Produced by Charles Keller

ACRES OF DIAMONDS

By Russell H. Conwell

Founder Of Temple University

Philadelphia

_His Life And Achievement By Robert Shackleton_

With an Autobiographical Note

ACRES OF DIAMONDS

CONTENTS

ACRES OF DIAMONDS HIS LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS I. THE STORY OF THE SWORD II. THE BEGINNING AT OLD LEXINGTON III. STORY OF THE FIFTY-SEVEN CENTS IV. HIS POWER AS ORATOR AND PREACHER V. GIFT FOR INSPIRING OTHERS VI. MILLIONS OF HEARERS VII. HOW A UNIVERSITY WAS FOUNDED VIII. HIS SPLENDID EFFICIENCY IX. THE STORY OF ``ACRES OF DIAMONDS'' FIFTY YEARS ON THE LECTURE PLATFORM

AN APPRECIATION

THOUGH Russell H. Conwell's Acres of Diamonds have been spread all over the United States, time and care have made them more valuable, and now that they have been reset in black and white by their discoverer, they are to be laid in the hands of a multitude for their enrichment.

In the same case with these gems there is a fascinating story of the Master Jeweler's life-work which splendidly illustrates the ultimate unit of power by showing what one man can do in one day and what one life is worth to the world.

As his neighbor and intimate friend in Philadelphia for thirty years, I am free to say that Russell H. Conwell's tall, manly figure stands out in the state of Pennsylvania as its first citizen and "The Big Brother" of its seven millions of people.

From the beginning of his career he has been a credible witness in the Court of Public Works to the truth of the strong language of the New Testament Parable where it says, "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard-seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, 'Remove hence to yonder place,' AND IT SHALL REMOVE AND NOTHING SHALL BE IMPOSSIBLE UNTO YOU."

As a student, schoolmaster, lawyer, preacher, organizer, thinker and writer, lecturer, educator, diplomat, and leader of men, he has made his mark on his city and state and the times in which he has lived. A man dies, but his good work lives.

His ideas, ideals, and enthusiasms have inspired tens of thousands of lives. A book full of the energetics of a master workman is just what every young man cares for.

1915. {signature}

Table of contents (by pages)

• 1: Acres of Diamonds: our every-day opportunities
• 2: He said that Ali Hafed owned a very large farm
• 3: Ali Hafed heard all about diamonds
• 4: Had Ali Hafed remained at home and dug in his own cellar
• 5: And yet he is said to have sold the whole of it for $833
• 6: And he was a professor of mineralogy
• 7: Have within their reach acres of diamonds
• 8: Or by the shortcomings of some one else
• 9: You belong to another denomination
• 10: Why is every one around here asking for jack knives
• 11: Making and demanding his own rights and his own profits
• 12: I cannot take up the mercantile business
• 13: Adjusted his unseeing eye glass
• 14: What was John Jacob Astor doing out there
• 15: There was a poor man out of work living in Hingham
• 16: If a woman can invent a Jacquard loom
• 17: The great inventor sits next to you
• 18: Then Tad and I are going out to Springfield
• 19: Why does New York excel Philadelphia
• 20: Who was an enlisted colored soldier
• 21: Because he assumed an elocutionary attitude
• 22: And shouted Officers to the rear
• 23: Old Lexington of the Revolution
• 24: The present Conwell was always Conwell
• 25: And men of his Berkshire neighborhood
• 26: John Ring had dashed back to my tent
• 27: Yet Conwell did not get readily into his life work
• 28: To Conwell it was a tremendous experience
• 29: But Conwell was still frightened
• 30: Russell Conwell also braced himself to face the impossible
• 31: Conwell did not stay very long in Lexington
• 32: Conwell that he did not point out
• 33: And his surprisingly good hearted proposition
• 34: And here again we see Conwell explaining Conwellism
• 35: You would say that it was Elias Howe
• 36: 'Thou shalt meet a company of prophets
• 37: Garfield was just plain Jim to his old neighbors
• 38: And Conwell we talked together
• 39: Give thirty five hundred dollars
• 40: Conwell and all of us were most grateful for the gift
• 41: Conwell would make some casual reply
• 42: Conwell pressed within the pages
• 43: Men whom Conwell knew and admired in the long ago
• 44: The list is the itinerary of his vacation
• 45: And Bayard Taylor was one of the many
• 46: Those who have heard Russell Conwell
• 47: And Conwell happened to remember that he organized
• 48: Has stood before his audience or congregation
• 49: The Temple University has numbered
• 50: Second it offers a full college education
• 51: Out of last year's enrolment of 3
• 52: Conwell is not a man who makes snap judgments harshly
• 53: He is a man who sees vividly and who can describe vividly
• 54: The Garretson not founded by Conwell
• 55: Even his own congregation have
• 56: You see something of this ruggedness of the hills
• 57: And that Conwell is supremely scrupulous
• 58: Conwell bringing his original purpose to pass
• 59: It was of his days at Yale that he spoke
• 60: And that is the kind of tribute that Conwell likes
• 61: A genial appreciation of the fun of it
• 62: Conwell agreed to deliver it in the Academy of Music
• 63: When I delivered my first platform lecture
• 64: Redpath was maintained until Mr
• 65: Yet this period of lecturing has been