Evening star., 1925-07-31

JellillnSS bryan 1OllOWS.
Some years ago-it seems only
like yesterday - William jennings
Bryan delivered lecture to a group
of some 500 students in a Midwestern
college. His theme was The Value
of an Ideal He spoke with that
amazing clarity which so character
lZed all his addresses. not only of the
place of an ideal in life, but also of
the various ideals which men may
hold, and then that highest of all
idealS-ChriStian service
How profoundly he moved that
group of young men Mr.. Bryan never
knew. There was one student in that
audience for whom it changed the
whole program of his life. This stu
dent was a freshman at college that
year, with the plan of preparing for
some professional career The plea
Tor Christian service made by this
great heart of faith never left him.
and, following that urge. he later en-
tered the Christian ministry | was
that student. That stirring plea
marked the beginning of a whole new
attitude to life, and 1 bring my tes-
timony to the memory of man who
never knew how sgreatly he had
changed that life. Surely il is unique
that as he lies here dead among us
nuence in this most solemn hour.
How strange are the ways of God,
and how otherwise from our desires
Had 1t been given to us to control
the affairs of life, how different would
1t have been. Earth can i'll spare
such noble souls. His ability was so
striking, his sincerity was so genu-
inc, his personality was so winsome
and his faith so serene that we had
hoped to have him longer with us
We seem to need him so. But God
wIlled otherwise, and until the day
break when shadows flee away we
reVerently kneel in submission TO
pray, Father, Thy will be done
Says End MercifuI.
The end came quickly. He did
not suffer, he did not know pain. A
merciful Providence guarded over
that hour. Serenely and in the home
of friend he made his last great
venture of faith on the first day of
the week which, TO the Christian. is
the unforgettable symbol of the res
direction.
To this broken family circle. whose
days have so suddenly and sadly turn
ed to sorrow and loneliness, the sym
pathy and prayers of the Nation go
out. We commend them to the Good
who keepeth watch over
HIS own. We cannot trace the way
where the Almighty One. doth move;
but we can always say that God is
love He is too great to fail us now.
and He is too good TO let US drift
alone. You sorrow not alone. Some
how you must be sustained by the
enumerable prayers of the people of
the land, who are kneeling today at
I he hp11~r N CT IF
When the golden bowl is broken and
the silver cord is loosed. we pause,
we wonder, we weep: but God doeth
all things well, and you may abide in
the promise that underneath and
round about you are His everlasting
arms.
NO Life Unfinished"
I'VE talk about unfulfilled dreams
and incomplete lives and broken cir
cles; but with God there is no un-
finished life and there are no broken
circles. Jesus-dead at 33-cried out
eXultantly from the cross. 1t is fin
ished.' SO is every life that follows
Gods will. When is a life finished
you ask? When the seeds of it's in
fiuence have dropped into the lives of
others, enriching them. A life is fin
ished when other lives are lit up by
1t and walk in it's strength. life is
finished when those around il have
caught the splendor of its power and
live happier, nObler and truer If
that is true, then this great heart
lived a finished life. The heritage of
that life it may take long to measure.
MultitudeS have caught the splendor
Of it and lived by it's guiding light.
1T Is to rehearse this Splendor that
we have come today. Praise or blame
do not affect him now. They never
disturbed his convictions He was far
above all that on earth. and he is far
beyond all that now. Nothing we say
or do can in any way add or detract
from him. 1t is for US to see again
the glory of that life and heed it's
heritage.
Had Capacity to Live Nobly.
There was a three fold spIendor
about this noble man, which will ever
challenge those who have lived in his
day and who are to carry on in the
days to come.
i. He had capacity for noble
living. He was a man with an up
turned face and an upward life. His
life was an open book beyond all pos
sible reproach. His character was un-
sullied to the very end. You can turn
on any page of his past through all
manner of the personal and political
fortunes of later life and not one page
is Smutted or soiled or stained There
was no shadow of self-seeking or gain
in him. There was no skeleton in the
closet. You do not have to tread
softly over any episode. Friend and
foe call him a man whose great con-
Germ was the causes he espoused and
to those causes he came with clean
hands and pure heart. Not only for
what he said, but for what he was
will his name be treasured. 1t was
because of this unsullied life that he
held the confidence and the affection
Of the Nation for more than 80
years. SO often one hears it S2sd
that men in public life and leadership
are inspired by sinister motives of
self gain or for ulterior ambitions of
Self-ag ACKNOWLEDGMENT, that many ques-
ton every one who aspireS to serve
his country. Then God gives us
man like this to give that philosophy
the lie, man whom the lust of office
could not buy and whom the spoils Of
office could not kill His outstanding
integrity, his high sense of honor, his
devotion to duty, his sense of graft
tude his remembrance of the hum
blest. his freedom from all cant make
his life today an inspiration and
challenge to all the Nation. Like so
many great hearts of earth, and like
his Master, he met hate without bit
terness, defeat without vengeance, ill
thought with forgiving love and mis-
understanding with charity.
Memory Imperishable.
'Oh, all you who mourn and are
left stranded upon the shores of time.
what a comfort and what a heritage
Is yours. Death takes many things
from us. Truly. it is the great de-
But one thing, thank God,
death can never take away from you,
and that is the imperishable memory
of his fine ma nlinaSS nd humble sin