The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1896-10-01

~ A'A'N'A' ANN 81 ~ 49, o'~ tA'hSt
instantaneous impression, as the quick
Aashlight of thought fills the mind
with its concept Of The man, is that Of
his eagle likeness. In that clear gray
eye with black dstendng pupil, in the
Roman nose, in the densely- closed,
firmly compressed thin lips of that
great mouth, there is the vivid remin
der OF the fearlessness, Of the lnvlncl-
bilty of the eagle. Truly the Nebras
kan has an aquiline face, and again
about his NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. his adj
dress-the same likeness fingers. He
soa.s. Does he not seem to soar? Con-
ceive, picture him, imagine hlm-as
you have seen him, as a hundred thous
and people in North Carolina have
seen hlm-hs gray eyes a-hash, his
massive frame all a-Quiver, his two
long, Rob Roylike arms outstretched,
at an angle of As degrees each, to his
head, with his tapering fingers wide
apart-in the midst of some climactlc
period in his Grafton. Is not this the
eagle in full flight? One of his friends
and admirers in this State has spoken
of him as being such representative
speciman OF the typical American.
There is touch Of his Amerlcanlsm
in this likeness in the man to the eagle
the emblem of our Union-the eagle
which surmounts the staff Of the coun
try's flag when we 60 to war, and
whose image is craven on every silver
dollar that circulates in our currency.
There are many things which are re-
markable in the man. There is one
which is amazing. 1t is his versatility.
Such campaign as he has been max
ing, as he is making, is unique and un-
precedented. 1t has surely never had
parallel in the history of this nation.
The late, lamented Uncle Adlai, on
his tour Of the State in 1892, made The
same speech in every place and always
in the same words. He just knew that
speech by heart and didn't know any
more speeches. But Mr.. Bryan per
formed the remarkable feat Of making
twenty speeches or more in North Car
olina-ten day is good average tor
hm-and every speech was new one,
which had never been delivered before.
OF course the central argumeAt was the
restoration or reconciliation OF silver,
but the argument was invariably clothed
with new words each time. The Ne
braskan's oratory is like rich mans
girl at a summer resort, wearing a new
dress on every occasion. What a res
ervor Of Saratoga trunks there must be
in the Nebraskan's brain.
The three, five, ten and fifteen
minute speeches of Mr.. Bryan, too,
marked him as peerless in the realm Of
oratory. Each was gem of varied
hue. The infinite resource of the man
is wonderful. An instance: While
speaking once in Alabama, someone,
Jointly debating with him, asked him
what.he would do under a free silver
regime in view of the fact that 1t would
take some fifteen years or more to coin
enough silver for circulation from the
time the country went upon silver
basis. 81 was some fifteen hundred
miles away from home,' said Mr.. Bry-
an, in relating this instance IN his
Asheville speech: "and didn't have
time to think. So just blur,ed out,
I'D make more u.ints.' His mind
is indeed a kaleidoscope one in it
shiftiness and fertility of resource. His
Wilson speech was an instance OF
ouickness to make use OF a suggestion
which flashed into his mind. An ex
tract will illustrate. He said:
81 believe this is the birthplace OF
National Committeeman Daniels,
whom l met some years ago and whose
acquaintance | appreciate. | never
think of the name Daniels without
thinking it is one of the best names a
person can possibly bear, because Dan
iel is one of the great characters OF the
Bible history, a character which we ca n
study with as great advantage as any
character there portrayed. You know
! it was Daniel who had the courage u
stand bv his convictions, and Wa, Will
ing to go into the lions den rather
than surrender them. In SO doing ne
| found that the lions which were 81
often feared were harmless. In fact he
gave to US all a lesson that the dangers
we fear are often harmless when we
come to meet them
The speaker had got hold OF Je"e'
from an orators standpoint. II spark
led as he held it up. But he had not
finished experimenting with 1t. he
held it in another light, and behold, II
was irridescent! So he continued say
ing, that, as Daniel had ever prayed
with his windows open towards lerusa'
lem, SO the Democratic convention al
Chicago, in its patriotic purpose, had
its windows open towards Monticello
and the Hermitage.
He has the constitution of a steam
engine. SO said someone Of Bryan, VINO
has accompanied him on his long spec
ial train campaign. The truth could
not be more concisely and forcibl,
stated. He is Ike Napoleon and Stone
wall Jackson in his ability TO conba'
fatigue and do with a small modlcun
of sleep. A very briet closing of ,he
eyes ssknits up the ravei!ed sleeve %
care" for him. But 1t is when ne ma:
had one or two consecutive nights o