The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1853-03-11
am ,yu,rNEy,s LECTURE.

w. zero unable TO attend the exhibition OF
A., Whitney on last Tuesday n'gnt' at the
80, church. We learn from the Wing
-, p.,,hl;esn that while his imitation were,
in general, good, that of John Randolph was
f,;iure. The latter paper says "although Mr..
Randolph was a peculiar man-eccentric in
his manner and costume-we cannot believe
that his cracked voice was go harsh or I'M
cou,h as represented on this OCCASION" Ger
,ainly, il Mr. RS voice was represented as Ell
Their F." cracked" harsh" or uncouth," the
impersonalion bore not the slightest resem.
blance 10 the original. There are many hun
dreds still alive in this city, who often heard
him during the Convention of 1880, and
who we'll remember that marvellous voice. 1t
was a mezzo-soprono, of great volume, of
extreme fexibility, and of infinite sweetness
To suppose that voice must necessarily be
harsh, cracked, or unmusical, because it is
high pitched, is to betray very little acquaint-
ance with the nature Of that most delicate or
gan. II is to place Sontag and Parodi in the
same category with orator Puff, or with the hob
bedehoy youth whose tones at one moment re-
semble the squeak of clarionet, and at ano'
Their the grumble Of e bassoon. This is the
mistake which most persons who never heard
John Randolph, fall into, and il seems TO be
that into which Mr.. w. himself has fallen
We never saw any person who could initiate
him, even among those who had been familiar
with the sound of his voice all their lives, and
we have seen hundreds try. That voice was
not only, by nature, rich and harmonious be-
yond all conception, but it was cultivated with
an assiduity which proved that he was fully
aware of its immense capabilities. Malibran,
or Jenny Lind, or Pasta herself, never took
more pains with their voices than he did with
his. Nor was he merely vocalist Hf we may
apply such phrase to public sps aker.) He
was one OF the most consummate actors that
ever lived. Every sentence was weighed and
delivered with exactly the proper degree of
emphasis, and his pauses were made with the
incest calculation as TO eject. His manner Of
speaking was the calmest, best calculated,
and most deliberate of any we ever saw. He
did not rave, nor rant, nor roar, nor fume, nor
sweat, nor roll out his words with a thick Ut
terance thst entirely overcame the hearers ca
pacity to understand what he was saying. On
the contrary, he did not throw away single
word. He was as cautious in this respect as
the American militia at Bunker's hill were in
outstanding their ammunition. He never fred
O shot until he could see the whites of his ad.
versary's eyes, and he rarely failed to bring
him TO the ground. When he spoke THAT is, in
I1ns
where else,) he generally rested upon cane
which he carried in his hand, using his right
arm and forefnger as sort ofindex to point out
his meaning, as it were. In his first speech,
he said that it would be better for him to take
ratsbane, than to face his constituents, after
having voted for the white basis. I'VE cannot
quote his exact words) He pronounced the
word " ratsbane,' with great emphasis, and
at the same time raising up his cane, stuck it
into the floor with violence. The action was
very simple, but it was timed in such a way
that il produced an effect almost equal to an
electrical shock.
We make these remarks, not to undervalue
Mr.. Whitney, who is scholar and gentle-
man.T His only fault lies in his having under.
taken delineation which would have been at.
tended with extreme difficulty had he ever
seen or heard Mr.. Randolph, which is an utter
impossibility, he neither having seen nor heard
him. We learn that he succeeded admirably
when he came vpon ground on which he could
stand, and with which he was familiar. The
great New England orator, Daniel Webster,
and his illustrious antagonist, Hayne, were, it
was said, initiated TO the life. From all we
have learned of Mr.. Whitney, we are induced
TO believe that he possesses the faculty of imi-
tation in very extraordinary degree, and that
his representations are conducted with much
tact and judgment.