Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1888-07-04

BENJAMIN
Mgisfellaueuns &eaaing.
BENJAMIN HARRISON.
NOMINEE OF THE REPUBLICAN PAR
TY FOR THE PRESIDENCY.
The grandson of the ninth President of
the United States has been made by the
voice of the Republicans of his State of
Indiana candidate for the leadership OF
the party in the Presidential campaign of
1888. "Blood will tell' is a saying whose
truth is proved by history as we'll as by
every day experience in the great modern
republic where every man stands tor HIM
self, and, when he comes before the peo-
pie, cannot ask for support on account OF
his ancestry. His forebears may bequeath
him the qualities which place him in the
front rank of the battle; but it is by virtue
of these qualities, and not by reason OF his
birth, that his sword flashes in the van OF
the charge. No family tree offers itself a.
ladder to political distinction in this
country, though the timber which the
family tree yields may furnish the mate
rial for ladder to fame.
1t is sometimes said if ones descent be
traced back far enough there may be found
hangman's moose at the end of IL. In
the case of Gen. Benjamin Harrison, of
Indiana, this is literally true and yet true
without discredit and with honor. Were
there coats of arms in this republic this
Presidential candidate might happily
flank the knotted rope with gibbet and
chains. Indeed, the regicide blood comes
often to the front in American politics.
There have been three generals in the
Harrison family. There may have been
more chiefs and leaders in prehistoric
times, but the modern records give evil
dence of three. OF these the first was
hanged, the second was the President OF
the greatest republic of the worlds his
tory, and the third may fill once more the
position held by the second.
But the first General Harrison, the man
who was hanged, was a man of whose eX-
ecution any descedant may be- justly proud.
He died a martyr to the cause OF constl-
tutional liberty, as opposed to the prerog-
ative of kings. The ignominy of his exc
cution has become illumined with the
shines as pillow of fire.
The first General Harrison was one of
Cromwell's trusted lieutenants. He was
hanged for no felony, but for a service that
forwarded England's history and conse-
uuently our own. He was asappointed one OF
the board ofcommissioners of who tried King
Charles for treason to parliament, and
with loyalty to the great protector and
faithfulness to the Presbyterian church ne
signed that kings death warrant. Per.
haps he may have left premonitlon OF
the reaction in politics that was to result
in his own death, this first General Har-
rison, when he witnessed the royal execu-
ton. He paid the. penalty of his stead.
fastness to his principles by being hanged
bv order of Charles II, on October 13, 1860,
and Pepys says that he looked as cheerful
as could be expected under the circum-
stances.
The Harrison family, under the reign OF
the Stuarts, it may be imagined, found
little comfort or prosperity in England.
Certain it is that they emigrated to Amer
lea as Virginia colonists. Once more
blood told, as they soon were heard from
on this side the water. Benjamin Har,
rison, of Virginia, was a typical patrlot
of the Revolution. A member OF the
Virginia House of Burgesses, he undoubt-
edly heard Patrick Henry make his his,
toric speech in the little church that still
crowns one of the hills of Richmond, ex-
claiming "Give me liberty or give me
DEATH" and he took his life in his hands
When When with his felIow-leaders of Ameri-
can patriots he signed the declaration OF
INDEPENDENCE. Three times was this
BENJAMIN Harrison elected Governor of
VIRGINIA, and he was member OF the
State convention that ratified the Consti-
tuition of the United States. His son, re-
nowned both as a soldier and statesman,
was the ninth President of the United
States.
But honorable and distinguished as his
English and Virginia ancestry may be,
it is not their merits that alone shed lustre
about the career, the character and the
present position of Indiana's favorite SON.
He stands for himself, and his deeds IN
war, his record in politics, his ability as
lawyer, his brilliancy as stump speaker,
and his acts as statesman all speak Tor
themsemselves.
General Harrisons grandfather was one
of the early settlers of Ohio, and in an
humble house at North Bend, o., on Au-
gust &c, 1888, young Benjamin's eyes first
met the light. lie was a lad of slender
but Wiry physique, and ne inherited an
intellect that matured early. His father,
John Scott Harrison, had himself served
as governor of the Northwestern territory
and in Congress, but had retired to till the
farm at North Bend, only few miles be-
low Cincinnati. Young Benjamin was
only seven years old when his grandfath-
er was elected President in the famous
log cabin and hard cider campaign.
The young mans earliest inclination
was for the law. Perhaps he inherited
that bent, or his mental constitution i'm
PEELED him that way. Certainly no man
ever possessed a more distinctively legal
mind. Certain it is that Immediately on
leaving college he began the study of the
law in Cincinnati, in the office Of Judge
Bellany Strover. He was admitted to the
bar before he was 81. Not only had he
gained profession, but his 2lst year saw
him with awife as we'll. He had but 5000,
which his father furnished him, he had
no practice and no influence behind him,
and he determined to take his wife, not as
burden, but as an inspiration, and start
a career for himself. His ancestors had
come from England to Virginia, and from
Virginia to Ohio why should he not car
ry the family further West? He carried
out the idea, and the year of his majority
saw him hang out his modest lawyers
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