Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1862-01-06
Nc. THEODORE BLAND DUDLEY,

NEAR FAR2yItLz
It is dated Library OF Congress
place that the lonely minded and melau-
choly author was much in the habit OF fire.
quenting. The paper is much inferior to
that used by Congressman Of late years. 1t
is coarse and unruled. The envelope is
made out of half sheet OF the same paper.
Both pieces are much faded but hold the
ink well. The chirography is generally
plain aud easily readibIe, and evfnces that
precision Of character which the author so
rigidly maintained through life.
The following is copy of the letter
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS-, Jan. Il, 1861.
No Dear Theodore Your letter OF the
18th arrived this morning aud trust the
apprehension it expresses has been dis
PEELED by my last, although, to say the
truth, WIS by no means pisIsed. Your
translation bears scarce any resemblance
to its predecessor; being, with Il single ex-
ceptiOu, literally correct; which proves
that when you COmInit gross errors, it is
not from want Of ability 10 avoid them
and, indeed, impresses me with belief
that when you choose you can excel
A-'NHN4 - -A@-NoS+As4 ~ G@ANGAaGAAGh ~ XII
out the one, the other never did. or can ex-
| ist, in any pursuit of human life.
| But to my criticism.
"IHcito ParHH is improperly rendered
| by "desPondiHg father I 10 not find
that iHuitsss Is ever used in that sense
Sach certainly was not Oyid's meaning.
| "He returns thanks to his reluctant father"
to his father H3rHhTy TO trust him with
the chariot
must still urge Won to cndcavor to at
| tain that great great disidcyatum OF writ
| inE-disLinctness OF charNcter-a more i'm
. Portant point than you are perhaps aware
Of. The waut Of it is particularly to he re-
marked in your writing where an, n and
IL come together. Thus, the word sti!nn7u4
Is written somewhat like this, rtiauimu4.-
This proceeds from leaving more space be-
tween the members Of the same letter than
between the letters themselves: and from
4 very ridiculous though common p-ar-
ticc u might say aGcctltiouJ OF turning
the u and n in the same way By giving
due space between your letters and word ;,
and writing UpriEhtIy, and with the point
OF your pen holding it us nearly pernen-
dicular to the paper AS possible vour oh
ject Will be gained If you examine print.
you will find its great legibility 90 be ow-
ing to the length OF the body Of the letter
mot of the heads and tuilsJ j, and to a req
ular space preserved between the letters
and words respectively. am sorry that
my example SHOULD not comPort more with
my precept, but my paper Is greasy, and
moreover, he who writes i'll at twenty,
will. mt forty. be altogether iIlcgible
would not mix ancient with modern
history; rs soon, therefore, rs you finish
Goldsmith, which is Il very concise, but
admirable compilation, would stick to
Hume aud Bclshan- I shall bring YOU Mr..
Fox history when / return home Il is
but Il fragment, but most precious one,
1t corrects some important errors of Hume,
respecting Charles and james II. who had
not Chat is, HGme) access to the informa.
tiru from which Mr. Fox wrote
Adieu, my dear Theodore.
am, very truly, yours,
JoHY RANDOLPH.
Ny best love to your sisters, Judy and
Tudor Bring me to the recollection OF
oar ueiSnoors, RnhinsOn und Dixon.
Theodore Bland DEdley.
The above excellent aul practical letter
was gwen to our Hancock couuty friend
by Mr.. Dudley himself, who had quite a
number Of them, having been n his youth
a sort OF protege Of Randolph, to whom
the latter wrote in much the same fashion
that Lord Chesterfield used to write to his
SON What is peculiarly admirable about
the letter is its easy common sense. And
that same common sense was what made
Randolph n man of power, notwithstaad-
ing his eccentricities.