Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1857-1865, 1857-11-13
MlscELlAMY.
From the Nashville Banner.
GEN. w. IT. HASKELL.

aankeii Al tEc LuuAtiO 'hSyluUl Oue
of the brightest geniuses that have dawn
ed upon this age, melancholy wreck and
ruinl The most gifted and eloquent
tongue in America, giving utterance to the
unmeaning chickering's of the raving mani
aol A man whom nature has fitted to
associate with the greatest intellects Of
the world, and to adorn the most brilliant
circles Of society, an inmate of the mad
mans cell, with the most lost and wretch
ed Of the sons of humanity for his com
panionsl
When the report first reached us that
the great mind of the gifted Haskell had
fallen, we refrained from making it public,
in the hope that it might not be confirm
ed; but, sad and startling as was the in
telligence, it was too painfully true, and it
10 useless longer to conceal the fact.
The career of this gifted but unfortu-
nate son of genius is peculiar one, and
should be universally known for the i'm
pressive lessons which it teaches From
his earliest boyhood he has shown himself
possessed Of the highest order of talents
While at college in this city, he distin-
guished himself as poet and an orator.
His graduating speech is spoken of to this
day by those who heard it, as worthy of
the immortal Prentiss in his palmiest
days, and probably not surpassed by any
subsequent effort of his own. lie has
served his country on the battle field and
In the halls of Congress. 1t was his resi-
dence at Washington that confirmed upon
him those unfortunate habits from which
he never recovered, and which have finally
blasted his exalted intellect. True, he at
one time broke the fiery serpent from his
hands, and dashed it to the earth. To
make his own reformation complete, and
aid in lifting up others who had fallen,
like himself, he went through the State
lecturing on temperance. The tour was
an eminently successful and brilliant one,
his lectures being fully equal to those of
Cough, whose unearthly eloquence has
electrified thousands in this country and
in England. But his old habits gained
the mastery Of him again, and his subse-
quent life has been but fearful struggle
between his appetites and his ambition
struggle in which, it must be confessed,
his appetites have generally triumphed-
So great indeed, was his craving for arti-
fetal stimulants, that even while deliver
ing his temperance lectures, he made use
of drugs, sufficient in quantity and poten-
cy to burn out the vitals of an ordinary
man.
Right here is found the true cause of
his fall--the rock on which his intellect
has gone to wreck-a love of excitement,
amounting TO an irresistible passion,
coupled with constant tendency to mel
ancholy and depression, thus inducing a
need Of artificial stimulants to buoy up
his dropping spirits, and lift him into that
world of thoughtless and giddy reckless
ness, in which alone he seemed able to
live. So great was his proneness to des-
pondency, and so Unsuitable his thirst for
excitement, that he was scarcely ever
known to bO quiet for any length of time.
He preferred rather to be tossed about in
the whirlpools of contention and strife
than to sail on the calm sea of domestic
peace and tranquility. When not engaged
in public speaking, he was constantly found
in the convivial circle, which he never fail
cd to enliven and delight by his presence
Wherever he went he was surrounded by
crowds of admiring friends, who were
never so we'll entertained as when listen
ing to his lively, eloquent and learned con.
vorsation. His conversational powers
we're indeed wonderful. The resources OF
his mind were inoxhaustible, and his
tongue never faltered for word There
was no subject whether ancient or mod
ern, grave or gay, upon which he did not
eonversslwith auency and oloquence. IlC
passed, with the most careless ease, from
the profoundest disquisitiOn upon the doc
trinos of the Bible, the religion of Confu
oius, or the Baconian philosophy, to the
lightest literature of the day, His con
versaton, as we'll as his public speeches
abounded in the sOundsst philosopl
mixed with the livoliest wit, the bitterest
sarcasm with the most laughter provoking
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