Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,


“Delegates from all thirteen colonies met in 1774 in Philadelphia to discuss responses to increased British oppression. This convention, the First Continental Congress, formally declared that colonists should have the same rights as Englishmen; they also agreed to form the Continental Association, which called for the suspension of trade with Great Britain. The mural depicts an oration by Patrick Henry in Carpenters’ Hall. Architect of the Capitol caption-photo cropped: The First Continental Congress, 1774, Allyn Cox Oil on Canvas 1973-1974, Great Experiment Hall Cox Corridors. ” Read more: https://history.state.gov/milestones/1776-1783/continental-congress

Written over 100 years ago by real populist William Jennings Bryan, as though speaking to our times. He stands in stark contrast to fake populist Trump and appears to be taking to task the majority of US Congress members, as well as the US public who must wake up before they lose all of their rights and freedoms.

“Our government, conceived in liberty and purchased with blood, can be preserved only by constant vigilance. May we guard it as our children’s richest legacy, for what shall it profit our nation if it shall gain the whole world and lose “the spirit that prizes liberty as the heritage of all men in all lands everywhere”?

We enjoy by inheritance, or by choice, the blessings of American citizenship; let us not be unmindful of the obligations which these blessings impose. Let us not become so occupied in the struggle for wealth or in the contest for honors as to repudiate the debt that we owe to those who have gone before us and to those who bear with us the responsibilities that rest upon the present generation. Society has claims upon us; our country makes demands upon our time, our thought and our purpose. We can not shirk these duties without disgrace to ourselves and injury to those who come after us. If one is tempted to complain of the burdens borne by American citizens, let him compare them with the much larger burdens imposed by despots upon their subjects.

The nations that are dead boasted that their flag was feared; let it be our boast that our flag is loved. The nations that are dead boasted that people bowed before their flag, let us not be content until our flag represents sentiments so high and holy that the opprest of every land will turn their faces toward that flag and thank God that there is one flag that stands for self-government and for the rights of man.

The enlightened conscience of our nation should proclaim as the country’s creed that “righteousness exalteth a nation” and that justice is a nation’s surest defense…

He serves his party most loyally who serves his country most faithfully; it is a fatal error to suppose that a party can be permanently benefited by a betrayal of the nation’s interests. In every act of party life and party strife we weigh the soul. That the people have a right to have what they want is a fundamental principle in free government.

Corruption in government comes from the attempt to substitute the will of a minority for the will of the majority. Every measure which comes up for consideration involves justice and injustice right and wrong and is, therefore, a question of conscience…

The official who uses his position to secure a pecuniary advantage at the expense of those forwhom he acts is an embezzler of power and an embezzler of power is as guilty of moral turpitude as the embezzler of money…

It is easy enough to denounce the petty thief and the back-alley gambler; it is easy enough to condemn the friendless rogue and the penniless wrong-doer, but what about the rich tax-dodger, the big law-breaker and the corrupter of government? The soul that is warmed by divine fire will be satisfied with nothing less than the complete performance of duty; it must cry aloud and spare not, to the end that the creed of the Christ may be exemplified in the life of the nation. Not only does the soul question present itself to individuals, but it presents itself to groups of individuals as well.” Excerpts from: “The Price of a Soul” is an address delivered by Mr. Bryan, first at the Northwestern Law School Banquet in Chicago, then as a Commencement Oration at the Peirce School in Philadelphia and, in 1909, extended into a lecture. Published, September, 1914, “The price of a soul” by Bryan, William Jennings, 1860-1925, Publication date 1914, New York : Funk & Wagnalls,, pp. 61-72 https://archive.org/details/priceofsoul00bryarich

See original text in context and original order below:
“The price of a soul” by Bryan, William Jennings, 1914












The price of a soul” by Bryan, William Jennings, 1860-1925, Publication date 1914, New York : Funk & Wagnalls,, pp. 61-72 https://archive.org/details/priceofsoul00bryarich

About the top photo:
“The First Continental Congress, 1774
Allyn Cox Oil on Canvas 1973-1974
Great Experiment Hall Cox Corridors
Delegates from all thirteen colonies met in 1774 in Philadelphia to discuss responses to increased British oppression. This convention, the First Continental Congress, formally declared that colonists should have the same rights as Englishmen; they also agreed to form the Continental Association, which called for the suspension of trade with Great Britain. The mural depicts an oration by Patrick Henry in Carpenters’ Hall.
 
This official Architect of the Capitol photograph is being made available for educational, scholarly, news or personal purposes (not advertising or any other commercial use). Uncropped original here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/uscapitol/6238775154/in/album-72157627879779804/