BRYAN: No, I can't tell you.

DARROW: Do you know how old his book is?

BRYAN: No, sir; it is a recent book.

DARROW: Do you know anything about his training?

BRYAN: No, I can't say on that.

DARROW: Do you know of any geologist on the face of the earth who ever recognized him?

BRYAN: I couldn't say.

DARROW: But you think he is all right? How old does he say the earth is?

BRYAN: I am not sure that I would insist on some particular geologist that you picked out recognizing him before I could consider him worthy if he agreed with your views.

DARROW: You would consider him worthy if he agreed with your views.

BRYAN: Well, I think his argument is very good.

DARROW: How old does Mr. Price say the earth is?

BRYAN: I haven't examined the book in order to answer questions on it.

DARROW: Then you don't know anything about how old he says it is?

BRYAN: He speaks of the layers that are supposed to measure age, and points out that they are not uniform and not always the same, and that attempts to measure age by these layers where they are not in the order in which they are usually found, makes it difficult to tell the exact age.

DARROW: Does he say anything whatever about the age of the earth?

BRYAN: I wouldn't be able to testify.

DARROW: You didn't get anything about the age from him?

BRYAN: Well, I know he disputes what you say, and I say there is very good evidence to dispute it -- what some others say about the age.

DARROW: Where did you get your information about the age of the earth?

BRYAN: I am not attempting to give you information about the age of the earth.

DARROW: Then you say there was Mr. Wright, of Oberlin?

BRYAN: That was rather I think on the age of man rather than upon the age of the earth.

DARROW: There are two Mr. Wrights, of Oberlin?

BRYAN: I couldn't say.

DARROW: Both of them are geologists. Do you know how long Mr. Wright says man has been on the earth?

BRYAN: Well, he gives the estimates of different people.

DARROW: Does he give any opinion of his own?

BRYAN: I think he does.

DARROW: What is it?

BRYAN: I am not sure.

DARROW: What is it?

BRYAN: It was based upon the last glacial age, that man has appeared since the last glacial age.

DARROW: Did he say there was no man on earth before the last glacial age?

BRYAN: I think he disputes the finding of any proof, where the proof is authentic, but I had rather read him than quote him. I don't like to run the risk of quoting from memory.

DARROW: You couldn't say then how long Mr. Wright places it?

BRYAN: I don't attempt to tell you.

DARROW: When was the last glacial age?

BRYAN: I wouldn't attempt to tell you that.

DARROW: Have you any idea?

BRYAN: I wouldn't want to fix it without looking at some of the figures.

DARROW: That was since the Tower of Babel, wasn't it?

BRYAN: Well, I wouldn't want to fix it. I think it was before the time given in here, and that was only given as the possible appearance of man and not the actual.

DARROW: Have you any idea how far back the last Glacial Age was?

BRYAN: No, sir.

DARROW: Do you know whether it was more than 6,000 years ago?

BRYAN: I think it was more than 6,000 years ago.

DARROW: Have you any idea how old the earth is?

BRYAN: No.

DARROW: The book you have introduced in evidence fails you, doesn't it? [referring to the Bible]

BRYAN: I don't think it does, Mr. Darrow.

DARROW: Let's see whether it does. Is this the one?

BRYAN: That is the one, I think.

DARROW: It says B.C. 4004.

BRYAN: That is Bishop Ussher's calculation.

DARROW: That is printed in the Bible you introduced?

BRYAN: Yes, sir.

DARROW: And numerous other Bibles?

BRYAN: Yes, sir.

DARROW: Printed in the Bible in general use in Tennessee?

BRYAN: I couldn't say.

DARROW: And Scofield's Bible?

BRYAN: I couldn't say about that.

DARROW: You have seen it somewhere else?

BRYAN: I think that is the chronology actually used.

DARROW: Does the Bible you have introduced for the jury's consideration say that?

BRYAN: Well, you'll have to ask those who introduced that.

DARROW: You haven't practiced law for a long time, so I will ask you if that is the King James version that was introduced. That is your marking, and I assume it is.

BRYAN: I think that is the same one.

DARROW: There is no doubt about it, is there, gentlemen?

STEWART: That is the same one.

DARROW: Would you say the earth was only 4,000 years old?

BRYAN: Oh no, I think it is much older than that.

DARROW: How much?

BRYAN: I couldn't say.

DARROW: Do you say whether the Bible itself says it is older than that?

BRYAN: I don't think the Bible says itself whether it is older or not.

DARROW: Do you think the earth was made in six days?

BRYAN: Not six days of twenty-four hours.

DARROW: Doesn't it say so?

BRYAN: No, sir.

STEWART: I want to interpose another objection. What is the purpose of this examination?

BRYAN: The purpose is to cast ridicule on everybody who believes in the Bible, and I am perfectly willing that the world shall know that these gentlemen have no other purpose than ridiculing every Christian who believes in the Bible.

DARROW: We have the purpose of preventing bigots and ignoramuses from controlling the education of the United States, and you know it, and that is all.

BRYAN: I am glad to bring out that statement. I want the world to know that this evidence is not just for the view. Mr. Darrow and his associates have filed affidavits here stating, the purpose of which, as I understand it, is to show that the Bible story is not true.

MALONE: Mr. Bryan seems anxious to get some evidence into the record that would tend to show that those affidavits are not true.

BRYAN: I am not trying to get anything into the record. I am simply trying to protect the Word of God against the greatest atheist or agnostic in the United States. [Prolonged applause.] I want the papers to know I am not afraid to get on the stand in front of him and let him do his worst. I want the world to know that agnosticism is trying to force agnosticism on our colleges and on our schools, and the people of Tennessee will not permit that to be done. [Prolonged applause.]

DARROW: I wish I could get a picture of those claquers.

STEWART: I am not afraid of Mr. Bryan being perfectly able to take care of himself, but this examination cannot be a legal examination, and it cannot be worth a thing, Your Honor. I respectfully except to it, and call upon Your Honor in the name of all that is legal to stop this examination, and stop it here.

HAYS: I rather sympathize with the General [Stewart], but Mr. Bryan is produced as a witness because he is a student of the Bible, and he presumably understands what the Bible means. He is one of the foremost students in the United States, and we hope to show Mr. Bryan, who is a student of the Bible, what the Bible really means in connection with evolution. Mr. Bryan has already stated that the world is not merely 6,000 years old, and that is very helpful to us. And where your evidence is coming from, this Bible, which goes to the jury, is that the world started in 4004 B.C.

BRYAN: You think the Bible says that?

HAYS: The one you have taken in evidence says that.

BRYAN: I don't concede that it does.

HAYS: You know that that chronology is made up by adding together all of the ages of the people in the Bible, counting their ages. And now then, let us show the next stage from a Bible student, that these things are not to be taken literally, but that each man is entitled to his own interpretation.

STEWART: The court makes the interpretation.

HAYS: But the court is entitled to information on what is the interpretation of an expert Bible student.

STEWART: This is resulting in a harangue and nothing else.

DARROW: I didn't do any of the haranguing; Mr. Bryan has been doing that.

STEWART: You know absolutely you have done it.

DARROW: Oh, all right.

MALONE: Mr. Bryan doesn't need any support.

STEWART: Certainly he doesn't need any support, but I am doing what I conceive my duty to be, and I don't need any advice, if you please, sir. [Applause.]

JUDGE RAULSTON: That would be irrelevant testimony if it was going to the jury. Of course, it is excluded from the jury on the point it is not competent testimony, on the same ground as the affidaviting.

HICKS: Your Honor, let me say a word right there. It is in the discretion of the court how long you will allow them to question witnesses for the purpose of taking testimony to the supreme court. Now we, as taxpayers of this county, feel that this has gone beyond reason.

JUDGE RAULSTON: Well, now, that taxpayers doesn't appeal to me so much, when it is only 15 or 20 minutes time.

DARROW: I would have been through in a half-hour if Mr. Bryan had answered my questions.

STEWART: They want to put in affidavits as to what other witnesses would swear, why not let them put in affidavits as to what Mr. Bryan would swear.

BRYAN: God forbid!

STEWART: It is not worth anything to them, if Your Honor please, even for the record in the supreme court.

HAYS: Is it not worth anything to us if Mr. Bryan will accept the story of creation in detail, and if Mr. Bryan, as a Bible student, states you cannot take the Bible necessarily as literally true?

STEWART: The Bible speaks for itself.

HAYS: You mean to say the Bible itself tells whether these are parables? Does it?

STEWART: We have left all annals of procedure behind. This is a harangue between Col. Darrow and his witness. He makes so many statements that he is forced to defend himself.

DARROW: I do not do that.

STEWART: I except to that is not pertinent to this lawsuit.

JUDGE RAULSTON: Of course it is not pertinent, or it would be before the jury.

STEWART: It is not worth anything before a jury.

JUDGE RAULSTON: Are you about through, Mr. Darrow?

DARROW: I want to ask a few more questions about the creation.

JUDGE RAULSTON: I know. We are going to adjourn when Mr. Bryan comes off the stand for the day. Be very brief, Mr. Darrow. Of course -- I believe I will make myself clearer. Of course, it is incompetent testimony before the jury. The only reason I am allowing this to go in at all is that they may have it in the appellate courts, as showing what the affidavit would be.

BRYAN: The reason I am answering is not for the benefit of the Superior court. It is to keep these gentlemen from saying I was afraid to meet them and let them question me. And I want the Christian world to know that any atheist, agnostic, unbeliever, can question me any time as to my belief in God, and I will answer him.

DARROW: I want to take an exception to this conduct of this witness. He may be very popular down here in the hills. I do not need to have his explanation for his answer.

BRYAN: If I had not, I would not have answered the question.

HAYS: May I be heard? I do not want Your Honor to think we are asking questions of Mr. Bryan with the expectation that the higher court will not say that those questions are proper testimony. The reason I state that is this, your law speaks for the Bible. Your law does not say the literal interpretation of the Bible. If Mr. Bryan, who is a student of the Bible, will state that everything in the Bible need not be interpreted literally, that each man must judge for himself, if he will state that, of course, then Your Honor would charge the jury. We are not bound by a literal interpretation of the Bible. If I have made my argument clear enough for the attorney-general to understand, I will retire.

STEWART: I will admit you have frequently been difficult of comprehension, and I think you are as much to blame as I am.

HAYS: I know I am.

STEWART: I think this is not legal evidence for the record in the Appellate Courts. The King James version of the Bible, as Your Honor says ...

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