Vandalia Whig and Illinois intelligencer. [volume] (Vandalia, Ill.) 1832-183?, 1833-07-24
WHOLE NUMBER, LXVI.

III TIC Lay OF lhe LfsscgSi1nstrcl,' who al
ways used his fairy giltS>wlth a,spirit Of
Ideylltry, to provoke. to ANNOY and 10 in
IJure, no matter whom ses~younded. or
when or where. Randolph did not want
personal dignity, but he wanted the dipni-
} ty which arises from consistent conduct. a
want of which no brilliancy of talent can
supply; on the contrary, the splendor of
nigh talents, but serve to make such incon-
slstency the more apparent. He was an
intellectual meteor, whose course no one
could predict; but be it where it might,
Iall were certain that it would blaze, and
Wlther and destroy. As statesman, it is
believed, that he never originated single
measure, though his influence often de-
Stroyed the measures of others,-some one
observes, that the hand which is not able
to build a howell may destroy place. and
Randol PHI seems to have had a good deal
of the ambition of him who fred the E.
pheslan dome. As a scholar he left no.
thing behlrd him, though his wit was vari-
Gus, and his requirements profound. He
seems not to have written common COM
muncatlon fora newspaper, without great
labor and fastidious correction. | have
been informed, by a compositor, who set a
part Of his speech on 'retrenchment,' which
he dedicated to his constituents, that his
lamentations were endless. | have a part
of the Ms. of this speech before me: it is
written with trembling hand. but with
great attention to pune tuation. and with a
delicate stroke of the pen. 1t was as an
orator he shonc; and as an orator, his DOW
er OF claiming the attention of his audi
Ience has been, pehaps, never surpassed.
IN an assembly where Demosthenes, Cice-
70, Chatham, Mlrabeau or Henry spoke,
Randolph's eloquence would have been
listened to with profound interest, and his
Opposition would have been feared. As
an orator he felt his power, he knew that
IN eloquence he welded magic wand,
and he was not only fearless of opposition,
but he courted it, for who of his contem-
poraries has equallcd him, in the power of
carrying OH successfully the partizan war
fare of desultory debate-the cut and
: lhrust-the steady aim-the startling fire.
. and who of them possessed his dexterity
in scalping loc2 His trophies are num-
7, berless, and he wore them with the pride
iilof his progenitors,-fo there was truly
} good deal of Indian blood in his veins. Ii
Is said that Randolp PHI first signalzed him
; lself by making stump speech in Virgin
la, in opposition to Patrick Henry; scarce.
= ly any one knew him when he rose to re-
ply to Henry, and so strong was Henry's
CONVICTION OF his powers, that he spoke of
i them IN the highest telms and prophesied
{ his future emlnence. Randolph glorious
~ said of Henry, that .he was Shakespeare
and Garrick combined.'
Randolph's character and conduct, for
chilly impress upon US the power of elo-
quence in Republic. How many twists,
: : and turns, and tergiversations, and obliqu-
ties were there in his course; yet how much
! influence he possessed, particularly in Vir-
ginia How much he was feared, cour-
l. ted, admired, Stunned and all because
he welded the weapon. that rules the
i 'herce democracy How many men, far
his superior in prac lical usefulness, lived
unhonored, and without influence, and died
u unsung, because they had not eloquence.
Eloquence is superior to all other gifts,
, even to the dazzling fluctuations of the
Il warrior-ior it rules alike in war and
Peace-and it wins all by its spell. Ran
dolph was the very personilication of in
u consistency. Behold him talking of the
I'spendld misery of Office holders: what
, did he want with Office; a cup of cold wa
u ter was better in his condition, than the
u sword of Damoclcs was suspended over
" HIM by single hair, &c. &c. when, To-!
he goes to the frigid north,-for what
Tor health, no, foran outfit and salary! and
+ died ch;ldless, worth, it is said nearly
n million!
u Randolph's oratory reminds us forcibly
. of Don Juan; and if Byron had written
u nothing but Don Juan, Randolph might
, have been called the Byron of orators.
He has all the wit, eccentricity. malice, and
hlghtlness of that work; its touches, that
! strike the heart, and sarcasms, that scorn,
u the next moment, the tear that had star
: ted.
u In the dying state Randolph went to
! Washington, during the last session of Con-
= e gress, and although not member, he was
borne daily to the hall of legislation by his
; faithful servant. to witness the debate. He
. returned home to his constituents, and was
elected to Congress, and started on tour
to Europe, if possible to recover himself;
ne said 1T was the last throw of the die.'