Show ACRES OF DIAMONDS lecture ly by russell hussell 14 conwell clergyman platform orator pastor of tile the baptist temple philadelphia since 1882 1892 and president of temple college born bora in south worthington mass february 15 1843 tile the most famous ot of liis his series of popular lectures delivered on many platforms continued from last issue young you 4 ns man you may never have the opportunity to charge at the head of your nations broo troops ps on some heig heights lits young woman you may never be called on to go out in the seas like grace darling to save suffering humanity hun anity but every one of you can earn money honestly and with that money mcney ou on can call fight the battles of peace and the victories 0 peace are always grander than those ot of war I 1 say then to you that you ought to le rich well ou say 1 I krould leq b be e rich tut I 1 lia have ve never had an opportunity port unity I 1 never had my diamonds about me my friends you did have an opportunity and let us see where your mistake was what business have you been in oil oh some man or woman will say 1 I keep a store on one of these side streets and I 1 am so far from the commercial center that I 1 cannot make any money are you poor how long have you kept that store twenty years vears twenty years arid and not worth five hundred thousand dollars now there is something the matter with you nothing the matter with the side street it is with you oh now you will say any person knows that aou ou must be in the center of trade it you on are going to make mahe money 11 the man of common sense will not admit that that is ne necessarily ess arlly true at all if you are keeping that store and you are not making money it would have been better for tile the community if they had kicked you out of that store nineteen years ago no roan man has a right to go into business and not make money it is a crime to go into business and lose money because it is a curse to the I 1 rest ot of tile no man has a mo ral right r to transact business ulless uc ess he be makes something out of it ile he has also no EO right to transact ku business aness unless the man lie he deals with has an opportunity also to make something unless he be lives and lets live be is not an honest man in busness business there ire are no exceptions to this great rule applause you ought to have been rich you have no ao right to keep a store for twenty years an and still be poor you will say to me now mr conwell I 1 know knew tile the mercantile bu business better than you 10 lo my filand let us consider it a minute when I 1 was young my father kept a country store and once in a while he left me in charge of that store fortunately tor for him it was not often laughter when I 1 had it in my char charge e a mi man n came la in the store door and sald said do you keep jack jac knives no we dont keep J jack ick k knives n ives I 1 went off and whistled a tune and what did I 1 caro care tor for that in man an then another man would come in and say do you keep heep jack no we dorl dont c keep jack knives then I 1 went off and whistled another tune and what did I 1 caie for that man then another in man A n would come in the sane same door and say do you ou keep hep jack knives 1 no 0 O we don t heep kc e jack knives do you suppose we no ite keehln this store just tor for the purpose of supplying ing the whole cor community with jack knives do you carry on sour our business like that do you ask what was the dlf dif continued on page seven AGRES ACRES OF DIAMONDS continued from page six faculty with it the difficulty was that I 1 had not learned that the foundation principles of business success and the foundation principles of christianity itself are both the same it is the whole of every mans life to be doing for his fellow men and he be who can do the most to help his fellow men is entitled to the greatest reward himself not only so gods holy book but also saith every 1 mans business common sense it if I 1 0 had been carrying on my fathers store on a Chiist christian lan plan or on a plan that leads to success I 1 would have had a jackknife jack knife forthe for the third man when he called for it but you say 1 I dont carry on my store like that tha N if ifju jou have not made any money aou ou are carrying on your our business like that and I 1 can tell you what you will say tomorrow to morrow morning when I 1 go into your store I 1 come to you and inquire do you know neighbor A oh yes he lives up in the next block he trades here at my little ditore store well where did he come from when he came to 1 I dont know does he own his own house 1 I dont know what business is he in 1 I dorit dont know does his children go to school 1 I dont know what ticket does he vote 1 I dont know what church does he go to 1 I dont know and I 1 dont care do you answer me like that tomor to mor row morning in lour our store then you are carrying on your business justas I 1 carried on my fathers business in worthington massachusetts you dont know where neighbor A came from and you dont care you dont care whether lie he has a happy home or not you dont know what church lie he goes to and you dont care if you had cared you would have been a rich man now you never thought it was a part of your duty to help him make money so you cannot succeed it Is against every law of business and every rule of political economy and I 1 would give five dollars myself to semyour see your failure in the ledger to morrow morning what right have you to be in business taking no interest in your fellow men and not endeavoring to supply them with what they need you cannot succeed that merchant who in the city ot of boston made his fifteen millions of dollars began his enterprises out in the suburbs where there was not a dozen houses on the street although thae ther c were other stores scattered about lie he became such a necessity to the neighborhood that when lie he wished to move into the city to start a wholesale house they came to hird him with a great petition signed by all the people begging that he would not close that store but bue keep it open for the benefit of that community he had bad always aldays looked after their interests lie he had always carefully stud led what they wanted and advised them rightly he was a necessity and they must make him wealthy for in proportion as you are of use t to 0 your fellow men in that prop proportion can they albord afford to pay you oh my friend going through this world and thinking that you are unjustly dealt with you are poor be baua you are not wanted you should have made yourself a necessity to the world and then the world woul have paid you your own price friends learn that lesson I 1 would speak tenderly and kindly to the poor but I 1 sometimes need to speak decidedly cid edly young man remember it if you are arc going to invest your life or your talent or money you must look around and see what wha t people need and then invest yourself or our money in that which they need most then will your fortune be maite made for they must take care of yo you u it Is a dl difficult to learn some young man wit will I 1 say to moi mei 1 cannot go into that that me mercantile business why not because I 1 have rl no capital capital capital capital capital is the cry of a dudish genera |