Mr. Bryan owed his fame entirely to his oratory which.
was thoroughly to the liking of millions of his countrymen. He was not highly educated and he had none of the self-criticism which can save a man from absurdities. But as a son of the West he fought with deep conviction and courage for country interests against the highly industralised East with its traditional financial system. He coined his most famous phrase at the Chicago Con- vention of 1896 when, in advocating bi-metallism, he said "You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold." He was immediately adopted by the Democrats as a candidate for the Presidency. In 1900 and 1908 he stood again, but he always failed. President Wilson made him Secretary of State in the early part of the War, but he showed, as might have been expected, no talent whatever for administration. His last few years were spent in helping, indeed in leading, the Fundamentalists. He had a magical instinct for pleasing his audiences ; he could put himself in instant rapport with them, and while he laid the spell of his torrential oratory upon millions the disparaging smiles of the rest of the American world did not very much matter.
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