90 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



times — Caesar, Napoleon, Wasliington, Lincoln, Grant — embodying 

 to a supreme degree the traits previously admired in his acquaint- 

 ances, supplant those nearer ideals whose imperfections are more 

 easily perceived. Enthusiasms are aroused for those men who repre- 

 sent contemporary society. At fifteen years of age twenty-nine per 

 cent of the boys and twenty per cent of the girls choose as ideals 

 the statesmen, rulers, authors, artists, explorers, and philanthropists 

 who are making the history of to-day. Two papers, written just be- 

 fore the last presidential election, emphasize this participation in 

 social movements, often extremely partisan. A boy of thirteen 



Chart No. II. — Ideal Attributes. 



of age. 



Goodness 



Goodness to self or class 



Truth and honesty 



Business and possessions 



Appearance 



The marvelous 



Feminine accomplishments 



Intellectual ability or accomplishment 

 Bravery, freedom, adventure, war. . . . 



Discovery and invention 



Patriotism 



Leadership 



Miscellaneous 



Per cent. 



2 '2 







10 



2 



4 







4 



12 



13 







10 



18 



5 



writes: "William McKinley. Why? Because his whole career 

 shows such a nobleness of character, such true patriotism, and such 

 honest thought that history can not help but say that a grander, 

 nobler man never breathed the breath of life." 



Another boy of fifteen writes: 



" William Jennings Bryan. The reason that I would like to re- 

 semble him is because I have seen and heard him, and that is what 

 some of these ' gold people ' can not say about McIQnley. 



" Because Bryan had too much dignity, and he went to the peo- 

 ple and explained the ' Silver Question ' to them. 



" Bryan is but 36 years old. The youngest man that has ever 

 been nominated for president of the United States. 



" He is but one year past the limited age to be a candidate for 

 president. 



" Bryan is well proportioned and well built, a good looking gen- 

 tleman, and one of the smartest men in the United States, or in fact 

 in the whole world, and is, without any exceptions, the greatest 

 orator on the face of the globe. 



" He has made as many as twenty speeches in a single day. 



