Book: In His Image

W >> William Jennings Bryan >> In His Image




Love makes money-grabbing seem contemptible; love makes class prejudice
impossible; love makes selfish ambition a thing to be despised; love
converts enemies into friends.

It may encourage us to expect Christ's teachings to bring world peace
if we consider for a moment what has already been accomplished in the
establishing of peace between individuals. Take, for instance, the
doctrine of forgiveness as applied to indebtedness. In Christ's time
debtors were not only imprisoned but members of the family could be sold
into bondage to satisfy a pecuniary obligation. In Matthew (chap. 18)
we have a picture of the cruelty which the creditor was permitted to
practice:

Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king,
which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun
to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand
talents [ten million dollars]. But forasmuch as he had not to pay,
his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and
all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell
down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and
I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with
compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. But the same
servant went out, and found one of his fellow-servants which owed
him an hundred pence [seventeen dollars]; and he laid hands on him,
and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his
fellow-servant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have
patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not: but
went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. So when
his fellow-servants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and
came and told unto their lord all that was done. Then his lord,
after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant,
I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest
not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow-servant, even as I
had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the
tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.

If Christ were to reappear to-day he would find imprisonment for debt
abolished throughout nearly all, if not the entire, civilized world. The
law stays the hand of the creditor, or rather withholds from him the
instruments of torture which he formerly employed. Here we have the
doctrine of forgiveness applied in a very practical form. It is based on
mercy, and yet in a larger sense it rests on justice and promotes the
welfare of society.

But compassion has gone further; we have the exemption law which secures
to the debtor the food necessary for his family and the tools by which
he makes his living. Christ's doctrine has been applied further still;
we have the bankruptcy law which gives a new lease of life to an
insolvent debtor if his failure is without criminal fault on his
part. By turning over to his creditors all the property he has above
exemptions he can go forth from court free from all legal obligations
and begin business unembarrassed. Some who take advantage of these
provisions of the law may be indifferent to the Teacher whose loving
spirit has thus conquered the hard heart of the world, but the triumph
marks a step in human advance and suggests possible changes in other
directions as the principle is increasingly applied to daily life.

International law still permits greater cruelty in war than accompanied
imprisonment for debt. National obligations are enforced by killing the
innocent as well as the guilty. Ports are blockaded, cities are besieged
and even bombed, and non-combatants are starved and drowned.

As imprisonment for debt has disappeared and as duelling is giving way
to the suit at law, so war will be succeeded by courts of arbitration
and tribunals for investigation. All real progress toward peace is in
line with the teachings of the Nazarene and this progress hastens the
coming of governments that shall endure.

With the conclusion of the World War our nation confronts such an
opportunity as never came to any other nation--such an opportunity as
never came to our nation before. We were the only great nation that
sought no selfish advantage and had no old scores to settle, no spirit
of revenge to gratify. Our contributions were made for the world's
benefit--to end war and make self-government respected everywhere. We
entered the conflict at the time when we could render the maximum of
service with a minimum of sacrifice. At the peace conference we asked
nothing for ourselves--no territorial additions, no indemnities, no
reimbursements--just world peace, universal and perpetual. That was to
be our recompense.

It is not entirely the fault of other nations that they do not stand
exactly in the same position that we do. In many respects their
situations are different from ours. They have received from the past an
inheritance of race and national hostility; they have their commercial
ambitions; they have their military and naval groups with antiquated
standards of honour, not to speak of those who, feeding on war
contracts, feel that they have a vested interest in carnage. Besides
these hindrances to peace they lack several advantages which we enjoy
over any other nation of importance, viz., more complete information in
regard to other people, a more general sympathy with other nations and a
greater moral obligation to them. Our nation being made up of the best
blood of the nations of Europe, we learn to know the people at home
through the representatives who come here. Because of our intimate
connection with the foreign elements of our country our sympathy goes
out to all lands; and because we have received from other nations as no
other nation ever did, we are in duty bound to give as no other nation
has given.

We have given the world a peace plan that provides for the investigation
of all disputes before a resort to arms--a plan that gives time
for passions to subside and for reason to resume her sway. We have
substituted the maxim: "Nothing is final between friends," for the
old-fashioned diplomacy based on threats and ultimatums. We have turned
from the blood-stained precedents of the past and invoked a spirit of
brotherhood for the purpose of preventing wars. These treaties contain
a provision which, though seemingly very simple, is profoundly
significant. In former times treaties ran for a certain number of years
and then lapsed unless renewed. The thirty treaties negotiated by our
nation in 1913 and 1914 with three-quarters of the world, providing for
_investigation_ of _all_ disputes before hostilities can begin, run for
five years and then, instead of lapsing, continue until one year after
one of the parties to the treaty has formally demanded its termination.
Note the difference: the old treaties gave the presumption to war--the
new treaties give the presumption to peace. As our constitution requires
a two-thirds vote for ratification of a treaty, a minority of the Senate
(as few as one-third plus one) could prevent the renewal of a treaty;
under the new plan the treaty continues indefinitely until a majority
denounce it.

But while we have made a splendid beginning as the leader of the peace
movement in the world much remains to be done. Our nation should lead in
the crusade for disarmament; no other nation is so well qualified for
leadership in this movement so necessary for civilization. The desire
for peace, intensified by the agonies of an unprecedented war, ought to
be sufficient to bring about disarmament; it should be unnecessary
to invoke financial reasons. But national debts have increased so
enormously as to have become unbearable and the world must disarm or
face universal bankruptcy. The reaction against militarism is more
advanced, but the reaction against navalism is just as sure to come--one
cannot survive without the support of the other. Rivalry in the building
of battleships will not long be tolerated after rivalry in land forces
has been abandoned.

The United States should be the champion of the Christian method of
preserving peace--and the world is ready for it. The devil never won
a greater victory than when he persuaded statesmen to make the absurd
experiment of trying to prevent war by getting ready for it. "Arm
yourselves," he whispered, "and you will never have to use your
weapons." How his Satanic majesty must have gloated over the gullibility
of his dupes.

John Bright, Quaker statesman of Great Britain, pointed out the fallacy
of this policy. He called it, "Worshipping the scimitar" and predicted
that it would invite war instead of preventing it. But the din of the
munition factories drowned the voice of protest and the civilized
world--yes, the Christian world--went into a prepared war, each nation
protesting that it was drawn into the conflict against its will.

Permanent peace cannot rest upon terrorism; friendship alone can inspire
peace, and friendship has no swagger in its gait; it does not flourish a
sword. Our nation has invited the world to a conference to consider the
limitation of armaments; if disarmament by agreement fails we should
enter upon a systematic policy of reduction ourselves and by so doing
arouse the Christians, the friends of humanity and the toilers of the
world to the criminal folly of the brute method of dealing with this
question.

We should also join the world in creating a tribunal before which every
complaint of international injustice can be heard. If reason is to be
substituted for force the forum instituted for the consideration of
these questions must have authority to hear all issues between nations,
in order that public opinion, based upon information, may compel such
action as may be necessary to remove discord.

It does not lessen the value of such a tribunal to withhold from it the
power to enforce its findings by the weapons of warfare. In the case of
our own nation, we have no constitutional right to transfer to another
nation authority to declare war for us, or to impair our freedom of
action when the time for action arrives.

Then, too, the judgment that rests upon its merits alone, and is not
enforceable by war, is more apt to be fair than one that can be executed
by those who render it. A persuasive plea appeals to the reason; a
command is usually uttered in an entirely different spirit.

There is another difference between a recommendation and a decree; if
the European nations could call our army and navy into their service
at any time they might yield to the temptation to use our resources
to advance their ambitions. As the man who carries a revolver is more
likely than an unarmed man to be drawn into a fight, so the European
nations would be more apt to engage in selfish quarrels if they carried
the fighting power of the United States in their hip pocket. For
their own good, as well as for our protection and for the saving of
civilization, it is well to require a clear and complete statement of
the reasons for the war and of the ends that the belligerents have in
view, before we mingle our blood with theirs upon the battle-field.

Our nation is in an ideal position; it has financial power and moral
prestige; it has disinterestedness of purpose and far-reaching sympathy.
When to these qualifications for leadership independence of action is
added we can render the maximum of service to the world.

It matters not what name is given to the cooperative body; it may be a
League of Nations or an Association of Nations or anything else. The
name is a mere form; the tribunal should be the greatest that has ever
assembled. Our delegates should be chosen by the people _directly_, as
our senators, our congressmen, our governors, and our legislators are,
and as our President virtually is. Representatives chosen to speak for
the American people on such momentous themes as will be discussed in
that body should have their commissions signed by the sovereign voters
themselves. We cannot afford to intrust the selection of these delegates
to the President or to Congress. The members of our delegation should
not be discredited by any flavour of presidential favouritism or by any
taint of Congressional log-rolling.

Delegates, selected by popular vote in districts, would reflect the
sentiment of the entire country, and their power would be enhanced
rather than decreased if they were compelled to seek endorsement of
their views on vital questions at a referendum vote. Their authority to
cast the nation's vote for war ought to be subject to the approval of
the people, expressed at the ballot box. Those who are to furnish the
blood and take upon themselves the burden of war-debts ought to be
consulted before the solemn duties and the sacrifices of war are
required of them.

Our nation can, by its example, teach the world the true meaning of that
democracy which was to be made safe throughout the world. The essence of
democracy is found in the right of the people to have what they want,
and experience shows that the best way to find out what the people want
is to ask them. There is more virtue in the people themselves than can
be found anywhere else; the faults of popular government result chiefly
from the embezzlement of power by representatives of the people--the
people themselves are not often at fault. But, suppose they make
mistakes occasionally: have they not a right to make _their own
mistakes_? Who has a right to make mistakes for them?

The Saviour not only furnished a solution for all of life's problems,
individual and governmental, national and international, but He also
called His followers to the performance of the duties of citizenship:
"Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things
that are God's," was the answer that Christ made to those who were
quibbling about the claims of the government under which they lived.

The citizen is a unit of the community in which he lives and a part of
his government. Our government derives its power from the consent of the
governed; what kind of a government would we have if all Christians were
indifferent to its claims? No rule can be laid down for one citizen that
does not apply to all; each citizen, therefore, should bear his share of
the burden if he is to claim his share of the government protection. The
teachings of Christ require that we should respect the rights of others
as well as insist upon the recognition of our own rights. In fact, the
recognition of the rights of others is a higher form of patriotism than
mere insistence upon that which is due us and the spirit of brotherhood
is calculated to create just such a community of interest. Each will
find his security in the safety of all--the welfare of each being the
concern of the whole group.

In a government like ours the Christian is compelled by conscience to
avoid sins of omission as well as sins of commission; he must not only
avoid the doing of evil, but he must not permit wrong-doing by law if
he can prevent it. In other words, the conscientious citizen must
understand the principles of his government, the methods employed by his
government and the policies that come before the government for
adoption or rejection. He is a partner in a very important business--a
stockholder in the greatest of all corporations. If the good people of
the land do not do their duty as citizens they may be sure that bad
people will use the power and instrumentalities of government for their
own advantage and for the injury of the many.

An indifferent Christian? It is impossible. A Christian cannot be
indifferent without betraying a sacred trust. And yet every bad law, and
every bad condition that can be remedied by a good law, proclaims an
indifferent citizenship or a citizenship lacking in virtue, for popular
government is merely a reflection of the character of its active
citizenship.

The charitable view to take of a nation's failure to have the best
government, the best laws and the best administration possible, is not
that the citizenship is lacking in virtue and good intent, but that
it is lacking in information. It is the business of the good citizen,
therefore, to encourage the spread of accurate information--the
dissemination of light--in order that those who "love darkness rather
than light because their deeds are evil" may not be able to work under
cover. No evil can stand long against a united Christian citizenship;
witness how prohibition came as soon as the churches united against the
saloon.

Having faith in the power of truth to win its way when understood,
Christians believe in publicity and are not afraid to call every evil
before the bar of public judgment. Believing in the superhuman wisdom of
Christ, as well as in the saving power of His blood, they are bold to
apply His code of morals to every problem. His is a name that will
increasingly arouse the hosts of righteousness to irresistible attacks
on the brutishness that endangers government, society and civilization.

I am so confident that the Christian citizenship of this country will
prove faithful to every trust and rise to the requirements of every
emergency that I venture to repeat a forecast of our nation's future,
made more than twenty years ago:

I can conceive of a national destiny which meets the responsibilities
of to-day and measures up to the possibilities of to-morrow. Behold
a republic, resting securely upon the mountain of eternal truth--a
republic applying in practice and proclaiming to the world the
self-evident propositions that all men are created equal; that they are
endowed with inalienable rights; that governments are instituted among
men to secure these rights; and that governments derive their just
powers from the consent of the governed. Behold a republic, in which
civil and religious liberty stimulate all to earnest endeavour and in
which the law restrains every hand uplifted for a neighbour's injury--a
republic in which every citizen is a sovereign, but in which no one
cares to wear a crown. Behold a republic, standing erect, while empires
all around are bowed beneath the weight of their own armaments--a
republic whose flag is loved while other flags are only feared. Behold
a republic, increasing in population, in wealth, in strength and in
influence; solving the problems of civilization, and hastening the
coming of an universal brotherhood--a republic which shakes thrones
and dissolves aristocracies by its silent example and gives light and
inspiration to those who sit in darkness. Behold a republic, gradually
but surely becoming the supreme moral factor to the world's progress and
the accepted arbiter of the world's disputes--a republic whose history
like the path of the just--"is as the shining light that shineth more
and more unto the perfect day."




IX

THE SPOKEN WORD


Some have prophesied that with the spread of the newspaper public
speaking would decline--but the prediction has not been fulfilled and
its failure is easily explained. In the first place, the written
page can never be a substitute for the message delivered orally. The
newspaper vastly multiplies the audience but they hear only the echo,
not the speech itself. One cannot write as he speaks because he lacks
the inspiration furnished by an audience. Gladstone has very happily
described the influence exerted by the audience upon the speaker,
an influence which returns to the audience stamped with his own
personality. He says that the speaker draws inspiration from the
audience in the form of mist and pours it back in a flood. It need
hardly be added that this refers to speaking without manuscript, but
reading, while always regrettable, is sometimes necessary--especially
when accuracy is more important than the immediate effect.

In order to secure both accuracy and animation it is well to prepare the
speech in advance and then revise it after delivery.

With increased intelligence a larger percentage of the population are
able to think upon their feet, to take part in public discussions and
to give their community and country the benefit of their conscience and
judgment. The fraternities and labour and commercial organizations have
largely aided in the development of speaking by the exchange of views at
their regular meetings. The extension of popular government naturally
increases public speaking as it brings the masses into closer relation
to the government and makes them more and more a controlling force in
politics.

The newspapers, instead of making the stump unnecessary, often increase
the necessity for face to face communication in order that both sides
may be represented and, sometimes, in order that misrepresentations may
be exposed.

No substitute can be found for the pulpit. Earnestness which finds
expression through the voice cannot be communicated through the printed
page. If we are thrilled by what we read it gives us only a glimpse of
the power of speech to stir the soul. If the spoken word is to continue
to play an important part in the communication of information and in the
compelling of thought it is worth while to consider some of the rules
that contribute to the effectiveness of the pulpit and the platform.

Sometimes I receive a letter from a young man who informs me that he is
a born orator and asks what such an one should do to prepare him for his
life-work. I answer that while an orator must be born like others his
success will not depend on inheritance, neither will a favourable
environment in youth assure it. An ancestor's fame may inspire him to
effort and the associations of the fireside may stimulate, but ability
to speak effectively is an acquirement rather than a gift.

Eloquence may be defined as the speech of one who _knows what he is
talking about_ and _means what he says_--it is _thought on fire_. One
cannot communicate information unless he possesses it. There is quite a
difference in people in this respect; we say of one that he knows more
than he can tell and, of another, that he can tell all he knows, but it
is a reflection upon a man to say that he can tell more than he knows.

The first thing, therefore, is to know the subject. One should know his
subject so well that a question will aid rather than embarrass him. A
question from the audience annoys one only when the speaker is _unable_
to answer it or does not _want_ to answer it. Many a speaker has
been brought into ridicule by a question that revealed his lack of
information on the subject; and a speaker has sometimes been routed by
a question that revealed something he intended to conceal. Before
discussing a subject one should go all around it and view it from every
standpoint, asking and answering all the questions likely to be put by
his opponents. Nothing strengthens a speaker more than to be able
to answer every question put to him. His argument is made much more
forcible because the question focuses attention on the particular point;
a ready answer makes a deeper impression than the speaker could make
by the use of the same language without the benefit of the question to
excite interest in the proposition.

But knowledge is of little use to the speaker without earnestness.
Persuasive speech is from heart to heart, not from mind to mind. It is
difficult for a speaker to deceive his audience as to his own feelings;
it takes a trained actor to make an imaginary thing seem real. Nearly
two thousand years ago one of the Latin poets expressed this thought
when he said, "If you would draw tears from others' eyes, yourself the
signs of grief must show."

If one is master of an important subject and feels that he has a message
that must be delivered he will not lack a hearing. As there are always
important subjects before the country for settlement there will always
be oratory. In order to speak eloquently on one subject a man need not
be well informed on a large number of subjects, although information on
all subjects is of value. One who can in a general way discuss a large
number of subjects may be entirely outclassed by one who knows but one
subject but knows it well and _feels_ it.

The pulpit has developed many great orators because it furnishes the
largest subject with which one can deal. The preacher who knows the
Bible and feels that every human being needs the message that the Bible
contains cannot fail to reach the hearts of his hearers. Dr. E. Benjamin
Andrews, once the President of Brown University and later Chancellor
of Nebraska University, told me of a sermon that he heard Jasper, the
coloured preacher of Richmond, deliver late in life on an anniversary
occasion. Jasper claimed nothing for himself but attributed his long
pastorate and whatever influence he had to the fact that he preached
from only one book--the Bible.

When I was in college I heard a visitor draw a contrast between Cicero
and Demosthenes. I am not sure that it is fair to Cicero but it brings
out an important distinction. As I recall it, the speaker said, "When
Cicero spake the people said, 'How well Cicero speaks'; when Demosthenes
spake his hearers cried, 'Let us go against Philip.'" One impressed
himself upon his audience while the other impressed his subject. It need
hardly be said that in all effective oratory the speaker succeeds in
proportion as he can make his hearers forget him in their absorption
in the subject that he presents. I may add that there is a practical
advantage in the speaker's diverting attention from himself. There is
only one of him and he would soon become monotonous if he continually
thrust himself forward; but, as subjects are innumerable, he can give
infinite variety to his speech by putting the emphasis upon the theme.

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