The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-07-24
Christ in the st. Louis Convention.
presbyterian Standard.)


The Standard is rigid in excluding
polltlcal themes from it's columns
save as they may become matters az
Iecung moral and religious princi-
pies. In the present instance we are
care1ul to explain that the speech of
Mr.. Bryan in answer to the address of
Governor Black, of New York. is nor
used in any partisan sense But the
first was an eulogy of war as the
second was of peace. The first two
paragraphs are introduced by way of
explanation:
Said Governor Black. i'm nomi-
mating Theodore Roosevelt to the
Presidency: 1.-THE fate of nations
is still decided by their wars.
You may sing in your schools the
gentle praises of the quiet life
you may strike from your
books the last note of every mar
tial anthem, and yet out in the
smoke and thunder, will also be
the tramp of horses and the ST.
lent, rigid, upturned face. Men
may prophesy and women pray,
but peace will come here to
abide forever on this earth only
when the dreams of childhood are
the accepted charts to guide the
destinies of men.
Events are numerous and
which wire runs around the
world The nation basking today
in the quiet of contentment and
repose may still be on a deadly
circuit, and tomorrow writhing
in the tolls of war This is the
time when great figures must be
in front.
Now, of course there is some truth
in this. There are still wrongs to be
righted on earth, the righting of them
being resisted until there is no help
for the letting of blood in the appeal
to arms. But the ridicule of the very
hope of peace was what Mr.. Bryan
opposed in the following striking par
agraph:
This is eulogy of war. This
is declaration that the time
hoped for, prayed for, of perpet-
ual peace, will never come. This
is eulosizing the doctrine of brute
force and giving denial to the
hopes of the race And this
President candidate for re-
election, is presented as an en-
bodiment of that ideal the gran
ite and the iron, to represent the
new idea of militarism. Do you
say you want 10 defeat the mill
tary idea? Friends of the South,
are you trying to defeat the mill
itary idea? Let me tell you that
not one of you, North, East or
South, more fears the triumph
of that idea than / do. If this is
the doctrine that our nation is to
stand for, it is retrogression, not
progression; it is the lowering
of the ideals of the nation; it is
turning backward to the age of
force. More than that, it is
challenge to the Christian civili-
cation of the world and nothing
else
And this is what we are writing
to call attention to, the paragraph that
follows. 1t was an immense gathering
of all sorts and conditions of men,
brave men and weaklings, politicians
and statesmen, great men and small
men, Christians and those of the
world. There were men there of con-
fiicting interests and aims and am
billions. But here was something thar
no man could quarrel with, and that
touched the heart of every man. The
silence grew to a great stiffness, bro
ken only by the speakers marvellous
voice. quiverng itself with the in
tensity of his emotions as he said:
''Twenty-seven hundred years
ago a prophet foretold the COM
ing of one who was to be called
the Prince of Peace. Two thou
sand years ago he came upon
the earth, and the song that was
sung at his birth was peace on
earth, good will toward men
For two thousand years this doc
trine of peace has been growing.
1t has been taking hold upon the
hearts of men. For this doctrine
of peace millions have given their
lives. For this doctrine of peace
thousands have crossed oceans
and given their lives among saw
age tribes and among foreign ma
tons. This doctrine Of peace
the foundation of Christian civilf-
zation, has been the growing hope
of the world
Strong men stood with bowed heads
and heard that message from the
midnight sky of far-away Bethlehem.
Eyes unused to tears filled up and
overlooked
There were eloquent tributes paid
at that great gathering to the men
of their choice by the different advo-
Gates of their claims. But there was
one supremacy that none disputed.
And if out of the turmoil of that po-
litical convention this claim of the
Kinghood of Jesus was so freely sur
rendered can the day be so far dis
tant when he shall rule in all hears 8.
and claim the kingdoms of this world
for his OWn2