The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1881-05-11

as far as st. Louis, where he was taken sick,
and after spending long time in the City
Hospital, was finally persuaded to go back
TO his home by his father. In 1856 and %
he was the leading editor of TIE Charleston
Ill.) Courier, aud shortly after, in
connection with his brother (William)
founded the Coles County I'LL Ledger, at
Charleston They continued its publication
for about two years and then sold 1t. At
the breaking out OF the recent War
with the South. Mr.. Harding volun-
teered as a private. His army ex-
perience was not OF particular note,
He reached a Lieutenantcy, and was cap
tured at one time, but was forced out of the
service because OF i'll health. His regiment
was the famed Twenty-first Indiana, Colonel
James Mcmillan, now deceased At one
time this regiment was in General
Buffers command in the New
Orleans Department, and Mr.. Hard
ing was particularly severe upon that
gentleman's peculiar mode of command in
his correspondence we think, to the Gin
cinnat Commercial.
Mr.. Harding's newspaper life and expert
ence in Indianapolis needs but little notice
here at this time. He was at various times
connected with the Sentinel, Journal and the
now defunct Mirror of this city. He founded
the Herald and more recently the Review.
He has been connected with the Cincinnati
Commercial and Enquirer and the Louis
Vile Ledger; also with other papers at
Memphis, NatcheZ and New Orleans. He
never occupied any public office. He ran
for Judge of Coles County, Illinois, and
would have succeeded, but a disaffected
element in his own party prompted 1t
to make second nomination, which divided
the vote and he was defeated.
We understand the Saturday Review will
be continued by Mr.. Dennis, Mr.. Harding ;
partner. As Mr.. Dennis is a bright and
pleasant writer, and in the possession OF de
srable qualities which go TO make up the
successful newspaper man, the prospects are
that the Review will continue to be, as
heretofore, one OF the welcome weekly
literary visitors to indianapolis homes.
George C. Harding brought to journalism a
genius that would have rendered him a
miracle of light in any of the learned pro
fessions. He was always brilliant, and at
times exhausting, but his writings limited
at the greatest possibilities. He has been
compared to George ID. Prentice. HIS style
decomposition more nearly resembled that OF
Douglass Jerrold. He was always original
in thought, and when serious chose
| to express himself in the strongest
Anglo Saxon, which weak minds were prone
to misinterpret. While he had fine sense
of the humorous, his strongest characteristic
was an implacable hatred of shams and
| frauds in every guise. Those who knew him
only by reputation knew nothing OF him.
There are those who believed him brazen
and impudent; on the contrary, he was
modest even TO bashfulness. While resolute
and courageous, even to a fault, he was Oy
no means Indifferent to the worlds opinion.
While bitter enemy, he was
at the same time the most
affectionate of friends. IL is doubtful il
George G. Harding ever made study OF
policy in his life. He never advocated a
measure because it was popular. Conscious
of his purity and integrity, prouder man
the writer of this has never known. To
have imputed to him virtues that he did
not possess would have offended him. SO
great was his abhorrance of deception. But
few men have had a wider and more
varied experience in journalism. While a
soldier, his army correspondence attracted
the attention of the whole country.
Mr. Harding believed his work upon
the Review the best of his life. He
hardly anticipated the fortune with
which the venture was rewarded. Its sue
cess as a weekly newspaper was something
new in iOurnalism-almOst miraculous.
Concerning his religion or belief in future
state. even his most intimate friends know
little. Disraeli has one of his characters to
say of another character:
ellis religion Is the religion OF all wise men,"
"Wnat Is the religion OF wise men,
Wise men never tell their religion"
The most that could be gathered from him
was his opinions of men. He believed
Beecher guilty of the greatest crime i'm the
catalogue Of crimes. He held Bob lngerSoll
and all such men as execute a clog-dance
upon what humanity holds sacred in pro-
found contempt.