For many years he was attorney-general of the State, and legal adviser
and counsellor of the Governor. Although his practice was eminently
profitable, he was so careless and extravagant in money matters, that
he was always poor and necessitous, especially in his old age.
It really seems one of the attributes of genius to be indifferent to
this world's goods, and when time and labor have done their work, and
the imbecility of years obscures its brilliancy, to droop neglected,
and, if not in want, in despised poverty. Such was the fate for a
short time of this great man--but only for a short time. His powerful
intellect retained its vigor, and his brilliant wit all its edges, to
within a little while of his death. Sadly I turn back, in memory, to
the day he communicated to me that his necessities would compel him to
dispose of the beautiful and valuable testimonials of the Bar of two
proud nations to his character and abilities. His great intellect was
beginning to fade out; but, as the sun, declining to rest canopied
with increasing clouds, will sometimes pierce through the interstices
of the dark masses, and dart for a moment the intensity of his light
upon the earth, the mind of Mazereau would flash in all its youthful
grandeur and power from the dimness that was darkening it out.
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