Biographical Sketch of William 0. Bradley.



law of effort that those who, on this plane of struggle, strenuously
strive for right or for wrong, shall live long after they have ceased
to labor; and if their labors have been for the right they shall be
loved and revered as long as the flower of gratitude blooms in the
human heart. What man has done, man may do again. The noblest
inspiration must come from the contemplation of the heroic deeds of
our fellow beings; and it is of the highest importance that the lives of
those who have driven the chariots of progress be faithfully portrayed
to the multitude to the end that the multitude may be informed and
inspired. Each nation has its history, its heroes, and its historical
characters. A few there are, like Shakespeare and Goethe and the
prophets of old, who are universal in their influence. They were not
of a single country, but were of all the race; and because they spoke
fundamentally to our human sympathy and need, by all are they
understood. Then, there are others, like Washington and Lincoln,
who though identified with great movements, national and local in
their immediate scope, yet spoke and wrought mightily for the
principles of liberty and justice, and pointed the way to those ultimate
conditions of liberty and justice, which, in the course of ages, the race
hopes to reach. These, too, with the unfolding of time, shall make
their universal appeal. These, too, were, and are, the brothers of all
mankind; and all mankind shall come to recognize them as such.
    The skill of the biographer depends on at least three essentials,
viz.: First, a sufficient statement of details of the subject's life an1
labors to properly set forth his character and achievements; second,
the proper deduction from these facts and their just interpretation;
and, third, the ability to present all in such a way as to fix and hold
the attention of the reader.
    The present sketch, however, is not ambitious. 'Moreover.
in this volume there is not room for an extended narrative. Only the
more essential facts of Senator Bradley's life, together with some
general comment and deduction, can be given; and these follow.
    William O'Connell Bradley was born in Garrard County, Ken-
tucky, near Lancaster, on March 18, 1847, and died in Washington.
D. C., on Mlay 23, I914. He was of Scotch-Irish descent. His father
was Robert M. Bradley, and his mother was Ellen (Totten) Bradley.
The mother was a woman of fine intelligence and capacity. Under the
general law of maternal transmission this could not have been other-
wise; for it seems to be pretty well conceded that weak fathers may
sometimes have strong sons, but strong sons, rarely, if ever, are the
children of weak mothers. But so far as strength of character and
unusual intelligence were concerned, Senator Bradley was fortunate as



VI