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.”