Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1840-1842, 1841-05-06

n " many twistA aat turns, snd lsrsivers,ions,
and sb'igaiiiss were there 10. his cpaue; yet how
much ioaasnes he pessesssd, particslariy in vi.
shnnn.d. hated. sad sllbecsase he welded the zee.
pom that rules the hsrce democracyw How many
men. Tar HIS superiors in practical usefulness, lived
unhonoref and without influence, and died unsung.
because they had not eioquence . Eloquenee issr-
penof TO all other gifts, even to the dazzling flscina-
tons OF the warrior; for IL rules alike in war and
peace. and il wins all by its spell. RanGo PHI xss
the very personihcation Of Inconsistency. Behold
him talking ofthe splendid misery" OF Office hold
ers. "Whst did he want with Officer A cup Of
cold water was better in his conditions; the sword OF
Democles was suspended over him by a single hair,
&c. &c.-wheni oi he goes to the ffigid north-for
whM1 For he ,lth7 No, for an outfit and salary |!
and dies childless, worth, it is said, nearly a mil
lion!
Randolph's oratory reminds Us forcibly of Don
Juan; and if Byron had written nothing but Don
Juan, Randolph might have been called the Byron
OF orators. He had all the wit, eceentricity, malice
and hightiness OF that work-its touches that strike
the heart, and sarcasms that scorn, the next moment.
the tear that had started.
In a dying state, Randolph went to Washington
during the last session Of Congress-, and, although
not a member, he had himself borne daily 10 The
hall OF Legislation to witness the debate. He return.
ed home TO his constituents, and was elected TO Con.
gress, and started on a tour to Europe, ii possible 10
regain his health; he said ait was the last throw Of
the die"
N>E'So W - hAAabtApbtas MuCIC nc nitl 10
pesred in the councils ofthc nation. in the sixty-6r.t
year OF his age, leaving a reputation behind him for
classic wit and splendid eloquence which few OF his
contemporaries may hope TO equal; and a character
which his biographer may deem himself fortunate
II he can explain u to have been compatible with 1
either the duty OF social life, the sacredness off lend
ship, or the requirements OF patriotism, unless he
offer as an apology partial arrangement. In the let.
ter in which the deceased acknowle lodged that he had
made a misstatement with regard TO the character
OF Mr.. Lowndes on the tariff, he assigned, as a rea.
son for the error, the dsordered state Of his mind,
arising from the exciting medicine which he was
compelled TO take to sustain lie.
have, perhaps, expressed myself harshly--in-
with that charitable feeling which all
should possess who are threading upon ashes under
which the fire is no; yet e1tinguished." lfso to ex-
press our conscientious opinions is sometimes TO DO
wrong. /
"why draw his failties FROM their dread abode"
For who can tell, in the close alliance between rea-
son and madness, which were so strongly mixed up
in his character, how much his actions and words
partook OF the one or the otheri Where thew al
or where one predominatej, or where they
their influence, not in the embrace Of love,
but IN the strife for mastery, oh how much he NAV
have shrugged with his mental alterations and wan
and felt that they were errors, and vet
in vain. His spirit, like the great eve of
he Universe, may have known that clouds and
beset 1t, and have felt that il was contendins
disease and the film OF coming death, yet ho-
ped at las, TO beam forth in its brightness.
THE day drass on, though storms keepout the sun.
And thus the heart will break, and ~brokeuly live on. "
And so is it with the mind, and Randolpl's "bro-
kenly lived on" till the raven shadows Of the nigh,
81 death gathered over him, and gave him to the {
lark beyond. II 4