Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1843-09-29

long,
Trhing as this incident was, Mr.. Randolph
never forgot it, as had occasion to know
subsequently,. 1t had, however, passed from
my memory, when, two months afterwards
met him IN London, and he recalled it to
my recollection in the following way. He
and were invited to dine with large par
~ at the house Of a distinguished pIlilanthro-
pist, who was the intimate friend and corres-
pendent of the Emperor Alexander of Rus
STA. During the dinner gentleman present
related an anecdote Of the emperor. Ran.
dolph, who, from some cause or other, had
formed very bad opinion of his majesty's
character, Immediately said. addressing our
host:
| am astonised and disguised, sir, to find
that this mighty autocrat of semi barbarous
nation has so completely guiled the good
people of London. Believe ne, sir, he is a
humbug; spurious philan,hropist, who
cares for nouglIt beyond the extension of his
own power, sir. Why, sir, he is chief rob-
Der of those modern Goths and Vaudals,
who, having just tasted the good things Of
civilized Europe, want to over-run, if they
dare, the fertile plains Of the south, like a
cloud Of locuss, sir. Look at Poland, sir
verify, The tender merccs of the wicked are
cruel = ay, and if you be wise, look in time
to France and to England, sir. Beware Of
his friendship. trust him not. 1imeo
Dandos ct dona ferentes " He breaches
Chrisianity,to be sure, but it's all lip service.'
The company listened to this dcnuncia-
ton with curious attention, as every ono
present, save thu orator, knew full well the
intimacy which subsisted between the empe-
ror and our esteemed host, than whom pu-
rer man lived not in England. With great
good taste, nobody gave any explanation s.
and our host simply gave one or two ancc.
dotes, for the purpose of showing that there
!, must be, at least, some good traits in The en-
peror's character. On our way home, said
; to Randolph:
what on earth possessed you to-day 10
make such a terrible blunder! Don't you
know that Mr.. A. is the personal friend and
f correspondent Of the emperor, and that he has
been on visit 10 him at St. Petersburgh2 =
God forgive me, SIR exclaimed he, for
telling the truth at an improper time | was
,, Why, sir, | assure you, upon my honor as
Nirginlan, no more suspected it than that
J Mr.. Wilson painted the ship! But it must
pass, sir; it was one of my nnintentiOndl
good hits. l must request you, however, to
$ set me right with Mr.. A. when you see hin,
t next, sir. Iprize his friendship, sir, too high
-. Iy, and he must not think that would know.
j ingly insult eren his prJudices, SIR
: This Wilson good hit was one Of his
i standing quotations after his return to Ame-
l. RIGA. heard him apply i, frequently. both
in New York and Washington, whenever he
e had given an unintenlional rap similar to that
:. just related.
Mr.. Randolph had thorough and critical
r knowledge of the English language, and his
: modesty never restrained him from bsas,in0
OF 1t. He used to say that he understood it
). as well as lie did the game of chess, and that
e any one who caught him making false
E move was welcome to checkmate him. He
!. often deplored the great want of attention on
II the part of our public men in the choice Of
y language. He said that the speeches to
II which he was obliged to listen in Congress
p would disgrace sclloolhoys, with some bright
e exceptions.) Such bad grammar, involved
: sentences, and inaptly chose words, we're
d most grating to his susceptible ear, and be-
= came tine more disgusting owing to his own
correct taste. BY way Of shaming the prin.
Il
- of their blunders and inelegancies, with the
" dates and the subject-ma.ter of debate, and
a this held in terrorem over them. He gave
d me copy Of this singular memorandum -
]. but, as some of the gentlemen whom he
lie caught tripping are still before the people,
shall not expose their contempt Of Lind
Il ley Murray and Johnson As they have
r grown older, no doubtthey have grown wiser.
~ One morning he told me the following anec-
: dote:
IS You are aware, sir, that | pride myself
D. upon my thorough knowledge of our mother
I'd tongue; if there be one subject which IN.
lie dersland better than another, it is the Engsl,
he language. never therefore, give up TO any
r. man, be he lawyer or divine, student or
NJ amateur, but argue j, out, sir, face 10 face,
!" whenever we disagree in opinion. You may
call this vanity, sir, but IA man has light 10
be- vain in such case. This winter, it SO
e happened that was dining at the secretary
N of states, with rather IA learned party, when
a the English language became one of the CHIEF
=, topics Of conversation. a difference of opin-
,s ion arose between two Of the gentleman, both
N distinguished scholars on the construction OF
~ a sentence in Shakespeare.
m After they had argued The question mos,
- ably ON both sides, they agreed to appeal to
- me, sir, as umpire. Feeling perfectly con-
scious that | was right, | gave my decision
at once, ex CATHEDRAL which was acquiesced
u, in by all the company except one young
southern gentleman, merchant; he, TO the
:, as,onishmeni Of every one, exclaimed -
~ u Oh, Mr.. Randolph, You are quite wrong
- Non misunderstood the author. PERM, me