Southern standard. [volume] (Columbus, Miss.) 1851-1856, 1853-01-22


mans melancholy recital At length it became
obvious that his whole remaining property would
only suffice to clear him of his liabilities and as
soon he discovered this to be the fact, he made
no secret of his inducements. By one desperate
effort he did try to retrieve himself Alas! it was
a gamblers struggle and he lost.
With a jealousy of military honor, which may
be appreciated though scarcely understood, he
had made up his mind to stop short of sum
which would entail upon him the sale of his COM
mission, and he seemed to have determined that
come what might, he would at least die with char
ness ON his back A like reserve was made for
leaving handsome legacies to few old servants
and dependents, after which his whole remaining
property was devoted to clearing himself of his
liabilities. Thus much | learned from his SER
wants and the lawyers with whom he had been
concerned. The rest of his history, alas COM
prisiHg but few days, gathered from the papers
which he left in his desk addressed to myself, and
accompanied by few trifing memorialsof his af-
lection and esteem What his original intentions
were l am unable to declare, but it appears proba
bic that looking upon the loss of his personal pos
sessions with an indifference peculiar to himself,
he had shaped the idea of following out the ser
vice as profession, and winning eventual dstinc-
ton and independence in military career.
Of advice he seemed to have had plenty, and
beloved as he was, he might contrary to the usu-
al practice in such offers, have had assistance
ly in the same proportion, but it was one of his
peculiarities to be indebted to no man, and his
was a spirit to chafe above all at the well-meant
counsels Of worldly and calculating friend. But
the philosophy which could smile calmly at the ru-
in of a worldly fortune should not have been &C
companied by the sensitive and immaginative tem-
permanent that firmly believed in its power of hold
ing converse with beings of another sphere; and
tlo IF
had, in breaking his health and SCATTERING his
nerves, sapped the foundations of that mysterious
barrier which separates the shores Of reason from
the illimitable ocean of insanity.
Step by step, as | read on, traced the down.
fall of my poor friends reason; step by step be
held the catastrophe approaching, of which | was
too well aware of the terrible result. For years
he had believed in the actual apparidon of his Aus
trian love; twice, as he often assured me, he haC
seen her distinctly in the flesh, and the conviction
was indelibly impressed upon his mind that thrC
appearance would be Immediately followed by hi
own decease. With the peculiar reasoning of in
sanity, this belief appeared now to have assumed
the shape of a stringent obligation, a point of hon
or, and as he himself expressed it, che should b.
, bound to follow when she beckoned him away
Once more the phantom stood by his side, ant
from that moment the curtain was Withdrawn from
the fatal portrait. Twelve hours afterwards h
had ceased to exist; and the beauteous form. tn
gallant chivalrous spirit. the kindly loving hear
were as though they had never been.
We buried him in hallowed ground-gratefu
at least for this. The sun shone, the streets look
ed gay and crowded. Business knit the brows, 0
pleasure frightened the checks of the needles
5 passengers as they moved to and fro upon thel
} amusements or occupations. Did that death strok
r upon The minute bell thrill to the heart of or
child of mammon? Did that mournful proces
r sion, as ever and anon it stopped, and wound o
again in mysterious gravity, speak its solemn war
S mig to one individual in that busy throng? ''W
S are bearing one of yourselves to his real home
! Yesterday was he such as We are, to morrow sha
ye be like him. His placesshall be your place, an
] where he is going We shall go" fear me not
We have indeed authority to believe, that wher
all else hath failed, not even the voice of one fror
the dead shall prevail
We buried him. Shall l ever forget the du
dead sound of the damp earth, it smote upo
his coffin ''Ashes to ashes-dust to dust p
f Was this, the end of all p? Ny friend My brotl
: er
= As 1 turned from the church yard they wei
4 bearing in another funeral--so soon. | felt tn;
he was already forgotten. What mattered it
4 me | was alone in the world