New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1853-08-19
Iaetec fr.ln y Nd.


il1l, he was elI-atsi 20 Harrow sehool,
winch he lef. at iYs age Of ei1h;een, 70 facome
2 student Of the 1iIda Tompls ta. be aban-
''heh the study Of the law, fr pursuits more
songsniai with his habits and deposition At
.he aye oftweuty be married. NI.z L.rIoy. a
> .s''.''ai ana accomplished young lady The
''''Es vas pr'vs.e ore, and was the occa-
s..' q. ''+ 'aias twice engaged in duels, in ,ha
Hf+'oi Wf'rh ne was "astheacknowledgsd- -ietor: hut
come iisl1'a .fyeruarIs arising AZ % tAe Ian.
'f that c.ntast, tIe parties again -aet vbo,,
Sheridan received Eoual Thich for sors5.ioo
threatened his safety IL .7s0 he first took Ais
seat n Parliament the pre- entat,ve Of stat
ford lie soon became one # the most formids-
Die opponents 70 minis and took an active
part N the successive ie5s IS Of period, IN its
importance, unparalleled in the history Of the
country after the death # Mr. Pitt, he held,
l7r short time. the Office Of Treasurer Of the
+ Navy. In 1892 be had the nj fortune to lose
I his wife, which event affected him deeply
sincere mutdal attachment appears 10 have
subsisted between them, ami TO have remained
undiminished to the last. lie afterwards mar
fled Miss Ogle, daughter Of the Dean Of VIM
Chester. His health, which had been for some
Tine declining, at length totally filled him, and
ne aled IN Saville Row, On the 9TH Of July, 1918
AT the time Of his deeease, lie appears to have
0een IN state Of utter destitation In the
Lie which has been published BIZ Mr.. Moore, is
inserted note received from linn ny Ne Ro
GERS, day or two previous to that event Its
concluding paragraph strongly exhibits the ag-
onized state Of his feelings:
They going 10 put the carpets ont of the
window, and break into Mrs SIS room, and
tQh'e me for Gods sake let me see you r B. sn
Mr. Moore tells 1.-The Sherifjs oficer az
|r.z taI fhaf r. r.ss4 MAJ -, so al Il
to carry him of in his blanket to a sponyiny
house, when Dr. Balm intelfered, and threaten
ing the officer with the responsibility he must
incur, if, as was but too probable, his prisoner
should expire on the way, arrested this out
rage"
Such were the last moments of Sheridan!
His constitution, naturally remarkable for its
vigor, had been undermined by frequent and
excessive potations, and 80 haHtuaI had this
vice become in his late years, that the warnings
and entreaties of his medical advisers were Of
no avail. On one occasion his physician, while
demonstrating against the course he was pur-
suing, told him that if he persisted in it the
coats Of his stomach would be destroyed, and
rendered incapable Of performing the functions
necessary to digestion; upon which ne is said to
have replied, with melancholy humor, Then
my stomach must digest ias its ,caisteoat, for 4
cannot heip It ~
Humor was in him an instinct no crcum-
stance could suppress-no presence restrain it.
Its shafts were ever ready, and never fell short
of their mark His writings, which are chiefly
dramatic, bear the impress Of genius and
abound in wit and metaphor His character
was wayward and veering, and its grand defect,
tie absence Of a ruling and guiding principle,
not only caused him to he involved in difficult
ties through the whole period Of his life, but, as
we have seen, was the occasion of much misery
at its close. and it has robbed his memory of
that claim to our respect which otherwise it
would possess. We may admire him as an au-
thor, or an orator, but can never respect him as
a man for his negligence and recklessness
amounted, where himself alone was concerned,
= to q deficiency in common prudence, and where,
as was generally the case, others were affected
by it, of common honesty. Numerous the
anecdotes Of his lavish and improvident extrsva-
gance, and more numerous those of ar1fices
which he put in practice when required to dis
charge debts which he had thus incurred. It is
impossible to resist being amused by the dex-
terity and ingenuity which he displayed on
these occasions, in extricating himself from di-
iemmas which would have bafied the skill of
almost any other man. But when we contem-
plate these unprincpled pieces Of wsggery in
moral point Of yiew-when we divest them Of
the glitter which his genius threw even around
his worst actions, we admit their Injustice and
their cruelty. Did the individual who had
trusted hin--did the family who were dependent
on that individual for support-sufier less 10y the
Withholding Of the sum tec wch he had Just
claim, because his frequent opportunities were
eyaded with humor and address:
Is the shat tho les fatal because it is bright -
After having been defrauded, was it any allie.
Walton to be outwitted into the bargain But
it may he said, and we are willing to admit it's
truth in the fullest extent, that the misery he
thus oeeasoned he did not contemplate that
the debts which he thus contracted he intended
to discharge; but, granting that his thought
lessness and proiusion were alone the causes Of
his injustice, was he the less criminal Oh that
account
Such were the moral blepishes Of man whose
splendid abilities introduced him into all circles,
and made hiut tine pride Of each. Although his
genius displays itself in his writing, for know
ledge of those efforts which proved the consum-
marion Of his fame, and on which it chiefly rests,
we depend the testimony Of others. His
speeches on the impeachment of Mr. Hastings,
on charges grounded on his conduct while Gov
ernor Of India, arc not 10 he preserved to Us by
reports--that is, BY accurate and complete ones !;
and even did We possess such, they could pre-
sent us with nothing which would enable us to
judge of the merits of those oratians, or 10 ap-
preeiate their beauties. What idea could the
trgd and dry skeletons convey 10 our minds Of
= the beauty which had clothed and the spirit
which had animated theml His first speech on
this subject was delivered in the House Of Com
mons, February I, 1887. Tho following are a
few and the most remarkable ealosiums on its
j. ragnifcence and power which sprung from tue
lips OF all parties at its close;
Mr.. Burke declared il 10 be the most aston
ishing effort of eloqlenee, argument. and wit
united, of which there was any record or ira
dition'
Mr. Fox said: s. Al that he had ever heard !;
all that he had ever read, when compared with
it, dwiniled into nothing, and vanished like
yapor before the sun"
Mr. Pitt Acknowledged = that it surpassed all
the eloquelce Of ancient and modern times and
possessed every thing that genius or art could
furnish to agitate control the human mind -
The speech having attained its object, in or
der for the impeachment, he was appointed one
Of the Committee of Mana gers. and in that char
: acter made his celebrated Grafton in Nestmin-
ster Hall on the 3D. OF June, 1850, and the three
following days for, To quote the words of Glib
u hon, who was present, q" That display Of genius
: blazed four successive days
The following passage, which has been pre-
served, is complete in Itself and possesses
great beauty Dead to the best feelings Of our
: nature must be the heart III which iE.does not
arouse an echo:
and vet, my lords, how can l support the
claim Of fiiaI love by argument, much less the
affection OF a son 10 a mother, where love loses
is awe AMI yeneraton is uitcd with teu3er-
ness What can | saw urou such . Subiprt