18963 The Cross of Gold 



the American people; in that, however, it had 

 miserably failed, the leaven of German culture 

 being lost in the lump. 



In 1896 William J. Bryan, then Congressman Our 

 from Nebraska, visited the university and gave ^^^"^^"^ 

 an address on the menace of the gold monopoly. 

 This was substantially identical with his ''cross 

 of gold" speech which soon enthralled the Demo- 

 cratic Convention of the same year and led to his 

 first nomination for the presidency. Endowed with 

 a rich, full, organ-like voice, he handled his periods 

 in eloquent fashion. But we were not impressed 

 with the profundity of the discourse, though we 

 recognized its generous human feeling and the 

 orator's skill in touching the emotions of the com- 

 mon man. Many years of subsequent acquaintance 

 have not materially changed my opinion of him as 

 a moral exhorter of high order, in some respects 

 the greatest of American preachers. For to an in- 

 creasing degree his energies have seemed to turn 

 from politics toward social betterment. 



C 477 1 



