In the last quarter of a century Mr. Bryan has been more constantly and voluminously in the news, year ju and year out, perhaps, than any ther American figure. He has Shifted for short stretches of tim voliticsl leaders of the last half century to discover that the famous "eros of gold" speech was not delivered for the first tine at the democratic convention in Chicago, but went unnoticed during a Ct tauqua address in the little city Crete, Neb., some time before and fon another' occasion or two prior to the ratio convention.
Was the nomination of Mr.
1904 a blessing in disguise for the democratic party? Mr. Bryan in his memoirs has somer to that which interesting to consol liberal democrats.
The Fundamentalists At the time of Mr. Bry death the leading spokesman for' a gi non-political body of men and women held together by the fundamental religion of their forefathers and he passed away, not alone their leader but the outstanding figure in his own party. Hi memoirs must therefore become personal and political valedictory to a certain extent and as auch will be of profound i portance, from the front page to less conspiewous places in the current news Iiterature of. the day, but always he has made himself felt; always has been in the forefront seming up from the rear after a spite of activity, He has never, ince the day of being catapulted into the public notice in 1896, been entirely out of the picture. For reason alone, a great mass, al-! most a jumble of information, about Mr. Bryan confounds the average intelligence, and it is well indeed that an orderly account of his career presented at this. time. The story, as it is now to be told in Bryan's own words and in the wai ueceptable to his widow, will be devoid of the prejudices and intensities of political or religious warfare. We have sufficient confidence in Mr. Bryan's sense of humour and his fairness to believe that where the battle went deservedly against him, he will say 40, for his changes of heart inthe light of progress: und the better judgment of other fare well established, The early available installments the memoirs are in a way a, letter of acknowledgment to his friends; a gesture of respect to! his enemies. They are filled with the humanely interesting sidelights on his youth and the many episode of his later years in public 1 Biography well written concerning fan active figure is the reading, second only to autobioical effort. in the hands of an The facility with which Mr. Bryan wrote bespeaks in advance an absorbing story.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.