Henry George, A Remembrance

Rev. Lyman Abbott, D.D.

[An address delivered at the funeral of Henry George, Sunday, 31 October 1897. Reprinted in the booklet, Addresses at the Funeral of Henry George, compiled by Edmund Yardley and published by The Public Publishing Company, Chicago, 1905]

He who lies before us in death was honored by all men. All over the world men and women are paying him the same tribute today that we do. This tribute comes from those who agreed with him in his economic opinions; from those who agreed only in part with him; and from those who disagreed with him entirely. All men, of all shades of opinion, have united in this testimonial; for in such an hour as this we all agree that the spirit in man is more important than any creed.

We are gathered here this afternoon, not to eulogize Henry George-his life is his monument. We are gathered here to express our affection and reverence for his estate, for one who carried through life the spirit of the Christ. If to give one's life for the enlightenment of man, for his betterment, is to follow Christ, then this man was a follower of Christ. If to give one's self to the service of one's fellow man is to follow Christ, then he truly followed Christ. The spirit which leads a man on unselfishly in the service of others is the spirit of Christ himself.

What it is to follow Christ ought to be clear to the world by this time, yet it is not. He has made himself perfectly clear in his first reported sermon:

The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach glad tidings to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

If to give one's life to a proclamation of glad tidings to those who are poor, to the emancipation of those who are in bonds, to the enlightenment of those who are in darkness, and comfort and healing to those who are broken hearted - if to do these things be to follow Christ's footsteps, then surely it would be hard to name a man who during the last twenty-five years has followed Christ more faithfully than he whose sudden death calls us here today. To this, Christ gave his life. It is said of him that he went about doing good. To go about doing good is to follow Christ. No ritual, nor creed, nor ceremony, nor church-going, but service is following Christ. Not to attend a church or synagogue, not to subscribe to a creed, not to belong to an industrial or so-called social association, not to belong to any of these things - but to live as he lived, to love as he loved, to serve as he served. And if this is true, if to follow Christ is to give one's self to the service of humanity, then there are some in the church of Christ that do not follow him, and some outside that do. If this be to follow Christ, then there are many who live with eyes sometimes so blinded by their tears that they see him dimly or not at all. who yet follow him.

Men ask, How do you account for the decay of religion? I reply that there is no decay of religion, that religion has never been so vital and so widely diffused as it is today. We do not care so much about ritual and church organizations, and theological definitions and creeds; and perhaps we do not care enough for them, but we do care about our fellow-men more and more as the years go by. If Christianity is service, unselfish service, then this age is more Christian than all preceding ages. If it be true that he is greatest who is servant of all, then is this the more Christianly great of all ages. In art, science, literature, journalism, education, the few wise, cultivated, masterful are ministering to the many. It is only in commerce and industry that the many are ministering to the few. That commerce and industry might be made Christian, as science, art, literature, government and education have been made Christian, Henry George devoted his life. Whether we think his method was the best or not, we must honor the life so devoted, so consecrated.

It is because I believe that Henry George was a true and noble follower of Christ that I, a follower of Christ also, am glad to be here to speak these simple words. He followed Christ in the spirit with which he pursued his aim in life. Industrial injustice he did not look upon as an irremediable wrong. He did not study economic questions in the quietude of a library; he plunged himself into life. He identified himself with those whose wrongs he suffered as though they were his own. He interpreted those wrongs through his own strong feelings. He loved truth, but he loved truth most because truth served mankind. He loved his fellow-men, and loved to identify himself with his fellow-men. He served his fellow-men with a consecration worthy of more than our praise; worthy of our imitation.

With his brilliant talents, with his mastery of the English language, with his knowledge of economic principles, with his rare power of expression, with his genius for arousing enthusiasm, Henry George might have attained almost any position he chose in political life, or in journalism, or in social life, had he been willing to yield one iota of his convictions, or even to make such compromises as most of us deem it quite proper to make. But he was inflexible when he believed he was right. He never considered the effect upon himself of anything he said or did. I have stood beside him on the same platform, and have heard him utter truths that seemed to me at times to be needlessly unwelcome to those to whom they were addressed, and have read in his works the same obnoxious utterances as plainly made. It would be difficult to find a public teacher in America who considered less the immediate effect of his utterances, or the effect immediate or ultimate on himself, than did Henry George.

When the campaign came on friends admonished him. No soldier ever entered battle with a clearer consciousness of personal danger. But he was brave, and he died in attestation of his faith, in the support of his principles, and in the cause of the people he desired to serve.

I believe that the secret of Henry George's unflinching courage, his undaunted faith in man and his constant hope of victory, was in his faith in God. I do not mean his theological belief in God, but his personal faith in and fellowship with the living God, a good God, a God who is a father to His children.

If faith in God, faith in man, and the life inspired by that faith is Ghostlike, then Henry George's was a Christlike life. It was such a life, it seems to me, as should convince of the immortality of the human soul even those who profess to be unbelievers. Even they cannot believe that such a life as this has ceased to be.