The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1881-03-04

u
crite on the murder of his son, Lord Rus
sell, he Indignantly replied that he
would not exchange his dead son for the
living son of any man on earth. So I
would not give our dead Washington for
any living Washington, or whatever
may be the blessings reserved for man.
kind in the womb of time) for any Wash
ington who is likely to live in your time,
Mr. President, or in nine"
But Mr. Randolyh's great effort (if
may so call performance which to him
was evidently no effort at alD was re-
served for the next day. He announced
that he should ask for the consideration
of his resolution immediately upon the
meeting of the Senate, and that meant
that another speech would be forthcom-
ing I was early upon the spot, and for
two hours held my attention fixed by his
various and finest improvisation his cut
ting irony, his terribly sincere, although
absolutely undeserved, denunciations.
His memory and Imagination
seemed inexhaustible. He would
take subject (almost any
which happened to get in his way) turn
and twist it about, display it in some
fantastic light, and then, with scorn,
push it aside. That famous dictum of
the Declaration of Independence, con-
cerning the equality of men, which thirty
years after Rufus Choate styled "a gilt
tering generality, Randolph pilloried as
can idle fanfamonade. The pernicious
falsehoods contained in these general
expressions were in certain sense true,
and so were especially misleading. He
compared Mr.. Jefferson's statement to
that of a person who should say that the
IF oS rInh hot <,f
Kentucky, because there was no differ
once in the superficial contents of the
acre.
rose and urged the speaker to postpone
his call upon the executive, at the same
time complimenting him warmly upon
his speech.
Taking up the word, Randolph de-
clared that he could make no better
speech. Not that this WAS to be re-
eretted, for, like many other regular
things, regular speeches were apt to be
exceedingly dull. The general effect of
such speeches was want of any effect
whatsoever. What he did was to initiate
an italian improvisatore, taking up sub
jects that he had well thought out.
He considered that the world had
been greatly injured by parliamentary
eloquence, which was no qualification
for government Fox, to be sure, was a
statesman as well as debater; but the
dialectics of Pitt had been the curse of
England. He was admirably qualified
for professor of rhetoric, and might
have held that chair at Cambridge in Old
or New England Ia thrust at Mr.. Adams,
who had been professor of this art in
Harvard College,; but as statesman he
was tyro, and his great measures all
failed.
In concluding, Randolph told story
of some wise-acre who was sent to search
the vaults of the Parliament house at the
time of the gunpowder plot. This myth
ical parsonage reported that he found
fifty barrels of powder, and had removed
twenty-five of them and hoped that the
rest would do no harm. s"The step you
are about take,' exclaimed the speaker,
the characteristic outstretohed forefnger
pointing the emphasis, "applies the
match to the powder; and, be there
twenty-five barrels or fifty barrels, there
is enough to blow, not the first of the
Stuarts, but the last of another dynasty,
sky-high, sir! Yes, sir, sky-highp'
Randolph, as if to follow Mr.. Adams in
his aerial flight. There was no SAVIOR of
the ridiculous in this passionate climax.
The speakers thorough going sincerity
prevented such suggestion. The old
saying that language was given to man
to conceal his thoughts had a percentage
of truth in it. Most men arc conscious
of selecting and modifying the products
of the mind, with view to their suitable
presentation, The interest of Randolph's
speeches was that he simply exposed his
intellect and let you see it at work. It
was like catching Webster or some other
great orator in bis library and looking
over the rough notes he had rejected.
There one might find figures of rhetoric
a little too snowy for good taste, blunt
expressions of opinion which had been
softened and draped in ambiguous
phrases. It is possible that such q sur
vey might increase our admiration for
the artist at the expense OF our respect
for the man. But, after hearing Ran
dolph speak or converse, the feeling was
that you had come in contact with the
essential personality of this Virginian
Hotspur, and that there was much there
which justified the affection which his
friends felt for him.
A gentleman whom I met in Wash
ington had returned with Randolph to
his plantation after session of congress
and testified to me of the affection with
which he was regarded by his slaves.
Men and women rushed toward him,
seized him by the hand with perfect ia
miliarity, and burst into tears of delight
at his presence among them. His con-
duct to these humble dependents was
like that of most affectionate father
among his children; and it is well known
that, when he could no longer protect
them, he emanc1pated them by will and
provided for their support in free
State.
The time has not yet come to estimate
with impartiality the class of southern
gentlemen to which Randolph belonged.
Many of them were of great ability and
singular fascination of manner. Once
accept their premises land their premi-
ses were to them as the axioms of mathe-
matics) and they are knightly figures
fighting upon that side of
the irrepressible conflict which pro-
tected their families and the ciyiliza-
ton, such as it was, which had produced
themselves and the high-spirited caste
into which they were born. The incen-
diarism which would light the torch of
servile insurrection and plunge their fair
possessions into barbarism seemed to
them far worse than that which fred
warehouses and dwellings,, which few
months of labor mightreplace. It is un-
necessary here to enlarge upon the errors