Tales of Old Derry
You may be aware that the antique shop near Pinkerton Academy was once called the Association Hall. On Dec. 5, 1881 it was the location for what is now considered one of the 100 greatest speeches ever given by an American. That oration is listed alongside Dr. King's "I have a dream" speech, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and Kennedy's Inaugural speech. The speaker that day was Russell Conwell (1843-1925), the founding president of Temple University and namesake of the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
The speech, "Acres of Diamonds," would be presented by Conwell about 6000 times to audiences throughout the world. It is supposedly the most frequently author-delivered speech in history. It has been published in many editions and is currently available online. The 1881 Derry presentation, however, was one of the first times that the Acres of Diamonds speech had been given. The Derry News reported that it was "very interesting" and made to "a large and appreciative audience."
The title of this "gospel of wealth" sermon comes from a story from ancient Persia (modern day Iraq). One day a prosperous farmer named Ali-Hafed was told that if he could find a diamond the size of his thumb he would become as rich as a king. He went to bed that night thinking he was poor because he didn't have a diamond. The next morning Ali-Hafed decided to sell his farm, leave his family and go hunting for diamonds. For years he traveled throughout world on his unsuccessful quest; finally, poor and discouraged, he threw himself into the ocean and died. Back home however, the man who had bought Ali-Hafed's farm found that his land contained acres of diamonds just laying on the ground, ready to be picked up.
For the rest of the hour-long speech Conwell gave many anecdotes about how people left Massachusetts, California, Pennsylvania, etc. to seek their fortune and failed. He preached that if they had just stayed home and used good business sense, they could have ended up rich. Don't leave your rocky-soiled unproductive family farm when all you have to do is study farming, work hard and use better fertilizer. The nearly bankrupted merchant can turn his failing little emporium into a successful department store if he will just find out what his customers want.
Conwell preached that it was "your duty to get rich." He believed it was absolutely no sin to be rich and that 98% of the wealthy got their money through legitimate ways. In fact it was because they were honest and trustworthy that they became rich men. "Money is power and you ought to be reasonably ambitious to have it. You ought to, because you can do more good with it then you could without it" and "if you CAN honestly attain riches ... it is your Christian and Godly duty to do so!"
According to Conwell, being poor should be viewed as sinful and we should remember that "there is not a poor person in the U.S. who were not made poor by his own shortcomings" The only ones he would pity were those of "God's poor" who could not help themselves. One group however for which he had absolutely no sympathy was the spoiled, lazy children of the rich who never learned to earn a living by "honest toil." Conwell called these rich kids "lily-fingered sissies." He likewise had no use for the effected style-obsessesed rich who wore "patent leather boots that he could not walk in and pants that he could not sit down in."
That day in 1881, Rev. Russell Conwell closed by telling his Derry Village audience to remember one thing from his speech. "If you wish to be great at all, you must begin where you are and with what you are - in Derry now. He that can give to his town any blessing, who can be a good citizen while he lives here and make better homes, 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 DERRY."
Ok, Rev. Conwell, you've convinced me. I'll stay here and not move to Sun City Arizona. But I warn you, if we have another winter like the last couple I might reconsider the permanence of my residency in Derry.
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Rick Holmes is Derry's Town Historian and author of "Nutfield Rambles," which is available for purchase at the town hall, local libraries and many local stores.
