The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1913-08-23

Ing series of free lectures in Wash.
ington. THE Price of a Soul" was the
subject of last Sundays lecture, from
which the following excerpts are re-
produced:
The fact that Christ dealt with this
subject is proof conclusive that it is
important, for He never dealt with
trivial things. When Christ focused
attention upon a theme it was because
it was worthy of consideration-and
Christ weighed the soul. He present
ed the subject, too, with SURPRISING
force; no one will ever add emphasis
to what He said.
On one side He put the world and
all that the world can contain-all
the wealth that one can accumulate
all the fame to which one can aspire
and all the happiness that one can COW
ct; and on the other side he put the
soul, and asked the question that has
come ringing down the centuries:
What shall it profit man if he gain
the whole world and lose his own
soul?"
Most of the temptations that come
to us to sell the soul come in connec-
ton with the getting of money. The
Bible says, THE love of money is the
root of all evil" and | shall not at
tempt to weaken the statement. If it
| is mistake at all it is so slight a mis-
take that we need not spend time in
correcting it.
And because so many of our tempta-
tions come through the love of money
and the desire to obtain it, it is worth
while to consider the laws of accumu-
! lation. We MIST all have money; we
need food and clothing and shelter,
and money is necessary for the pur-
chase OF these things. Money is not
an evil in itself-money is, in fact,
a very useful servant 1t is bad
only when it becomes the master, and
the love of it is hurtful only because
it can. and often does. crowd out the
i love of nobler things.
But since we must use the money,
let us see if we can agree upon the
rules that should govern us in the ac-
cumulation of the money that we need.
How much money can a man rightfully
collect from society? Surely he cannot
rightfully collect more than he honest
ly earns.
If man connot rightfully collect
more than he honestly earns, it is,
then, matter of the utmost import
ance 10 know how much money man
can honestly earn. | cannot conceive
Of any way % earning money except
to give 10 society a service equivalent
in value to the money collected. If one
desires to collect largely from society
he must be prepared to render large
service to society. Let us begin with
at thirty.three years-and | think this
is a fair estimate-a man must earn
a little more than $4,000 per year for
thirty-three years to earn 100000 IN
a lifetime. / take it for granted that
no one will deny that it is possible
for one to earn this sum by rendering
service equal to it in value. What
shall we say of million dollars? Can
a man earn that much? To do SO
he must earn a little more than $780,
600 a year for thirty-three years. Is
il possible for one to render so large
service? believe that it is. Well,
! what shall we say Of ten millions
To earn that much one must earn on
an average a little more than 100000
year for thirty-three years. Is II
i possible for one to render q service SO
large as to earn SO vast sum? At
the risk of shocking some of my radi-
cal friends am going to affirm that
it is possible But can one earn
hundred million? Yes, believe that
| it is even possible to serve society
to such an extent as to earn hundred
milton in the span of a human life,
or an average of 100000 year for
thirty-thtee years. We have one man
in this country who is said to be worth
$500, 100000. To earn 100000 one
must earn on an average $15,OOO,OOo
a year for thirty-three years. 1t this
within the range of human possibility?
believe that it is.
Not only do believe that man can
earn five hundred million, but believe
that men have earned it. l believe
that Thomas Jefferson earned more
than FIVE hundred millions. The service
that he rendered to the world was OF
ounh great Valua that had he collected