A Remembrance of Henry George

Rabbi Gustav Gottheil

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

Before the civic contest is decided in which this brave man staked his life, death has cast his irrevocable vote in favor of him, and crowned him victor in the race for a crown that outshines and will outlast the transient triumphs of the coming battle.

Friend and foe stand side by side in reverent awe by his lifeless frame. In sealing his lips forever, death opened those of myriads to speak his praise and manifest their gratitude to the man whose thoughts were ever for liberty, justice and humanity.

He advocated a social order in which every toiler should be sure of his due reward, and poverty and degradation should be unknown. A wail of grief is heard from all parts of the country, and once more the ancient Hebrew maxim is confirmed: "The truly wise are greater in their death than in their lives."

There were three elements in the nature of Henry George that will fix the stability of his work for generations and generations to come:

First, the absolute honesty of both his thoughts and his statements. He went in search of truth and accepted it as he found it - not fearing to run counter to established opinions held to be fundamental in social order. In the spirit of the old prophets he would declare the word of God as it was borne in unto him, and he would speak his message in clear and unmistakable language. Now, God has so armed all utterances that whatever error may be mingled with truth, it can never fail of its reward. Time, which tries all things, will separate the dross from the gold, but the weight of an upright word in season, uttered uprightly, always makes for righteousness, and inspires other souls to rise and do likewise.

And the second element of his teaching is, that it was gathered on the field of real life and existing conditions, and that its deepest roots lay in the brave man's own experience. It was not the result of abstract thinking- It did not aim at constructing a system. He faced the facts of life and grappled with the problems they present, for ihe purpose of changing them into better facts and more wholesome adjustments.

Lastly, and this perhaps is the chief cause of the hold he gained on the affections of the people, he was impelled to his efforts by a deep sympathy with his fellow-men, whom he considered to be exposed to sufferings and privations which are not beyond the power of good men to remedy. The people felt a generous and brotherly sympathy in all his teachings; and it was simply heart answering heart that gained him their confidence and ranged vast crowds of followers under his banner.

They say that his theories were dangerous because they seemed to create dissatisfaction and consequent restlessness among the working classes; but that is altogether beside the question. The only true standard for any theory is furnished in the measure of real and lasting good which it will do to that particular class; and if a theory can stand that test, it can never fail of proving of great benefit to all classes; it cannot fail to bring new strength to the whole social fabric. Great reformations have always been heralded by unrest.

Measured by these standards, we may be confident that the life of this brave son of a free and generous nation will be chronicled in its annals in letters of gold. Nay, beyond the limits of his native land his name will be known and respected as one of the hosts of God's servants, who desire to glorify him in the eyes of men by establishing among them a reign of happiness, of justice and of universal peace. I pray for the peace, the strength and the comfort of his bereaved family, while his memory will be for blessing and thanksgiving that he has been, for generations to come.