The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-08-21
wALLAoES LIFEo BENJAMIN HARRISON.

the pressure Of peculiar circumstances In q few
weeks, furnish an instance of rapid aud credit
able work in the way of book.making. It 10 an
astractive-lookirg volume of convenient size.
goo print. On fairly good paper, handsomely
bound in dark cloth. with .Life of Ben Harrison.
by the author of Ben-Hur" in gilt letters on the
cover. The back bears the palmer title Life
OF Harrison, by Wallace Thus the names of
two notable men and close friends becoms
linked together.
Writing the biography Of 9 living man for his
contemporaries is a difficult task under any cir
cumstance and the conditions under which this
ono was written added to the ordinary difficult
ties. To say that General Wallace has met
them Will remarkable success is only to say
what all who know him would expect He has
produced q good biography and an interesting
book. He has handled the materials at hand
with excellent Judgment. tact and taste, and in
vested them with the personality of a literary
style now known throughout the EnRiish-read-
ing world. General Wallace's style is peculiar.
He has the fine art of surrounding even common
place topics and incidents with the warm glow
of his own imagination and putting everyday
81 AZ y lush hSut uCICi " al ok VI
Illness and a touch of formality in his style that
is very attractive. The style is the man. Gen.
Wallace sometimes uses words in a slightly
different sense from their ordinary or colloqual
use which, while strictly correct and exact. has
something of the charm Of novelty. These pc
euliarities Of his style appear at times in this
book.
The main facts Of General Harrison's life
have been made tolerably familiar to newsps-
here collated and grouped together in consecu-
tive order and artistic arrangement. The au-
thor disposes Of General Harrison's ancestry in
q few pages which place and leave the matter in
exactly the proper light-iust enough and not q
word too much. The main subject is treated in
four chapters, in which General Harrison sp-
pears first as child. boy aud student, then 40
lawyer; then as soldier. and finally as politician.
Under each of these heads the main facts of his
life are set forth in clear. succinct and consecu-
tive order, accompanied with charming bits Of
character sketchiug and fragments of personal
reflections, which reveal the author as well as
illuminate the subject. In the earlier pages of
the book is this reference to the character and
mode of life OF Gen. William Henry Harrison:
ut is the general opinion that William Henry
Harrison was rich. but the opinion was not
founded In fact With great care for his per-
sonal honor he seems, throughout his life, to
have sc~rupulously avoided speculation. The
salaries be received were not COMMENSURATE
with the digrities he came to. The demands
upon him from his family and his associates
generally made It impossible for him to accumu-
late money. At the time Of his election TO the
nreRidencv ho Wac noor. his onfira nroperfv cop-
sisted of the farm at North Bend. When out OF
office he was occupied exclusively as a farmer,
and must be thought of. not as a gentleman adj
dlcted to broadcloth clothes of the latest style,
nor as a martial figure going about uniformed
and sworded and in a cooked hat. In that re-
spect his habits were unlike Washingtons. Tho
plantation at North Bend had not in any degree
the bsronial likeness of the plantation at Mount
vernon, on the banks of the Potomac. The
Western proprietor had not a ret;nue or slaves
subject to his call. He never travelled 10 and
from the city in state, q liveried rider upon the
near horse ard q footmau perched upon the car
riage Of state. He was q farmer in fact who
took part In his own blowing, planting and reap
ing; altogether the most unaristocratic OF
men. his children we're reared accordingly"
Further on, when the author comes to speak
of young Ben Harrison's boyhOod and early
schooling. he turns aside 70 remark:
There is nothing more surprising in the
lives Oh Amef1cauS man the similarity OF tG6lE
childhood and youth. Their sports are tho
same; they 60 through the same trains of petty
adventure; at length a period arrives at which
they are sent TO school; there a newcomer very
nearly takes up o book left behind by a prede-
cessor, is subject TO tho same recitation, and
whirled with astonishing rapidity along a
course of study which, after all, is little more
than . deeply worn rut. This may perhaps be
o necessity; it certainly is monotonous. There
are even teachers of experience and excellent
judgment who have been heard to express q
wish that they might live to see the results of
experiments in education ont of the common.
There is no hack so worn and weary as a mas
ter or mistress Of q public school. unless it be q
college professor. That a lad ever rises above
the dead level is attributable purely toa super
iority Of intellect. In the light of this remark
and its context, together with his admitted sue
cess IN life. it is worth while to make q study of
the youth and school-days Of the Republican
candidate for the presidency.
Young Harrison was q student at Farmers
College two years. He applied himself to Latin.
Greek, mathematics. mental philosophy, and
the usual academical course 10 its entirety. He
lived plainly. roomine in one of the dormitories
OF the building. While closely applying himself
TO study. always standing fair 10 his classes. re-
spected by his instructors and popular witt his
associates, prompt at recitation and obedient to
rules. nevertheless be found time for amuse-
ment and sport, such as snow -bailinR, town
ball, bull-pen. shiny and haste, all more ia
miliar to lads in that day than this. There was
q hill in the vicinity to which he was faithful in
shedding time. He was of slight physique,
slender and not tall. even girlish in appearance.
but made up the deficiencies. il such they may
be called. by spirit. wit, and ready knowledge Of
character, which enabled him to take his own
part, and hold rank ID the estimation OF his
playmates."
Country boys who are now engaged in playing
ehinny. or riding down hill in the winter may
be pleased to learn that such amusements in No
way detract from their possible future useful
ness and greatness. We have no dorbt thai
when Ben Harrison played he played as ear
nestly and conscientiously as he now works
As to the books he read when q boy tho author
says:
ALLOWING the inquiry. We findin his very early
years young Harrison was admitted to q limited
library. His father does not appsar 20 have
been a great reader himself. Severely occupied
by attention to his farm. John Scott Harrison
was perhaps more careless and indifferent in
this respect than he imagined. Amongst the
books. however. at call of the children, there
were notably an edition OF SCOTS novels. The
son Benjamin can scarcely remember the time
that he was not enthralled by Waverley. the
Scottish tales, and the Eastern romances. lie
pored over them diligently. Ivanhoe and the
Tallsman were sources of infinite fascination to
him. In them his imagination found the great
est satisfaction. And unconsciously he laid
away q store of English and Scotch history fron
kenilworth and other tales of that class infinite
~ serviceable in his succeeding years. He hal
since drunk deeply from Dickens. Thackeray and
all the pdern classicists, but Walter Scott stiI
holds Dominion over his tastes. He speaks en-
thnStaofroallv r hin a and IN hA went