The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1908-05-07
TELLS OF BRYAN'S LIFE AND
CHARACTER IA COURTEOUS,
UNAFFECTED GENTLEMAN = :
NEVER ARROGANT, NEVER VAIN
OR CONCEITED," WAS MILLIONS
CHARACTERIZATI

] CONFESS, Sir, at the outset, my III
ability to do justice to the character
ard merits and achievements of this
extraordinary young man who so late
ly sat among you, a resplendent tg-
ure, superbly endowed by nature with
all the charms Of a fine physical pres
ence and with an intellectually or the
highest order. Ever since his mortal
remains were laid to rest | have car
ried with me each hour of the day
the most poignant sense of bereave-
ment and acute sorrow that accom-
panies the loss of a dear personal
friend, and beyond that the knowledge
of the afflictiOn that has come 20 the
people of his state and mine, in the
passing of one who had but stepped
upon the treshold of a career that
would unquestionably have brought
him lasting fame. as it would have re-
suited in good to his state and coun-
try.
Bryan's Possibilities.
A youthful giant. he was cut down
som time of his existence, ere yet the
perfect fruit had come to maturity
The youngest senator save two who
ever occupied a seat in this chamber,
| do not conceive 1t to be the lam
guage of exaggeratiOn that proclaims
him to have been the greatest man of
his years that this generation has
been privileged to know, The heighi s
he would have reached had his life
been spared can only be surmised,
but those of us who knew him best
and had followed his developing genius
from the days of his boyhood are con-
fident that his fame would have ulti-
mately filed the continent and that
he would have left an Imperishable
record on the pages Of his country's
history.
Mr. Bryan made no cfafm to fffyh
patrician lineage or ariStOcratic an
cestry, and yet he was of no plebeian
origin. His father, Hon. John NJ
Bryan. now living at an advanced age,
is a Floridian by birth. and for many
years has been one of the most useful
and hOnored citizens of the state. Con
scientiOUs, high-minded. and full or
zeal. he prompted the welfare of his
native commonwealth The sire in
stilled into the plastic mind of his
son at a tender age those elementary
principles and honorable aspirations
which were so magniicently developed
in him We mourn. Born in Orange
county. Florida. October 10. 1876.
William James Bryan passed much of
his bOyhOOd days in the open air. ac-
quiring a fine physique in the work of
a farmer boy. He learned fruit cul-
ture and breeding of cattle. and the
practical knowledge thus acquired
was of much service in his subse-
quent career.
After finishing his course at the
local high school. he entered Emory
College. at Oxford, Ga. and was grad
uated from this noted institution with
lot hn Jnd h
studies at Washington and Lee Uni
versity, Lexington. Va, where he
ranked among the most earnest ana
successful students, taking his degree
in June, 1899.
At the Bar.
His next step was the carrying out
of his ng-cheriShed ambition to take
ND the practice of the law as his reg
uiar life work. Admirably equipped
for this eXacting and greatest of all
professions. his success was so i'm
mediate and conspicuous at the bar or
the metropolis of the state, that in
1902, three years after leaving the
university. he was overwhelmingly
elected to the Office of county sOlici-
tor. From that time on his progress
was rapid and brilliant. Still youth
full to the point of boyishness, ne met
the veterans of the bar on equal
terms, asking no odds. and winning
battle after battle in lawsuits of the
highest Importance until he became
recognized from one end of the state
To the other as one of the shining
lights in his profession. He went into
the trial of a case only after the most
thorough preparation. studying il in
every phase, with the diligence of his
OLD student days In addition to the
mastery of detail. he possessed the gift
OF eloquence. and the personal magne-
tism that appealed to juries with ire
sistable force. With such an equip
ment, 1t is no wonder that in the few
years of his practice he attained q
prestige any man might be proud of
acquiring in the course of an ordinary
lifetime. His older associates were
astonished at the scope and profundity
of his legal attainmentS. and at the
skill he displayed in the handling OF
every case. To sum up. ne was a
lawyer of the first rank. ever loyal 10
the interests of his clients. and scru-
pulously honorable in and out of the
court room. This quality endea red
him to his legal brethren. as it did TO
the public a large.
Neither as a private citizen. a pro-
fessiOnal man. nor the holder of an
duct. Or the purity OF his motives ever
brought into question. He was like
wise as magnanimouS as he was hon
est, ever willing TO concede honor 70