Los Angeles herald., 1907-01-27

trious civic lcader-as the great COM
moner"-as the greatest private clti-
zen OF the world" and will, II Is fair
TO assume, be so greeted and treated.
From many points OF view all this
Is without precedent.
He Is not a financial maRnate, a
money king or monarch of wealth, a
Rothschild, n Rockefeller or a John
He is not a great military chIeftain,
celebrated commander Of marching
armies, or famous warrior who has
led his shouting hosts to blood-bought
victories on fields of slaughter,
drenched and soaked in human gore.
He holds no important public office
among our people, either state or ma
tional. True Il is, he has served two
terms in congress, but the last of these
ended with 1894, more than twelve
years ago. True, also IL Is, he has run
for the presidency twice on the ticket
of one of our great political parties, but
nearly seven years have elapsed since
the last of these ventures.
What, then, is the secret of Mr..
Bryan's lofty pre-emlnence-what has
given him the almost unparalleled
weight of personal prestige In which
he lives and moves and has his be-
lng2"
No one thing can explain II. Sew
eral, at least, must account for It, and
among them are the following:
1. His strong, well organized physical
constitution, with his unfailing, robust
health.
2. His sturdy vigor of intellectual en-
dowment.
3. His unswerving adherence to JUS
tice, truthfulness and humanity as the
three great underlying principles OF
moral right.
A. His love Of home, family, state and
country, together with his genuine
sympathy for the struggling masses of
mankind and his ardent desire to be
OF practical service to them.
5. The earnestness of his convictions
and the superb moral courage with
which he stands by them.
g. His freedom from vanity auto
cratic airs and offensive "big-headed-
ness"
T. His lively sense of gratitude
toward those from whom he has, in
any wise, received benefits or favors
g. His manly recognition of and re-
spect for the honest differences OF
opinion which oftentimes exist among
good men on questions of very grave
Importance.
o. The singleness Of purpose-the in
dustry and perseverance with which
he applies himself to whatever he un-
dertakes.
10. His wide range of reading, obser-
walton and study along the more i'm
portant lines Of inquiry, the pursuit OF
which he has blocked out as the prin-
cipal work Of his life.
II. His much thinking, writing and
speaking on subjects falling within
those lines Of inquiry to which, for the
most part, he limits his attention as
above stated.
IL. The large number Of persons who
have communed with him through his
writings, the large number who have
met him face to face in the friendly In
large number who have listened to his
public addresses, not only in our own
country, but in foreign lands as well
While all these things have not, of
course, been equal factors in making
Mr.. Bryan what he is as we now know
him, there Is not perhaps single one
of them that has not contributed ma
terially toward that result.
VIII Mr.. Bryan ever be president
Many hope so; but no one can tell.
AS the matter Of holding public Of
flee, however, has not been very much
Of an agency in his past career, It
would not seem an element absolutely
essential for his continued growth in
the future.
Office or no office, presidency or nc
presidency, there Is no danger then OF
Mr.. Bryan falling into obscurity-nC
danger of his ceasing to be a usefu
factor in the important affairs of hi!
fellow men.
Cast by nature herself in heroic
mold, we behold in him menta
Goliath, and intellectual Samson, so tc
speak, through whose flowing locks
the shears of no Delilah have ever
passed
OF sleepless energy; of marvellous
powers of endurance; with a persever-
ance unwavering as the law of gravi-
tation; with a resolution firm as the
eternal granite of our hills; under the
sway of noble ambitions; magnanimous
in spirit; human in every pulsation of
his being: in the very prime of life and
in the glory and magnificence of a ma
ture and superb manhood, there is no
good and sufficient reason why Mr..
Bryan should not for many years yet
to come stand forth upon the arena of
human activity as one of the grandest
figures-one of the most useful men of
his day and generation.