The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1896-07-11

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Itscn as goHernpr poll tieal acoid enss.
EOtherWise The has; i sea Il slie e
has been a sla We tos the Il " a nd tlalti tele g
IN wall Of pTspecuRa lion. He has neyet.
been IA part q his com in9lnlty EIe i.
q stranger TO it. lie has never mingled 81
among men There are no anecdotes
about him. no reminiscenee
If the populist vote Is to be catered ITO
the candidacy Of w. J. Bryan becomes
more formidable. He has taken q rad1est
position on the issues favored blythe third
party and many Of their leaders are open
ly advocating his nomin inatinn for the pres
idency at the coming st. Louis Popnllst
convention. Taking these severaa, facts
into consideration, MIR. Bryan issto be3re-
garded as a most promising dark horse
vention adjourns II.
Williams Jennings Bryan was born-in
Salem, Ill, March 19, 1850. He was grad
uated from Illinois College at Jackson
vile In 1881. To MAKE his way through
the Union College of Law at Chicago ne
worked in Lyman Trumbull's law Office.
From his earliest years he had a fancy
for public speaking, which developed his
OId -pUWGlS. LII lCCV 4AS !" AAA a->>>
end prize as the representative Of Illinois
Collegesin the state collegiate oratorlcal
contest. He was vala Victorian of his col
.ege class and came within one vote OF
being elected to the same position in the
law school. From 1880 he spoke in poiit-
ical campaigns. In 1887 he. removed to
Lincoln, Neb., and formed a law part
nersip with fellow clas5mate. Il don't
%hi,,1, fLo4 f,11ou, 1rnnyus much w ''s said
veteran practitioner concerning Bryan
soon after the latter began to practice,
"but he can talk like the devil"
Bryan supported j. Sterling Morton for
congress in 1885, The latter was defeat
ed by $500 votes. In 1890 Bryan him
SELF ran in the same district against the
same opponent He challenged his ad-
versary to series Of joint debates, and
made so brilliant showing that he car
ried the district, which had gone $500
Republican at the former election, by a
majority Of 6,7o0 votes. ~.
The fame he gained in these joint de-
bates, Of which the tariff was the theme,
induced Speaker Crisp to appoint Bryan
on the ways and means committee, an
honor which many congressman have
hemed years to secure. On March H.
1892, he scored his first great oratorical
success in a speech On free wool. The re-
apportionment in 1891 divided Bryan's
congressional district in such way that
it made his canvass entirely new and
extremely hard. The district was admit
tedly Republican by a majority of 3,50O
Bryan was elected. turning the Repub-
lican majority into Democratic plural-
ity of 140 J. Sterling Morton the pres
ent secretary Of agriculture; ran for gov
ernor of Nebraska in that election and re-.
ceived fewer votes than any man on the
ticket-just half as many as Bryan
Before the election of 1894 Mr.. Bryan
refused denomination as congressman and
campaigned for election TO the United
States senate: His platform fol, the 16 to !
free coinage Of SILVER caused Morton and
hother administration Democrats to fight
him bitterly He was, however, nominated
by*tlie STATE Democratic convention. Two
joint debates, at Lincoln and at Omaha
respectively, with John NJ Thurston, the
Republican candidate for the senatorship,
attracted much attention. The legisla-
ture was, however, Republican, and
Thurston was elected.
During the past two years, and espe-
cially since his defeat for the senate, Mr..
Bryan has been lecturing on financial
topics in every state in the Union
Mr.. Bryan married, In 1884, Miss Mary
E. Baird. the daughter of a merchant OF:
Perry, Ill. She was astudent in the
annex of illinois College while Bryan
studied in the college. They graduated
simultaneously, being valadictorians Of
their respective classes. She studied law
and was admitted to the bar in Nebraska
She is a writer Of much ability and pres
ident of the Lincoln Sorosis. They have
three children, Ruth, II; William, 6, and
Grace, 5. ..s:,--.-,--,-s~.. -
In the recent interesting sketch of w
]. Bryan, Camp Clark, the Missouri ora
tor and statesman, after drawing q COM
parison between Samuel j. Randall and
Mr.. Bryan. thus describes the latter:
"In four years service Bryan cstablised
a far greater reputation than did Randall
in the same length of time. Indeed, it
may be said without any extravaganza
that when Bryan quit congress he had as
widespread fame as Randall had when he
died after twenty years Of congress.
Whether the Nebraskan plowed his ideas
as deep into the minds Of men as did tha
Pennsylvan ian Is m entirely different
question; for as late as 1894 the line OF
cleavage made by Randall In the Demo-
cratic party on the tariff was easily dis
cernable to the naked eye, when seven
teen OF his disciples bolted the Wilson
bill, and several others had. the will to
bot, but lacked the courage. 4
bryan is a collegiate scholar, and has
slowed away inshis capacious cranium
much Of the golden grain of wisdom and
little of the husks, and tits all there for
use, either as argument OF emb llishme;lt.
Some men are SO ugly and uIlgainly that
it is positive advantage to them as pub
lie speakers. Some are SO handsome and
graceful that they are on good terms with
the aur.ence before they open: Their lips.
OF the latter class Bryan is a shining
example. His appearance is passport
to the affections OF his fellow men which
all can read. He is the picture Of health,
mental, moral and physical. He stands
about 5 feet 10, weighs about ITO, Is a pro.
ncunced brunette, has massive head, d
clean -shaven face, an aauline nose, large
under jaw, square chin, q broad chest,
large lustrous eyes, a mouth extending
almost from ear to ear, teeth white as
pearls, and hairwhat there is left Of it.
black as midnight. Beneath his eyes is
the protuberanf flesh which physiogno-
nists tells us is indicative Of fiuency Of
language and which was one OF the most
striking features In the face Of James e..
Blaine. .gs.8. IA .s:.4 ss ,s, q
Bryan neglects none Of the accessories
lot oratory. Nature richly endowed him
with raresgrace. He is happy in attitude