New-York tribune., 1896-10-29
HAWTHORNE AND BRYAN.

Mr.. Bryan's prepared periods and rotund
rhetoric having long since given out. he is re-
! duced TO the necessity of dealing out monOtO-
nous commonplace which grows drearicr ana
| drearier as he proceeds. The rocket Of his clo-
Quence attained tho very top Of its flight in the
! Chicago Convention. and even while his rapt
admirers were eli cuaing the usual Zip boom
a-a-h. as 1t broke into scnt'llating sparks, the
| stick Of il. dead and cold as bean pole in No.
vember. was dropping down. down. down. The
dull thud OF it is now only few days Off Mean
| time. our Bryanite city contemporary THE
| Journal" with full comprehension and clear ap-
| probation Of the situation as well as with com
mendabc enterprise has adopted an Ingenious
| expedlent for dstractng public attention from
the descent of the quite uninspiring and unin-
teresting stick by an accompaniment Of the most
gorgeous and startling pyrotechnics in the form
of letters written by an artis. of inherited fame
and some mer: Of his own. descriptive of the
personal beauty Of Mr.. Bryan. his strange and
wonderful personal magnetism. and the weird
effect OF his magical presence upon the tO!llng
millions who crowd around him and listen TO
him and hail him their Deliverer
Mr. Julian Hawthorne's descriptive letters
may not be accurate. but no one who has read
them can deny that they are extremely beanti-
full 1t may he said. Of course. that they are
somewhat forid in style but that is n pardon
able weakness in space writer. They at
least quite up TO the standard of elOquencc set
by Mr.. Bryan in the great speech which made
him winner. And it is not too much 10 say that
In literary merit they are several huckeberrcs
ahead Of that great effort. 1t IS the difference
between romance writer and romance talkcr.
Now that what Mr.. Bryan says has ceased 10
have much interest ii becomes quite interesting
TO know what Mr.. Hawthorne says he thinks
about what Mr.. Bryan says. And he tells IT IN
a very earnest and impassoned way. which
makes il worth at least the cent it costs 10 the
reader. and possibly the very large number OF
cents ii costs the publisher. Much Of what Mr..
Hawthorne writes is in the high poetic vein. Its
general effect upon the mind Of the reader we
have no doubt. is TO excite pleasurable longing
that it might he set TO music and sung every
where if not to 'the lasciviOus pleasngs of the
Lutte" at least to the ducct and seductive strains
Of the Tyre
The easy manner in which Mr.. Hawthorne
gilds bis narrative with 'methinks" is clear proof
that he is no ordinary reporter even though he
does accompany Mr.. Bryan and rise up in his
nightShrt TO take note Of the effect upon the
masses Of the candidates drcary rcpetitions. No
OluitIiit INIoIttl CNtl Su.S iutiHlHnNs IHfus
his ever and anon. Nothing could br more
impressive 70 the average newspaper reader.
For the average newspaper reader very seldom
gets his lever and anon in n regular every
day narrative of current events As matter
Of fact. there's nothing that catches the blue
pencil suddenly and mcrcilessly IN n reporters
copy as ever and anon The use Of this phrase
alone stamps Mr. IIawthornes work as quite ont
of the common. The reader who strikes It in
what would ordinarily be a commonplace story
Of the peregrnatons of statesman says. Hui
90. here's some Of the 'higli-class fiction so gen.
"erally advertised" and he reads II with avidity.
The "meihinks business and the "ever and
anon are very catching TO the eye OF the lover
Of fiction, and he reads it all with great satisfac
tiOn. In this view Of It Mr.. Hawthorne is a
sngularly successful success.
Mr. Bryan being practically ont OF 1t. and the
business Of his supporters now being to let him
down easy and illuminate his descent with YER
bal pyrOtechnicS we do not sec how our Bryanite
contemporary could have done better than hire
Mr.. Hawthorne to superlntend the diversion. No
one better than he knows-for he inherits the
knowlcdge-how successful arc Twice Told
Tales" and no one could better work up into
polite literature the influence Of the much more
than twice-tOld tales which Mr.. Bryan is now
repeating at intervals of fifteen twenty min
Utcs and distances Of less than mile. His let
ters will, no doubt, be compiled. And ono week
from to-day they will take high rank In what
Is called "high class fiction