The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1908-09-18
WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN AND
THE ISSUES OF TODAY


| epltOme TO great extent OF the past
and is largely a prophecy of the fu-
tture. He is therefore not only great
er than his time, but is great enough
for a foundation for the times to
come. Every man who holds an ex-
allied position in his own day has the
additional honor of being pillar in
the temple of the future.
William Jennings Bryan is the log
ical result Of a sturdy, intellectual,
God-fearing ancestry. There flows in
his veins that blood rich enough to
make the democrat the peer in cour-
tesy, gentleness and grace OF the most
refined aristocrat, and strong enough
| with iron 10 make the commOner rise
/ 10 the sublimest views and positions
of freedom. Mr.. Bryan is the product
/ of virile ancestry, nurtured in an at
mOsphere of civil freedom and relig-
| iOus liberty, and what in earlier days
might have been the psychic force driv-
ing a man to terrific battle for life and
conscience's sake, has in him been re-
fined 10 that more subtle power of
soul that results in glorious ethical
strife tending to individual and ma
tional civic righteousness. In other
words, Mr. Bryan has developed along
the lines of moral courage and gran
deur as exemplified in the Christ As
statesman his motto might be found
in the expression, Blessed is that
nation whose God is the Lord" and
as a citizen he would rejoice in rem
dering unto Caesar the things that
are Caesars, while not forgetting his
duty concerning the things that are
Gods. He is a humanitarian who
could tell an angel to write me as
one who loves his fellow men," but
unlike Abou Ben Adhem his love for
his fellow man would be the logical
result of, and based upon his love for,
God. Mr.. Bryan is clear-eyed in his
views of religion and politics. He has
finds no excuse in public or private
affairs TO forget God. His views as
statesman of the results of mission
work in foreign lands are used as
mission literature by the foreign mis-
sion boards of the different denOmina-
tions In affairs of international i'm
port he is a believer in and a preacher
OF the doctrines Of the Prince of
Peace. Whether Mr.. Bryan is ever
president of the United States or not
he is and has been an anointed leader,
indOctrinating the nation in the ways
OF righteousness. 1t may be in the
past as a David, he has tried to fight
the Philistine giant clad in the armOr
OF Saul, but in the present campaign
be is using only a sling and going
forth in the strength of his Lord.
Heretofore he may have been unwise
in his choice of his remedies for pre-
vailing evils. but this time he strikes
directly at the forehead of the Goliath
OF modern money worship, and does
so with the simple but effective wea-
pom Of the rule of the people.
Mr.. Bryan has in him the material
Of which great leaders are made, and
that material is developed. He is the
dynamic expression of potential
craftsmanship The integrity of his
moral being and the unity of his po-
litical convictions combined with a
rich intellectually, earnest serious
ness with the saving grace of humor,
power of accurate and fOrceful ar
raignment of error and a thorough ap-
probation of good make him an ex-
ample OF Americas best in the making
Of men. He has not been in the lime
light for the last twelve years, but
in the broad open light of the sun,
and stands today sun-crowned, for
where the sun does not expose evil
il haloes good, and Mr.. Bryan's record
for the last twelve years is blameless.
Had he been a demagogue, the cru
cial fire of unceasing investigation
would have left him derelict with
none so poor to do him reverence. The
office has thrice sought the man and
twice has he, like Antaeas, found
strength from touching the ground in
defeat, but unlike Antaeas there APP
pears no Hercules strong enough to
/ lift him in the air and strange him.
Like William of Orange he has
through successive defeat approached
permanent victory. The first was
rightly termed William the Silent, for
he fought with weapons of carnal
warfare; the second should rightly be
termed William the Eloquent, for the
words out of his mouth have not re-
turned unto him void, and his pen has
been mightier than the sword. He
has dashed the money changers out
OF the temple of democracy, and dem
Ocracy is knotting its scourge to