The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1871-02-09
4 REMARE4BLE MAN.

AA0AA anu AAAI NACN H 4lAEl1 4AAC AAOAE1L
heart! Within the knowledge Of this
writer, for ten years, and possibly
much longer, as regular as the parsOn
himself, there has sat the old gentle
man, now one hundred and four
years old, ardently beseeching his
Heavenly Father to deliver the spec
ulative years that still remain to him
from the lust Of the eyes, the pride of
life, and every sinful desire of the
ilash.
To few men has it been given to
pass such an eventful life, and to few
er still to sit at the feet of their spirit
ual counselor, in their one hundred
and fifth year, in the full possession
Of every mental and social faculty
upright, elastic, and happy as a child
as sits to-day in the Church Of the
Ascension, Captain Frederick Lar
bOuehe, knight of Talavera, late COM
mandant of Her Britannia Majesty's
Sixtieth Rifles.
Frederick LarbOuehe was born in
London, March 9, 1T76; enlisted in the
SiXtieth Rifles October II, 1883; fought
with that organization in Holland,
the Duke of York, in 176i; was with
Lord COrMwallis, at Ballinamuck, in
Ireland, on the Sth Of September, 1893,
and with Nelson at the fall Of COpen-
hagen in 1901. He was attached to
the suite Of Lord Castlereigh, British
ambassador to Prussia, in 1907, and
was an eyewitness to the gorgeous
ceremonies at Tilsit, when Napoleon |
the Great met Alexander on the roy
al raft on the Niemau, June %, 1907; |
and fought under Lord Wellesley
Duke of Wellington all through the
peninsular campaign of 1S0S-10. For
signal gallantry and courage at Busaco,
1910, he was promoted, and was
knighted on the plain of TalaVera.
Subsequently, in 1911, he was station
ed at the Cape of Good Hope, and add ]
ed greatly to his laurels in the Caffre
war of 1913.
He had seen the great napoleon at
the acme of his fame-the cOnquerOr
OF Europe debating peace to emperOrs
at Tilsit in 1907. He was now to be
one of his jailors at st. Helena; and
not the least entertaining of Captain
Larbouche's "reminiscences are those
relating to that son Of Jove Gagged and
tied in his volcanic tomb. In 1878, at
the age of sixty-two, Captain Lar
bOuche had fought a score of battles,
been under every sun, and faced dan
ger in every form which il assumes to
men-war, shipwreck, pestilence, and
prison. He had served his country, |
and having, as he supposed, attained !
the summit of life, determined to !
spend his declining years in peace at |
home. But he reckOned without his
host. He was only half way- through. |
He thought he was afull-grOwn man, |
but he was still in his teens. He sold !
out his commission in the Sixtieth |
Rifles, but the peace he coveted was |
not for him. Like the wandering Jew, |
he must be up and at it again. In /
1926 he was shipwrecked, and lost his 1
fortune. But subsequently he went |
to Australia as superintendent Of the |
convict station at Bathurst; went to /
Tahiti in 1887 and thence made a vOy- |
age to China, the Indies, and South |
America. In Tahiti, in consequence |
of incendiary expressions in disagree |
ment of the Papist stpropagandists, and |
favorable to the Protestant mission |
aries, he was seized by the French /
and summarily transported to France |
in 1872. He then spent many months /
in an extended tour of Europe; took /
charge Of Lord Howard de Walden's /
estate in Jamaica in 1S47; and upon |
the emancipation Of the slaves-at the /
green old aga Of eighty-One-eame to I
New York, where he has ever since /
resided. Upon arriving here, his fam /
lily consisted Of one widowed daughter /
and grandson, both of whom he has /
survived; and ever since he has lived /
alone, in the enjoyment Of perfect /
health and in the vigorous use of his /
limbs. Old as he is, the Captain, like /
the deacOn's ORe-hOrse chaise, still 1
shows no signs Of giving out; every /
function, every fibre and muscle Of his /
body is in its place and working well, j
and his pulse discOurses most health
full music. He gives every promise Of
living as long again; and irreverent
people have speculated whether, like
the vehicle above mentioned, the cap
tain will not go to pieces all at once.
Nature may, indeed, have given up
trying to collect her debt of the cap
tain, so signal and repeated have been
her failures. Left for dead upon the
battlefield Of BusaeO, he was soon
alive and fighting again, with a bullet
furrOw across his skull. Cast ashore,
senseless, upon the Cape Of Good
Hope, he was soon all right again,
With only the loss Of his fortune,
which went down with the vessel
Pestlence, exposure, fire, and sword
have menaced him in vain. When
the city Of New York lay supine and
trembling i'm the clutches Of that ter
rible mob Of 1868, old Captain Lar
bOuche, in his ninety-eighth year,sin-
gle and alone, confronted the madden
ed rioters, and, at the risk Of his own
life, saved a poor man whom they
were hurrying to the nearest lamp
post.
But Captain LarbOuche is some
thing more than a centenarian; some
thing more than a GulliYer or Sinbad.
He is not only study for the anti
quarian and the physician, but the
tOxieolOgist as well. The captain is,
and has been for years, a confirmed
opium-eater, and his feats in this lat
ter line far surpass the other achieve
ments Of his life, putting to blush De
Quincy himself To alleviate his
acute suferings from rheumatism
consequent upon military exposure,
he took his initiatOry dose Of the poi
son, and he has ever since continued
its use in amazing quantities. Where
as n single grain of opium Is, under
circumstance, 4 fatal dose
for a man, Captain LarbOuche has for
years consumed seventy-fve grains a
day. At one dose he has occasionally !
taken one hundred and fifty, but at
no time for fifty years less than twen-
ty-fOur grains a day. On one Oeca-
sion, at sea, his opium having given
out, the captain drank half a pint Of
laudanUm as a substitute, and he in
sists that, as far as the consequences
TO himself are concerned, he wOnld as
drink half pint Of lauda-
mum as half pint Of red wine.
Although the old gentleman seems !
TO have lived in defiance Of every law ]
Of nature, he is scrupulOusly exact in
his habits Of life. lie rises and break
fasts at two o'clock in the morning,
dimes at noon, takes his .ea Just when Z
we are sitting down to dinner, and is !
sound asleep at six p. NJ Mention :
has been made Of his punctual atten-
dance at the Church Of the Ascension:
but should any accident or Indictment
detain him, there is certain !
TO be upon the rectOry table a erisp Z
eOcked-hat little note, in the captains
best hand, stating the reason for his ]
and his apologies
therefor. Captain LarbOuehe Is five ,
feet ten inches in height, and his girth
1fchest is extraordinary. There Is no ]
greater curiosity in this city than the
smiling old gentleman who
sits Sunday after Sunday in his arm |
chair in the broad aisle Of the Church {
~ the Aaoo,sfo,, !