The daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1848-1851, 1848-03-23

pen in hand to attempt the portraiture Of this fear
full son of Mars, whose very name is almost enough
10 - Freeze my young blood,
Make each particular hair to stand on end
Like quilts upon the frettul porcupine.
We onot say that our hero lives in New Orleans
now, but he " used to did, and that S enough for
chap whose business it is TO make Sketches. .
He lived here once upon time, and fourished ex-
tensiveiy-went to the Legislature and to Congress,
for aught We know-that is, the Congress of Texas,
while that lone STAR was shining with bedmmed
l,istre in the political armament
Squire Bowieknife emigrated, some years ago,
to a village in Mississippi from of the Caronas
He was "a limb of the law, and by dint of an album
dance of sWagger, in short time tought.his way
into notice. There are parts of Mississippi where
man may graduate into public favor, through the
merits q gunpowder, with rapidity that is aston
shing. 1t requires a peculiar conformation and
internal organization-a fitness OF things, it
were-to constitute an individual who can thrive
upon sharp steel and patent-revolvers, but Bowie
knife was the man, and Sc he Went it with rush y
Thence he found his way to Orleans, and now
has gone to Texas, followed by the ghosts of less
than SIX hale, hearty men, at least, that were such
before his :. bloody minded shooting irons made
more upon point of honor than lie did he would
cav upon the hundredth part of hair he thought
IA bit OF fight was to be got out of his antagonist:
and upon the most trifimg misunderstanding i'll the
world, he would attack you i'll a " street fight, or
call you out and shoot you down, though your
lie was of no more value than a cur dogs. Oh,
he was brave fellow and people We're afraid of
him. and we cannot wonder at it.
But it SO happened that the Hon. Daggerdraw
Bowieknte not, by any manner of means, so
plmctual in meeting his own little liabilities as he
was in being first upon the ground TO take his part
in the murderous duel-in other words, he was one
of those id high-minded, honorable, clever
fellows,' who would rather shoot man than pay
him what he owed him. There are such men in
the world and our friend was one of them: they
pretend to be the very soul of honor, but an honest
debt, such as honest man y, ould pay with entire
prnctuality, these SONS of honor pass by the
idle wind, which they regard not One day,
Daggerdraw sailed out from his office to take a
walk into town. He was armed and equipped,
though not s. according to law but he Was, in
common parlance, quite LOADED down to the
guards with fashionable killing tools. In each
pantaloons pocket he carried small loaded pistol:
in his bosom, and within reach, was the handle of
a large bowie-knife, weighing just one pound and
a half, one of those murderous weapons more
efficient than the Roman short sword, and equally
serviceable at cutting or thrusting Daggerdraw
had done bloody deeds with it in both ways, as
more than one Individual in Mississippi had expe-
renced to his sorrow. This said big butcher-knife
had nun the rounds of several street fights, and
~, 4 RI hole itr cd
the personal prowess he displayed in its use was in
violation of claws of decency and humanity, and
beited him for the society of desperadoes and
professional cutthroats, is altogether another ques
ton No man doubted the bulldog courage of this
disciple of Blackstone, but whether any OF the SYM
pathies of human nature, such as make man the
being he is, had an abiding place in his ferocious
heart, is not for us to say, though it may well be
supposed there was none.
Yes, there he goes and there is blood upon his
shirt now or at least there is revenge brooding in
his thoughts, and ere long the life of some doomed
one must pay the forfeit He is not a bad-looking
nan either. being genteeI enough in his dress and
address. but
There was Il lurking devil in his sneef.
That raised emotions both OF hate and fear.
His eve was wild and restless and there a
something in his brow that was repusive. T." And
he Lord set mark upon Cain''-can 1t be true
hat this modern Cain had his mark set upon him
90 And yet there it was, the stamp and the i'm
,ress-of the cruel heart, legby fixed iii the very |
ineaments of the mans face. and no one loved to |
,aze upon him, for his features had that about them
o freeze the heart of the beholder.
WHY it is that false sense of honor requires men
o face in deadly combat such as Daggerdraw, it |
we're hard to divine Perhaps theysuppose, as Bob
Acres says, that honor follows them to the grave.
We are of opinion with Bobs servant, that this is
he very place one might make shift to do without
t, and that the honor and applause, such as it is,
Whips over to the adversary. Very well: Squire,
axe your grand rounds and as you walk the streets,
eel secure that men afraid of you, but take
God care and don mt get afraid of Yourself I've
eard strange stories about you-how that you never
leep o. nights that you pace the long gallery of
our boarding house with restless and uneasy steps,
nd while others xurare in the blessings of tired
at1res sweet restorer,' sleep is stranger to your
YIELDS ! have he trd that the lone and solemn
our of midnight is a terror to you and that the
hosts Of murdered Banquos will rise mentally to
our vision, meet reward for your deeds of
wful transgression, and your disregard of the in
motion, g Thou shalt not kill
Some men become noted some are celebrated
nd others, again, have the stamp of notoriety
fixed to their names: such is the unenviabe con-
ition of him whom we have here sketched He
as made his mark through life but it has been in
le spirit Of the pestilence and the destroyer.
DIGNITY DEscENDING.-The Annapolis cores
ondent of the Baltimore Sun, writing at the time
le Maryland Legislature broke up says
Whilst waiting for an invitation from the Senate
witness the signing of the engrossed bills, the
lembeps of the House concluded to have some fun,
he Speaker having retired for short time and left
le chair vacant. | wish could give you an ade
ate idea of the iovial proceedings that ensued. +
he first business in order announced to be
lie singing of - Old Crimes which was accord
Ugly given out by the temporary chairman chosen,
nd sung by the merry spirits collected around 1t.
fter which we We're favored with a Dutch speech
: to the best mode of curing g der pelly ache.
he fun continued without inermlssion, until inter-
1pted by a deputation from the Senate, requesting
le attendance of the House to witness the signing