> + “Diamonds! What do you want with diamonds?” “Why, I wish to be immensely + rich.” “Well, then, go along and find them. That is all you have to do; go + and find them, and then you have them.” “But I don’t know where to go.” + “Well, if you will find a river that runs through white sands, between + high mountains, in those white sands you will always find diamonds.” “I + don’t believe there is any such river.” “Oh yes, there are plenty of them. + All you have to do is to go and find them, and then you have them.” Said + Ali Hafed, “I will go.” + </p> + <p> + So he sold his farm, collected his money, left his family in charge of a + neighbor, and away he went in search of diamonds. He began his search, + very properly to my mind, at the Mountains of the Moon. Afterward he came + around into Palestine, then wandered on into Europe, and at last when his + money was all spent and he was in rags, wretchedness, and poverty, he + stood on the shore of that bay at Barcelona, in Spain, when a great tidal + wave came rolling in between the pillars of Hercules, and the poor, + afflicted, suffering, dying man could not resist the awful temptation to + cast himself into that incoming tide, and he sank beneath its foaming + crest, never to rise in this life again. + </p> + <p> + When that old guide had told me that awfully sad story he stopped the + camel I was riding on and went back to fix the baggage that was coming off + another camel, and I had an opportunity to muse over his story while he + was gone. I remember saying to myself, “Why did he reserve that story for + his ‘particular friends’?” There seemed to be no beginning, no middle, no + end, nothing to it. That was the first story I had ever heard told in my + life, and would be the first one I ever read, in which the hero was killed + in the first chapter. I had but one chapter of that story, and the hero + was dead. + </p> + <p> + When the guide came back and took up the halter of my camel, he went right + ahead with the story, into the second chapter, just as though there had + been no break. The man who purchased Ali Hafed’s farm one day led his + camel into the garden to drink, and as that camel put its nose into the + shallow water of that garden brook, Ali Hafed’s successor noticed a + curious flash of light from the white sands of the stream. He pulled out a + black stone having an eye of light reflecting all the hues of the rainbow. + He took the pebble into the house and put it on the mantel which covers + the central fires, and forgot all about it. + </p> + <p> + A few days later this same old priest came in to visit Ali Hafed’s + successor, and the moment he opened that drawing-room door he saw that + flash of light on the mantel, and he rushed up to it, and shouted: “Here + is a diamond! Has Ali Hafed returned?” “Oh no, Ali Hafed has not returned, + and that is not a diamond. That is nothing but a stone we found right out + here in our own garden.” “But,” said the priest, “I tell you I know a + diamond when I see it. I know positively that is a diamond.” + </p> + <p> + Then together they rushed out into that old garden and stirred up the + white sands with their fingers, and lo! there came up other more beautiful + and valuable gems than the first. “Thus,” said the guide to me, and, + friends, it is historically true, “was discovered the diamond-mine of + Golconda, the most magnificent diamond-mine in all the history of mankind, + excelling the Kimberly itself. The Kohinoor, and the Orloff of the crown + jewels of England and Russia, the largest on earth, came from that mine.” + </p> + <p> + When that old Arab guide told me the second chapter of his story, he then + took off his Turkish cap and swung it around in the air again to get my + attention to the moral. Those Arab guides have morals to their stories, + although they are not always moral. As he swung his hat, he said to me, + “Had Ali Hafed remained at home and dug in his own cellar, or underneath + his own wheat-fields, or in his own garden, instead of wretchedness, + starvation, and death by suicide in a strange land, he would have had + ‘acres of diamonds.’ For every acre of that old farm, yes, every + shovelful, afterward revealed gems which since have decorated the crowns + of monarchs.” + </p> + <p> + When he had added the moral to his story I saw why he reserved it for “his + particular friends.” But I did not tell him I could see it. It was that + mean old Arab’s way of going around a thing like a lawyer, to say + indirectly what he did not dare say directly, that “in his private opinion + there was a certain young man then traveling down the Tigris River that + might better be at home in America.” I did not tell him I could see that, + but I told him his story reminded me of one, and I told it to him quick, + and I think I will tell it to you. + </p> + <p> + I told him of a man out in California in 1847 who owned a ranch. He heard + they had discovered gold in southern California, and so with a passion for + gold he sold his ranch to Colonel Sutter, and away he went, never to come + back. Colonel Sutter put a mill upon a stream that ran through that ranch, + and one day his little girl brought some wet sand from the raceway into + their home and sifted it through her fingers before the fire, and in that + falling sand a visitor saw the first shining scales of real gold that were + ever discovered in California. The man who had owned that ranch wanted + gold, and he could have secured it for the mere taking. Indeed, + thirty-eight millions of dollars has been taken out of a very few acres + since then. About eight years ago I delivered this lecture in a city that + stands on that farm, and they told me that a one-third owner for years and + years had been getting one hundred and twenty dollars in gold every + fifteen minutes, sleeping or waking, without taxation. You and I would + enjoy an income like that—if we didn’t have to pay an income tax. + </p> + <p> + But a better illustration really than that occurred here in our own + Pennsylvania. If there is anything I enjoy above another on the platform, + it is to get one of these German audiences in Pennsylvania before me, and + fire that at them, and I enjoy it to-night. There was a man living in + Pennsylvania, not unlike some Pennsylvanians you have seen, who owned a + farm, and he did with that farm just what I should do with a farm if I + owned one in Pennsylvania—he sold it. But before he sold it he + decided to secure employment collecting coal-oil for his cousin, who was + in the business in Canada, where they first discovered oil on this + continent. They dipped it from the running streams at that early time. So + this Pennsylvania farmer wrote to his cousin asking for employment. You + see, friends, this farmer was not altogether a foolish man. No, he was + not. He did not leave his farm until he had something else to do. <i>*Of + all the simpletons the stars shine on I don’t know of a worse one than the + man who leaves one job before he has gotten another</i>. That has especial + reference to my profession, and has no reference whatever to a man seeking + a divorce. When he wrote to his cousin for employment, his cousin replied, + “I cannot engage you because you know nothing about the oil business.” + </p> + <p> + Well, then the old farmer said, “I will know,” and with most commendable + zeal (characteristic of the students of Temple University) he set himself + at the study of the whole subject. He began away back at the second day of + God’s creation when this world was covered thick and deep with that rich + vegetation which since has turned to the primitive beds of coal. He + studied the subject until he found that the drainings really of those rich + beds of coal furnished the coal-oil that was worth pumping, and then he + found how it came up with the living springs. He studied until he knew + what it looked like, smelled like, tasted like, and how to refine it. Now + said he in his letter to his cousin, “I understand the oil business.” His + cousin answered, “All right, come on.” + </p> + <p> + So he sold his farm, according to the county record, for $833 (even money, + “no cents”). He had scarcely gone from that place before the man who + purchased the spot went out to arrange for the watering of the cattle. He + found the previous owner had gone out years before and put a plank across + the brook back of the barn, edgewise into the surface of the water just a + few inches. The purpose of that plank at that sharp angle across the brook + was to throw over to the other bank a dreadful-looking scum through which + the cattle would not put their noses. But with that plank there to throw + it all over to one side, the cattle would drink below, and thus that man + who had gone to Canada had been himself damming back for twenty-three + years a flood of coal-oil which the state geologists of Pennsylvania + declared to us ten years later was even then worth a hundred millions of + dollars to our state, and four years ago our geologist declared the + discovery to be worth to our state a thousand millions of dollars. The man + who owned that territory on which the city of Titusville now stands, and + those Pleasantville valleys, had studied the subject from the second day + of God’s creation clear down to the present time. He studied it until he + knew all about it, and yet he is said to have sold the whole of it for + $833, and again I say, “no sense.” + </p> + <p> + But I need another illustration. I found it in Massachusetts, and I am + sorry I did because that is the state I came from. This young man in + Massachusetts furnishes just another phase of my thought. He went to Yale + College and studied mines and mining, and became such an adept as a mining + engineer that he was employed by the authorities of the university to + train students who were behind their classes. During his senior year he + earned $15 a week for doing that work. When he graduated they raised his + pay from $15 to $45 a week, and offered him a professorship, and as soon + as they did he went right home to his mother. + </p> + <p> + <i>*If they had raised that boy’s pay from $15 to $15.60 he would have + stayed and been proud of the place, but when they put it up to $45 at one + leap, he said, “Mother, I won’t work for $45 a week. The idea of a man + with a brain like mine working for $45 a week!</i> Let’s go out in + California and stake out gold-mines and silver-mines, and be immensely + rich.” + </p> + <p> + Said his mother, “Now, Charlie, it is just as well to be happy as it is to + be rich.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Charlie, “but it is just as well to be rich and happy, too.” + And they were both right about it. As he was an only son and she a widow, + of course he had his way. They always do. + </p> + <p> + They sold out in Massachusetts, and instead of going to California they + went to Wisconsin, where he went into the employ of the Superior Copper + Mining Company at $15 a week again, but with the proviso in his contract + that he should have an interest in any mines he should discover for the + company. I don’t believe he ever discovered a mine, and if I am looking in + the face of any stockholder of that copper company you wish he had + discovered something or other. I have friends who are not here because + they could not afford a ticket, who did have stock in that company at the + time this young man was employed there. This young man went out there, and + I have not heard a word from him. I don’t know what became of him, and I + don’t know whether he found any mines or not, but I don’t believe he ever + did. + </p> + <p> + But I do know the other end of the line. He had scarcely gotten out of the + old homestead before the succeeding owner went out to dig potatoes. The + potatoes were already growing in the ground when he bought the farm, and + as the old farmer was bringing in a basket of potatoes it hugged very + tight between the ends of the stone fence. You know in Massachusetts our + farms are nearly all stone wall. There you are obliged to be very + economical of front gateways in order to have some place to put the stone. + When that basket hugged so tight he set it down on the ground, and then + dragged on one side, and pulled on the other side, and as he was dragging + that basket through this farmer noticed in the upper and outer corner of + that stone wall, right next the gate, a block of native silver eight + inches square. That professor of mines, mining, and mineralogy who knew so + much about the subject that he would not work for $45 a week, when he sold + that homestead in Massachusetts sat right on that silver to make the + bargain. He was born on that homestead, was brought up there, and had gone + back and forth rubbing the stone with his sleeve until it reflected his + countenance, and seemed to say, “Here is a hundred thousand dollars right + down here just for the taking.” But he would not take it. It was in a home + in Newburyport, Massachusetts, and there was no silver there, all away off—well, + I don’t know where, and he did not, but somewhere else, and he was a + professor of mineralogy. + </p> + <p> + My friends, that mistake is very universally made, and why should we even + smile at him. I often wonder what has become of him. I do not know at all, + but I will tell you what I “guess” as a Yankee. I guess that he sits out + there by his fireside to-night with his friends gathered around him, and + he is saying to them something like this: “Do you know that man Conwell + who lives in Philadelphia?” “Oh yes, I have heard of him.” “Do you know + that man Jones that lives in Philadelphia?” “Yes, I have heard of him, + too.” + </p> + <p> + Then he begins to laugh, and shakes his sides and says to his friends, + “Well, they have done just the same thing I did, precisely”—and that + spoils the whole joke, for you and I have done the same thing he did, and + while we sit here and laugh at him he has a better right to sit out there + and laugh at us. I know I have made the same mistakes, but, of course, + that does not make any difference, because we don’t expect the same man to + preach and practise, too. + </p> + <p> + As I come here to-night and look around this audience I am seeing again + what through these fifty years I have continually seen-men that are making + precisely that same mistake. I often wish I could see the younger people, + and would that the Academy had been filled to-night with our high-school + scholars and our grammar-school scholars, that I could have them to talk + to. While I would have preferred such an audience as that, because they + are most susceptible, as they have not grown up into their prejudices as + we have, they have not gotten into any custom that they cannot break, they + have not met with any failures as we have; and while I could perhaps do + such an audience as that more good than I can do grown-up people, yet I + will do the best I can with the material I have. I say to you that you + have “acres of diamonds” in Philadelphia right where you now live. “Oh,” + but you will say, “you cannot know much about your city if you think there + are any ‘acres of diamonds’ here.” + </p> + <p> + I was greatly interested in that account in the newspaper of the young man + who found that diamond in North Carolina. It was one of the purest + diamonds that has ever been discovered, and it has several predecessors + near the same locality. I went to a distinguished professor in mineralogy + and asked him where he thought those diamonds came from. The professor + secured the map of the geologic formations of our continent, and traced + it. He said it went either through the underlying carboniferous strata + adapted for such production, westward through Ohio and the Mississippi, or + in more probability came eastward through Virginia and up the shore of the + Atlantic Ocean. It is a fact that the diamonds were there, for they have + been discovered and sold; and that they were carried down there during the + drift period, from some northern locality. Now who can say but some person + going down with his drill in Philadelphia will find some trace of a + diamond-mine yet down here? Oh, friends! you cannot say that you are not + over one of the greatest diamond-mines in the world, for such a diamond as + that only comes from the most profitable mines that are found on earth. + </p> + <p> + But it serves simply to illustrate my thought, which I emphasize by saying + if you do not have the actual diamond-mines literally you have all that + they would be good for to you. Because now that the Queen of England has + given the greatest compliment ever conferred upon American woman for her + attire because she did not appear with any jewels at all at the late + reception in England, it has almost done away with the use of diamonds + anyhow. All you would care for would be the few you would wear if you wish + to be modest, and the rest you would sell for money. + </p> + <p> + Now then, I say again that the opportunity to get rich, to attain unto + great wealth, is here in Philadelphia now, within the reach of almost + every man and woman who hears me speak to-night, and I mean just what I + say. I have not come to this platform even under these circumstances to + recite something to you. I have come to tell you what in God’s sight I + believe to be the truth, and if the years of life have been of any value + to me in the attainment of common sense, I know I am right; that the men + and women sitting here, who found it difficult perhaps to buy a ticket to + this lecture or gathering to-night, have within their reach “acres of + diamonds,” opportunities to get largely wealthy. There never was a place + on earth more adapted than the city of Philadelphia to-day, and never in + the history of the world did a poor man without capital have such an + opportunity to get rich quickly and honestly as he has now in our city. I + say it is the truth, and I want you to accept it as such; for if you think + I have come to simply recite something, then I would better not be here. I + have no time to waste in any such talk, but to say the things I believe, + and unless some of you get richer for what I am saying to-night my time is + wasted. + </p> + <p> + I say that you ought to get rich, and it is your duty to get rich. How + many of my pious brethren say to me, “Do you, a Christian minister, spend + your time going up and down the country advising young people to get rich, + to get money?” “Yes, of course I do.” They say, “Isn’t that awful! Why + don’t you preach the gospel instead of preaching about man’s making + money?” “Because to make money honestly is to preach the gospel.” That is + the reason. The men who get rich may be the most honest men you find in + the community. + </p> + <p> + “Oh,” but says some young man here to-night, “I have been told all my life + that if a person has money he is very dishonest and dishonorable and mean + and contemptible.” My friend, that is the reason why you have none, + because you have that idea of people. The foundation of your faith is + altogether false. Let me say here clearly, and say it briefly, though + subject to discussion which I have not time for here, ninety-eight out of + one hundred of the rich men of America are honest. That is why they are + rich. That is why they are trusted with money. That is why they carry on + great enterprises and find plenty of people to work with them. It is + because they are honest men. + </p> + <p> + Says another young man, “I hear sometimes of men that get millions of + dollars dishonestly.” Yes, of course you do, and so do I. But they are so + rare a thing in fact that the newspapers talk about them all the time as a + matter of news until you get the idea that all the other rich men got rich + dishonestly. + </p> + <p> + My friend, you take and drive me—if you furnish the auto—out + into the suburbs of Philadelphia, and introduce me to the people who own + their homes around this great city, those beautiful homes with gardens and + flowers, those magnificent homes so lovely in their art, and I will + introduce you to the very best people in character as well as in + enterprise in our city, and you know I will. A man is not really a true + man until he owns his own home, and they that own their homes are made + more honorable and honest and pure, and true and economical and careful, + by owning the home. + </p> + <p> + For a man to have money, even in large sums, is not an inconsistent thing. + We preach against covetousness, and you know we do, in the pulpit, and + oftentimes preach against it so long and use the terms about “filthy + lucre” so extremely that Christians get the idea that when we stand in the + pulpit we believe it is wicked for any man to have money—until the + collection-basket goes around, and then we almost swear at the people + because they don’t give more money. Oh, the inconsistency of such + doctrines as that! + </p> + <p> + Money is power, and you ought to be reasonably ambitious to have it. You + ought because you can do more good with it than you could without it. + Money printed your Bible, money builds your churches, money sends your + missionaries, and money pays your preachers, and you would not have many + of them, either, if you did not pay them. I am always willing that my + church should raise my salary, because the church that pays the largest + salary always raises it the easiest. You never knew an exception to it in + your life. The man who gets the largest salary can do the most good with + the power that is furnished to him. Of course he can if his spirit be + right to use it for what it is given to him. + </p> + <p> + I say, then, you ought to have money. If you can honestly attain unto + riches in Philadelphia, it is your Christian and godly duty to do so. It + is an awful mistake of these pious people to think you must be awfully + poor in order to be pious. + </p> + <p> + Some men say, “Don’t you sympathize with the poor people?” Of course I do, + or else I would not have been lecturing these years. I won’t give in but + what I sympathize with the poor, but the number of poor who are to be + sympathized with is very small. To sympathize with a man whom God has + punished for his sins, thus to help him when God would still continue a + just punishment, is to do wrong, no doubt about it, and we do that more + than we help those who are deserving. While we should sympathize with + God’s poor—that is, those who cannot help themselves—let us + remember there is not a poor person in the United States who was not made + poor by his own shortcomings, or by the shortcomings of some one else. It + is all wrong to be poor, anyhow. Let us give in to that argument and pass + that to one side. + </p> + <p> + A gentleman gets up back there, and says, “Don’t you think there are some + things in this world that are better than money?” Of course I do, but I am + talking about money now. Of course there are some things higher than + money. Oh yes, I know by the grave that has left me standing alone that + there are some things in this world that are higher and sweeter and purer + than money. Well do I know there are some things higher and grander than + gold. Love is the grandest thing on God’s earth, but fortunate the lover + who has plenty of money. Money is power, money is force, money will do + good as well as harm. In the hands of good men and women it could + accomplish, and it has accomplished, good. + </p> + <p> + I hate to leave that behind me. I heard a man get up in a prayer-meeting + in our city and thank the Lord he was “one of God’s poor.” Well, I wonder + what his wife thinks about that? She earns all the money that comes into + that house, and he smokes a part of that on the veranda. I don’t want to + see any more of the Lord’s poor of that kind, and I don’t believe the Lord + does. And yet there are some people who think in order to be pious you + must be awfully poor and awfully dirty. That does not follow at all. While + we sympathize with the poor, let us not teach a doctrine like that. + </p> + <p> + Yet the age is prejudiced against advising a Christian man (or, as a Jew + would say, a godly man) from attaining unto wealth. The prejudice is so + universal and the years are far enough back, I think, for me to safely + mention that years ago up at Temple University there was a young man in + our theological school who thought he was the only pious student in that + department. He came into my office one evening and sat down by my desk, + and said to me: “Mr. President, I think it is my duty sir, to come in and + labor with you.” “What has happened now?” Said he, “I heard you say at the + Academy, at the Peirce School commencement, that you thought it was an + honorable ambition for a young man to desire to have wealth, and that you + thought it made him temperate, made him anxious to have a good name, and + made him industrious. You spoke about man’s ambition to have money helping + to make him a good man. Sir, I have come to tell you the Holy Bible says + that ‘money is the root of all evil.’” + </p> + <p> + I told him I had never seen it in the Bible, and advised him to go out + into the chapel and get the Bible, and show me the place. So out he went + for the Bible, and soon he stalked into my office with the Bible open, + with all the bigoted pride of the narrow sectarian, or of one who founds + his Christianity on some misinterpretation of Scripture. He flung the + Bible down on my desk, and fairly squealed into my ear: “There it is, Mr. + President; you can read it for yourself.” I said to him: “Well, young man, + you will learn when you get a little older that you cannot trust another + denomination to read the Bible for you. You belong to another + denomination. You are taught in the theological school, however, that + emphasis is exegesis. Now, will you take that Bible and read it yourself, + and give the proper emphasis to it?” + </p> + <p> + He took the Bible, and proudly read, “‘The love of money is the root of + all evil.’” + </p> + <p> + Then he had it right, and when one does quote aright from that same old + Book he quotes the absolute truth. I have lived through fifty years of the + mightiest battle that old Book has ever fought, and I have lived to see + its banners flying free; for never in the history of this world did the + great minds of earth so universally agree that the Bible is true—all + true—as they do at this very hour. + </p> + <p> + So I say that when he quoted right, of course he quoted the absolute + truth. “The love of money is the root of all evil.” He who tries to attain + unto it too quickly, or dishonestly, will fall into many snares, no doubt + about that. The love of money. What is that? It is making an idol of + money, and idolatry pure and simple everywhere is condemned by the Holy + Scriptures and by man’s common sense. The man that worships the dollar + instead of thinking of the purposes for which it ought to be used, the man + who idolizes simply money, the miser that hordes his money in the cellar, + or hides it in his stocking, or refuses to invest it where it will do the + world good, that man who hugs the dollar until the eagle squeals has in + him the root of all evil. + </p> + <p> + I think I will leave that behind me now and answer the question of nearly + all of you who are asking, “Is there opportunity to get rich in + Philadelphia?” Well, now, how simple a thing it is to see where it is, and + the instant you see where it is it is yours. Some old gentleman gets up + back there and says, “Mr. Conwell, have you lived in Philadelphia for + thirty-one years and don’t know that the time has gone by when you can + make anything in this city?” “No, I don’t think it is.” “Yes, it is; I + have tried it.” “What business are you in?” “I kept a store here for + twenty years, and never made over a thousand dollars in the whole twenty + years.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, then, you can measure the good you have been to this city by what + this city has paid you, because a man can judge very well what he is worth + by what he receives; that is, in what he is to the world at this time. If + you have not made over a thousand dollars in twenty years in Philadelphia, + it would have been better for Philadelphia if they had kicked you out of + the city nineteen years and nine months ago. A man has no right to keep a + store in Philadelphia twenty years and not make at least five hundred + thousand dollars even though it be a corner grocery up-town.” You say, + “You cannot make five thousand dollars in a store now.” Oh, my friends, if + you will just take only four blocks around you, and find out what the + people want and what you ought to supply and set them down with your + pencil and figure up the profits you would make if you did supply them, + you would very soon see it. There is wealth right within the sound of your + voice. + </p> + <p> + Some one says: “You don’t know anything about business. A preacher never + knows a thing about business.” Well, then, I will have to prove that I am + an expert. I don’t like to do this, but I have to do it because my + testimony will not be taken if I am not an expert. My father kept a + country store, and if there is any place under the stars where a man gets + all sorts of experience in every kind of mercantile transactions, it is in + the country store. I am not proud of my experience, but sometimes when my + father was away he would leave me in charge of the store, though + fortunately for him that was not very often. But this did occur many + times, friends: A man would come in the store, and say to me, “Do you keep + jack knives?” “No, we don’t keep jack-knives,” and I went off whistling a + tune. What did I care about that man, anyhow? Then another farmer would + come in and say, “Do you keep jack knives?” “No, we don’t keep + jack-knives.” Then I went away and whistled another tune. Then a third man + came right in the same door and said, “Do you keep jack-knives?” “No. Why + is every one around here asking for jack-knives? Do you suppose we are + keeping this store to supply the whole neighborhood with jack-knives?” Do + you carry on your store like that in Philadelphia? The difficulty was I + had not then learned that the foundation of godliness and the foundation + principle of success in business are both the same precisely. The man who + says, “I cannot carry my religion into business” advertises himself either + as being an imbecile in business, or on the road to bankruptcy, or a + thief, one of the three, sure. He will fail within a very few years. He + certainly will if he doesn’t carry his religion into business. If I had + been carrying on my father’s store on a Christian plan, godly plan, I + would have had a jack-knife for the third man when he called for it. Then + I would have actually done him a kindness, and I would have received a + reward myself, which it would have been my duty to take. + </p> + <p> + There are some over-pious Christian people who think if you take any + profit on anything you sell that you are an unrighteous man. On the + contrary, you would be a criminal to sell goods for less than they cost. + You have no right to do that. You cannot trust a man with your money who + cannot take care of his own. You cannot trust a man in your family that is + not true to his own wife. You cannot trust a man in the world that does + not begin with his own heart, his own character, and his own life. It + would have been my duty to have furnished a jack-knife to the third man, + or the second, and to have sold it to him and actually profited myself. I + have no more right to sell goods without making a profit on them than I + have to overcharge him dishonestly beyond what they are worth. But I + should so sell each bill of goods that the person to whom I sell shall + make as much as I make. + </p> + <p> + To live and let live is the principle of the gospel, and the principle of + every-day common sense. Oh, young man, hear me; live as you go along. Do + not wait until you have reached my years before you begin to enjoy + anything of this life. If I had the millions back, or fifty cents of it, + which I have tried to earn in these years, it would not do me anything + like the good that it does me now in this almost sacred presence to-night. + Oh, yes, I am paid over and over a hundredfold to-night for dividing as I + have tried to do in some measure as I went along through the years. I + ought not speak that way, it sounds egotistic, but I am old enough now to + be excused for that. I should have helped my fellow-men, which I have + tried to do, and every one should try to do, and get the happiness of it. + The man who goes home with the sense that he has stolen a dollar that day, + that he has robbed a man of what was his honest due, is not going to sweet + rest. He arises tired in the morning, and goes with an unclean conscience + to his work the next day. He is not a successful man at all, although he + may have laid up millions. But the man who has gone through life dividing + always with his fellow-men, making and demanding his own rights and his + own profits, and giving to every other man his rights and profits, lives + every day, and not only that, but it is the royal road to great wealth. + The history of the thousands of millionaires shows that to be the case. + </p> + <p> + The man over there who said he could not make anything in a store in + Philadelphia has been carrying on his store on the wrong principle. + Suppose I go into your store to-morrow morning and ask, “Do you know + neighbor A, who lives one square away, at house No. 1240?” “Oh yes, I have + met him. He deals here at the corner store.” “Where did he come from?” “I + don’t know.” “How many does he have in his family?” “I don’t know.” “What + ticket does he vote?” “I don’t know.” “What church does he go to?” “I + don’t know, and don’t care. What are you asking all these questions for?” + </p> + <p> + If you had a store in Philadelphia would you answer me like that? If so, + then you are conducting your business just as I carried on my father’s + business in Worthington, Massachusetts. You don’t know where your neighbor + came from when he moved to Philadelphia, and you don’t care. If you had + cared you would be a rich man now. If you had cared enough about him to + take an interest in his affairs, to find out what he needed, you would + have been rich. But you go through the world saying, “No opportunity to + get rich,” and there is the fault right at your own door. + </p> + <p> + But another young man gets up over there and says, “I cannot take up the + mercantile business.” (While I am talking of trade it applies to every + occupation.) “Why can’t you go into the mercantile business?” “Because I + haven’t any capital.” Oh, the weak and dudish creature that can’t see over + its collar! It makes a person weak to see these little dudes standing + around the corners and saying, “Oh, if I had plenty of capital, how rich I + would get.” “Young man, do you think you are going to get rich on + capital?” “Certainly.” Well, I say, “Certainly not.” If your mother has + plenty of money, and she will set you up in business, you will “set her up + in business,” supplying you with capital. + </p> + <p> + The moment a young man or woman gets more money than he or she has grown + to by practical experience, that moment he has gotten a curse. It is no + help to a young man or woman to inherit money. It is no help to your + children to leave them money, but if you leave them education, if you + leave them Christian and noble character, if you leave them a wide circle + of friends, if you leave them an honorable name, it is far better than + that they should have money. It would be worse for them, worse for the + nation, that they should have any money at all. Oh, young man, if you have + inherited money, don’t regard it as a help. It will curse you through your + years, and deprive you of the very best things of human life. There is no + class of people to be pitied so much as the inexperienced sons and + daughters of the rich of our generation. I pity the rich man’s son. He can + never know the best things in life. + </p> + <p> + One of the best things in our life is when a young man has earned his own + living, and when he becomes engaged to some lovely young woman, and makes + up his mind to have a home of his own. Then with that same love comes also + that divine inspiration toward better things, and he begins to save his + money. He begins to leave off his bad habits and put money in the bank. + When he has a few hundred dollars he goes out in the suburbs to look for a + home. He goes to the savings-bank, perhaps, for half of the value, and + then goes for his wife, and when he takes his bride over the threshold of + that door for the first time he says in words of eloquence my voice can + never touch: “I have earned this home myself. It is all mine, and I divide + with thee.” That is the grandest moment a human heart may ever know. + </p> + <p> + But a rich man’s son can never know that. He takes his bride into a finer + mansion, it may be, but he is obliged to go all the way through it and say + to his wife, “My mother gave me that, my mother gave me that, and my + mother gave me this,” until his wife wishes she had married his mother. I + pity the rich man’s son. + </p> + <p> + The statistics of Massachusetts showed that not one rich man’s son out of + seventeen ever dies rich. I pity the rich man’s sons unless they have the + good sense of the elder Vanderbilt, which sometimes happens. He went to + his father and said, “Did you earn all your money?” “I did, my son. I + began to work on a ferry-boat for twenty-five cents a day.” “Then,” said + his son, “I will have none of your money,” and he, too, tried to get + employment on a ferry-boat that Saturday night. He could not get one + there, but he did get a place for three dollars a week. Of course, if a + rich man’s son will do that, he will get the discipline of a poor boy that + is worth more than a university education to any man. He would then be + able to take care of the millions of his father. But as a rule the rich + men will not let their sons do the very thing that made them great. As a + rule, the rich man will not allow his son to work—and his mother! + Why, she would think it was a social disgrace if her poor, weak, little + lily-fingered, sissy sort of a boy had to earn his living with honest + toil. I have no pity for such rich men’s sons. + </p> + <p> + I remember one at Niagara Falls. I think I remember one a great deal + nearer. I think there are gentlemen present who were at a great banquet, + and I beg pardon of his friends. At a banquet here in Philadelphia there + sat beside me a kind-hearted young man, and he said, “Mr. Conwell, you + have been sick for two or three years. When you go out, take my limousine, + and it will take you up to your house on Broad Street.” I thanked him very + much, and perhaps I ought not to mention the incident in this way, but I + follow the facts. I got on to the seat with the driver of that limousine, + outside, and when we were going up I asked the driver, “How much did this + limousine cost?” “Six thousand eight hundred, and he had to pay the duty + on it.” “Well,” I said, “does the owner of this machine ever drive it + himself?” At that the chauffeur laughed so heartily that he lost control + of his machine. He was so surprised at the question that he ran up on the + sidewalk, and around a corner lamp-post out into the street again. And + when he got out into the street he laughed till the whole machine + trembled. He said: “He drive this machine! Oh, he would be lucky if he + knew enough to get out when we get there.” + </p> + <p> + I must tell you about a rich man’s son at Niagara Falls. I came in from + the lecture to the hotel, and as I approached the desk of the clerk there + stood a millionaire’s son from New York. He was an indescribable specimen + of anthropologic potency. He had a skull-cap on one side of his head, with + a gold tassel in the top of it, and a gold-headed cane under his arm with + more in it than in his head. It is a very difficult thing to describe that + young man. He wore an eye-glass that he could not see through, + patent-leather boots that he could not walk in, and pants that he could + not sit down in—dressed like a grasshopper. This human cricket came + up to the clerk’s desk just as I entered, adjusted his unseeing eye-glass, + and spake in this wise to the clerk. You see, he thought it was “Hinglish, + you know,” to lisp. “Thir, will you have the kindness to supply me with + thome papah and enwelophs!” The hotel clerk measured that man quick, and + he pulled the envelopes and paper out of a drawer, threw them across the + counter toward the young man, and then turned away to his books. You + should have seen that young man when those envelopes came across that + counter. He swelled up like a gobbler turkey, adjusted his unseeing + eye-glass, and yelled: “Come right back here. Now thir, will you order a + thervant to take that papah and enwelophs to yondah dethk.” Oh, the poor, + miserable, contemptible American monkey! He could not carry paper and + envelopes twenty feet. I suppose he could not get his arms down to do it. + I have no pity for such travesties upon human nature. If you have not + capital, young man, I am glad of it. What you need is common sense, not + copper cents. + </p> + <p> + The best thing I can do is to illustrate by actual facts well-known to you + all. A. T. Stewart, a poor boy in New York, had $1.50 to begin life on. He + lost 87 1/2 cents of that on the very first venture. How fortunate that + young man who loses the first time he gambles. That boy said, “I will + never gamble again in business,” and he never did. How came he to lose 87 + 1/2 cents? You probably all know the story how he lost it—because he + bought some needles, threads, and buttons to sell which people did not + want, and had them left on his hands, a dead loss. Said the boy, “I will + not lose any more money in that way.” Then he went around first to the + doors and asked the people what they did want. Then when he had found out + what they wanted he invested his 62 1/2 cents to supply a known demand. + Study it wherever you choose—in business, in your profession, in + your housekeeping, whatever your life, that one thing is the secret of + success. You must first know the demand. You must first know what people + need, and then invest yourself where you are most needed. A. T. Stewart + went on that principle until he was worth what amounted afterward to forty + millions of dollars, owning the very store in which Mr. Wanamaker carries + on his great work in New York. His fortune was made by his losing + something, which taught him the great lesson that he must only invest + himself or his money in something that people need. When will you salesmen + learn it? When will you manufacturers learn that you must know the + changing needs of humanity if you would succeed in life? Apply yourselves, + all you Christian people, as manufacturers or merchants or workmen to + supply that human need. It is a great principle as broad as humanity and + as deep as the Scripture itself. + </p> + <p> + The best illustration I ever heard was of John Jacob Astor. You know that + he made the money of the Astor family when he lived in New York. He came + across the sea in debt for his fare. But that poor boy with nothing in his + pocket made the fortune of the Astor family on one principle. Some young + man here to-night will say, “Well they could make those fortunes over in + New York but they could not do it in Philadelphia!” My friends, did you + ever read that wonderful book of Riis (his memory is sweet to us because + of his recent death), wherein is given his statistical account of the + records taken in 1889 of 107 millionaires of New York. If you read the + account you will see that out of the 107 millionaires only seven made + their money in New York. Out of the 107 millionaires worth ten million + dollars in real estate then, 67 of them made their money in towns of less + than 3,500 inhabitants. The richest man in this country to-day, if you + read the real-estate values, has never moved away from a town of 3,500 + inhabitants. It makes not so much difference where you are as who you are. + But if you cannot get rich in Philadelphia you certainly cannot do it in + New York. + </p> + <p> + Now John Jacob Astor illustrated what can be done anywhere. He had a + mortgage once on a millinery-store, and they could not sell bonnets enough + to pay the interest on his money. So he foreclosed that mortgage, took + possession of the store, and went into partnership with the very same + people, in the same store, with the same capital. He did not give them a + dollar of capital. They had to sell goods to get any money. Then he left + them alone in the store just as they had been before, and he went out and + sat down on a bench in the park in the shade. What was John Jacob Astor + doing out there, and in partnership with people who had failed on his own + hands? He had the most important and, to my mind, the most pleasant part + of that partnership on his hands. For as John Jacob Astor sat on that + bench he was watching the ladies as they went by; and where is the man who + would not get rich at that business? As he sat on the bench if a lady + passed him with her shoulders back and head up, and looked straight to the + front, as if she did not care if all the world did gaze on her, then he + studied her bonnet, and by the time it was out of sight he knew the shape + of the frame, the color of the trimmings, and the crinklings in the + feather. I sometimes try to describe a bonnet, but not always. I would not + try to describe a modern bonnet. Where is the man that could describe one? + This aggregation of all sorts of driftwood stuck on the back of the head, + or the side of the neck, like a rooster with only one tail feather left. + But in John Jacob Astor’s day there was some art about the millinery + business, and he went to the millinery-store and said to them: “Now put + into the show-window just such a bonnet as I describe to you, because I + have already seen a lady who likes such a bonnet. Don’t make up any more + until I come back.” Then he went out and sat down again, and another lady + passed him of a different form, of different complexion, with a different + shape and color of bonnet. “Now,” said he, “put such a bonnet as that in + the show window.” He did not fill his show-window up town with a lot of + hats and bonnets to drive people away, and then sit on the back stairs and + bawl because people went to Wanamaker’s to trade. He did not have a hat or + a bonnet in that show-window but what some lady liked before it was made + up. The tide of custom began immediately to turn in, and that has been the + foundation of the greatest store in New York in that line, and still + exists as one of three stores. Its fortune was made by John Jacob Astor + after they had failed in business, not by giving them any more money, but + by finding out what the ladies liked for bonnets before they wasted any + material in making them up. I tell you if a man could foresee the + millinery business he could foresee anything under heaven! + </p> + <p> + Suppose I were to go through this audience to-night and ask you in this + great manufacturing city if there are not opportunities to get rich in + manufacturing. “Oh yes,” some young man says, “there are opportunities + here still if you build with some trust and if you have two or three + millions of dollars to begin with as capital.” Young man, the history of + the breaking up of the trusts by that attack upon “big business” is only + illustrating what is now the opportunity of the smaller man. The time + never came in the history of the world when you could get rich so quickly + manufacturing without capital as you can now. + </p> + <p> + But you will say, “You cannot do anything of the kind. You cannot start + without capital.” Young man, let me illustrate for a moment. I must do it. + It is my duty to every young man and woman, because we are all going into + business very soon on the same plan. Young man, remember if you know what + people need you have gotten more knowledge of a fortune than any amount of + capital can give you. + </p> + <p> + There was a poor man out of work living in Hingham, Massachusetts. He + lounged around the house until one day his wife told him to get out and + work, and, as he lived in Massachusetts, he obeyed his wife. He went out + and sat down on the shore of the bay, and whittled a soaked shingle into a + wooden chain. His children that evening quarreled over it, and he whittled + a second one to keep peace. While he was whittling the second one a + neighbor came in and said: “Why don’t you whittle toys and sell them? You + could make money at that.” “Oh,” he said, “I would not know what to make.” + “Why don’t you ask your own children right here in your own house what to + make?” “What is the use of trying that?” said the carpenter. “My children + are different from other people’s children.” (I used to see people like + that when I taught school.) But he acted upon the hint, and the next + morning when Mary came down the stairway, he asked, “What do you want for + a toy?” She began to tell him she would like a doll’s bed, a doll’s + washstand, a doll’s carriage, a little doll’s umbrella, and went on with a + list of things that would take him a lifetime to supply. So, consulting + his own children, in his own house, he took the firewood, for he had no + money to buy lumber, and whittled those strong, unpainted Hingham toys + that were for so many years known all over the world. That man began to + make those toys for his own children, and then made copies and sold them + through the boot-and-shoe store next door. He began to make a little + money, and then a little more, and Mr. Lawson, in his <i>Frenzied Finance</i> + says that man is the richest man in old Massachusetts, and I think it is + the truth. And that man is worth a hundred millions of dollars to-day, and + has been only thirty-four years making it on that one principle—that + one must judge that what his own children like at home other people’s + children would like in their homes, too; to judge the human heart by + oneself, by one’s wife or by one’s children. It is the royal road to + success in manufacturing. “Oh,” but you say, “didn’t he have any capital?” + Yes, a penknife, but I don’t know that he had paid for that. + </p> + <p> + I spoke thus to an audience in New Britain, Connecticut, and a lady four + seats back went home and tried to take off her collar, and the + collar-button stuck in the buttonhole. She threw it out and said, “I am + going to get up something better than that to put on collars.” Her husband + said: “After what Conwell said to-night, you see there is a need of an + improved collar-fastener that is easier to handle. There is a human need; + there is a great fortune. Now, then, get up a collar-button and get rich.” + He made fun of her, and consequently made fun of me, and that is one of + the saddest things which comes over me like a deep cloud of midnight + sometimes—although I have worked so hard for more than half a + century, yet how little I have ever really done. Notwithstanding the + greatness and the handsomeness of your compliment to-night, I do not + believe there is one in ten of you that is going to make a million of + dollars because you are here to-night; but it is not my fault, it is + yours. I say that sincerely. What is the use of my talking if people never + do what I advise them to do? When her husband ridiculed her, she made up + her mind she would make a better collar-button, and when a woman makes up + her mind “she will,” and does not say anything about it, she does it. It + was that New England woman who invented the snap button which you can find + anywhere now. It was first a collar-button with a spring cap attached to + the outer side. Any of you who wear modern waterproofs know the button + that simply pushes together, and when you unbutton it you simply pull it + apart. That is the button to which I refer, and which she invented. She + afterward invented several other buttons, and then invested in more, and + then was taken into partnership with great factories. Now that woman goes + over the sea every summer in her private steamship—yes, and takes + her husband with her! If her husband were to die, she would have money + enough left now to buy a foreign duke or count or some such title as that + at the latest quotations. + </p> + <p> + Now what is my lesson in that incident? It is this: I told her then, + though I did not know her, what I now say to you, “Your wealth is too near + to you. You are looking right over it”; and she had to look over it + because it was right under her chin. + </p> + <p> + I have read in the newspaper that a woman never invented anything. Well, + that newspaper ought to begin again. Of course, I do not refer to gossip—I + refer to machines—and if I did I might better include the men. That + newspaper could never appear if women had not invented something. Friends, + think. Ye women, think! You say you cannot make a fortune because you are + in some laundry, or running a sewing-machine, it may be, or walking before + some loom, and yet you can be a millionaire if you will but follow this + almost infallible direction. + </p> + <p> + When you say a woman doesn’t invent anything, I ask, Who invented the + Jacquard loom that wove every stitch you wear? Mrs. Jacquard. The + printer’s roller, the printing-press, were invented by farmers’ wives. Who + invented the cotton-gin of the South that enriched our country so + amazingly? Mrs. General Greene invented the cotton-gin and showed the idea + to Mr. Whitney, and he, like a man, seized it. Who was it that invented + the sewing-machine? If I would go to school to-morrow and ask your + children they would say, “Elias Howe.” + </p> + <p> + He was in the Civil War with me, and often in my tent, and I often heard + him say that he worked fourteen years to get up that sewing-machine. But + his wife made up her mind one day that they would starve to death if there + wasn’t something or other invented pretty soon, and so in two hours she + invented the sewing-machine. Of course he took out the patent in his name. + Men always do that. Who was it that invented the mower and the reaper? + According to Mr. McCormick’s confidential communication, so recently + published, it was a West Virginia woman, who, after his father and he had + failed altogether in making a reaper and gave it up, took a lot of shears + and nailed them together on the edge of a board, with one shaft of each + pair loose, and then wired them so that when she pulled the wire one way + it closed them, and when she pulled the wire the other way it opened them, + and there she had the principle of the mowing-machine. If you look at a + mowing-machine, you will see it is nothing but a lot of shears. If a woman + can invent a mowing-machine, if a woman can invent a Jacquard loom, if a + woman can invent a cotton-gin, if a woman can invent a trolley switch—as + she did and made the trolleys possible; if a woman can invent, as Mr. + Carnegie said, the great iron squeezers that laid the foundation of all + the steel millions of the United States, “we men” can invent anything + under the stars! I say that for the encouragement of the men. + </p> + <p> + Who are the great inventors of the world? Again this lesson comes before + us. The great inventor sits next to you, or you are the person yourself. + “Oh,” but you will say, “I have never invented anything in my life.” + Neither did the great inventors until they discovered one great secret. Do + you think it is a man with a head like a bushel measure or a man like a + stroke of lightning? It is neither. The really great man is a plain, + straightforward, every-day, common-sense man. You would not dream that he + was a great inventor if you did not see something he had actually done. + His neighbors do not regard him so great. You never see anything great + over your back fence. You say there is no greatness among your neighbors. + It is all away off somewhere else. Their greatness is ever so simple, so + plain, so earnest, so practical, that the neighbors and friends never + recognize it. + </p> + <p> + True greatness is often unrecognized. That is sure. You do not know + anything about the greatest men and women. I went out to write the life of + General Garfield, and a neighbor, knowing I was in a hurry, and as there + was a great crowd around the front door, took me around to General + Garfield’s back door and shouted, “Jim! Jim!” And very soon “Jim” came to + the door and let me in, and I wrote the biography of one of the grandest + men of the nation, and yet he was just the same old “Jim” to his neighbor. + If you know a great man in Philadelphia and you should meet him to-morrow, + you would say, “How are you, Sam?” or “Good morning, Jim.” Of course you + would. That is just what you would do. + </p> + <p> + One of my soldiers in the Civil War had been sentenced to death, and I + went up to the White House in Washington—sent there for the first + time in my life to see the President. I went into the waiting-room and sat + down with a lot of others on the benches, and the secretary asked one + after another to tell him what they wanted. After the secretary had been + through the line, he went in, and then came back to the door and motioned + for me. I went up to that anteroom, and the secretary said: “That is the + President’s door right over there. Just rap on it and go right in.” I + never was so taken aback, friends, in all my life, never. The secretary + himself made it worse for me, because he had told me how to go in and then + went out another door to the left and shut that. There I was, in the + hallway by myself before the President of the United States of America’s + door. I had been on fields of battle, where the shells did sometimes + shriek and the bullets did sometimes hit me, but I always wanted to run. I + have no sympathy with the old man who says, “I would just as soon march up + to the cannon’s mouth as eat my dinner.” I have no faith in a man who + doesn’t know enough to be afraid when he is being shot at. I never was so + afraid when the shells came around us at Antietam as I was when I went + into that room that day; but I finally mustered the courage—I don’t + know how I ever did—and at arm’s-length tapped on the door. The man + inside did not help me at all, but yelled out, “Come in and sit down!” + </p> + <p> + Well, I went in and sat down on the edge of a chair, and wished I were in + Europe, and the man at the table did not look up. He was one of the + world’s greatest men, and was made great by one single rule. Oh, that all + the young people of Philadelphia were before me now and I could say just + this one thing, and that they would remember it. I would give a lifetime + for the effect it would have on our city and on civilization. Abraham + Lincoln’s principle for greatness can be adopted by nearly all. This was + his rule: Whatsoever he had to do at all, he put his whole mind into it + and held it all there until that was all done. That makes men great almost + anywhere. He stuck to those papers at that table and did not look up at + me, and I sat there trembling. Finally, when he had put the string around + his papers, he pushed them over to one side and looked over to me, and a + smile came over his worn face. He said: “I am a very busy man and have + only a few minutes to spare. Now tell me in the fewest words what it is + you want.” I began to tell him, and mentioned the case, and he said: “I + have heard all about it and you do not need to say any more. Mr. Stanton + was talking to me only a few days ago about that. You can go to the hotel + and rest assured that the President never did sign an order to shoot a boy + under twenty years of age, and never will. You can say that to his mother + anyhow.” + </p> + <p> + Then he said to me, “How is it going in the field?” I said, “We sometimes + get discouraged.” And he said: “It is all right. We are going to win out + now. We are getting very near the light. No man ought to wish to be + President of the United States, and I will be glad when I get through; + then Tad and I are going out to Springfield, Illinois. I have bought a + farm out there and I don’t care if I again earn only twenty-five cents a + day. Tad has a mule team, and we are going to plant onions.” + </p> + <p> + Then he asked me, “Were you brought up on a farm?” I said, “Yes; in the + Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts.” He then threw his leg over the corner + of the big chair and said, “I have heard many a time, ever since I was + young, that up there in those hills you have to sharpen the noses of the + sheep in order to get down to the grass between the rocks.” He was so + familiar, so everyday, so farmer-like, that I felt right at home with him + at once. + </p> + <p> + He then took hold of another roll of paper, and looked up at me and said, + “Good morning.” I took the hint then and got up and went out. After I had + gotten out I could not realize I had seen the President of the United + States at all. But a few days later, when still in the city, I saw the + crowd pass through the East Room by the coffin of Abraham Lincoln, and + when I looked at the upturned face of the murdered President I felt then + that the man I had seen such a short time before, who, so simple a man, so + plain a man, was one of the greatest men that God ever raised up to lead a + nation on to ultimate liberty. Yet he was only “Old Abe” to his neighbors. + When they had the second funeral, I was invited among others, and went out + to see that same coffin put back in the tomb at Springfield. Around the + tomb stood Lincoln’s old neighbors, to whom he was just “Old Abe.” Of + course that is all they would say. + </p> + <p> + Did you ever see a man who struts around altogether too large to notice an + ordinary working mechanic? Do you think he is great? He is nothing but a + puffed-up balloon, held down by his big feet. There is no greatness there. + </p> + <p> + Who are the great men and women? My attention was called the other day to + the history of a very little thing that made the fortune of a very poor + man. It was an awful thing, and yet because of that experience he—not + a great inventor or genius—invented the pin that now is called the + safety-pin, and out of that safety-pin made the fortune of one of the + great aristocratic families of this nation. + </p> + <p> + A poor man in Massachusetts who had worked in the nail-works was injured + at thirty-eight, and he could earn but little money. He was employed in + the office to rub out the marks on the bills made by pencil memorandums, + and he used a rubber until his hand grew tired. He then tied a piece of + rubber on the end of a stick and worked it like a plane. His little girl + came and said, “Why, you have a patent, haven’t you?” The father said + afterward, “My daughter told me when I took that stick and put the rubber + on the end that there was a patent, and that was the first thought of + that.” He went to Boston and applied for his patent, and every one of you + that has a rubber-tipped pencil in your pocket is now paying tribute to + the millionaire. No capital, not a penny did he invest in it. All was + income, all the way up into the millions. + </p> + <p> + But let me hasten to one other greater thought. “Show me the great men and + women who live in Philadelphia.” A gentleman over there will get up and + say: “We don’t have any great men in Philadelphia. They don’t live here. + They live away off in Rome or St. Petersburg or London or Manayunk, or + anywhere else but here in our town.” I have come now to the apex of my + thought. I have come now to the heart of the whole matter and to the + center of my struggle: Why isn’t Philadelphia a greater city in its + greater wealth? Why does New York excel Philadelphia? People say, “Because + of her harbor.” Why do many other cities of the United States get ahead of + Philadelphia now? There is only one answer, and that is because our own + people talk down their own city. If there ever was a community on earth + that has to be forced ahead, it is the city of Philadelphia. If we are to + have a boulevard, talk it down; if we are going to have better schools, + talk them down; if you wish to have wise legislation, talk it down; talk + all the proposed improvements down. That is the only great wrong that I + can lay at the feet of the magnificent Philadelphia that has been so + universally kind to me. I say it is time we turn around in our city and + begin to talk up the things that are in our city, and begin to set them + before the world as the people of Chicago, New York, St. Louis, and San + Francisco do. Oh, if we only could get that spirit out among our people, + that we can do things in Philadelphia and do them well! + </p> + <p> + Arise, ye millions of Philadelphians, trust in God and man, and believe in + the great opportunities that are right here not over in New York or + Boston, but here—for business, for everything that is worth living + for on earth. There was never an opportunity greater. Let us talk up our + own city. + </p> + <p> + But there are two other young men here to-night, and that is all I will + venture to say, because it is too late. One over there gets up and says, + “There is going to be a great man in Philadelphia, but never was one.” + “Oh, is that so? When are you going to be great?” “When I am elected to + some political office.” Young man, won’t you learn a lesson in the primer + of politics that it is a <i>prima facie</i> evidence of littleness to hold + office under our form of government? Great men get into office sometimes, + but what this country needs is men that will do what we tell them to do. + This nation—where the people rule—is governed by the people, + for the people, and so long as it is, then the office-holder is but the + servant of the people, and the Bible says the servant cannot be greater + than the master. The Bible says, “He that is sent cannot be greater than + Him who sent Him.” The people rule, or should rule, and if they do, we do + not need the greater men in office. If the great men in America took our + offices, we would change to an empire in the next ten years. + </p> + <p> + I know of a great many young women, now that woman’s suffrage is coming, + who say, “I am going to be President of the United States some day.” I + believe in woman’s suffrage, and there is no doubt but what it is coming, + and I am getting out of the way, anyhow. I may want an office by and by + myself; but if the ambition for an office influences the women in their + desire to vote, I want to say right here what I say to the young men, that + if you only get the privilege of casting one vote, you don’t get anything + that is worth while. Unless you can control more than one vote, you will + be unknown, and your influence so dissipated as practically not to be + felt. This country is not run by votes. Do you think it is? It is governed + by influence. It is governed by the ambitions and the enterprises which + control votes. The young woman that thinks she is going to vote for the + sake of holding an office is making an awful blunder. + </p> + <p> + That other young man gets up and says, “There are going to be great men in + this country and in Philadelphia.” “Is that so? When?” “When there comes a + great war, when we get into difficulty through watchful waiting in Mexico; + when we get into war with England over some frivolous deed, or with Japan + or China or New Jersey or some distant country. Then I will march up to + the cannon’s mouth; I will sweep up among the glistening bayonets; I will + leap into the arena and tear down the flag and bear it away in triumph. I + will come home with stars on my shoulder, and hold every office in the + gift of the nation, and I will be great.” No, you won’t. You think you are + going to be made great by an office, but remember that if you are not + great before you get the office, you won’t be great when you secure it. It + will only be a burlesque in that shape. + </p> + <p> + We had a Peace Jubilee here after the Spanish War. Out West they don’t + believe this, because they said, “Philadelphia would not have heard of any + Spanish War until fifty years hence.” Some of you saw the procession go up + Broad Street. I was away, but the family wrote to me that the tally-ho + coach with Lieutenant Hobson upon it stopped right at the front door and + the people shouted, “Hurrah for Hobson!” and if I had been there I would + have yelled too, because he deserves much more of his country than he has + ever received. But suppose I go into school and say, “Who sunk the <i>Merrimac</i> + at Santiago?” and if the boys answer me, “Hobson,” they will tell me + seven-eighths of a lie. There were seven other heroes on that steamer, and + they, by virtue of their position, were continually exposed to the Spanish + fire, while Hobson, as an officer, might reasonably be behind the + smoke-stack. You have gathered in this house your most intelligent people, + and yet, perhaps, not one here can name the other seven men. + </p> + <p> + We ought not to so teach history. We ought to teach that, however humble a + man’s station may be, if he does his full duty in that place he is just as + much entitled to the American people’s honor as is the king upon his + throne. But we do not so teach. We are now teaching everywhere that the + generals do all the fighting. + </p> + <p> + I remember that, after the war, I went down to see General Robert E. Lee, + that magnificent Christian gentleman of whom both North and South are now + proud as one of our great Americans. The general told me about his + servant, “Rastus,” who was an enlisted colored soldier. He called him in + one day to make fun of him, and said, “Rastus, I hear that all the rest of + your company are killed, and why are you not killed?” Rastus winked at him + and said, “‘Cause when there is any fightin’ goin’ on I stay back with the + generals.” + </p> + <p> + I remember another illustration. I would leave it out but for the fact + that when you go to the library to read this lecture, you will find this + has been printed in it for twenty-five years. I shut my eyes—shut + them close—and lo! I see the faces of my youth. Yes, they sometimes + say to me, “Your hair is not white; you are working night and day without + seeming ever to stop; you can’t be old.” But when I shut my eyes, like any + other man of my years, oh, then come trooping back the faces of the loved + and lost of long ago, and I know, whatever men may say, it is + evening-time. + </p> + <p> + I shut my eyes now and look back to my native town in Massachusetts, and I + see the cattle-show ground on the mountain-top; I can see the horse-sheds + there. I can see the Congregational church; see the town hall and + mountaineers’ cottages; see a great assembly of people turning out, + dressed resplendently, and I can see flags flying and handkerchiefs waving + and hear bands playing. I can see that company of soldiers that had + re-enlisted marching up on that cattle-show ground. I was but a boy, but I + was captain of that company and puffed out with pride. A cambric needle + would have burst me all to pieces. Then I thought it was the greatest + event that ever came to man on earth. If you have ever thought you would + like to be a king or queen, you go and be received by the mayor. + </p> + <p> + The bands played, and all the people turned out to receive us. I marched + up that Common so proud at the head of my troops, and we turned down into + the town hall. Then they seated my soldiers down the center aisle and I + sat down on the front seat. A great assembly of people a hundred or two—came + in to fill the town hall, so that they stood up all around. Then the town + officers came in and formed a half-circle. The mayor of the town sat in + the middle of the platform. He was a man who had never held office before; + but he was a good man, and his friends have told me that I might use this + without giving them offense. He was a good man, but he thought an office + made a man great. He came up and took his seat, adjusted his powerful + spectacles, and looked around, when he suddenly spied me sitting there on + the front seat. He came right forward on the platform and invited me up to + sit with the town officers. No town officer ever took any notice of me + before I went to war, except to advise the teacher to thrash me, and now I + was invited up on the stand with the town officers. Oh my! the town mayor + was then the emperor, the king of our day and our time. As I came up on + the platform they gave me a chair about this far, I would say, from the + front. + </p> + <p> + When I had got seated, the chairman of the Selectmen arose and came + forward to the table, and we all supposed he would introduce the + Congregational minister, who was the only orator in town, and that he + would give the oration to the returning soldiers. But, friends, you should + have seen the surprise which ran over the audience when they discovered + that the old fellow was going to deliver that speech himself. He had never + made a speech in his life, but he fell into the same error that hundreds + of other men have fallen into. It seems so strange that a man won’t learn + he must speak his piece as a boy if he in-tends to be an orator when he is + grown, but he seems to think all he has to do is to hold an office to be a + great orator. + </p> + <p> + So he came up to the front, and brought with him a speech which he had + learned by heart walking up and down the pasture, where he had frightened + the cattle. He brought the manuscript with him and spread it out on the + table so as to be sure he might see it. He adjusted his spectacles and + leaned over it for a moment and marched back on that platform, and then + came forward like this—tramp, tramp, tramp. He must have studied the + subject a great deal, when you come to think of it, because he assumed an + “elocutionary” attitude. He rested heavily upon his left heel, threw back + his shoulders, slightly advanced the right foot, opened the organs of + speech, and advanced his right foot at an angle of forty-five. As he stood + in that elocutionary attitude, friends, this is just the way that speech + went. Some people say to me, “Don’t you exaggerate?” That would be + impossible. But I am here for the lesson and not for the story, and this + is the way it went: + </p> + <p> + “Fellow-citizens—” As soon as he heard his voice his fingers began + to go like that, his knees began to shake, and then he trembled all over. + He choked and swallowed and came around to the table to look at the + manuscript. Then he gathered himself up with clenched fists and came back: + “Fellow-citizens, we are Fellow-citizens, we are—we are—we are—we + are—we are—we are very happy—we are very happy—we + are very happy. We are very happy to welcome back to their native town + these soldiers who have fought and bled—and come back again to their + native town. We are especially—we are especially—we are + especially. We are especially pleased to see with us to-day this young + hero” (that meant me)—“this young hero who in imagination” (friends, + remember he said that; if he had not said “in imagination” I would not be + egotistic enough to refer to it at all)—“this young hero who in + imagination we have seen leading—we have seen leading—leading. + We have seen leading his troops on to the deadly breach. We have seen his + shining—we have seen his shining—his shining—his shining + sword—flashing. Flashing in the sunlight, as he shouted to his + troops, ‘Come on’!” + </p> + <p> + Oh dear, dear, dear! how little that good man knew about war. If he had + known anything about war at all he ought to have known what any of my G. + A. R. comrades here to-night will tell you is true, that it is next to a + crime for an officer of infantry ever in time of danger to go ahead of his + men. “I, with my shining sword flashing in the sunlight, shouting to my + troops, ‘Come on’!” I never did it. Do you suppose I would get in front of + my men to be shot in front by the enemy and in the back by my own men? + That is no place for an officer. The place for the officer in actual + battle is behind the line. How often, as a staff officer, I rode down the + line, when our men were suddenly called to the line of battle, and the + Rebel yells were coming out of the woods, and shouted: “Officers to the + rear! Officers to the rear!” Then every officer gets behind the line of + private soldiers, and the higher the officer’s rank the farther behind he + goes. Not because he is any the less brave, but because the laws of war + require that. And yet he shouted, “I, with my shining sword—” In + that house there sat the company of my soldiers who had carried that boy + across the Carolina rivers that he might not wet his feet. Some of them + had gone far out to get a pig or a chicken. Some of them had gone to death + under the shell-swept pines in the mountains of Tennessee, yet in the good + man’s speech they were scarcely known. He did refer to them, but only + incidentally. The hero of the hour was this boy. Did the nation owe him + anything? No, nothing then and nothing now. Why was he the hero? Simply + because that man fell into that same human error—that this boy was + great because he was an officer and these were only private soldiers. + </p> + <p> + Oh, I learned the lesson then that I will never forget so long as the + tongue of the bell of time continues to swing for me. Greatness consists + not in the holding of some future office, but really consists in doing + great deeds with little means and the accomplishment of vast purposes from + the private ranks of life. To be great at all one must be great here, now, + in Philadelphia. He who can give to this city better streets and better + sidewalks, better schools and more colleges, more happiness and more + civilization, more of God, he will be great anywhere. Let every man or + woman here, if you never hear me again, remember this, that if you wish to + be great at all, you must begin where you are and what you are, in + Philadelphia, now. He that can give to his city any blessing, he who can + be a good citizen while he lives here, he that can make better homes, he + that can be a blessing whether he works in the shop or sits behind the + counter or keeps house, whatever be his life, he who would be great + anywhere must first be great in his own Philadelphia. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + HIS LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS + </h2> + <h3> + By Robert Shackleton + </h3> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + I. THE STORY OF THE SWORD + </h2> + <p> + <a href="#linknote-2" name="linknoteref-2" id="linknoteref-2"><small>2</small></a> + </p> + <p> + I SHALL write of a remarkable man, an interesting man, a man of power, of + initiative, of will, of persistence; a man who plans vastly and who + realizes his plans; a man who not only does things himself, but who, even + more important than that, is the constant inspiration of others. I shall + write of Russell H. Conwell. + </p> + <p> + As a farmer’s boy he was the leader of the boys of the rocky region that + was his home; as a school-teacher he won devotion; as a newspaper + correspondent he gained fame; as a soldier in the Civil War he rose to + important rank; as a lawyer he developed a large practice; as an author he + wrote books that reached a mighty total of sales. He left the law for the + ministry and is the active head of a great church that he raised from + nothingness. He is the most popular lecturer in the world and yearly + speaks to many thousands. He is, so to speak, the discoverer of “Acres of + Diamonds,” through which thousands of men and women have achieved success + out of failure. He is the head of two hospitals, one of them founded by + himself, that have cared for a host of patients, both the poor and the + rich, irrespective of race or creed. He is the founder and head of a + university that has already had tens of thousands of students. His home is + in Philadelphia; but he is known in every corner of every state in the + Union, and everywhere he has hosts of friends. All of his life he has + helped and inspired others. + </p> + <p> + Quite by chance, and only yesterday, literally yesterday and by chance, + and with no thought at the moment of Conwell although he had been much in + my mind for some time past, I picked up a thin little book of description + by William Dean Howells, and, turning the pages of a chapter on Lexington, + old Lexington of the Revolution, written, so Howells had set down, in + 1882, I noticed, after he had written of the town itself, and of the + long-past fight there, and of the present-day aspect, that he mentioned + the church life of the place and remarked on the striking advances made by + the Baptists, who had lately, as he expressed it, been reconstituted out + of very perishing fragments and made strong and flourishing, under the + ministrations of a lay preacher, formerly a colonel in the Union army. And + it was only a few days before I chanced upon this description that Dr. + Conwell, the former colonel and former lay preacher, had told me of his + experiences in that little old Revolutionary town. + </p> + <p> + Howells went on to say that, so he was told, the colonel’s success was + principally due to his making the church attractive to young people. + Howells says no more of him; apparently he did not go to hear him; and one + wonders if he has ever associated that lay preacher of Lexington with the + famous Russell H. Conwell of these recent years! + </p> + <p> + “Attractive to young people.” Yes, one can recognize that to-day, just as + it was recognized in Lexington. And it may be added that he at the same + time attracts older people, too! In this, indeed, lies his power. He makes + his church interesting, his sermons interesting, his lectures interesting. + He is himself interesting! Because of his being interesting, he gains + attention. The attention gained, he inspires. + </p> + <p> + Biography is more than dates. Dates, after all, are but mile-stones along + the road of life. And the most important fact of Conwell’s life is that he + lived to be eighty-two, working sixteen hours every day for the good of + his fellow-men. He was born on February 15, 1843—born of poor + parents, in a low-roofed cottage in the eastern Berkshires, in + Massachusetts. + </p> + <p> + “I was born in this room,” he said to me, simply, as we sat together + recently <a href="#linknote-3" name="linknoteref-3" id="linknoteref-3"><small>3</small></a> + in front of the old fireplace in the principal room of the little cottage; + for he has bought back the rocky farm of his father, and has retained and + restored the little old home. “I was born in this room. It was bedroom and + kitchen. It was poverty.” And his voice sank with a kind of grimness into + silence. + </p> + <p> + Then he spoke a little of the struggles of those long-past years; and we + went out on the porch, as the evening shadows fell, and looked out over + the valley and stream and hills of his youth, and he told of his + grandmother, and of a young Marylander who had come to the region on a + visit; it was a tale of the impetuous love of those two, of rash marriage, + of the interference of parents, of the fierce rivalry of another suitor, + of an attack on the Marylander’s life, of passionate hastiness, of + unforgivable words, of separation, of lifelong sorrow. “Why does + grandmother cry so often?” he remembers asking when he was a little boy. + And he was told that it was for the husband of her youth. + </p> + <p> + We went back into the little house, and he showed me the room in which he + first saw John Brown. “I came down early one morning, and saw a huge, + hairy man sprawled upon the bed there—and I was frightened,” he + says. + </p> + <p> + But John Brown did not long frighten him! For he was much at their house + after that, and was so friendly with Russell and his brother that there + was no chance for awe; and it gives a curious side-light on the character + of the stern abolitionist that he actually, with infinite patience, taught + the old horse of the Conwells to go home alone with the wagon after + leaving the boys at school, a mile or more away, and at school-closing + time to trot gently off for them without a driver when merely faced in + that direction and told to go! Conwell remembers how John Brown, in + training it, used patiently to walk beside the horse, and control its + going and its turnings, until it was quite ready to go and turn entirely + by itself. + </p> + <p> + The Conwell house was a station on the Underground Railway, and Russell + Conwell remembers, when a lad, seeing the escaping slaves that his father + had driven across country and temporarily hidden. “Those were heroic + days,” he says, quietly. “And once in a while my father let me go with + him. They were wonderful night drives—the cowering slaves, the + darkness of the road, the caution and the silence and dread of it all.” + This underground route, he remembers, was from Philadelphia to New Haven, + thence to Springfield, where Conwell’s father would take his charge, and + onward to Bellows Falls and Canada. + </p> + <p> + Conwell tells, too, of meeting Frederick Douglass, the colored orator, in + that little cottage in the hills. “‘I never saw my father,’ Douglass said + one day—his father was a white man—‘and I remember little of + my mother except that once she tried to keep an overseer from whipping me, + and the lash cut across her own face, and her blood fell over me.’ + </p> + <p> + “When John Brown was captured,” Conwell went on, “my father tried to sell + this place to get a little money to send to help his defense. But he + couldn’t sell it, and on the day of the execution we knelt solemnly here, + from eleven to twelve, just praying, praying in silence for the passing + soul of John Brown. And as we prayed we knew that others were also + praying, for a church-bell tolled during that entire hour, and its awesome + boom went sadly sounding over these hills.” + </p> + <p> + Conwell believes that his real life dates from a happening of the time of + the Civil War—a happening that still looms vivid and intense before + him, and which undoubtedly did deepen and strengthen his strong and deep + nature. Yet the real Conwell was always essentially the same. Neighborhood + tradition still tells of his bravery as a boy and a youth, of his reckless + coasting, his skill as a swimmer and his saving of lives, his strength and + endurance, his plunging out into the darkness of a wild winter night to + save a neighbor’s cattle. His soldiers came home with tales of his + devotion to them, and of how he shared his rations and his blankets and + bravely risked his life; of how he crept off into a swamp, at imminent + peril, to rescue one of his men lost or mired there. The present Conwell + was always Conwell; in fact, he may be traced through his ancestry, too, + for in him are the sturdy virtues, the bravery, the grim determination, + the practicality, of his father; and romanticism, that comes from his + grandmother; and the dreamy qualities of his mother, who, practical and + hardworking New England woman that she was, was at the same time + influenced by an almost startling mysticism. + </p> + <p> + And Conwell himself is a dreamer: first of all he is a dreamer; it is the + most important fact in regard to him! It is because he is a dreamer and + visualizes his dreams that he can plan the great things that to other men + would seem impossibilities; and then his intensely practical side his + intense efficiency, his power, his skill, his patience, his fine + earnestness, his mastery over others, develop his dreams into realities. + He dreams dreams and sees visions—but his visions are never + visionary and his dreams become facts. + </p> + <p> + The rocky hills which meant a dogged struggle for very existence, the + fugitive slaves, John Brown—what a school for youth! And the literal + school was a tiny one-room school-house where young Conwell came under the + care of a teacher who realized the boy’s unusual capabilities and was able + to give him broad and unusual help. Then a wise country preacher also + recognized the unusual, and urged the parents to give still more + education, whereupon supreme effort was made and young Russell was sent to + Wilbraham Academy. He likes to tell of his life there, and of the + hardships, of which he makes light; and of the joy with which week-end + pies and cakes were received from home! + </p> + <p> + He tells of how he went out on the roads selling books from house to + house, and of how eagerly he devoured the contents of the sample books + that he carried. “They were a foundation of learning for me,” he says, + soberly. “And they gave me a broad idea of the world.” + </p> + <p> + He went to Yale in 1860, but the outbreak of the war interfered with + college, and he enlisted in 1861. But he was only eighteen, and his father + objected, and he went back to Yale. But next year he again enlisted, and + men of his Berkshire neighborhood, likewise enlisting, insisted that he be + their captain; and Governor Andrews, appealed to, consented to commission + the nineteen-year-old youth who was so evidently a natural leader; and the + men gave freely of their scant money to get for him a sword, all gay and + splendid with gilt, and upon the sword was the declaration in stately + Latin that, “True friendship is eternal.” + </p> + <p> + And with that sword is associated the most vivid, the most momentous + experience of Russell Conwell’s life. + </p> + <p> + That sword hangs at the head of Conwell’s bed in his home in Philadelphia. + Man of peace that he is, and minister of peace, that symbol of war has for + over half a century been of infinite importance to him. + </p> + <p> + He told me the story as we stood together before that sword. And as he + told the story, speaking with quiet repression, but seeing it all and + living it all just as vividly as if it had occurred but yesterday, “That + sword has meant so much to me,” he murmured; and then he began the tale: + </p> + <p> + “A boy up there in the Berkshires, a neighbor’s son, was John Ring; I call + him a boy, for we all called him a boy, and we looked upon him as a boy, + for he was under-sized and under-developed—so much so that he could + not enlist. + </p> + <p> + “But for some reason he was devoted to me, and he not only wanted to + enlist, but he also wanted to be in the artillery company of which I was + captain; and I could only take him along as my servant. I didn’t want a + servant, but it was the only way to take poor little Johnnie Ring. + </p> + <p> + “Johnnie was deeply religious, and would read the Bible every evening + before turning in. In those days I was an atheist, or at least thought I + was, and I used to laugh at Ring, and after a while he took to reading the + Bible outside the tent on account of my laughing at him! But he did not + stop reading it, and his faithfulness to me remained unchanged. + </p> + <p> + “The scabbard of the sword was too glittering for the regulations”—the + ghost of a smile hovered on Conwell’s lips—“and I could not wear it, + and could only wear a plain one for service and keep this hanging in my + tent on the tent-pole. John Ring used to handle it adoringly, and kept it + polished to brilliancy.—It’s dull enough these many years,” he + added, somberly. “To Ring it represented not only his captain, but the + very glory and pomp of war. + </p> + <p> + “One day the Confederates suddenly stormed our position near New Berne and + swept through the camp, driving our entire force before them; and all, + including my company, retreated hurriedly across the river, setting fire + to a long wooden bridge as we went over. It soon blazed up furiously, + making a barrier that the Confederates could not pass. + </p> + <p> + “But, unknown to everybody, and unnoticed, John Ring had dashed back to my + tent. I think he was able to make his way back because he just looked like + a mere boy; but however that was, he got past the Confederates into my + tent and took down, from where it was hanging on the tent-pole, my bright, + gold-scabbarded sword. + </p> + <p> + “John Ring seized the sword that had long been so precious to him. He + dodged here and there, and actually managed to gain the bridge just as it + was beginning to blaze. He started across. The flames were every moment + getting fiercer, the smoke denser, and now and then, as he crawled and + staggered on, he leaned for a few seconds far over the edge of the bridge + in an effort to get air. Both sides saw him; both sides watched his + terrible progress, even while firing was fiercely kept up from each side + of the river. And then a Confederate officer—he was one of General + Pickett’s officers—ran to the water’s edge and waved a white + handkerchief and the firing ceased. + </p> + <p> + “‘Tell that boy to come back here!’ he cried. ‘Tell him to come back here + and we will let him go free!’ + </p> + <p> + “He called this out just as Ring was about to enter upon the worst part of + the bridge—the covered part, where there were top and bottom and + sides of blazing wood. The roar of the flames was so close to Ring that he + could not hear the calls from either side of the river, and he pushed + desperately on and disappeared in the covered part. + </p> + <p> + “There was dead silence except for the crackling of the fire. Not a man + cried out. All waited in hopeless expectancy. And then came a mighty yell + from Northerner and Southerner alike, for Johnnie came crawling out of the + end of the covered way—he had actually passed through that frightful + place—and his clothes were ablaze, and he toppled over and fell into + shallow water; and in a few moments he was dragged out, unconscious, and + hurried to a hospital. + </p> + <p> + “He lingered for a day or so, still unconscious, and then came to himself + and smiled a little as he found that the sword for which he had given his + life had been left beside him. He took it in his arms. He hugged it to his + breast. He gave a few words of final message for me. And that was all.” + </p> + <p> + Conwell’s voice had gone thrillingly low as he neared the end, for it was + all so very, very vivid to him, and his eyes had grown tender and his lips + more strong and firm. And he fell silent, thinking of that long-ago + happening, and though he looked down upon the thronging traffic of Broad + Street, it was clear that he did not see it, and that if the rumbling + hubbub of sound meant anything to him it was the rumbling of the guns of + the distant past. When he spoke again it was with a still tenser tone of + feeling. + </p> + <p> + “When I stood beside the body of John Ring and realized that he had died + for love of me, I made a vow that has formed my life. I vowed that from + that moment I would live not only my own life, but that I would also live + the life of John Ring. And from that moment I have worked sixteen hours + every day—eight for John Ring’s work and eight hours for my own.” + </p> + <p> + A curious note had come into his voice, as of one who had run the race and + neared the goal, fought the good fight and neared the end. + </p> + <p> + “Every morning when I rise I look at this sword, or if I am away from home + I think of the sword, and vow anew that another day shall see sixteen + hours of work from me.” And when one comes to know Russell Conwell one + realizes that never did a man work more hard and constantly. + </p> + <p> + “It was through John Ring and his giving his life through devotion to me + that I became a Christian,” he went on. “This did not come about + immediately, but it came before the war was over, and it came through + faithful Johnnie Ring.” + </p> + <p> + There is a little lonely cemetery in the Berkshires, a tiny burying-ground + on a wind-swept hill, a few miles from Conwell’s old home. In this + isolated burying-ground bushes and vines and grass grow in profusion, and + a few trees cast a gentle shade; and tree-clad hills go billowing off for + miles and miles in wild and lonely beauty. And in that lonely little + graveyard I found the plain stone that marks the resting-place of John + Ring. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II. THE BEGINNING AT OLD LEXINGTON + </h2> + <p> + IT is not because he is a minister that Russell Conwell is such a force in + the world. He went into the ministry because he was sincerely and + profoundly a Christian, and because he felt that as a minister he could do + more good in the world than in any other capacity. But being a minister is + but an incident, so to speak. The important thing is not that he is a + minister, but that he is himself! + </p> + <p> + Recently I heard a New-Yorker, the head of a great corporation, say: “I + believe that Russell Conwell is doing more good in the world than any man + who has lived since Jesus Christ.” And he said this in serious and + unexaggerated earnest. + </p> + <p> + Yet Conwell did not get readily into his life-work. He might have seemed + almost a failure until he was well on toward forty, for although he kept + making successes they were not permanent successes, and he did not settle + himself into a definite line. He restlessly went westward to make his + home, and then restlessly returned to the East. After the war was over he + was a lawyer, he was a lecturer, he was an editor, he went around the + world as a correspondent, he wrote books. He kept making money, and kept + losing it; he lost it through fire, through investments, through aiding + his friends. It is probable that the unsettledness of the years following + the war was due to the unsettling effect of the war itself, which thus, in + its influence, broke into his mature life after breaking into his years at + Yale. But however that may be, those seething, changing, stirring years + were years of vital importance to him, for in the myriad experiences of + that time he was building the foundation of the Conwell that was to come. + Abroad he met the notables of the earth. At home he made hosts of friends + and loyal admirers. + </p> + <p> + It is worth while noting that as a lawyer he would never take a case, + either civil or criminal, that he considered wrong. It was basic with him + that he could not and would not fight on what he thought was the wrong + side. Only when his client was right would he go ahead! + </p> + <p> + Yet he laughs, his quiet, infectious, characteristic laugh, as he tells of + how once he was deceived, for he defended a man, charged with stealing a + watch, who was so obviously innocent that he took the case in a blaze of + indignation and had the young fellow proudly exonerated. The next day the + wrongly accused one came to his office and shamefacedly took out the watch + that he had been charged with stealing. “I want you to send it to the man + I took it from,” he said. And he told with a sort of shamefaced pride of + how he had got a good old deacon to give, in all sincerity, the evidence + that exculpated him. “And, say, Mr. Conwell—I want to thank you for + getting me off—and I hope you’ll excuse my deceiving you—and—I + won’t be any worse for not going to jail.” And Conwell likes to remember + that thereafter the young man lived up to the pride of exoneration; and, + though Conwell does not say it or think it, one knows that it was the + Conwell influence that inspired to honesty—for always he is an + inspirer. + </p> + <p> + Conwell even kept certain hours for consultation with those too poor to + pay any fee; and at one time, while still an active lawyer, he was + guardian for over sixty children! The man has always been a marvel, and + always one is coming upon such romantic facts as these. + </p> + <p> + That is a curious thing about him—how much there is of romance in + his life! Worshiped to the end by John Ring; left for dead all night at + Kenesaw Mountain; calmly singing “Nearer, my God, to Thee,” to quiet the + passengers on a supposedly sinking ship; saving lives even when a boy; + never disappointing a single audience of the thousands of audiences he has + arranged to address during all his years of lecturing! He himself takes a + little pride in this last point, and it is characteristic of him that he + has actually forgotten that just once he did fail to appear: he has quite + forgotten that one evening, on his way to a lecture, he stopped a runaway + horse to save two women’s lives, and went in consequence to a hospital + instead of to the platform! And it is typical of him to forget that sort + of thing. + </p> + <p> + The emotional temperament of Conwell has always made him responsive to the + great, the striking, the patriotic. He was deeply influenced by knowing + John Brown, and his brief memories of Lincoln are intense, though he saw + him but three times in all. + </p> + <p> + The first time he saw Lincoln was on the night when the future President + delivered the address, which afterward became so famous, in Cooper Union, + New York. The name of Lincoln was then scarcely known, and it was by mere + chance that young Conwell happened to be in New York on that day. But + being there, and learning that Abraham Lincoln from the West was going to + make an address, he went to hear him. + </p> + <p> + He tells how uncouthly Lincoln was dressed, even with one trousers-leg + higher than the other, and of how awkward he was, and of how poorly, at + first, he spoke and with what apparent embarrassment. The chairman of the + meeting got Lincoln a glass of water, and Conwell thought that it was from + a personal desire to help him and keep him from breaking down. But he + loves to tell how Lincoln became a changed man as he spoke; how he seemed + to feel ashamed of his brief embarrassment and, pulling himself together + and putting aside the written speech which he had prepared, spoke freely + and powerfully, with splendid conviction, as only a born orator speaks. To + Conwell it was a tremendous experience. + </p> + <p> + The second time he saw Lincoln was when he went to Washington to plead for + the life of one of his men who had been condemned to death for sleeping on + post. He was still but a captain (his promotion to a colonelcy was still + to come), a youth, and was awed by going into the presence of the man he + worshiped. And his voice trembles a little, even now, as he tells of how + pleasantly Lincoln looked up from his desk, and how cheerfully he asked + his business with him, and of how absorbedly Lincoln then listened to his + tale, although, so it appeared, he already knew of the main outline. + </p> + <p> + “It will be all right,” said Lincoln, when Conwell finished. But Conwell + was still frightened. He feared that in the multiplicity of public matters + this mere matter of the life of a mountain boy, a private soldier, might + be forgotten till too late. “It is almost the time set—” he + faltered. And Conwell’s voice almost breaks, man of emotion that he is, as + he tells of how Lincoln said, with stern gravity: “Go and telegraph that + soldier’s mother that Abraham Lincoln never signed a warrant to shoot a + boy under twenty, and never will.” That was the one and only time that he + spoke with Lincoln, and it remains an indelible impression. + </p> + <p> + The third time he saw Lincoln was when, as officer of the day, he stood + for hours beside the dead body of the President as it lay in state in + Washington. In those hours, as he stood rigidly as the throng went + shuffling sorrowfully through, an immense impression came to Colonel + Conwell of the work and worth of the man who there lay dead, and that + impression has never departed. + </p> + <p> + John Brown, Abraham Lincoln, old Revolutionary Lexington—how + Conwell’s life is associated with famous men and places!—and it was + actually at Lexington that he made the crucial decision as to the course + of his life! And it seems to me that it was, although quite unconsciously, + because of the very fact that it was Lexington that Conwell was influenced + to decide and to act as he did. Had it been in some other kind of place, + some merely ordinary place, some quite usual place, he might not have + taken the important step. But it was Lexington, it was brave old + Lexington, inspiring Lexington; and he was inspired by it, for the man who + himself inspires nobly is always the one who is himself open to noble + inspiration. Lexington inspired him. + </p> + <p> + “When I was a lawyer in Boston and almost thirty-seven years old,” he told + me, thinking slowly back into the years, “I was consulted by a woman who + asked my advice in regard to disposing of a little church in Lexington + whose congregation had become unable to support it. I went out and looked + at the place, and I told her how the property could be sold. But it seemed + a pity to me that the little church should be given up. However, I advised + a meeting of the church members, and I attended the meeting. I put the + case to them—it was only a handful of men and women—and there + was silence for a little. Then an old man rose and, in a quavering voice, + said the matter was quite clear; that there evidently was nothing to do + but to sell, and that he would agree with the others in the necessity; but + as the church had been his church home from boyhood, so he quavered and + quivered on, he begged that they would excuse him from actually taking + part in disposing of it; and in a deep silence he went haltingly from the + room. + </p> + <p> + “The men and the women looked at one another, still silent, sadly + impressed, but not knowing what to do. And I said to them: ‘Why not start + over again, and go on with the church, after all!’” + </p> + <p> + Typical Conwellism, that! First, the impulse to help those who need + helping, then the inspiration and leadership. + </p> + <p> + “‘But the building is entirely too tumble-down to use,’ said one of the + men, sadly; and I knew he was right, for I had examined it; but I said: + </p> + <p> + “‘Let us meet there to-morrow morning and get to work on that building + ourselves and put it in shape for a service next Sunday.’ + </p> + <p> + “It made them seem so pleased and encouraged, and so confident that a new + possibility was opening that I never doubted that each one of those + present, and many friends besides, would be at the building in the + morning. I was there early with a hammer and ax and crowbar that I had + secured, ready to go to work—but no one else showed up!” + </p> + <p> + He has a rueful appreciation of the humor of it, as he pictured the scene; + and one knows also that, in that little town of Lexington, where Americans + had so bravely faced the impossible, Russell Conwell also braced himself + to face the impossible. A pettier man would instantly have given up the + entire matter when those who were most interested failed to respond, but + one of the strongest features in Conwell’s character is his ability to + draw even doubters and weaklings into line, his ability to stir even those + who have given up. + </p> + <p> + “I looked over that building,” he goes on, whimsically, “and I saw that + repair really seemed out of the question. Nothing but a new church would + do! So I took the ax that I had brought with me and began chopping the + place down. In a little while a man, not one of the church members, came + along, and he watched me for a time and said, ‘What are you going to do + there?’ + </p> + <p> + “And I instantly replied, ‘Tear down this old building and build a new + church here!’ + </p> + <p> + “He looked at me. ‘But the people won’t do that,’ he said. + </p> + <p> + “‘Yes, they will,’ I said, cheerfully, keeping at my work. Whereupon he + watched me a few minutes longer and said: + </p> + <p> + “‘Well, you can put me down for one hundred dollars for the new building. + Come up to my livery-stable and get it this evening.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘All right; I’ll surely be there,’ I replied. + </p> + <p> + “In a little while another man came along and stopped and looked, and he + rather gibed at the idea of a new church, and when I told him of the + livery-stable man contributing one hundred dollars, he said, ‘But you + haven’t got the money yet!’ + </p> + <p> + “‘No,’ I said; ‘but I am going to get it to-night.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘You’ll never get it,’ he said. ‘He’s not that sort of a man. He’s not + even a church man!’ + </p> + <p> + “But I just went quietly on with the work, without answering, and after + quite a while he left; but he called back, as he went off, ‘Well, if he + does give you that hundred dollars, come to me and I’ll give you another + hundred.’” + </p> + <p> + Conwell smiles in genial reminiscence and without any apparent sense that + he is telling of a great personal triumph, and goes on: + </p> + <p> + “Those two men both paid the money, and of course the church people + themselves, who at first had not quite understood that I could be in + earnest, joined in and helped, with work and money, and as, while the new + church was building, it was peculiarly important to get and keep the + congregation together, and as they had ceased to have a minister of their + own, I used to run out from Boston and preach for them, in a room we + hired. + </p> + <p> + “And it was there in Lexington, in 1879, that I determined to become a + minister. I had a good law practice, but I determined to give it up. For + many years I had felt more or less of a call to the ministry, and here at + length was the definite time to begin. + </p> + <p> + “Week by week I preached there”—how strange, now, to think of + William Dean Howells and the colonel-preacher!—“and after a while + the church was completed, and in that very church, there in Lexington, I + was ordained a minister.” + </p> + <p> + A marvelous thing, all this, even without considering the marvelous + heights that Conwell has since attained—a marvelous thing, an + achievement of positive romance! That little church stood for American + bravery and initiative and self-sacrifice and romanticism in a way that + well befitted good old Lexington. + </p> + <p> + To leave a large and overflowing law practice and take up the ministry at + a salary of six hundred dollars a year seemed to the relatives of + Conwell’s wife the extreme of foolishness, and they did not hesitate so to + express themselves. Naturally enough, they did not have Conwell’s vision. + Yet he himself was fair enough to realize and to admit that there was a + good deal of fairness in their objections; and so he said to the + congregation that, although he was quite ready to come for the six hundred + dollars a year, he expected them to double his salary as soon as he + doubled the church membership. This seemed to them a good deal like a + joke, but they answered in perfect earnestness that they would be quite + willing to do the doubling as soon as he did the doubling, and in less + than a year the salary was doubled accordingly. + </p> + <p> + I asked him if he had found it hard to give up the lucrative law for a + poor ministry, and his reply gave a delightful impression of his capacity + for humorous insight into human nature, for he said, with a genial + twinkle: + </p> + <p> + “Oh yes, it was a wrench; but there is a sort of romance of + self-sacrifice, you know. I rather suppose the old-time martyrs rather + enjoyed themselves in being martyrs!” + </p> + <p> + Conwell did not stay very long in Lexington. A struggling little church in + Philadelphia heard of what he was doing, and so an old deacon went up to + see and hear him, and an invitation was given; and as the Lexington church + seemed to be prosperously on its feet, and the needs of the Philadelphia + body keenly appealed to Conwell’s imagination, a change was made, and at a + salary of eight hundred dollars a year he went, in 1882, to the little + struggling Philadelphia congregation, and of that congregation he is still + pastor—only, it ceased to be a struggling congregation a great many + years ago! And long ago it began paying him more thousands every year than + at first it gave him hundreds. + </p> + <p> + Dreamer as Conwell always is in connection with his immense practicality, + and moved as he is by the spiritual influences of life, it is more than + likely that not only did Philadelphia’s need appeal, but also the fact + that Philadelphia, as a city, meant much to him, for, coming North, + wounded from a battle-field of the Civil War, it was in Philadelphia that + he was cared for until his health and strength were recovered. Thus it + came that Philadelphia had early become dear to him. + </p> + <p> + And here is an excellent example of how dreaming great dreams may go + hand-in-hand with winning superb results. For that little struggling + congregation now owns and occupies a great new church building that seats + more people than any other Protestant church in America—and Dr. + Conwell fills it! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III. STORY OF THE FIFTY-SEVEN CENTS + </h2> + <p> + AT every point in Conwell’s life one sees that he wins through his + wonderful personal influence on old and young. Every step forward, every + triumph achieved, comes not alone from his own enthusiasm, but because of + his putting that enthusiasm into others. And when I learned how it came + about that the present church buildings were begun, it was another of + those marvelous tales of fact that are stranger than any imagination could + make them. And yet the tale was so simple and sweet and sad and + unpretending. + </p> + <p> + When Dr. Conwell first assumed charge of the little congregation that led + him to Philadelphia it was really a little church both in its numbers and + in the size of the building that it occupied, but it quickly became so + popular under his leadership that the church services and Sunday-school + services were alike so crowded that there was no room for all who came, + and always there were people turned from the doors. + </p> + <p> + One afternoon a little girl, who had eagerly wished to go, turned back + from the Sunday-school door, crying bitterly because they had told her + that there was no more room. But a tall, black-haired man met her and + noticed her tears and, stopping, asked why it was that she was crying, and + she sobbingly replied that it was because they could not let her into the + Sunday-school. + </p> + <p> + “I lifted her to my shoulder,” says Dr. Conwell, in telling of this; for + after hearing the story elsewhere I asked him to tell it to me himself, + for it seemed almost too strange to be true. “I lifted her to my shoulder”—and + one realizes the pretty scene it must have made for the little girl to go + through the crowd of people, drying her tears and riding proudly on the + shoulders of the kindly, tall, dark man! “I said to her that I would take + her in, and I did so, and I said to her that we should some day have a + room big enough for all who should come. And when she went home she told + her parents—I only learned this afterward—that she was going + to save money to help build the larger church and Sunday-school that Dr. + Conwell wanted! Her parents pleasantly humored her in the idea and let her + run errands and do little tasks to earn pennies, and she began dropping + the pennies into her bank.” + </p> + <p> + “She was a lovable little thing—but in only a few weeks after that + she was taken suddenly ill and died; and at the funeral her father told + me, quietly, of how his little girl had been saving money for a + building-fund. And there, at the funeral, he handed me what she had saved—just + fifty-seven cents in pennies.” + </p> + <p> + Dr. Conwell does not say how deeply he was moved; he is, after all, a man + of very few words as to his own emotions. But a deep tenderness had crept + into his voice. + </p> + <p> + “At a meeting of the church trustees I told of this gift of fifty-seven + cents—the first gift toward the proposed building-fund of the new + church that was some time to exist. For until then the matter had barely + been spoken of, as a new church building had been simply a possibility for + the future. + </p> + <p> + “The trustees seemed much impressed, and it turned out that they were far + more impressed than I could possibly have hoped, for in a few days one of + them came to me and said that he thought it would be an excellent idea to + buy a lot on Broad Street—the very lot on which the building now + stands.” It was characteristic of Dr. Conwell that he did not point out, + what every one who knows him would understand, that it was his own + inspiration put into the trustees which resulted in this quick and + definite move on the part of one of them. “I talked the matter over with + the owner of the property, and told him of the beginning of the fund, the + story of the little girl. The man was not one of our church, nor in fact, + was he a church-goer at all, but he listened attentively to the tale of + the fifty-seven cents and simply said he was quite ready to go ahead and + sell us that piece of land for ten thousand dollars, taking—and the + unexpectedness of this deeply touched me taking a first payment of just + fifty-seven cents and letting the entire balance stand on a five-per-cent. + mortgage! + </p> + <p> + “And it seemed to me that it would be the right thing to accept this + unexpectedly liberal proposition, and I went over the entire matter on + that basis with the trustees and some of the other members, and all the + people were soon talking of having a new church. But it was not done in + that way, after all, for, fine though that way would have been, there was + to be one still finer. + </p> + <p> + “Not long after my talk with the man who owned the land, and his + surprisingly good-hearted proposition, an exchange was arranged for me one + evening with a Mount Holly church, and my wife went with me. We came back + late, and it was cold and wet and miserable, but as we approached our home + we saw that it was all lighted from top to bottom, and it was clear that + it was full of people. I said to my wife that they seemed to be having a + better time than we had had, and we went in, curious to know what it was + all about. And it turned out that our absence had been intentionally + arranged, and that the church people had gathered at our home to meet us + on our return. And I was utterly amazed, for the spokesman told me that + the entire ten thousand dollars had been raised and that the land for the + church that I wanted was free of debt. And all had come so quickly and + directly from that dear little girl’s fifty-seven cents.” + </p> + <p> + Doesn’t it seem like a fairy tale! But then this man has all his life been + making fairy tales into realities. He inspired the child. He inspired the + trustees. He inspired the owner of the land. He inspired the people. + </p> + <p> + The building of the great church—the Temple Baptist Church, as it is + termed—was a great undertaking for the congregation; even though it + had been swiftly growing from the day of Dr. Conwell’s taking charge of + it, it was something far ahead of what, except in the eyes of an + enthusiast, they could possibly complete and pay for and support. Nor was + it an easy task. + </p> + <p> + Ground was broken for the building in 1889, in 1891 it was opened for + worship, and then came years of raising money to clear it. But it was long + ago placed completely out of debt, and with only a single large + subscription—one of ten thousand dollars—for the church is not + in a wealthy neighborhood, nor is the congregation made up of the great + and rich. + </p> + <p> + The church is built of stone, and its interior is a great amphitheater. + Special attention has been given to fresh air and light; there is nothing + of the dim, religious light that goes with medieval churchliness. Behind + the pulpit are tiers of seats for the great chorus choir. There is a large + organ. The building is peculiarly adapted for hearing and seeing, and if + it is not, strictly speaking, beautiful in itself, it is beautiful when it + is filled with encircling rows of men and women. + </p> + <p> + Man of feeling that he is, and one who appreciates the importance of + symbols, Dr. Conwell had a heart of olive-wood built into the front of the + pulpit, for the wood was from an olive-tree in the Garden of Gethsemane. + And the amber-colored tiles in the inner walls of the church bear, under + the glaze, the names of thousands of his people; for every one, young or + old, who helped in the building, even to the giving of a single dollar, + has his name inscribed there. For Dr. Conwell wished to show that it is + not only the house of the Lord, but also, in a keenly personal sense, the + house of those who built it. + </p> + <p> + The church has a possible seating capacity of 4,200, although only 3,135 + chairs have been put in it, for it has been the desire not to crowd the + space needlessly. There is also a great room for the Sunday-school, and + extensive rooms for the young men’s association, the young women’s + association, and for a kitchen, for executive offices, for meeting-places + for church officers and boards and committees. It is a spacious and + practical and complete church home, and the people feel at home there. + </p> + <p> + “You see again,” said Dr. Conwell, musingly, “the advantage of aiming at + big things. That building represents $109,000 above ground. It is free + from debt. Had we built a small church, it would now be heavily + mortgaged.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV. HIS POWER AS ORATOR AND PREACHER + </h2> + <p> + EVEN as a young man Conwell won local fame as an orator. At the outbreak + of the Civil War he began making patriotic speeches that gained + enlistments. After going to the front he was sent back home for a time, on + furlough, to make more speeches to draw more recruits, for his speeches + were so persuasive, so powerful, so full of homely and patriotic feeling, + that the men who heard them thronged into the ranks. And as a preacher he + uses persuasion, power, simple and homely eloquence, to draw men to the + ranks of Christianity. + </p> + <p> + He is an orator born, and has developed this inborn power by the hardest + of study and thought and practice. He is one of those rare men who always + seize and hold the attention. When he speaks, men listen. It is quality, + temperament, control—the word is immaterial, but the fact is very + material indeed. + </p> + <p> + Some quarter of a century ago Conwell published a little book for students + on the study and practice of oratory. That “clear-cut articulation is the + charm of eloquence” is one of his insisted-upon statements, and it well + illustrates the lifelong practice of the man himself, for every word as he + talks can be heard in every part of a large building, yet always he speaks + without apparent effort. He avoids “elocution.” His voice is soft-pitched + and never breaks, even now when he is over seventy, because, so he + explains it, he always speaks in his natural voice. There is never a + straining after effect. + </p> + <p> + “A speaker must possess a large-hearted regard for the welfare of his + audience,” he writes, and here again we see Conwell explaining Conwellism. + “Enthusiasm invites enthusiasm,” is another of his points of importance; + and one understands that it is by deliberate purpose, and not by chance, + that he tries with such tremendous effort to put enthusiasm into his + hearers with every sermon and every lecture that he delivers. + </p> + <p> + “It is easy to raise a laugh, but dangerous, for it is the greatest test + of an orator’s control of his audience to be able to land them again on + the solid earth of sober thinking.” I have known him at the very end of a + sermon have a ripple of laughter sweep freely over the entire + congregation, and then in a moment he has every individual under his + control, listening soberly to his words. + </p> + <p> + He never fears to use humor, and it is always very simple and obvious and + effective. With him even a very simple pun may be used, not only with-out + taking away from the strength of what he is saying, but with a vivid + increase of impressiveness. And when he says something funny it is in such + a delightful and confidential way, with such a genial, quiet, infectious + humorousness, that his audience is captivated. And they never think that + he is telling something funny of his own; it seems, such is the skill of + the man, that he is just letting them know of something humorous that they + are to enjoy with him. + </p> + <p> + “Be absolutely truthful and scrupulously clear,” he writes; and with + delightfully terse common sense, he says, “Use illustrations that + illustrate”—and never did an orator live up to this injunction more + than does Conwell himself. Nothing is more surprising, nothing is more + interesting, than the way in which he makes use as illustrations of the + impressions and incidents of his long and varied life, and, whatever it + is, it has direct and instant bearing on the progress of his discourse. He + will refer to something that he heard a child say in a train yesterday; in + a few minutes he will speak of something that he saw or some one whom he + met last month, or last year, or ten years ago—in Ohio, in + California, in London, in Paris, in New York, in Bombay; and each memory, + each illustration, is a hammer with which he drives home a truth. + </p> + <p> + The vast number of places he has visited and people he has met, the + infinite variety of things his observant eyes have seen, give him his + ceaseless flow of illustrations, and his memory and his skill make + admirable use of them. It is seldom that he uses an illustration from what + he has read; everything is, characteristically, his own. Henry M. Stanley, + who knew him well, referred to him as “that double-sighted Yankee,” who + could “see at a glance all there is and all there ever was.” + </p> + <p> + And never was there a man who so supplements with personal reminiscence + the place or the person that has figured in the illustration. When he + illustrates with the story of the discovery of California gold at Sutter’s + he almost parenthetically remarks, “I delivered this lecture on that very + spot a few years ago; that is, in the town that arose on that very spot.” + And when he illustrates by the story of the invention of the + sewing-machine, he adds: “I suppose that if any of you were asked who was + the inventor of the sewing-machine, you would say that it was Elias Howe. + But that would be a mistake. I was with Elias Howe in the Civil War, and + he often used to tell me how he had tried for fourteen years to invent the + sewing-machine and that then his wife, feeling that something really had + to be done, invented it in a couple of hours.” Listening to him, you begin + to feel in touch with everybody and everything, and in a friendly and + intimate way. + </p> + <p> + Always, whether in the pulpit or on the platform, as in private + conversation, there is an absolute simplicity about the man and his words; + a simplicity, an earnestness, a complete honesty. And when he sets down, + in his book on oratory, “A man has no right to use words carelessly,” he + stands for that respect for word-craftsmanship that every successful + speaker or writer must feel. + </p> + <p> + “Be intensely in earnest,” he writes; and in writing this he sets down a + prime principle not only of his oratory, but of his life. + </p> + <p> + A young minister told me that Dr. Conwell once said to him, with deep + feeling, “Always remember, as you preach, that you are striving to save at + least one soul with every sermon.” And to one of his close friends Dr. + Conwell said, in one of his self-revealing conversations: + </p> + <p> + “I feel, whenever I preach, that there is always one person in the + congregation to whom, in all probability, I shall never preach again, and + therefore I feel that I must exert my utmost power in that last chance.” + And in this, even if this were all, one sees why each of his sermons is so + impressive, and why his energy never lags. Always, with him, is the + feeling that he is in the world to do all the good he can possibly do; not + a moment, not an opportunity, must be lost. + </p> + <p> + The moment he rises and steps to the front of his pulpit he has the + attention of every one in the building, and this attention he closely + holds till he is through. Yet it is never by a striking effort that + attention is gained, except in so far that his utter simplicity is + striking. “I want to preach so simply that you will not think it + preaching, but just that you are listening to a friend,” I remember his + saying, one Sunday morning, as he began his sermon; and then he went on + just as simply as such homely, kindly, friendly words promised. And how + effectively! + </p> + <p> + He believes that everything should be so put as to be understood by all, + and this belief he applies not only to his preaching, but to the reading + of the Bible, whose descriptions he not only visualizes to himself, but + makes vividly clear to his hearers; and this often makes for fascination + in result. + </p> + <p> + For example, he is reading the tenth chapter of I Samuel, and begins, + “‘Thou shalt meet a company of prophets.’” + </p> + <p> + “‘Singers,’ it should be translated,” he puts in, lifting his eyes from + the page and looking out over his people. Then he goes on, taking this + change as a matter of course, “‘Thou shalt meet a company of singers + coming down from the high place—‘” + </p> + <p> + Whereupon he again interrupts himself, and in an irresistible explanatory + aside, which instantly raises the desired picture in the mind of every + one, he says: “That means, from the little old church on the hill, you + know.” And how plain and clear and real and interesting—most of all, + interesting—it is from this moment! Another man would have left it + that prophets were coming down from a high place, which would not have + seemed at all alive or natural, and here, suddenly, Conwell has flashed + his picture of the singers coming down from the little old church on the + hill! There is magic in doing that sort of thing. + </p> + <p> + And he goes on, now reading: “‘Thou shalt meet a company of singers coming + down from the little old church on the hill, with a psaltery, and a + tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, and they shall sing.’” + </p> + <p> + Music is one of Conwell’s strongest aids. He sings himself; sings as if he + likes to sing, and often finds himself leading the singing—usually + so, indeed, at the prayer-meetings, and often, in effect, at the church + services. + </p> + <p> + I remember at one church service that the choir-leader was standing in + front of the massed choir ostensibly leading the singing, but that Conwell + himself, standing at the rear of the pulpit platform, with his eyes on his + hymn-book, silently swaying a little with the music and unconsciously + beating time as he swayed, was just as unconsciously the real leader, for + it was he whom the congregation were watching and with him that they were + keeping time! He never suspected it; he was merely thinking along with the + music; and there was such a look of contagious happiness on his face as + made every one in the building similarly happy. For he possesses a + mysterious faculty of imbuing others with his own happiness. + </p> + <p> + Not only singers, but the modern equivalent of psaltery and tabret and + cymbals, all have their place in Dr. Conwell’s scheme of church service; + for there may be a piano, and there may even be a trombone, and there is a + great organ to help the voices, and at times there are chiming bells. His + musical taste seems to tend toward the thunderous—or perhaps it is + only that he knows there are times when people like to hear the thunderous + and are moved by it. + </p> + <p> + And how the choir themselves like it! They occupy a great curving space + behind the pulpit, and put their hearts into song. And as the congregation + disperse and the choir filter down, sometimes they are still singing and + some of them continue to sing as they go slowly out toward the doors. They + are happy—Conwell himself is happy—all the congregation are + happy. He makes everybody feel happy in coming to church; he makes the + church attractive just as Howells was so long ago told that he did in + Lexington. + </p> + <p> + And there is something more than happiness; there is a sense of ease, of + comfort, of general joy, that is quite unmistakable. There is nothing of + stiffness or constraint. And with it all there is full reverence. It is no + wonder that he is accustomed to fill every seat of the great building. + </p> + <p> + His gestures are usually very simple. Now and then, when he works up to + emphasis, he strikes one fist in the palm of the other hand. When he is + through you do not remember that he has made any gestures at all, but the + sound of his voice remains with you, and the look of his wonderful eyes. + And though he is past the threescore years and ten, he looks out over his + people with eyes that still have the veritable look of youth. + </p> + <p> + Like all great men, he not only does big things, but keeps in touch with + myriad details. When his assistant, announcing the funeral of an old + member, hesitates about the street and number and says that they can be + found in the telephone directory, Dr. Conwell’s deep voice breaks quietly + in with, “Such a number [giving it], Dauphin Street”—quietly, and in + a low tone, yet every one in the church hears distinctly every syllable of + that low voice. + </p> + <p> + His fund of personal anecdote, or personal reminiscence, is constant and + illustrative in his preaching, just as it is when he lectures, and the + reminiscences sweep through many years, and at times are really startling + in the vivid and homelike pictures they present of the famous folk of the + past that he knew. + </p> + <p> + One Sunday evening he made an almost casual reference to the time when he + first met Garfield, then a candidate for the Presidency. “I asked Major + McKinley, whom I had met in Washington, and whose home was in northern + Ohio, as was that of Mr. Garfield, to go with me to Mr. Garfield’s home + and introduce me. When we got there, a neighbor had to find him. ‘Jim! + Jim!’ he called. You see, Garfield was just plain Jim to his old + neighbors. It’s hard to recognize a hero over your back fence!” He paused + a moment for the appreciative ripple to subside, and went on: + </p> + <p> + “We three talked there together”—what a rare talking that must have + been-McKinley, Garfield, and Conwell—“we talked together, and after + a while we got to the subject of hymns, and those two great men both told + me how deeply they loved the old hymn, ‘The Old-Time Religion.’ Garfield + especially loved it, so he told us, because the good old man who brought + him up as a boy and to whom he owed such gratitude, used to sing it at the + pasture bars outside of the boy’s window every morning, and young Jim + knew, whenever he heard that old tune, that it meant it was time for him + to get up. He said that he had heard the best concerts and the finest + operas in the world, but had never heard anything he loved as he still + loved ‘The Old-Time Religion.’ I forget what reason there was for + McKinley’s especially liking it, but he, as did Garfield, liked it + immensely.” + </p> + <p> + What followed was a striking example of Conwell’s intentness on losing no + chance to fix an impression on his hearers’ minds, and at the same time it + was a really astonishing proof of his power to move and sway. For a new + expression came over his face, and he said, as if the idea had only at + that moment occurred to him—as it most probably had—“I think + it’s in our hymnal!” And in a moment he announced the number, and the + great organ struck up, and every person in the great church every man, + woman, and child—joined in the swinging rhythm of verse after verse, + as if they could never tire, of “The Old-Time Religion.” It is a simple + melody—barely more than a single line of almost monotone music: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>It was good enough for mother and it’s good enough for me! + It was good on the fiery furnace and it’s good enough for me!</i> +</pre> + <p> + Thus it went on, with never-wearying iteration, and each time with the + refrain, more and more rhythmic and swaying: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>The old-time religion, + The old-time religion, + The old-time religion— + It’s good enough for me!</i> +</pre> + <p> + That it was good for the Hebrew children, that it was good for Paul and + Silas, that it will help you when you’re dying, that it will show the way + to heaven—all these and still other lines were sung, with a sort of + wailing softness, a curious monotone, a depth of earnestness. And the man + who had worked this miracle of control by evoking out of the past his + memory of a meeting with two of the vanished great ones of the earth, + stood before his people, leading them, singing with them, his eyes aglow + with an inward light. His magic had suddenly set them into the spirit of + the old camp-meeting days, the days of pioneering and hardship, when + religion meant so much to everybody, and even those who knew nothing of + such things felt them, even if but vaguely. Every heart was moved and + touched, and that old tune will sing in the memory of all who thus heard + it and sung it as long as they live. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + V. GIFT FOR INSPIRING OTHERS + </h2> + <p> + THE constant earnestness of Conwell, his desire to let no chance slip by + of helping a fellowman, puts often into his voice, when he preaches, a + note of eagerness, of anxiety. But when he prays, when he turns to God, + his manner undergoes a subtle and unconscious change. A load has slipped + off his shoulders and has been assumed by a higher power. Into his + bearing, dignified though it was, there comes an unconscious increase of + the dignity. Into his voice, firm as it was before, there comes a deeper + note of firmness. He is apt to fling his arms widespread as he prays, in a + fine gesture that he never uses at other times, and he looks upward with + the dignity of a man who, talking to a higher being, is proud of being a + friend and confidant. One does not need to be a Christian to appreciate + the beauty and fineness of Conwell’s prayers. + </p> + <p> + He is likely at any time to do the unexpected, and he is so great a man + and has such control that whatever he does seems to everybody a perfectly + natural thing. His sincerity is so evident, and whatever he does is done + so simply and naturally, that it is just a matter of course. + </p> + <p> + I remember, during one church service, while the singing was going on, + that he suddenly rose from his chair and, kneeling beside it, on the open + pulpit, with his back to the congregation, remained in that posture for + several minutes. No one thought it strange. I was likely enough the only + one who noticed it. His people are used to his sincerities. And this time + it was merely that he had a few words to say quietly to God and turned + aside for a few moments to say them. + </p> + <p> + His earnestness of belief in prayer makes him a firm believer in answers + to prayer, and, in fact, to what may be termed the direct interposition of + Providence. Doubtless the mystic strain inherited from his mother has also + much to do with this. He has a typically homely way of expressing it by + one of his favorite maxims, one that he loves to repeat encouragingly to + friends who are in difficulties themselves or who know of the difficulties + that are his; and this heartening maxim is, “Trust in God and do the next + thing.” + </p> + <p> + At one time in the early days of his church work in Philadelphia a payment + of a thousand dollars was absolutely needed to prevent a law-suit in + regard to a debt for the church organ. In fact, it was worse than a debt; + it was a note signed by himself personally, that had become due—he + was always ready to assume personal liability for debts of his church—and + failure to meet the note would mean a measure of disgrace as well as + marked church discouragement. + </p> + <p> + He had tried all the sources that seemed open to him, but in vain. He + could not openly appeal to the church members, in this case, for it was in + the early days of his pastorate, and his zeal for the organ, his desire + and determination to have it, as a necessary part of church equipment, had + outrun the judgment of some of his best friends, including that of the + deacon who had gone to Massachusetts for him. They had urged a delay till + other expenses were met, and he had acted against their advice. + </p> + <p> + He had tried such friends as he could, and he had tried prayer. But there + was no sign of aid, whether supernatural or natural. + </p> + <p> + And then, literally on the very day on which the holder of the note was to + begin proceedings against him, a check for precisely the needed one + thousand dollars came to him, by mail, from a man in the West—a man + who was a total stranger to him. It turned out that the man’s sister, who + was one of the Temple membership, had written to her brother of Dr. + Conwell’s work. She knew nothing of any special need for money, knew + nothing whatever of any note or of the demand for a thousand dollars; she + merely outlined to her brother what Dr. Conwell was accomplishing, and + with such enthusiasm that the brother at once sent the opportune check. + </p> + <p> + At a later time the sum of ten thousand dollars was importunately needed. + It was due, payment had been promised. It was for some of the construction + work of the Temple University buildings. The last day had come, and + Conwell and the very few who knew of the emergency were in the depths of + gloom. It was too large a sum to ask the church people to make up, for + they were not rich and they had already been giving splendidly, of their + slender means, for the church and then for the university. There was no + rich man to turn to; the men famous for enormous charitable gifts have + never let themselves be interested in any of the work of Russell Conwell. + It would be unkind and gratuitous to suggest that it has been because + their names could not be personally attached, or because the work is of an + unpretentious kind among unpretentious people; it need merely be said that + neither they nor their agents have cared to aid, except that one of the + very richest, whose name is the most distinguished in the entire world as + a giver, did once, in response to a strong personal application, give + thirty-five hundred dollars, this being the extent of the association of + the wealthy with any of the varied Conwell work. + </p> + <p> + So when it was absolutely necessary to have ten thousand dollars the + possibilities of money had been exhausted, whether from congregation or + individuals. + </p> + <p> + Russell Conwell, in spite of his superb optimism, is also a man of deep + depressions, and this is because of the very fire and fervor of his + nature, for always in such a nature there is a balancing. He believes in + success; success must come!—success is in itself almost a religion + with him—success for himself and for all the world who will try for + it! But there are times when he is sad and doubtful over some particular + possibility. And he intensely believes in prayer—faith can move + mountains; but always he believes that it is better not to wait for the + mountains thus to be moved, but to go right out and get to work at moving + them. And once in a while there comes a time when the mountain looms too + threatening, even after the bravest efforts and the deepest trust. Such a + time had come—the ten-thousand-dollar debt was a looming mountain + that he had tried in vain to move. He could still pray, and he did, but it + was one of the times when he could only think that something had gone + wrong. + </p> + <p> + The dean of the university, who has been closely in touch with all his + work for many years, told me of how, in a discouragement which was the + more notable through contrast with his usual unfailing courage, he left + the executive offices for his home, a couple of blocks away. + </p> + <p> + “He went away with everything looking dark before him. It was + Christmas-time, but the very fact of its being Christmas only added to his + depression—Christmas was such an unnatural time for unhappiness! But + in a few minutes he came flying back, radiant, overjoyed, sparkling with + happiness, waving a slip of paper in his hand which was a check for + precisely ten thousand dollars! For he had just drawn it out of an + envelope handed to him, as he reached home, by the mail-carrier. + </p> + <p> + “And it had come so strangely and so naturally! For the check was from a + woman who was profoundly interested in his work, and who had sent the + check knowing that in a general way it was needed, but without the least + idea that there was any immediate need. That was eight or nine years ago, + but although the donor was told at the time that Dr. Conwell and all of us + were most grateful for the gift, it was not until very recently that she + was told how opportune it was. And the change it made in Dr. Conwell! He + is a great man for maxims, and all of us who are associated with him know + that one of his favorites is that ‘It will all come out right some time!’ + And of course we had a rare opportunity to tell him that he ought never to + be discouraged. And it is so seldom that he is!” + </p> + <p> + When the big new church was building the members of the church were + vaguely disturbed by noticing, when the structure reached the second + story, that at that height, on the side toward the vacant and unbought + land adjoining, there were several doors built that opened literally into + nothing but space! + </p> + <p> + When asked about these doors and their purpose, Dr. Conwell would make + some casual reply, generally to the effect that they might be excellent as + fire-escapes. To no one, for quite a while, did he broach even a hint of + the great plan that was seething in his mind, which was that the buildings + of a university were some day to stand on that land immediately adjoining + the church! + </p> + <p> + At that time the university, the Temple University as it is now called, + was not even a college, although it was probably called a college. Conwell + had organized it, and it consisted of a number of classes and teachers, + meeting in highly inadequate quarters in two little houses. But the + imagination of Conwell early pictured great new buildings with + accommodations for thousands! In time the dream was realized, the + imagination became a fact, and now those second-floor doors actually open + from the Temple Church into the Temple University! + </p> + <p> + You see, he always thinks big! He dreams big dreams and wins big success. + All his life he has talked and preached success, and it is a real and very + practical belief with him that it is just as easy to do a large thing as a + small one, and, in fact, a little easier! And so he naturally does not see + why one should be satisfied with the small things of life. “If your rooms + are big the people will come and fill them,” he likes to say. The same + effort that wins a small success would, rightly directed, have won a great + success. “Think big things and then do them!” + </p> + <p> + Most favorite of all maxims with this man of maxims, is “Let Patience have + her perfect work.” Over and over he loves to say it, and his friends laugh + about his love for it, and he knows that they do and laughs about it + himself. “I tire them all,” he says, “for they hear me say it every day.” + </p> + <p> + But he says it every day because it means so much to him. It stands, in + his mind, as a constant warning against anger or impatience or over-haste—faults + to which his impetuous temperament is prone, though few have ever seen him + either angry or impatient or hasty, so well does he exercise self-control. + Those who have long known him well have said to me that they have never + heard him censure any one; that his forbearance and kindness are + wonderful. + </p> + <p> + He is a sensitive man beneath his composure; he has suffered, and keenly, + when he has been unjustly attacked; he feels pain of that sort for a long + time, too, for even the passing of years does not entirely deaden it. + </p> + <p> + “When I have been hurt, or when I have talked with annoying cranks, I have + tried to let Patience have her perfect work, for those very people, if you + have patience with them, may afterward be of help.” + </p> + <p> + And he went on to talk a little of his early years in Philadelphia, and he + said, with sadness, that it had pained him to meet with opposition, and + that it had even come from ministers of his own denomination, for he had + been so misunderstood and misjudged; but, he added, the momentary + somberness lifting, even his bitter enemies had been won over with + patience. + </p> + <p> + I could understand a good deal of what he meant, for one of the Baptist + ministers of Philadelphia had said to me, with some shame, that at first + it used actually to be the case that when Dr. Conwell would enter one of + the regular ministers’ meetings, all would hold aloof, not a single one + stepping forward to meet or greet him. + </p> + <p> + “And it was all through our jealousy of his success,” said the minister, + vehemently. “He came to this city a stranger, and he won instant + popularity, and we couldn’t stand it, and so we pounced upon things that + he did that were altogether unimportant. The rest of us were so jealous of + his winning throngs that we couldn’t see the good in him. And it hurt Dr. + Conwell so much that for ten years he did not come to our conferences. But + all this was changed long ago. Now no minister is so welcomed as he is, + and I don’t believe that there ever has been a single time since he + started coming again that he hasn’t been asked to say something to us. We + got over our jealousy long ago and we all love him.” + </p> + <p> + Nor is it only that the clergymen of his own denomination admire him, for + not long ago, such having been Dr. Conwell’s triumph in the city of his + adoption, the rector of the most powerful and aristocratic church in + Philadelphia voluntarily paid lofty tribute to his aims and ability, his + work and his personal worth. “He is an inspiration to his brothers in the + ministry of Jesus Christ,” so this Episcopalian rector wrote. “He is a + friend to all that is good, a foe to all that is evil, a strength to the + weak, a comforter to the sorrowing, a man of God. These words come from + the heart of one who loves, honors, and reverences him for his character + and his deeds.” + </p> + <p> + Dr. Conwell did some beautiful and unusual things in his church, + instituted some beautiful and unusual customs, and one can see how narrow + and hasty criticisms charged him, long ago, with sensationalism—charges + long since forgotten except through the hurt still felt by Dr. Conwell + himself. “They used to charge me with making a circus of the church—as + if it were possible for me to make a circus of the church!” And his tone + was one of grieved amazement after all these years. + </p> + <p> + But he was original and he was popular, and therefore there were + misunderstanding and jealousy. His Easter services, for example, years + ago, became widely talked of and eagerly anticipated because each sermon + would be wrought around some fine symbol; and he would hold in his hand, + in the pulpit, the blue robin’s egg, or the white dove, or the stem of + lilies, or whatever he had chosen as the particular symbol for the + particular sermon, and that symbol would give him the central thought for + his discourse, accented as it would be by the actual symbol itself in view + of the congregation. The cross lighted by electricity, to shine down over + the baptismal pool, the little stream of water cascading gently down the + steps of the pool during the baptismal rite, the roses floating in the + pool and his gift of one of them to each of the baptized as he or she left + the water—all such things did seem, long ago, so unconventional. Yet + his own people recognized the beauty and poetry of them, and thousands of + Bibles in Philadelphia have a baptismal rose from Dr. Conwell pressed + within the pages. + </p> + <p> + His constant individuality of mind, his constant freshness, alertness, + brilliancy, warmth, sympathy, endear him to his congregation, and when he + returns from an absence they bubble and effervesce over him as if he were + some brilliant new preacher just come to them. He is always new to them. + Were it not that he possesses some remarkable quality of charm he would + long ago have become, so to speak, an old story, but instead of that he is + to them an always new story, an always entertaining and delightful story, + after all these years. + </p> + <p> + It is not only that they still throng to hear him either preach or + lecture, though that itself would be noticeable, but it is the delightful + and delighted spirit with which they do it. Just the other evening I heard + him lecture in his own church, just after his return from an absence, and + every face beamed happily up at him to welcome him back, and every one + listened as intently to his every word as if he had never been heard there + before; and when the lecture was over a huge bouquet of flowers was handed + up to him, and some one embarrassedly said a few words about its being + because he was home again. It was all as if he had just returned from an + absence of months—and he had been away just five and a half days! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VI. MILLIONS OF HEARERS + </h2> + <p> + THAT Conwell is not primarily a minister—that he is a minister + because he is a sincere Christian, but that he is first of all an Abou Ben + Adhem, a man who loves his fellow-men, becomes more and more apparent as + the scope of his life-work is recognized. One almost comes to think that + his pastorate of a great church is even a minor matter beside the combined + importance of his educational work, his lecture work, his hospital work, + his work in general as a helper to those who need help. + </p> + <p> + For my own part, I should say that he is like some of the old-time + prophets, the strong ones who found a great deal to attend to in addition + to matters of religion. The power, the ruggedness, the physical and mental + strength, the positive grandeur of the man—all these are like the + general conceptions of the big Old Testament prophets. The suggestion is + given only because it has often recurred, and therefore with the feeling + that there is something more than fanciful in the com-parison; and yet, + after all, the comparison fails in one important particular, for none of + the prophets seems to have had a sense of humor! + </p> + <p> + It is perhaps better and more accurate to describe him as the last of the + old school of American philosophers, the last of those sturdy-bodied, + high-thinking, achieving men who, in the old days, did their best to set + American humanity in the right path—such men as Emerson, Alcott, + Gough, Wendell Phillips, Garrison, Bayard Taylor, Beecher; men whom + Conwell knew and admired in the long ago, and all of whom have long since + passed away. + </p> + <p> + And Conwell, in his going up and down the country, inspiring his thousands + and thousands, is the survivor of that old-time group who used to travel + about, dispensing wit and wisdom and philosophy and courage to the crowded + benches of country lyceums, and the chairs of school-houses and town + halls, or the larger and more pretentious gathering-places of the cities. + </p> + <p> + Conwell himself is amused to remember that he wanted to talk in public + from his boyhood, and that very early he began to yield to the inborn + impulse. He laughs as he remembers the variety of country fairs and school + commencements and anniversaries and even sewing-circles where he tried his + youthful powers, and all for experience alone, in the first few years, + except possibly for such a thing as a ham or a jack-knife! The first money + that he ever received for speaking was, so he remembers with glee, + seventy-five cents; and even that was not for his talk, but for horse + hire! But at the same time there is more than amusement in recalling these + experiences, for he knows that they were invaluable to him as training. + And for over half a century he has affectionately remembered John B. + Gough, who, in the height of his own power and success, saw resolution and + possibilities in the ardent young hill-man, and actually did him the + kindness and the honor of introducing him to an audience in one of the + Massachusetts towns; and it was really a great kindness and a great honor, + from a man who had won his fame to a young man just beginning an + oratorical career. + </p> + <p> + Conwell’s lecturing has been, considering everything, the most important + work of his life, for by it he has come into close touch with so many + millions—literally millions!—of people. + </p> + <p> + I asked him once if he had any idea how many he had talked to in the + course of his career, and he tried to estimate how many thousands of times + he had lectured, and the average attendance for each, but desisted when he + saw that it ran into millions of hearers. What a marvel is such a fact as + that! Millions of hearers! + </p> + <p> + I asked the same question of his private secretary, and found that no one + had ever kept any sort of record; but as careful an estimate as could be + made gave a conservative result of fully eight million hearers for his + lectures; and adding the number to whom he has preached, who have been + over five million, there is a total of well over thirteen million who have + listened to Russell Conwell’s voice! And this staggering total is, if + anything, an underestimate. The figuring was done cautiously and was based + upon such facts as that he now addresses an average of over forty-five + hundred at his Sunday services (an average that would be higher were it + not that his sermons in vacation time are usually delivered in little + churches; when at home, at the Temple, he addresses three meetings every + Sunday), and that he lectures throughout the entire course of each year, + including six nights a week of lecturing during vacation-time. What a + power is wielded by a man who has held over thirteen million people under + the spell of his voice! Probably no other man who ever lived had such a + total of hearers. And the total is steadily mounting, for he is a man who + has never known the meaning of rest. + </p> + <p> + I think it almost certain that Dr. Conwell has never spoken to any one of + what, to me, is the finest point of his lecture-work, and that is that he + still goes gladly and for small fees to the small towns that are never + visited by other men of great reputation. He knows that it is the little + places, the out-of-the-way places, the submerged places, that most need a + pleasure and a stimulus, and he still goes out, man of well over seventy + that he is, to tiny towns in distant states, heedless of the discomforts + of traveling, of the poor little hotels that seldom have visitors, of the + oftentimes hopeless cooking and the uncleanliness, of the hardships and + the discomforts, of the unventilated and overheated or underheated halls. + He does not think of claiming the relaxation earned by a lifetime of + labor, or, if he ever does, the thought of the sword of John Ring restores + instantly his fervid earnestness. + </p> + <p> + How he does it, how he can possibly keep it up, is the greatest marvel of + all. I have before me a list of his engagements for the summer weeks of + this year, 1915, and I shall set it down because it will specifically + show, far more clearly than general statements, the kind of work he does. + The list is the itinerary of his vacation. Vacation! Lecturing every + evening but Sunday, and on Sundays preaching in the town where he happens + to be! + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + June 24 Ackley, Ia. July 11 *Brookings, S. D. + “ 25 Waterloo, Ia. “ 12 Pipestone, Minn. + “ 26 Decorah, Ia. “ 13 Hawarden, Ia. + “ 27 *Waukon, Ia. “ 14 Canton, S. D + “ 28 Red Wing, Minn. “ 15 Cherokee, Ia + “ 29 River Falls, Wis. “ 16 Pocahontas, Ia + “ 30 Northfield, Minn. “ 17 Glidden, Ia. + July 1 Faribault, Minn. “ 18 *Boone, Ia. + “ 2 Spring Valley, Minn. “ 19 Dexter, Ia. + “ 3 Blue Earth, Minn. “ 20 Indianola, Ia + “ 4 *Fairmount, Minn. “ 21 Corydon, Ia + “ 5 Lake Crystal, Minn. “ 22 Essex, Ia. + “ 6 Redwood Falls, “ 23 Sidney, Ia. + Minn. “ 24 Falls City, Nebr. + “ 7 Willmer, Minn. “ 25 *Hiawatha, Kan. + “ 8 Dawson, Minn. “ 26 Frankfort, Kan. + “ 9 Redfield, S. D. “ 27 Greenleaf, Kan. + “ 10 Huron, S. D. “ 28 Osborne, Kan. + July 29 Stockton, Kan. Aug. 14 Honesdale, Pa. + “ 30 Phillipsburg, Kan. “ 15 *Honesdale, Pa. + “ 31 Mankato, Kan. “ 16 Carbondale, Pa. + <i>En route to next date on</i> “ 17 Montrose, Pa. + <i>circuit</i>. “ 18 Tunkhannock, Pa. + Aug. 3 Westfield, Pa. “ 19 Nanticoke, Pa. + “ 4 Galston, Pa. “ 20 Stroudsburg, Pa. + “ 5 Port Alleghany, Pa. “ 21 Newton, N. J. + “ 6 Wellsville, N. Y. “ 22 *Newton, N. J. + “ 7 Bath, N. Y. “ 23 Hackettstown, N. J. + “ 8 *Bath, N. Y. “ 24 New Hope, Pa. + “ 9 Penn Yan, N. Y. “ 25 Doylestown, Pa. + “ 10 Athens, N. Y. “ 26 Phoenixville, Pa. + “ 11 Owego, N. Y. “ 27 Kennett, Pa. + “ 12 Patchogue, LI.,N.Y. “ 28 Oxford, Pa. + “ 13 Port Jervis, N. Y. “ 29 *Oxford, Pa. + + * Preach on Sunday. +</pre> + <p> + And all these hardships, all this traveling and lecturing, which would + test the endurance of the youngest and strongest, this man of over seventy + assumes without receiving a particle of personal gain, for every dollar + that he makes by it is given away in helping those who need helping. + </p> + <p> + That Dr. Conwell is intensely modest is one of the curious features of his + character. He sincerely believes that to write his life would be, in the + main, just to tell what people have done for him. He knows and admits that + he works unweariedly, but in profound sincerity he ascribes the success of + his plans to those who have seconded and assisted him. It is in just this + way that he looks upon every phase of his life. When he is reminded of the + devotion of his old soldiers, he remembers it only with a sort of pleased + wonder that they gave the devotion to him, and he quite forgets that they + loved him because he was always ready to sacrifice ease or risk his own + life for them. + </p> + <p> + He deprecates praise; if any one likes him, the liking need not be shown + in words, but in helping along a good work. That his church has succeeded + has been because of the devotion of the people; that the university has + succeeded is because of the splendid work of the teachers and pupils; that + the hospitals have done so much has been because of the noble services of + physicians and nurses. To him, as he himself expresses it, realizing that + success has come to his plans, it seems as if the realities are but + dreams. He is astonished by his own success. He thinks mainly of his own + shortcomings. “God and man have ever been very patient with me.” His + depression is at times profound when he compares the actual results with + what he would like them to be, for always his hopes have gone soaring far + in advance of achievement. It is the “Hitch your chariot to a star" idea. + </p> + <p> + His modesty goes hand-in-hand with kindliness, and I have seen him let + himself be introduced in his own church to his congregation, when he is + going to deliver a lecture there, just because a former pupil of the + university was present who, Conwell knew, was ambitious to say something + inside of the Temple walls, and this seemed to be the only opportunity. + </p> + <p> + I have noticed, when he travels, that the face of the newsboy brightens as + he buys a paper from him, that the porter is all happiness, that conductor + and brakeman are devotedly anxious to be of aid. Everywhere the man wins + love. He loves humanity and humanity responds to the love. + </p> + <p> + He has always won the affection of those who knew him, and Bayard Taylor + was one of the many; he and Bayard Taylor loved each other for long + acquaintance and fellow experiences as world-wide travelers, back in the + years when comparatively few Americans visited the Nile and the Orient, or + even Europe. + </p> + <p> + When Taylor died there was a memorial service in Boston at which Conwell + was asked to preside, and, as he wished for something more than addresses, + he went to Longfellow and asked him to write and read a poem for the + occasion. Longfellow had not thought of writing anything, and he was too + ill to be present at the services, but, there always being something + contagiously inspiring about Russell Conwell when he wishes something to + be done, the poet promised to do what he could. And he wrote and sent the + beautiful lines beginning: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>Dead he lay among his books, + The peace of God was in his looks</i>. +</pre> + <p> + Many men of letters, including Ralph Waldo Emerson, were present at the + services, and Dr. Conwell induced Oliver Wendell Holmes to read the lines, + and they were listened to amid profound silence, to their fine ending. + </p> + <p> + Conwell, in spite of his widespread hold on millions of people, has never + won fame, recognition, general renown, compared with many men of minor + achievements. This seems like an impossibility. Yet it is not an + impossibility, but a fact. Great numbers of men of education and culture + are entirely ignorant of him and his work in the world—men, these, + who deem themselves in touch with world-affairs and with the ones who make + and move the world. It is inexplicable, this, except that never was there + a man more devoid of the faculty of self-exploitation, self-advertising, + than Russell Conwell. Nor, in the mere reading of them, do his words + appeal with anything like the force of the same words uttered by himself, + for always, with his spoken words, is his personality. Those who have + heard Russell Conwell, or have known him personally, recognize the charm + of the man and his immense forcefulness; but there are many, and among + them those who control publicity through books and newspapers, who, though + they ought to be the warmest in their enthusiasm, have never felt drawn to + hear him, and, if they know of him at all, think of him as one who pleases + in a simple way the commoner folk, forgetting in their pride that every + really great man pleases the common ones, and that simplicity and + directness are attributes of real greatness. + </p> + <p> + But Russell Conwell has always won the admiration of the really great, as + well as of the humbler millions. It is only a supposedly cultured class in + between that is not thoroughly acquainted with what he has done. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps, too, this is owing to his having cast in his lot with the city, + of all cities, which, consciously or unconsciously, looks most closely to + family and place of residence as criterions of merit—a city with + which it is almost impossible for a stranger to become affiliated—or + aphiladelphiated, as it might be expressed—and Philadelphia, in + spite of all that Dr. Conwell has done, has been under the thrall of the + fact that he went north of Market Street—that fatal fact understood + by all who know Philadelphia—and that he made no effort to make + friends in Rittenhouse Square. Such considerations seem absurd in this + twentieth century, but in Philadelphia they are still potent. Tens of + thousands of Philadelphians love him, and he is honored by its greatest + men, but there is a class of the pseudo-cultured who do not know him or + appreciate him. And it needs also to be understood that, outside of his + own beloved Temple, he would prefer to go to a little church or a little + hall and to speak to the forgotten people, in the hope of encouraging and + inspiring them and filling them with hopeful glow, rather than to speak to + the rich and comfortable. + </p> + <p> + His dearest hope, so one of the few who are close to him told me, is that + no one shall come into his life without being benefited. He does not say + this publicly, nor does he for a moment believe that such a hope could be + fully realized, but it is very dear to his heart; and no man spurred by + such a hope, and thus bending all his thoughts toward the poor, the + hard-working, the unsuccessful, is in a way to win honor from the Scribes; + for we have Scribes now quite as much as when they were classed with + Pharisees. It is not the first time in the world’s history that Scribes + have failed to give their recognition to one whose work was not among the + great and wealthy. + </p> + <p> + That Conwell himself has seldom taken any part whatever in politics except + as a good citizen standing for good government; that, as he expresses it, + he never held any political office except that he was once on a school + committee, and also that he does not identify himself with the so-called + “movements” that from time to time catch public attention, but aims only + and constantly at the quiet betterment of mankind, may be mentioned as + additional reasons why his name and fame have not been steadily blazoned. + </p> + <p> + He knows and will admit that he works hard and has all his life worked + hard. “Things keep turning my way because I’m on the job,” as he + whimsically expressed it one day; but that is about all, so it seems to + him. + </p> + <p> + And he sincerely believes that his life has in itself been without + interest; that it has been an essentially commonplace life with nothing of + the interesting or the eventful to tell. He is frankly surprised that + there has ever been the desire to write about him. He really has no idea + of how fascinating are the things he has done. His entire life has been of + positive interest from the variety of things accomplished and the + unexpectedness with which he has accomplished them. + </p> + <p> + Never, for example, was there such an organizer. In fact, organization and + leadership have always been as the breath of life to him. As a youth he + organized debating societies and, before the war, a local military + company. While on garrison duty in the Civil War he organized what is + believed to have been the first free school for colored children in the + South. One day Minneapolis happened to be spoken of, and Conwell happened + to remember that he organized, when he was a lawyer in that city, what + became the first Y.M.C.A. branch there. Once he even started a newspaper. + And it was natural that the organizing instinct, as years advanced, should + lead him to greater and greater things, such as his church, with the + numerous associations formed within itself through his influence, and the + university—the organizing of the university being in itself an + achievement of positive romance. + </p> + <p> + “A life without interest!” Why, when I happened to ask, one day, how many + Presidents he had known since Lincoln, he replied, quite casually, that he + had “written the lives of most of them in their own homes”; and by this he + meant either personally or in collaboration with the American biographer + Abbott. + </p> + <p> + The many-sidedness of Conwell is one of the things that is always + fascinating. After you have quite got the feeling that he is peculiarly a + man of to-day, lecturing on to-day’s possibilities to the people of + to-day, you happen upon some such fact as that he attracted the attention + of the London <i>Times</i> through a lecture on Italian history at + Cambridge in England; or that on the evening of the day on which he was + admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States he gave a + lecture in Washington on “The Curriculum of the Prophets in Ancient + Israel.” The man’s life is a succession of delightful surprises. + </p> + <p> + An odd trait of his character is his love for fire. He could easily have + been a veritable fire-worshiper instead of an orthodox Christian! He has + always loved a blaze, and he says reminiscently that for no single thing + was he punished so much when he was a child as for building bonfires. And + after securing possession, as he did in middle age, of the house where he + was born and of a great acreage around about, he had one of the most + enjoyable times of his life in tearing down old buildings that needed to + be destroyed and in heaping up fallen trees and rubbish and in piling + great heaps of wood and setting the great piles ablaze. You see, there is + one of the secrets of his strength—he has never lost the capacity + for fiery enthusiasm! + </p> + <p> + Always, too, in these later years he is showing his strength and + enthusiasm in a positively noble way. He has for years been a keen + sufferer from rheumatism and neuritis, but he has never permitted this to + interfere with his work or plans. He makes little of his sufferings, and + when he slowly makes his way, bent and twisted, downstairs, he does not + want to be noticed. “I’m all right,” he will say if any one offers to + help, and at such a time comes his nearest approach to impatience. He + wants his suffering ignored. Strength has always been to him so precious a + belonging that he will not relinquish it while he lives. “I’m all right!” + And he makes himself believe that he is all right even though the pain + becomes so severe as to demand massage. And he will still, even when + suffering, talk calmly, or write his letters, or attend to whatever + matters come before him. It is the Spartan boy hiding the pain of the + gnawing fox. And he never has let pain interfere with his presence on the + pulpit or the platform. He has once in a while gone to a meeting on + crutches and then, by the force of will, and inspired by what he is to do, + has stood before his audience or congregation, a man full of strength and + fire and life. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VII. HOW A UNIVERSITY WAS FOUNDED + </h2> + <p> + THE story of the foundation and rise of Temple University is an + extraordinary story; it is not only extraordinary, but inspiring; it is + not only inspiring, but full of romance. + </p> + <p> + For the university came out of nothing!—nothing but the need of a + young man and the fact that he told the need to one who, throughout his + life, has felt the impulse to help any one in need and has always obeyed + the impulse. + </p> + <p> + I asked Dr. Conwell, up at his home in the Berkshires, to tell me himself + just how the university began, and he said that it began because it was + needed and succeeded because of the loyal work of the teachers. And when I + asked for details he was silent for a while, looking off into the brooding + twilight as it lay over the waters and the trees and the hills, and then + he said: + </p> + <p> + “It was all so simple; it all came about so naturally. One evening, after + a service, a young man of the congregation came to me and I saw that he + was disturbed about something. I had him sit down by me, and I knew that + in a few moments he would tell me what was troubling him. + </p> + <p> + “‘Dr. Conwell,’ he said, abruptly, ‘I earn but little money, and I see no + immediate chance of earning more. I have to support not only myself, but + my mother. It leaves nothing at all. Yet my longing is to be a minister. + It is the one ambition of my life. Is there anything that I can do?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Any man,’ I said to him, ‘with the proper determination and ambition can + study sufficiently at night to win his desire.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘I have tried to think so,’ said he, ‘but I have not been able to see + anything clearly. I want to study, and am ready to give every spare minute + to it, but I don’t know how to get at it.’ + </p> + <p> + “I thought a few minutes, as I looked at him. He was strong in his desire + and in his ambition to fulfil it—strong enough, physically and + mentally, for work of the body and of the mind—and he needed + something more than generalizations of sympathy. + </p> + <p> + “‘Come to me one evening a week and I will begin teaching you myself,’ I + said, ‘and at least you will in that way make a beginning’; and I named + the evening. + </p> + <p> + “His face brightened and he eagerly said that he would come, and left me; + but in a little while he came hurrying back again. ‘May I bring a friend + with me?’ he said. + </p> + <p> + “I told him to bring as many as he wanted to, for more than one would be + an advantage, and when the evening came there were six friends with him. + And that first evening I began to teach them the foundations of Latin.” + </p> + <p> + He stopped as if the story was over. He was looking out thoughtfully into + the waning light, and I knew that his mind was busy with those days of the + beginning of the institution he so loves, and whose continued success + means so much to him. In a little while he went on: + </p> + <p> + “That was the beginning of it, and there is little more to tell. By the + third evening the number of pupils had increased to forty; others joined + in helping me, and a room was hired; then a little house, then a second + house. From a few students and teachers we became a college. After a while + our buildings went up on Broad Street alongside the Temple Church, and + after another while we became a university. From the first our aim”—(I + noticed how quickly it had become “our” instead of “my”)—“our aim + was to give education to those who were unable to get it through the usual + channels. And so that was really all there was to it.” + </p> + <p> + That was typical of Russell Conwell—to tell with brevity of what he + has done, to point out the beginnings of something, and quite omit to + elaborate as to the results. And that, when you come to know him, is + precisely what he means you to understand—that it is the beginning + of anything that is important, and that if a thing is but earnestly begun + and set going in the right way it may just as easily develop big results + as little results. + </p> + <p> + But his story was very far indeed from being “all there was to it,” for he + had quite omitted to state the extraordinary fact that, beginning with + those seven pupils, coming to his library on an evening in 1884, the + Temple University has numbered, up to Commencement-time in 1915, 88,821 + students! Nearly one hundred thousand students, and in the lifetime of the + founder! Really, the magnitude of such a work cannot be exaggerated, nor + the vast importance of it when it is considered that most of these + eighty-eight thousand students would not have received their education had + it not been for Temple University. And it all came from the instant + response of Russell Conwell to the immediate need presented by a young man + without money! + </p> + <p> + “And there is something else I want to say,” said Dr. Conwell, + unexpectedly. “I want to say, more fully than a mere casual word, how + nobly the work was taken up by volunteer helpers; professors from the + University of Pennsylvania and teachers from the public schools and other + local institutions gave freely of what time they could until the new + venture was firmly on its way. I honor those who came so devotedly to + help. And it should be remembered that in those early days the need was + even greater than it would now appear, for there were then no night + schools or manual-training schools. Since then the city of Philadelphia + has gone into such work, and as fast as it has taken up certain branches + the Temple University has put its energy into the branches just higher. + And there seems no lessening of the need of it,” he added, ponderingly. + </p> + <p> + No; there is certainly no lessening of the need of it! The figures of the + annual catalogue would alone show that. + </p> + <p> + As early as 1887, just three years after the beginning, the Temple + College, as it was by that time called, issued its first catalogue, which + set forth with stirring words that the intent of its founding was to: + </p> + <p> + “Provide such instruction as shall be best adapted to the higher education + of those who are compelled to labor at their trade while engaged in study. + </p> + <p> + “Cultivate a taste for the higher and most useful branches of learning. + </p> + <p> + “Awaken in the character of young laboring men and women a determined + ambition to be useful to their fellow-men.” + </p> + <p> + The college—the university as it in time came to be—early + broadened its scope, but it has from the first continued to aim at the + needs of those unable to secure education without such help as, through + its methods, it affords. + </p> + <p> + It was chartered in 1888, at which time its numbers had reached almost six + hundred, and it has ever since had a constant flood of applicants. “It has + demonstrated,” as Dr. Conwell puts it, “that those who work for a living + have time for study.” And he, though he does not himself add this, has + given the opportunity. + </p> + <p> + He feels especial pride in the features by which lectures and recitations + are held at practically any hour which best suits the convenience of the + students. If any ten students join in a request for any hour from nine in + the morning to ten at night a class is arranged for them, to meet that + request! This involves the necessity for a much larger number of + professors and teachers than would otherwise be necessary, but that is + deemed a slight consideration in comparison with the immense good done by + meeting the needs of workers. + </p> + <p> + Also President Conwell—for of course he is the president of the + university—is proud of the fact that the privilege of graduation + depends entirely upon knowledge gained; that graduation does not depend + upon having listened to any set number of lectures or upon having attended + for so many terms or years. If a student can do four years’ work in two + years or in three he is encouraged to do it, and if he cannot even do it + in four he can have no diploma. + </p> + <p> + Obviously, there is no place at Temple University for students who care + only for a few years of leisured ease. It is a place for workers, and not + at all for those who merely wish to be able to boast that they attended a + university. The students have come largely from among railroad clerks, + bank clerks, bookkeepers, teachers, preachers, mechanics, salesmen, drug + clerks, city and United States government employees, widows, nurses, + housekeepers, brakemen, firemen, engineers, motormen, conductors, and shop + hands. + </p> + <p> + It was when the college became strong enough, and sufficiently advanced in + scholarship and standing, and broad enough in scope, to win the name of + university that this title was officially granted to it by the State of + Pennsylvania, in 1907, and now its educational plan includes three + distinct school systems. + </p> + <p> + First: it offers a high-school education to the student who has to quit + school after leaving the grammar-school. + </p> + <p> + Second: it offers a full college education, with the branches taught in + long-established high-grade colleges, to the student who has to quit on + leaving the high-school. + </p> + <p> + Third: it offers further scientific or professional education to the + college graduate who must go to work immediately on quitting college, but + who wishes to take up some such course as law or medicine or engineering. + </p> + <p> + Out of last year’s enrolment of 3,654 it is interesting to notice that the + law claimed 141; theology, 182; medicine and pharmacy and dentistry + combined, 357; civil engineering, 37; also that the teachers’ college, + with normal courses on such subjects as household arts and science, + kindergarten work, and physical education, took 174; and still more + interesting, in a way, to see that 269 students were enrolled for the + technical and vocational courses, such as cooking and dress-making, + millinery, manual crafts, school-gardening, and story-telling. There were + 511 in high-school work, and 243 in elementary education. There were 79 + studying music, and 68 studying to be trained nurses. There were 606 in + the college of liberal arts and sciences, and in the department of + commercial education there were 987—for it is a university that + offers both scholarship and practicality. + </p> + <p> + Temple University is not in the least a charitable institution. Its fees + are low, and its hours are for the convenience of the students themselves, + but it is a place of absolute independence. It is, indeed, a place of far + greater independence, so one of the professors pointed out, than are the + great universities which receive millions and millions of money in private + gifts and endowments. + </p> + <p> + Temple University in its early years was sorely in need of money, and + often there were thrills of expectancy when some man of mighty wealth + seemed on the point of giving. But not a single one ever did, and now the + Temple likes to feel that it is glad of it. The Temple, to quote its own + words, is “An institution for strong men and women who can labor with both + mind and body.” + </p> + <p> + And the management is proud to be able to say that, although great numbers + have come from distant places, “not one of the many thousands ever failed + to find an opportunity to support himself.” + </p> + <p> + Even in the early days, when money was needed for the necessary buildings + (the buildings of which Conwell dreamed when he left second-story doors in + his church!), the university—college it was then called—had + won devotion from those who knew that it was a place where neither time + nor money was wasted, and where idleness was a crime, and in the donations + for the work were many such items as four hundred dollars from + factory-workers who gave fifty cents each, and two thousand dollars from + policemen who gave a dollar each. Within two or three years past the State + of Pennsylvania has begun giving it a large sum annually, and this state + aid is public recognition of Temple University as an institution of high + public value. The state money is invested in the brains and hearts of the + ambitious. + </p> + <p> + So eager is Dr. Conwell to place the opportunity of education before every + one, that even his servants must go to school! He is not one of those who + can see needs that are far away but not those that are right at home. His + belief in education, and in the highest attainable education, is profound, + and it is not only on account of the abstract pleasure and value of + education, but its power of increasing actual earning power and thus + making a worker of more value to both himself and the community. + </p> + <p> + Many a man and many a woman, while continuing to work for some firm or + factory, has taken Temple technical courses and thus fitted himself or + herself for an advanced position with the same employer. The Temple knows + of many such, who have thus won prominent advancement. And it knows of + teachers who, while continuing to teach, have fitted themselves through + the Temple courses for professorships. And it knows of many a case of the + rise of a Temple student that reads like an Arabian Nights’ fancy!—of + advance from bookkeeper to editor, from office-boy to bank president, from + kitchen maid to school principal, from street-cleaner to mayor! The Temple + University helps them that help themselves. + </p> + <p> + President Conwell told me personally of one case that especially + interested him because it seemed to exhibit, in especial degree, the + Temple possibilities; and it particularly interested me because it also + showed, in high degree, the methods and personality of Dr. Conwell + himself. + </p> + <p> + One day a young woman came to him and said she earned only three dollars a + week and that she desired very much to make more. “Can you tell me how to + do it?” she said. + </p> + <p> + He liked her ambition and her directness, but there was something that he + felt doubtful about, and that was that her hat looked too expensive for + three dollars a week! + </p> + <p> + Now Dr. Conwell is a man whom you would never suspect of giving a thought + to the hat of man or woman! But as a matter of fact there is very little + that he does not see. + </p> + <p> + But though the hat seemed too expensive for three dollars a week, Dr. + Conwell is not a man who makes snap-judgments harshly, and in particular + he would be the last man to turn away hastily one who had sought him out + for help. He never felt, nor could possibly urge upon any one, contentment + with a humble lot; he stands for advancement; he has no sympathy with that + dictum of the smug, that has come to us from a nation tight bound for + centuries by its gentry and aristocracy, about being contented with the + position in which God has placed you, for he points out that the Bible + itself holds up advancement and success as things desirable. + </p> + <p> + And, as to the young woman before him, it developed, through discreet + inquiry veiled by frank discussion of her case, that she had made the + expensive-looking hat herself! Whereupon not only did all doubtfulness and + hesitation vanish, but he saw at once how she could better herself. He + knew that a woman who could make a hat like that for herself could make + hats for other people, and so, “Go into millinery as a business,” he + advised. + </p> + <p> + “Oh—if I only could!” she exclaimed. “But I know that I don’t know + enough.” + </p> + <p> + “Take the millinery course in Temple University,” he responded. + </p> + <p> + She had not even heard of such a course, and when he went on to explain + how she could take it and at the same time continue at her present work + until the course was concluded, she was positively ecstatic—it was + all so unexpected, this opening of the view of a new and broader life. + </p> + <p> + “She was an unusual woman,” concluded Dr. Conwell, “and she worked with + enthusiasm and tirelessness. She graduated, went to an up-state city that + seemed to offer a good field, opened a millinery establishment there, with + her own name above the door, and became prosperous. That was only a few + years ago. And recently I had a letter from her, telling me that last year + she netted a clear profit of three thousand six hundred dollars!” + </p> + <p> + I remember a man, himself of distinguished position, saying of Dr. + Conwell, “It is difficult to speak in tempered language of what he has + achieved.” And that just expresses it; the temptation is constantly to use + superlatives—for superlatives fit! Of course he has succeeded for + himself, and succeeded marvelously, in his rise from the rocky hill farm, + but he has done so vastly more than that in inspiring such hosts of others + to succeed! + </p> + <p> + A dreamer of dreams and a seer of visions—and what realizations have + come! And it interested me profoundly not long ago, when Dr. Conwell, + talking of the university, unexpectedly remarked that he would like to see + such institutions scattered throughout every state in the Union. “All + carried on at slight expense to the students and at hours to suit all + sorts of working men and women,” he added, after a pause; and then, + abruptly, “I should like to see the possibility of higher education + offered to every one in the United States who works for a living.” + </p> + <p> + There was something superb in the very imagining of such a nation-wide + system. But I did not ask whether or not he had planned any details for + such an effort. I knew that thus far it might only be one of his dreams—but + I also knew that his dreams had a way of becoming realities. I had a + fleeting glimpse of his soaring vision. It was amazing to find a man of + more than three-score and ten thus dreaming of more worlds to conquer. And + I thought, what could the world have accomplished if Methuselah had been a + Conwell!—or, far better, what wonders could be accomplished if + Conwell could but be a Methuselah! + </p> + <p> + He has all his life been a great traveler. He is a man who sees vividly + and who can describe vividly. Yet often his letters, even from places of + the most profound interest, are mostly concerned with affairs back home. + It is not that he does not feel, and feel intensely, the interest of what + he is visiting, but that his tremendous earnestness keeps him always + concerned about his work at home. There could be no stronger example than + what I noticed in a letter he wrote from Jerusalem. “I am in Jerusalem! + And here at Gethsemane and at the Tomb of Christ”—reading thus far, + one expects that any man, and especially a minister, is sure to say + something regarding the associations of the place and the effect of these + associations on his mind; but Conwell is always the man who is different—“And + here at Gethsemane and at the Tomb of Christ, I pray especially for the + Temple University.” That is Conwellism! + </p> + <p> + That he founded a hospital—a work in itself great enough for even a + great life is but one among the striking incidents of his career. And it + came about through perfect naturalness. For he came to know, through his + pastoral work and through his growing acquaintance with the needs of the + city, that there was a vast amount of suffering and wretchedness and + anguish, because of the inability of the existing hospitals to care for + all who needed care. There was so much sickness and suffering to be + alleviated, there were so many deaths that could be prevented—and so + he decided to start another hospital. + </p> + <p> + And, like everything with him, the beginning was small. That cannot too + strongly be set down as the way of this phenomenally successful organizer. + Most men would have to wait until a big beginning could be made, and so + would most likely never make a beginning at all. But Conwell’s way is to + dream of future bigness, but be ready to begin at once, no matter how + small or insignificant the beginning may appear to others. + </p> + <p> + Two rented rooms, one nurse, one patient—this was the humble + beginning, in 1891, of what has developed into the great Samaritan + Hospital. In a year there was an entire house, fitted up with wards and + operating-room. Now it occupies several buildings, including and adjoining + that first one, and a great new structure is planned. But even as it is, + it has a hundred and seventy beds, is fitted with all modern hospital + appliances, and has a large staff of physicians; and the number of + surgical operations performed there is very large. + </p> + <p> + It is open to sufferers of any race or creed, and the poor are never + refused admission, the rule being that treatment is free for those who + cannot pay, but that such as can afford it shall pay according to their + means. + </p> + <p> + And the hospital has a kindly feature that endears it to patients and + their relatives alike, and that is that, by Dr. Conwell’s personal order, + there are not only the usual week-day hours for visiting, but also one + evening a week and every Sunday afternoon. “For otherwise,” as he says, + “many would be unable to come because they could not get away from their + work.” + </p> + <p> + A little over eight years ago another hospital was taken in charge, the + Garretson—not founded by Conwell, this one, but acquired, and + promptly expanded in its usefulness. + </p> + <p> + Both the Samaritan and the Garretson are part of Temple University. The + Samaritan Hospital has treated, since its foundation, up to the middle of + 1915, 29,301 patients; the Garretson, in its shorter life, 5,923. + Including dispensary cases as well as house patients, the two hospitals + together, under the headship of President Conwell, have handled over + 400,000 cases. + </p> + <p> + How Conwell can possibly meet the multifarious demands upon his time is in + itself a miracle. He is the head of the great church; he is the head of + the university; he is the head of the hospitals; he is the head of + everything with which he is associated! And he is not only nominally, but + very actively, the head! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VIII. HIS SPLENDID EFFICIENCY + </h2> + <p> + CONWELL has a few strong and efficient executive helpers who have long + been associated with him; men and women who know his ideas and ideals, who + are devoted to him, and who do their utmost to relieve him; and of course + there is very much that is thus done for him; but even as it is, he is so + overshadowing a man (there is really no other word) that all who work with + him look to him for advice and guidance the professors and the students, + the doctors and the nurses, the church officers, the Sunday-school + teachers, the members of his congregation. And he is never too busy to see + any one who really wishes to see him. + </p> + <p> + He can attend to a vast intricacy of detail, and answer myriad personal + questions and doubts, and keep the great institutions splendidly going, by + thorough systematization of time, and by watching every minute. He has + several secretaries, for special work, besides his private secretary. His + correspondence is very great. Often he dictates to a secretary as he + travels on the train. Even in the few days for which he can run back to + the Berkshires, work is awaiting him. Work follows him. And after knowing + of this, one is positively amazed that he is able to give to his + country-wide lectures the time and the traveling that they inexorably + demand. Only a man of immense strength, of the greatest stamina, a + veritable superman, could possibly do it. And at times one quite forgets, + noticing the multiplicity of his occupations, that he prepares two sermons + and two talks on Sunday! + </p> + <p> + Here is his usual Sunday schedule, when at home. He rises at seven and + studies until breakfast, which is at eight-thirty. Then he studies until + nine-forty-five, when he leads a men’s meeting at which he is likely also + to play the organ and lead the singing. At ten-thirty is the principal + church service, at which he preaches, and at the close of which he shakes + hands with hundreds. He dines at one, after which he takes fifteen + minutes’ rest and then reads; and at three o’clock he addresses, in a talk + that is like another sermon, a large class of men—not the same men + as in the morning. He is also sure to look in at the regular session of + the Sunday-school. Home again, where he studies and reads until + supper-time. At seven-thirty is the evening service, at which he again + preaches and after which he shakes hands with several hundred more and + talks personally, in his study, with any who have need of talk with him. + He is usually home by ten-thirty. I spoke of it, one evening, as having + been a strenuous day, and he responded, with a cheerfully whimsical smile: + “Three sermons and shook hands with nine hundred.” + </p> + <p> + That evening, as the service closed, he had said to the congregation: “I + shall be here for an hour. We always have a pleasant time together after + service. If you are acquainted with me, come up and shake hands. If you + are strangers”—just the slightest of pauses—“come up and let + us make an acquaintance that will last for eternity.” I remember how + simply and easily this was said, in his clear, deep voice, and how + impressive and important it seemed, and with what unexpectedness it came. + “Come and make an acquaintance that will last for eternity!” And there was + a serenity about his way of saying this which would make strangers think—just + as he meant them to think—that he had nothing whatever to do but to + talk with them. Even his own congregation have, most of them, little + conception of how busy a man he is and how precious is his time. + </p> + <p> + One evening last June to take an evening of which I happened to know—he + got home from a journey of two hundred miles at six o’clock, and after + dinner and a slight rest went to the church prayer-meeting, which he led + in his usual vigorous way at such meetings, playing the organ and leading + the singing, as well as praying and talk-ing. After the prayer-meeting he + went to two dinners in succession, both of them important dinners in + connection with the close of the university year, and at both dinners he + spoke. At the second dinner he was notified of the sudden illness of a + member of his congregation, and instantly hurried to the man’s home and + thence to the hospital to which he had been removed, and there he remained + at the man’s bedside, or in consultation with the physicians, until one in + the morning. Next morning he was up at seven and again at work. + </p> + <p> + “This one thing I do,” is his private maxim of efficiency, and a + literalist might point out that he does not one thing only, but a thousand + things, not getting Conwell’s meaning, which is that whatever the thing + may be which he is doing he lets himself think of nothing else until it is + done. + </p> + <p> + Dr. Conwell has a profound love for the country and particularly for the + country of his own youth. He loves the wind that comes sweeping over the + hills, he loves the wide-stretching views from the heights and the forest + intimacies of the nestled nooks. He loves the rippling streams, he loves + the wild flowers that nestle in seclusion or that unexpectedly paint some + mountain meadow with delight. He loves the very touch of the earth, and he + loves the great bare rocks. + </p> + <p> + He writes verses at times; at least he has written lines for a few old + tunes; and it interested me greatly to chance upon some lines of his that + picture heaven in terms of the Berkshires: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>The wide-stretching valleys in colors so fadeless, + Where trees are all deathless and flowers e’er bloom</i>. +</pre> + <p> + That is heaven in the eyes of a New England hill-man! Not golden pavement + and ivory palaces, but valleys and trees and flowers and the wide sweep of + the open. + </p> + <p> + Few things please him more than to go, for example, blackberrying, and he + has a knack of never scratching his face or his fingers when doing so. And + he finds blackberrying, whether he goes alone or with friends, an + extraordinarily good time for planning something he wishes to do or + working out the thought of a sermon. And fishing is even better, for in + fishing he finds immense recreation and restfulness and at the same time a + further opportunity to think and plan. + </p> + <p> + As a small boy he wished that he could throw a dam across the trout-brook + that runs near the little Conwell home, and—as he never gives up—he + finally realized the ambition, although it was after half a century! And + now he has a big pond, three-quarters of a mile long by half a mile wide, + lying in front of the house, down a slope from it—a pond stocked + with splendid pickerel. He likes to float about restfully on this pond, + thinking or fishing, or both. And on that pond he showed me how to catch + pickerel even under a blaze of sunlight! + </p> + <p> + He is a trout-fisher, too, for it is a trout stream that feeds this pond + and goes dashing away from it through the wilderness; and for miles + adjoining his place a fishing club of wealthy men bought up the rights in + this trout stream, and they approached him with a liberal offer. But he + declined it. “I remembered what good times I had when I was a boy, fishing + up and down that stream, and I couldn’t think of keeping the boys of the + present day from such a pleasure. So they may still come and fish for + trout here.” + </p> + <p> + As we walked one day beside this brook, he suddenly said: “Did you ever + notice that every brook has its own song? I should know the song of this + brook anywhere.” + </p> + <p> + It would seem as if he loved his rugged native country because it is + rugged even more than because it is native! Himself so rugged, so hardy, + so enduring—the strength of the hills is his also. + </p> + <p> + Always, in his very appearance, you see something of this ruggedness of + the hills; a ruggedness, a sincerity, a plainness, that mark alike his + character and his looks. And always one realizes the strength of the man, + even when his voice, as it usually is, is low. And one increasingly + realizes the strength when, on the lecture platform or in the pulpit or in + conversation, he flashes vividly into fire. + </p> + <p> + A big-boned man he is, sturdy-framed, a tall man, with broad shoulders and + strong hands. His hair is a deep chestnut-brown that at first sight seems + black. In his early manhood he was superb in looks, as his pictures show, + but anxiety and work and the constant flight of years, with physical pain, + have settled his face into lines of sadness and almost of severity, which + instantly vanish when he speaks. And his face is illumined by marvelous + eyes. + </p> + <p> + He is a lonely man. The wife of his early years died long, long ago, + before success had come, and she was deeply mourned, for she had loyally + helped him through a time that held much of struggle and hardship. He + married again; and this wife was his loyal helpmate for many years. In a + time of special stress, when a defalcation of sixty-five thousand dollars + threatened to crush Temple College just when it was getting on its feet, + for both Temple Church and Temple College had in those early days + buoyantly assumed heavy indebtedness, he raised every dollar he could by + selling or mortgaging his own possessions, and in this his wife, as he + lovingly remembers, most cordially stood beside him, although she knew + that if anything should happen to him the financial sacrifice would leave + her penniless. She died after years of companionship; his children married + and made homes of their own; he is a lonely man. Yet he is not unhappy, + for the tremendous demands of his tremendous work leave him little time + for sadness or retrospect. At times the realization comes that he is + getting old, that friends and comrades have been passing away, leaving him + an old man with younger friends and helpers. But such realization only + makes him work with an earnestness still more intense, knowing that the + night cometh when no man shall work. + </p> + <p> + Deeply religious though he is, he does not force religion into + conversation on ordinary subjects or upon people who may not be interested + in it. With him, it is action and good works, with faith and belief, that + count, except when talk is the natural, the fitting, the necessary thing; + when addressing either one individual or thousands, he talks with superb + effectiveness. + </p> + <p> + His sermons are, it may almost literally be said, parable after parable; + although he himself would be the last man to say this, for it would sound + as if he claimed to model after the greatest of all examples. His own way + of putting it is that he uses stories frequently because people are more + impressed by illustrations than by argument. + </p> + <p> + Always, whether in the pulpit or out of it, he is simple and homelike, + human and unaffected. If he happens to see some one in the congregation to + whom he wishes to speak, he may just leave his pulpit and walk down the + aisle, while the choir is singing, and quietly say a few words and return. + </p> + <p> + In the early days of his ministry, if he heard of a poor family in + immediate need of food he would be quite likely to gather a basket of + provisions and go personally, and offer this assistance and such other as + he might find necessary when he reached the place. As he became known he + ceased from this direct and open method of charity, for he knew that + impulsiveness would be taken for intentional display. But he has never + ceased to be ready to help on the instant that he knows help is needed. + Delay and lengthy investigation are avoided by him when he can be certain + that something immediate is required. And the extent of his quiet charity + is amazing. With no family for which to save money, and with no care to + put away money for himself, he thinks only of money as an instrument for + helpfulness. I never heard a friend criticize him except for too great + open-handedness. + </p> + <p> + I was strongly impressed, after coming to know him, that he possessed many + of the qualities that made for the success of the old-time district + leaders of New York City, and I mentioned this to him, and he at once + responded that he had himself met “Big Tim,” the long-time leader of the + Sullivans, and had had him at his house, Big Tim having gone to + Philadelphia to aid some henchman in trouble, and having promptly sought + the aid of Dr. Conwell. And it was characteristic of Conwell that he saw, + what so many never saw, the most striking characteristic of that Tammany + leader. For, “Big Tim Sullivan was so kind-hearted!” Conwell appreciated + the man’s political unscrupulousness as well as did his enemies, but he + saw also what made his underlying power—his kind-heartedness. Except + that Sullivan could be supremely unscrupulous, and that Conwell is + supremely scrupulous, there were marked similarities in these masters over + men; and Conwell possesses, as Sullivan possessed, a wonderful memory for + faces and names. + </p> + <p> + Naturally, Russell Conwell stands steadily and strongly for good + citizenship. But he never talks boastful Americanism. He seldom speaks in + so many words of either Americanism or good citizenship, but he constantly + and silently keeps the American flag, as the symbol of good citizenship, + before his people. An American flag is prominent in his church; an + American flag is seen in his home; a beautiful American flag is up at his + Berkshire place and surmounts a lofty tower where, when he was a boy, + there stood a mighty tree at the top of which was an eagle’s nest, which + has given him a name for his home, for he terms it “The Eagle’s Nest.” + </p> + <p> + Remembering a long story that I had read of his climbing to the top of + that tree, though it was a well-nigh impossible feat, and securing the + nest by great perseverance and daring, I asked him if the story were a + true one. “Oh, I’ve heard something about it; somebody said that somebody + watched me, or something of the kind. But I don’t remember anything about + it myself.” + </p> + <p> + Any friend of his is sure to say something, after a while, about his + determination, his insistence on going ahead with anything on which he has + really set his heart. One of the very important things on which he + insisted, in spite of very great opposition, and especially an opposition + from the other churches of his denomination (for this was a good many + years ago, when there was much more narrowness in churches and sects than + there is at present), was with regard to doing away with close communion. + He determined on an open communion; and his way of putting it, once + decided upon, was: “My friends, it is not for me to invite you to the + table of the Lord. The table of the Lord is open. If you feel that you can + come to the table, it is open to you.” And this is the form which he still + uses. + </p> + <p> + He not only never gives up, but, so his friends say, he never forgets a + thing upon which he has once decided, and at times, long after they + supposed the matter has been entirely forgotten, they suddenly find Dr. + Conwell bringing his original purpose to pass. When I was told of this I + remembered that pickerel-pond in the Berkshires! + </p> + <p> + If he is really set upon doing anything, little or big, adverse criticism + does not disturb his serenity. Some years ago he began wearing a huge + diamond, whose size attracted much criticism and caustic comment. He never + said a word in defense; he just kept on wearing the diamond. One day, + however, after some years, he took it off, and people said, “He has + listened to the criticism at last!” He smiled reminiscently as he told me + about this, and said: “A dear old deacon of my congregation gave me that + diamond and I did not like to hurt his feelings by refusing it. It really + bothered me to wear such a glaring big thing, but because I didn’t want to + hurt the old deacon’s feelings I kept on wearing it until he was dead. + Then I stopped wearing it.” + </p> + <p> + The ambition of Russell Conwell is to continue working and working until + the very last moment of his life. In work he forgets his sadness, his + loneliness, his age. And he said to me one day, “I will die in harness.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0014" id="link2H_4_0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IX. THE STORY OF ACRES OF DIAMONDS + </h2> + <p> + CONSIDERING everything, the most remarkable thing in Russell Conwell’s + remarkable life is his lecture, “Acres of Diamonds.” That is, the lecture + itself, the number of times he has delivered it, what a source of + inspiration it has been to myriads, the money that he has made and is + making, and, still more, the purpose to which he directs the money. In the + circumstances surrounding “Acres of Diamonds,” in its tremendous success, + in the attitude of mind revealed by the lecture itself and by what Dr. + Conwell does with it, it is illuminative of his character, his aims, his + ability. + </p> + <p> + The lecture is vibrant with his energy. It flashes with his hopefulness. + It is full of his enthusiasm. It is packed full of his intensity. It + stands for the possibilities of success in every one. He has delivered it + over five thousand times. The demand for it never diminishes. The success + grows never less. + </p> + <p> + There is a time in Russell Conwell’s youth of which it is pain for him to + think. He told me of it one evening, and his voice sank lower and lower as + he went far back into the past. It was of his days at Yale that he spoke, + for they were days of suffering. For he had not money for Yale, and in + working for more he endured bitter humiliation. It was not that the work + was hard, for Russell Conwell has always been ready for hard work. It was + not that there were privations and difficulties, for he has always found + difficulties only things to overcome, and endured privations with cheerful + fortitude. But it was the humiliations that he met—the personal + humiliations that after more than half a century make him suffer in + remembering them—yet out of those humiliations came a marvelous + result. + </p> + <p> + “I determined,” he says, “that whatever I could do to make the way easier + at college for other young men working their way I would do.” + </p> + <p> + And so, many years ago, he began to devote every dollar that he made from + “Acres of Diamonds” to this definite purpose. He has what may be termed a + waiting-list. On that list are very few cases he has looked into + personally. Infinitely busy man that he is, he cannot do extensive + personal investigation. A large proportion of his names come to him from + college presidents who know of students in their own colleges in need of + such a helping hand. + </p> + <p> + “Every night,” he said, when I asked him to tell me about it, “when my + lecture is over and the check is in my hand, I sit down in my room in the + hotel”—what a lonely picture, tool—“I sit down in my room in + the hotel and subtract from the total sum received my actual expenses for + that place, and make out a check for the difference and send it to some + young man on my list. And I always send with the check a letter of advice + and helpfulness, expressing my hope that it will be of some service to him + and telling him that he is to feel under no obligation except to his Lord. + I feel strongly, and I try to make every young man feel, that there must + be no sense of obligation to me personally. And I tell them that I am + hoping to leave behind me men who will do more work than I have done. + Don’t think that I put in too much advice,” he added, with a smile, “for I + only try to let them know that a friend is trying to help them.” + </p> + <p> + His face lighted as he spoke. “There is such a fascination in it!” he + exclaimed. “It is just like a gamble! And as soon as I have sent the + letter and crossed a name off my list, I am aiming for the next one!” + </p> + <p> + And after a pause he added: “I do not attempt to send any young man enough + for all his expenses. But I want to save him from bitterness, and each + check will help. And, too,” he concluded, naïvely, in the vernacular, “I + don’t want them to lay down on me!” + </p> + <p> + He told me that he made it clear that he did not wish to get returns or + reports from this branch of his life-work, for it would take a great deal + of time in watching and thinking and in the reading and writing of + letters. “But it is mainly,” he went on, “that I do not wish to hold over + their heads the sense of obligation.” + </p> + <p> + When I suggested that this was surely an example of bread cast upon the + waters that could not return, he was silent for a little and then said, + thoughtfully: “As one gets on in years there is satisfaction in doing a + thing for the sake of doing it. The bread returns in the sense of effort + made.” + </p> + <p> + On a recent trip through Minnesota he was positively upset, so his + secretary told me, through being recognized on a train by a young man who + had been helped through “Acres of Diamonds,” and who, finding that this + was really Dr. Conwell, eagerly brought his wife to join him in most + fervent thanks for his assistance. Both the husband and his wife were so + emotionally overcome that it quite overcame Dr. Conwell himself. + </p> + <p> + The lecture, to quote the noble words of Dr. Conwell himself, is designed + to help “every person, of either sex, who cherishes the high resolve of + sustaining a career of usefulness and honor.” It is a lecture of + helpfulness. And it is a lecture, when given with Conwell’s voice and face + and manner, that is full of fascination. And yet it is all so simple! + </p> + <p> + It is packed full of inspiration, of suggestion, of aid. He alters it to + meet the local circumstances of the thousands of different places in which + he delivers it. But the base remains the same. And even those to whom it + is an old story will go to hear him time after time. It amuses him to say + that he knows individuals who have listened to it twenty times. + </p> + <p> + It begins with a story told to Conwell by an old Arab as the two journeyed + together toward Nineveh, and, as you listen, you hear the actual voices + and you see the sands of the desert and the waving palms. The lecturer’s + voice is so easy, so effortless, it seems so ordinary and matter-of-fact—yet + the entire scene is instantly vital and alive! Instantly the man has his + audience under a sort of spell, eager to listen, ready to be merry or + grave. He has the faculty of control, the vital quality that makes the + orator. + </p> + <p> + The same people will go to hear this lecture over and over, and that is + the kind of tribute that Conwell likes. I recently heard him deliver it in + his own church, where it would naturally be thought to be an old story, + and where, presumably, only a few of the faithful would go; but it was + quite clear that all of his church are the faithful, for it was a large + audience that came to listen to him; hardly a seat in the great auditorium + was vacant. And it should be added that, although it was in his own + church, it was not a free lecture, where a throng might be expected, but + that each one paid a liberal sum for a seat—and the paying of + admission is always a practical test of the sincerity of desire to hear. + And the people were swept along by the current as if lecturer and lecture + were of novel interest. The lecture in itself is good to read, but it is + only when it is illumined by Conwell’s vivid personality that one + understands how it influences in the actual delivery. + </p> + <p> + On that particular evening he had decided to give the lecture in the same + form as when he first delivered it many years ago, without any of the + alterations that have come with time and changing localities, and as he + went on, with the audience rippling and bubbling with laughter as usual, + he never doubted that he was giving it as he had given it years before; + and yet—so up-to-date and alive must he necessarily be, in spite of + a definitive effort to set himself back—every once in a while he was + coming out with illustrations from such distinctly recent things as the + automobile! + </p> + <p> + The last time I heard him was the 5,124th time for the lecture. Doesn’t it + seem incredible! 5,124 times’ I noticed that he was to deliver it at a + little out-of-the-way place, difficult for any considerable number to get + to, and I wondered just how much of an audience would gather and how they + would be impressed. So I went over from there I was, a few miles away. The + road was dark and I pictured a small audience, but when I got there I + found the church building in which he was to deliver the lecture had a + seating capacity of 830 and that precisely 830 people were already seated + there and that a fringe of others were standing behind. Many had come from + miles away. Yet the lecture had scarcely, if at all, been advertised. But + people had said to one another: “Aren’t you going to hear Dr. Conwell?” + And the word had thus been passed along. + </p> + <p> + I remember how fascinating it was to watch that audience, for they + responded so keenly and with such heartfelt pleasure throughout the entire + lecture. And not only were they immensely pleased and amused and + interested—and to achieve that at a crossroads church was in itself + a triumph to be proud of—but I knew that every listener was given an + impulse toward doing something for himself and for others, and that with + at least some of them the impulse would materialize in acts. Over and over + one realizes what a power such a man wields. + </p> + <p> + And what an unselfishness! For, far on in years as he is, and suffering + pain, he does not chop down his lecture to a definite length; he does not + talk for just an hour or go on grudgingly for an hour and a half. He sees + that the people are fascinated and inspired, and he forgets pain, ignores + time, forgets that the night is late and that he has a long journey to go + to get home, and keeps on generously for two hours! And every one wishes + it were four. + </p> + <p> + Always he talks with ease and sympathy. There are geniality, composure, + humor, simple and homely jests—yet never does the audience forget + that he is every moment in tremendous earnest. They bubble with responsive + laughter or are silent in riveted attention. A stir can be seen to sweep + over an audience, of earnestness or surprise or amusement or resolve. When + he is grave and sober or fervid the people feel that he is himself a + fervidly earnest man, and when he is telling something humorous there is + on his part almost a repressed chuckle, a genial appreciation of the fun + of it, not in the least as if he were laughing at his own humor, but as if + he and his hearers were laughing together at something of which they were + all humorously cognizant. + </p> + <p> + Myriad successes in life have come through the direct inspiration of this + single lecture. One hears of so many that there must be vastly more that + are never told. A few of the most recent were told me by Dr. Conwell + himself, one being of a farmer boy who walked a long distance to hear him. + On his way home, so the boy, now a man, has written him, he thought over + and over of what he could do to advance himself, and before he reached + home he learned that a teacher was wanted at a certain country school. He + knew he did not know enough to teach, but was sure he could learn, so he + bravely asked for the place. And something in his earnestness made him win + a temporary appointment. Thereupon he worked and studied so hard and so + devotedly, while he daily taught, that within a few months he was + regularly employed there. “And now,” says Conwell, abruptly, with his + characteristic skim-ming over of the intermediate details between the + important beginning of a thing and the satisfactory end, “and now that + young man is one of our college presidents.” + </p> + <p> + And very recently a lady came to Dr. Conwell, the wife of an exceptionally + prominent man who was earning a large salary, and she told him that her + husband was so unselfishly generous with money that often they were almost + in straits. And she said they had bought a little farm as a country place, + paying only a few hundred dollars for it, and that she had said to + herself, laughingly, after hearing the lecture, “There are no acres of + diamonds on this place!” But she also went on to tell that she had found a + spring of exceptionally fine water there, although in buying they had + scarcely known of the spring at all; and she had been so inspired by + Conwell that she had had the water analyzed and, finding that it was + remarkably pure, had begun to have it bottled and sold under a trade name + as special spring water. And she is making money. And she also sells pure + ice from the pool, cut in winter-time and all because of “Acres of + Diamonds”! + </p> + <p> + Several millions of dollars, in all, have been received by Russell Conwell + as the proceeds from this single lecture. Such a fact is almost staggering—and + it is more staggering to realize what good is done in the world by this + man, who does not earn for himself, but uses his money in immediate + helpfulness. And one can neither think nor write with moderation when it + is further realized that far more good than can be done directly with + money he does by uplifting and inspiring with this lecture. Always his + heart is with the weary and the heavy-laden. Always he stands for + self-betterment. + </p> + <p> + Last year, 1914, he and his work were given unique recognition. For it was + known by his friends that this particular lecture was approaching its + five-thousandth delivery, and they planned a celebration of such an event + in the history of the most popular lecture in the world. Dr. Conwell + agreed to deliver it in the Academy of Music, in Philadelphia, and the + building was packed and the streets outside were thronged. The proceeds + from all sources for that five-thousandth lecture were over nine thousand + dollars. + </p> + <p> + The hold which Russell Conwell has gained on the affections and respect of + his home city was seen not only in the thousands who strove to hear him, + but in the prominent men who served on the local committee in charge of + the celebration. There was a national committee, too, and the nation-wide + love that he has won, the nation-wide appreciation of what he has done and + is still doing, was shown by the fact that among the names of the notables + on this committee were those of nine governors of states. The Governor of + Pennsylvania was himself present to do Russell Conwell honor, and he gave + to him a key emblematic of the Freedom of the State. + </p> + <p> + The “Freedom of the State”—yes; this man, well over seventy, has won + it. The Freedom of the State, the Freedom of the Nation—for this man + of helpfulness, this marvelous exponent of the gospel of success, has + worked marvelously for the freedom, the betterment, the liberation, the + advancement, of the individual. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0015" id="link2H_4_0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + FIFTY YEARS ON THE LECTURE PLATFORM + </h2> + <h3> + By Russell H. Conwell + </h3> + <p> + AN Autobiography! What an absurd request! If all the conditions were + favorable, the story of my public Life could not be made interesting. It + does not seem possible that any will care to read so plain and uneventful + a tale. I see nothing in it for boasting, nor much that could be helpful. + Then I never saved a scrap of paper intentionally concerning my work to + which I could refer, not a book, not a sermon, not a lecture, not a + newspaper notice or account, not a magazine article, not one of the kind + biographies written from time to time by noble friends have I ever kept + even as a souvenir, although some of them may be in my library. I have + ever felt that the writers concerning my life were too generous and that + my own work was too hastily done. Hence I have nothing upon which to base + an autobiographical account, except the recollections which come to an + overburdened mind. + </p> + <p> + My general view of half a century on the lecture platform brings to me + precious and beautiful memories, and fills my soul with devout gratitude + for the blessings and kindnesses which have been given to me so far beyond + my deserts. So much more success has come to my hands than I ever + expected; so much more of good have I found than even youth’s wildest + dream included; so much more effective have been my weakest endeavors than + I ever planned or hoped—that a biography written truthfully would be + mostly an account of what men and women have done for me. + </p> + <p> + I have lived to see accomplished far more than my highest ambition + included, and have seen the enterprises I have undertaken rush by me, + pushed on by a thousand strong hands until they have left me far behind + them. The realities are like dreams to me. Blessings on the loving hearts + and noble minds who have been so willing to sacrifice for others’ good and + to think only of what they could do, and never of what they should get! + Many of them have ascended into the Shining Land, and here I am in mine + age gazing up alone, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>Only waiting till the shadows + Are a little longer grown</i>. +</pre> + <p> + Fifty years! I was a young man, not yet of age, when I delivered my first + platform lecture. The Civil War of 1861-65 drew on with all its passions, + patriotism, horrors, and fears, and I was studying law at Yale University. + I had from childhood felt that I was “called to the ministry.” The + earliest event of memory is the prayer of my father at family prayers in + the little old cottage in the Hampshire highlands of the Berkshire Hills, + calling on God with a sobbing voice to lead me into some special service + for the Saviour. It filled me with awe, dread, and fear, and I recoiled + from the thought, until I determined to fight against it with all my + power. So I sought for other professions and for decent excuses for being + anything but a preacher. + </p> + <p> + Yet while I was nervous and timid before the class in declamation and + dreaded to face any kind of an audience, I felt in my soul a strange + impulsion toward public speaking which for years made me miserable. The + war and the public meetings for recruiting soldiers furnished an outlet + for my suppressed sense of duty, and my first lecture was on the “Lessons + of History” as applied to the campaigns against the Confederacy. + </p> + <p> + That matchless temperance orator and loving friend, John B. Gough, + introduced me to the little audience in Westfield, Massachusetts, in 1862. + What a foolish little school-boy speech it must have been! But Mr. Gough’s + kind words of praise, the bouquets and the applause, made me feel that + somehow the way to public oratory would not be so hard as I had feared. + </p> + <p> + From that time I acted on Mr. Gough’s advice and “sought practice” by + accepting almost every invitation I received to speak on any kind of a + subject. There were many sad failures and tears, but it was a restful + compromise with my conscience concerning the ministry, and it pleased my + friends. I addressed picnics, Sunday-schools, patriotic meetings, + funerals, anniversaries, commencements, debates, cattle-shows, and + sewing-circles without partiality and without price. For the first five + years the income was all experience. Then voluntary gifts began to come + occasionally in the shape of a jack-knife, a ham, a book, and the first + cash remuneration was from a farmers’ club, of seventy-five cents toward + the “horse hire.” It was a curious fact that one member of that club + afterward moved to Salt Lake City and was a member of the committee at the + Mormon Tabernacle in 1872 which, when I was a correspondent, on a journey + around the world, employed me to lecture on “Men of the Mountains” in the + Mormon Tabernacle, at a fee of five hundred dollars. + </p> + <p> + While I was gaining practice in the first years of platform work, I had + the good fortune to have profitable employment as a soldier, or as a + correspondent or lawyer, or as an editor or as a preacher, which enabled + me to pay my own expenses, and it has been seldom in the fifty years that + I have ever taken a fee for my personal use. In the last thirty-six years + I have dedicated solemnly all the lecture income to benevolent + enterprises. If I am antiquated enough for an autobiography, perhaps I may + be aged enough to avoid the criticism of being an egotist, when I state + that some years I delivered one lecture, “Acres of Diamonds,” over two + hundred times each year, at an average income of about one hundred and + fifty dollars for each lecture. + </p> + <p> + It was a remarkable good fortune which came to me as a lecturer when Mr. + James Redpath organized the first lecture bureau ever established. Mr. + Redpath was the biographer of John Brown of Harper’s Ferry renown, and as + Mr. Brown had been long a friend of my father’s I found employment, while + a student on vacation, in selling that life of John Brown. That + acquaintance with Mr. Redpath was maintained until Mr. Redpath’s death. To + General Charles H. Taylor, with whom I was employed for a time as reporter + for the Boston <i>Daily Traveler</i>, I was indebted for many acts of + self-sacrificing friendship which soften my soul as I recall them. He did + me the greatest kindness when he suggested my name to Mr. Redpath as one + who could “fill in the vacancies in the smaller towns” where the “great + lights could not always be secured.” + </p> + <p> + What a glorious galaxy of great names that original list of Redpath + lecturers contained! Henry Ward Beecher, John B. Gough, Senator Charles + Sumner, Theodore Tilton, Wendell Phillips, Mrs. Mary A. Livermore, Bayard + Taylor, Ralph Waldo Emerson, with many of the great preachers, musicians, + and writers of that remarkable era. Even Dr. Holmes, John Whittier, Henry + W. Longfellow, John Lothrop Motley, George William Curtis, and General + Burnside were persuaded to appear one or more times, although they refused + to receive pay. I cannot forget how ashamed I felt when my name ap-peared + in the shadow of such names, and how sure I was that every acquaintance + was ridiculing me behind my back. Mr. Bayard Taylor, however, wrote me + from the <i>Tribune</i> office a kind note saying that he was glad to see + me “on the road to great usefulness.” Governor Clafflin, of Massachusetts, + took the time to send me a note of congratulation. General Benjamin F. + Butler, however, advised me to “stick to the last” and be a good lawyer. + </p> + <p> + The work of lecturing was always a task and a duty. I do not feel now that + I ever sought to be an entertainer. I am sure I would have been an utter + failure but for the feeling that I must preach some gospel truth in my + lectures and do at least that much toward that ever-persistent “call of + God.” When I entered the ministry (1879) I had become so associated with + the lecture platform in America and England that I could not feel + justified in abandoning so great a field of usefulness. + </p> + <p> + The experiences of all our successful lecturers are probably nearly alike. + The way is not always smooth. But the hard roads, the poor hotels, the + late trains, the cold halls, the hot church auditoriums, the overkindness + of hospitable committees, and the broken hours of sleep are annoyances one + soon forgets; and the hosts of intelligent faces, the messages of thanks, + and the effects of the earnings on the lives of young college men can + never cease to be a daily joy. God bless them all. + </p> + <p> + Often have I been asked if I did not, in fifty years of travel in all + sorts of conveyances, meet with accidents. It is a marvel to me that no + such event ever brought me harm. In a continuous period of over + twenty-seven years I delivered about two lectures in every three days, yet + I did not miss a single engagement. Sometimes I had to hire a special + train, but I reached the town on time, with only a rare exception, and + then I was but a few minutes late. Accidents have preceded and followed me + on trains and boats, and were sometimes in sight, but I was preserved + without injury through all the years. In the Johnstown flood region I saw + a bridge go out behind our train. I was once on a derelict steamer on the + Atlantic for twenty-six days. At another time a man was killed in the + berth of a sleeper I had left half an hour before. Often have I felt the + train leave the track, but no one was killed. Robbers have several times + threatened my life, but all came out without loss to me. God and man have + ever been patient with me. + </p> + <p> + Yet this period of lecturing has been, after all, a side issue. The + Temple, and its church, in Philadelphia, which, when its membership was + less than three thousand members, for so many years contributed through + its membership over sixty thousand dollars a year for the uplift of + humanity, has made life a continual surprise; while the Samaritan + Hospital’s amazing growth, and the Garretson Hospital’s dispensaries, have + been so continually ministering to the sick and poor, and have done such + skilful work for the tens of thousands who ask for their help each year, + that I have been made happy while away lecturing by the feeling that each + hour and minute they were faithfully doing good. Temple University, which + was founded only twenty-seven years ago, has already sent out into a + higher income and nobler life nearly a hundred thousand young men and + women who could not probably have obtained an education in any other + institution. The faithful, self-sacrificing faculty, now numbering two + hundred and fifty-three professors, have done the real work. For that I + can claim but little credit; and I mention the University here only to + show that my “fifty years on the lecture platform” has necessarily been a + side line of work. + </p> + <p> + My best-known lecture, “Acres of Diamonds,” was a mere accidental address, + at first given before a reunion of my old comrades of the Forty-sixth + Massachusetts Regiment, which served in the Civil War and in which I was + captain. I had no thought of giving the address again, and even after it + began to be called for by lecture committees I did not dream that I should + live to deliver it, as I now have done, almost five thousand times. “What + is the secret of its popularity?” I could never explain to myself or + others. I simply know that I always attempt to enthuse myself on each + occasion with the idea that it is a special opportunity to do good, and I + interest myself in each community and apply the general principles with + local illustrations. + </p> + <p> + The hand which now holds this pen must in the natural course of events + soon cease to gesture on the platform, and it is a sincere, prayerful hope + that this book will go on into the years doing increasing good for the aid + of my brothers and sisters in the human family. + </p> + <p> + RUSSELL H. CONWELL. + </p> + <p> + South Worthington, Mass., + </p> + <p> + September 1, 1913. + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1" id="linknote-1"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1 (<a href="#linknoteref-1">return</a>)<br /> [ This is the most recent and + complete form of the lecture. It happened to be delivered in Philadelphia, + Dr. Conwell’s home city. When he says “right here in Philadelphia,” he + means the home city, town, or village of every reader of this book, just + as he would use the name of it if delivering the lecture there, instead of + doing it through the pages which follow.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2" id="linknote-2"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2 (<a href="#linknoteref-2">return</a>)<br /> [ <i>Dr. Conwell was living, + and actively at work, when these pages were written. It is, therefore, a + much truer picture of his personality than anything written in the past + tense</i>.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3" id="linknote-3"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3 (<a href="#linknoteref-3">return</a>)<br /> [ <i>This interview took + place at the old Conwell farm in the summer of 1915</i>.] + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Acres of Diamonds, by Russell H. 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If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Association / Illinois + Benedictine College" within the 60 days following each + date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare) + your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time, +scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty +free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution +you can think of. Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg +Association / Illinois Benedictine College". + +*END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +Scanned by Charles Keller with +OmniPage Professional OCR software +donated by Caere Corporation, 1-800-535-7226. +Contact Mike Lough <Mikel@caere.com> + + + + + +ACRES +OF DIAMONDS +BY +RUSSELL H. CONWELL +FOUNDER OF TEMPLE UNIVERSITY +PHILADELPHIA + +_HIS LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS +BY +ROBERT SHACKLETON_ + +With an Autobiographical Note + + + + +ACRES OF DIAMONDS + + + + +CONTENTS + +ACRES OF DIAMONDS +HIS LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS +I. THE STORY OF THE SWORD +II. THE BEGINNING AT OLD LEXINGTON +III. STORY OF THE FIFTY-SEVEN CENTS +IV. HIS POWER AS ORATOR AND PREACHER +V. GIFT FOR INSPIRING OTHERS +VI. MILLIONS OF HEARERS +VII. HOW A UNIVERSITY WAS FOUNDED +VIII. HIS SPLENDID EFFICIENCY +IX. THE STORY OF ``ACRES OF DIAMONDS'' +FIFTY YEARS ON THE LECTURE PLATFORM + + + + +AN APPRECIATION + + +THOUGH Russell H. Conwell's Acres of Diamonds +have been spread all over the United States, +time and care have made them more valuable, +and now that they have been reset in black and +white by their discoverer, they are to be laid in the +hands of a multitude for their enrichment. + +In the same case with these gems there is a +fascinating story of the Master Jeweler's life-work +which splendidly illustrates the ultimate unit of +power by showing what one man can do in one +day and what one life is worth to the world. + +As his neighbor and intimate friend in +Philadelphia for thirty years, I am free to say that +Russell H. Conwell's tall, manly figure stands +out in the state of Pennsylvania as its first citizen +and ``The Big Brother'' of its seven millions of +people. + +From the beginning of his career he has been a +credible witness in the Court of Public Works to +the truth of the strong language of the New +Testament Parable where it says, ``If ye have +faith as a grain of mustard-seed, ye shall say unto +this mountain, `Remove hence to yonder place,' +AND IT SHALL REMOVE AND NOTHING SHALL BE +IMPOSSIBLE UNTO YOU. + +As a student, schoolmaster, lawyer, preacher, +organizer, thinker and writer, lecturer, educator, +diplomat, and leader of men, he has made his +mark on his city and state and the times in which +he has lived. A man dies, but his good work lives. + +His ideas, ideals, and enthusiasms have inspired +tens of thousands of lives. A book full of the +energetics of a master workman is just what every +young man cares for. + +1915. +{signature} + + + +ACRES OF DIAMONDS + + +_Friends_.--This lecture has been delivered under these +circumstances: I visit a town or city, and try to arrive there +early +enough to see the postmaster, the barber, the keeper of the +hotel, +the principal of the schools, and the ministers of some of the +churches, and then go into some of the factories and stores, and +talk with the people, and get into sympathy with the local +conditions of that town or city and see what has been their +history, +what opportunities they had, and what they had failed to do-- +and every town fails to do something--and then go to the lecture +and talk to those people about the subjects which applied to +their locality. ``Acres of Diamonds''--the idea--has +continuously +been precisely the same. The idea is that in this country +of ours every man has the opportunity to make more of himself +than he does in his own environment, with his own skill, with +his own energy, and with his own friends. + RUSSELL H. CONWELL. + + + +ACRES OF DIAMONDS + +[1] + +This is the most recent and complete form of the lecture. +It happened to be delivered in Philadelphia, Dr. Conwell's +home city. When he says ``right here in Philadelphia,'' he means +the home city, town, or village of every reader of this book, +just +as he would use the name of it if delivering the lecture there, +instead of doing it through the pages which follow. + + +WHEN going down the Tigris and Euphrates +rivers many years ago with a party of +English travelers I found myself under the direction +of an old Arab guide whom we hired up at +Bagdad, and I have often thought how that guide +resembled our barbers in certain mental +characteristics. He thought that it was not only his +duty to guide us down those rivers, and do what he +was paid for doing, but also to entertain us with +stories curious and weird, ancient and modern, +strange and familiar. Many of them I have forgotten, +and I am glad I have, but there is one I +shall never forget. + +The old guide was leading my camel by its +halter along the banks of those ancient rivers, and +he told me story after story until I grew weary +of his story-telling and ceased to listen. I have +never been irritated with that guide when he +lost his temper as I ceased listening. But I +remember that he took off his Turkish cap and +swung it in a circle to get my attention. I could +see it through the corner of my eye, but I determined +not to look straight at him for fear he would +tell another story. But although I am not a +woman, I did finally look, and as soon as I did he +went right into another story. + +Said he, ``I will tell you a story now which I +reserve for my particular friends.'' When he +emphasized the words ``particular friends,'' I +listened, and I have ever been glad I did. I really +feel devoutly thankful, that there are 1,674 young +men who have been carried through college by +this lecture who are also glad that I did listen. +The old guide told me that there once lived not +far from the River Indus an ancient Persian by +the name of Ali Hafed. He said that Ali Hafed +owned a very large farm, that he had orchards, +grain-fields, and gardens; that he had money at +interest, and was a wealthy and contented man. +He was contented because he was wealthy, and +wealthy because he was contented. One day +there visited that old Persian farmer one of these +ancient Buddhist priests, one of the wise men of +the East. He sat down by the fire and told the +old farmer how this world of ours was made. +He said that this world was once a mere bank of +fog, and that the Almighty thrust His finger into +this bank of fog, and began slowly to move His +finger around, increasing the speed until at last +He whirled this bank of fog into a solid ball of +fire. Then it went rolling through the universe, +burning its way through other banks of fog, and +condensed the moisture without, until it fell in +floods of rain upon its hot surface, and cooled +the outward crust. Then the internal fires bursting +outward through the crust threw up the mountains +and hills, the valleys, the plains and prairies +of this wonderful world of ours. If this internal +molten mass came bursting out and cooled very +quickly it became granite; less quickly copper, +less quickly silver, less quickly gold, and, after +gold, diamonds were made. + +Said the old priest, ``A diamond is a congealed +drop of sunlight.'' Now that is literally scientifically +true, that a diamond is an actual deposit +of carbon from the sun. The old priest told Ali +Hafed that if he had one diamond the size of +his thumb he could purchase the county, and if +he had a mine of diamonds he could place his +children upon thrones through the influence of +their great wealth. + +Ali Hafed heard all about diamonds, how much +they were worth, and went to his bed that night +a poor man. He had not lost anything, but he +was poor because he was discontented, and +discontented because he feared he was poor. He +said, ``I want a mine of diamonds,'' and he lay +awake all night. + +Early in the morning he sought out the priest. +I know by experience that a priest is very cross +when awakened early in the morning, and when +he shook that old priest out of his dreams, Ali +Hafed said to him: + +``Will you tell me where I can find diamonds?'' + +``Diamonds! What do you want with diamonds?'' +``Why, I wish to be immensely rich.'' +``Well, then, go along and find them. That is +all you have to do; go and find them, and then +you have them.'' ``But I don't know where to +go.'' ``Well, if you will find a river that runs +through white sands, between high mountains, +in those white sands you will always find +diamonds.'' ``I don't believe there is any such +river.'' ``Oh yes, there are plenty of them. All +you have to do is to go and find them, and then +you have them.'' Said Ali Hafed, ``I will go.'' + +So he sold his farm, collected his money, left +his family in charge of a neighbor, and away he +went in search of diamonds. He began his search, +very properly to my mind, at the Mountains of +the Moon. Afterward he came around into Palestine, +then wandered on into Europe, and at last +when his money was all spent and he was in +rags, wretchedness, and poverty, he stood on the +shore of that bay at Barcelona, in Spain, when +a great tidal wave came rolling in between the +pillars of Hercules, and the poor, afflicted, +suffering, dying man could not resist the awful +temptation to cast himself into that incoming tide, and +he sank beneath its foaming crest, never to rise +in this life again. + +When that old guide had told me that awfully +sad story he stopped the camel I was riding on +and went back to fix the baggage that was coming +off another camel, and I had an opportunity to +muse over his story while he was gone. I remember +saying to myself, ``Why did he reserve that +story for his `particular friends'?'' There seemed +to be no beginning, no middle, no end, nothing +to it. That was the first story I had ever heard +told in my life, and would be the first one I ever +read, in which the hero was killed in the first +chapter. I had but one chapter of that story, +and the hero was dead. + +When the guide came back and took up the +halter of my camel, he went right ahead with the +story, into the second chapter, just as though +there had been no break. The man who purchased +Ali Hafed's farm one day led his camel +into the garden to drink, and as that camel put +its nose into the shallow water of that garden +brook, Ali Hafed's successor noticed a curious +flash of light from the white sands of the stream. +He pulled out a black stone having an eye of light +reflecting all the hues of the rainbow. He took +the pebble into the house and put it on the mantel +which covers the central fires, and forgot all about +it. + +A few days later this same old priest came in +to visit Ali Hafed's successor, and the moment +he opened that drawing-room door he saw that +flash of light on the mantel, and he rushed up +to it, and shouted: ``Here is a diamond! Has Ali +Hafed returned?'' ``Oh no, Ali Hafed has not +returned, and that is not a diamond. That is +nothing but a stone we found right out here in our +own garden.'' ``But,'' said the priest, ``I tell you +I know a diamond when I see it. I know positively +that is a diamond.'' + +Then together they rushed out into that old +garden and stirred up the white sands with their +fingers, and lo! there came up other more beautiful +and valuable gems than the first. ``Thus,'' +said the guide to me, and, friends, it is historically +true, ``was discovered the diamond-mine of +Golconda, the most magnificent diamond-mine in +all the history of mankind, excelling the Kimberly +itself. The Kohinoor, and the Orloff of the crown +jewels of England and Russia, the largest on earth, +came from that mine.'' + +When that old Arab guide told me the second +chapter of his story, he then took off his Turkish +cap and swung it around in the air again to get +my attention to the moral. Those Arab guides +have morals to their stories, although they are +not always moral. As he swung his hat, he said +to me, ``Had Ali Hafed remained at home and dug +in his own cellar, or underneath his own wheat- +fields, or in his own garden, instead of wretchedness, +starvation, and death by suicide in a strange +land, he would have had `acres of diamonds.' +For every acre of that old farm, yes, every +shovelful, afterward revealed gems which since have +decorated the crowns of monarchs.'' + +When he had added the moral to his story I +saw why he reserved it for ``his particular friends.'' +But I did not tell him I could see it. It was that +mean old Arab's way of going around a thing +like a lawyer, to say indirectly what he did not +dare say directly, that ``in his private opinion +there was a certain young man then traveling down +the Tigris River that might better be at home in +America.'' I did not tell him I could see that, +but I told him his story reminded me of one, and +I told it to him quick, and I think I will tell it to +you. + +I told him of a man out in California in 1847 +who owned a ranch. He heard they had discovered +gold in southern California, and so with a passion +for gold he sold his ranch to Colonel Sutter, and +away he went, never to come back. Colonel +Sutter put a mill upon a stream that ran through +that ranch, and one day his little girl brought +some wet sand from the raceway into their home +and sifted it through her fingers before the fire, +and in that falling sand a visitor saw the first +shining scales of real gold that were ever discovered +in California. The man who had owned that +ranch wanted gold, and he could have secured it +for the mere taking. Indeed, thirty-eight millions +of dollars has been taken out of a very few acres +since then. About eight years ago I delivered +this lecture in a city that stands on that farm, +and they told me that a one-third owner for years +and years had been getting one hundred and +twenty dollars in gold every fifteen minutes, +sleeping or waking, without taxation. You and +I would enjoy an income like that--if we didn't +have to pay an income tax. + +But a better illustration really than that +occurred here in our own Pennsylvania. If there +is anything I enjoy above another on the platform, +it is to get one of these German audiences +in Pennsylvania before me, and fire that at them, +and I enjoy it to-night. There was a man living +in Pennsylvania, not unlike some Pennsylvanians +you have seen, who owned a farm, and he did +with that farm just what I should do with a +farm if I owned one in Pennsylvania--he sold it. +But before he sold it he decided to secure employment +collecting coal-oil for his cousin, who was +in the business in Canada, where they first +discovered oil on this continent. They dipped it +from the running streams at that early time. +So this Pennsylvania farmer wrote to his cousin +asking for employment. You see, friends, this +farmer was not altogether a foolish man. No, +he was not. He did not leave his farm until he +had something else to do. _*Of all the simpletons +the stars shine on I don't know of a worse one than +the man who leaves one job before he has gotten +another_. That has especial reference to my +profession, and has no reference whatever to a man +seeking a divorce. When he wrote to his cousin +for employment, his cousin replied, ``I cannot +engage you because you know nothing about the +oil business.'' + +Well, then the old farmer said, ``I will know,'' +and with most commendable zeal (characteristic +of the students of Temple University) he set +himself at the study of the whole subject. He +began away back at the second day of God's +creation when this world was covered thick and +deep with that rich vegetation which since has +turned to the primitive beds of coal. He studied +the subject until he found that the drainings really +of those rich beds of coal furnished the coal-oil +that was worth pumping, and then he found how +it came up with the living springs. He studied +until he knew what it looked like, smelled like, +tasted like, and how to refine it. Now said he +in his letter to his cousin, ``I understand the oil +business.'' His cousin answered, ``All right, +come on.'' + +So he sold his farm, according to the county +record, for $833 (even money, ``no cents''). He +had scarcely gone from that place before the man +who purchased the spot went out to arrange for +the watering of the cattle. He found the previous +owner had gone out years before and put a plank +across the brook back of the barn, edgewise into +the surface of the water just a few inches. The +purpose of that plank at that sharp angle across +the brook was to throw over to the other bank a +dreadful-looking scum through which the cattle +would not put their noses. But with that plank +there to throw it all over to one side, the cattle +would drink below, and thus that man who had +gone to Canada had been himself damming back +for twenty-three years a flood of coal-oil which the +state geologists of Pennsylvania declared to us +ten years later was even then worth a hundred +millions of dollars to our state, and four years ago +our geologist declared the discovery to be worth +to our state a thousand millions of dollars. The +man who owned that territory on which the city +of Titusville now stands, and those Pleasantville +valleys, had studied the subject from the second +day of God's creation clear down to the present +time. He studied it until he knew all about it, +and yet he is said to have sold the whole of it +for $833, and again I say, ``no sense.'' + +But I need another illustration. I found it in +Massachusetts, and I am sorry I did because that +is the state I came from. This young man in +Massachusetts furnishes just another phase of my +thought. He went to Yale College and studied +mines and mining, and became such an adept as +a mining engineer that he was employed by the +authorities of the university to train students who +were behind their classes. During his senior year +he earned $15 a week for doing that work. When +he graduated they raised his pay from $15 to $45 +a week, and offered him a professorship, and as +soon as they did he went right home to his mother. + +_*If they had raised that boy's pay from $15 to $15.60 +he would have stayed and been proud of the place, +but when they put it up to $45 at one leap, he said, +``Mother, I won't work for $45 a week. The idea +of a man with a brain like mine working for $45 +a week!_ Let's go out in California and stake out +gold-mines and silver-mines, and be immensely rich.'' + +Said his mother, ``Now, Charlie, it is just as +well to be happy as it is to be rich.'' + +``Yes,'' said Charlie, ``but it is just as well to +be rich and happy, too.'' And they were both +right about it. As he was an only son and +she a widow, of course he had his way. They +always do. + +They sold out in Massachusetts, and instead +of going to California they went to Wisconsin, +where he went into the employ of the Superior +Copper Mining Company at $15 a week again, +but with the proviso in his contract that he should +have an interest in any mines he should discover +for the company. I don't believe he ever discovered +a mine, and if I am looking in the face of any +stockholder of that copper company you wish +he had discovered something or other. I have +friends who are not here because they could not +afford a ticket, who did have stock in that company +at the time this young man was employed +there. This young man went out there, and I +have not heard a word from him. I don't know +what became of him, and I don't know whether +he found any mines or not, but I don't believe +he ever did. + +But I do know the other end of the line. He +had scarcely gotten out of the old homestead before +the succeeding owner went out to dig potatoes. +The potatoes were already growing in the ground +when he bought the farm, and as the old farmer +was bringing in a basket of potatoes it hugged +very tight between the ends of the stone fence. +You know in Massachusetts our farms are nearly +all stone wall. There you are obliged to be very +economical of front gateways in order to have +some place to put the stone. When that basket +hugged so tight he set it down on the ground, +and then dragged on one side, and pulled on the +other side, and as he was dragging that basket +through this farmer noticed in the upper and +outer corner of that stone wall, right next the +gate, a block of native silver eight inches square. +That professor of mines, mining, and mineralogy +who knew so much about the subject that he +would not work for $45 a week, when he sold +that homestead in Massachusetts sat right on +that silver to make the bargain. He was born +on that homestead, was brought up there, and +had gone back and forth rubbing the stone with +his sleeve until it reflected his countenance, and +seemed to say, ``Here is a hundred thousand +dollars right down here just for the taking.'' +But he would not take it. It was in a home in +Newburyport, Massachusetts, and there was no +silver there, all away off--well, I don't know where, +and he did not, but somewhere else, and he was +a professor of mineralogy. + +My friends, that mistake is very universally +made, and why should we even smile at him. I +often wonder what has become of him. I do not +know at all, but I will tell you what I ``guess'' +as a Yankee. I guess that he sits out there by his +fireside to-night with his friends gathered around +him, and he is saying to them something like this: +``Do you know that man Conwell who lives in +Philadelphia?'' ``Oh yes, I have heard of him.'' +``Do you know that man Jones that lives in +Philadelphia?'' ``Yes, I have heard of him, too.'' + +Then he begins to laugh, and shakes his sides +and says to his friends, ``Well, they have done +just the same thing I did, precisely''--and that +spoils the whole joke, for you and I have done +the same thing he did, and while we sit here and +laugh at him he has a better right to sit out there +and laugh at us. I know I have made the same +mistakes, but, of course, that does not make any +difference, because we don't expect the same man +to preach and practise, too. + +As I come here to-night and look around this +audience I am seeing again what through these +fifty years I have continually seen-men that are +making precisely that same mistake. I often wish +I could see the younger people, and would that the +Academy had been filled to-night with our high- +school scholars and our grammar-school scholars, +that I could have them to talk to. While I would +have preferred such an audience as that, because +they are most susceptible, as they have not grown +up into their prejudices as we have, they have +not gotten into any custom that they cannot +break, they have not met with any failures as +we have; and while I could perhaps do such an +audience as that more good than I can do grown- +up people, yet I will do the best I can with the +material I have. I say to you that you have +``acres of diamonds'' in Philadelphia right where +you now live. ``Oh,'' but you will say, ``you +cannot know much about your city if you think +there are any `acres of diamonds' here.'' + +I was greatly interested in that account in the +newspaper of the young man who found that +diamond in North Carolina. It was one of the +purest diamonds that has ever been discovered, +and it has several predecessors near the same +locality. I went to a distinguished professor in +mineralogy and asked him where he thought those +diamonds came from. The professor secured the +map of the geologic formations of our continent, +and traced it. He said it went either through the +underlying carboniferous strata adapted for such +production, westward through Ohio and the +Mississippi, or in more probability came eastward +through Virginia and up the shore of the Atlantic +Ocean. It is a fact that the diamonds were there, +for they have been discovered and sold; and that +they were carried down there during the drift +period, from some northern locality. Now who +can say but some person going down with his +drill in Philadelphia will find some trace of a +diamond-mine yet down here? Oh, friends! you cannot +say that you are not over one of the greatest +diamond-mines in the world, for such a diamond +as that only comes from the most profitable mines +that are found on earth. + +But it serves simply to illustrate my thought, +which I emphasize by saying if you do not have +the actual diamond-mines literally you have all +that they would be good for to you. Because +now that the Queen of England has given the +greatest compliment ever conferred upon American +woman for her attire because she did not appear +with any jewels at all at the late reception in +England, it has almost done away with the use +of diamonds anyhow. All you would care for +would be the few you would wear if you wish +to be modest, and the rest you would sell for +money. + +Now then, I say again that the opportunity +to get rich, to attain unto great wealth, is here +in Philadelphia now, within the reach of almost +every man and woman who hears me speak to- +night, and I mean just what I say. I have not +come to this platform even under these circumstances +to recite something to you. I have come +to tell you what in God's sight I believe to be the +truth, and if the years of life have been of any +value to me in the attainment of common sense, +I know I am right; that the men and women sitting +here, who found it difficult perhaps to buy +a ticket to this lecture or gathering to-night, have +within their reach ``acres of diamonds,'' opportunities +to get largely wealthy. There never was +a place on earth more adapted than the city of +Philadelphia to-day, and never in the history of +the world did a poor man without capital have +such an opportunity to get rich quickly and +honestly as he has now in our city. I say it is the +truth, and I want you to accept it as such; for +if you think I have come to simply recite something, +then I would better not be here. I have no +time to waste in any such talk, but to say the +things I believe, and unless some of you get +richer for what I am saying to-night my time is +wasted. + +I say that you ought to get rich, and it is your +duty to get rich. How many of my pious brethren +say to me, ``Do you, a Christian minister, spend +your time going up and down the country advising +young people to get rich, to get money?'' ``Yes, +of course I do.'' They say, ``Isn't that awful! +Why don't you preach the gospel instead of +preaching about man's making money?'' ``Because +to make money honestly is to preach the +gospel.'' That is the reason. The men who get +rich may be the most honest men you find in the +community. + +``Oh,'' but says some young man here to-night, +``I have been told all my life that if a person has +money he is very dishonest and dishonorable and +mean and contemptible. ``My friend, that is +the reason why you have none, because you have +that idea of people. The foundation of your faith +is altogether false. Let me say here clearly, and +say it briefly, though subject to discussion which +I have not time for here, ninety-eight out of one +hundred of the rich men of America are honest. +That is why they are rich. That is why they are +trusted with money. That is why they carry on +great enterprises and find plenty of people to +work with them. It is because they are honest men. + +Says another young man, ``I hear sometimes +of men that get millions of dollars dishonestly.'' +Yes, of course you do, and so do I. But they are +so rare a thing in fact that the newspapers talk +about them all the time as a matter of news until +you get the idea that all the other rich men got +rich dishonestly. + +My friend, you take and drive me--if you furnish +the auto--out into the suburbs of Philadelphia, +and introduce me to the people who own +their homes around this great city, those beautiful +homes with gardens and flowers, those magnificent +homes so lovely in their art, and I will introduce +you to the very best people in character as well as +in enterprise in our city, and you know I will. +A man is not really a true man until he owns his +own home, and they that own their homes are +made more honorable and honest and pure, and +true and economical and careful, by owning the home. + +For a man to have money, even in large sums, +is not an inconsistent thing. We preach against +covetousness, and you know we do, in the pulpit, +and oftentimes preach against it so long and +use the terms about ``filthy lucre'' so extremely +that Christians get the idea that when we stand +in the pulpit we believe it is wicked for any man +to have money--until the collection-basket goes +around, and then we almost swear at the people +because they don't give more money. Oh, the +inconsistency of such doctrines as that! + +Money is power, and you ought to be reasonably +ambitious to have it. You ought because you +can do more good with it than you could without +it. Money printed your Bible, money builds your +churches, money sends your missionaries, and +money pays your preachers, and you would not +have many of them, either, if you did not pay +them. I am always willing that my church should +raise my salary, because the church that pays the +largest salary always raises it the easiest. You +never knew an exception to it in your life. The +man who gets the largest salary can do the most +good with the power that is furnished to him. +Of course he can if his spirit be right to use it +for what it is given to him. + +I say, then, you ought to have money. If +you can honestly attain unto riches in Philadelphia, +it is your Christian and godly duty to do so. +It is an awful mistake of these pious people to +think you must be awfully poor in order to be pious. + +Some men say, ``Don't you sympathize with +the poor people?'' Of course I do, or else I would +not have been lecturing these years. I won't +give in but what I sympathize with the poor, but +the number of poor who are to be sympathized +with is very small. To sympathize with a man +whom God has punished for his sins, thus to help +him when God would still continue a just punishment, +is to do wrong, no doubt about it, and we +do that more than we help those who are +deserving. While we should sympathize with God's +poor--that is, those who cannot help themselves-- +let us remember there is not a poor person in the +United States who was not made poor by his own +shortcomings, or by the shortcomings of some one +else. It is all wrong to be poor, anyhow. Let us +give in to that argument and pass that to one side. + +A gentleman gets up back there, and says, +``Don't you think there are some things in this +world that are better than money?'' Of course I +do, but I am talking about money now. Of course +there are some things higher than money. Oh +yes, I know by the grave that has left me standing +alone that there are some things in this world +that are higher and sweeter and purer than +money. Well do I know there are some things +higher and grander than gold. Love is the grandest +thing on God's earth, but fortunate the lover +who has plenty of money. Money is power, +money is force, money will do good as well as +harm. In the hands of good men and women it +could accomplish, and it has accomplished, good. + +I hate to leave that behind me. I heard a +man get up in a prayer-meeting in our city and +thank the Lord he was ``one of God's poor.'' +Well, I wonder what his wife thinks about that? +She earns all the money that comes into that +house, and he smokes a part of that on the veranda. +I don't want to see any more of the Lord's poor +of that kind, and I don't believe the Lord does. +And yet there are some people who think in order +to be pious you must be awfully poor and awfully +dirty. That does not follow at all. While we +sympathize with the poor, let us not teach a doctrine +like that. + +Yet the age is prejudiced against advising a +Christian man (or, as a Jew would say, a godly +man) from attaining unto wealth. The prejudice +is so universal and the years are far enough back, +I think, for me to safely mention that years ago +up at Temple University there was a young man +in our theological school who thought he was the +only pious student in that department. He came +into my office one evening and sat down by my +desk, and said to me: ``Mr. President, I think it +is my duty sir, to come in and labor with you.'' +``What has happened now?'' Said he, ``I heard +you say at the Academy, at the Peirce School +commencement, that you thought it was an honorable +ambition for a young man to desire to have +wealth, and that you thought it made him temperate, +made him anxious to have a good name, and +made him industrious. You spoke about man's +ambition to have money helping to make him a +good man. Sir, I have come to tell you the Holy +Bible says that `money is the root of all evil.' '' + +I told him I had never seen it in the Bible, +and advised him to go out into the chapel and get +the Bible, and show me the place. So out he went +for the Bible, and soon he stalked into my office +with the Bible open, with all the bigoted pride +of the narrow sectarian, or of one who founds his +Christianity on some misinterpretation of Scripture. +He flung the Bible down on my desk, and +fairly squealed into my ear: ``There it is, Mr. +President; you can read it for yourself.'' I said +to him: ``Well, young man, you will learn when +you get a little older that you cannot trust another +denomination to read the Bible for you. You belong +to another denomination. You are taught in +the theological school, however, that emphasis is +exegesis. Now, will you take that Bible and read +it yourself, and give the proper emphasis to it?'' + +He took the Bible, and proudly read, `` `The +love of money is the root of all evil.' '' + +Then he had it right, and when one does quote +aright from that same old Book he quotes the +absolute truth. I have lived through fifty years +of the mightiest battle that old Book has ever +fought, and I have lived to see its banners flying +free; for never in the history of this world did +the great minds of earth so universally agree +that the Bible is true--all true--as they do at +this very hour. + +So I say that when he quoted right, of course +he quoted the absolute truth. ``The love of +money is the root of all evil.'' He who tries to +attain unto it too quickly, or dishonestly, will +fall into many snares, no doubt about that. The +love of money. What is that? It is making an +idol of money, and idolatry pure and simple +everywhere is condemned by the Holy Scriptures and +by man's common sense. The man that worships +the dollar instead of thinking of the purposes for +which it ought to be used, the man who idolizes +simply money, the miser that hordes his money +in the cellar, or hides it in his stocking, or refuses +to invest it where it will do the world good, that +man who hugs the dollar until the eagle squeals +has in him the root of all evil. + +I think I will leave that behind me now and +answer the question of nearly all of you who are +asking, ``Is there opportunity to get rich in +Philadelphia?'' Well, now, how simple a thing it is +to see where it is, and the instant you see where +it is it is yours. Some old gentleman gets up back +there and says, ``Mr. Conwell, have you lived in +Philadelphia for thirty-one years and don't know +that the time has gone by when you can make +anything in this city?'' ``No, I don't think it is.'' +``Yes, it is; I have tried it.'' ``What business +are you in?'' ``I kept a store here for twenty +years, and never made over a thousand dollars +in the whole twenty years.'' + +``Well, then, you can measure the good you +have been to this city by what this city has paid +you, because a man can judge very well what he +is worth by what he receives; that is, in what he +is to the world at this time. If you have not made +over a thousand dollars in twenty years in Philadelphia, +it would have been better for Philadelphia +if they had kicked you out of the city nineteen +years and nine months ago. A man has no right +to keep a store in Philadelphia twenty years and +not make at least five hundred thousand dollars +even though it be a corner grocery up-town.' +You say, ``You cannot make five thousand dollars +in a store now.'' Oh, my friends, if you will +just take only four blocks around you, and find +out what the people want and what you ought +to supply and set them down with your pencil +and figure up the profits you would make if you +did supply them, you would very soon see it. +There is wealth right within the sound of your +voice. + +Some one says: ``You don't know anything +about business. A preacher never knows a thing +about business.'' Well, then, I will have to prove +that I am an expert. I don't like to do this, but +I have to do it because my testimony will not be +taken if I am not an expert. My father kept a +country store, and if there is any place under the +stars where a man gets all sorts of experience in +every kind of mercantile transactions, it is in the +country store. I am not proud of my experience, +but sometimes when my father was away he would +leave me in charge of the store, though fortunately +for him that was not very often. But this did +occur many times, friends: A man would come +in the store, and say to me, ``Do you keep jack +knives?'' ``No, we don't keep jack-knives,'' and +I went off whistling a tune. What did I care +about that man, anyhow? Then another farmer +would come in and say, ``Do you keep jack +knives?'' ``No, we don't keep jack-knives.'' +Then I went away and whistled another tune. +Then a third man came right in the same door and +said, ``Do you keep jack-knives?'' ``No. Why +is every one around here asking for jack-knives? +Do you suppose we are keeping this store to supply +the whole neighborhood with jack-knives?'' +Do you carry on your store like that in Philadelphia? +The difficulty was I had not then learned +that the foundation of godliness and the foundation +principle of success in business are both the +same precisely. The man who says, ``I cannot +carry my religion into business'' advertises himself +either as being an imbecile in business, or on the +road to bankruptcy, or a thief, one of the three, +sure. He will fail within a very few years. He +certainly will if he doesn't carry his religion into +business. If I had been carrying on my father's +store on a Christian plan, godly plan, I would +have had a jack-knife for the third man when +he called for it. Then I would have actually done +him a kindness, and I would have received a +reward myself, which it would have been my +duty to take. + +There are some over-pious Christian people who +think if you take any profit on anything you sell +that you are an unrighteous man. On the contrary, +you would be a criminal to sell goods for +less than they cost. You have no right to do +that. You cannot trust a man with your money +who cannot take care of his own. You cannot +trust a man in your family that is not true to his +own wife. You cannot trust a man in the world +that does not begin with his own heart, his own +character, and his own life. It would have been +my duty to have furnished a jack-knife to the +third man, or the second, and to have sold it to +him and actually profited myself. I have no more +right to sell goods without making a profit on +them than I have to overcharge him dishonestly +beyond what they are worth. But I should so +sell each bill of goods that the person to whom +I sell shall make as much as I make. + +To live and let live is the principle of the +gospel, and the principle of every-day common +sense. Oh, young man, hear me; live as you go +along. Do not wait until you have reached my +years before you begin to enjoy anything of this +life. If I had the millions back, or fifty cents of +it, which I have tried to earn in these years, it +would not do me anything like the good that it +does me now in this almost sacred presence to- +night. Oh, yes, I am paid over and over a hundredfold +to-night for dividing as I have tried to +do in some measure as I went along through the +years. I ought not speak that way, it sounds +egotistic, but I am old enough now to be excused for +that. I should have helped my fellow-men, which +I have tried to do, and every one should try to do, +and get the happiness of it. The man who goes +home with the sense that he has stolen a dollar +that day, that he has robbed a man of what was his +honest due, is not going to sweet rest. He arises +tired in the morning, and goes with an unclean +conscience to his work the next day. He is not a +successful man at all, although he may have +laid up millions. But the man who has gone +through life dividing always with his fellow-men, +making and demanding his own rights and his +own profits, and giving to every other man his +rights and profits, lives every day, and not only +that, but it is the royal road to great wealth. +The history of the thousands of millionaires shows +that to be the case. + +The man over there who said he could not make +anything in a store in Philadelphia has been +carrying on his store on the wrong principle. +Suppose I go into your store to-morrow morning and +ask, ``Do you know neighbor A, who lives one +square away, at house No. 1240?'' ``Oh yes, +I have met him. He deals here at the corner +store.'' ``Where did he come from?'' ``I don't +know.'' ``How many does he have in his family?'' +``I don't know.'' ``What ticket does he vote?'' +``I don't know.'' ``What church does he go to?'' +``I don't know, and don't care. What are you +asking all these questions for?'' + +If you had a store in Philadelphia would you +answer me like that? If so, then you are +conducting your business just as I carried on my +father's business in Worthington, Massachusetts. +You don't know where your neighbor came from +when he moved to Philadelphia, and you don't +care. If you had cared you would be a rich man +now. If you had cared enough about him to take +an interest in his affairs, to find out what he needed, +you would have been rich. But you go through +the world saying, ``No opportunity to get rich,'' +and there is the fault right at your own door. + +But another young man gets up over there +and says, ``I cannot take up the mercantile +business.'' (While I am talking of trade it applies +to every occupation.) ``Why can't you go into +the mercantile business?'' ``Because I haven't +any capital.'' Oh, the weak and dudish creature +that can't see over its collar! It makes a person +weak to see these little dudes standing around +the corners and saying, ``Oh, if I had plenty of +capital, how rich I would get.'' ``Young man, +do you think you are going to get rich on capital?'' +``Certainly.'' Well, I say, ``Certainly not.'' If +your mother has plenty of money, and she will +set you up in business, you will ``set her up in +business,'' supplying you with capital. + +The moment a young man or woman gets more +money than he or she has grown to by practical +experience, that moment he has gotten a curse. +It is no help to a young man or woman to inherit +money. It is no help to your children to leave +them money, but if you leave them education, +if you leave them Christian and noble character, +if you leave them a wide circle of friends, if you +leave them an honorable name, it is far better +than that they should have money. It would be +worse for them, worse for the nation, that they +should have any money at all. Oh, young man, if +you have inherited money, don't regard it as a +help. It will curse you through your years, and +deprive you of the very best things of human +life. There is no class of people to be pitied so +much as the inexperienced sons and daughters of +the rich of our generation. I pity the rich man's +son. He can never know the best things in life. + +One of the best things in our life is when a +young man has earned his own living, and when +he becomes engaged to some lovely young woman, +and makes up his mind to have a home of his +own. Then with that same love comes also that +divine inspiration toward better things, and he +begins to save his money. He begins to leave off +his bad habits and put money in the bank. When +he has a few hundred dollars he goes out in the +suburbs to look for a home. He goes to the +savings-bank, perhaps, for half of the value, and +then goes for his wife, and when he takes his bride +over the threshold of that door for the first time +he says in words of eloquence my voice can never +touch: ``I have earned this home myself. It +is all mine, and I divide with thee.'' That is +the grandest moment a human heart may ever +know. + +But a rich man's son can never know that. +He takes his bride into a finer mansion, it may be, +but he is obliged to go all the way through it +and say to his wife, ``My mother gave me that, +my mother gave me that, and my mother gave +me this,'' until his wife wishes she had married +his mother. I pity the rich man's son. + +The statistics of Massachusetts showed that +not one rich man's son out of seventeen ever dies +rich. I pity the rich man's sons unless they have +the good sense of the elder Vanderbilt, which +sometimes happens. He went to his father and said, +``Did you earn all your money?'' ``I did, my son. +I began to work on a ferry-boat for twenty-five +cents a day.'' ``Then,'' said his son, ``I will have +none of your money,'' and he, too, tried to get +employment on a ferry-boat that Saturday night. +He could not get one there, but he did get a place +for three dollars a week. Of course, if a rich man's +son will do that, he will get the discipline of a poor +boy that is worth more than a university education +to any man. He would then be able to take care +of the millions of his father. But as a rule the +rich men will not let their sons do the very thing +that made them great. As a rule, the rich man +will not allow his son to work--and his mother! +Why, she would think it was a social disgrace +if her poor, weak, little lily-fingered, sissy sort of +a boy had to earn his living with honest toil. I +have no pity for such rich men's sons. + +I remember one at Niagara Falls. I think +I remember one a great deal nearer. I think +there are gentlemen present who were at a great +banquet, and I beg pardon of his friends. At a +banquet here in Philadelphia there sat beside me +a kind-hearted young man, and he said, ``Mr. +Conwell, you have been sick for two or three years. +When you go out, take my limousine, and it will +take you up to your house on Broad Street.'' +I thanked him very much, and perhaps I ought +not to mention the incident in this way, but I +follow the facts. I got on to the seat with the +driver of that limousine, outside, and when we +were going up I asked the driver, ``How much +did this limousine cost?'' ``Six thousand eight +hundred, and he had to pay the duty on it.'' +``Well,'' I said, ``does the owner of this machine +ever drive it himself?'' At that the chauffeur +laughed so heartily that he lost control of his +machine. He was so surprised at the question that +he ran up on the sidewalk, and around a corner +lamp-post out into the street again. And when he +got out into the street he laughed till the whole +machine trembled. He said: ``He drive this machine! +Oh, he would be lucky if he knew enough to get out +when we get there.'' + +I must tell you about a rich man's son at +Niagara Falls. I came in from the lecture to the +hotel, and as I approached the desk of the clerk +there stood a millionaire's son from New York. +He was an indescribable specimen of anthropologic +potency. He had a skull-cap on one side +of his head, with a gold tassel in the top of it, and +a gold-headed cane under his arm with more in +it than in his head. It is a very difficult thing +to describe that young man. He wore an eye- +glass that he could not see through, patent- +leather boots that he could not walk in, and pants +that he could not sit down in--dressed like a +grasshopper. This human cricket came up to the +clerk's desk just as I entered, adjusted his +unseeing eye-glass, and spake in this wise to the clerk. +You see, he thought it was ``Hinglish, you know,'' +to lisp. ``Thir, will you have the kindness to +supply me with thome papah and enwelophs!'' +The hotel clerk measured that man quick, and +he pulled the envelopes and paper out of a drawer, +threw them across the counter toward the young +man, and then turned away to his books. You +should have seen that young man when those +envelopes came across that counter. He swelled +up like a gobbler turkey, adjusted his unseeing eye- +glass, and yelled: ``Come right back here. Now +thir, will you order a thervant to take that papah +and enwelophs to yondah dethk.'' Oh, the poor, +miserable, contemptible American monkey! He +could not carry paper and envelopes twenty feet. +I suppose he could not get his arms down to do +it. I have no pity for such travesties upon human +nature. If you have not capital, young man, I +am glad of it. What you need is common sense, +not copper cents. + +The best thing I can do is to illustrate by actual +facts well-known to you all. A. T. Stewart, a +poor boy in New York, had $1.50 to begin life on. +He lost 87 <1/2> cents of that on the very first venture. +How fortunate that young man who loses the +first time he gambles. That boy said, ``I will +never gamble again in business,'' and he never +did. How came he to lose 87 <1/2> cents? You +probably all know the story how he lost it--because +he bought some needles, threads, and buttons to +sell which people did not want, and had them left +on his hands, a dead loss. Said the boy, ``I will +not lose any more money in that way.'' Then he +went around first to the doors and asked the people +what they did want. Then when he had found +out what they wanted he invested his 62 <1/2> +cents to supply a known demand. Study it wherever +you choose--in business, in your profession, +in your housekeeping, whatever your life, that +one thing is the secret of success. You must +first know the demand. You must first know +what people need, and then invest yourself where +you are most needed. A. T. Stewart went on +that principle until he was worth what amounted +afterward to forty millions of dollars, owning +the very store in which Mr. Wanamaker carries +on his great work in New York. His fortune was +made by his losing something, which taught him +the great lesson that he must only invest himself +or his money in something that people need. +When will you salesmen learn it? When will +you manufacturers learn that you must know the +changing needs of humanity if you would succeed +in life? Apply yourselves, all you Christian people, +as manufacturers or merchants or workmen +to supply that human need. It is a great principle +as broad as humanity and as deep as the Scripture +itself. + +The best illustration I ever heard was of John +Jacob Astor. You know that he made the money +of the Astor family when he lived in New York. +He came across the sea in debt for his fare. But +that poor boy with nothing in his pocket made the +fortune of the Astor family on one principle. +Some young man here to-night will say, ``Well +they could make those fortunes over in New York +but they could not do it in Philadelphia!'' My +friends, did you ever read that wonderful book of +Riis (his memory is sweet to us because of his +recent death), wherein is given his statistical +account of the records taken in 1889 of 107 +millionaires of New York. If you read the account +you will see that out of the 107 millionaires only +seven made their money in New York. Out +of the 107 millionaires worth ten million dollars +in real estate then, 67 of them made their money +in towns of less than 3,500 inhabitants. The +richest man in this country to-day, if you read +the real-estate values, has never moved away from +a town of 3,500 inhabitants. It makes not so +much difference where you are as who you are. +But if you cannot get rich in Philadelphia you +certainly cannot do it in New York. + +Now John Jacob Astor illustrated what can +be done anywhere. He had a mortgage once on +a millinery-store, and they could not sell bonnets +enough to pay the interest on his money. So +he foreclosed that mortgage, took possession of +the store, and went into partnership with the very +same people, in the same store, with the same +capital. He did not give them a dollar of capital. +They had to sell goods to get any money. Then +he left them alone in the store just as they had +been before, and he went out and sat down on +a bench in the park in the shade. What was +John Jacob Astor doing out there, and in partnership +with people who had failed on his own hands? +He had the most important and, to my mind, the +most pleasant part of that partnership on his +hands. For as John Jacob Astor sat on that bench +he was watching the ladies as they went by; +and where is the man who would not get rich at +that business? As he sat on the bench if a lady +passed him with her shoulders back and head +up, and looked straight to the front, as if she +did not care if all the world did gaze on her, then +he studied her bonnet, and by the time it was +out of sight he knew the shape of the frame, the +color of the trimmings, and the crinklings in the +feather. I sometimes try to describe a bonnet, +but not always. I would not try to describe a +modern bonnet. Where is the man that could +describe one? This aggregation of all sorts of +driftwood stuck on the back of the head, or the +side of the neck, like a rooster with only one tail +feather left. But in John Jacob Astor's day there +was some art about the millinery business, and +he went to the millinery-store and said to them: +``Now put into the show-window just such a +bonnet as I describe to you, because I have already +seen a lady who likes such a bonnet. Don't make +up any more until I come back.'' Then he went +out and sat down again, and another lady passed +him of a different form, of different complexion, +with a different shape and color of bonnet. ``Now,'' +said he, ``put such a bonnet as that in the show +window.'' He did not fill his show-window up +town with a lot of hats and bonnets to drive +people away, and then sit on the back stairs and +bawl because people went to Wanamaker's to +trade. He did not have a hat or a bonnet in that +show-window but what some lady liked before +it was made up. The tide of custom began immediately +to turn in, and that has been the foundation +of the greatest store in New York in that line, +and still exists as one of three stores. Its fortune +was made by John Jacob Astor after they had +failed in business, not by giving them any more +money, but by finding out what the ladies liked +for bonnets before they wasted any material in +making them up. I tell you if a man could foresee +the millinery business he could foresee anything +under heaven! + +Suppose I were to go through this audience +to-night and ask you in this great manufacturing +city if there are not opportunities to get rich in +manufacturing. ``Oh yes,'' some young man says, +``there are opportunities here still if you build +with some trust and if you have two or three +millions of dollars to begin with as capital.'' +Young man, the history of the breaking up of the +trusts by that attack upon ``big business'' is only +illustrating what is now the opportunity of the +smaller man. The time never came in the history +of the world when you could get rich so quickly +manufacturing without capital as you can now. + +But you will say, ``You cannot do anything +of the kind. You cannot start without capital.'' +Young man, let me illustrate for a moment. I +must do it. It is my duty to every young man and +woman, because we are all going into business +very soon on the same plan. Young man, remember +if you know what people need you have +gotten more knowledge of a fortune than any +amount of capital can give you. + +There was a poor man out of work living in +Hingham, Massachusetts. He lounged around the +house until one day his wife told him to get out +and work, and, as he lived in Massachusetts, he +obeyed his wife. He went out and sat down on +the shore of the bay, and whittled a soaked +shingle into a wooden chain. His children that +evening quarreled over it, and he whittled a +second one to keep peace. While he was whittling +the second one a neighbor came in and said: +``Why don't you whittle toys and sell them? You +could make money at that.'' ``Oh,'' he said, ``I +would not know what to make.'' ``Why don't +you ask your own children right here in your +own house what to make?'' ``What is the use +of trying that?'' said the carpenter. ``My children +are different from other people's children.'' +(I used to see people like that when I taught +school.) But he acted upon the hint, and the +next morning when Mary came down the stairway, +he asked, ``What do you want for a toy?'' +She began to tell him she would like a doll's bed, +a doll's washstand, a doll's carriage, a little doll's +umbrella, and went on with a list of things that +would take him a lifetime to supply. So, consulting +his own children, in his own house, he took +the firewood, for he had no money to buy lumber, +and whittled those strong, unpainted Hingham +toys that were for so many years known all over +the world. That man began to make those toys +for his own children, and then made copies and +sold them through the boot-and-shoe store next +door. He began to make a little money, and then +a little more, and Mr. Lawson, in his _Frenzied +Finance_ says that man is the richest man in old +Massachusetts, and I think it is the truth. And +that man is worth a hundred millions of dollars +to-day, and has been only thirty-four years making +it on that one principle--that one must judge +that what his own children like at home other +people's children would like in their homes, too; +to judge the human heart by oneself, by one's +wife or by one's children. It is the royal road to +success in manufacturing. ``Oh,'' but you say, +``didn't he have any capital?'' Yes, a penknife, +but I don't know that he had paid for that. + +I spoke thus to an audience in New Britain, +Connecticut, and a lady four seats back went home +and tried to take off her collar, and the collar- +button stuck in the buttonhole. She threw it +out and said, ``I am going to get up something +better than that to put on collars.'' Her husband +said: ``After what Conwell said to-night, you see +there is a need of an improved collar-fastener that +is easier to handle. There is a human need; +there is a great fortune. Now, then, get up a +collar-button and get rich.'' He made fun of her, +and consequently made fun of me, and that is +one of the saddest things which comes over me +like a deep cloud of midnight sometimes--although +I have worked so hard for more than half a century, +yet how little I have ever really done. +Notwithstanding the greatness and the handsomeness +of your compliment to-night, I do not +believe there is one in ten of you that is going to +make a million of dollars because you are here +to-night; but it is not my fault, it is yours. I +say that sincerely. What is the use of my talking +if people never do what I advise them to do? +When her husband ridiculed her, she made up her +mind she would make a better collar-button, and +when a woman makes up her mind ``she will,'' +and does not say anything about it, she does it. +It was that New England woman who invented +the snap button which you can find anywhere +now. It was first a collar-button with a spring +cap attached to the outer side. Any of you who +wear modern waterproofs know the button that +simply pushes together, and when you unbutton +it you simply pull it apart. That is the button +to which I refer, and which she invented. She +afterward invented several other buttons, and +then invested in more, and then was taken into +partnership with great factories. Now that woman +goes over the sea every summer in her private +steamship--yes, and takes her husband with her! +If her husband were to die, she would have money +enough left now to buy a foreign duke or count +or some such title as that at the latest quotations. + +Now what is my lesson in that incident? It +is this: I told her then, though I did not know +her, what I now say to you, ``Your wealth is too +near to you. You are looking right over it''; +and she had to look over it because it was right +under her chin. + +I have read in the newspaper that a woman +never invented anything. Well, that newspaper +ought to begin again. Of course, I do not refer +to gossip--I refer to machines--and if I did I +might better include the men. That newspaper +could never appear if women had not invented +something. Friends, think. Ye women, think! +You say you cannot make a fortune because you +are in some laundry, or running a sewing-machine, +it may be, or walking before some loom, and yet +you can be a millionaire if you will but follow +this almost infallible direction. + +When you say a woman doesn't invent anything, +I ask, Who invented the Jacquard loom that wove +every stitch you wear? Mrs. Jacquard. The +printer's roller, the printing-press, were invented +by farmers' wives. Who invented the cotton-gin +of the South that enriched our country so amazingly? +Mrs. General Greene invented the cotton- +gin and showed the idea to Mr. Whitney, and he, +like a man, seized it. Who was it that invented +the sewing-machine? If I would go to school to- +morrow and ask your children they would say, +``Elias Howe.'' + +He was in the Civil War with me, and often in +my tent, and I often heard him say that he worked +fourteen years to get up that sewing-machine. +But his wife made up her mind one day that they +would starve to death if there wasn't something +or other invented pretty soon, and so in two hours +she invented the sewing-machine. Of course he +took out the patent in his name. Men always do +that. Who was it that invented the mower and +the reaper? According to Mr. McCormick's +confidential communication, so recently published, it +was a West Virginia woman, who, after his father +and he had failed altogether in making a reaper +and gave it up, took a lot of shears and nailed +them together on the edge of a board, with one +shaft of each pair loose, and then wired them so +that when she pulled the wire one way it closed +them, and when she pulled the wire the other +way it opened them, and there she had the principle +of the mowing-machine. If you look at a +mowing-machine, you will see it is nothing but +a lot of shears. If a woman can invent a mowing- +machine, if a woman can invent a Jacquard loom, +if a woman can invent a cotton-gin, if a woman can +invent a trolley switch--as she did and made the +trolleys possible; if a woman can invent, as Mr. +Carnegie said, the great iron squeezers that laid +the foundation of all the steel millions of the +United States, ``we men'' can invent anything +under the stars! I say that for the encouragement +of the men. + +Who are the great inventors of the world? +Again this lesson comes before us. The great +inventor sits next to you, or you are the person +yourself. ``Oh,'' but you will say, ``I have never +invented anything in my life.'' Neither did the +great inventors until they discovered one great +secret. Do you think it is a man with a head like a +bushel measure or a man like a stroke of lightning? +It is neither. The really great man is a plain, +straightforward, every-day, common-sense man. +You would not dream that he was a great inventor +if you did not see something he had actually done. +His neighbors do not regard him so great. You +never see anything great over your back fence. +You say there is no greatness among your neighbors. +It is all away off somewhere else. Their +greatness is ever so simple, so plain, so earnest, +so practical, that the neighbors and friends never +recognize it. + +True greatness is often unrecognized. That is +sure. You do not know anything about the +greatest men and women. I went out to write +the life of General Garfield, and a neighbor, knowing +I was in a hurry, and as there was a great +crowd around the front door, took me around to +General Garfield's back door and shouted, ``Jim! +Jim!'' And very soon ``Jim'' came to the door +and let me in, and I wrote the biography of one +of the grandest men of the nation, and yet he +was just the same old ``Jim'' to his neighbor. +If you know a great man in Philadelphia and you +should meet him to-morrow, you would say, +``How are you, Sam?'' or ``Good morning, Jim.'' +Of course you would. That is just what you would +do. + +One of my soldiers in the Civil War had been +sentenced to death, and I went up to the White +House in Washington--sent there for the first +time in my life to see the President. I went +into the waiting-room and sat down with a lot +of others on the benches, and the secretary asked +one after another to tell him what they wanted. +After the secretary had been through the line, +he went in, and then came back to the door and +motioned for me. I went up to that anteroom, +and the secretary said: ``That is the President's +door right over there. Just rap on it and go +right in.'' I never was so taken aback, friends, +in all my life, never. The secretary himself made +it worse for me, because he had told me how to +go in and then went out another door to the +left and shut that. There I was, in the hallway +by myself before the President of the United +States of America's door. I had been on fields of +battle, where the shells did sometimes shriek and +the bullets did sometimes hit me, but I always +wanted to run. I have no sympathy with the +old man who says, ``I would just as soon march +up to the cannon's mouth as eat my dinner.'' +I have no faith in a man who doesn't know enough +to be afraid when he is being shot at. I never +was so afraid when the shells came around us +at Antietam as I was when I went into that room +that day; but I finally mustered the courage-- +I don't know how I ever did--and at arm's- +length tapped on the door. The man inside did +not help me at all, but yelled out, ``Come in and +sit down!'' + +Well, I went in and sat down on the edge of a +chair, and wished I were in Europe, and the man +at the table did not look up. He was one of the +world's greatest men, and was made great by one +single rule. Oh, that all the young people of +Philadelphia were before me now and I could say +just this one thing, and that they would remember +it. I would give a lifetime for the effect it would +have on our city and on civilization. Abraham +Lincoln's principle for greatness can be adopted +by nearly all. This was his rule: Whatsoever he +had to do at all, he put his whole mind into it and +held it all there until that was all done. That +makes men great almost anywhere. He stuck to +those papers at that table and did not look up +at me, and I sat there trembling. Finally, when +he had put the string around his papers, he pushed +them over to one side and looked over to me, and +a smile came over his worn face. He said: ``I +am a very busy man and have only a few minutes +to spare. Now tell me in the fewest words what it +is you want.'' I began to tell him, and mentioned +the case, and he said: ``I have heard all about +it and you do not need to say any more. Mr. +Stanton was talking to me only a few days ago +about that. You can go to the hotel and rest +assured that the President never did sign an order +to shoot a boy under twenty years of age, and +never will. You can say that to his mother anyhow.'' + +Then he said to me, ``How is it going in the +field?'' I said, ``We sometimes get discouraged.'' +And he said: ``It is all right. We are going to +win out now. We are getting very near the light. +No man ought to wish to be President of the +United States, and I will be glad when I get +through; then Tad and I are going out to Springfield, +Illinois. I have bought a farm out there +and I don't care if I again earn only twenty-five +cents a day. Tad has a mule team, and we are +going to plant onions.'' + +Then he asked me, ``Were you brought up on a +farm?'' I said, ``Yes; in the Berkshire Hills of +Massachusetts.'' He then threw his leg over the +corner of the big chair and said, ``I have heard +many a time, ever since I was young, that up +there in those hills you have to sharpen the noses +of the sheep in order to get down to the grass +between the rocks.'' He was so familiar, so everyday, +so farmer-like, that I felt right at home with +him at once. + +He then took hold of another roll of paper, and +looked up at me and said, ``Good morning.'' I +took the hint then and got up and went out. +After I had gotten out I could not realize I had +seen the President of the United States at all. +But a few days later, when still in the city, I saw +the crowd pass through the East Room by the +coffin of Abraham Lincoln, and when I looked +at the upturned face of the murdered President +I felt then that the man I had seen such a short +time before, who, so simple a man, so plain a +man, was one of the greatest men that God ever +raised up to lead a nation on to ultimate liberty. +Yet he was only ``Old Abe'' to his neighbors. +When they had the second funeral, I was invited +among others, and went out to see that same +coffin put back in the tomb at Springfield. Around +the tomb stood Lincoln's old neighbors, to whom +he was just ``Old Abe.'' Of course that is all they +would say. + +Did you ever see a man who struts around +altogether too large to notice an ordinary working +mechanic? Do you think he is great? He is +nothing but a puffed-up balloon, held down by +his big feet. There is no greatness there. + +Who are the great men and women? My +attention was called the other day to the history +of a very little thing that made the fortune of a +very poor man. It was an awful thing, and yet +because of that experience he--not a great inventor +or genius--invented the pin that now is called +the safety-pin, and out of that safety-pin made +the fortune of one of the great aristocratic families +of this nation. + +A poor man in Massachusetts who had worked +in the nail-works was injured at thirty-eight, and +he could earn but little money. He was employed +in the office to rub out the marks on the bills +made by pencil memorandums, and he used a +rubber until his hand grew tired. He then tied a +piece of rubber on the end of a stick and worked +it like a plane. His little girl came and said, +``Why, you have a patent, haven't you?'' The +father said afterward, ``My daughter told me +when I took that stick and put the rubber on +the end that there was a patent, and that was the +first thought of that.'' He went to Boston and +applied for his patent, and every one of you that +has a rubber-tipped pencil in your pocket is now +paying tribute to the millionaire. No capital, +not a penny did he invest in it. All was income, +all the way up into the millions. + +But let me hasten to one other greater thought. +``Show me the great men and women who live +in Philadelphia.'' A gentleman over there will +get up and say: ``We don't have any great men +in Philadelphia. They don't live here. They live +away off in Rome or St. Petersburg or London or +Manayunk, or anywhere else but here in our +town.'' I have come now to the apex of my +thought. I have come now to the heart of the +whole matter and to the center of my struggle: +Why isn't Philadelphia a greater city in its +greater wealth? Why does New York excel +Philadelphia? People say, ``Because of her harbor.'' +Why do many other cities of the United States +get ahead of Philadelphia now? There is only +one answer, and that is because our own people +talk down their own city. If there ever was a +community on earth that has to be forced ahead, +it is the city of Philadelphia. If we are to have a +boulevard, talk it down; if we are going to have +better schools, talk them down; if you wish to +have wise legislation, talk it down; talk all the +proposed improvements down. That is the only +great wrong that I can lay at the feet of the +magnificent Philadelphia that has been so universally +kind to me. I say it is time we turn around in our +city and begin to talk up the things that are in +our city, and begin to set them before the world +as the people of Chicago, New York, St. Louis, +and San Francisco do. Oh, if we only could get +that spirit out among our people, that we can do +things in Philadelphia and do them well! + +Arise, ye millions of Philadelphians, trust in +God and man, and believe in the great opportunities +that are right here not over in New York +or Boston, but here--for business, for everything +that is worth living for on earth. There was +never an opportunity greater. Let us talk up +our own city. + +But there are two other young men here to- +night, and that is all I will venture to say, because +it is too late. One over there gets up and says, +``There is going to be a great man in Philadelphia, +but never was one.'' ``Oh, is that so? When are +you going to be great?'' ``When I am elected to +some political office.'' Young man, won't you +learn a lesson in the primer of politics that it is +a _prima facie_ evidence of littleness to hold office +under our form of government? Great men get +into office sometimes, but what this country needs +is men that will do what we tell them to do. +This nation--where the people rule--is governed +by the people, for the people, and so long as it is, +then the office-holder is but the servant of the +people, and the Bible says the servant cannot be +greater than the master. The Bible says, ``He +that is sent cannot be greater than Him who sent +Him.'' The people rule, or should rule, and if +they do, we do not need the greater men in office. +If the great men in America took our offices, we +would change to an empire in the next ten years. + +I know of a great many young women, now +that woman's suffrage is coming, who say, ``I +am going to be President of the United States +some day.'' I believe in woman's suffrage, and +there is no doubt but what it is coming, and I +am getting out of the way, anyhow. I may want +an office by and by myself; but if the ambition +for an office influences the women in their desire +to vote, I want to say right here what I say to the +young men, that if you only get the privilege of +casting one vote, you don't get anything that is +worth while. Unless you can control more than +one vote, you will be unknown, and your influence +so dissipated as practically not to be felt. This +country is not run by votes. Do you think it is? +It is governed by influence. It is governed by +the ambitions and the enterprises which control +votes. The young woman that thinks she is going +to vote for the sake of holding an office is making +an awful blunder. + +That other young man gets up and says, ``There +are going to be great men in this country and in +Philadelphia.'' ``Is that so? When?'' ``When +there comes a great war, when we get into difficulty +through watchful waiting in Mexico; when we +get into war with England over some frivolous +deed, or with Japan or China or New Jersey or +some distant country. Then I will march up to +the cannon's mouth; I will sweep up among the +glistening bayonets; I will leap into the arena and +tear down the flag and bear it away in triumph. +I will come home with stars on my shoulder, and +hold every office in the gift of the nation, and I +will be great.'' No, you won't. You think you +are going to be made great by an office, but +remember that if you are not great before you +get the office, you won't be great when you secure +it. It will only be a burlesque in that shape. + +We had a Peace Jubilee here after the Spanish +War. Out West they don't believe this, because +they said, ``Philadelphia would not have heard +of any Spanish War until fifty years hence.'' +Some of you saw the procession go up Broad +Street. I was away, but the family wrote to me +that the tally-ho coach with Lieutenant Hobson +upon it stopped right at the front door and the +people shouted, ``Hurrah for Hobson!'' and if I +had been there I would have yelled too, because +he deserves much more of his country than he +has ever received. But suppose I go into school +and say, ``Who sunk the _Merrimac_ at Santiago?'' +and if the boys answer me, ``Hobson,'' they will +tell me seven-eighths of a lie. There were seven +other heroes on that steamer, and they, by virtue +of their position, were continually exposed to the +Spanish fire, while Hobson, as an officer, might +reasonably be behind the smoke-stack. You have +gathered in this house your most intelligent people, +and yet, perhaps, not one here can name the other +seven men. + +We ought not to so teach history. We ought to +teach that, however humble a man's station may +be, if he does his full duty in that place he is +just as much entitled to the American people's +honor as is the king upon his throne. But we do +not so teach. We are now teaching everywhere +that the generals do all the fighting. + +I remember that, after the war, I went down +to see General Robert E. Lee, that magnificent +Christian gentleman of whom both North and +South are now proud as one of our great Americans. +The general told me about his servant, ``Rastus,'' +who was an enlisted colored soldier. He called +him in one day to make fun of him, and said, +``Rastus, I hear that all the rest of your company +are killed, and why are you not killed?'' Rastus +winked at him and said, `` 'Cause when there is +any fightin' goin' on I stay back with the generals.'' + +I remember another illustration. I would leave +it out but for the fact that when you go to the +library to read this lecture, you will find this has +been printed in it for twenty-five years. I shut +my eyes--shut them close--and lo! I see the faces +of my youth. Yes, they sometimes say to me, +``Your hair is not white; you are working night +and day without seeming ever to stop; you can't +be old.'' But when I shut my eyes, like any other +man of my years, oh, then come trooping back +the faces of the loved and lost of long ago, and +I know, whatever men may say, it is evening-time. + +I shut my eyes now and look back to my native +town in Massachusetts, and I see the cattle-show +ground on the mountain-top; I can see the horse- +sheds there. I can see the Congregational church; +see the town hall and mountaineers' cottages; +see a great assembly of people turning out, dressed +resplendently, and I can see flags flying and +handkerchiefs waving and hear bands playing. I can +see that company of soldiers that had re-enlisted +marching up on that cattle-show ground. I was +but a boy, but I was captain of that company +and puffed out with pride. A cambric needle +would have burst me all to pieces. Then I thought +it was the greatest event that ever came to man +on earth. If you have ever thought you would +like to be a king or queen, you go and be received +by the mayor. + +The bands played, and all the people turned +out to receive us. I marched up that Common +so proud at the head of my troops, and we turned +down into the town hall. Then they seated my +soldiers down the center aisle and I sat down on +the front seat. A great assembly of people a +hundred or two--came in to fill the town hall, +so that they stood up all around. Then the town +officers came in and formed a half-circle. The +mayor of the town sat in the middle of the +platform. He was a man who had never held office +before; but he was a good man, and his friends +have told me that I might use this without giving +them offense. He was a good man, but he thought +an office made a man great. He came up and took +his seat, adjusted his powerful spectacles, and +looked around, when he suddenly spied me sitting +there on the front seat. He came right forward +on the platform and invited me up to sit with the +town officers. No town officer ever took any +notice of me before I went to war, except to advise +the teacher to thrash me, and now I was invited +up on the stand with the town officers. Oh my! +the town mayor was then the emperor, the king +of our day and our time. As I came up on the +platform they gave me a chair about this far, I +would say, from the front. + +When I had got seated, the chairman of +the Selectmen arose and came forward to the +table, and we all supposed he would introduce +the Congregational minister, who was the only +orator in town, and that he would give the oration +to the returning soldiers. But, friends, you should +have seen the surprise which ran over the audience +when they discovered that the old fellow +was going to deliver that speech himself. He had +never made a speech in his life, but he fell into +the same error that hundreds of other men have +fallen into. It seems so strange that a man won't +learn he must speak his piece as a boy if he in- +tends to be an orator when he is grown, but he +seems to think all he has to do is to hold an office +to be a great orator. + +So he came up to the front, and brought with +him a speech which he had learned by heart +walking up and down the pasture, where he had +frightened the cattle. He brought the manuscript +with him and spread it out on the table so as to +be sure he might see it. He adjusted his spectacles +and leaned over it for a moment and marched +back on that platform, and then came forward +like this--tramp, tramp, tramp. He must have +studied the subject a great deal, when you come +to think of it, because he assumed an ``elocutionary'' +attitude. He rested heavily upon his +left heel, threw back his shoulders, slightly +advanced the right foot, opened the organs of speech, +and advanced his right foot at an angle of forty- +five. As he stood in that elocutionary attitude, +friends, this is just the way that speech went. +Some people say to me, ``Don't you exaggerate?'' +That would be impossible. But I am here for +the lesson and not for the story, and this is the +way it went: + +``Fellow-citizens--'' As soon as he heard his +voice his fingers began to go like that, his knees +began to shake, and then he trembled all over. +He choked and swallowed and came around to +the table to look at the manuscript. Then he +gathered himself up with clenched fists and came +back: ``Fellow-citizens, we are Fellow-citizens, +we are--we are--we are--we are--we are--we are +very happy--we are very happy--we are very +happy. We are very happy to welcome back to +their native town these soldiers who have fought +and bled--and come back again to their native +town. We are especially--we are especially--we +are especially. We are especially pleased to see +with us to-day this young hero'' (that meant +me)--``this young hero who in imagination'' +(friends, remember he said that; if he had not +said ``in imagination'' I would not be egotistic +enough to refer to it at all)--``this young hero +who in imagination we have seen leading--we +have seen leading--leading. We have seen leading +his troops on to the deadly breach. We have +seen his shining--we have seen his shining--his +shining--his shining sword--flashing. Flashing in +the sunlight, as he shouted to his troops, `Come +on'!'' + +Oh dear, dear, dear! how little that good man +knew about war. If he had known anything +about war at all he ought to have known what +any of my G. A. R. comrades here to-night will +tell you is true, that it is next to a crime for an +officer of infantry ever in time of danger to go +ahead of his men. ``I, with my shining sword +flashing in the sunlight, shouting to my troops, +`Come on'!'' I never did it. Do you suppose +I would get in front of my men to be shot in front +by the enemy and in the back by my own men? +That is no place for an officer. The place for the +officer in actual battle is behind the line. How +often, as a staff officer, I rode down the line, when +our men were suddenly called to the line of battle, +and the Rebel yells were coming out of the woods, +and shouted: ``Officers to the rear! Officers to +the rear!'' Then every officer gets behind the line +of private soldiers, and the higher the officer's +rank the farther behind he goes. Not because +he is any the less brave, but because the laws of +war require that. And yet he shouted, ``I, with +my shining sword--'' In that house there sat +the company of my soldiers who had carried that +boy across the Carolina rivers that he might not +wet his feet. Some of them had gone far out to +get a pig or a chicken. Some of them had gone +to death under the shell-swept pines in the +mountains of Tennessee, yet in the good man's speech +they were scarcely known. He did refer to them, +but only incidentally. The hero of the hour was +this boy. Did the nation owe him anything? +No, nothing then and nothing now. Why was he +the hero? Simply because that man fell into that +same human error--that this boy was great because +he was an officer and these were only private +soldiers. + +Oh, I learned the lesson then that I will never +forget so long as the tongue of the bell of time +continues to swing for me. Greatness consists +not in the holding of some future office, but really +consists in doing great deeds with little means +and the accomplishment of vast purposes from +the private ranks of life. To be great at all one +must be great here, now, in Philadelphia. He +who can give to this city better streets and better +sidewalks, better schools and more colleges, more +happiness and more civilization, more of God, he +will be great anywhere. Let every man or woman +here, if you never hear me again, remember this, +that if you wish to be great at all, you must begin +where you are and what you are, in Philadelphia, +now. He that can give to his city any blessing, he +who can be a good citizen while he lives here, he +that can make better homes, he that can be a +blessing whether he works in the shop or sits +behind the counter or keeps house, whatever be his +life, he who would be great anywhere must first +be great in his own Philadelphia. + + + +HIS LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS +BY +ROBERT SHACKLETON + + +THE STORY OF THE SWORD[2] + + +[2] _Dr, Conwell was living, and actively at work, +when these pages were written. It is, therefore, +a much truer picture of his personality than +anything written in the past tense_. + + +I SHALL write of a remarkable man, an interesting +man, a man of power, of initiative, of +will, of persistence; a man who plans vastly and +who realizes his plans; a man who not only does +things himself, but who, even more important than +that, is the constant inspiration of others. I shall +write of Russell H. Conwell. + +As a farmer's boy he was the leader of the boys +of the rocky region that was his home; as a school- +teacher he won devotion; as a newspaper correspondent +he gained fame; as a soldier in the Civil +War he rose to important rank; as a lawyer he +developed a large practice; as an author he wrote +books that reached a mighty total of sales. He +left the law for the ministry and is the active head +of a great church that he raised from nothingness. +He is the most popular lecturer in the world and +yearly speaks to many thousands. He is, so to +speak, the discoverer of ``Acres of Diamonds,'' +through which thousands of men and women have +achieved success out of failure. He is the head +of two hospitals, one of them founded by himself, +that have cared for a host of patients, both the +poor and the rich, irrespective of race or creed. +He is the founder and head of a university that +has already had tens of thousands of students. +His home is in Philadelphia; but he is known in +every corner of every state in the Union, and +everywhere he has hosts of friends. All of his life +he has helped and inspired others. + +Quite by chance, and only yesterday, literally +yesterday and by chance, and with no thought at +the moment of Conwell although he had been +much in my mind for some time past, I picked up +a thin little book of description by William Dean +Howells, and, turning the pages of a chapter on +Lexington, old Lexington of the Revolution, +written, so Howells had set down, in 1882, I +noticed, after he had written of the town itself, +and of the long-past fight there, and of the present- +day aspect, that he mentioned the church life +of the place and remarked on the striking +advances made by the Baptists, who had lately, as +he expressed it, been reconstituted out of very +perishing fragments and made strong and flourishing, +under the ministrations of a lay preacher, +formerly a colonel in the Union army. And it +was only a few days before I chanced upon this +description that Dr. Conwell, the former colonel +and former lay preacher, had told me of his +experiences in that little old Revolutionary town. + +Howells went on to say that, so he was told, +the colonel's success was principally due to his +making the church attractive to young people. +Howells says no more of him; apparently he did +not go to hear him; and one wonders if he has +ever associated that lay preacher of Lexington +with the famous Russell H. Conwell of these recent +years! + +``Attractive to young people.'' Yes, one can +recognize that to-day, just as it was recognized +in Lexington. And it may be added that he at +the same time attracts older people, too! In this, +indeed, lies his power. He makes his church +interesting, his sermons interesting, his lectures +interesting. He is himself interesting! Because of +his being interesting, he gains attention. The +attention gained, he inspires. + +Biography is more than dates. Dates, after all, +are but mile-stones along the road of life. And +the most important fact of Conwell's life is that +he lived to be eighty-two, working sixteen hours +every day for the good of his fellow-men. He was +born on February 15, 1843--born of poor parents, +in a low-roofed cottage in the eastern Berkshires, +in Massachusetts. + +``I was born in this room,'' he said to me, +simply, as we sat together recently[3] in front of the +old fireplace in the principal room of the little +cottage; for he has bought back the rocky farm +of his father, and has retained and restored the +little old home. ``I was born in this room. It +was bedroom and kitchen. It was poverty.'' And +his voice sank with a kind of grimness into silence. + + +[3] _This interview took place at the old Conwell farm in the +summer of 1915_. + + +Then he spoke a little of the struggles of those +long-past years; and we went out on the porch, +as the evening shadows fell, and looked out over +the valley and stream and hills of his youth, and +he told of his grandmother, and of a young +Marylander who had come to the region on a visit; +it was a tale of the impetuous love of those two, +of rash marriage, of the interference of parents, +of the fierce rivalry of another suitor, of an attack +on the Marylander's life, of passionate hastiness, +of unforgivable words, of separation, of lifelong +sorrow. ``Why does grandmother cry so often?'' +he remembers asking when he was a little boy. +And he was told that it was for the husband of +her youth. + +We went back into the little house, and he +showed me the room in which he first saw John +Brown. ``I came down early one morning, and +saw a huge, hairy man sprawled upon the bed +there--and I was frightened,'' he says. + +But John Brown did not long frighten him! +For he was much at their house after that, and was +so friendly with Russell and his brother that there +was no chance for awe; and it gives a curious side- +light on the character of the stern abolitionist +that he actually, with infinite patience, taught the +old horse of the Conwells to go home alone with +the wagon after leaving the boys at school, a mile +or more away, and at school-closing time to trot +gently off for them without a driver when merely +faced in that direction and told to go! Conwell +remembers how John Brown, in training it, used +patiently to walk beside the horse, and control +its going and its turnings, until it was quite ready +to go and turn entirely by itself. + +The Conwell house was a station on the +Underground Railway, and Russell Conwell remembers, +when a lad, seeing the escaping slaves that +his father had driven across country and temporarily +hidden. ``Those were heroic days,'' he says, +quietly. ``And once in a while my father let me +go with him. They were wonderful night drives-- +the cowering slaves, the darkness of the road, +the caution and the silence and dread of it all.'' +This underground route, he remembers, was from +Philadelphia to New Haven, thence to Springfield, +where Conwell's father would take his charge, +and onward to Bellows Falls and Canada. + +Conwell tells, too, of meeting Frederick +Douglass, the colored orator, in that little cottage in +the hills. `` `I never saw my father,' Douglass said +one day--his father was a white man--`and I +remember little of my mother except that once +she tried to keep an overseer from whipping me, +and the lash cut across her own face, and her +blood fell over me.' + +``When John Brown was captured,'' Conwell +went on, ``my father tried to sell this place to +get a little money to send to help his defense. +But he couldn't sell it, and on the day of the execu- +tion we knelt solemnly here, from eleven to twelve, +just praying, praying in silence for the passing +soul of John Brown. And as we prayed we knew +that others were also praying, for a church-bell +tolled during that entire hour, and its awesome +boom went sadly sounding over these hills.'' + +Conwell believes that his real life dates from a +happening of the time of the Civil War--a happening +that still looms vivid and intense before +him, and which undoubtedly did deepen and +strengthen his strong and deep nature. Yet the +real Conwell was always essentially the same. +Neighborhood tradition still tells of his bravery +as a boy and a youth, of his reckless coasting, his +skill as a swimmer and his saving of lives, his +strength and endurance, his plunging out into the +darkness of a wild winter night to save a neighbor's +cattle. His soldiers came home with tales +of his devotion to them, and of how he shared +his rations and his blankets and bravely risked his +life; of how he crept off into a swamp, at imminent +peril, to rescue one of his men lost or mired +there. The present Conwell was always Conwell; +in fact, he may be traced through his ancestry, too, +for in him are the sturdy virtues, the bravery, the +grim determination, the practicality, of his father; +and romanticism, that comes from his grandmother; +and the dreamy qualities of his mother, +who, practical and hardworking New England +woman that she was, was at the same time influenced +by an almost startling mysticism. + +And Conwell himself is a dreamer: first of all +he is a dreamer; it is the most important fact +in regard to him! It is because he is a dreamer +and visualizes his dreams that he can plan the +great things that to other men would seem +impossibilities; and then his intensely practical +side his intense efficiency, his power, his skill, +his patience, his fine earnestness, his mastery +over others, develop his dreams into realities. +He dreams dreams and sees visions--but his +visions are never visionary and his dreams +become facts. + +The rocky hills which meant a dogged struggle +for very existence, the fugitive slaves, John Brown +--what a school for youth! And the literal school +was a tiny one-room school-house where young +Conwell came under the care of a teacher who +realized the boy's unusual capabilities and was +able to give him broad and unusual help. Then +a wise country preacher also recognized the +unusual, and urged the parents to give still more +education, whereupon supreme effort was made +and young Russell was sent to Wilbraham Academy. +He likes to tell of his life there, and of the +hardships, of which he makes light; and of the +joy with which week-end pies and cakes were +received from home! + +He tells of how he went out on the roads selling +books from house to house, and of how eagerly +he devoured the contents of the sample books that +he carried. ``They were a foundation of learning +for me,'' he says, soberly. ``And they gave me a +broad idea of the world.'' + +He went to Yale in 1860, but the outbreak of +the war interfered with college, and he enlisted in +1861. But he was only eighteen, and his father +objected, and he went back to Yale. But next +year he again enlisted, and men of his Berkshire +neighborhood, likewise enlisting, insisted that he +be their captain; and Governor Andrews, appealed +to, consented to commission the nineteen-year- +old youth who was so evidently a natural leader; +and the men gave freely of their scant money to +get for him a sword, all gay and splendid with +gilt, and upon the sword was the declaration in +stately Latin that, ``True friendship is eternal.'' + +And with that sword is associated the most +vivid, the most momentous experience of Russell +Conwell's life. + +That sword hangs at the head of Conwell's +bed in his home in Philadelphia. Man of peace +that he is, and minister of peace, that symbol of +war has for over half a century been of infinite +importance to him. + +He told me the story as we stood together before +that sword. And as he told the story, speaking +with quiet repression, but seeing it all and living +it all just as vividly as if it had occurred but +yesterday, ``That sword has meant so much to me,'' +he murmured; and then he began the tale: + +``A boy up there in the Berkshires, a neighbor's +son, was John Ring; I call him a boy, for we all +called him a boy, and we looked upon him as a +boy, for he was under-sized and under-developed-- +so much so that he could not enlist. + +``But for some reason he was devoted to me, +and he not only wanted to enlist, but he also +wanted to be in the artillery company of which I +was captain; and I could only take him along as +my servant. I didn't want a servant, but it was +the only way to take poor little Johnnie Ring. + +``Johnnie was deeply religious, and would read +the Bible every evening before turning in. In +those days I was an atheist, or at least thought I +was, and I used to laugh at Ring, and after a while +he took to reading the Bible outside the tent on +account of my laughing at him! But he did not +stop reading it, and his faithfulness to me remained +unchanged. + +``The scabbard of the sword was too glittering +for the regulations''--the ghost of a smile hovered +on Conwell's lips--``and I could not wear it, and +could only wear a plain one for service and keep +this hanging in my tent on the tent-pole. John +Ring used to handle it adoringly, and kept it +polished to brilliancy.--It's dull enough these +many years,'' he added, somberly. ``To Ring +it represented not only his captain, but the very +glory and pomp of war. + +``One day the Confederates suddenly stormed +our position near New Berne and swept through +the camp, driving our entire force before them; +and all, including my company, retreated hurriedly +across the river, setting fire to a long wooden +bridge as we went over. It soon blazed up furiously, +making a barrier that the Confederates +could not pass. + +``But, unknown to everybody, and unnoticed, +John Ring had dashed back to my tent. I think +he was able to make his way back because he just +looked like a mere boy; but however that was, he +got past the Confederates into my tent and took +down, from where it was hanging on the tent- +pole, my bright, gold-scabbarded sword. + +``John Ring seized the sword that had long been +so precious to him. He dodged here and there, +and actually managed to gain the bridge just as it +was beginning to blaze. He started across. The +flames were every moment getting fiercer, the +smoke denser, and now and then, as he crawled +and staggered on, he leaned for a few seconds far +over the edge of the bridge in an effort to get air. +Both sides saw him; both sides watched his +terrible progress, even while firing was fiercely +kept up from each side of the river. And then +a Confederate officer--he was one of General +Pickett's officers--ran to the water's edge +and waved a white handkerchief and the firing +ceased. + +`` `Tell that boy to come back here!' he cried. +`Tell him to come back here and we will let him +go free!' + +``He called this out just as Ring was about to +enter upon the worst part of the bridge--the cov- +ered part, where there were top and bottom and +sides of blazing wood. The roar of the flames +was so close to Ring that he could not hear the +calls from either side of the river, and he pushed +desperately on and disappeared in the covered +part. + +``There was dead silence except for the crackling +of the fire. Not a man cried out. All waited in +hopeless expectancy. And then came a mighty +yell from Northerner and Southerner alike, for +Johnnie came crawling out of the end of the covered +way--he had actually passed through that +frightful place--and his clothes were ablaze, and +he toppled over and fell into shallow water; and +in a few moments he was dragged out, unconscious, +and hurried to a hospital. + +``He lingered for a day or so, still unconscious, +and then came to himself and smiled a little as +he found that the sword for which he had given +his life had been left beside him. He took it in +his arms. He hugged it to his breast. He gave +a few words of final message for me. And that +was all.'' + +Conwell's voice had gone thrillingly low as he +neared the end, for it was all so very, very vivid to +him, and his eyes had grown tender and his lips +more strong and firm. And he fell silent, thinking +of that long-ago happening, and though he looked +down upon the thronging traffic of Broad Street, +it was clear that he did not see it, and that if +the rumbling hubbub of sound meant anything to +him it was the rumbling of the guns of the distant +past. When he spoke again it was with a still +tenser tone of feeling. + +``When I stood beside the body of John Ring +and realized that he had died for love of me, I +made a vow that has formed my life. I vowed +that from that moment I would live not only my +own life, but that I would also live the life of John +Ring. And from that moment I have worked sixteen +hours every day--eight for John Ring's work +and eight hours for my own.'' + +A curious note had come into his voice, as of +one who had run the race and neared the goal, +fought the good fight and neared the end. + +``Every morning when I rise I look at this sword, +or if I am away from home I think of the sword, +and vow anew that another day shall see sixteen +hours of work from me.'' And when one comes +to know Russell Conwell one realizes that never +did a man work more hard and constantly, + +``It was through John Ring and his giving his +life through devotion to me that I became a +Christian,'' he went on. ``This did not come +about immediately, but it came before the war +was over, and it came through faithful Johnnie +Ring.'' + +There is a little lonely cemetery in the +Berkshires, a tiny burying-ground on a wind-swept +hill, a few miles from Conwell's old home. In +this isolated burying-ground bushes and vines and +grass grow in profusion, and a few trees cast a +gentle shade; and tree-clad hills go billowing off +for miles and miles in wild and lonely beauty. +And in that lonely little graveyard I found the +plain stone that marks the resting-place of John +Ring. + + + +II + +THE BEGINNING AT OLD LEXINGTON + +IT is not because he is a minister that Russell +Conwell is such a force in the world. He +went into the ministry because he was sincerely +and profoundly a Christian, and because he felt +that as a minister he could do more good in the +world than in any other capacity. But being a +minister is but an incident, so to speak. The +important thing is not that he is a minister, but that +he is himself! + +Recently I heard a New-Yorker, the head of +a great corporation, say: ``I believe that Russell +Conwell is doing more good in the world than any +man who has lived since Jesus Christ.'' And +he said this in serious and unexaggerated earnest. + +Yet Conwell did not get readily into his life- +work. He might have seemed almost a failure +until he was well on toward forty, for although he +kept making successes they were not permanent +successes, and he did not settle himself into a +definite line. He restlessly went westward to +make his home, and then restlessly returned to +the East. After the war was over he was a lawyer, +he was a lecturer, he was an editor, he went around +the world as a correspondent, he wrote books. +He kept making money, and kept losing it; he lost +it through fire, through investments, through aiding +his friends. It is probable that the unsettledness +of the years following the war was due to the +unsettling effect of the war itself, which thus, in +its influence, broke into his mature life after +breaking into his years at Yale. But however that +may be, those seething, changing, stirring years +were years of vital importance to him, for in the +myriad experiences of that time he was building +the foundation of the Conwell that was to come. +Abroad he met the notables of the earth. At +home he made hosts of friends and loyal admirers. + +It is worth while noting that as a lawyer he +would never take a case, either civil or criminal, +that he considered wrong. It was basic with him +that he could not and would not fight on what +he thought was the wrong side. Only when his +client was right would he go ahead! + +Yet he laughs, his quiet, infectious, characteristic +laugh, as he tells of how once he was deceived, +for he defended a man, charged with stealing a +watch, who was so obviously innocent that he +took the case in a blaze of indignation and had +the young fellow proudly exonerated. The next +day the wrongly accused one came to his office +and shamefacedly took out the watch that he +had been charged with stealing. ``I want you to +send it to the man I took it from,'' he said. And +he told with a sort of shamefaced pride of how +he had got a good old deacon to give, in all +sincerity, the evidence that exculpated him. ``And, +say, Mr. Conwell--I want to thank you for +getting me off--and I hope you'll excuse my +deceiving you--and--I won't be any worse for not +going to jail.'' And Conwell likes to remember +that thereafter the young man lived up to the +pride of exoneration; and, though Conwell does +not say it or think it, one knows that it was the +Conwell influence that inspired to honesty--for +always he is an inspirer. + +Conwell even kept certain hours for consultation +with those too poor to pay any fee; and at +one time, while still an active lawyer, he was +guardian for over sixty children! The man has +always been a marvel, and always one is coming +upon such romantic facts as these. + +That is a curious thing about him--how much +there is of romance in his life! Worshiped to the +end by John Ring; left for dead all night at +Kenesaw Mountain; calmly singing ``Nearer, my +God, to Thee,'' to quiet the passengers on a +supposedly sinking ship; saving lives even when a +boy; never disappointing a single audience of the +thousands of audiences he has arranged to address +during all his years of lecturing! He himself takes +a little pride in this last point, and it is characteristic +of him that he has actually forgotten that +just once he did fail to appear: he has quite +forgotten that one evening, on his way to a lecture, +he stopped a runaway horse to save two +women's lives, and went in consequence to a hospital +instead of to the platform! And it is typical +of him to forget that sort of thing. + +The emotional temperament of Conwell has always +made him responsive to the great, the striking, +the patriotic. He was deeply influenced by +knowing John Brown, and his brief memories of +Lincoln are intense, though he saw him but three +times in all. + +The first time he saw Lincoln was on the night +when the future President delivered the address, +which afterward became so famous, in Cooper +Union, New York. The name of Lincoln was then +scarcely known, and it was by mere chance that +young Conwell happened to be in New York on +that day. But being there, and learning that +Abraham Lincoln from the West was going to +make an address, he went to hear him. + +He tells how uncouthly Lincoln was dressed, +even with one trousers-leg higher than the other, +and of how awkward he was, and of how poorly, +at first, he spoke and with what apparent +embarrassment. The chairman of the meeting got +Lincoln a glass of water, and Conwell thought +that it was from a personal desire to help him and +keep him from breaking down. But he loves to +tell how Lincoln became a changed man as he +spoke; how he seemed to feel ashamed of his brief +embarrassment and, pulling himself together and +putting aside the written speech which he had +prepared, spoke freely and powerfully, with splendid +conviction, as only a born orator speaks. To +Conwell it was a tremendous experience. + +The second time he saw Lincoln was when +he went to Washington to plead for the life of one +of his men who had been condemned to death +for sleeping on post. He was still but a captain +(his promotion to a colonelcy was still to come), +a youth, and was awed by going into the presence +of the man he worshiped. And his voice trembles +a little, even now, as he tells of how pleasantly +Lincoln looked up from his desk, and how cheerfully +he asked his business with him, and of how +absorbedly Lincoln then listened to his tale, +although, so it appeared, he already knew of the +main outline. + +``It will be all right,'' said Lincoln, when +Conwell finished. But Conwell was still frightened. +He feared that in the multiplicity of public matters +this mere matter of the life of a mountain +boy, a private soldier, might be forgotten till too +late. ``It is almost the time set--'' he faltered. +And Conwell's voice almost breaks, man of emotion +that he is, as he tells of how Lincoln said, +with stern gravity: ``Go and telegraph that soldier's +mother that Abraham Lincoln never signed +a warrant to shoot a boy under twenty, and never +will.'' That was the one and only time that he +spoke with Lincoln, and it remains an indelible +impression. + +The third time he saw Lincoln was when, as +officer of the day, he stood for hours beside the +dead body of the President as it lay in state in +Washington. In those hours, as he stood rigidly +as the throng went shuffling sorrowfully through, +an immense impression came to Colonel Conwell +of the work and worth of the man who there lay +dead, and that impression has never departed. + +John Brown, Abraham Lincoln, old Revolutionary +Lexington--how Conwell's life is associated +with famous men and places!--and it was +actually at Lexington that he made the crucial +decision as to the course of his life! And it seems +to me that it was, although quite unconsciously, +because of the very fact that it was Lexington that +Conwell was influenced to decide and to act as +he did. Had it been in some other kind of place, +some merely ordinary place, some quite usual +place, he might not have taken the important +step. But it was Lexington, it was brave old +Lexington, inspiring Lexington; and he was +inspired by it, for the man who himself inspires +nobly is always the one who is himself open to +noble inspiration. Lexington inspired him. + +``When I was a lawyer in Boston and almost +thirty-seven years old,'' he told me, thinking +slowly back into the years, ``I was consulted by +a woman who asked my advice in regard to +disposing of a little church in Lexington whose +congregation had become unable to support it. I +went out and looked at the place, and I told her +how the property could be sold. But it seemed a +pity to me that the little church should be given +up. However, I advised a meeting of the church +members, and I attended the meeting. I put the +case to them--it was only a handful of men and +women--and there was silence for a little. Then +an old man rose and, in a quavering voice, said +the matter was quite clear; that there evidently +was nothing to do but to sell, and that he would +agree with the others in the necessity; but as +the church had been his church home from boyhood, +so he quavered and quivered on, he begged +that they would excuse him from actually taking +part in disposing of it; and in a deep silence he +went haltingly from the room. + +``The men and the women looked at one another, +still silent, sadly impressed, but not knowing +what to do. And I said to them: `Why not start +over again, and go on with the church, after all!' '' + +Typical Conwellism, that! First, the impulse +to help those who need helping, then the inspiration +and leadership. + +`` `But the building is entirely too tumble- +down to use,' said one of the men, sadly; and I +knew he was right, for I had examined it; but I +said: + +`` `Let us meet there to-morrow morning and +get to work on that building ourselves and put +it in shape for a service next Sunday.' + +``It made them seem so pleased and encouraged, +and so confident that a new possibility was +opening that I never doubted that each one of +those present, and many friends besides, would +be at the building in the morning. I was there +early with a hammer and ax and crowbar that I +had secured, ready to go to work--but no one else +showed up!'' + +He has a rueful appreciation of the humor of +it, as he pictured the scene; and one knows also +that, in that little town of Lexington, where +Americans had so bravely faced the impossible, +Russell Conwell also braced himself to face the +impossible. A pettier man would instantly have +given up the entire matter when those who were +most interested failed to respond, but one of the +strongest features in Conwell's character is his +ability to draw even doubters and weaklings into +line, his ability to stir even those who have +given up. + +``I looked over that building,'' he goes on, +whimsically, ``and I saw that repair really seemed +out of the question. Nothing but a new church +would do! So I took the ax that I had brought +with me and began chopping the place down. +In a little while a man, not one of the church +members, came along, and he watched me for a +time and said, `What are you going to do there?' + +``And I instantly replied, `Tear down this old +building and build a new church here!' + +``He looked at me. `But the people won't +do that,' he said. + +`` `Yes, they will,' I said, cheerfully, keeping at +my work. Whereupon he watched me a few minutes +longer and said: + +`` `Well, you can put me down for one hundred +dollars for the new building. Come up to my +livery-stable and get it this evening.' + +`` `All right; I'll surely be there,' I replied. + +``In a little while another man came along and +stopped and looked, and he rather gibed at the +idea of a new church, and when I told him of the +livery-stable man contributing one hundred dollars, +he said, `But you haven't got the money yet!' + +`` `No,' I said; `but I am going to get it to-night.' + +`` `You'll never get it,' he said. `He's not that +sort of a man. He's not even a church man!' + +``But I just went quietly on with the work, +without answering, and after quite a while he +left; but he called back, as he went off, `Well, if +he does give you that hundred dollars, come to +me and I'll give you another hundred.' '' + +Conwell smiles in genial reminiscence and without +any apparent sense that he is telling of a great +personal triumph, and goes on: + +``Those two men both paid the money, and of +course the church people themselves, who at first +had not quite understood that I could be in earnest, +joined in and helped, with work and money, +and as, while the new church was building, it was +peculiarly important to get and keep the congregation +together, and as they had ceased to have +a minister of their own, I used to run out from +Boston and preach for them, in a room we hired. + +``And it was there in Lexington, in 1879, that +I determined to become a minister. I had a good +law practice, but I determined to give it up. For +many years I had felt more or less of a call to +the ministry, and here at length was the definite +time to begin. + +``Week by week I preached there''--how +strange, now, to think of William Dean Howells +and the colonel-preacher!--``and after a while +the church was completed, and in that very +church, there in Lexington, I was ordained a +minister.'' + +A marvelous thing, all this, even without +considering the marvelous heights that Conwell has +since attained--a marvelous thing, an achievement +of positive romance! That little church +stood for American bravery and initiative and +self-sacrifice and romanticism in a way that well +befitted good old Lexington. + +To leave a large and overflowing law practice +and take up the ministry at a salary of six hundred +dollars a year seemed to the relatives of Conwell's +wife the extreme of foolishness, and they did not +hesitate so to express themselves. Naturally +enough, they did not have Conwell's vision. Yet +he himself was fair enough to realize and to admit +that there was a good deal of fairness in their +objections; and so he said to the congregation +that, although he was quite ready to come for +the six hundred dollars a year, he expected them +to double his salary as soon as he doubled the +church membership. This seemed to them a +good deal like a joke, but they answered in perfect +earnestness that they would be quite willing to +do the doubling as soon as he did the doubling, +and in less than a year the salary was doubled +accordingly. + +I asked him if he had found it hard to give up +the lucrative law for a poor ministry, and his +reply gave a delightful impression of his capacity +for humorous insight into human nature, for he +said, with a genial twinkle: + +``Oh yes, it was a wrench; but there is a sort +of romance of self-sacrifice, you know. I rather +suppose the old-time martyrs rather enjoyed themselves +in being martyrs!'' + +Conwell did not stay very long in Lexington. +A struggling little church in Philadelphia heard +of what he was doing, and so an old deacon went +up to see and hear him, and an invitation was +given; and as the Lexington church seemed to +be prosperously on its feet, and the needs of the +Philadelphia body keenly appealed to Conwell's +imagination, a change was made, and at a salary +of eight hundred dollars a year he went, in 1882, +to the little struggling Philadelphia congregation, +and of that congregation he is still pastor--only, +it ceased to be a struggling congregation a great +many years ago! And long ago it began paying +him more thousands every year than at first it +gave him hundreds. + +Dreamer as Conwell always is in connection +with his immense practicality, and moved as he +is by the spiritual influences of life, it is more than +likely that not only did Philadelphia's need appeal, +but also the fact that Philadelphia, as a city, +meant much to him, for, coming North, wounded +from a battle-field of the Civil War, it was in +Philadelphia that he was cared for until his health +and strength were recovered. Thus it came that +Philadelphia had early become dear to him. + +And here is an excellent example of how dreaming +great dreams may go hand-in-hand with winning +superb results. For that little struggling +congregation now owns and occupies a great +new church building that seats more people than +any other Protestant church in America--and +Dr. Conwell fills it! + + + +III + +STORY OF THE FIFTY-SEVEN CENTS + +AT every point in Conwell's life one sees that +he wins through his wonderful personal influence +on old and young. Every step forward, +every triumph achieved, comes not alone from +his own enthusiasm, but because of his putting +that enthusiasm into others. And when I learned +how it came about that the present church buildings +were begun, it was another of those marvelous +tales of fact that are stranger than any imagination +could make them. And yet the tale was so +simple and sweet and sad and unpretending. + +When Dr. Conwell first assumed charge of the +little congregation that led him to Philadelphia +it was really a little church both in its numbers +and in the size of the building that it occupied, +but it quickly became so popular under his +leadership that the church services and Sunday- +school services were alike so crowded that there +was no room for all who came, and always there +were people turned from the doors. + +One afternoon a little girl, who had eagerly +wished to go, turned back from the Sunday-school +door, crying bitterly because they had told her +that there was no more room. But a tall, black- +haired man met her and noticed her tears and, +stopping, asked why it was that she was crying, +and she sobbingly replied that it was because +they could not let her into the Sunday-school. + +``I lifted her to my shoulder,'' says Dr. Conwell, +in telling of this; for after hearing the story +elsewhere I asked him to tell it to me himself, +for it seemed almost too strange to be true. +``I lifted her to my shoulder''--and one realizes +the pretty scene it must have made for the little +girl to go through the crowd of people, drying +her tears and riding proudly on the shoulders of +the kindly, tall, dark man! ``I said to her that +I would take her in, and I did so, and I said to +her that we should some day have a room big +enough for all who should come. And when she +went home she told her parents--I only learned +this afterward--that she was going to save money +to help build the larger church and Sunday-school +that Dr. Conwell wanted! Her parents pleasantly +humored her in the idea and let her run errands +and do little tasks to earn pennies, and she began +dropping the pennies into her bank. + +``She was a lovable little thing--but in only a +few weeks after that she was taken suddenly ill +and died; and at the funeral her father told me, +quietly, of how his little girl had been saving money +for a building-fund. And there, at the funeral, +he handed me what she had saved--just fifty- +seven cents in pennies.'' + +Dr. Conwell does not say how deeply he was +moved; he is, after all, a man of very few words +as to his own emotions. But a deep tenderness +had crept into his voice. + +``At a meeting of the church trustees I told of +this gift of fifty-seven cents--the first gift toward +the proposed building-fund of the new church that +was some time to exist. For until then the matter +had barely been spoken of, as a new church building +had been simply a possibility for the future. + +``The trustees seemed much impressed, and it +turned out that they were far more impressed +than I could possibly have hoped, for in a few +days one of them came to me and said that he +thought it would be an excellent idea to buy a +lot on Broad Street--the very lot on which the +building now stands.'' It was characteristic of +Dr. Conwell that he did not point out, what every +one who knows him would understand, that it was +his own inspiration put into the trustees which +resulted in this quick and definite move on the +part of one of them. ``I talked the matter over +with the owner of the property, and told him of +the beginning of the fund, the story of the little +girl. The man was not one of our church, nor +in fact, was he a church-goer at all, but he listened +attentively to the tale of the fifty-seven cents +and simply said he was quite ready to go ahead +and sell us that piece of land for ten thousand +dollars, taking--and the unexpectedness of this +deeply touched me taking a first payment of just +fifty-seven cents and letting the entire balance +stand on a five-per-cent. mortgage! + +``And it seemed to me that it would be the +right thing to accept this unexpectedly liberal +proposition, and I went over the entire matter +on that basis with the trustees and some of the +other members, and all the people were soon +talking of having a new church. But it was not +done in that way, after all, for, fine though that +way would have been, there was to be one still +finer. + +``Not long after my talk with the man who +owned the land, and his surprisingly good-hearted +proposition, an exchange was arranged for me one +evening with a Mount Holly church, and my wife +went with me. We came back late, and it was +cold and wet and miserable, but as we approached +our home we saw that it was all lighted from +top to bottom, and it was clear that it was full +of people. I said to my wife that they seemed to +be having a better time than we had had, and we +went in, curious to know what it was all about. +And it turned out that our absence had been +intentionally arranged, and that the church people +had gathered at our home to meet us on our return. +And I was utterly amazed, for the spokesman +told me that the entire ten thousand dollars +had been raised and that the land for the church +that I wanted was free of debt. And all had come +so quickly and directly from that dear little girl's +fifty-seven cents.'' + +Doesn't it seem like a fairy tale! But then this +man has all his life been making fairy tales into +realities. He inspired the child. He inspired the +trustees. He inspired the owner of the land. He +inspired the people. + +The building of the great church--the Temple +Baptist Church, as it is termed--was a great +undertaking for the congregation; even though +it had been swiftly growing from the day of Dr. +Conwell's taking charge of it, it was something +far ahead of what, except in the eyes of an enthusiast, +they could possibly complete and pay for +and support. Nor was it an easy task. + +Ground was broken for the building in 1889, +in 1891 it was opened for worship, and then +came years of raising money to clear it. But it +was long ago placed completely out of debt, and +with only a single large subscription--one of ten +thousand dollars--for the church is not in a +wealthy neighborhood, nor is the congregation +made up of the great and rich. + +The church is built of stone, and its interior +is a great amphitheater. Special attention has +been given to fresh air and light; there is nothing +of the dim, religious light that goes with medieval +churchliness. Behind the pulpit are tiers of seats +for the great chorus choir. There is a large organ. +The building is peculiarly adapted for hearing +and seeing, and if it is not, strictly speaking, +beautiful in itself, it is beautiful when it is filled +with encircling rows of men and women. + +Man of feeling that he is, and one who +appreciates the importance of symbols, Dr. Conwell +had a heart of olive-wood built into the front of the +pulpit, for the wood was from an olive-tree in the +Garden of Gethsemane. And the amber-colored +tiles in the inner walls of the church bear, under +the glaze, the names of thousands of his people; +for every one, young or old, who helped in the +building, even to the giving of a single dollar, has +his name inscribed there. For Dr. Conwell wished +to show that it is not only the house of the Lord, +but also, in a keenly personal sense, the house of +those who built it. + +The church has a possible seating capacity of +4,200, although only 3,135 chairs have been put +in it, for it has been the desire not to crowd the +space needlessly. There is also a great room for +the Sunday-school, and extensive rooms for the +young men's association, the young women's +association, and for a kitchen, for executive offices, +for meeting-places for church officers and boards +and committees. It is a spacious and practical +and complete church home, and the people feel +at home there. + +``You see again,'' said Dr. Conwell, musingly, +``the advantage of aiming at big things. That +building represents $109,000 above ground. It +is free from debt. Had we built a small church, it +would now be heavily mortgaged.'' + + + +IV + +HIS POWER AS ORATOR AND PREACHER + +EVEN as a young man Conwell won local fame +as an orator. At the outbreak of the Civil +War he began making patriotic speeches that +gained enlistments. After going to the front he +was sent back home for a time, on furlough, to +make more speeches to draw more recruits, for his +speeches were so persuasive, so powerful, so full +of homely and patriotic feeling, that the men who +heard them thronged into the ranks. And as a +preacher he uses persuasion, power, simple and +homely eloquence, to draw men to the ranks of +Christianity. + +He is an orator born, and has developed this +inborn power by the hardest of study and thought +and practice. He is one of those rare men who +always seize and hold the attention. When he +speaks, men listen. It is quality, temperament, +control--the word is immaterial, but the fact is +very material indeed. + +Some quarter of a century ago Conwell published +a little book for students on the study and practice +of oratory. That ``clear-cut articulation is the +charm of eloquence'' is one of his insisted-upon +statements, and it well illustrates the lifelong +practice of the man himself, for every word as +he talks can be heard in every part of a large building, +yet always he speaks without apparent effort. +He avoids ``elocution.'' His voice is soft-pitched +and never breaks, even now when he is over +seventy, because, so he explains it, he always +speaks in his natural voice. There is never a +straining after effect. + +``A speaker must possess a large-hearted regard +for the welfare of his audience,'' he writes, and +here again we see Conwell explaining Conwellism. +``Enthusiasm invites enthusiasm,'' is another of his +points of importance; and one understands that +it is by deliberate purpose, and not by chance, +that he tries with such tremendous effort to put +enthusiasm into his hearers with every sermon +and every lecture that he delivers. + +``It is easy to raise a laugh, but dangerous, for +it is the greatest test of an orator's control of his +audience to be able to land them again on the +solid earth of sober thinking.'' I have known +him at the very end of a sermon have a ripple of +laughter sweep freely over the entire congregation, +and then in a moment he has every individual +under his control, listening soberly to his words. + +He never fears to use humor, and it is always +very simple and obvious and effective. With him +even a very simple pun may be used, not only with- +out taking away from the strength of what he is +saying, but with a vivid increase of impressiveness. +And when he says something funny it is +in such a delightful and confidential way, with +such a genial, quiet, infectious humorousness, that +his audience is captivated. And they never think +that he is telling something funny of his own; +it seems, such is the skill of the man, that he is +just letting them know of something humorous +that they are to enjoy with him. + +``Be absolutely truthful and scrupulously clear,'' +he writes; and with delightfully terse common +sense, he says, ``Use illustrations that illustrate''-- +and never did an orator live up to this injunction +more than does Conwell himself. Nothing is more +surprising, nothing is more interesting, than the +way in which he makes use as illustrations of the +impressions and incidents of his long and varied +life, and, whatever it is, it has direct and instant +bearing on the progress of his discourse. He will +refer to something that he heard a child say in a +train yesterday; in a few minutes he will speak +of something that he saw or some one whom he +met last month, or last year, or ten years ago-- +in Ohio, in California, in London, in Paris, in +New York, in Bombay; and each memory, each +illustration, is a hammer with which he drives +home a truth. + +The vast number of places he has visited and +people he has met, the infinite variety of things his +observant eyes have seen, give him his ceaseless +flow of illustrations, and his memory and his +skill make admirable use of them. It is seldom +that he uses an illustration from what he has +read; everything is, characteristically, his own. +Henry M. Stanley, who knew him well, referred +to him as ``that double-sighted Yankee,'' who +could ``see at a glance all there is and all there +ever was.'' + +And never was there a man who so supplements +with personal reminiscence the place or the person +that has figured in the illustration. When +he illustrates with the story of the discovery of +California gold at Sutter's he almost parenthetically +remarks, ``I delivered this lecture on that +very spot a few years ago; that is, in the town +that arose on that very spot.'' And when he +illustrates by the story of the invention of the +sewing-machine, he adds: ``I suppose that if any +of you were asked who was the inventor of the +sewing-machine, you would say that it was Elias +Howe. But that would be a mistake. I was +with Elias Howe in the Civil War, and he often +used to tell me how he had tried for fourteen years +to invent the sewing-machine and that then his +wife, feeling that something really had to be done, +invented it in a couple of hours.'' Listening to +him, you begin to feel in touch with everybody +and everything, and in a friendly and intimate +way. + +Always, whether in the pulpit or on the platform, +as in private conversation, there is an absolute +simplicity about the man and his words; a +simplicity, an earnestness, a complete honesty. And +when he sets down, in his book on oratory, ``A +man has no right to use words carelessly,'' he +stands for that respect for word-craftsmanship +that every successful speaker or writer must feel. + +``Be intensely in earnest,'' he writes; and in +writing this he sets down a prime principle not +only of his oratory, but of his life. + +A young minister told me that Dr. Conwell +once said to him, with deep feeling, ``Always +remember, as you preach, that you are striving to +save at least one soul with every sermon.'' And +to one of his close friends Dr. Conwell said, in +one of his self-revealing conversations: + +``I feel, whenever I preach, that there is always +one person in the congregation to whom, in all +probability, I shall never preach again, and +therefore I feel that I must exert my utmost power +in that last chance.'' And in this, even if this were +all, one sees why each of his sermons is so +impressive, and why his energy never lags. Always, +with him, is the feeling that he is in the world to +do all the good he can possibly do; not a moment, +not an opportunity, must be lost. + +The moment he rises and steps to the front +of his pulpit he has the attention of every one in +the building, and this attention he closely holds +till he is through. Yet it is never by a striking +effort that attention is gained, except in so far +that his utter simplicity is striking. ``I want +to preach so simply that you will not think it +preaching, but just that you are listening to a +friend,'' I remember his saying, one Sunday morning, +as he began his sermon; and then he went on +just as simply as such homely, kindly, friendly +words promised. And how effectively! + +He believes that everything should be so put +as to be understood by all, and this belief he +applies not only to his preaching, but to the +reading of the Bible, whose descriptions he not only +visualizes to himself, but makes vividly clear to his +hearers; and this often makes for fascination in +result. + +For example, he is reading the tenth chapter of +I Samuel, and begins, `` `Thou shalt meet a company +of prophets.' '' + +`` `Singers,' it should be translated,'' he puts in, +lifting his eyes from the page and looking out over +his people. Then he goes on, taking this change as +a matter of course, `` `Thou shalt meet a company +of singers coming down from the high place--' '' + +Whereupon he again interrupts himself, and +in an irresistible explanatory aside, which instantly +raises the desired picture in the mind of every +one, he says: ``That means, from the little old +church on the hill, you know.'' And how plain +and clear and real and interesting--most of all, +interesting--it is from this moment! Another +man would have left it that prophets were coming +down from a high place, which would not have +seemed at all alive or natural, and here, suddenly, +Conwell has flashed his picture of the singers +coming down from the little old church on the +hill! There is magic in doing that sort of thing. + +And he goes on, now reading: `` `Thou shalt +meet a company of singers coming down from +the little old church on the hill, with a psaltery, +and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, and they +shall sing.' '' + +Music is one of Conwell's strongest aids. He +sings himself; sings as if he likes to sing, and often +finds himself leading the singing--usually so, +indeed, at the prayer-meetings, and often, in +effect, at the church services. + +I remember at one church service that the +choir-leader was standing in front of the massed +choir ostensibly leading the singing, but that +Conwell himself, standing at the rear of the +pulpit platform, with his eyes on his hymn-book, +silently swaying a little with the music and +unconsciously beating time as he swayed, was just +as unconsciously the real leader, for it was he +whom the congregation were watching and with +him that they were keeping time! He never +suspected it; he was merely thinking along with +the music; and there was such a look of +contagious happiness on his face as made every one +in the building similarly happy. For he possesses +a mysterious faculty of imbuing others with his +own happiness. + +Not only singers, but the modern equivalent +of psaltery and tabret and cymbals, all have their +place in Dr. Conwell's scheme of church service; +for there may be a piano, and there may even be +a trombone, and there is a great organ to help +the voices, and at times there are chiming bells. +His musical taste seems to tend toward the +thunderous--or perhaps it is only that he knows +there are times when people like to hear the +thunderous and are moved by it. + +And how the choir themselves like it! They +occupy a great curving space behind the pulpit, +and put their hearts into song. And as the +congregation disperse and the choir filter down, +sometimes they are still singing and some of them +continue to sing as they go slowly out toward the +doors. They are happy--Conwell himself is +happy--all the congregation are happy. He makes +everybody feel happy in coming to church; he +makes the church attractive just as Howells was +so long ago told that he did in Lexington. + +And there is something more than happiness; +there is a sense of ease, of comfort, of general joy, +that is quite unmistakable. There is nothing of +stiffness or constraint. And with it all there is +full reverence. It is no wonder that he is +accustomed to fill every seat of the great building. + +His gestures are usually very simple. Now and +then, when he works up to emphasis, he strikes +one fist in the palm of the other hand. When he +is through you do not remember that he has made +any gestures at all, but the sound of his voice +remains with you, and the look of his wonderful +eyes. And though he is past the threescore years +and ten, he looks out over his people with eyes that +still have the veritable look of youth. + +Like all great men, he not only does big things, +but keeps in touch with myriad details. When +his assistant, announcing the funeral of an old +member, hesitates about the street and number +and says that they can be found in the telephone +directory, Dr. Conwell's deep voice breaks quietly +in with, ``Such a number [giving it], Dauphin +Street''--quietly, and in a low tone, yet every +one in the church hears distinctly every syllable +of that low voice. + +His fund of personal anecdote, or personal +reminiscence, is constant and illustrative in his +preaching, just as it is when he lectures, and the +reminiscences sweep through many years, and at times +are really startling in the vivid and homelike +pictures they present of the famous folk of the +past that he knew. + +One Sunday evening he made an almost casual +reference to the time when he first met Garfield, +then a candidate for the Presidency. ``I asked +Major McKinley, whom I had met in Washington, +and whose home was in northern Ohio, as was +that of Mr. Garfield, to go with me to Mr. +Garfield's home and introduce me. When we got +there, a neighbor had to find him. `Jim! Jim!' +he called. You see, Garfield was just plain Jim +to his old neighbors. It's hard to recognize a +hero over your back fence!'' He paused a mo- +ment for the appreciative ripple to subside, and +went on: + +``We three talked there together''--what a +rare talking that must have been-McKinley, +Garfield, and Conwell--``we talked together, and +after a while we got to the subject of hymns, and +those two great men both told me how deeply +they loved the old hymn, `The Old-Time Religion.' +Garfield especially loved it, so he told +us, because the good old man who brought him +up as a boy and to whom he owed such gratitude, +used to sing it at the pasture bars outside of the +boy's window every morning, and young Jim +knew, whenever he heard that old tune, that it +meant it was time for him to get up. He said +that he had heard the best concerts and the finest +operas in the world, but had never heard anything +he loved as he still loved `The Old-Time Religion.' +I forget what reason there was for McKinley's +especially liking it, but he, as did Garfield, liked +it immensely.'' + +What followed was a striking example of Conwell's +intentness on losing no chance to fix an +impression on his hearers' minds, and at the same +time it was a really astonishing proof of his power +to move and sway. For a new expression came +over his face, and he said, as if the idea had only +at that moment occurred to him--as it most +probably had--``I think it's in our hymnal!'' +And in a moment he announced the number, +and the great organ struck up, and every person +in the great church every man, woman, and child +--joined in the swinging rhythm of verse after +verse, as if they could never tire, of ``The Old- +Time Religion.'' It is a simple melody--barely +more than a single line of almost monotone +music: + + + _It was good enough for mother and it's good enough for me! + It was good on the fiery furnace and it's good enough for me!_ + + +Thus it went on, with never-wearying iteration, +and each time with the refrain, more and more +rhythmic and swaying: + + + _The old-time religion, + The old-time religion, + The old-time religion-- + It's good enough for me!_ + + +That it was good for the Hebrew children, that +it was good for Paul and Silas, that it will help +you when you're dying, that it will show the way +to heaven--all these and still other lines were +sung, with a sort of wailing softness, a curious +monotone, a depth of earnestness. And the man +who had worked this miracle of control by evoking +out of the past his memory of a meeting with two +of the vanished great ones of the earth, stood +before his people, leading them, singing with them, +his eyes aglow with an inward light. His magic +had suddenly set them into the spirit of the old +camp-meeting days, the days of pioneering and +hardship, when religion meant so much to everybody, +and even those who knew nothing of such +things felt them, even if but vaguely. Every +heart was moved and touched, and that old tune +will sing in the memory of all who thus heard it +and sung it as long as they live. + + + +V + +GIFT FOR INSPIRING OTHERS + +THE constant earnestness of Conwell, his desire +to let no chance slip by of helping a fellowman, +puts often into his voice, when he preaches, +a note of eagerness, of anxiety. But when he +prays, when he turns to God, his manner undergoes +a subtle and unconscious change. A load +has slipped off his shoulders and has been assumed +by a higher power. Into his bearing, dignified +though it was, there comes an unconscious +increase of the dignity. Into his voice, firm as it +was before, there comes a deeper note of firmness. +He is apt to fling his arms widespread as he prays, +in a fine gesture that he never uses at other times, +and he looks upward with the dignity of a man +who, talking to a higher being, is proud of being +a friend and confidant. One does not need to be +a Christian to appreciate the beauty and fineness +of Conwell's prayers. + +He is likely at any time to do the unexpected, +and he is so great a man and has such control +that whatever he does seems to everybody a per- +fectly natural thing. His sincerity is so evident, +and whatever he does is done so simply and naturally, +that it is just a matter of course. + +I remember, during one church service, while +the singing was going on, that he suddenly rose +from his chair and, kneeling beside it, on the open +pulpit, with his back to the congregation, remained +in that posture for several minutes. No one +thought it strange. I was likely enough the only +one who noticed it. His people are used to his +sincerities. And this time it was merely that he +had a few words to say quietly to God and turned +aside for a few moments to say them. + +His earnestness of belief in prayer makes him +a firm believer in answers to prayer, and, in fact, +to what may be termed the direct interposition of +Providence. Doubtless the mystic strain inherited +from his mother has also much to do with this. +He has a typically homely way of expressing it +by one of his favorite maxims, one that he loves +to repeat encouragingly to friends who are in +difficulties themselves or who know of the difficulties +that are his; and this heartening maxim is, +``Trust in God and do the next thing.'' + +At one time in the early days of his church +work in Philadelphia a payment of a thousand +dollars was absolutely needed to prevent a law- +suit in regard to a debt for the church organ. +In fact, it was worse than a debt; it was a note +signed by himself personally, that had become +due--he was always ready to assume personal +liability for debts of his church--and failure to +meet the note would mean a measure of disgrace +as well as marked church discouragement. + +He had tried all the sources that seemed open +to him, but in vain. He could not openly appeal +to the church members, in this case, for it was +in the early days of his pastorate, and his zeal +for the organ, his desire and determination to +have it, as a necessary part of church equipment, +had outrun the judgment of some of his best +friends, including that of the deacon who had +gone to Massachusetts for him. They had urged a +delay till other expenses were met, and he had +acted against their advice. + +He had tried such friends as he could, and he +had tried prayer. But there was no sign of aid, +whether supernatural or natural. + +And then, literally on the very day on which +the holder of the note was to begin proceedings +against him, a check for precisely the needed one +thousand dollars came to him, by mail, from a +man in the West--a man who was a total stranger +to him. It turned out that the man's sister, +who was one of the Temple membership, had +written to her brother of Dr. Conwell's work. +She knew nothing of any special need for money, +knew nothing whatever of any note or of the +demand for a thousand dollars; she merely +outlined to her brother what Dr. Conwell was +accomplishing, and with such enthusiasm that the +brother at once sent the opportune check. + +At a later time the sum of ten thousand dollars +was importunately needed. It was due, payment +had been promised. It was for some of the +construction work of the Temple University +buildings. The last day had come, and Conwell and +the very few who knew of the emergency were +in the depths of gloom. It was too large a sum to +ask the church people to make up, for they were +not rich and they had already been giving splendidly, +of their slender means, for the church and +then for the university. There was no rich man +to turn to; the men famous for enormous charitable +gifts have never let themselves be interested +in any of the work of Russell Conwell. It would +be unkind and gratuitous to suggest that it has +been because their names could not be personally +attached, or because the work is of an unpretentious +kind among unpretentious people; it need +merely be said that neither they nor their agents +have cared to aid, except that one of the very +richest, whose name is the most distinguished in +the entire world as a giver, did once, in response to +a strong personal application, give thirty-five +hundred dollars, this being the extent of the +association of the wealthy with any of the varied +Conwell work. + +So when it was absolutely necessary to have +ten thousand dollars the possibilities of money +had been exhausted, whether from congregation +or individuals. + +Russell Conwell, in spite of his superb optimism, +is also a man of deep depressions, and this is +because of the very fire and fervor of his nature, for +always in such a nature there is a balancing. He +believes in success; success must come!--success +is in itself almost a religion with him--success +for himself and for all the world who will try for +it! But there are times when he is sad and doubtful +over some particular possibility. And he intensely +believes in prayer--faith can move mountains; +but always he believes that it is better +not to wait for the mountains thus to be moved, +but to go right out and get to work at moving +them. And once in a while there comes a time +when the mountain looms too threatening, even +after the bravest efforts and the deepest trust. +Such a time had come--the ten-thousand-dollar +debt was a looming mountain that he had tried +in vain to move. He could still pray, and he did, +but it was one of the times when he could only +think that something had gone wrong. + +The dean of the university, who has been +closely in touch with all his work for many years, +told me of how, in a discouragement which was +the more notable through contrast with his usual +unfailing courage, he left the executive offices +for his home, a couple of blocks away + +``He went away with everything looking dark +before him. It was Christmas-time, but the very +fact of its being Christmas only added to his +depression--Christmas was such an unnatural +time for unhappiness! But in a few minutes he +came flying back, radiant, overjoyed, sparkling +with happiness, waving a slip of paper in his hand +which was a check for precisely ten thousand +dollars! For he had just drawn it out of an +envelope handed to him, as he reached home, by +the mail-carrier. + +``And it had come so strangely and so naturally! +For the check was from a woman who was profoundly +interested in his work, and who had sent +the check knowing that in a general way it was +needed, but without the least idea that there +was any immediate need. That was eight or nine +years ago, but although the donor was told at +the time that Dr. Conwell and all of us were +most grateful for the gift, it was not until very +recently that she was told how opportune it was. +And the change it made in Dr. Conwell! He is +a great man for maxims, and all of us who are +associated with him know that one of his favorites +is that `It will all come out right some time!' +And of course we had a rare opportunity to tell +him that he ought never to be discouraged. And +it is so seldom that he is!'' + +When the big new church was building the +members of the church were vaguely disturbed by +noticing, when the structure reached the second +story, that at that height, on the side toward the +vacant and unbought land adjoining, there were +several doors built that opened literally into +nothing but space! + +When asked about these doors and their purpose, +Dr. Conwell would make some casual reply, +generally to the effect that they might be excellent +as fire-escapes. To no one, for quite a while, did he +broach even a hint of the great plan that was +seething in his mind, which was that the buildings +of a university were some day to stand on that +land immediately adjoining the church! + +At that time the university, the Temple University +as it is now called, was not even a college, +although it was probably called a college. Conwell +had organized it, and it consisted of a number +of classes and teachers, meeting in highly +inadequate quarters in two little houses. But the +imagination of Conwell early pictured great new +buildings with accommodations for thousands! In +time the dream was realized, the imagination +became a fact, and now those second-floor doors +actually open from the Temple Church into the +Temple University! + +You see, he always thinks big! He dreams big +dreams and wins big success. All his life he has +talked and preached success, and it is a real and +very practical belief with him that it is just as +easy to do a large thing as a small one, and, in +fact, a little easier! And so he naturally does not +see why one should be satisfied with the small +things of life. ``If your rooms are big the people +will come and fill them,'' he likes to say. The +same effort that wins a small success would, +rightly directed, have won a great success. ``Think +big things and then do them!'' + +Most favorite of all maxims with this man of +maxims, is ``Let Patience have her perfect work.'' +Over and over he loves to say it, and his friends +laugh about his love for it, and he knows that they +do and laughs about it himself. ``I tire them all,'' +he says, ``for they hear me say it every day.'' + +But he says it every day because it means so +much to him. It stands, in his mind, as a constant +warning against anger or impatience or over-haste +--faults to which his impetuous temperament is +prone, though few have ever seen him either +angry or impatient or hasty, so well does he exercise +self-control. Those who have long known +him well have said to me that they have never +heard him censure any one; that his forbearance +and kindness are wonderful. + +He is a sensitive man beneath his composure; +he has suffered, and keenly, when he has been +unjustly attacked; he feels pain of that sort for +a long time, too, for even the passing of years +does not entirely deaden it. + +``When I have been hurt, or when I have talked +with annoying cranks, I have tried to let Patience +have her perfect work, for those very people, if +you have patience with them, may afterward be +of help.'' + +And he went on to talk a little of his early +years in Philadelphia, and he said, with sadness, +that it had pained him to meet with opposition, +and that it had even come from ministers of his +own denomination, for he had been so misunder- +stood and misjudged; but, he added, the momentary +somberness lifting, even his bitter enemies +had been won over with patience. + +I could understand a good deal of what he +meant, for one of the Baptist ministers of +Philadelphia had said to me, with some shame, that +at first it used actually to be the case that when +Dr. Conwell would enter one of the regular ministers' +meetings, all would hold aloof, not a single +one stepping forward to meet or greet him. + +``And it was all through our jealousy of his +success,'' said the minister, vehemently. ``He +came to this city a stranger, and he won instant +popularity, and we couldn't stand it, and so we +pounced upon things that he did that were altogether +unimportant. The rest of us were so jealous +of his winning throngs that we couldn't see +the good in him. And it hurt Dr. Conwell so +much that for ten years he did not come to our +conferences. But all this was changed long ago. +Now no minister is so welcomed as he is, and I +don't believe that there ever has been a single +time since he started coming again that he hasn't +been asked to say something to us. We got over +our jealousy long ago and we all love him.'' + +Nor is it only that the clergymen of his own +denomination admire him, for not long ago, +such having been Dr. Conwell's triumph in the +city of his adoption, the rector of the most powerful +and aristocratic church in Philadelphia voluntarily +paid lofty tribute to his aims and ability, +his work and his personal worth. ``He is an +inspiration to his brothers in the ministry of Jesus +Christ,'' so this Episcopalian rector wrote. ``He +is a friend to all that is good, a foe to all that is +evil, a strength to the weak, a comforter to the +sorrowing, a man of God. These words come from +the heart of one who loves, honors, and reverences +him for his character and his deeds.'' + +Dr. Conwell did some beautiful and unusual +things in his church, instituted some beautiful and +unusual customs, and one can see how narrow and +hasty criticisms charged him, long ago, with +sensationalism--charges long since forgotten except +through the hurt still felt by Dr. Conwell himself. +``They used to charge me with making a circus +of the church--as if it were possible for me to +make a circus of the church!'' And his tone was +one of grieved amazement after all these years. + +But he was original and he was popular, and +therefore there were misunderstanding and jealousy. +His Easter services, for example, years +ago, became widely talked of and eagerly +anticipated because each sermon would be wrought +around some fine symbol; and he would hold in +his hand, in the pulpit, the blue robin's egg, or +the white dove, or the stem of lilies, or whatever +he had chosen as the particular symbol for the +particular sermon, and that symbol would give +him the central thought for his discourse, accented +as it would be by the actual symbol itself in view +of the congregation. The cross lighted by elec- +tricity, to shine down over the baptismal pool, the +little stream of water cascading gently down the +steps of the pool during the baptismal rite, the +roses floating in the pool and his gift of one of them +to each of the baptized as he or she left the water-- +all such things did seem, long ago, so unconventional. +Yet his own people recognized the beauty +and poetry of them, and thousands of Bibles in +Philadelphia have a baptismal rose from Dr. +Conwell pressed within the pages. + +His constant individuality of mind, his constant +freshness, alertness, brilliancy, warmth, sympathy, +endear him to his congregation, and when he +returns from an absence they bubble and effervesce +over him as if he were some brilliant new preacher +just come to them. He is always new to them. +Were it not that he possesses some remarkable +quality of charm he would long ago have become, +so to speak, an old story, but instead of that he +is to them an always new story, an always entertaining +and delightful story, after all these years. + +It is not only that they still throng to hear +him either preach or lecture, though that itself +would be noticeable, but it is the delightful and +delighted spirit with which they do it. Just the +other evening I heard him lecture in his own +church, just after his return from an absence, +and every face beamed happily up at him to welcome +him back, and every one listened as intently +to his every word as if he had never been heard +there before; and when the lecture was over a +huge bouquet of flowers was handed up to him, and +some one embarrassedly said a few words about +its being because he was home again. It was +all as if he had just returned from an absence of +months--and he had been away just five and a +half days! + + + +VI + +MILLIONS OF HEARERS + +THAT Conwell is not primarily a minister-- +that he is a minister because he is a sincere +Christian, but that he is first of all an Abou Ben +Adhem, a man who loves his fellow-men, becomes +more and more apparent as the scope of his life- +work is recognized. One almost comes to think +that his pastorate of a great church is even a +minor matter beside the combined importance of +his educational work, his lecture work, his hospital +work, his work in general as a helper to those who +need help. + +For my own part, I should say that he is like +some of the old-time prophets, the strong ones +who found a great deal to attend to in addition +to matters of religion. The power, the ruggedness, +the physical and mental strength, the positive +grandeur of the man--all these are like the general +conceptions of the big Old Testament prophets. +The suggestion is given only because it has +often recurred, and therefore with the feeling that +there is something more than fanciful in the com- +parison; and yet, after all, the comparison fails +in one important particular, for none of the +prophets seems to have had a sense of humor! + +It is perhaps better and more accurate to +describe him as the last of the old school of American +philosophers, the last of those sturdy-bodied, high- +thinking, achieving men who, in the old days, +did their best to set American humanity in the +right path--such men as Emerson, Alcott, Gough, +Wendell Phillips, Garrison, Bayard Taylor, +Beecher; men whom Conwell knew and admired +in the long ago, and all of whom have long since +passed away. + +And Conwell, in his going up and down the +country, inspiring his thousands and thousands, +is the survivor of that old-time group who used +to travel about, dispensing wit and wisdom and +philosophy and courage to the crowded benches +of country lyceums, and the chairs of school-houses +and town halls, or the larger and more pretentious +gathering-places of the cities. + +Conwell himself is amused to remember that +he wanted to talk in public from his boyhood, +and that very early he began to yield to the +inborn impulse. He laughs as he remembers the +variety of country fairs and school commencements +and anniversaries and even sewing-circles +where he tried his youthful powers, and all for +experience alone, in the first few years, except +possibly for such a thing as a ham or a jack-knife! +The first money that he ever received for speaking +was, so he remembers with glee, seventy-five cents; +and even that was not for his talk, but for horse +hire! But at the same time there is more than +amusement in recalling these experiences, for he +knows that they were invaluable to him as training. +And for over half a century he has affectionately +remembered John B. Gough, who, in the +height of his own power and success, saw resolution +and possibilities in the ardent young hill-man, +and actually did him the kindness and the honor +of introducing him to an audience in one of the +Massachusetts towns; and it was really a great +kindness and a great honor, from a man who had +won his fame to a young man just beginning an +oratorical career. + +Conwell's lecturing has been, considering +everything, the most important work of his life, for by +it he has come into close touch with so many +millions--literally millions!--of people. + +I asked him once if he had any idea how +many he had talked to in the course of his career, +and he tried to estimate how many thousands +of times he had lectured, and the average attendance +for each, but desisted when he saw that it +ran into millions of hearers. What a marvel is +such a fact as that! Millions of hearers! + +I asked the same question of his private secretary, +and found that no one had ever kept any sort +of record; but as careful an estimate as could be +made gave a conservative result of fully eight +million hearers for his lectures; and adding the +number to whom he has preached, who have been +over five million, there is a total of well over +thirteen million who have listened to Russell +Conwell's voice! And this staggering total is, if +anything, an underestimate. The figuring was done +cautiously and was based upon such facts as that +he now addresses an average of over forty-five +hundred at his Sunday services (an average that +would be higher were it not that his sermons in +vacation time are usually delivered in little +churches; when at home, at the Temple, he +addresses three meetings every Sunday), and that +he lectures throughout the entire course of each +year, including six nights a week of lecturing during +vacation-time. What a power is wielded by +a man who has held over thirteen million people +under the spell of his voice! Probably no other +man who ever lived had such a total of hearers. +And the total is steadily mounting, for he is a man +who has never known the meaning of rest. + +I think it almost certain that Dr. Conwell has +never spoken to any one of what, to me, is the +finest point of his lecture-work, and that is that +he still goes gladly and for small fees to the small +towns that are never visited by other men of great +reputation. He knows that it is the little places, +the out-of-the-way places, the submerged places, +that most need a pleasure and a stimulus, and he +still goes out, man of well over seventy that he is, +to tiny towns in distant states, heedless of the +discomforts of traveling, of the poor little hotels +that seldom have visitors, of the oftentimes hopeless +cooking and the uncleanliness, of the hardships +and the discomforts, of the unventilated +and overheated or underheated halls. He does +not think of claiming the relaxation earned by a +lifetime of labor, or, if he ever does, the thought +of the sword of John Ring restores instantly his +fervid earnestness. + +How he does it, how he can possibly keep it up, +is the greatest marvel of all. I have before me a +list of his engagements for the summer weeks of +this year, 1915, and I shall set it down because +it will specifically show, far more clearly than +general statements, the kind of work he does. +The list is the itinerary of his vacation. Vacation! +Lecturing every evening but Sunday, and on +Sundays preaching in the town where he happens +to be! + +June 24 Ackley, Ia. July 11 *Brookings, S. D. + `` 25 Waterloo, Ia. `` 12 Pipestone, Minn. + `` 26 Decorah, Ia. `` 13 Hawarden, Ia. + `` 27 *Waukon, Ia. `` 14 Canton, S. D + `` 28 Red Wing, Minn. `` 15 Cherokee, Ia + `` 29 River Falls, Wis. `` 16 Pocahontas, Ia + `` 30 Northfield, Minn. `` 17 Glidden, Ia. +July 1 Faribault, Minn. `` 18 *Boone, Ia. + `` 2 Spring Valley, Minn. `` 19 Dexter, Ia. + `` 3 Blue Earth, Minn. `` 20 Indianola, Ia + `` 4 *Fairmount, Minn. `` 21 Corydon, Ia + `` 5 Lake Crystal, Minn. `` 22 Essex, Ia. + `` 6 Redwood Falls, `` 23 Sidney, Ia. + Minn. `` 24 Falls City, Nebr. + `` 7 Willmer, Minn. `` 25 *Hiawatha, Kan. + `` 8 Dawson, Minn. `` 26 Frankfort, Kan. + `` 9 Redfield, S. D. `` 27 Greenleaf, Kan. + `` 10 Huron, S. D. `` 28 Osborne, Kan. +July 29 Stockton, Kan. Aug. 14 Honesdale, Pa. + `` 30 Phillipsburg, Kan. `` 15 *Honesdale, Pa. + `` 31 Mankato, Kan. `` 16 Carbondale, Pa. + _En route to next date on_ `` 17 Montrose, Pa. + _circuit_. `` 18 Tunkhannock, Pa. +Aug. 3 Westfield, Pa. `` 19 Nanticoke, Pa. + `` 4 Galston, Pa. `` 20 Stroudsburg, Pa. + `` 5 Port Alleghany, Pa. `` 21 Newton, N. J. + `` 6 Wellsville, N. Y. `` 22 *Newton, N. J. + `` 7 Bath, N. Y. `` 23 Hackettstown, N. J. + `` 8 *Bath, N. Y. `` 24 New Hope, Pa. + `` 9 Penn Yan, N. Y. `` 25 Doylestown, Pa. + `` 10 Athens, N. Y. `` 26 Ph<oe>nixville, Pa. + `` 11 Owego, N. Y. `` 27 Kennett, Pa. + `` 12 Patchogue, LI.,N.Y. `` 28 Oxford, Pa. + `` 13 Port Jervis, N. Y. `` 29 *Oxford, Pa. + * Preach on Sunday. + + +And all these hardships, all this traveling and +lecturing, which would test the endurance of the +youngest and strongest, this man of over seventy +assumes without receiving a particle of personal +gain, for every dollar that he makes by it is given +away in helping those who need helping. + +That Dr. Conwell is intensely modest is one +of the curious features of his character. He sincerely +believes that to write his life would be, +in the main, just to tell what people have done +for him. He knows and admits that he works +unweariedly, but in profound sincerity he ascribes +the success of his plans to those who have seconded +and assisted him. It is in just this way that he +looks upon every phase of his life. When he is +reminded of the devotion of his old soldiers, he +remembers it only with a sort of pleased wonder +that they gave the devotion to him, and he quite +forgets that they loved him because he was always +ready to sacrifice ease or risk his own life for +them. + +He deprecates praise; if any one likes him, the +liking need not be shown in words, but in helping +along a good work. That his church has succeeded +has been because of the devotion of the people; +that the university has succeeded is because of +the splendid work of the teachers and pupils; that +the hospitals have done so much has been because +of the noble services of physicians and nurses. +To him, as he himself expresses it, realizing that +success has come to his plans, it seems as if the +realities are but dreams. He is astonished by his +own success. He thinks mainly of his own +shortcomings. ``God and man have ever been very +patient with me.'' His depression is at times +profound when he compares the actual results +with what he would like them to be, for always +his hopes have gone soaring far in advance of +achievement. It is the ``Hitch your chariot to +a star'' idea. + +His modesty goes hand-in-hand with kindliness, +and I have seen him let himself be introduced in +his own church to his congregation, when he is +going to deliver a lecture there, just because a +former pupil of the university was present who, +Conwell knew, was ambitious to say something +inside of the Temple walls, and this seemed to +be the only opportunity. + +I have noticed, when he travels, that the face +of the newsboy brightens as he buys a paper from +him, that the porter is all happiness, that +conductor and brakeman are devotedly anxious to +be of aid. Everywhere the man wins love. He +loves humanity and humanity responds to the love. + +He has always won the affection of those who +knew him, and Bayard Taylor was one of the +many; he and Bayard Taylor loved each other for +long acquaintance and fellow experiences as world- +wide travelers, back in the years when comparatively +few Americans visited the Nile and the +Orient, or even Europe. + +When Taylor died there was a memorial service +in Boston at which Conwell was asked to preside, +and, as he wished for something more than +addresses, he went to Longfellow and asked him to +write and read a poem for the occasion. Longfellow +had not thought of writing anything, and +he was too ill to be present at the services, but, +there always being something contagiously +inspiring about Russell Conwell when he wishes +something to be done, the poet promised to do +what he could. And he wrote and sent the beautiful +lines beginning: + + _Dead he lay among his books, + The peace of God was in his looks_. + + +Many men of letters, including Ralph Waldo +Emerson, were present at the services, and Dr. +Conwell induced Oliver Wendell Holmes to read +the lines, and they were listened to amid profound +silence, to their fine ending. + +Conwell, in spite of his widespread hold on +millions of people, has never won fame, recognition, +general renown, compared with many men +of minor achievements. This seems like an +impossibility. Yet it is not an impossibility, but a +fact. Great numbers of men of education and +culture are entirely ignorant of him and his work +in the world--men, these, who deem themselves +in touch with world-affairs and with the ones who +make and move the world. It is inexplicable, this, +except that never was there a man more devoid +of the faculty of self-exploitation, self-advertising, +than Russell Conwell. Nor, in the mere reading +of them, do his words appeal with anything like +the force of the same words uttered by himself, +for always, with his spoken words, is his personality. +Those who have heard Russell Conwell, or +have known him personally, recognize the charm +of the man and his immense forcefulness; but +there are many, and among them those who control +publicity through books and newspapers, +who, though they ought to be the warmest in their +enthusiasm, have never felt drawn to hear him, +and, if they know of him at all, think of him as +one who pleases in a simple way the commoner +folk, forgetting in their pride that every really +great man pleases the common ones, and that +simplicity and directness are attributes of real +greatness. + +But Russell Conwell has always won the admiration +of the really great, as well as of the humbler +millions. It is only a supposedly cultured class +in between that is not thoroughly acquainted with +what he has done. + +Perhaps, too, this is owing to his having cast +in his lot with the city, of all cities, which, +consciously or unconsciously, looks most closely to +family and place of residence as criterions of +merit--a city with which it is almost impossible +for a stranger to become affiliated--or aphiladelphiated, +as it might be expressed--and Philadelphia, +in spite of all that Dr. Conwell has +done, has been under the thrall of the fact that +he went north of Market Street--that fatal fact +understood by all who know Philadelphia--and +that he made no effort to make friends in Rittenhouse +Square. Such considerations seem absurd +in this twentieth century, but in Philadelphia +they are still potent. Tens of thousands of +Philadelphians love him, and he is honored by its +greatest men, but there is a class of the pseudo- +cultured who do not know him or appreciate him. +And it needs also to be understood that, outside of +his own beloved Temple, he would prefer to go +to a little church or a little hall and to speak to +the forgotten people, in the hope of encouraging +and inspiring them and filling them with hopeful +glow, rather than to speak to the rich and comfortable. + +His dearest hope, so one of the few who are +close to him told me, is that no one shall come +into his life without being benefited. He does +not say this publicly, nor does he for a moment +believe that such a hope could be fully realized, +but it is very dear to his heart; and no man +spurred by such a hope, and thus bending all +his thoughts toward the poor, the hard-working, +the unsuccessful, is in a way to win honor from +the Scribes; for we have Scribes now quite as +much as when they were classed with Pharisees. +It is not the first time in the world's history that +Scribes have failed to give their recognition to +one whose work was not among the great and +wealthy. + +That Conwell himself has seldom taken any +part whatever in politics except as a good citizen +standing for good government; that, as he +expresses it, he never held any political office except +that he was once on a school committee, and also +that he does not identify himself with the so-called +``movements'' that from time to time catch +public attention, but aims only and constantly +at the quiet betterment of mankind, may be +mentioned as additional reasons why his name and +fame have not been steadily blazoned. + +He knows and will admit that he works hard +and has all his life worked hard. ``Things keep +turning my way because I'm on the job,'' as he +whimsically expressed it one day; but that is +about all, so it seems to him. + +And he sincerely believes that his life has in +itself been without interest; that it has been an +essentially commonplace life with nothing of the +interesting or the eventful to tell. He is frankly +surprised that there has ever been the desire to +write about him. He really has no idea of how +fascinating are the things he has done. His entire +life has been of positive interest from the variety +of things accomplished and the unexpectedness +with which he has accomplished them. + +Never, for example, was there such an organizer. +In fact, organization and leadership have +always been as the breath of life to him. As a +youth he organized debating societies and, before +the war, a local military company. While on +garrison duty in the Civil War he organized +what is believed to have been the first free school +for colored children in the South. One day +Minneapolis happened to be spoken of, and Conwell +happened to remember that he organized, +when he was a lawyer in that city, what became +the first Y.M.C.A. branch there. Once he even +started a newspaper. And it was natural that the +organizing instinct, as years advanced, should +lead him to greater and greater things, such as +his church, with the numerous associations formed +within itself through his influence, and the +university--the organizing of the university being +in itself an achievement of positive romance. + +``A life without interest!'' Why, when I +happened to ask, one day, how many Presidents he +had known since Lincoln, he replied, quite casually, +that he had ``written the lives of most of them in +their own homes''; and by this he meant either +personally or in collaboration with the American +biographer Abbott. + +The many-sidedness of Conwell is one of the +things that is always fascinating. After you have +quite got the feeling that he is peculiarly a man +of to-day, lecturing on to-day's possibilities to the +people of to-day, you happen upon some such +fact as that he attracted the attention of the +London _Times_ through a lecture on Italian history +at Cambridge in England; or that on the +evening of the day on which he was admitted to +practice in the Supreme Court of the United States +he gave a lecture in Washington on ``The Curriculum +of the Prophets in Ancient Israel.'' The +man's life is a succession of delightful surprises. + +An odd trait of his character is his love for fire. +He could easily have been a veritable fire- +worshiper instead of an orthodox Christian! He +has always loved a blaze, and he says reminiscently +that for no single thing was he punished +so much when he was a child as for building +bonfires. And after securing possession, as he did in +middle age, of the house where he was born and +of a great acreage around about, he had one of +the most enjoyable times of his life in tearing +down old buildings that needed to be destroyed +and in heaping up fallen trees and rubbish and in +piling great heaps of wood and setting the great +piles ablaze. You see, there is one of the secrets +of his strength--he has never lost the capacity for +fiery enthusiasm! + +Always, too, in these later years he is showing his +strength and enthusiasm in a positively noble +way. He has for years been a keen sufferer from +rheumatism and neuritis, but he has never permitted +this to interfere with his work or plans. +He makes little of his sufferings, and when he +slowly makes his way, bent and twisted, downstairs, +he does not want to be noticed. ``I'm all +right,'' he will say if any one offers to help, and at +such a time comes his nearest approach to +impatience. He wants his suffering ignored. +Strength has always been to him so precious a +belonging that he will not relinquish it while he +lives. ``I'm all right!'' And he makes himself +believe that he is all right even though the pain +becomes so severe as to demand massage. And +he will still, even when suffering, talk calmly, or +write his letters, or attend to whatever matters +come before him. It is the Spartan boy hiding +the pain of the gnawing fox. And he never has +let pain interfere with his presence on the pulpit +or the platform. He has once in a while gone to +a meeting on crutches and then, by the force of +will, and inspired by what he is to do, has stood +before his audience or congregation, a man full of +strength and fire and life. + + + +VII + +HOW A UNIVERSITY WAS FOUNDED + +THE story of the foundation and rise of +Temple University is an extraordinary story; +it is not only extraordinary, but inspiring; it is not +only inspiring, but full of romance. + +For the university came out of nothing!--nothing +but the need of a young man and the fact that +he told the need to one who, throughout his life, +has felt the impulse to help any one in need +and has always obeyed the impulse. + +I asked Dr. Conwell, up at his home in the +Berkshires, to tell me himself just how the +university began, and he said that it began because +it was needed and succeeded because of the loyal +work of the teachers. And when I asked for +details he was silent for a while, looking off into +the brooding twilight as it lay over the waters +and the trees and the hills, and then he said: + +``It was all so simple; it all came about so +naturally. One evening, after a service, a young +man of the congregation came to me and I saw +that he was disturbed about something. I had +him sit down by me, and I knew that in a few +moments he would tell me what was troubling +him. + +`` `Dr. Conwell,' he said, abruptly, `I earn but +little money, and I see no immediate chance of +earning more. I have to support not only myself, +but my mother. It leaves nothing at all. Yet my +longing is to be a minister. It is the one ambition +of my life. Is there anything that I can do?' + +`` `Any man,' I said to him, `with the proper +determination and ambition can study sufficiently +at night to win his desire.' + +`` `I have tried to think so,' said he, `but I +have not been able to see anything clearly. I +want to study, and am ready to give every spare +minute to it, but I don't know how to get at it.' + +``I thought a few minutes, as I looked at him. +He was strong in his desire and in his ambition to +fulfil it--strong enough, physically and mentally, +for work of the body and of the mind--and he +needed something more than generalizations of +sympathy. + +`` `Come to me one evening a week and I will +begin teaching you myself,' I said, `and at least +you will in that way make a beginning'; and I +named the evening. + +``His face brightened and he eagerly said that +he would come, and left me; but in a little while +he came hurrying back again. `May I bring a +friend with me?' he said. + +``I told him to bring as many as he wanted to, +for more than one would be an advantage, and +when the evening came there were six friends +with him. And that first evening I began to teach +them the foundations of Latin.'' + +He stopped as if the story was over. He was +looking out thoughtfully into the waning light, +and I knew that his mind was busy with those +days of the beginning of the institution he so +loves, and whose continued success means so much +to him. In a little while he went on: + +``That was the beginning of it, and there is +little more to tell. By the third evening the +number of pupils had increased to forty; others +joined in helping me, and a room was hired; then +a little house, then a second house. From a few +students and teachers we became a college. After +a while our buildings went up on Broad Street +alongside the Temple Church, and after another +while we became a university. From the first +our aim''--(I noticed how quickly it had become +``our'' instead of ``my'')--``our aim was to give +education to those who were unable to get it +through the usual channels. And so that was +really all there was to it.'' + +That was typical of Russell Conwell--to tell +with brevity of what he has done, to point out the +beginnings of something, and quite omit to elaborate +as to the results. And that, when you come +to know him, is precisely what he means you to +understand--that it is the beginning of anything +that is important, and that if a thing is but +earnestly begun and set going in the right way +it may just as easily develop big results as little +results. + +But his story was very far indeed from being +``all there was to it,'' for he had quite omitted +to state the extraordinary fact that, beginning +with those seven pupils, coming to his library on an +evening in 1884, the Temple University has +numbered, up to Commencement-time in 1915, +88,821 students! Nearly one hundred thousand +students, and in the lifetime of the founder! +Really, the magnitude of such a work cannot be +exaggerated, nor the vast importance of it when +it is considered that most of these eighty-eight +thousand students would not have received their +education had it not been for Temple University. +And it all came from the instant response of +Russell Conwell to the immediate need presented +by a young man without money! + +``And there is something else I want to say,'' +said Dr. Conwell, unexpectedly. ``I want to say, +more fully than a mere casual word, how nobly +the work was taken up by volunteer helpers; +professors from the University of Pennsylvania +and teachers from the public schools and other +local institutions gave freely of what time they +could until the new venture was firmly on its +way. I honor those who came so devotedly to +help. And it should be remembered that in those +early days the need was even greater than it would +now appear, for there were then no night schools +or manual-training schools. Since then the city +of Philadelphia has gone into such work, and as +fast as it has taken up certain branches the +Temple University has put its energy into the +branches just higher. And there seems no lessening +of the need of it,'' he added, ponderingly. + +No; there is certainly no lessening of the need +of it! The figures of the annual catalogue would +alone show that. + +As early as 1887, just three years after the +beginning, the Temple College, as it was by that +time called, issued its first catalogue, which set +forth with stirring words that the intent of its +founding was to: + +``Provide such instruction as shall be best +adapted to the higher education of those who are +compelled to labor at their trade while engaged +in study. + +``Cultivate a taste for the higher and most +useful branches of learning. + +``Awaken in the character of young laboring +men and women a determined ambition to be +useful to their fellow-men.'' + +The college--the university as it in time came +to be--early broadened its scope, but it has from +the first continued to aim at the needs of those +unable to secure education without such help as, +through its methods, it affords. + +It was chartered in 1888, at which time its +numbers had reached almost six hundred, and it +has ever since had a constant flood of applicants. +``It has demonstrated,'' as Dr. Conwell puts it, +``that those who work for a living have time for +study.'' And he, though he does not himself +add this, has given the opportunity. + +He feels especial pride in the features by which +lectures and recitations are held at practically +any hour which best suits the convenience of the +students. If any ten students join in a request +for any hour from nine in the morning to ten +at night a class is arranged for them, to meet that +request! This involves the necessity for a much +larger number of professors and teachers than +would otherwise be necessary, but that is deemed +a slight consideration in comparison with the +immense good done by meeting the needs of workers. + +Also President Conwell--for of course he is the +president of the university--is proud of the fact +that the privilege of graduation depends entirely +upon knowledge gained; that graduation does not +depend upon having listened to any set number +of lectures or upon having attended for so many +terms or years. If a student can do four years' +work in two years or in three he is encouraged +to do it, and if he cannot even do it in four he can +have no diploma. + +Obviously, there is no place at Temple +University for students who care only for a few years +of leisured ease. It is a place for workers, and +not at all for those who merely wish to be able to +boast that they attended a university. The students +have come largely from among railroad +clerks, bank clerks, bookkeepers, teachers, +preachers, mechanics, salesmen, drug clerks, city and +United States government employees, widows, +nurses, housekeepers, brakemen, firemen, engineers, +motormen, conductors, and shop hands. + +It was when the college became strong enough, +and sufficiently advanced in scholarship and +standing, and broad enough in scope, to win the +name of university that this title was officially +granted to it by the State of Pennsylvania, in +1907, and now its educational plan includes three +distinct school systems. + +First: it offers a high-school education to the +student who has to quit school after leaving the +grammar-school. + +Second: it offers a full college education, with +the branches taught in long-established high- +grade colleges, to the student who has to quit +on leaving the high-school. + +Third: it offers further scientific or professional +education to the college graduate who must go +to work immediately on quitting college, but who +wishes to take up some such course as law or +medicine or engineering. + +Out of last year's enrolment of 3,654 it is +interesting to notice that the law claimed 141; +theology, 182; medicine and pharmacy and dentistry +combined, 357; civil engineering, 37; also +that the teachers' college, with normal courses +on such subjects as household arts and science, +kindergarten work, and physical education, took +174; and still more interesting, in a way, to see +that 269 students were enrolled for the technical +and vocational courses, such as cooking and dress- +making, millinery, manual crafts, school-gardening, +and story-telling. There were 511 in high- +school work, and 243 in elementary education. +There were 79 studying music, and 68 studying to +be trained nurses. There were 606 in the college +of liberal arts and sciences, and in the department +of commercial education there were 987--for it is +a university that offers both scholarship and practicality. + +Temple University is not in the least a charitable +institution. Its fees are low, and its hours are +for the convenience of the students themselves, +but it is a place of absolute independence. It is, +indeed, a place of far greater independence, so one +of the professors pointed out, than are the great +universities which receive millions and millions +of money in private gifts and endowments. + +Temple University in its early years was sorely +in need of money, and often there were thrills of +expectancy when some man of mighty wealth +seemed on the point of giving. But not a single +one ever did, and now the Temple likes to feel +that it is glad of it. The Temple, to quote its +own words, is ``An institution for strong men +and women who can labor with both mind and +body.'' + +And the management is proud to be able to +say that, although great numbers have come from +distant places, ``not one of the many thousands +ever failed to find an opportunity to support +himself.'' + +Even in the early days, when money was needed +for the necessary buildings (the buildings of which +Conwell dreamed when he left second-story doors +in his church!), the university--college it was then +called--had won devotion from those who knew +that it was a place where neither time nor money +was wasted, and where idleness was a crime, and in +the donations for the work were many such items +as four hundred dollars from factory-workers +who gave fifty cents each, and two thousand dollars +from policemen who gave a dollar each. +Within two or three years past the State of +Pennsylvania has begun giving it a large sum annually, +and this state aid is public recognition of Temple +University as an institution of high public value. +The state money is invested in the brains and +hearts of the ambitious. + +So eager is Dr. Conwell to place the opportunity +of education before every one, that even his +servants must go to school! He is not one of those +who can see needs that are far away but not +those that are right at home. His belief in +education, and in the highest attainable education, is +profound, and it is not only on account of the +abstract pleasure and value of education, but its +power of increasing actual earning power and thus +making a worker of more value to both himself +and the community. + +Many a man and many a woman, while continuing +to work for some firm or factory, has taken +Temple technical courses and thus fitted himself +or herself for an advanced position with the +same employer. The Temple knows of many +such, who have thus won prominent advancement. +And it knows of teachers who, while continuing +to teach, have fitted themselves through the Temple +courses for professorships. And it knows +of many a case of the rise of a Temple student +that reads like an Arabian Nights' fancy!--of +advance from bookkeeper to editor, from office- +boy to bank president, from kitchen maid to +school principal, from street-cleaner to mayor! +The Temple University helps them that help +themselves. + +President Conwell told me personally of one +case that especially interested him because it +seemed to exhibit, in especial degree, the Temple +possibilities; and it particularly interested me +because it also showed, in high degree, the +methods and personality of Dr. Conwell himself. + +One day a young woman came to him and +said she earned only three dollars a week and that +she desired very much to make more. ``Can you +tell me how to do it?'' she said. + +He liked her ambition and her directness, but +there was something that he felt doubtful about, +and that was that her hat looked too expensive +for three dollars a week! + +Now Dr. Conwell is a man whom you would +never suspect of giving a thought to the hat of +man or woman! But as a matter of fact there is +very little that he does not see. + +But though the hat seemed too expensive for +three dollars a week, Dr. Conwell is not a man +who makes snap-judgments harshly, and in +particular he would be the last man to turn away +hastily one who had sought him out for help. +He never felt, nor could possibly urge upon any +one, contentment with a humble lot; he stands +for advancement; he has no sympathy with that +dictum of the smug, that has come to us from a +nation tight bound for centuries by its gentry and +aristocracy, about being contented with the position +in which God has placed you, for he points +out that the Bible itself holds up advancement +and success as things desirable. + +And, as to the young woman before him, it +developed, through discreet inquiry veiled by +frank discussion of her case, that she had made +the expensive-looking hat herself! Whereupon +not only did all doubtfulness and hesitation vanish, +but he saw at once how she could better herself. +He knew that a woman who could make a hat +like that for herself could make hats for other +people, and so, ``Go into millinery as a business,'' +he advised. + +``Oh--if I only could!'' she exclaimed. ``But +I know that I don't know enough.'' + +``Take the millinery course in Temple University,'' +he responded. + +She had not even heard of such a course, and +when he went on to explain how she could take +it and at the same time continue at her present +work until the course was concluded, she was +positively ecstatic--it was all so unexpected, this +opening of the view of a new and broader life. + +``She was an unusual woman,'' concluded Dr. +Conwell, ``and she worked with enthusiasm and +tirelessness. She graduated, went to an up-state +city that seemed to offer a good field, opened a +millinery establishment there, with her own name +above the door, and became prosperous. That +was only a few years ago. And recently I had a +letter from her, telling me that last year she +netted a clear profit of three thousand six hundred +dollars!'' + +I remember a man, himself of distinguished +position, saying of Dr. Conwell, ``It is difficult +to speak in tempered language of what he has +achieved.'' And that just expresses it; the +temptation is constantly to use superlatives--for +superlatives fit! Of course he has succeeded for +himself, and succeeded marvelously, in his rise +from the rocky hill farm, but he has done so vastly +more than that in inspiring such hosts of others +to succeed! + +A dreamer of dreams and a seer of visions-- +and what realizations have come! And it +interested me profoundly not long ago, when Dr. +Conwell, talking of the university, unexpectedly +remarked that he would like to see such institu- +tions scattered throughout every state in the +Union. ``All carried on at slight expense to the +students and at hours to suit all sorts of working +men and women,'' he added, after a pause; and +then, abruptly, ``I should like to see the possibility +of higher education offered to every one in +the United States who works for a living.'' + +There was something superb in the very imagining +of such a nation-wide system. But I did not +ask whether or not he had planned any details +for such an effort. I knew that thus far it might +only be one of his dreams--but I also knew that +his dreams had a way of becoming realities. +I had a fleeting glimpse of his soaring vision. It +was amazing to find a man of more than three- +score and ten thus dreaming of more worlds to +conquer. And I thought, what could the world +have accomplished if Methuselah had been a +Conwell!--or, far better, what wonders could be +accomplished if Conwell could but be a Methuselah! + +He has all his life been a great traveler. He is +a man who sees vividly and who can describe +vividly. Yet often his letters, even from places of +the most profound interest, are mostly concerned +with affairs back home. It is not that he does +not feel, and feel intensely, the interest of what +he is visiting, but that his tremendous earnestness +keeps him always concerned about his work at +home. There could be no stronger example than +what I noticed in a letter he wrote from Jerusa- +lem. ``I am in Jerusalem! And here at Gethsemane +and at the Tomb of Christ''--reading thus +far, one expects that any man, and especially a +minister, is sure to say something regarding the +associations of the place and the effect of these +associations on his mind; but Conwell is always +the man who is different--``And here at Gethsemane +and at the Tomb of Christ, I pray especially for +the Temple University.'' That is Conwellism! + +That he founded a hospital--a work in itself +great enough for even a great life is but one +among the striking incidents of his career. And +it came about through perfect naturalness. For +he came to know, through his pastoral work and +through his growing acquaintance with the needs +of the city, that there was a vast amount of +suffering and wretchedness and anguish, because +of the inability of the existing hospitals to care +for all who needed care. There was so much +sickness and suffering to be alleviated, there were +so many deaths that could be prevented--and so +he decided to start another hospital. + +And, like everything with him, the beginning +was small. That cannot too strongly be set down +as the way of this phenomenally successful +organizer. Most men would have to wait until a big +beginning could be made, and so would most likely +never make a beginning at all. But Conwell's +way is to dream of future bigness, but be ready to +begin at once, no matter how small or insignificant +the beginning may appear to others. + +Two rented rooms, one nurse, one patient--this +was the humble beginning, in 1891, of what has +developed into the great Samaritan Hospital. In +a year there was an entire house, fitted up with +wards and operating-room. Now it occupies several +buildings, including and adjoining that first +one, and a great new structure is planned. But +even as it is, it has a hundred and seventy beds, +is fitted with all modern hospital appliances, and +has a large staff of physicians; and the number +of surgical operations performed there is very +large. + +It is open to sufferers of any race or creed, and +the poor are never refused admission, the rule +being that treatment is free for those who cannot +pay, but that such as can afford it shall pay +according to their means. + +And the hospital has a kindly feature that +endears it to patients and their relatives alike, and +that is that, by Dr. Conwell's personal order, there +are not only the usual week-day hours for visiting, +but also one evening a week and every Sunday +afternoon. ``For otherwise,'' as he says, ``many +would be unable to come because they could not +get away from their work.'' + +A little over eight years ago another hospital +was taken in charge, the Garretson--not founded +by Conwell, this one, but acquired, and promptly +expanded in its usefulness. + +Both the Samaritan and the Garretson are part +of Temple University. The Samaritan Hospital +has treated, since its foundation, up to the middle +of 1915, 29,301 patients; the Garretson, in its +shorter life, 5,923. Including dispensary cases as +well as house patients, the two hospitals together, +under the headship of President Conwell, have +handled over 400,000 cases. + +How Conwell can possibly meet the multifarious +demands upon his time is in itself a miracle. +He is the head of the great church; he is the head +of the university; he is the head of the hospitals; +he is the head of everything with which he is +associated! And he is not only nominally, but +very actively, the head! + + + +VIII + +HIS SPLENDID EFFICIENCY + +CONWELL has a few strong and efficient executive +helpers who have long been associated +with him; men and women who know his ideas +and ideals, who are devoted to him, and who do +their utmost to relieve him; and of course there +is very much that is thus done for him; but even +as it is, he is so overshadowing a man (there is +really no other word) that all who work with him +look to him for advice and guidance the professors +and the students, the doctors and the nurses, +the church officers, the Sunday-school teachers, +the members of his congregation. And he is never +too busy to see any one who really wishes to see +him. + +He can attend to a vast intricacy of detail, and +answer myriad personal questions and doubts, +and keep the great institutions splendidly going, +by thorough systematization of time, and by watching +every minute. He has several secretaries, for +special work, besides his private secretary. His +correspondence is very great. Often he dictates +to a secretary as he travels on the train. Even in +the few days for which he can run back to the +Berkshires, work is awaiting him. Work follows +him. And after knowing of this, one is positively +amazed that he is able to give to his country-wide +lectures the time and the traveling that they +inexorably demand. Only a man of immense +strength, of the greatest stamina, a veritable +superman, could possibly do it. And at times +one quite forgets, noticing the multiplicity of his +occupations, that he prepares two sermons and +two talks on Sunday! + +Here is his usual Sunday schedule, when at +home. He rises at seven and studies until breakfast, +which is at eight-thirty. Then he studies until +nine-forty-five, when he leads a men's meeting +at which he is likely also to play the organ and +lead the singing. At ten-thirty is the principal +church service, at which he preaches, and at the +close of which he shakes hands with hundreds. +He dines at one, after which he takes fifteen +minutes' rest and then reads; and at three o'clock he +addresses, in a talk that is like another sermon, +a large class of men--not the same men as in the +morning. He is also sure to look in at the regular +session of the Sunday-school. Home again, where +he studies and reads until supper-time. At seven- +thirty is the evening service, at which he again +preaches and after which he shakes hands with +several hundred more and talks personally, in his +study, with any who have need of talk with him. +He is usually home by ten-thirty. I spoke of it, +one evening, as having been a strenuous day, and +he responded, with a cheerfully whimsical smile: +``Three sermons and shook hands with nine +hundred.'' + +That evening, as the service closed, he had +said to the congregation: ``I shall be here for +an hour. We always have a pleasant time +together after service. If you are acquainted with +me, come up and shake hands. If you are strangers''-- +just the slightest of pauses--``come up +and let us make an acquaintance that will last +for eternity.'' I remember how simply and easily +this was said, in his clear, deep voice, and how +impressive and important it seemed, and with +what unexpectedness it came. ``Come and make +an acquaintance that will last for eternity!'' +And there was a serenity about his way of saying +this which would make strangers think--just as +he meant them to think--that he had nothing +whatever to do but to talk with them. Even +his own congregation have, most of them, little +conception of how busy a man he is and how +precious is his time. + +One evening last June to take an evening of +which I happened to know--he got home from a +journey of two hundred miles at six o'clock, and +after dinner and a slight rest went to the church +prayer-meeting, which he led in his usual vigorous +way at such meetings, playing the organ and +leading the singing, as well as praying and talk- +ing. After the prayer-meeting he went to two +dinners in succession, both of them important +dinners in connection with the close of the +university year, and at both dinners he spoke. At +the second dinner he was notified of the sudden +illness of a member of his congregation, and +instantly hurried to the man's home and thence +to the hospital to which he had been removed, +and there he remained at the man's bedside, or +in consultation with the physicians, until one in +the morning. Next morning he was up at seven +and again at work. + +``This one thing I do,'' is his private maxim of +efficiency, and a literalist might point out that he +does not one thing only, but a thousand things, +not getting Conwell's meaning, which is that +whatever the thing may be which he is doing +he lets himself think of nothing else until it is +done. + +Dr. Conwell has a profound love for the country +and particularly for the country of his own youth. +He loves the wind that comes sweeping over the +hills, he loves the wide-stretching views from the +heights and the forest intimacies of the nestled +nooks. He loves the rippling streams, he loves +the wild flowers that nestle in seclusion or that +unexpectedly paint some mountain meadow with +delight. He loves the very touch of the earth, +and he loves the great bare rocks. + +He writes verses at times; at least he has written +lines for a few old tunes; and it interested me +greatly to chance upon some lines of his that +picture heaven in terms of the Berkshires: + +_ The wide-stretching valleys in colors so fadeless, + Where trees are all deathless and flowers e'er bloom_. + + +That is heaven in the eyes of a New England +hill-man! Not golden pavement and ivory palaces, +but valleys and trees and flowers and the +wide sweep of the open. + +Few things please him more than to go, for +example, blackberrying, and he has a knack of +never scratching his face or his fingers when doing +so. And he finds blackberrying, whether he goes +alone or with friends, an extraordinarily good +time for planning something he wishes to do or +working out the thought of a sermon. And fishing +is even better, for in fishing he finds immense +recreation and restfulness and at the same time +a further opportunity to think and plan. + +As a small boy he wished that he could throw +a dam across the trout-brook that runs near the +little Conwell home, and--as he never gives up-- +he finally realized the ambition, although it was +after half a century! And now he has a big pond, +three-quarters of a mile long by half a mile wide, +lying in front of the house, down a slope from it-- +a pond stocked with splendid pickerel. He likes +to float about restfully on this pond, thinking +or fishing, or both. And on that pond he showed +me how to catch pickerel even under a blaze of +sunlight! + +He is a trout-fisher, too, for it is a trout stream +that feeds this pond and goes dashing away from +it through the wilderness; and for miles adjoining +his place a fishing club of wealthy men bought +up the rights in this trout stream, and they +approached him with a liberal offer. But he declined +it. ``I remembered what good times I had when +I was a boy, fishing up and down that stream, +and I couldn't think of keeping the boys of the +present day from such a pleasure. So they may +still come and fish for trout here.'' + +As we walked one day beside this brook, he +suddenly said: ``Did you ever notice that every +brook has its own song? I should know the song +of this brook anywhere.'' + +It would seem as if he loved his rugged native +country because it is rugged even more than because +it is native! Himself so rugged, so hardy, +so enduring--the strength of the hills is his also. + +Always, in his very appearance, you see something +of this ruggedness of the hills; a ruggedness, +a sincerity, a plainness, that mark alike his +character and his looks. And always one realizes +the strength of the man, even when his voice, as +it usually is, is low. And one increasingly realizes +the strength when, on the lecture platform or in +the pulpit or in conversation, he flashes vividly +into fire. + +A big-boned man he is, sturdy-framed, a tall +man, with broad shoulders and strong hands. +His hair is a deep chestnut-brown that at first +sight seems black. In his early manhood he was +superb in looks, as his pictures show, but anxiety +and work and the constant flight of years, with +physical pain, have settled his face into lines of +sadness and almost of severity, which instantly +vanish when he speaks. And his face is illumined +by marvelous eyes. + +He is a lonely man. The wife of his early years +died long, long ago, before success had come, +and she was deeply mourned, for she had loyally +helped him through a time that held much of +struggle and hardship. He married again; and +this wife was his loyal helpmate for many years. +In a time of special stress, when a defalcation of +sixty-five thousand dollars threatened to crush +Temple College just when it was getting on its +feet, for both Temple Church and Temple College +had in those early days buoyantly assumed +heavy indebtedness, he raised every dollar he +could by selling or mortgaging his own possessions, +and in this his wife, as he lovingly remembers, +most cordially stood beside him, although she +knew that if anything should happen to him the +financial sacrifice would leave her penniless. She +died after years of companionship; his children +married and made homes of their own; he is a +lonely man. Yet he is not unhappy, for the +tremendous demands of his tremendous work leave +him little time for sadness or retrospect. At times +the realization comes that he is getting old, that +friends and comrades have been passing away, +leaving him an old man with younger friends and +helpers. But such realization only makes him +work with an earnestness still more intense, knowing +that the night cometh when no man shall work. + +Deeply religious though he is, he does not force +religion into conversation on ordinary subjects +or upon people who may not be interested in it. +With him, it is action and good works, with faith +and belief, that count, except when talk is the +natural, the fitting, the necessary thing; when +addressing either one individual or thousands, he +talks with superb effectiveness. + +His sermons are, it may almost literally be +said, parable after parable; although he himself +would be the last man to say this, for it would +sound as if he claimed to model after the greatest +of all examples. His own way of putting it is +that he uses stories frequently because people are +more impressed by illustrations than by argument. + +Always, whether in the pulpit or out of it, he +is simple and homelike, human and unaffected. +If he happens to see some one in the congregation +to whom he wishes to speak, he may just leave +his pulpit and walk down the aisle, while the +choir is singing, and quietly say a few words and +return. + +In the early days of his ministry, if he heard +of a poor family in immediate need of food he +would be quite likely to gather a basket of +provisions and go personally, and offer this assistance +and such other as he might find necessary +when he reached the place. As he became known +he ceased from this direct and open method of +charity, for he knew that impulsiveness would be +taken for intentional display. But he has never +ceased to be ready to help on the instant that he +knows help is needed. Delay and lengthy +investigation are avoided by him when he can be +certain that something immediate is required. +And the extent of his quiet charity is amazing. +With no family for which to save money, and with +no care to put away money for himself, he thinks +only of money as an instrument for helpfulness. +I never heard a friend criticize him except for +too great open-handedness. + +I was strongly impressed, after coming to know +him, that he possessed many of the qualities that +made for the success of the old-time district +leaders of New York City, and I mentioned this +to him, and he at once responded that he had +himself met ``Big Tim,'' the long-time leader of +the Sullivans, and had had him at his house, Big +Tim having gone to Philadelphia to aid some +henchman in trouble, and having promptly sought +the aid of Dr. Conwell. And it was characteristic +of Conwell that he saw, what so many never +saw, the most striking characteristic of that +Tammany leader. For, ``Big Tim Sullivan was +so kind-hearted!'' Conwell appreciated the man's +political unscrupulousness as well as did his +enemies, but he saw also what made his underlying +power--his kind-heartedness. Except that Sullivan +could be supremely unscrupulous, and that Conwell +is supremely scrupulous, there were marked +similarities in these masters over men; and +Conwell possesses, as Sullivan possessed, a +wonderful memory for faces and names. + +Naturally, Russell Conwell stands steadily and +strongly for good citizenship. But he never talks +boastful Americanism. He seldom speaks in so +many words of either Americanism or good citizenship, +but he constantly and silently keeps the +American flag, as the symbol of good citizenship, +before his people. An American flag is prominent +in his church; an American flag is seen in his home; +a beautiful American flag is up at his Berkshire +place and surmounts a lofty tower where, when +he was a boy, there stood a mighty tree at the +top of which was an eagle's nest, which has given +him a name for his home, for he terms it ``The +Eagle's Nest.'' + +Remembering a long story that I had read of +his climbing to the top of that tree, though it +was a well-nigh impossible feat, and securing the +nest by great perseverance and daring, I asked +him if the story were a true one. ``Oh, I've heard +something about it; somebody said that somebody +watched me, or something of the kind. But +I don't remember anything about it myself.'' + +Any friend of his is sure to say something, +after a while, about his determination, his +insistence on going ahead with anything on which +he has really set his heart. One of the very +important things on which he insisted, in spite of +very great opposition, and especially an opposition +from the other churches of his denomination +(for this was a good many years ago, when +there was much more narrowness in churches +and sects than there is at present), was with +regard to doing away with close communion. He +determined on an open communion; and his way +of putting it, once decided upon, was: ``My +friends, it is not for me to invite you to the table +of the Lord. The table of the Lord is open. If +you feel that you can come to the table, it is open +to you.'' And this is the form which he still uses. + +He not only never gives up, but, so his friends +say, he never forgets a thing upon which he has +once decided, and at times, long after they +supposed the matter has been entirely forgotten, +they suddenly find Dr. Conwell bringing his +original purpose to pass. When I was told of +this I remembered that pickerel-pond in the +Berkshires! + +If he is really set upon doing anything, little +or big, adverse criticism does not disturb his +serenity. Some years ago he began wearing a +huge diamond, whose size attracted much criticism +and caustic comment. He never said a word +in defense; he just kept on wearing the diamond. +One day, however, after some years, he took it +off, and people said, ``He has listened to the +criticism at last!'' He smiled reminiscently as he +told me about this, and said: ``A dear old deacon +of my congregation gave me that diamond and I +did not like to hurt his feelings by refusing it. +It really bothered me to wear such a glaring big +thing, but because I didn't want to hurt the old +deacon's feelings I kept on wearing it until he +was dead. Then I stopped wearing it.'' + +The ambition of Russell Conwell is to continue +working and working until the very last moment +of his life. In work he forgets his sadness, his +loneliness, his age. And he said to me one day, +``I will die in harness.'' + + + +IX + +THE STORY OF ACRES OF DIAMONDS + +CONSIDERING everything, the most remarkable +thing in Russell Conwell's remarkable +life is his lecture, ``Acres of Diamonds.'' +That is, the lecture itself, the number of times +he has delivered it, what a source of inspiration +it has been to myriads, the money that he has +made and is making, and, still more, the purpose +to which he directs the money. In the +circumstances surrounding ``Acres of Diamonds,'' in +its tremendous success, in the attitude of mind +revealed by the lecture itself and by what Dr. +Conwell does with it, it is illuminative of his +character, his aims, his ability. + +The lecture is vibrant with his energy. It flashes +with his hopefulness. It is full of his enthusiasm. +It is packed full of his intensity. It stands for +the possibilities of success in every one. He has +delivered it over five thousand times. The +demand for it never diminishes. The success grows +never less. + +There is a time in Russell Conwell's youth of +which it is pain for him to think. He told me of +it one evening, and his voice sank lower and +lower as he went far back into the past. It was +of his days at Yale that he spoke, for they were +days of suffering. For he had not money for +Yale, and in working for more he endured bitter +humiliation. It was not that the work was hard, +for Russell Conwell has always been ready for +hard work. It was not that there were privations +and difficulties, for he has always found difficulties +only things to overcome, and endured privations +with cheerful fortitude. But it was the +humiliations that he met--the personal humiliations +that after more than half a century make +him suffer in remembering them--yet out of those +humiliations came a marvelous result. + +``I determined,'' he says, ``that whatever I +could do to make the way easier at college for +other young men working their way I would do.'' + +And so, many years ago, he began to devote +every dollar that he made from ``Acres of Diamonds'' +to this definite purpose. He has what +may be termed a waiting-list. On that list are +very few cases he has looked into personally. +Infinitely busy man that he is, he cannot do +extensive personal investigation. A large proportion +of his names come to him from college presidents +who know of students in their own colleges +in need of such a helping hand. + +``Every night,'' he said, when I asked him to +tell me about it, ``when my lecture is over and +the check is in my hand, I sit down in my room +in the hotel''--what a lonely picture, tool--``I +sit down in my room in the hotel and subtract +from the total sum received my actual expenses +for that place, and make out a check for the +difference and send it to some young man on my +list. And I always send with the check a letter +of advice and helpfulness, expressing my hope +that it will be of some service to him and telling +him that he is to feel under no obligation except +to his Lord. I feel strongly, and I try to make +every young man feel, that there must be no sense +of obligation to me personally. And I tell them +that I am hoping to leave behind me men who +will do more work than I have done. Don't +think that I put in too much advice,'' he added, +with a smile, ``for I only try to let them know +that a friend is trying to help them.'' + +His face lighted as he spoke. ``There is such a +fascination in it!'' he exclaimed. ``It is just like +a gamble! And as soon as I have sent the letter +and crossed a name off my list, I am aiming for +the next one!'' + +And after a pause he added: ``I do not attempt +to send any young man enough for all his +expenses. But I want to save him from bitterness, +and each check will help. And, too,'' he concluded, +na<i:>vely, in the vernacular, ``I don't want +them to lay down on me!'' + +He told me that he made it clear that he did +not wish to get returns or reports from this +branch of his life-work, for it would take a great +deal of time in watching and thinking and in +the reading and writing of letters. ``But it is +mainly,'' he went on, ``that I do not wish to hold +over their heads the sense of obligation.'' + +When I suggested that this was surely an +example of bread cast upon the waters that could +not return, he was silent for a little and then said, +thoughtfully: ``As one gets on in years there is +satisfaction in doing a thing for the sake of doing +it. The bread returns in the sense of effort made.'' + +On a recent trip through Minnesota he was +positively upset, so his secretary told me, through +being recognized on a train by a young man who +had been helped through ``Acres of Diamonds,'' +and who, finding that this was really Dr. Conwell, +eagerly brought his wife to join him in most +fervent thanks for his assistance. Both the +husband and his wife were so emotionally overcome +that it quite overcame Dr. Conwell himself. + +The lecture, to quote the noble words of Dr. +Conwell himself, is designed to help ``every person, +of either sex, who cherishes the high resolve +of sustaining a career of usefulness and honor.'' +It is a lecture of helpfulness. And it is a lecture, +when given with Conwell's voice and face and +manner, that is full of fascination. And yet it is +all so simple! + +It is packed full of inspiration, of suggestion, +of aid. He alters it to meet the local circumstances +of the thousands of different places in +which he delivers it. But the base remains the +same. And even those to whom it is an old story +will go to hear him time after time. It amuses him +to say that he knows individuals who have listened +to it twenty times. + +It begins with a story told to Conwell by an +old Arab as the two journeyed together toward +Nineveh, and, as you listen, you hear the actual +voices and you see the sands of the desert and the +waving palms. The lecturer's voice is so easy, +so effortless, it seems so ordinary and matter-of- +fact--yet the entire scene is instantly vital and +alive! Instantly the man has his audience under +a sort of spell, eager to listen, ready to be merry +or grave. He has the faculty of control, the vital +quality that makes the orator. + +The same people will go to hear this lecture +over and over, and that is the kind of tribute +that Conwell likes. I recently heard him deliver +it in his own church, where it would naturally +be thought to be an old story, and where, presumably, +only a few of the faithful would go; but it +was quite clear that all of his church are the +faithful, for it was a large audience that came to +listen to him; hardly a seat in the great +auditorium was vacant. And it should be added +that, although it was in his own church, it was +not a free lecture, where a throng might be +expected, but that each one paid a liberal sum for +a seat--and the paying of admission is always a +practical test of the sincerity of desire to hear. +And the people were swept along by the current +as if lecturer and lecture were of novel interest. +The lecture in itself is good to read, but it is only +when it is illumined by Conwell's vivid personality +that one understands how it influences in +the actual delivery. + +On that particular evening he had decided to +give the lecture in the same form as when he first +delivered it many years ago, without any of the +alterations that have come with time and changing +localities, and as he went on, with the audience +rippling and bubbling with laughter as usual, +he never doubted that he was giving it as he had +given it years before; and yet--so up-to-date and +alive must he necessarily be, in spite of a definitive +effort to set himself back--every once in a while +he was coming out with illustrations from such +distinctly recent things as the automobile! + +The last time I heard him was the 5,124th time +for the lecture. Doesn't it seem incredible! 5,124 +times' I noticed that he was to deliver it at a +little out-of-the-way place, difficult for any +considerable number to get to, and I wondered just +how much of an audience would gather and how +they would be impressed. So I went over from +there I was, a few miles away. The road was +dark and I pictured a small audience, but when +I got there I found the church building in which +he was to deliver the lecture had a seating +capacity of 830 and that precisely 830 people were +already seated there and that a fringe of others +were standing behind. Many had come from +miles away. Yet the lecture had scarcely, if at +all, been advertised. But people had said to one +another: ``Aren't you going to hear Dr. Conwell?'' +And the word had thus been passed along. + +I remember how fascinating it was to watch +that audience, for they responded so keenly and +with such heartfelt pleasure throughout the entire +lecture. And not only were they immensely +pleased and amused and interested--and to +achieve that at a crossroads church was in +itself a triumph to be proud of--but I knew that +every listener was given an impulse toward doing +something for himself and for others, and that +with at least some of them the impulse would +materialize in acts. Over and over one realizes +what a power such a man wields. + +And what an unselfishness! For, far on in +years as he is, and suffering pain, he does not +chop down his lecture to a definite length; he +does not talk for just an hour or go on grudgingly +for an hour and a half. He sees that the people +are fascinated and inspired, and he forgets pain, +ignores time, forgets that the night is late and that +he has a long journey to go to get home, and +keeps on generously for two hours! And every +one wishes it were four. + +Always he talks with ease and sympathy. +There are geniality, composure, humor, simple +and homely jests--yet never does the audience +forget that he is every moment in tremendous +earnest. They bubble with responsive laughter +or are silent in riveted attention. A stir can be +seen to sweep over an audience, of earnestness or +surprise or amusement or resolve. When he is +grave and sober or fervid the people feel that he +is himself a fervidly earnest man, and when he is +telling something humorous there is on his part +almost a repressed chuckle, a genial appreciation +of the fun of it, not in the least as if he were laughing +at his own humor, but as if he and his hearers +were laughing together at something of which they +were all humorously cognizant. + +Myriad successes in life have come through the +direct inspiration of this single lecture. One hears +of so many that there must be vastly more that +are never told. A few of the most recent were +told me by Dr. Conwell himself, one being of +a farmer boy who walked a long distance to hear +him. On his way home, so the boy, now a man, +has written him, he thought over and over of +what he could do to advance himself, and before +he reached home he learned that a teacher was +wanted at a certain country school. He knew +he did not know enough to teach, but was sure he +could learn, so he bravely asked for the place. +And something in his earnestness made him win +a temporary appointment. Thereupon he worked +and studied so hard and so devotedly, while he +daily taught, that within a few months he was +regularly employed there. ``And now,'' says +Conwell, abruptly, with his characteristic skim- +ming over of the intermediate details between the +important beginning of a thing and the satisfactory +end, ``and now that young man is one of +our college presidents.'' + +And very recently a lady came to Dr. Conwell, +the wife of an exceptionally prominent man +who was earning a large salary, and she told him +that her husband was so unselfishly generous +with money that often they were almost in straits. +And she said they had bought a little farm as a +country place, paying only a few hundred dollars +for it, and that she had said to herself, +laughingly, after hearing the lecture, ``There are no +acres of diamonds on this place!'' But she also +went on to tell that she had found a spring of +exceptionally fine water there, although in buying +they had scarcely known of the spring at all; +and she had been so inspired by Conwell that she +had had the water analyzed and, finding that it +was remarkably pure, had begun to have it bottled +and sold under a trade name as special spring +water. And she is making money. And she also +sells pure ice from the pool, cut in winter-time +and all because of ``Acres of Diamonds''! + +Several millions of dollars, in all, have been +received by Russell Conwell as the proceeds from +this single lecture. Such a fact is almost staggering-- +and it is more staggering to realize what +good is done in the world by this man, who does +not earn for himself, but uses his money in +immediate helpfulness. And one can neither think +nor write with moderation when it is further +realized that far more good than can be done +directly with money he does by uplifting and +inspiring with this lecture. Always his heart is +with the weary and the heavy-laden. Always +he stands for self-betterment. + +Last year, 1914, he and his work were given +unique recognition. For it was known by his +friends that this particular lecture was approaching +its five-thousandth delivery, and they planned +a celebration of such an event in the history of the +most popular lecture in the world. Dr. Conwell +agreed to deliver it in the Academy of Music, in +Philadelphia, and the building was packed and +the streets outside were thronged. The proceeds +from all sources for that five-thousandth lecture +were over nine thousand dollars. + +The hold which Russell Conwell has gained on +the affections and respect of his home city was +seen not only in the thousands who strove to +hear him, but in the prominent men who served +on the local committee in charge of the celebration. +There was a national committee, too, and +the nation-wide love that he has won, the nation- +wide appreciation of what he has done and is +still doing, was shown by the fact that among the +names of the notables on this committee were +those of nine governors of states. The Governor +of Pennsylvania was himself present to do Russell +Conwell honor, and he gave to him a key +emblematic of the Freedom of the State. + +The ``Freedom of the State''--yes; this man, +well over seventy, has won it. The Freedom of +the State, the Freedom of the Nation--for this +man of helpfulness, this marvelous exponent of +the gospel of success, has worked marvelously for +the freedom, the betterment, the liberation, the +advancement, of the individual. + + + + +FIFTY YEARS ON THE LECTURE +PLATFORM + +BY +RUSSELL H. CONWELL + +AN Autobiography! What an absurd request! +If all the conditions were favorable, the story +of my public Life could not be made interesting. +It does not seem possible that any will care to +read so plain and uneventful a tale. I see nothing +in it for boasting, nor much that could be helpful. +Then I never saved a scrap of paper intentionally +concerning my work to which I could refer, not +a book, not a sermon, not a lecture, not a newspaper +notice or account, not a magazine article, +not one of the kind biographies written from time +to time by noble friends have I ever kept even as +a souvenir, although some of them may be in my +library. I have ever felt that the writers concerning +my life were too generous and that my own +work was too hastily done. Hence I have nothing +upon which to base an autobiographical account, +except the recollections which come to an +overburdened mind. + +My general view of half a century on the +lecture platform brings to me precious and beautiful +memories, and fills my soul with devout gratitude +for the blessings and kindnesses which have +been given to me so far beyond my deserts. +So much more success has come to my hands +than I ever expected; so much more of good +have I found than even youth's wildest dream +included; so much more effective have been my +weakest endeavors than I ever planned or hoped-- +that a biography written truthfully would be +mostly an account of what men and women have +done for me. + +I have lived to see accomplished far more than +my highest ambition included, and have seen the +enterprises I have undertaken rush by me, pushed +on by a thousand strong hands until they have +left me far behind them. The realities are like +dreams to me. Blessings on the loving hearts and +noble minds who have been so willing to sacrifice +for others' good and to think only of what +they could do, and never of what they should get! +Many of them have ascended into the Shining +Land, and here I am in mine age gazing up alone, + + _Only waiting till the shadows + Are a little longer grown_. + + +Fifty years! I was a young man, not yet of +age, when I delivered my first platform lecture. +The Civil War of 1861-65 drew on with all its +passions, patriotism, horrors, and fears, and I was +studying law at Yale University. I had from +childhood felt that I was ``called to the ministry.'' +The earliest event of memory is the prayer of +my father at family prayers in the little old cottage +in the Hampshire highlands of the Berkshire +Hills, calling on God with a sobbing voice +to lead me into some special service for the +Saviour. It filled me with awe, dread, and fear, and +I recoiled from the thought, until I determined +to fight against it with all my power. So I sought +for other professions and for decent excuses for +being anything but a preacher. + +Yet while I was nervous and timid before the +class in declamation and dreaded to face any +kind of an audience, I felt in my soul a strange +impulsion toward public speaking which for years +made me miserable. The war and the public +meetings for recruiting soldiers furnished an outlet +for my suppressed sense of duty, and my first +lecture was on the ``Lessons of History'' as +applied to the campaigns against the Confederacy. + +That matchless temperance orator and loving +friend, John B. Gough, introduced me to the little +audience in Westfield, Massachusetts, in 1862. +What a foolish little school-boy speech it must +have been! But Mr. Gough's kind words of +praise, the bouquets and the applause, made me +feel that somehow the way to public oratory +would not be so hard as I had feared. + +From that time I acted on Mr. Gough's advice +and ``sought practice'' by accepting almost every +invitation I received to speak on any kind of a +subject. There were many sad failures and tears, +but it was a restful compromise with my conscience +concerning the ministry, and it pleased my friends. +I addressed picnics, Sunday-schools, patriotic +meetings, funerals, anniversaries, commencements, +debates, cattle-shows, and sewing-circles without +partiality and without price. For the first five +years the income was all experience. Then +voluntary gifts began to come occasionally in the +shape of a jack-knife, a ham, a book, and the +first cash remuneration was from a farmers' club, +of seventy-five cents toward the ``horse hire.'' +It was a curious fact that one member of that +club afterward moved to Salt Lake City and was +a member of the committee at the Mormon +Tabernacle in 1872 which, when I was a correspondent, +on a journey around the world, employed +me to lecture on ``Men of the Mountains'' in the +Mormon Tabernacle, at a fee of five hundred dollars. + +While I was gaining practice in the first years +of platform work, I had the good fortune to have +profitable employment as a soldier, or as a +correspondent or lawyer, or as an editor or as a +preacher, which enabled me to pay my own expenses, +and it has been seldom in the fifty years +that I have ever taken a fee for my personal use. +In the last thirty-six years I have dedicated +solemnly all the lecture income to benevolent +enterprises. If I am antiquated enough for an +autobiography, perhaps I may be aged enough to +avoid the criticism of being an egotist, when I +state that some years I delivered one lecture, +``Acres of Diamonds,'' over two hundred times +each year, at an average income of about one +hundred and fifty dollars for each lecture. + +It was a remarkable good fortune which came +to me as a lecturer when Mr. James Redpath +organized the first lecture bureau ever established. +Mr. Redpath was the biographer of John Brown +of Harper's Ferry renown, and as Mr. Brown had +been long a friend of my father's I found employment, +while a student on vacation, in selling that +life of John Brown. That acquaintance with Mr. +Redpath was maintained until Mr. Redpath's +death. To General Charles H. Taylor, with +whom I was employed for a time as reporter for +the Boston _Daily Traveler_, I was indebted for many +acts of self-sacrificing friendship which soften my +soul as I recall them. He did me the greatest +kindness when he suggested my name to Mr. +Redpath as one who could ``fill in the vacancies +in the smaller towns'' where the ``great lights +could not always be secured.'' + +What a glorious galaxy of great names that +original list of Redpath lecturers contained! +Henry Ward Beecher, John B. Gough, Senator +Charles Sumner, Theodore Tilton, Wendell Phillips, +Mrs. Mary A. Livermore, Bayard Taylor, +Ralph Waldo Emerson, with many of the great +preachers, musicians, and writers of that remarkable +era. Even Dr. Holmes, John Whittier, +Henry W. Longfellow, John Lothrop Motley, +George William Curtis, and General Burnside +were persuaded to appear one or more times, +although they refused to receive pay. I cannot +forget how ashamed I felt when my name ap- +peared in the shadow of such names, and how +sure I was that every acquaintance was ridiculing +me behind my back. Mr. Bayard Taylor, however, +wrote me from the _Tribune_ office a kind note +saying that he was glad to see me ``on the road to +great usefulness.'' Governor Clafflin, of Massachusetts, +took the time to send me a note of congratulation. +General Benjamin F. Butler, however, +advised me to ``stick to the last'' and be a +good lawyer. + +The work of lecturing was always a task and +a duty. I do not feel now that I ever sought to +be an entertainer. I am sure I would have been +an utter failure but for the feeling that I must +preach some gospel truth in my lectures and do at +least that much toward that ever-persistent ``call of +God.'' When I entered the ministry (1879) I had +become so associated with the lecture platform in +America and England that I could not feel justified +in abandoning so great a field of usefulness. + +The experiences of all our successful lecturers +are probably nearly alike. The way is not always +smooth. But the hard roads, the poor hotels, +the late trains, the cold halls, the hot church +auditoriums, the overkindness of hospitable +committees, and the broken hours of sleep are +annoyances one soon forgets; and the hosts of +intelligent faces, the messages of thanks, and the +effects of the earnings on the lives of young college +men can never cease to be a daily joy. God +bless them all. + +Often have I been asked if I did not, in fifty +years of travel in all sorts of conveyances, meet +with accidents. It is a marvel to me that no such +event ever brought me harm. In a continuous +period of over twenty-seven years I delivered +about two lectures in every three days, yet I did +not miss a single engagement. Sometimes I had +to hire a special train, but I reached the town on +time, with only a rare exception, and then I was +but a few minutes late. Accidents have preceded +and followed me on trains and boats, and +were sometimes in sight, but I was preserved +without injury through all the years. In the +Johnstown flood region I saw a bridge go out +behind our train. I was once on a derelict steamer +on the Atlantic for twenty-six days. At another +time a man was killed in the berth of a sleeper I +had left half an hour before. Often have I felt +the train leave the track, but no one was killed. +Robbers have several times threatened my life, +but all came out without loss to me. God and man +have ever been patient with me. + +Yet this period of lecturing has been, after all, +a side issue. The Temple, and its church, in +Philadelphia, which, when its membership was +less than three thousand members, for so many +years contributed through its membership over +sixty thousand dollars a year for the uplift of +humanity, has made life a continual surprise; while +the Samaritan Hospital's amazing growth, and the +Garretson Hospital's dispensaries, have been so +continually ministering to the sick and poor, and +have done such skilful work for the tens of thousands +who ask for their help each year, that I +have been made happy while away lecturing by +the feeling that each hour and minute they were +faithfully doing good. Temple University, which +was founded only twenty-seven years ago, has +already sent out into a higher income and nobler +life nearly a hundred thousand young men and +women who could not probably have obtained an +education in any other institution. The faithful, +self-sacrificing faculty, now numbering two hundred +and fifty-three professors, have done the real +work. For that I can claim but little credit; +and I mention the University here only to show +that my ``fifty years on the lecture platform'' +has necessarily been a side line of work. + +My best-known lecture, ``Acres of Diamonds,'' +was a mere accidental address, at first given +before a reunion of my old comrades of the Forty- +sixth Massachusetts Regiment, which served in +the Civil War and in which I was captain. I +had no thought of giving the address again, and +even after it began to be called for by lecture +committees I did not dream that I should live +to deliver it, as I now have done, almost five +thousand times. ``What is the secret of its +popularity?'' I could never explain to myself or others. +I simply know that I always attempt to enthuse +myself on each occasion with the idea that it is +a special opportunity to do good, and I interest +myself in each community and apply the general +principles with local illustrations. + +The hand which now holds this pen must in +the natural course of events soon cease to gesture +on the platform, and it is a sincere, prayerful hope +that this book will go on into the years doing +increasing good for the aid of my brothers and +sisters in the human family. + RUSSELL H. CONWELL. +South Worthington, Mass., + September 1, 1913. + + + +THE END + +**The Project Gutenberg Etext of Acres of Diamonds, by Conwell** + diff --git a/old/acrdi10.zip b/old/acrdi10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e0bd63e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/acrdi10.zip |