The Campaign of 1896 165 



of mushy sentiment in the world, and there are al- 

 ways a certain number of people whose minds are 

 weak and whose emotions are strong and who ef- 

 fervesce with sympathy toward any man who does 

 wrong, and with indignation against any man who 

 chastises the criminal for having done wrong. These 

 emotionalists, moreover, are always reinforced by 

 that large body of men who themselves wish to do 

 wrong, and who are not sentimental at all, but, on 

 the contrary, very practical. It is rarely that these 

 two classes control a great political party, but at Chi- 

 cago this became an accomplished fact. 



Furthermore, the Chicago Convention attacked 

 the Supreme Court. Again this represents a species 

 of atavism, that is, of recurrence to the ways of 

 thought of remote barbarian ancestors. Savages do 

 not like an independent and upright judiciary. They 

 want the judge to decide their way, and if he does 

 not, they want to behead him. The Populists ex- 

 perience much the same emotions when they realize 

 that the judiciary stands between them and plunder. 



Now on all these points Mr. Sewall can hardly 

 feel complete sympathy with his temporary allies. 

 He is very anxious that the Populists shall vote for 

 him for Vice-President, and of course he feels a 

 kindly emotion toward those who do intend to vote 

 for him. He would doubtless pardon much heresy 

 of political belief in any member of the electoral 

 college who feels that Sewall is his friend, not 

 Watson, Codlin, not Short. He has, of course, 

 a vein of the erratic in his character, or otherwise 



