His belief in political democracy was nurtured in 

 the personal relations of small-town life in southern 

 Illinois; his firm belief in the virtue of the Democratic 

 Party was inherited from his father. Bryan brought 

 to his political vocation a dedicated application of the 

 evangelical Protestant Christianity common to 19th- 

 century rural America. For Bryan the applications 

 of Christianity were far more important than the 

 doctrine; thus, he was never a sectarian.'" He spoke 

 feelingly of the relations between public opinion, 

 politics, and morality: 



The great questions of state are, after all, simple in 

 their last analysis. Every political question is first a 

 great economic question, and every great economic 

 question is in reality a great moral question. Questions 

 are not settled until the right and wrong of the questions 

 are determined. Questions are not settled by discussion 

 of the details; they are not settled until the people grasp 

 the fundamental principles, and when these principles 

 are fully comprehended, then the people settle the ques- 

 tion and they settle it for a generation." 



Politics thus aimed at bringing morality into public 

 affairs, informing the people of the true moral issues 

 in any controversy. Early in his career, Bryan saw 

 the temperance problem as a clear example of this 

 type of moral controversy, but the problem's solution 

 did not lie in legislation, for "law is but the crystalli- 

 zation of public opinion." Reform had to come 

 through a moral revolution, a great temperance 

 revival among the youth of the nation, converting 

 individuals to the principles of righteousness. '- 



Bryan viewed politics as a pursuit very much akin 

 to evangelical Christianity, and he compared the good 

 politician to the revivalist preacher. Evangelical 

 techniques were among the principal ingredients of 

 the Commoner's enthusiastic campaigns: he de- 



and attending a country school taught by the elder Bryan, 

 whom he remembered as being "kind and impartial, but . . . 

 very strict & woe to the boy or girl big or little who with malice 

 aforethought broke one of his rules." Although he was gen- 

 erally admired and esteemed in the town, Silas was considered 

 a little peculiar because of his philosophical bent. 



"> Glad, op. cit. (footnote 2), pp. 27-30. Professor Glad's 

 interpretations have added much to the present analysis of 

 Bryan's intellectual background. 



" From a speech made in the campaign of 1896 to the ladies 

 of Minneapolis. See Bryan, The First Battle (Chicago, 1896), 

 p. 548. 



'2 Bryan papers, "Temperance Address" (MS, n.d.). Evi- 

 dence indicates that this speech was given early in Bryan's 

 career, while he was a young lawyer at Jacksonville, Illinois. 



manded conversion, he fought the "enemy," he 

 insisted upon the righteousness of his cause." 



Again the impact of Bryan's childhood experience 

 on his campaigning is evident. At a time when the 

 American Middle West was relatively saturated with 

 piety and religious revivals were accepted as common 

 occurrences, young Bryan was subjected to an un- 

 commonly strong religious upbringing. In addition 

 to being a convinced Democrat, father Silas was a 

 devoted Baptist — so devoted that he prayed three 

 times a day and maintained a family altar. William 

 was expected to memorize and discuss Biblical pas- 

 sages, he was required to carry out his religious 

 obligations faithfully, and through his family he 

 became acquainted with the local clergymen who 

 came to visit and take dinner with the Bryans.'* 

 Undoubtedly, he heard conversations about the state 

 of local religious excitement, the current "awakenings," 

 so it is little wonder that the boy joined a church 

 as the result of a religious revival. It is significant 

 that Bryan knew from a personal conversion ex- 

 perience the effectiveness and the techniques of 

 religious revivals. '^ To the end of his life he re- 

 mained a preacher in politics, an exhorter of political 

 righteousness. 



One other factor in Bryan's background appears to 

 have influenced his campaigning. Throughout his 

 life he continued to revere his father, emulating the 

 elder Bryan's political career, striving for quick and 

 impressive success, and, in time, living like a country 

 gentleman, as his father had done. Part of the moti- 

 vation for his political enthusiasm undoubtedly lay in 

 his desire for approval, his need to be revered and 

 respected as his father had been.'^ Long after he had 

 left Illinois, Bryan continued to send newspaper ac- 

 counts of his political success to many of his youthful 



13 These evangelical attitudes are evident in Bryan's political 

 speeches, while his chautauqua and inspirational addresses are 

 characterized by other evangelical elements — love, compassion, 

 optimism, sentiment. Paxton Hibben charges that, although 

 he claimed always to be righteous and consistent, Bryan did 

 not himself live up to these responsibilities. 



'< Brv.'^n, Memoirs, pp. 27-28. 



15 Ibid., pp. 11, 44, 50-51. 



■'> Ibid., p. 24, Bryan wrote, "I shall be happy if my children 

 feel toward me in mature life as I feel toward my father; if they 

 revere my name as I revere my father's name and feel as deeply 

 indebted to me for whatever there is in me of good." Silas 

 Bryan's death was front-page news in the Salem Marion County 

 Herald of .April 30, 1880, as the headlines read: "Marion 

 County's Calamity. One of Her Noblest Citizens and Greatest 

 Benefactors Gone." 



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BULLETIN 24 1; CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



