PUBLISHERS' NOTE

“The Price of a Soul” is an address delivered by Mr. Bryan, firstat the Northwestern Law School Banquet in Chicago, then as aCommencement Oration at the Peirce School in Philadelphia and,in 1909, extended into a lecture.

THE PRICE OF A SOUL

The fact that Christ dealt with this subject is proof conclusive thatit is important, for He never dealt with trivial things. When Christfocused attention upon a theme it was because it was worthy ofconsideration—and Christ weighed the soul. He presented the subject,too, with surpassing force; no one will ever add emphasis to what Hesaid. He understood the value of the question in argument. If youwill examine the great orations delivered at crises in the world'shistory, you will find that in nearly every case the speakercondensed the whole subject into a question, and in that questionembodied what he regarded as an unanswerable argument. Christ usedthe question to give force to the thought which he presented inregard to the soul's value.

On one side He put the world and all that the world can contain—all thewealth that one can accumulate, all the fame to which one can aspire,and all the happiness that one can covet; and on the other side heput the soul, and asked the question that has come ringing down thecenturies: “What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world andlose his own soul?”

There is no compromise here—no partial statement of the matter. Heleaves us to write one term of the equation ourselves. He gives us allthe time we desire, and allows the imagination to work to the limit,and when we have gathered together into one sum all things but thesoul, He asks—What if you gain it all—all—ALL, and lose the soul?What is the profit?

Some have thought the soul question a question of the next world only,but it is a question of this world also; some have thought the soulquestion a Sabbath-day question only, but it is a week-day question aswell; some have thought the soul question a question for the ministersalone, but it is a question which we all must meet. Every day and everyweek, every month and every year, from the time we reach the period ofaccountability until we die, we—each of us—all of us, weigh the soul.

And exactly in proportion as we put the soul above all things else webuild character; the moment we allow the soul to become a matter ofmerchandise, we start on the downward way.

Tolstoy says that if you would investigate the career of a criminal itis not sufficient to begin with the commission of a crime; that you mustgo back to that day in his life when he deliberately trampled upon hisconscience and did that which he knew to be wrong. And so with all ofus, the turning point in the life is the day when we surrender the soulfor something that for the time being seems more desirable.

Most of the temptations that come to us to sell the soul come inconnection with the getting of money. The Bible says, “The love ofmoney is the root of all evil.” If I had been making the statement,I think I would have said that the love of money is the root ofnearly all evil. But that is probably due to the fact that I amso conservative in thought and in method of statement, that, instating a proposition, I prefer to leave a margin, so that ifanybody disputes it I can bring proof of more than I said. Butthe Bible says, “The love of money is the root of all evil”and I sh

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