Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1857-06-11
A Great Man SelfWrecked.
GAN oWRE TRUE TALE"

1 IAN oWRE TRUE TALE"
| MANY years ago-in the summer Of tn
year 1915 it was, or thereabouts-a wealth
merchant of New-York, took charge of
little boy who had been left an orphan. Th
parents of this child had been actors G
some slight celebrity in the theatres of tn
United States;but dy ing within short tim
of esct other, they left behind them, in
state of the completest destitu:ion, ihre
young children. The eldest of these was
handsome boy of about six years of age wit
quick eye, an active spirit, and remark
ably intelligent countenance. The mer
chant of whom we speak had known tn
parents of the child; and out of pity for it
helplessness, he and bis wife, who had n,
children, adopted it as their own.
How happily the ardent boy passed hi
days in the house of his benefactor; how hs
was beloved by those two childless people
how, in the strength of their great affection
the merchant and his wife took him to Eu
rope; how he spent some four or five plea
SAINT years under the care and teaching of q
reverend gentleman near London; how ht
came back again to the city of his birth tt
| finish his education; and how he was gen
erally looked upon as the rich merchant:
heir-it would take long to tell. But we
would fain linger on this portion of oul
story; fain dwell upon his precocious wit
and aptness for learE ing-his feats o.
strength and agility-his ease and grace on
horseback, his dexterity in race and stream
and his success in a II that seemed to prom
Use for him brilliant future. But the truth
must be told, no matter how unwilling the
teller. He was sent to the college Of Char.
lottesville, amply provided with money. In
those days dissipation among the students
of colleges was unhappily but too common
and among the most dissoute and extrava.
CANT, the widest rufflers of the town, the
hardest drinkers and the most daring gamb-
lers, there was ever to be found one more
wild and desperate than they all-and that
one was the subject of our story,now good.
looking, free-hearted young fellow of eigh.
teen. Friends advised with him, and he
made fair promises in plenty; tutors remon-
strated and he declared that he would amend
and win tine highest honors yet; companions
tempted and wine allured, and he embraced
the filthy siren, and so fell. Instead of
coming home from the university with hon.
ors, he was summarily expelled.
One would think that dis race so public
would have broken his proud spirit; but it
did not. Because his benefactor refused to
pay the gambling debts he contracted at
college, :he willful young man wrote him
violent and abusive letter, quilted his house,
and soon Bfterward left his country with the
avowed intention o: joining the Greeks who
were at that time in the midst of their strug-
gle with the Turks. He never reached his
destination, and nothing was known or
heard of him for more than year. AT last
however, he was found, and in circumstan
which his European experiences had been
brought. One morning, the Amer lean Min
lister at st. Petersburgh was summoned to
save a, ,countryman of his own from the Pc
nalties incurred through drunken debauch.
He came in time to rescue our prodigal from
prison; and through his influence he was
set at liberty. and enabled to return to the
United States.
The irst to greet him on his landing was
his old patron, the merchant, who was now
alone in the world, for his wife had died
while the youth was away. But he took the
wanderer to his arms, and led him back to
the quiet home he had quilted so ungraci-
ously. The question then arose as to what
should be done for the youth; and on his ex-
pressing a wish to become soldier, interest
was made with the merchants friends, and
the young man was entered as scholar in
the military academy at West Point. For
little time all went on well; the young ca
det was assidueus in his studies, became the
favorite of the mess, and was looked upon
by the officers and professors as one of their
most promising pupils. But alas, and alas!
the old habits of dissipation were too strong
to be given up at once. He neglected his
duties; he drank to excess; he disobeyed Or
ders; he openly sneered at the regulations of
the academy-and, in ten months from his
matriculation, he was cashiered.
Disgraced and Inundated, where could
the wretched man find refuge but in the
home of his adopted father! Thither, then,
he went, and was again received with open
arms. During his stay at the academy, the
merchant had married again TO a lady some
years younger than himself. Time passed
on; but just as the sun oil happiness seemed
about to shine once more upon him, quar-
rel took place between him and .the lady,
which severed forever all ties OF friendship
between the merchant and his prote9e.
Another circumstance, which is scarcely fit
for mention here, was hinted at,and which.
if true, throws dark shade upon the quar-
rel and an ugly light upon the character oi
the dissipated youth. Whatever the cause.
however, the merchant and his adopted son
parted in anger, never to meet again! and
when the former died, the latter shared nc
portion OF his wealth.
Again thrown upon the world by his own
misconduct, the young man tried his hand
in field common to young men, and wrote
several poetical pieces and articles in the
magazines. These were so well received
that he was almost tempted to believe thai
he could obtain living by literature. Bu
his old habits returning,he despaired of sue
cess in his new avocation, and enlisted as {
private soldier in the army. He was soor
recognized by former companion in the
military academy, and great interest beg Al
to be felt for him among the officers. 1t wal
proposed to buy commission for the talen
ted aud handsome young man; but just a:
friends began to rally round him land just a:
their plans seemed about to prosper, he de
serted.
For more than two years the world knew
nothing of his whereabouts; and, it may be
had almost forgotten him.
In 1888, however. the proprietors of I
magazine offered two prizes for the bes
poem and tale which should be suitable t
their pages. Numerous MSS. were sen