The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1904-01-28
THE PERFECT MAN
OUR REGULAR SUNDAY SERMON
The Measure of the Stature of True
Perfection Found Only In the Per-
son of JESUS Christ.

rector of St. AIMS Church on the Heights,
preached Sunday morning on CONNER
ciaiism." He took his text from st. Luk ke
kills: Mans lie consisteth not IN the
abundance OF the things which he pos
! sesses.
DIR. .Alsop said:
| heard lately from brilliant speaker
an address on "Commercialism. To the
surprise of all, it was panegyrlc rather
! than a diatribe. His argument was that
commercial. that Is, business activity, the
! industrial epoch in which we live and
| whose pusi! we feel, engenders certain use
| fui and even moral qualities, such as THRIFT,
| underlying all accumulations OF capital:
| truth telling. which is essential to success
/ full trading: trust. without winch the vast
credit system OF the day could not exist;
| fhe sense OF responsibility shown in the
/ honesty OF the great army or clerks and
place holders. among whom breaches OF
trust. defaults and The like are, compara-
| tiye,v rare, the percentage OF the honest
being surprisingly high. At the same time
our Civil War and the Boar War have
/ shown that lie commercial spirit did not
| eytinruish hecoism and liCcgallty: Wit,
ness the gifts of rich .ren to education ana
charities.
Now that is all trac, and yet there is a
bad flavor about the word commerclaiIsm.
1t has another cannotation. Is 1t not
matter of emphasis? Jesus says. seek we
first the kingdom of God He says again,
what will a man give in exchange for his
life?' What are men exchanging their HE,
with all its possibilities OF symmetrical de-
yelopment, for? What are they seeking
first? Is it not too largely material sue;
cess? st. Paul says: Having food and
raiment we have enough" The feeling OF
to-day scorns such moderation. A modest
competence is nowadays nothing accounted
of. To make living is not enough: to
achieve comfort for self and family is a
small thing: men aim and toll and struggle
for more dazzling prizes-a success that
makes 4 noise and Is talked Of; that giit-
tiers and dazZ.es the eye.
This is commercialism as | understand
it: the measuring OF success by the stand.
ard OF the market place, the sinking OF
other aims in the eager rush after gam.
There are high things possible for man;
Culture OF body. mind, growth in. moral
and spiritual attainments, expansion IN
faculty and usefulness. There are masnltl-
cent careers open to him in science, IN art
in literature. in philanthroplc service:
Over against all these stands the spirit OF
the age and cries follow me. The ideal Is
man who turns everything to gold that he
touches; n man who gets and holds and
then goes on to get more and hold more;
Two conversations lately overheard illus
trate the point. DR.. Rainsford, OF st.
Georges Church, walking down New
York avenue, overheard the talk OF three
or four university men before him. Look
ing upon the cleaning equ'pages and spien-
did dresses fitting by, one said to another:
II tell YOU, boys, it is money that goes IN
this town, is it not:" The belief that it is
money that goes-the feeling that 1t Is
money that ought to go-are evidences OF
an almost universal sentiment.
WHO is building that magnificent
rr,,se?" said one to another. "Oh: that Is
10 be the residence of so and so. he used
to be poor Baptist preacher, but Rocke-
feller found out that ne had business aoll-
ity, and | tell you he did not leave him him
long a Baptist preacher. He took him
into the Standard Oil Company, and now
see what a success he has achieved" There
speaks commcrcialism. There is the voice
of the ideal which has almost hypnot!zed
our generation.
Agassiz's splendid reply to the lecture
bureau, Il have no time to make money,
sounds like piece of insanity. Gordon
refusal to accept reward from the Chinese
Emperor for his help in the Tai Ping re-
bellion sounds like piece of Quixotism.
The simple life" as lived by Thoreau in
the woods. as pictured by Wagner, sums
only an idyliic dream. The pursuit OF
learning for learning's sake. the service OF
man with no itch for reward, the quiet,
unostentatious sacrifice OF personal interest
for the good of others, these are repu-
dated as folly. The maddening crowds
ignoble strife is what makes itself heard.
1t draws like the song OF the siren like
the suction of vast maelstrom, it seiZes
men and draws them in; BY and by, dIz.
zied by the fierce whirl. they forget the
ioh raYtr fn
money-makers. That is what / understand
by commerciaiism: the thrusting into the
front place OF merely material success 1t
is corruption Of the spirit in which life Is
livid. 1t is low, wreng motive. 1t brings
in and holds before the soul false stand
ard of value. 1t misconceives what is the
real success OF life 1t subordinates the
man to his possessions. 1t is a radical cor.
ruption of the ideai-an absolute reversal
OF what our text says. Commerclallsm de-
clares and persuades that mans life does
consist in the abundance of the things
which he possesses. Therefore, 1t urges
let him love supremely those things; let
him aim at them. follow after them. sink
his very life in them. Let him for them
forego, if needs be. mental culture. artistic
development, moral elevation, spiritual ac-
tivity and all that goes to make full de-
veloped manhood. Quench. if necessary,
all lofty aspirations. Get things. gather
them about you, enthrone yourself on and
among them. Let atrophy seize every
other faculty 50 your faculty for getting
and getting on grows stronger.
Let me give an illustration or two.
There is story of man who was so eager
to keep safe a very precious thing that he
took it with him into closet, set his can.
die on the floor and then diligently nailed
fast the door, only to find, as his candle
fickered out, that he had shut himself in
with his treasure. Nailed and encoffinea
in his own strong box. Here is another:
l read some time ago OF young man, who,
upon graduation from college, found him.
self the possessor of $50. 600 year. He had
health, strength. education, position.
Choices lay open before him. He might go
in for political life. for philanthropie serv-
ice, or college settlement work. He might
become student aud patron OF art, of
literature. He might throw himself into
the civic life OF his day. In any OF dozen
ways he might find his life by losing it in
the service of man and of God. But a,as.
he was dazzled by the ideal of the age.
Ambitious to turn his one million into
many. to win the power or notoriety vast
wealth can bring. he flung himself into a
banking house. All the beautiful opportu