Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1858-07-01

WulCn NC piSoSase~ w AAS A-"sO~N wa - S'
waiter.
after ALL said Marquis pouring out hall
tumblerful of the pale yellow liquid, which
an attentive servant diluted with ice water
after all there's nothing like good old whis
key. Your brandies nauseate me, and burr
me up but this is the pure aqua rita-watel
of life. When I dsink it am surrounded
by all the heather gods and goddesses, ha
ha Especially the goddesses-for 'neve1
alone come the immortalsP =
A harsh, cracked laugh accompanied the
words, and Marquis drained his whiskey al
single draught.
When the desert was removed from the
table Marquis had emptied the wbiskey bot
tie, and declared himself growing 'compan'
ionable.' witnessed with astonishment the
immense amount he drank-for another ca
pacious bottle of the beady liquor gradually
disappeared before his determined attacks
To have demonstrated with him for this enor'
nous excess would have been purely gratui
tous. 1t was plainly a fixed, daily habit,
and I could only sit silent and gaze at my
companion, who refused to rise till he had
finished his allowances
was compelled to yield; and on that af
ternoon listened to talk such as, for wild and
brilliant vigor, penetrating criticism, and
dazzling subtley, I had never heard from
mortal in this world. The liquids be had
drunk seemed simply to warm his intellect
to its normal state-to arouse the mental en-
ergy of this extraordinary man---and when
some weird extravaganza marred his vivid
sentences, it was not caused by what be had
drunken now, but the warping of the brain,
resulting from habitual excess. I shall only
add, in ending my sketch of scene actual.
ly painful to me, though crammed with
tragic interest, that I have never met with
the human intellect which exhibited such
splendid grace and strength; never heard
the talker.who poured out suoh grand ideas
in such gorgeous and imperial profusions.-
sometimes sit and wonder now if the enc.
my of Souls was not personally present in
what is his best emblem-the fiery liquid,
and if he did not prompt the speaker IN bis
flights of royal thought-giviDg him logic,
criticism, pathos, humor, satire, scoAiug, and
sneers-and laughing from behind the bot
tie as he listened and wondered at the match.
less intellect he had reused to this wild &C.
tivity.
When we rose there was the same unstea-
dy gait observable in Marquis, and the slight
hesitation of speech I had noticed in the
morning. Beyond this he exhibited none
of the evidences of intoxication. I return.
ed to my lodgings, and on the next day,
shutting myself up in my chamber, accom-
plished the legal business which my friend
requested at my hands. 1t was Marquis's
will, as I said, and Providence decreed, in
its good pleasure, that many charitable pub
lie institutions should know and admire the
discriminating beneyolence Of this singular
man.
On the next day, the last of my stay,
was compelled, much against my wishes, te
attend great dinner party which Marquis
had assembledin compliment to meat which
some of the most celebrated statesmen, law
yers, and judges of the day were present.
and at this entertainment saw Mrs. Cotes
bury for the only time; during my visit
Plainly the intelligence of her brothers aw
full death had not reached her; or, if she
knew Of it, her powers of self control were
immense. Marquis was undoubtedly igno
rant Of it.
The beautiful Caroline Francis of old times
was terribly changed! Her countenancf
had lost all its bloom and roundness and
from the thin, pale face looked forth pail
of haggard eyes, filed with an expression o.
silent suffering and rigid endurance of pain
Hergai was slow and unsteady, as is seer
in confirmed invalids, and when she gravely
inclined to me, and gave me her cold, white
hand, felt as though had exchanged sal
utations with a ghost. A single daughter
had been the result of the marriage, but the
child, whose name was Aurora, did not ap
pear at the set dinner.
I shall not dwell upon the splendid ban
quet, from which Mrs. Cotesbury made hel
escape at the earliest moment which etiquette
would permit-pressing me more powerfully
than before with the idea that she belonged
to another state of being. The company
were set of bon vivans, men of the old
school, who drank deep and played high, as
though to revenge themselves in passionate
stimulants for the toll and burden of their
public stations. On that evening saw Sen
ators browse and heard them stammer wit
less jests, or unworthy anecdotes; great
lawyers exchange facetia which will not
repeat, judges nodded under the effect Of
their potations and abdicated the dignity of
Themis for the cap and bells of Harlequin.
It was wild revel and the widest reveler
of all was Marquis. The quantities of wine
which he drank was perfectly astounding.
As before, however, the wine produced mere
ly slight change in his voice, and species
of unsteadiness in walking, when the ban
quet was over, be led the way to the card
tables.
Here the playing was on scale CORES
ponding to the excesses which had proceed
ed it. Marquis and Judge ---- engaged
each other, and in an hour Marquis had
won two thousand dollars. He lit fresh
cigar, and recommended. When, all hour