“’The day has come, not gone; The sun has risen, not set; Thy life is now beyond The reach of death or change, Not ended—but begun O, noble soul! O, gentle heart! Hail, and farewell.’” Mr. Bryan was singularly free from egotism, affectation, or envy of the fame of others. That he was brilliant goes without saying, but his brilliancy was as natural and easy as to be like Shakespeare’s description of mercy: “The quality of mercy is not strained, It dropped as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the places beneath. It is twice blessed; It blesses him that gives and him that takes.” THE TARIFF For twenty years prior to 1896 the chief tangible point of difference between the Democratic and Republican parties was the tariff question. It was, in truth, a question on which the two great parties had always differed since the days when they were known as Federalists and Anti-Federalists. The Democratic party, in true accord with the principles of Thomas Jefferson, has always held that government to be best which interferes least with the liberty of the individual. The purpose of government, it has held, is to protect man in his personal rights against the unjust encroachments of his neighbors. But, according to the Democratic idea, government should not interfere to arbitrarily promote the interests of any class of its citizens at the expense of any other class. All should be left, protected against illegal encroachment, but otherwise unmolested, to work out their own salvation. In other words, Democracy believes that government to be best which governs least. The Republican theory, on the other hand, has inclined toward the exactly opposite point of view; that that government is best which governs most. It has acted consistently on the principle that it is not only permissible but advisable for government to be made an instrument for advancing the pecuniary or business interests of such of its citizens as seem most deserving or are most fortunate in winning its ear. It was this radical difference between the two parties, involving, as it did, a basic and fundamental principle, that lay at the root of the controversy regarding tariff duties. The Democratic party, adhering to the strict letter of the Constitution, held that the tariff should be levied for one simple purpose, and that the purpose contemplated by the Constitution—to raise revenue. With this end in view, the party contended, tariff duties should be levied mostly on such articles as are not produced in this country, and, in order to equalize the burden of taxation, be imposed rather on luxuries than the strict necessities of life.