In a cause as holy as ours, false modesty is as unwise as false
dignity. When we realize that money represents human effort, that it
gives multiplied power either in war or peace and that the possession
of money, with its accompanying power to an almost unlimited extent,
is enjoyed by our enemies, it is well for us to admit at the start
that we, every Volunteer of us, must make constant efforts wherever
speaking or working, to raise funds, on however small a scale, for the
great work before us. One humble but time-honored method, which has
proved useful in every popular movement, recorded in history, is that
of "taking up a collection." People may laugh at it and the collections
be small but we must not be deterred by ridicule nor discouraged by the
apparent insignificance of the returns. This is the only way to give
all the people systematically and persistently a chance to contribute
according to ability to the cause that means liberty and the opening
of opportunity to them. Therefore, let no speaker listen to advice from
the timid and over-modest, who shrink from the sneers and taunts of
the over-nice, but at every meeting let them pass around the hat after
the manner of our forefathers. We must also remember that in every
audience, however small, there may be some penitent Croesus awake to
existing evils but as yet with no clear vision of a remedy, with power
and will to help but lacking knowledge as to where such help should be
given. Sudden conversions are not unknown where the message of truth is
delivered with sincerity and simplicity. There are thousands of rich
men at this moment who, if properly appealed to, would give liberally
to the cause that to them seemed likely to promote the general welfare.
There are many human hearts now waiting, like the Pool of Bethesda, for
the angel's touch, which shall "trouble" their calm and transform them
into sources of healing for the woes of humanity. No speaker knows but
he may be the one destined to open up these closed fountains of power.
The heights and depths of human nature lie beyond our ordinary vision.
A man's power of response to an appeal in behalf of those who suffer is
not always graven on his forehead, so that "he that runneth may read."
In any audience there may be some listener, apparently indifferent, in
whom all the preliminary processes of conversion have already taken
place, and who needs only the warm breath of an atmosphere charged with
unselfish enthusiasm to complete the work of regeneration. Such cases
are on record. Within a few years, the gift of a million dollars was
received by the promoters of a reform movement in New York, not from an
habitual contributor to such enterprises, but from a sudden convert,
a man ordinarily cold and indifferent to humanitarian movements, and
before unresponsive to his brothers' needs. Perhaps it was not the need
that previously had failed to stir his heart, but only the methods of
helping that had not satisfied his mind.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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