Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1865-1869, 1866-01-06
KURGEXINE.

From the Washington Star OF Thursday EHening.l
ate arrivals FROM China bring confirmation of
th,. death of this romantic and gifted young man.-
IriS1ucr in the hands of hIs crue aud tralchcrouS
enemies, heavily ironrd and subjected TO lnc"hceF
able hlriShpS, death by drowning, murder any
means mis-, have hecu Il welcome relief. Bnt what
sd termination to the wild and fevcred dreams "I
Lis Loyhood wi.fen he loved to picture himself as
the Afbiter of Nations, the Architect OF Empires.
The career of Henry Burgevine is more than ro-
mantle stranger thar ictlOn,' and deserves bet
ter record than the meagte and often incorrect para
o,ruphs which have from tine 20 time appeared IN
the columns of European and American papers. He
was born in NRYbern, North CarOAa, IN the year
1856 His father WAS Il Fpnchman, ana a9 hlcer
i'm the grand arms of Napoleon. Subsequently he
was in the service Of Spain. and came to America III
the capacty of Surveyor General Of Florida, mar
red an American lady, and died ~ lSi3, leaving Il
family. consisting OF his widow, two sons and
,laupiter The eldest son was, if We mistake not,
\ Brlgadier General in the Confederate service and
Is NJ present citizen of Arkansas, where the d2!gh-
Ter so leales being the wife OF Thomas L. aisOi
late of Washington city.
Henry Andua Burgevine, the youngest OF the
family came to Washington city with his mother
.,,i sister i'm 1916 Mrs. Burgevine having been
Ist in very Strengthened circumstances, had IN view
the prosecution Of certain ciN.1s against the Gov
ernn.cmt growing out Of the pqichaSc oil FLORIDA
from Spain Being Unsuccessful IN this she, through
the aid OF the Hen. Willie j. NanSum, Obtained
-1t
icnry and on this pittance, Increased by the pro
ducts of teaching small school, tie widow and her
two children lived for many years IN qnlGt Dscurty
ca the west side Of Twelfth street, near {.
From his earliest years, Henry displayed gteai
I,,e E,r books and left no opportunity unimproved
10 steyg. Lis mind with useful knowledge. At seven
te, Il ls Understood the Greek, Latin and French
languages Yas proficient in the higher branches of
mathematics, ~ accomplished draughtsman, anu
studying civil engineering and naval architecture
lat, tla pf
he was among the studept - lbs Washington semi
nary (Catholic), but he accompt tShed mere by night
study and u systematic course 9t r-2alHg, aaHihg
access to the COngess Library.
Ia these days OF hls early youth the writer q lliS
sketch has often heard him speak Of his plans for the
future in such terms would lead stranger to sus-
meet his sanity. Now il was TO build up an empire
in Egypt; 10 unite the nations of the Orient; to re-
generaJe CtiDa and found an enlightened nation ot
500 900 900 of ;.aOpe TO found new ASSyria, with
a Nineveh for It's capital, and so on through long
tran of schemes al Of which were sublime, If not
practicable.
In the spring of 1855 Bprgesile whose settled pur
pos. had been 10 seek his tOrtuAa in foreign lands
Lads farewell TO mOth6r, sister and friends, ana ar
rived Id New Ork with few dpla'S y tls pocket.
No OLE knew exactly where he was gq3g, Or for
what vuryOse, and II is likely his own plarE Eerc
somewhat dSarraggcd by the fact Of his being with
out penny in = feU days, and compelled either TO
return In Washington o. take passage on some ship
Ia6uth, after wrote from San FTa9cisco, then from
the sandwich Islands, next from China, then from
Australia where he worked in the gcIq mines Tor
few weeks with success The next we near ~ Nin
be had been wrecked the coast, forty mheS
from Bombay" After this he was six months in
Calcutta learning the HndOStanee language and
regrettng he did not understand Arabic, that he
might fake command " small vessel trading TO
Judia. on the Red Sea- Next he was on board a
British man. .Of-war Us sailor fheE for few months
weary enough he sure, with his head sGayed, in the
hospital nj Naples And next, tempor0 mUffHfHr
leading the life Of quiet gentleman IN l-ond0n.=-
And finally after' mOIe than four years OF wander
ing he appears like an apPSTqtlpu 10 his friends al
Washington, hrOnZed and beaE6eJ like pard.-
Remaining a few months at the capital, he removes
tp Detroit Michigan: accepts position hs c-Ts III
tla nost.ofice and edits the TudiCGtOr, Demo
rr,tic paper of that city, And here It may he as
well to state that in matters of literature Bsrgeyne
nossessed a most excellent taste. Had he adopted
that rs a pursuit his success would have been GER
tain. He wrote much, and publshe enough in
prv,s and verse to exhibit his talent in that line
But is ,xegsrred life of action, and was frequently
heard u 50 IA Ngqd rather make history than to
write it"
for him. He gF0aned under the c9nElon-places OF
every iav life aud I0nged 70 be yet again chasing
the 1hantoms of ambition, which Lad alrc2dy led
him 50 far out of the beaten paths Of life. A. yet
he had accomplished nothing. lie must be up anu
doing II a name were 10 I've dCHlcNeu IV HiniSSH'
In 1859 Henry Burgeyine again left the shores OF
America: alas never to return. ms Time ms
schemes were more tangible. History could give
him notable examples OF men who had RISEN ABOVE
their kind aS if BY magic in the great political con,
yuI...u. If the world. China should be the heid OF
his glory. f0T herp D gigantic war had raged lOr
wears and here il aIJ here. was the place To WIN
distinction, power, fmPirei ~ China he went ana
the rest of his story Is the history nt i2a LOT Tue
last five wears Whether BurgevIne went Eih - a',i
from this country met him first in China the WI
Ter cannot saw At all events. they were friends
WSrl being inst in command and Burgevne second.
In grsaI aBl successful battle Ward was Killed,
and Henry Burgesiu8 became commandments
OF army of 6OVJO disciplined men, mostly Euro
peans and Americans. In the eyes vi ggr hero was
the first step 10 throne. After setting form ihe>e
facts in letter addressed 10 Thomas Young, Esq,
Of this ry hP says;-"After years of patient labor,
watching, waiting and suffering my day has OF last
come. In tlrO years ghdH rElc China ,"
The dream Vas never realized The life which was
all action, all hope, and all ambition, has gone ont
in wretchednesS almost unparalleled. The mother,
Ia whom in his palmeSt days Burgevine transmitted
q sufficient sum To make comfortable in her last
hours was shared the misery of Outliving him and
of knowing how he died. She expired peacefully in
this city about one year since, and lies in Green
wood Cemetery.
II is almost impossible TO estimate the advantages
to the world which have been lost 10y Burgevine's
failure in China Had he achieved all his ambition
hGped for civilization and the highest enlighten-
ment would have followed him, and an empire such
4 as Napoleon might have dreamed OF, would have
dazzled the world, and the name of Burgevlne
which ina few years will be lost to all. save few