The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1853-04-26

| get him. Possibly it means no re-
| Election thereby. 1t has also forgot.
ten the lamented John Wells, Jacob
Van Veethen, and Elisha Williams,
his brilliant competitors at the bar.
Even Hamilton, his target victim, is
no longer remembered.
AS for Burr, there are many rca.
sons why he should have been 80
! soon forgotten. Tradition and legend
have handed down his name blacken-
ed by every crime. Long before his
death, even when poor, wretchcd and
alone in the world he stemmed mis-
fortunes tide, the world had resolved
to forget him. No one spoke to him,
nor seemed to notice him, as engaged
in the active duties Of an arduous
profession, he walked the populous
streets of New York. 1fmct, in the
stagecoach. no one addressed him; if
on the ferry which conducted him to
tho solitary island home, he was not
recognized. In some cases it might
have been because Of his threadbare
coat; in others, like all men, he was
naturally forgotten, when, his power
lost, he had no more favors to give,
and the onco brilliant light no longer
attracted the fitting moths: but it
cannot be disguised that those had
forgotten, who should have rcmcm-
bored him; he was Stunned in the
street, his friends did not know him;
if pointed out at distance, it was as
one who had the accursed mark of
Cane upon him.
We do not know sublimer pic.
ture than that presented by this cclc-
brated man, in the last hours of de.
cliuing life. His early course had
been peculiarly successful. He was
soldier of the revolution, distin.
guished for courage, and skill, and
activity; his reputation had been high
at the bar, as a trusty counsellor, and
successful ,politiciap, admired for l;s
taot, aud -iUaded witn7rne faVors Of
the people; he had also been Vice
President of the United States, and
presided over the Senate with Impair
tiality and dignity, and as he conclu.
dcd his farewell address, there was
not dry eye in the chamber. Added
to all these public honors, happy do.
mestic relations were the crowning
jewels of his happiness. He was
proud of his descent from two Of the
best stocks Of the country: he was
the favored scion Of the Houses of
Edward and Burr. lie had the
choicest education that could be af.
forded, and his proficiency was such
as to make his nearest and fondcst re-
lations rejoice. lie had also been
happy in his marriage, the fruit of
which was daughter, Of whom any
father might have been proud. She
was beautiful in person, intelligent
in mind, and gifted with a lively fan
cy, and a brilliant imagination
These natural gifts had been cultiva-
ted by the most careful education.
The conversation of the daughter,
when child, was the delight of the
father; when a matron, his PRIDE
Given to the man Of her own and fa-
ther's choice, who also stood high in
his native State, as o gentleman,
scholar, and successful statesman,
she was the mother of a beautiful
son, not more the parents joy than
the grandfather's pride.
This little pledge that the family
should not die and become extinct,
also bore the name of Aaron Burr.
Thus happy in his public relations
and domestic circle, connected with
the past by proud and glorious re.
membranes; with the future by a
golden link, what was wanting to fill
up the cup Of his happiness +? No.
thing, perhaps, save that right judg.
ment of Solon, who counted the poor
and obscure, but pious Athcnian, the
happiest of men, in preference to the
proud and wealthy Dydian King.
In moment, in the twinkling Of
an eye, all this happiness was melted
down and became a dross- the golden
realities that already reached through
three generations, became as vision
that is past. A fearful rencontrc
drove Aaron Burr, tho soldier, the
statesman, an outlaw from the land.
lie was hunted from town to town,
city to city. He was tried for trea-
son, and all his fame blackcned for
ever. His small fortune gradually
melted away-he was a wandcrer
and beggar upon the face Of the
earth. His daughter, on her way to
visit him and soften his woes, was
seized and barberously murdered by
pirates. His grandchild was cut