en thy church? Dost thou not
love her? Hast thou no care for her? We are become, O Lord, the
opprobrium of the nations; Turks are masters of Constantinople; we have
lost Asia, we have lost Greece, we are become tributaries of infidels. O
Lord God, thou hast dealt with us as an angry father, thou hast banished
us from before thee! Hasten the punishment and the scourge that there
may be a speedy return to thee! Pour out thy wrath upon the nations!

Be not scandalized, my brethren, by these words; rather consider that
when the good wish for punishment, it is because they wish to see evil
driven away and the blessed reign of Jesus Christ triumphant throughout
the world. We have no other hope left us, unless the sword of the Lord
threatens the earth.

THE CROSS OF GOLD[38]

W. J. BRYAN

I would be presumptuous, indeed, to present myself against the
distinguished gentlemen to whom you have listened if this were a mere
measuring of abilities; but this is not a contest between persons. The
humblest citizen in all the land, when clad in the armor of a righteous
cause, is stronger than all the hosts of error. I come to speak to you
in defense of a cause as holy as the cause of liberty--the cause of
humanity. We object to bringing this question down to the level of
persons. The individual is but an atom; he is born, he acts, he dies;
but principles are eternal; and this has been a contest over a
principle.

When you come before us and tell us that we are about to disturb your
business interests, we reply that you have disturbed our business
interests by your course. We say to you that you have made the
definition of a business man too limited in its application. The man who
is employed for wages is as much a business man as his employer; the
attorney in a country town is as much a business man as the corporation
counsel in a great metropolis; the merchant at the cross-roads store is
as much a business man as the merchant of New York; the farmer who goes
forth in the morning and toils all day, who begins in spring and toils
all summer, and who by the application of brain and muscle to the
natural resources of the country creates wealth, is as much a business
man as the man who goes upon the Board of Trade and bets upon the price
of grain; the miners who go down a thousand feet into the earth, or
climb two thousand feet upon the cliffs, and bring forth from their
hiding-places the precious metals to be poured into the