Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1841-05-13

the Senate of The United States, "tha, he
had defect, whether Of education or ma
ture was immaterial, perhaps proceeding
from hoth---a defect which had disabled
him, from his first entrance into public
! life 10 the present hour, from making wha
lis called regular speech. The deiec
was doubtless both from education ans
nature; education might have, in soms
measure, corrected the tendencies of hls
nature, but there was perhaps an idiosyn'
Grassy in the constitution ofthe man which
compelled him TO be meteoric and erratic
10 mind, as well as in temper. He said
that " ridicule was the keenest weapon ln
the whole parliamentary armory," and
be learned all the tricks of fence with il,
and never played with foils. He seems
TO have had more admiration for the ora
tory of Chatham than that Of any other
i Individual, if we may Judge from the man.
ner IN which that great man is mentioned
lin bis speeches. They were certainly
unlike in character, very unlike. Chat
ham having had bad health, and il being
we'll known that he went 10 Parliament
and made his best efforts when almost
sinking from sickness, Randolph might
have felt that, as he had done the same
thing, their characters were assimiated
Chatham was seized with fainting fit
when making his last speech, and died
short time afterwards. And probably il
is not idle speculation to say that Ran
dolph, with morbid or perhaps an in
sane admiration Of his character, wished
TO sink as Chatham did, in the legislative
hall, and be borne thence to die.
| However, there was enough in the
character of Chatham, to win the admira-
ton of any one who loved eloquence,
without seeking in adventitious circum-
stances a motive for his admiration and
Randolph appreciated such talents as his
TOO highly not TO have admired them I'M
der all circumstances, but his reverence
was doubtless increased from the resem-
bance which he saw in their bodily con.
dtions, and which, he was very willing 10
believe, extended to their minds. Chat.
ham was bold, vehement, resistless, not
often witty, but eminently successful
when he attempted it; inveclive was his
forte. In some of,hese points, Randolph
resembled him but then Chatham's eo-
quence was but means to gain his ends
his Judgment was ntuitive, bis sagacity
unrlvalled; he bore down all opposition
| by his fearless energies, and he compelled
his enemies 10 admit that be was a public
benefactor in tho very breath in which
they expressed their personal dislike.
Chatham kept his ends steadily in view,
and never wayered in his efforts to gain
them. Not so Randolph. He reminds
Us of the urchin in the /" bay Of the Last
Minstrel" who always used his fairy gifts
with spirit OF deviltry, to provoke, 10
annoy, and to nlure, no matter whom he
wounded, or when or where. Randolph
did not want personal dignity, bu; he
wanted the dignity which arises from con-
s'stent conduct, want which no brilian.
cy OF talent can supply. On the contra
ry, the splendor of high talents but serves
to make such Inconsistency the more ap.
parent. He was an intellectual meteor,
whose course no one could predict but,
be II where It might, all were certain that
IT would blaze, and witber, and destroy.
As statesman, il is believed that he mover
originated a single measure, though his
influence often destroyed the measures of
others. Some one observes, What the
hand which is not able to build howell
may destroy palace" and he seemed to
have had good deal Of the ambition Of
him who fired the Ephesian dome. AS a
scholar, he left nothing behind him,
though his wit was various, and his &C.
qulremen,s profound. He seems no, to
have written common communication
for newspaper. without great labor and
fastidious correction. Ihave been inform
ed by compositor who set part Of his
speech on retrenchment, which he ded.
icated TO his constituents, that his emen.
datlons were endless. have part oi
the MS. of this speech before me i is
written with trembling hand, but with
great attention to punctuation, and with
a delicate stroke Of the pen. II was as
an orator he shone and as an orator,
his power Of claiming the attention Of his
audience has been perhaps, never surpass
ed. In ar assembly where Demosthenes
Cicero, Chatham, Mirabeau, or Henry
spoke, Randolph's eloquence would have
been listened to with profound interest
and .iis opposition would have been fear
ed. As an orator he felt his power--ht
knew that in eloquence he welded ma
gic wand, and he was not only fearless o
opposition, but he couried il; for who o
his contemporaries has equalled him in III,
power of carrying on successfully the par
tisan warfare Of desultory debate--th,
cut and thrust--the steady aim =? whc
could WELD like him the tomahaw1, anC
who of them possessed his dexterity II
scalping foel His trophies are mum
beress, and he wore them with the prid,
Of his progenitors, for there was truly Q
good deal Of Indian blood in his veins. i
is said that Randolph first signalized him
self by making stump speech in Virgi-
MIA IN opposition to Patrick Henry
scarcely any one knew him when ne rose
10 reply to Henry, and so strong was
Henry's conviction Of his powers, that he
spoke of them in the highest terms, and
prophesled his future emlnence. Ran
ioIph gloriously said Of Henry, that "he
was Shakespeare and Garrick combined