Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1827-01-11

Instability Of Popular opinion! thou demon" VINO
hast furnished 10 the foes OF Liberty more mat
ter for cavil than all other republican fraiities
put toge,her-can our western hemisphere, the
asylum OF every moral good, afford no proiec'
lion against Thy accursed influences!
MOI content, however, with deploring TINS
sad defect in the minds of my fellow-citizens,i
proceed to speculate, as on fit and amusing
subiec, of philosophical inquiry, upon the pro-
babe causes Of this par,ie ular revolution IN
their sentiments. The possession OF Roan-
oake principally, and descent from Indian
Kings, shall not insist upon as essentially ni'
assine the affections OF MIR. Randolph's eoun
,rymen: because, although wealth and pedigree
exercise mighty sway over the best consti,ut,
ed minds, We, here are other adequate causes oil
the change, which render it both unnecessary
and unphilosophical to assign additional ones:
Those accustomed 10 watch the operation Of
events on human feelings and opinions, and who
have marked carefully the process by which
this conspicuous parsonage has so gained upon
the favorable sentiments Of Virginia, will easily
believe in the general efficacy Of the means OF
which he has awaited himself. l. From having
been formidable antagonist to our Leading
men, and 10 the state itself, he is now inclined
into a devoted friend, and fulsome paneg!rist
No smiles are SD sweet as those oil ieconclItu
foe. His lavish offerings Of praise to the void
Dominion" his hattery Of her prsjudices, his
concentrations Of her freehold suffrage test,
and of her ncgro-slavery (lamented by our
standard sages as the foulest blot upon Our es'
cutcheon)-have found acceptance; and So
vereign people can be cajoled by hat'ery, as well
as sovereign King. 2. II is natural to man
10 delight in satire levelled at others. pleas.
es his vanity; giving him momen,ary sense oil
superiority: for he naturally mistakes the de-
preston OF o,her characters, for the exalla,ion
of his own We, the republicans OF Virginia,
have this additional incentive 10 pleasure at MIR.
Randolph's unrivalled dexterity in handling
these envenomed shafts-that we but lately
smarted under them ourselves, and the sense OF
| present ease is enhanced by the remembrance
| of recent suffering. s. There is, undeniably, In
| his effusion, an occasional CLEAN OF sound mo-
| raj reflection, which, though unreasonable as
melon in mild winter, is YET, perhaps, the high
er valued for us rrelevancy, as the fruit tor It's
| incongruily with the frozen scenes around 1t
The odd concentrations by which his ideas
are linked together, produce much OF the won
der with which his speeches and his Derson
are regarded. Sterne, whom III this he follows
but follows at an immeasureable interval
was once admired too: but whep the world be-
came satisfied with the character OF the man,
that his sentiment was maudlin affectat,on; and
his aggressive style borrowed from French au.
thor,t before little known in England, good
taste resumed her throne, and the plagiarist IN
CURED the scorn he merited. II is little sus.
pected but il will one day be owned as true, that
tue boosted originality Of Mr. Randolph's style
is at third hand!
In this las, trait (digressiveness Of speech
or oddness Of association) the person IN ques-
ton bears so strong resemblance 10 charac-
teri happily sketched by the hand OF great
e4lsmporsrY ma Ieri bal. 1 eannol torbear cliine
amusement OF the curious. Mr. Beriran', -airo
Of Ellangowan, IS talking with his guest abo"'
a no,ed smuggler. dirk Ha,teraiek WV !.
tfrcg1s.--Anoo- -c ovorrisi, COAST; and Il
justifying himself for purchasing con,raband
wares.
"That fellow, Mr.. Mannering, is the terror
Of all the excise aud custom house cruisers
they can make nothing of him; he drubs them
or he distances them;-and speaking of excise
come to bring you 10 breakfast. "-"No~
Ha,eraick willtake wood, or ell lake barley
OF he'll take just what's convenient az the time
1 I'll tell you good story about that. There
was once Laird--that's Macfe OF Gudgeon
lord-he had great number Of kahn hens
that's hens that The tena- IS pay to the landlord
like a sort Of rent in kind-they ave feed
mine very i'll; Luckie fh.niston sent up three
that were shame 10 be seen only last week.
aud vet she has twelve bows sowing Of ,iclual
indeed, her good man, Dune an Fisuiston--lhat's
him that's Conceive must all die, Mr. Man
nering, that's over truel--and speaking oil
that, let us live in the meanwhile, for here S
breakfas, on the table, and the Dominic ready
TO say grace"
| Compare these extracts with any OF Mr. Ran
dolph's last winter speeches, for instance, those
nominally on The Cumberland Road, and the
Judiciary, and it is impossible no, TO discern,
in their hop -skip-and-jump transitions from to-
pic 10 topic, staring family likeness, clearly
indie a,ing kind ed texture Of intellect. In
the name Of justice, therefore, the admirers Of
our Congressional Sterne are adjured not to
withhold from the simple and kind-hearted
Laird of Elangowan, that need of applause
which they have been showering upon the
Laird of Roanoke. In the effu ions Of the lat
ter, We are now and then electrified by the most
itlicitous expressions Of moral sentiment, wor.
thy of more appropriate coAocalion; and by
soft Of humor, which, lowering on the border
b tween wit and fun, is liable to no other objec-
ton than that, always mean, to wound, its CO.
pious infusion of gall acidi6es all that "milk
of human kindness" which should belong to