The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1930-03-28

Rather Randolph's reputation lives be-
cause he carried "the wickedest tongue
that ever hung in the head Of an
American congressman, or at any rate,
In the head of one, who had both the
courage and the wit to use L"
Many Americans can remember the
day when invective, with all its syn
onyms of abuse, reproach, railing. cen
sure, sarcasm, satire and vituperation
were an indispensable part of the
equipment of the politician. But Of all
who ever used them, Randolph was
the acknowledged master, fntimates
johnson, when he says:
No man since his day. when attacked
in debate by half dozen honorable
members, has had the superb insol-
ence to rise and quote, as he leisurely
surveyed the United States House of
Representatives:
"The little dogs and all,
Tray, Blanch and Sweetheart,
See, they bark at me!'
Nor have we since had tnvective as
startling as the metaphor which he is
frequently said to have used against
Henry Clay, but which he really ap-
piled to Edward Livingston: Fellow
citizens, he is a man of splendid abil-
tiles, but utterly corrupt Like rotten
mackerel by moonlight, he shines and
stinks." His characterization Of John
Quincy Adams and Clay as "Blihl and
Black George-the Puritan and the
blackleg," hardly needed the duel
which followed to stamp 1T upon the
memory OF the country. for, although
there was no duel as a result. the
country had remembered the descrip-
tion of Thomas jefferson as est.
Thomas of Cantingbury," because, as
in the other case, there was just
enough truth in it to make 1t stick and
sting.
Although John Randolph himself
once complained that "All the bastard
wit Of the country has been fathered
on me-" Johnson cites some of his
brilliant sallies.
He once spoke of ''the glorious priv
ilege of finding fault-one very dear
to the depraved condition Of human
nature" OF Robert Wright and John
Rea (Ray) he said that the house
of representatives had two anomalies:
"a Wright always wrong and a Rae
without light" Once a new member,
elected to fill a vacancy in the house
caused by death, attacked Randolph,
who ignored it at the time. Later,
however, while discussing bill in
which the dead congressman had been
much interested Randolph remarked
that this bill has lost much in the
death of his dear friend, Mr.. ........,
whose seat remains vacant"
When Richard Rush was appointed
secretary of the treasury, the gentle
man from Virginia declared that
"Never were abilities so much below
mediocrity so well rewarded; no, not
when Caligula's horse was made Con-
SUI" OF certain pedantie individual
he said that his mind was like parcel
of land which he knew-poor to begin
with and made more barren by too in
tensive cultivation. 'Denouncing me"
he demanded when a friend told him
that a certain person had attacked
him. THAT is strange. I never did
him a favor" One day he met an en-
envy on the narrow sidewalks of Wash
ington. The man halted in the middle
of the walk and belligerently declared
II never step out of my way for pup
pies" II always do" replied Ran
dolph, stepping aside, "Pass on"
But Randolph's place in history is
much more significant than that of
mere coiner of epigrams. according to
his biographer, who declares that he
was 1.-THE most powerful single infiu-
ence in Transforming the South from
the nourishing mother of the repub-
lie into the frantic opponent of the
republic" and while ''it would be far
too much to say that John Randolph
Of Roanoke diverted the spirit of
southern statecraft from the philOs-
ophy of Thomas Jefferson to that of
Jefferson Davis; it is incontestably
true that he witnessed that transition
and that he assisted it." 1t seems
strange perhaps that the man who
was admittedly the first orator in
congress that included Webster, Clay
and Calhoun" should be remembered
mainly because of his violence of ac-
ton and vituperation of speech. For,
says Johnson:
John Randolph of Roanoke was.
strong man and he contended might