Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1882-05-02

TUE Cu W uotOs XO mBIlo VOSO -
vas ever sweet, gentle aud tender. +
mankind IN general he was flerc
vindicative, merciless. Like Swift, b
Itnspired fear. not love. Buteven In hi
nercest moments ho was outward,
cool. calm. and self possessed. He he
been compared to the enrnged tigel
whose eyes burn and lash with der!
vengeance, while he prepares to max
Then 1t was that be showed that he p0G
sesst d the fatai and fearful eift of pol
soDed topguel
| The summer days ofthat most memo
rable year were rapidly passing away.
tho autumn days were coming whicl
were to witness the end Of John Ran
dolph's dream Of love. For dream h
should have known 1t could only be.
Bright. delicious. heavenly O. Il, .waa
he, at least, must have Known that
lcOuld not last fGH
This was all an idle dream which ID
other human being except John Ran
i dolph, could have cherished. But b
clung 1t desperately, 1t was his Las
hope that gone, he knew that al hi
life would be dark, sad and miserable
This love was his sun, which mad,
light. joy. and warmth. II was gone
and henceforth he lived In . deser
alone. All the brightness. gayety and
sweetness disappeared from hfs forever
From . frank, free hearted, joyous
youth. he became the cynic. the misan
thrope. the sardonic aud eccentric be.
Ing that the world knows ~ John Ran,
dOlph Of Rnanoke-a strange combina.
ton of Hamlet and AephistopheIes -
From that time be was like the unhap-
py master Of Raven ~ whom the un-
merciful disastsr followed fast and fol
lowed faster, J" and his life became ons
long. despairing wall for peace and rest
which he Wa meyer to fnd In fbja
world. II am sick of life, and only wish
to find some resting place where NAV
die In peace" What q fate ours would
be II we had been condemned to i'm
mortality here. II look forward With
out hope; clouds aud darkness hang up
on my prospects and should my feeble
frame hang together Z fHW years longer.
my best friends, as we'll - myself, may
pray that close be put to the same -
whichever way look, seeno cheer
Ing object; ell IL dark, eomfortless and
hopelsss:n mo punishment, except
rern0rse. can exceed the misery I feel
My heart swells to bursting at past re-
collections aud as the present 10 with
out enjoy yment, 30 the future is without
hope-s0 far at lesst Is respects this
world.n II dare not look upon that
blank waste of heart within. Dreary,
desolste, dismal, there is no word In our
language, or any other, that can express
the misery Of my life. drag on like .
tired captive at the end Of q slave.chain
In an African collie "
Such expressions IA those are painful
" predomfnase In the private letters Of
John Randolph. No wonder he said
that ''genius often rendered Its possess
sor miserable I"
We have ventured to suggest q COM
parison between the early love OF Dan
te and the early love Of Randolph. This
com parisan may be continued. They
were both disappointed In their loves.
In the bitterness of his disappointment
Dante sought solace 10 the calm study
Of philosophy; Randolph sought dis.
traction in the excitement Of politics. =
Had Dante been successful In love the
teTpisces Of poeatf1. af7 TT Haad 1Hsndoofi 81 fPh won
the hand Of Marie Ward, this country
would not have had the most brilliant
and most remarkable man that has ever
appeared in public life upon this con-
tinent. Like the lover Of Maud. ruined
in heart and tortured In mind, John
Randolph plunged desperately into the
political arena, neither asking nor re
that he twas descended of . race that
neither forget or forgive an injury"
From his first appearance in public,
at the early age OF twenty.six, he dar-
zled the world by the splendor Of his
genius. At single bound he reached
the top Of the political ladder. He was
the leader of the Houae Of Representa-
tives, though its youngest member the
idol of his party, although 90 youthful
in appearance that, when he presented
himself for admission to the House, the
Speaker asked him whether he was of
the required age. For thirty years he
WAS the most conspicuous man in
American politics. flashing like q me-
teor, burning like q comet. His mind
was expansive enough to embrace the
| intellectual world; his soul was con-
tracted to the limits of Virginia. when
I speak of my country. mean the Com.
mon wealth Of Virginia." he said In
other words. he put his State above his
country. He was Virginian rather
than an American.
Randolph was o negative answer to
the much discussed question of the pre-
sent day, 'Is life worth living?" His
| bitter and terrible experience preached
an eloquent sermon de c0ntenptu nun
di. If the highest pleasures Of the world
and the keenest enjoyments Of life have
always proved utterly powerleas to make
men happy, how could John Randolph,
tortured In mind and body as he was,
wrecked In heart and absolutely, and
hopelessly wretched. derive any happi-
ness from this life. which to him wat
nothing but vanity and afaiction ol
spirft? He was fitted by his genius te
have written Childe Harold's Pilgrim
age, and by his melancholy to have been
Its hero but bis imagination, glowing
brilliant, oriental as 1t was. could not
have conceived character 10 volupti-
ons. so sensual "a Don Juan. He might
have sung the exquisite lines:
"'Tis sweet to see the evening star appear:
| IT'S sweet to listen m the night-winds Greer
From leaf tO leaf; It's sweet to view on hfgf
z The rainbow. based on ocean. span the skyi
but be could not have ended these line
~ Byron did, because he could not hAv'
felt such love,
But ;wsster still than this. than these. thas
Is nrsI and passionate love-"
Such was not the love that John Ran
dolph felt for Marie Ward. His Low,
was rot of the earth earthly lit was puri
fed Of all passion 1t was . soul wor
ship. The image of the beloved objec
never left his heart. Like some angelo
being, it hovered over his life, and wa
the solitary star that shone in the mids
Of the ever deepening gloom that over
wbelmed him. Long years after hi
early disappointment, when she wa
dead and he an old man, while his bod,
was locked In q feverish sleep and hi
soul wandered in dreams, the name Q
his only love was frequently uttered il
. tone of pathetic tenderness. sh0wiD
how deeply and immovably Marie War
had formed the love life Of John Ran
dolph.
y MANURE THE GARDEN.-Thec cost q
doing this is SO trifiing. that it is mat
ter Of wonder that those who desire
fair harvest Of fruits or vegetables do no
treat the soil more literally in this re
spect Before getting seeds. plantt
splittings or cuttings get manure. Stud
the character of the soil and seek to Civ
it the manure best calculated to enric
1t, and there is nothing better than well
rotted stable manure. Let it be we
worked into the soil. 1t is of little US
to q gardener to throw it upon tn