Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1896-07-24
LEBOR0
william Jenn
An analysis of the Ma
at his Home I'm Itai

An analysis Of the Ma LGnown
"thi. Home in I+gIary. peb.
From a Lincoln despatch toilv VHork sun
The people of the cou WIZ Ilave not yet
ceased wondering at BryaRrl hypnotic feat
at Chicago II is not at I'll surprising to
the people here who know the man and are
familiar with his remarkable dramatic gifts
and oratorical graces. Bryan had already
won all the distinction It was possible for
him TO win in this state before the Chicago
convention, but he had many friends and
admirers who for the last year have looked
forward 10 the time when he would get
place on the-presidential ticket Of the Pop
ulist or Democratic party.
The sober, Intelligent, conservative peo-
pie Of Nebraska have long since taken an
adequate measure of the character and
mental capacity of Bryan, and although
they give him credit for the possession of
admirable personal qualities, they have him
| firmly fixed in the category of demagogues,
socialists and cranks
Bryan has taken the crude demagogy of
! Altgeld and Tillman and worked it over in
the crucibe of sophistry, and refined 1t and
polished it until the product as he turns it
out is so softened and disguised that many
! people are fooled by il. The most radical
utterance of the pitchfork senator or the
Anarchist governor finds in Bryan ready
and emphatic endorsement, but his endorse
ment is in the seductive guise Of sentiment
al sympathy. Altgeld and Tillman assail
| the cause of sound government with ham
mer and longs, with bomb and battering
ram. Bryan's endeavors are in precisely
the same direction but he avoids the tactics
of bull dog belligerency and seeks to win
his way by beguiling first the Outposts and
then the garrison itself.
! He is diplomatic, facile, agile, oily
| tongued. He is a finished actor-a bril-
liant low comedian. He represents every
thing that Altgeld and Tillman represent,
many things that are distaseful to most
thinking, reasoning people, but he presents
his views in such manner as TO delude and
deceive. Radical to the last degree. he
| somehow succeeds in passing himself off
on the average audience as reasonable.
| Dangerous, as the demagogue is always
dangerous, he yet convinces people that he
is as innocent as lamb. Acting in the
| role Of an ingenu, he is full of guile. He
wages warfare from behind the mask of
Cancellation. He appears to be pouring
oil on the troubled waters, while he is in
reality adding to the turbulence.
Bryan is sngularly fortunate in his ply
steal presence. He is a handsome man.
His features are classic, clear cut, fine lined.
| When he appears before an audience he
awakens interest and sympathy. When he
| begins to speak he takes on an air of the
most perfect sincerity, the greatest candor.
His manner is so simple, so plain, so earn
est, so frank, that his hearers are irresista-
bly, drawn to him. Then good humor is de-
| picted in his countenance. As he speaks
he smiles, and his smile grows and ex-
pands. II is infectious. II catches the
audience. He is so pathetically honest,
1t is doubtful If there is another man in the
country so gifted in the superficial, snowy
qualities Of oTatory. He has wonderful
surface brilliance.
Bryan is not hypocrite in the sense in
which the term is ordinarily used. There
Is no affectation in the simplicity of his
manner of living. He Is honest in his
comparative poverty. He does not seek to
hoodwink the public for the benefit of
some financial interest. He cannot be ac-
cused Of lack of integrity. But he does
use questionable means to accomplish the
end he is seeking. He has talked so long
about the common people, and the bond
age in which they are held, and has so
persistently advanced specious theories for
their relief, that he has worked up GER
tain amount of ecstatic fervor that makes
him passionate and emotional, and he has
convinced himself that salvation can be
found in no other way than that which he
advocates. The end must be attained.
The people must be stirred. He has a
pretty accurate idea of human nature. He
deliberately appeals TO emotions, prejudices,
and passions. He employs artfce in
subtle pleas TO human cupdity. BE does
all this in the full knowledge of what he is
doing, but excuses himself on the ground
that the end justifies the means.
No man possessing Bryan's superficial
brilliance was ever intellectually great.
Even here, at his own home, where idol
worship has been going on for years, it is
not contended that he is a man of intel
lectual depth. He took up the cause of
| free silver after Bland had given it a good
start and invested it with a glamour of
| specious brilliance, but he has not added
one new idea to the philosophy of fiatism.
He invented the phrase, without waiting
for the aid or consen: of any other nation
on EARTH but he has never originated a
principle or propounded new theory.