The New Orleans Democrat. (New Orleans, La.) 1875-1876, 1876-01-16

/ Dut tAhc wow IubL pISbtuVeu 10 MNeI
as we knew him last. There Is another
phase Of his character which aptly illus
trates that
Tho brayest are the tendercgt.
/ The loving are tho daring
The older members % tho bar, talkln,
of times gone by, relate that then h,
was ~ impetuous rs Putnam suddet
and quick In quarrel as Hotspur, though
always knightly In his courteous bear
Ing. Feats Of his personal strength ant
activity, and miracles Of his nerve ant
daring In maintaining his position
when he considered himself wrongcd
still enrich their "reminiscences Of thlrt,
years ago.
He could not have been other than ht
WIS with his ancestry. His father was
General Beverly Randolph, q distin
guished officer In tho war of 1912, ahG
also in the Mexican war. Ho com
manded the famous Petersburg Grcys
in tho former war, and was promoted
on tHe field for eonsplcuoggs galla9trry.
dolph, Attorney General Of the United
States under Washington, and after.
wards Governor Of Virginia. He wae
the mover In the Convention Of 1887 tO
adopt the present Federal Constitution.
On his grandnotlicr's side he WIS de-
scendcd from the famous Col. Archibald
Cary.
Born In Cumberland county, Virginia,
the boyhood Of our Randolph was
passed with the ordinary Incidents OF
farm life and country school. At the
ngc OF seventeen he went 10 tho Military
Academy at West Point, where the
eliminate proving too severe, he remained
but one session.
III. al. I..tA A
Early, since distinguished ~ ~ licuten
mt general In the Confederate army.
Returning to Virginia ut the age Of
eighteen, young Randolph began the
study Of law with his uncle, Judge VIII.
liam Randolph. As soon as he had fin
ishcd his studies, with the enterprise of
his race, he removed to Tallahassee, Fla,
and began the practice of law. Here he
remained for several ycars. During that
time he took an active part In the politi.
cal contests OF Florida. Il was there he
was married TO. Miss Mary Pitts. Of
ll;ardstown, Ky.,0 the niece Of William
M. Lambeth, ut that time one Of the
most prominent merchants Of New Or
leans. Probably influenced by tho now
relations he had assumed, ho came to
reporter Of the decisions Of the Supreme
Court, a position ho continued TO fill for
four years.
In 1866 Mr.. Randolph retired from the
practice Of his profession, with an lnde-
pcndencc secured by his own efforts,
and bctook himself to the occ,ipn-
tion OF u farmer In the State Of Missouri
His fortune having been destroyed by
the war, he returned to this city In 1865
and resumed his place among ns.
With his career here we are all fam
iliar There has scarcely been an i'm
portant suit In any court In which he
was not u prominent actor. Trained In
the school of the common law, he was
familiar with tho practice Of the United
States courts In equity. patent law,
admiralty and bankruptcy. A hard
student, he hnd equally mastered our
civil law and State practice. and shonc
prc-eminent among the leaders Of our
courts. nIa
AS an advocate, he was exceptionally
happy. or a sympathetic temperament,
easily Identifying himself with his eli
ent, he nude his hearers feel because
he felt himself. He had all the accesso-
ries Of an orator, tho person, gesture,
voice and bearing .s5l .,.I.
Gifted with q brilliant imagination
and n lively creative fancy, cultivated
by contact with all fountains OF song
hHu itt'ou, HIs M"s"'Hc was hS TcI! ~
coloring as u Titan, and M varied in
design as u Dorc. No field Of reading
was free from his patient and loving
search. From Plato TO Milton; from
to Hudibras; ranging
through the serried tones OF history, or
sporting among the conceits OF Rcynard
the Fox, he made all tributary to his
TO add to his store of iIlustra-
tion. E
Though IL was rather when he scared
on the wing OF invention, or diversified
his discourse with the recollectlons Of
men and manners, with which his
chequred career had supplied him, that
he showed to the best advantage before
juries and the bench.
Yet the play Of his fancy and the glow
of his humor but served 10 rtldiate, not
weaken, the clcarness OF his argument,
~ the auroral light, suff,ise the North
ern sky. Hn
Alas! how little VIC can turn to, when
Jhe lawyers race Is run, ms u monument
)f his fame! The cases he has tried are
stored away In the reports ~ title deeds
ire put in u box, to be brought forth,
now and then, by the parties In interest
-valueless to all the world beside. The
he has contributed to settle
by adjudication are accepted by his sue
,essors as things established, with no
concern or thought Of the power that
lid the work.
The clients who hung upon his words,
md received their fate at his hands, pass
away and are forgotten. New laws ap-
pear on the statute books, and new pre-
,edents fall from the bench. The spirit
II change which dominates In science
mas possessed the domain OF law with
,ach succeeding year; the past Is less
valuable with US, and the present more
mperious. Principles are less potent,
md enactments omnipotent; so that the
learning which In times past 1t was es-
,ential to wear us the knights Of old
heir armor, like that, seems but cum
ocrsome In an age OF experiment and
invention. II this continues, as now APP
Dears probable, in sooth the lawyer,
ike the actor who frcts his hour upon
he stage and then Is heard no more,
must accept oblivion as his lot, when he
las made his last speech and quits the
courtroom for ever.
But the change has not yet gone so far
With US. The lawyer is still something
more than memoriZer OF statutes and
IN index Of decisions. Too many
are now with us here In New
orleans, OF gentlemen whose talents
md requirements are worthy OF the
brightest days Of professional history
rhe power OF the bar Is still vital one.
Lives devoted to the vindication OF truth,
he establishment OF justice, and the
OF correct principles by
rec discussion, though they leave no
angible marks Of their passage, are as
in the moral development Of
4 r. ~ II