The Winslow mail., 1925-08-07
MY TEXT this morning is a

uel, third chapter, thlrty-elghtl
verse: And the king said untt
his servants, Know ye not tha
there is a prince and great maj
fallen this day in Israeli"
A week ago today there passed
from this earth perhaps the most
distinguished, and, in many ways
the most influential and useful
citizen Of these United States.
refer, as you all know, to William
Jennings Bryan, who on Sunday
afternoon last quietly and peace
fully slipped away, down in the
little city Of Dayton, Tenn, where
he had been spending some time In
defense of what he believed to be
the truth of God, the word of God
and our Holy Bible.
1 do not wish to preach to you
this morning Mr.. Bryan, or any
man, for we are instructed to
preach Christ. We are admonished
to preach the word, but deem it
entirely proper and worth while
this morning to speak of this great
man, in his relation to the cause
of God, to our Bible and to right
eousness, just as I might speak of
Paul, or of Peter, or of John, or of
Luther, or Wesley, or Knox, or
some other great outstanding char
acter and defender of our faith,
and of our Bible.
For he was a defender of the
faith, even as was Paul, and Luther,
and Calvin, and Knox, and other
great men, who, with eloquent
words and fiery tongues, spoke in
behalf of our Bible and of our
faith.
The words of our text, the verse
of Scripture which / read, were
spoken concerning Abner, who was
leader in the army of Israel,
first and mostly, of course, under
the kingship of Saul; but after
David had been annointed in the
place of Saul, who had been found
wanting, we find Abner going to
David, and offering to cast in his
lot with David, and with his SOL
diers, and with his army. Now,
Abner, in the course OF the conflict,
had brought about the death, 1t
seems. of the brother of Joab, a
leader in the army of David. And
so when David allowed Abner to
go away without having arrested
him, and not having put him to
Death. as Joab thought he should
have done, and when Joab came
and found what had occurred, he
sent messengers to call him back.
When Abner had returned, Joab
took him aside to talk with him,
and stabbed and killed him. And
when word came to David as to
what had been done, he uttered the
words of our text: know ye not
that there is a prince and great
man fallen this day in Israel"
Now, l believe that these words,
in a little different sense, of
course, may be spoken concerning
this man, William Jennings Bryan:
Know We not that there has fallen
a prince and a great man in our
Israel. in the church of the living
God here upon earth, in the king
dom of the Lord Jesus Christ, this
day?
For almost a third of a century
Mr.. Bryan has been an outstanding
character. a man of power and IN
fluence, a man to be reckoned with
in politics, in social reform, and IN
religion. His last and greatest
contribution, I believe, has been
made in behalf of our Bible, of
Christianity, of our religion, and
he will go down in history as the
outstanding leader and defender or
the religion of our Lord Jesus
Christ, in this twentieth century OF
ours. Hence / feel that it is Mt
ting that we should pause, this
morning, to think, and speak or
him. and his life. and his work. We
shall not soon, if ever, see his ike
again.
The editor of a great daily pa
ner. opposed to Mr.. Bryan in poll
tics saws this: 1.-The career of
william Jennings Bryan was un-
like that of any other American IN
the history of his country" Tnat
is saying a great deal. But De-
lieve it is a true statement CON
cerning this man. l can not think
and don't believe you can think, as
Won look back over the history OF
this country, of another man VINO
has had such a record and such
q career as has william Jennings
Bryan.
Death. as we know, is the great
leveler. Two weeks ago, men,
that is. some men, were sneerins
at Mr.. Bryan. They were casting
slurs and sneers at him. just as
thew have done for many years
hut that is all over now. No one
is casting slurs and sneers today
at William Jennings Bryan. The
feelings that existed in the hearts
of many people, due, OF course &c
political differences. led them &c
saw unkind things, and slur ano
sneer about this man. But all thost
things are forgotten now for death
has covered them, as it does sc
often cover those faults and snort
comings that in life we have peer
wont to enlarge upon and make
mountains out of. They are think
ing now and speaking now only
of the great man. of the high ane
exalted soul, of the great ant
splendid character, of the intense
sincerity of the man.