The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1904-02-10
A. SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED
'coMMERcIALiSM."

COmMEHSiRIiSms
A Pertinent Talk on Present-Day Prob
lem, by the Rev. Dr. Reese F. Alsop-
Jesus Christ is the Measure or the
Stature Of the Perfect Man.
BROOKLYN, N. Y.-Dr. Reese F. Alsop,
rector of st. Ann's Church on the Heights,
preached Sunday morning on CONNER
cia!ism." He took his text from st: Luke
Kills: MANS life consisteth not IN the
abundance of the things which he pos.
sesses."
DR.. Alsop said:
/ heard lately from brilliant speaker
an address on "Commercialism. 10 the
surprise of all, it was panegyric rather
then a diatribe. His argument was that
commercial, that is, business activity, the
industrial epoch in which we i've ano
whose push we feel, engenders certain use
full and even moral qualities, such as thrift,
underlying all accumulations of capital
truth telling, which is essential to success,
full trading; trust, without which the vast
credit system of the day could not exist
the sense of responsibility shown In the
honesty of the great army of clerks and
place holders, among whom breaches OF
trust, defaults and the like are, compare.
lively rare, the percentage OF the honest
being surprisingly high; at the same time
shown that the commercial spirit did not
extineuish heroism and hberality. Wit:
ness the gifts of rich .inea to education and
Now that is all true, and yet there is a
bad flavor about the word commercialisD1.
It has another cannotatior. Is i not
matter of emphasis? Jesus says, "seek ye
first the kingdom of God" He says again,
"What will man give in exchange tor :, hls
life" What are men exchanging their llte,
with all its possibilities of symmetrical de:
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 slch moderation. A modest
competence is nowadays nothing accounted
of. To make living is not enough; to
achieve comfort for self and family is q
small thing: men aim and toll and struggle
for more dazzling prizes-a success that
makes a noise and is talked Of; that gilt
ters and dazzles the eye. " ,
This is commerciaGsm as I 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 attainfnents, expansion in
faculty and usefulness.n There are magniti.
cent careers open to him in science, in art,
in literature, in philanthropic service:
Over against all these stands the spirit OF
the age and cries follow me. The IdeaF1s
man who turns everything to- gold thdt he
touches; a man who: gets and n holds and
Two conversations lately overheard illus
trate the point. = DR.. Rainsford, Of St.
Georges Church, walking down 'algNew
York avenue, overheard the talk OF three
or four university men before him. Look
ing upon the cleaning equipages and splen-
did dresses fitting by, one said to another:
IT 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 it is
money that ought to goAare evidences OF
an almost universal sentiment. e II.
"Who is building that magnificent
house," said one to another. oh, that is
to be the residence of SO and sd: He used
to be poor Baptist preacher, but Kocke.
feller found out that he had business abil-
ity, and I tell you he did not leave, him
long a Baptist preacher. He took him
into the Standard Oil Company, and now
see what success he has achieved" There
speaks commercialism. There is the voice
Of the ideal which has almost hypnotized
our generation.
Agassiz's splendid reply to the lecture
bureau, II have no time to make money"
sounds like piece of insanity. Gordon's
refusal to accept reward from the Chinese
Emperor for his help in the Tai Ping re-
beIion sounds like piece of Quixotism.
The simple ife," as lived by Thoreau in
the woods, as pictured by Wagner, sums
only an idyllic dream. The pursuit Of
learning for learnings sake, the service OF
man with no itch for reward, the quiet,
unostentatious sacrifce of personal interest
dated as folly. The maddening. crowds
icnoble strife is what makes itself heard.
It draws like the song of the. siren. Like
the suction of a vast maelstrom,. it seizes
men and draws them in. By and by, diz-
zied by the fierce whirl, they forget the
high things and are content to be simply
money-makers. That is what understand
by commercialism; the thrusting into the
front place of merely material success. 1t
is corruption of the spirit in which life is
iyid. It is low, wrong motive. 1t brings
in and holds before the soul false stand
ard of value. 1t misconceives what ls the
real success of life. 1t subordinates the
man to his possessions. 1t is radical cor.
of what our text says. Commerciallsm de-
clares and persuades that mans life does
consist in the abundance of the things
which he possesses. Therefore, it 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 a full de-
veloped manhood. Quench, if necessary,
all lofty aspirations. Get things, gathe:!
them about you, enthrone yourself on and
among them. Let atrophy selze s every
and getting on grows stronger: .""'.'
Let me give an illustration. or. two.
There is story of a man who was SO eager
to keep safe very precious thing that he
took it with him into a 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 encoffined
in his own strong box. Here is another:
read some time ago of young man, who,
upon graduation from sao eolege eo6 found f. him
health, strength, education; position.
Choices lay open before him. He might go
in for. political life, for philanthropic serv-
ice, or college settlement work. He might
become student and a 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 alas!
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-
mites that invited him he forewent simply
and only that he might increase his plea
pile which was already sufficiently large.
Grant him all the success he coveted, what
would be the end? A dwarfed man, with
an immense pile heaped up around him. A
life practically sunk and lost in the abund-
ance of the things which he possessed.
As said, then, moment ago, CONNER.
cialism is found IN a wrong emphasis.