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1Author:  Sawyer Lemuel 1777-1852Requires cookie*
 Title:  A biography of John Randolph, of Roanoke  
 Published:  2008 
 Subjects:  University of Virginia Library, Text collection | UVA-LIB-Text 
 Description: On the 10th of January, 1800, Mr. Randolph made his maiden speech on Mr. Nicholas's resolution for reducing the army. In the course of his remarks, he applied the term "raggamuffins" to the soldiery in general. On the following night, while he was seated in a front row of a box at the Chestnut street theatre, in company with some friends, members of the House, two officers of the army or navy, in an adjoining box, just before the curtain rose, began to vociferate to the orchestra, "Play up, you d—d raggamuffins," and repeated it at intervals during the performance. The friends of Mr. Randolph, apprehending some mischief or personal insult, sat closely on each side of him, and put him on his guard. At the conclusion of the piece as they arose to depart, Mr. R. felt some one seize him by the hair of the head from behind and give him a violent pull, that nearly brought him down on his seat. Turning suddenly around, he found the two officers standing close by, when he asked, "Which of these two d—d rascals did that?" No answer was returned, and his friends, taking him between them, retired to their respective lodgings without further molestation. The next day Mr. Randolph wrote a letter to the President, in which he complained of this treatment by two officers of the army or navy (he did not know which), with evident intention to provoke him to a course of conduct which might, in some sort, justify the hostile designs they entertained towards him, from the execution of which they were only deterred by the presence of several of his friends. He stated that he was acquainted with the name of one of these young men, who appeared to have so false an estimate of true dignity of character, who seemed to have mistaken brutality for spirit, and an armed combination against the person of an individual for an indication of courage. He was called McKnight, rank unknown. Mr. Christie, a member of the House, appeared to know him; and that gentleman, with Capt. Campbell Smith, who, as he understood, endeavored to deter those rash young men from their scheme, and whose conduct would evince, if, indeed, there were any need of proof, that the character of the man and the citizen is not incompatible with the soldier, can give an account of the various instances of misconduct which were exhibited by the parties. As the enclosed letter from a member of your body, received by me on the night of Saturday, the 11th instant, relates to the privileges of the House, which in my opinion ought to be inquired into by the House itself, if anywhere, I have thought proper to submit the whole letter and its tendencies to your consideration, without any other comments on its matter and style. But as no gross impropriety of conduct on the part of officers holding commissions in the army or navy of the United States, ought to pass without due animadversions, I have directed the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy to investigate the conduct complained of, and report to me without delay such a statement of facts as will enable me to decide on the course which duty and justice shall appear to prescribe. Your note handed to me last night by Mr. Goode, in which you say, `understanding that the friends of the administration and others will support you for the Senate in opposition to Mr. Randolph, you desire to understand distinctly whether they have my consent, or not; and if not, request me to say whether I will not abandon the chair of state at this time, to accept a seat in the Senate,' deserves and shall have a candid reply. Let me premise that I am unacquainted with the political preferences of those disposed to sustain me for the Senate. Suffice it to say, that my political opinions on the fundamental principles of the government are the same with those espoused by Mr. Randolph, and I admire him most highly for his undeviating attachment to the constitution, manifested at all times, and through all the events of a long political life; and if any man votes for me under a different persuasion, he most grievously deceives himself. Yon ask me whether I have yielded my consent to oppose him. On the contrary, I have constantly opposed myself to all solicitations. I desire most earnestly to be left at peace. There is no motive which could induce me to seek to change my present situation for a seat in the Senate at this time. I cannot admit that to be one in a body of forty-eight members is to occupy a more elevated station than that presented in the chief magistracy of Virginia. My private interests, intimately connected with the good of my family, are more highly sustained by remaining where I am, than by the talked-of change. There is then no consideration, public or private, which could lead me to desire it. From the first to the last, everywhere and to all with whom I have conversed, this has been my uniform language. Your last inquiry is one, which, urged by those who felt disposed to sustain me, I have constantly declined answering. Propriety and a due regard to consistency of deportment require me to decline an answer now. Should the office, in opposition to my wishes (a result which I cannot anticipate), be conferred upon me, I shall then give to the expression of the legislative will such reflection and pronounce such decision as my sense of what is due to it may seem to require. These explanations might have been had by each and all of you, gentlemen, verbally if you had sought to have attained them in that way, which might possibly have discovered a greater degree of confidence in me. But as they are now given, you are at liberty to use them in any mode you please, reserving to myself a similar privilege. We take great pleasure in complying with the wishes of a number of the members of the Legislature and citizens of Richmond, to ask the favor of your company to a dinner at the Eagle Hotel, to-morrow, at 5 o'clock, as the best mode they can adopt to evince the high sense they entertain of your distinguished public services, and firmness in maintaining the principles of the Constitution, and resisting the mischievous measures of an infatuated administration. The feebleness of my health admonishes me of the imprudence I commit in accepting your very kind and flattering invitation, but I am unable to practise the self-denial which prudence would impose. I have only to offer my profound acknowledgments for an honor to which I am sensible of no claim on my part except the singleness of purpose with which I have endeavored to uphold our common principles, never more insidiously and vigorously assailed than now, and never more resolutely defended and asserted. Your very kind and flattering invitation found me confined by a painful and distressing disease, which only leaves me power to express my sense of the honor done me, and my regret at being unable to partake of the hospitality and festivity of my Prince Edward friends, to whom I am bound by every tie that can unite me to the kindest and most indulgent constituents that ever man had. "In the name of God—amen. I, John Randolph, of Roanoke, in the county of Charlotte, do ordain this writing, written with my own hand, this 4th of May, 1819, to be my last will and testament, hereby revoking all others whatever. I give my slaves their freedom, to which my conscience tells me they are justly entitled. It has a long time been a matter of the deepest regret to me, that the circumstances under which I inherited them, and the obstacles thrown in the way by the laws of the land, have prevented my manumitting them in my lifetime, which is my full intention to do, in case I can accomplish it. All the residue of my estate (with the exceptions herein made), whether real or personal, I bequeath to William Leigh, Esquire, of Halifax, attorney at law, to the Rev. William Meade, of Frederick, and to Francis S. Key, Esquire, of Georgetown, in trust for the following uses and purposes, viz. 1. To provide one or more tracts of land, in any of the States or Territories, not exceeding in the whole, four thousand acres, nor less than two thousand, to be partitioned and apportioned by them in such manner as may seem best, among said slaves. 2d. To pay the expense of their removal and of furnishing them with the necessary cabins, clothes and utensils. 3d. To pay the expense, not to exceed four hundred dollars per annum, of the education of John Randolph Clay, until he shall arrive at the age of twenty-three, leaving him my injunction to scorn to eat the bread of idleness or dependence. 4th. To pay to Theodoric Bland Dudley ten thousand dollars. 5th. With the residue of said estate to found a college, to be called Roanoke College. I give to Theodore B. Dudley all my books, plate, household and kitchen furniture, and all my liquors; also my guns and pistols, and the choice of six of my horses or brood mares, and my single chaise, with my best riding saddle and valise. It is my wish and desire that my executors give no bond or security for the trust reposed in them. In witness whereof, &c., &c. * * * * "I hope you have not exposed yourselves to the inconvenience of any debt, however small; but I know this is an error into which youthful heedlessness is too apt to run. If you have escaped it, you have exercised more judgment than I possessed at your age, the want of which cost me many a heart-ache. When any bauble caught my fancy, I would perhaps buy it on credit for twice as much as it was worth. In a day or two, cloyed with the possession of what, to my youthful imagination, had appeared so very desirable, I would readily have given it to the first I met; but, in disearding it, I could not exonerate myself from the debt that accrued, the recollection of which incessantly tormented me. Many a night's sleep has been broken by sad reflection on the difficulty into which I had plunged myself, and in devising means of extrication. At the appearance of my creditor I shrunk, and looked, no doubt, as meanly as I felt; for the relation of debtor and creditor is that of a slave to his master. It begins with the subjugation of his mind, and ends with that of his body. Speaking of a promiser (and every creditor is a promisemaker, and too often a promise-breaker), you cannot be too much upon your guard against them, unless you are sure the performance is in your power, and at the same time will conduce to your honor and benefit, or those of another. * * * * The courage which enables us to say no to an improper application, cannot be too soon acquired. The want of it has utterly rumed many an amiable man. Do not, through false shame, through a vicious modesty, entrap yourself into a situation which may dye your cheeks with real shame. As to the promiser, he is like the keeper who puts his head into the lion's mouth to amuse the spectators. This he did frequently and got it safely out, till at last the lion, in a fit of ill-humor, bit it off. Your word ought to be dearer to you than your head. Beware how you put it into the lion's mouth. * * * A liar is always a coward." "One of the best and wisest men I ever saw, has often said to me, that a decayed family could never recover its loss of rank in the world, until it left off talking and dwelling upon its former rank and opulence in the world. I have seen this verified in numerous instances in my own connexions, who, to use the words of my oracle, will never thrive till they become poor folks. He added, `they may make some struggles, and with apparent success, to recover lost ground, they may get half way up again, but are sure to fall back, unless, reconciling themselves to their circumstances, they become poor in form, as well as in fact.' The blind pursuit of wealth for the sake of hoarding, is a species of insanity. There are spirits, and not the less worthy, who, content with an humble mediocrity, leave the field of wealth and ambition open to more active, perhaps more guilty competitors. Nothing can be more respectable than the independence that grows out of self-denial. The man who, by abridging his wants, can find time to cultivate his mind, or to aid his fellow-creatures, is a being far above the plodding sons of industry and gain. His is a spirit of the noblest order. But what shall we say to the drone whom society is eager to shake from her encumbered lap—who lounges from place to place, and spends more time in Adonising his person, even in a morning, than would serve to earn his breakfast—who is curious in his living, a connoisseur in wines, fastidious in his cooking, but who never knew the luxury of earning a meal? Such a creature, sponging from house to house and always on the borrow, may still be seen in Virginia. One more generation may put an end to them." * * "I have been up since half-past one. Yesterday I dined by accident at the Union in Georgetown with Mr. K. (Key), and though I had toast and water, I missed my milk. I drank, too, at the earnest recommendation of some of the party, some old port wine, which has done me no good. My dinner was the lean of a very fine haunch of venison, without any gravy, and a little rice. Since it began to rain I have felt as restless as a leech in a weather-glass, and so I sit down to write to you. On Saturday I had a narrow escape from a most painful death. Wildair dashed off with me on the avenue, alarmed at a tattered wagon-cover, shivering in the wind, and would have dashed us both to pieces against a poplar, but when she was running full-bent against it, and not a length off, by a violent exertion of the left heel and right hand, I bore her off. There was not the thickness of half a quire of paper on which I am writing, between my body and the tree. Had I worn a great-coat, or cloth boots, I must have touched, perhaps been dragged off by them. * * * * In the course of my life, I have encountered some risks, but nothing like this. My heart was in my mouth for a moment, and I felt the strongest convictions of my utter demerit in the sight of God, and it gushed out in thankfulness for His signal and providential preservation. `What,' thought I, `had been my condition had I then died? As the tree falleth, so it must lie.' I had been but a short time before saying to a man who tried to cheat me, some very hard and bitter things. It was a poor auctioneer, who had books on private sale. He attempted to impose upon me in respect to some classical books of which he was entirely ignorant, and I exposed his ignorance to people in the shop, many of whom were members of Congress, and no better informed than him. The danger I escaped was no injury to the speech which I made, out of breath, on finding, when I reached the House, that there was a call for the previous question. So true it is, that of all motives religious feeling is the most powerful. I am reading for the second time an admirable novel called `Marriage.' It is recommended by Scott in his `Legend of Montrose.' I wish you would read it. Perhaps it might serve to palliate some of your romantic notions (for I despair of a cure) on the subject of love and marriage. A man that marries a woman he does not esteem and treat kindly, is a villain. But marriage was made for man, and if the woman be good-tempered, healthy (a qualification scarcely thought of now-a-days), chaste, cleanly, economical, and not an absolute fool, she will make him a better wife than nine out of ten deserve to have. To be sure, if to these beauty and understanding be added, all the better. Neither would I quarrel with a good fortune, if it has produced no ill effect upon the possessor." "As I have recommended Marriage to you (the book I mean), this digression on genealogy* *He gave his own genealogy. may remind you of Misses Jockey, the agreeable sisters. You entirely misapprehend my mode of life. I am very rarely out of bed after 9 o'clock, and when I exceed that hour, it is not at evening parties. Last night I was seduced by a book to go beyond that hour a little. * * * The other day I dined at the French minister's. It was Saturday, Madame De N.'s (De Neuville's) night. At half past 7 we joined the evening visitors, and at half past 8 I was snug in bed. To be sure I was politely reproached, as I was going away, by the Count De Menou (Secretary of Legation), and since by his principal, for going away so early; but my plea of weak health satisfied their jealousy. This is felt, and shown too, by all here in the highest ranks of fashion. Madame is charity itself. The poor will miss her when she goes away. One of her sayings deserves to be written in letters of gold: `When the rich are sick, they ought to be starved; when the poor are sick, they ought to be fed.' This is no bad medical precept. Just as I mounted my horse on Monday morning at Washington, your truly welcome and friendly letter was put into my hands. I arrived here this evening a little before sunset, after a ride on horseback of thirty-five miles. Pretty well, you'll say, for a man whose lungs are bleeding, and with a church-yard cough, which gives so much pleasure to some of your New York editors of newspapers. But to me, a horse is what a ship is to you. I am never so easy as when in the saddle. Nevertheless, if a gentleman (we are all gentlemen now-a-days) who received upwards of 300 pounds sterling for me, merely to hand it over, had not embezzled it by applying it to his own use, I should be a passenger with you on the 8th. I tried to raise money by the sale of some property, that only twelve months ago I was teased to part with, lots and houses in Farmsville, seventy miles above Petersburgh on the Appomatox, but could not last week get a bid for it. I have known land (part good wood land) sell for one dollar an acre, that ten years ago would have commanded ten dollars, and last year five or six. Four fine negroes sold for three hundred and fifty dollars, and so in proportion. But I must quit this wretched subject. My pay as member of Congress is worth more than my best and most productive property, for which a few years ago I could have got $80,000, exclusive of slaves and stock. I gave a few years ago $27,000 for one estate, without a house or a fence on it. After putting it in fine order, I found that so far from making one per cent., or one half or one quarter of one per cent., it does not clear expenses by about $750 per annum, over and above all the crops. Yet I am to be taxed for the benefit of wool-spinners, &c., to destroy the whole navigating interest of the United States; and we find representatives from New Bedford, Cape Anne, Marblehead, and Salem and Newburyport, voting for this, if they can throw the molasses overboard to lighten the ship tariff. She is a pirate under a black flag.
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