Washington sentinel. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1855, 1855-02-21
Froll Tue Charleston Mercury.
Death OF Col. Francis kiulOc n Huger.

Death OF Col. Francis kinIoch Huger.
We cannot announce the death Of this dis
tinguished and venerable gentleman without
deep emotion. Not that it was out of time; for
he had long passed the ordinary term Of human
lie, being in his eighty third year; but he was
80 admirable specimen of o man, a citizen
and gentleman, that his death is the extin-
guishment of one of those pure lights of honor,
which all Of us looked to with reverence, and
for the loss Of which all must mourn.
Colonel Huger was the son of Major Ben.
Fl uger, who was killed before the lines, at the
siege of Charleston, in the Revolutionary war,
and was the father Of Colonel Ben. Huger, of
the Ordnance, who rendered distinguished SER
vices in the war with Mexico. He is known to
all the world for his daring and almost success
full attempt to liberate Lafayette from his Aus
trian prison, sixty years ago. The failure of
the enterprise left him in a captivity as hard
as that of the hero be had sought to liberate.
Upon his return to his native country, during
the troubles with France in 1889, he held
the commission of Captain of Artillery until
the settlement of that dispute. Subsequently,
on the breaking out of the war OF 1872, Presi-
dent Madison sent him commission as
Colonel of Artillery, and in this capacity he
served through the war. He has also served
the State in both branches of the Legislature.
In none Of these public positions did Colonel
Huger exhibit those talents that astonish and
captivate the world; but in none Of them did
he ever fail Of performing faithfully and well all
the duties Of his post. He seems to have
lacked the craving for distinction that is neces-
sary to give full effect to talent. But he had
an earnest patriotism, o chivalrous selfdevo-
ton, and fixed sense of duty, that made it
very certain that he would never fail in render
IN - ~ all L.
faithful service that was demanded Of good
citizen.
We should rejoice to do justice, in this con-
nection, to that type Of character, Of which Col.
Huger was one Of the most perfect illustration;
the generation of men, who springing up under
the warm, fresh glow of Revolutionary tradi
tons, had yet manners and ideas modified by
the days Of peace that followed. This race de-
| serves to be commemorated; but they were so
| unobtrusive, SO full Of good qualities which
| they rather yelled than displayed, that we al
most fear their precious example will be lost to
the future.
In several respects, COL Frank Huger was
not unlike his cousin, the late Judge Huger.
They had the same high instincts of honor,
| truth, and directness. With both of them,
there was the same impossibility of doing an
unfair or doubtful action. Neither of these
men were capable Of entertaining the shadow
of fear, when it fell on the path of honor or
duty. Such men are not merely the ornament,
| they are the heart of State; and when it
ceases to producesuch, it must necessarily, be
| given over to the government of hucksters, and
gamblers, and demagogues.
Col. Huger was yesterday morning in his
usual health, and presided at his breakfast
table, with no presentiment or indication Of
the great change that impended. About noon,
he felt systems like those which, few years
ago, had brought him to look death in the face.
They had no terror to him. He only shrunk
| from the anxiety and sorrow that his illness
was likely to cause to his family. His only
words we're those Of comfort to them-and after
brief suffering, he breathed his last, like a
soldier who dies at his post, rejoicing that he
has left no duty unperformed
the study and imitation of the young men of
South Carolina, than that Of Col. Frank Huger.
The soul of chivalry, and jealous to the last
degree of his personal honor, such was his
frankness and courtesy of demeanor, that his
long life was passed with but single personal
difficulty. With unbounded popularity in the
State, he never sought public distinction, and
never Stunned public duty. His real ambi-
| ton was to adorn the character and vocation of
the South Carolina planter In this, the first,
the most honored and the most valued depart
ment of our social life, let him be remembered
AS one of the few models, in the contemplation
OF whose excellencies we are called upon to
forgive no fault to overlook ne blemish.