The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-03-17

that no appropriate occasion should pass
without recalling and enforcing them AS
TO these subjects limits can hardly be fixed
Tor reiteration.
"Once more. then, while under the in
Iuence OF the great life that has ended,
those who are taking the first steps in our
profession, as We'll as those who may some
times grow weary of its labors, may We'll
be admonished that there is absolutely no
career of usefulness or honor but in simple
and sincere devotion to the duties that each
day brings. Every temptation to seek easy
or glittering paths must be treated as from
the author of evil.
From the humble beginning to the high
est place as citizen, soldier, statesman ana
citizen again, Benjamin Harrison was
everywhere and always the very incarna-
ton or conscience, industry and courage.
No duty was small enough to be neglected
nor great enough to flee from. The old
hard way which he followed upward Is
familiar enough. 1t is not needful 10 de-
scribe it, but it is perhaps quite as i'm
portant as ii ever was to emphasize the
fact that ii Is absolutely the only way.
The age in which General Harrison's lot
was cast was full of doubt. Many circum-
stances conspired TO make il a time OF
speculation as TO things once believed 10
be fundamental and fixed. Easy
cation with great masses of men eager Ior
something new, the extension of commerce,
the rapid accumulation OF wealth and much
beside gave great opportunities for the
demagogue and the charlatan. No mar
was more keenly alert to all that was pass
ing and ready to accept what was good,
but General Harrison may well have said'
None OF these things move me-
He followed the simple life of the great
men of all time, and as TO the Fundamental
truths of religion and the rules essential TO
correct living he adhered steadily to the
faith and practice of the best of those who
have made and preserved us a Nation. His
career as a lawyer was no accident. he
had from nature or as a noble inheritance
a mind ~singularly clear and well ordered.
But even greater talents have often been
buried in Incidence or Indifference. WITH
him every mental gift was accepted as IN
trust for his fellow-men and cultivated 10
the utmost.
A THOROUGH PREPARATION.
1T goes without saying that his prepara-
ton for the presentation of causes was
riost thorough. L wish only to refer here
TO a few methods that were somewhat pc
culiar and characteristic. He was always
most concerned about the actual cause
committed to him. What had been said in
others closely ~emblin it had consider
alton and furnished suggestions. He never
cited many precedents and L cannot recall
that he ever read more than a few lines
from any book While addressing a court
He preferred 10 master the case under con-
| S.deratiOn and present the principles thdS
he believed should decide it in his own
language. Adequate preparation tends 10
brevsty of speech and his addresses were
never long. Often his thoughts were eX-
pressed in sentences that were epigram-
matte. The crude material for an argu-
ment was as the block of marble brought
from the quarry to the sculptor. The office
was the studio in which superfiuities ana
deformities were cut away until a hgure,
bright, symmetrical and beautiful, stood
forth as a thing of life.
What was done slowly and laboriously
at first was afterward accomplished with
marvellous facility. He was a student In
the highest sense. but not a great reader
OF the mere words of other men. He
burned little midnight oil, but caught quick
~ the thought of an opinion or book and
II was at once his own, TO be used and per-
haps carried forward to new applications.
His own mind rather than the library was
the workshop. With him the argumen
usually proceeded upon a broad and al
ways upon a high plane, but long exper-
fence made him familiar also with the
art of effective discussion. He was an
adept in what may be called the cut and
thrust of debate. L was struck with what
he once said to me about the use of illus
~tTatiOns in argument. He advised me to
use them sparingly and with the greatest
care. He said that if an illustration fits
the case exactly nothing is more effective,
but If it does not and an adversary can
turn IL against your position you can tur
nish him with no better weapon. When
I feel tempted said he, to use an Illus
tration in any important argument / never
venture to do SO until / have stood ii ny
in the office and walked all around it,
II can think of nothing he ever said that
better illustrated his method of study and
at the same time his art OF putting things
| imam TINS remark Many a Time 4 nave
seen him walking around ideas in the
office until he was sure he had seen every
aspect they could present. Constant prac-
tice in walking around his mental products
before they were placed upon the world
market insured good workmanship. All viii
remember that when he entered upon 4
larger field and ingenuity and party yea
were exhausted in the effort TO find some
vulnerable point in a long series of public
addresses, the critics walked around them
H. vain. They had been anticipated.
AS A PUBLIC SPEAKER.
"Of General Harrison as a public speaker
it is not fitting that l should speak al
length. a few words as to his personal
relations to his hearers may perhaps be
pardoned.
There never was an orator worthy of
the name who did not feel the presence and
Inspiration of his audience. 1t has often
been said that General Harrison's self-pos-
session and dignifed reserve amounted &c
a misfortune or a fault. But no orator
ever felt the presence of his audience more
profoundly. He was always a ready and
convincing speaker, but at first he dis
played but little imaginative power or
humor, and had slight confidence in his
own resources. When he began TO make
addresses upon occasions OF great public
interest he always went to the rostrum
with timid hesitation and sometimes al
most with trepidation. l recall, as a marked
instance of this, his manner and feeling
when he went 10 Detroit 10 make his we'll
remembered address before a great politi-
cal club.
"Often as he had won just applause he
never quite got rid Of a certain %appreheIi-
sion That he might not be exactly equal to
the cause or the occasion, and. doubtless,
a speaker VINO becomes so absolutely con-
tdent anG at his ease that his mental ac-
Invites are not fully awakened, has lost
an important part of his power.
II shall always remember wildly an in
Cident of the presidential campaign OF
1883. General Harrison was weary and worn
with much thinking and rot a little speak
ing. The Republican state convention was
in session in the largest hall of our city
The interest was great and an immense
crowd was in attendance. General Harri.
son was to address the convention and the
throng of spectators. As L walked with him
from our law office ii seemed that he had
never appeared SO pale and agitated. He
made his way with difficulty and apparent
hesitation through the crowd and to the
front of the stage. The great assemblage
gave him such a reception as could only
come from his friends in Indiana and his
~neighbOrs in Indianapolis. The inspiration
of 1t was amazing; the speaker found his
! voice, and in a moment the ringing tones
quivering with feeling, Were finding the
hearts of the great audience. Apprehen-
sion was lost in astonishment at tn trans
formation. In the course of his address he
spoke most feelingly of the thea recenl
death of General Sheridan. What was DC
curing recalled the marvellous transtgIr
camp into that tremendous Sheridan who
in the thickest conflict, rode along hi.
lines. looking like a new incarnation Of
Mars