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  Closing Statement of William Jennings Bryan at the trial of John Scopes
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ContributorThomas Walker 
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Description"May it please the Court, and gentlemen of the jury:

Demosthenes, the greatest of ancient orators, in his "oration on the crown," the most famous of his speeches, began by supplicating the favor of all the gods and goddesses of Greece. If, in a case which involved only his own fame and fate, he felt justified in petitioning the heathen gods of his country, surely we, Who deal with the momentous issues involved in ' this case, may well pray to the Ruler of the universe for wisdom to guide us in the performance of our several parts in this historic trial.

Let me, in the first place, congratulate our cause that circumstances have committed the trial to a community like this and entrusted the decision to a jury made up largely of the yeomen of many of the State. The book in issue in this trial contains on its first page two pictures contrasting the disturbing noises of a great city with the calm serenity of the country. It is a tribute that rural life has fully earned.

I appreciate the sturdy honesty and independence of those who come into daily contact with the earth, who living near to nature, worship nature's God, and who, dealing with the myriad mysteries of earth and air, see to learn, from revelation about the Bible's wonder-working God. I admire the stern virtues, the vigilance and the patriotism of the class from which the jury is drawn, and am reminded of the lines of Scotland's immortal bard, (Robert Burns, 1759-1796) which, when changed, but slightly, describes your country's confidence in you:
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