Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1843-09-15
JOHN RANDOLPH.

JOHN RANDOLPH.
From a continuation of the recollections of
John Randolph, furnished for the New Mirror,
by an Irishman, (who has more than even his
share Of the pleasant way Of telling a story, so
common among his coun,rymen, we quote the
following anecdotes:
RANDoLPn's DISLIKE OF New ENGLAND.-I
observed, one morning, that Mr.. Randolph was
examining a very large box of books, contain.
ing enough to keep him busy reading during a
voyage round the world. | asked him why he
had brought so many with him?
81 want to have them bound in England,
sir" replied he.
"Bouni in England" exclaimed |, laughing,
"why did you not send them to New York or
Boston, where you can get them done cheap.
er I"
What, sir" replied lie. sharply; "%patron.
lze some OF our Yankee taskmasters-those pa
tr'ot'c gentry who have caused such a heavy
duty TO be imposed upon foreign books New.
err, sir never! ] will neither wear what they
make, nor eat what they raise, SO long as my
tobacco crop will enable me to get supplies
from old England and l shall employ John
Bull to.bind my books until the time arrives
when they can be properly done south Of Ma
son and Diron'S line ;"
The next day being Friday, we had cod. fish
for dinner after the soup.
"Mr. Randolph" said the captain, let me
help You to fish"
"No, sir it comes from New England :" was
.i-u 'ePiy.
was very much amused with the cv'nntof
his sectional prejudices. Sometimes ie would
condemn all the Northern people en- masse : but
at other times, forgetting his an,ipathies, he
would unconsciously praise some Northern
man, whom he had known and esteemed. lie
used on such occasions, however, to wind up
his e~nlogium thus:
"Mr.- is the cleyerest man I know, north
Of the Potomac !" This was always the saw.
ing clause, and his conscience seemed relieved
when he uttered it. The supremacy of Vir.
GINA being thus retained, he could then afford
to be generous to the great men of The Worth.
HIS CONVERSATION WITH A YoRKsulREMAN.
-One OF our Yorkshire passengers was a plain
matter of fact man, a cloth Manufactured, who
was thoroughly versed in all the mysteries Of
his calling, but who cared neither for literature,
metaphysics, nor politics, save and except that
he was a good tory by inheritance. His man.
ners were so unpretendIng. Mr.. Randolph
sought occasions TO converse with him, and he
entered INFO all the minutip of his business,
just as if he had some ink!ing himself after the
wooden trade. One day | was pretending to
read, out was actually listening 10 the CONVEX
sation which passed between these two, and |
was quite amused by the animation with which
Randolph carried on the conversation. should
mention here, that RandoIph's English ances.
tors were from Yorkshire, and he was giving
,n,s piece of information to Mr.. ID. for the first
time. lie tne. exclaimed, in a familiar, orato-
rical style
"Well, sir. l say the West Riding forever /!
being Yorkshire on one side. | go the York
shire weavers against the world. To be sure,
sir, yonr poor operatives are not half so well
OF as our Virginia %slarcs but they are ,oaie,
sir, and hence your phiianthropists do not feel
bound in conscience to look into their misery ;
but that's their affair, not nine, sir. So long as
John Bull is willing to work for rs, and take orr
cotton and tobacco in payment, Pm for giving
HIM a monopoly Of all The erils Of The Isem. |
never want to zee our boys and girls, much less
our men, tIrued into spinning lennles'-inere
machines, sir, mere machines. No. sir every
nation to It's taste. England chooses the work
shop; America ought to prefer the open fields
and agricultural pursuits and there should be
no jealousy about the mere question of ex.
change. This modern balance of trade,' sir,
is puzzllng the brains Of all our would. be
statesmen. When ! was a boy, sir. the depart.
ure of a : London trader Gas we used to call the
SUPP Hph Virginia "do Al dldiT VI HO SINAI
consequence to the community-equal to a
: presidential election now a.days. In my faith,
er's family, SIR, the whole household was call
ed together; first my mother (God bless her !!
put down a list of the articles she wanted from
London: next, the children, according to thei
ages then the overseer, and finally the do
nestle slaves; our nanny at the head OF then
down to the young ones who lived about III,
. house-not a single individual was omitted
e sir. Ttcn, after the ship was gone, the week
e and days. and finally the hours, were counte,
9 until she returned, and the joyful signal of he
6 arrival in James river was celebrated as a iubi
lee. sir. In those days, how often have | Gale,
. England my country when the runors of wa
C and separation moved me not. But now, sill
c our Egyptian taskmasters only wish to leave u
the recoHsctions of past times, and they insis
y upon our purchasing their vile, domesdc stufTs
q but it won't do, sir no : wooden nutmegs' 10
old Virginia. No, sir zoe Virginians hold fas
&c to the West Riding sir, and will still trust I
y your looms for our domestic supplies, sir"
RANDoLPH's CoNvERsIoN.-In the course {
n conversation, he told me that, in early lie, h
had been influenced by tie infdelity whic
prevailed a nong many of the leading polit
N clans in Washington ; and his skeplicism cor
Ne tinued, with occasional doubtings, up to 1911
" In that year, he said, during a severe fit ,
N sickness, he had a remarkable vision, whic
completely dispelled the delusion under whic
e, he had previously surrendered his faith, and ey
y, or since he had been a firm believer IN the truth