“In no other city in the country is there such an example of the quickening force of a united and working church organization as is given by the North Broad Street Temple, Philadelphia,” says an editorial writer in the Philadelphia “Press.”  “Twenty such churches in this city of 1,250,000 people would do more to evangelize it and re-awaken an interest in the vital truths of Christianity than the hundreds of church organizations it now has.  The world is demanding more and better returns from the church for the time and money given it.  Real, practical Christian work is what is asked of the church.  The sooner it conforms to this demand, the more quickly it will regain its old influence and be prepared to make effective its fight against evil.”

Hospitals are needed that heal in the name of Christ, that heal ills of the body and at the same time by the spirit of love that permeates, by the Christian spirit that animates all connected with them, cure the ills of the soul and send the sufferers away rejoicing in spirit as well as in body, with a brighter outlook on the world and increased faith in humankind.

Colleges are needed the length and breadth of this land, wherever the poor and ignorant sit in darkness.  In every town of five thousand or more, a college for working people on the lines of the Temple College would be thronged with eager, rejoicing students.  And the world is the better for every man and woman raised to a higher plane of living.  Any life, no matter how sordid and narrow, how steeped in ignorance, if swept sweet and clean by God’s love, if awakened by ambition and then given the opportunity to grow, can be changed into beauty, sweetness and usefulness.  And such work is worth while.

The way has been blazed, the path has been pointed out, it only remains for those who follow after to walk therein.  And if they walk therein, they will gain that true greatness and deep happiness which Phillips Brooks says comes ever “to the man who has given his life to his race, who feels that what God gives him, He gives him for mankind.”

ACRES OF DIAMONDS

Dr. Conwell’s most famous lecture and one of his earliest has been given at this writing (October, 1905) 3420 times.  The income from it if invested at regular rates of interest would have amounted very nearly to one million dollars.

PERSONAL GLIMPSES OF CELEBRATED MEN AND WOMEN

Is Dr. Conwell’s latest lecture.  It is a backward glance over his own life in which he tells in his inimitable fashion many of its most interesting scenes and incidents.  It is here published for the first time.

ACRES OF DIAMONDS.[A]

[Footnote A:  Reported by A. Russell Smith and Harry E. Greager.]

[Mr. Conwell’s lectures are all delivered extemporaneously and differ greatly from night to night.—­Ed.]