The Greenville enterprise. [volume] (Greenville, S.C.) 1870-1873, 1870-06-15
purgatory. Verify my friend is
being ayengedl 1t is Gods just
) A Sad Story.

w
the prophet was held in high, but
not in blameless repute, being yin
his own country" the name of
Clay has ever been a sacred one
in Kentucky, and to name him,
has been to quote lovingly
Wherever freedom fonnd vota-
ry, that votary met in him cham
pi"n-" When Greece. the classic
land of Greece, the fountain OF re-
finemept-the birth place Of elos.
qnence and liberty and poetry; !;
when Greece awoke from the long
slumber Of ages and beat back the
faded crescent to its native East;
when Mscedon recalled to mind
the feats of her conquering boy.
and the Spartan struck in for The
land that bred him, then tho voice
OF Clay rolled over the waters of the
bluoi Atlantic as greeting from
the New World to the Old. But
2" hnshed is that voice whose every
tone was music" and so on till the
declaimer, wearied. Such being
the esteem in which the Sage c!
Ashland was held in the hearts of
lis country men, the people of his
Commonwealth have been slow to
speak to strangers of the skeleton
in his household, though in the
homes of the State the cad story
has been a household word.
Yesterday morning our special
kilograms announced the end of n
weary lite, i'll stating that Theodore,
eldest son of Henry Clay, had
died in the Lexington Lnnatic Asy-
lum, after a long confinement
The record of his blasted life is
briefly tins:
At the age of thirty years, Thoo
dorc Clay was o promising lawyer.
He was the iolage and hope of the
statesman, whose fame was or ev-
cry tongue, II is true that there
were whispers of wild living, aud
of indifferent morals; that some.
thing tinged the lair lfepuie and
even darkenedtlie future prospects
of this scion OF a noble bonse.- =
Still it was hoped that these were
but the result Of youth, and wonld
be cast aside when circumstances
called upon the matnrcd man to
assert bimsel: and make his tai
ent felt in the community.
It was at this turning point in
lis life, that Theodore Clay began
to pursuc, with an unwcaried per
severance that caused his friends
great uneasiness, a young lady of
Lexington, whom he had long
loved h"pclessly. The object of
his attachment, who is at the pres.
ent momen: one of the brightest
ornaments of Kentucky society,
repulsed firmly, bnt kindly, every
attention offered by the infatuated
young man, after his meaning had
become manifest. 1t was of no
nse, he would not be refused, and
followed his fair fate in the streets
by day and wandered in the neigh
borhood of her home by night, in
an annoying manner, until Mt last
it became evident that he "was
not all there" to use tie soft phrase
by which a kindly peasantry cx.
presses insanity. Subsequent vic
lent demonstrations tendet to con-
firm the impression, it being even
related that he went to the house
( Mr.. ----- and demanded his
daughter at the pistols point, ,un-
til at last the wretched truth could
no longer be ignored. and confne.
ment in the ASYLUM became a
stern necessity. This was accord.
ingiy done, Gin 1882, we believed
his father providing for llis snp-
port at that time, and leaving $40,
900 in his will, the income from
which was secured to Theodore for
life. That life, after thirty.eight
years of imprisonment in what in
the earlier days Of his confinement
he was want to call ga good. board
ing house, but having some of the
biggist fools he ever saw as board.
ers," has just closed. For nearly
thirty years he was one of the
most noted of the inmates, not on.
ly his proud descent, but his grace
tnl manners and flow Of converse.
ton rendering him an object of
interest to all visitors. He labored
under the hallucination that he was
George Washington, and was fond
of assuming the traditional atti.
tudes OF tie Father of his country.
At the occasional balls given to
the inmates, (ayeraging some five
hundred in number0 he was al.
ways exquisitely dressed, in the
style of his day, and was the beau
par excellence. During all these
long years, despite his general
gentleness and cheerfulness of
manner, he was restless and dis.
contented, and required close