Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1840-1842, 1841-05-06
JOHN RANDOLPH, OF ROANOKE.
"Gre.i vii. 10 maaas.. nearly ar, allied"

JOtiN pOL UT nOAENOhC.
Prom q volume Of sketches now preparing for the press
by the author Of CLIFTON bradshaw, &C.
"crest wits TO msdas.s nearly are allied"
remember some years since to have seen jon,
Randolph in Baltimore. | had frequently read an,
heard descriptions Of him. and one day, as | VIA,
standing in Market, now Baltimore street. | remark
ed a tall, tEin unique looking being ~hurrying to-
wards me with a quick impatient step, evidently
much annoyed by a crowd Of boys who were fol.
lowing Close at his heels, not in the obs.reperous
mirth with which they would have followed a era
ny or a drunken man, or an organ grinder ana ms
monkey, but in the silent curious wonder with which
they would have haunted a Chinese bedecked m full
costume. I instantly knew the individual TO be
Randolph from the descriptions. l therefore advanc-
ed towards him. that | might make a full obscrva-
ton ofti. person without violating the rules OF cour-
tesy in stopping to gaze at him. As he approach
ed, he occa sionaliy turned towards the boys with
an angry glance, but without saying any thing, and
then hurried on as IL to outstrip them, but II would
not do. They followed close behind the orator,
each one observing him so lntently that he said
nothing TO his companions Just before ! met him
he stopped a Mr. c., a cashier of one ofthe banks,
said TO he as odd a fish rs John himself l loitered
inoa S ore close by, and, unnotlced, remarked the
Ro ,noke orator for a considerable time, and really
he was the strengest looking being | ever beheld.
His long thin legs. about as thick as a strong walk
ing cane, and Of much such a shape, were encased
in a pair of tight small clothes, so tight that they
seemed part and parcel Of the limbs OF the wearer.
Hands,m e white stockings were fastened with great
tidiness at the knees by a small good buckle, and
over them, coming about half way up the cali,
were a pair of what, l believe, are called hose, course
and country knit. De wore shoes. They were
old fashioned, and fastened also with buckles-huge
ones. he trod like an Indian, without turning his
toes out, but planking them down straight ahead.
1t was the fashion in those days to wear a fan-tailed
coat, with a small collar, and buttons lar apart be-
hind, and few on the breast. MIR. Randolphs we've
the reverse Of all liis, and, instead OF his coat be-
ing fan-tailed, IL was what, we believe, the knights
OF the needle call swallow tailed; the collar was i'm
mensely large, the buttons behind were in kissing
proximity, and they sat together as close on the
breast of the garment as the feasters at a crowded
pub ic festival. His waist was remarkably slender;
SO slender that, as he stood his arms akimbo, he
could easily, as | thought, with his long bony nm
gers have spanned it. Around him his coat, which
was very tight, was held together by one button,
and. in consequence. an inch or more Of tape, TO
which I was attached, was perceptble where 1t was
pulled through the cloth. About his neck he wore
a large white cravai, in which his chin was occd-
sionaiiy buried as he moved his head In conversa-
ton; no shirt collar was percepuble; every other per-
son seemed TO pride himself upon the size of his, as
they were then worn large. Mr. Randolph's COM
pieXion was precisely that OF a mummy, withered,
saffron, dry and b~loodiess; you could not have plac-
ed n pins point on his face where you would not
have touched a wrinkle. His lips were thin, com.
pressed, and colorless; the chin, beardless as a boys,
was broad for the size of his face, which was small,
his nose was straight, with nothing remarkable in
", except perhaps 1t was too short He wore a fur
cap, which he took off, standing a few moments un.
covered. ! observed that his head was quite small,
a characteristic which is said to have marked many
men OF talent, Byron and Chief Justice Marshall,
for instance. Judge Purnet, Of Cincinnati, who has
been alike distIns ushed at the bar, on the bench,
and in the United States Senate, and whom | have
heard no less a judge and possessor of taen; than
Mr.. Hammond, OF he Gazette, say was the clear |
est and most impressive speaker he ever heard, has
also a very small head. Mr.. Randolph's hair was
remarkably ine-hne as an infants, and thin. IL
wss very long and was parted with great care OIL
the top of his head, and was tied behind with a bit
OF black riband about three inches from his neck;
The whole OF II formed a queue not thicker than the
IiiIle finger OF a delicate girl. His forehead was
low, with no bumpolosy about il; but his eye,
though sunken, was most brilliant and startling in its
glance. IL was not an eye OF profound, but Of i'm
pulsive and passionate thought, with an expression
at times such as physicians describe TO be that Of in
sanity, but an insanity which seemed 10 quicken,
not destroy, intellectual acuteness. / never beheld
an eye that struck me more. II possessed a species
Of fascination, such as would make you wonder over
the character oil its possessor, without finding any
clew in your wonderment 10 discover il, except that
he was passionate. ~wayward, and fearless. He lif-
ted his long bony finger lmpresslvely as he CONVEX.
sed, and gesticulated with IL in a peculiar manner.
dis whole appearance struck me, and could easi-
ly imagine how, with his great command Of IAN
gusge, 20 appropnatea and full, so brilliant AMI clas-
steal, joined TO the vast information that his discur-
slve oratory enabled him TO exhibit la It's fullest ex- y
tent, from the storehouse of which the vividness OF
his imagination was always pointing out a happy
analogy, or bitter sarcasm, that startled the more
from the fact that his hearers did not perceive it un-
I'll the look, tone, and finger brought 1t down with
The suddenness of lightning, and with its effects,
upon the head of his adversary; taking all this into
consideration, ] could easily imagine how, when al
most a boy, he won SO much fame, and preserved
II so long and with SO vast an influence, notwith-
standing the eccentricty and inconsistency of his
life. public and private.
By the bye, the sudden, unexpected and aphor:s-
teal way in which Randolph often expressed his
sentiments, had much TO do with his ~oratorical sue.
cess. He would, like Dean Swift, make a remark,
seemingly a compliment, and explain il into a sar.
easm, or he would utter an apparent sircasm, and
turn II into a compliment. Many speakers, when
they have said a thing. hurry on to a full explana-
ton, fearful that the hearer may not understand
them; but when Randolph expressed one Of these
startling thoughts, he left the hearer for some time
puzzling N doubt as 10 what he meant, and, when
II pletsed HIM, "a the coolest manner in the world he
explained his meaning. not a little delighted If he
discovered that his audience were wondering the
while upon whom the blow would descend, or what
principle the remark would be brought4o illustrate. |
A little anecdote, which ! heard a member of Con-
gress from Kentucky Tell Of him, shows this charae
terisuc. The Congressman, on his first Wis { to
Washington, The had Just been eiected,) was Of
course DESTROYS Of seeing the lions. Randolph. |
though not a member OF either House, was there,
hNu nao nnnsei OalY borne into The Senate or |
House by his faithful Juba, TO listen to the debates. |
Every body, noted or unnoted, were calling on the
eccentric orator, and the member from Kentucky de-
termined 10 do likewise, and gratify his curiosity
A friend, General -, promised 10 Dresent him, |
slying though, "You must be prepared for an odd
reception, for, II Randolph is in a bad humor. he
will do and say any thing; If he is in a good humor.
you will see a most finished gentleman.p They
called. Mr. Randolph was stretched out on a sofa.
"He seemed" said the member, ga skeleton, en-.
dowed with those flashing eyes which ghost stories
give to the terminated body when sent upon some
earthly n ission."
The Congressman was presented by his friend.
the Genera, as a Member Of Congress from Ken.
lucky. "Ab, from Kentucky, sir" exclaimed Ran
doIph, m his shrll voice, as he rose to receive him,
IRON Kentucky, sir; well, sir, ] consider your State
the Botany Bay Of Virginia" The Kentuckian
thought that the next remark would be a quotalioo
from Birrington's Botany Bay epilogue, applied by
Randolph to the Virginian ssrle.s o: Kentucky.
True patriots We, Dr be 1t understood,
We lei our country Tor oar country's good 20
but Randolph, after a pause, continued Of DO not
make this remark, sir, in application TO the morals
or mode OF setuemento Of Kentucky. No, SIR, I mean
TO say that II Is my opinion, sir, that the time op.
proaches when Botany Bay will 10 oil respects sur.
pass Englind, nnd ] fear II will soon be so with re.
gard to your state and miner
cite this little anecdote not for any peculiar nth
that II possesses, but in illustration Of his character
and N proof Of the remark above made.
" Mo Randolph had lysd IN ancie Mt times
fluiarch, with all his powers in tracing the nnalogies
oiehatacter, would have looked in vain Tor his parsl.