The age-herald., 1900-07-29

man than Mckinley. His abstemiousness, his indifference to luxury, his emotional na- ture and his intensity of purpose would have made him Loyola, or a Savonarola, or a Peter the Hermit, if he had lived in the middle ages.
 Bryans face, as have said, is stronger, the lines around his mouth are firmer, and show more repose of manner than former ly. He has lost that restless, inquiring ex- pression that used to lie about his eyes, and he evidently has more strength and confidence, more deliberaIion and deter imitation, and less energy. His nervous im- petuousness has been subdued. He is gov erned more by reason and less by impulse. Experience has taught him where he is weak and he has mended himself. He has learned his strength and that has given him confidence.
 MT Bryan is addicted to introspection and is in the habit of discussing his thoughts and emotions with his wife, who is an admiring critic and has made him more of an egotist than he used to be. His friends in Lincoln say that he has become convinced that he is a man of destiny; that history is waiting to record his acts in the regeneration of society, for he Is absolutely certain to become President of the United States sooner or later. His purpose is to establish a reign of Democracy, to elevate the poor and deprive the rich of the power they now exercise. These ideas have been 9SS1QuOuSly CulJlVateu Dy MrS. Bryan, whose thoughts are all centered in him. This accounts for Bryan's positiveness in political matters. Those who know him best say that he would have declined the Kansas City nomination If 16 to had been left out of the platform, and that his threat to do so was no bluff. He would have re- mained the candidate of the Populists and Silver Republicans and would have drawn most of the Democratic votes.
 Mir Bryan's intimates used to think that he was f1ighty and vacillating, that he was inclined to follow new fallacies, and pre- dicted that he would adhere to the silver issue until something equally taking at tracted his attention And, while that might have been his disposition four years ago, he Is an entirely different man today. His political convictions have become so rooted and grounded as to be part of his intellectual fibre. He has discussed them so often and reflected upon them so much that what are mere theories to others to him are living truths, vital to the welfare of the nation, and their fundamental prin- ciple is Democracy-the equality of men.
 But MT. Bryan has not become so great an egotist and aesthetic as to overlork the necessity of using the conventional meth ods and ordinary machinery of politics to accomplish his purpose. He has become a keen politician. The experience of the last four years has taught him that, while the voice of the people is the voice of God.
 
 by human influence, and are sensibly af- fected by the atmosphere and their en- vironment. He has formed among the farmers of Nebraska an organization as compact and complete Tammany Hall which shows his executive capacity and political skill. He has taken politics to the firesides of the farm houses of the State, has taught his principles to the women and the children, and has entan- gled their social. intellectual and domes- tic life in his plan of campaign. No farmer in Nebraska, they say, can leave the Populist party to vote the Republican ticket without depriving his wife and daughters of the social diversions which they most enjoy. Thus they feel that the happiness and contentment of the people, as well as their financial prosperity, is involved in the success of his theories.
 While his emotions are under better con- trol than they used to be, nothing could lessen or suppress that cordial sympathy which finds expression in a winsome smile and is a great vote-winner. It is just as much a part of the man as the musical tones of his voice, and when he extends his hand to friend or stranger the smile