| | 1 | Author: | Bruce
William Cabell
1860-1946 | Requires cookie* | | | Title: | John Randolph of Roanoke, 1773-1833  | | | | Published: | 2007 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Text collection | UVA-LIB-Text | | | | Description: | "I thank you for your good advice in your letter to Mamma,
but I am such a perverse boy that I wish I had a tutor to make
me mind my book as I cannot help wishing to play when it is
time to read. I want to learn everything, but I cannot love
confinement; and what is worse, the more I play the more I
want to play; but I am sure when I go regularly to school I
shall not be behind my brothers. Brother Hal is much cleverer
than sister for his age though she is much improved in talking
and walking. We are all wanting to see you; I was never so
rejoiced as when we got your letter to leave Roanoke. I am
my dear papa yr. dutyfull son "I take this oppty of letting you know that we are all well
and that I missed my ague at Roanoke. Mama and Mrs.
Hartston hung up Abracadabra as a charm for that and to keep
away the enemy. Sister is worth a dozen of what she was when
you left her. She says anything and runs about all day. I
hope you are in favour with the Marquis. I don't doubt it,
for I think you a very fine officer and will be able to make the
militia fight, for if they do not now I don't think they ever will
be collected after running away. Brother Dicky has turned
me back from the optitive of amo to the potential mood of
audio because Mr. Hearn never taught me. I thank you my
dr papa for telling me in your letter to be a good boy and mind
my book. I do love my book and mind it as much as I can
myself, but we want a tutor very much. I hope in a month I
shall be passing my Concords. I will try all I can to be a good
boy and a favourite of Mama's and when you come home I
hope I shall be one of yours. "You have doubtless, my ever dear and affectionate Papa,
received Accounts of the Adoption of the new Constitution by
the State of New York; the majority consisting of five only.
On Wednesday 26th inst. (4 days previous to our hearing of
the ratification of this State), there was a very grand Procession
in this city (on account of its being received by ten States)
which proceeded from the plain before Bridewell down Broadway
thro' Wall Street; and, by the way of Great Queen Street,
proceeded to the Federal Green before Bunker's Hill, where
there were tables set for more than five thousand people to
Dine. Two Oxen were roasted whole and several cows and
Sheep. I'll assure [you], my dear Sir, it put me in mind of the
great Preparations which were made in Don Quixote for the
wedding of Camacho and the rich and the fair Quiteria. There
were ten tables set out to represent the ten States which had
acceded to the Constitution; all which were concentered together
at one end, like the sticks of a Fan; where they joined
were seated all the Congress with the President in the middle.
The Procession was very beautiful and well conducted. Every
trade and profession had a Colour emblematical of it. The
chief of the Bakers were drawn on a stage, on which they were
seen mixing their bread; the apprentices, all in white, followed
with ready-baked Cakes. The Coopers followed, making
barrels, and the apprentices followed with a keg under the arm
of each. Next came the Brewers, bringing hogsheads of beer
along with a little Bacchus astride a Cask, holding a large
Goblet in his hand. It would require too much time for me to
tell you of all the different occupations, but, to the honor of
New York, be it spoken that, among 8000 people, who were
said to have dined together on the green, there was not a single
Drunken Man or fight to be seen. On Saturday, the 27th
Inst., news arrived of the Constitution's being adopted. A
party of Federalists, as they call themselves, went to the house
VOL. I—8
of Mr. Greenleaf, printer of the Patriotic Register, and, after
having broken his windows and thrown away his Types (much
to their discredit), went to the Governor's, where they gave
three hisses, and beat the rogue's march around the house.
They proceeded to the houses of the Federals (as they call
them) and gave three cheers."1
1N. Y. Pub. Lib.
"You will no doubt, my ever dear Father, be much astonished
when I tell you that, by the time you receive this, I
shall be far on my return to Williamsburg; and you will be yet
more surprised at hearing that I mean to spend the summer in
one of the Northern States. Since I saw you, I have been informed
that the late horrid and malicious lie, which has been
for some time too freely circulated, has been, by the diligent
exertion of those timid enemies (whom I have not been able by
any insult to force to an interview) so impressed, during my
absence, on the minds of every one, that a public enquiry into
it is now more than ever necessary. Having endeavored, by
every method I could devise, to bring William Randolph [one
of Nancy's brothers] to a personal explanation of his conduct,
and to give me personal satisfaction for his aspersions of my
character, and finding that no insult is sufficient to rouse his
feelings (if he has any), I have at last urged Col. Tom to bring
an action of slander against him. This will bring the whole
affair once more before the eyes of every one, the circumstances,
from beginning to end, of the persons accusing and
accused will be seen at once, and the villainy of my traducers
fully exposed. When this is done, I shall once more know the
blessing of a tranquil mind! . . . "I received your letter of the 13th inst. this morning. You
must be equally conscious with myself that the idea of representing
this district in Congress never originated with me;
and I believe I may with truth assert that it is one which I
never should have entertained, had it not been suggested, in
the first instance, by my friends. I am now as well satisfied,
as I was when you first made to me the proposal of permitting
my friends to declare my willingness to serve my fellow-citizens
in the House of Representatives, that it is an office to which I
can not rationally entertain the smallest pretensions. I,
therefore, willingly resign any which my friends may have formed
for me to any person whom they may approve, and
shall feel happy in giving my vote—interest I have none, and
did I possess any, my principles would forbid my using it on
such an occasion—to a man for whose character I entertain so
high an opinion as that which I have borne ever since my acquaintance
with him for Citizen Daniel's. When I was in
Amelia, I wrote to Citizen Venable, informing him briefly of the
authentic report of his intended resignation, and also that some
of my friends had proposed taking a vote for me. This I was
impelled to do by my sense of propriety, since to me it appeared
highly indelicate that such a thing should be even whispered
before he was informed that it was in agitation. Accept Citizen
my most sincere regards and believe me with truth your friend. "Having stated the facts, it would be derogatory to your
character for me to point out the remedy. So far as they
relate to this application, addressed to you in a public capacity,
they can only be supposed by you to be of a public nature.
VOL. I—11
It is enough for me to state that the independence of the
Legislature has been attacked and the majesty of the people,
of which you are the principal representative, insulted and
your authority contemned. In their name, I demand that a
provision, commensurate with the evil, be made, and which
will be calculated to deter others from any future attempts to
introduce the Reign of Terror into our country. In addressing
you in this plain language of man, I give you, Sir, the best
proof I can afford of the estimation in which I hold your office
and your understanding; and I assure you with truth that I am
with respect your fellow citizen, John Randolph. "Seven times we have balloted—eight states for J—six for
Burr—two, Maryland and Vermont divided; voted to postpone
for an hour the process; now half past four resumed—
result the same. The order against adjourning made with a
view to Mr. Nicholson, who was ill, has not operated. He left
his sick bed—came through a snow storm—brought his bed,
and has prevented the vote of Maryland from being given to
Burr. Mail closing. "To the Freeholders of Charlotte, Prince Edward, Buckingham
and Cumberland: Fellow Citizens: I dedicate to you
the following fragment. That it appears in its present
mutilated shape is to be ascribed to the successful usurpation
which has reduced the freedom of speech in one branch of the
American Congress to an empty name. It is now established
for the first time and in the person of your representative that the
House may and will refuse to hear a member in his place, or
even to receive a motion from him upon the most momentous
subject that can be presented for legislative decision. A
similar motion was brought forward by the Republican minority
in the year 1798 before these modern inventions for stifling
the freedom of debate were discovered. It was discussed as a
matter of right until it was abandoned by the mover in consequence
of additional information (the correspondence of our
envoy at Paris) laid before Congress by the President. In
`the reign of terror' the father of the Sedition Law had not
the hardihood to proscribe liberty of speech, much less the
right of free debate on the floor of Congress. This invasion
of the public liberties was reserved for self-styled Republicans
who hold your understandings in such contempt as to flatter
themselves that you will overlook their every outrage upon
the great first principles of free government in consideration of
their professions of tender regard for the privileges of the
people. It is for you to decide whether they have undervalued
your intelligence and spirit or whether they have formed a just
estimate of your character. You do not require to be told that
the violation of the rights of him, whom you have deputed to
represent you, is an invasion of the rights of every man of you,
of every individual in society. If this abuse be suffered to pass
unredressed—and the people alone are competent to apply the
remedy—we must bid adieu to a free form of government
forever. Having learned from various sources that a declaration
of war would be attempted on Monday next with closed
doors, I deemed it my duty to endeavor by an exercise of my
constitutional functions to arrest this heaviest of all calamities
and avert it from our happy country. I accordingly made the
effort of which I now give you the result, and of the success of
which you will have already been informed before these pages
can reach you. I pretend only to give you the substance of my
unfinished argument. The glowing words, the language of the
heart have passed away with the occasion that called them
forth. They are no longer under my control. My design
is simply to submit to you the views which have induced me to
consider a war with England, under existing circumstances, as
comporting neither with the interest nor the honor of the
American people; but as an idolatrous sacrifice of both on the
altar of French rapacity, perfidy and ambition. For so, without ceremony, permit me to
call you. Among the few causes that I find for regret at my
dismissal from public life, there is none in comparison with
the reflection that it has separated me—perhaps forever—from
some who have a strong hold on my esteem and on my affections.
It would indeed have been gratifying to me to see once
more yourself, Mr. Meade [Rev. Wm. Meade, of Virginia],
Ridgely [Andrew Sterrett Ridgely], and some few others; and
the thought that this may never be is the only one that infuses
any thing of bitterness into what may be termed my disappointment,
if a man can be said to be disappointed when
things happen according to his expectations. On every other
account, I have cause of self-congratulation at being disenthralled
from a servitude at once irksome and degrading.
The grapes are not sour—you know the manner in which you
always combated my wish to retire. Although I have not, like
you, the spirit of a martyr, yet I could not but allow great
force to your representations. To say the truth, a mere sense
of my duty alone might have been insufficient to restrain me
from indulging the very strong inclination which I have felt for
many years to return to private life. It is now gratified in a
way that takes from me every shadow of blame. No man can
reproach me with the desertion of my friends, or the abandonment
of my post in a time of danger and of trial. `I have
fought the good fight, I have kept the faith.' I owe the public
nothing; my friends, indeed, are entitled to everything at my
hands; but I have received my discharge, not indeed honestam
dimissionem, but passable enough, as times go, when delicacy
is not over-fastidious. I am again free, as it respects the
public at least, and have but one more victory to achieve to be
so in the true sense of the word. Like yourself and Mr. Meade,
I cannot be contented with endeavoring to do good for goodness'
sake, or rather for the sake of the Author of all goodness.
In spite of me, I cannot help feeling something very like contempt
for my poor foolish fellow-mortals, and would often
consign them to Bonaparte in this world, and the devil, his
master, in the next; but these are but temporary fits of misanthropy,
which soon give way to better and juster feelings."1
1Garland, v. 2, 11.
Your letter being addressed to Farmville,
did not reach me until yesterday, when my nephew
brought it up. Charlotte Court House is my post-office. By
my last you will perceive that I have anticipated your kind
office in regard to my books and papers at Crawford's. Pray
give them protection `until the Chesapeake shall be fit for
service.' It is, I think, nearly eight years since I ventured to
play upon those words in a report of the Secretary of the
Navy. I have read your letter again and again, and cannot
express to you how much pleasure the perusal has given me. "Your letter of the 14th was received today—many thanks
for it. By the same mail, Mr. Quincy sent me a copy of his
speech of the 30th of last month. It is a composition of much
ability and depth of thought; but it indicates a spirit and a
temper to the North which is more a subject of regret than of
surprise. The grievances of Lord North's administration
were but as a feather in the scale, when compared with those
inflicted by Jefferson and Madison."2
2Ibid., 14.
You lay me under obligations which I know
not how to requite, and yet I cannot help requesting a continuance
of them. I have been highly gratified today by the
receipt of your letter of the 5th, and the accompanying pamphlet.
I have read them both with deep attention, and with a
melancholy pleasure which I should find it difficult to describe.
You are under some misapprehension respecting my opinions
in regard to certain men and measures—the true sources of our
present calamities. They are not materially, if at all, variant
from your own. It is time indeed to speak out; but, if, as I
fear, the canine race in New York have returned to their
vomit, the voice of truth and of patriotism will be as the voice
of one crying in the wilderness. I feel most sensibly
the difficulties of our situation, but the question is as to the
remedy. "You will perceive by the enclosed letter, in case the fact
shall have failed to reach you through any other channel, that
the enemies whom it has been my lot to make in the discharge
of the duties of the station, to which I had been called by the
public suffrage, seem unwilling to allow me even the repose
of that retirement, to which, after many baffled efforts, they
have succeeded in persuading my late constituents to consign
me. I shall not stop to enquire how far such a proceeding be
honorable, or even politic, as it regards the views of those, who
have allowed themselves to adopt it; although the people, with
whom it was once my pride to be connected, must have undergone
some strange metamorphosis, not less rapid and disastrous
than that which our unhappy country has experienced
within the same period of time, if there be one among them
that does not see through the motives of those who would
entreat them to turn their eyes from the general calamity and
shame, and the shameless authors of them, to the faults and
indiscretions, real or imputed, of an old, dismissed public
servant, whose chief offence in the eyes of his accusers is that,
foreseeing mischief, he labored to avert it. Nine years have
now elapsed since he raised his voice against the commencement
of a system of measures, which, although artfully disguised,
were calculated, as he believed, to produce what we
have all seen, and are fated long to feel. Had they, who derided
what they were then pleased to term his `mournful vaticinations,
the reveries of a heated and disordered imagination,'
confided less in their own air-built theories, and taken warning
ere it was too late, they might be riding on `the full tide of
successful experiment,' instead of clinging with instinctive and
convulsive grasp to the wreck, which themselves have made of
public credit, of national honor, of peace, happiness and security,
and of faith among men. The very bonds, not only of
union between these states, but of society itself are loosened,
and we seem `approaching towards that awful dissolution, the
issue of which it is not given to human foresight to scan.' In
the virtue, the moderation, the fortitude of the People is
(under God) our last resource. Let them ever bear in mind
that from their present institutions there is no transition but to
military despotism; and that there is none more easy. Anarchy
is the chrysalis state of despotism; and to that state have the
measures of this government long tended, amidst professions,
such as we have heard in France and seen the effects of, of
Liberty, Equality, Fraternity. None but the people can forge
their own chains; and to flatter the people and delude them by
promises never meant to be performed is the stale but successful
practice of the demagogue, as of the seducer in private
life.—`Give me only a helve for my axe,' said the woodman in
the fable to the tall and stately trees, that spread their proud
heads and raised their unlopped arms to the air of heaven.
`Give me an Army,' says the wily politican. It is only to fight
the English, to maintain `Free trade and sailors' rights'; and,
dazzled by the `pride, pomp and circumstance of glorious
war,' heedless of the miseries that lurk beneath its splendor,
the People have said Amen! Of these the heavy debts and
grinding taxes, that follow in its train, are, perhaps, the least.
Disease and vice, in new unheard-of forms, spread from the
camp throughout society. Not a village, not a neighborhood,
hardly a family escapes the infection. The searching miseries
of war penetrate even into the hovel of the shivering negro
whose tattered blanket and short allowance of salt bear witness
to the glories of that administration under which his
master is content to live. His master, no doubt some `Southern
Nabob,' some `Haughty Grandee of Virginia,' the very
idea of whose existence disturbs the repose of over-tender consciences,
is revelling in luxury which the necessary wants of
his wretched bondsmen are stinted to supply. Such is the
stuff that dreams are made of! The master, consumed by
cares, from which even the miserable African is free, accustomed
to the decent comforts of life, is racking his brain for
ways and means to satisfy the demands of the taxgatherer.
You see the struggle between his pride and his necessity. That
ancient relic of better times, on which he bends his vacant eye,
must go. It is, itself, the object of a new tax. He can no longer
afford to keep it. Moreover, he must find a substitute for his
youngest boy called into service. His eldest son has perished
in the tentless camp, the bloodless but fatal fields of the fenny
country; and even for the cherished resemblance of this favorite
child he must pay tribute to Caesar. The tear that starts
into his eye, as he adds this item to the inventory of exaction,
would serve but to excite a philosophic smile in the `Grimm'
Idol (see the diplomatic Baron's correspondence) of the Levee
and its heartless worshippers. "This date says everything. I arrived here on Sunday
afternoon, and am now writing from the Grand Hotel de Castile,
Rue Richelieu and Boulevard des Italiens; for, as the
French say, it `gives' upon both, having an entrance from
each. "A month has now elapsed since I landed in England, during
which time I have not received a line from any friend, except
Benton, who wrote to me on the eve of his departure from
Babylon the Great to Missouri. Missouri!, and here am I
writing in the parlor of the New Inn, at the gate of Mr. Coke's
park, where art has mastered nature in one of her least amiable
moods. To say the truth, he that would see this country to
advantage must not end with the barren sands and flat,
infertile healths (strike out the l; I meant to write heaths) of
the east country, but must reserve the vale of Severn and
Wales for a bonne bouche. Although I was told at Norwich
that Mr. Coke was at home (and by a particular friend of his
too), yet I find that he and Lady Anne are gone to the very
extremity of this huge county to a wool fair, at Thetford,
sixty-five miles off; and, while my companion, Mr. Williams,
of S. C. (son of David R. W.), is gone to the Hall, I am resolved
to bestow, if not `all,' a part at least of `my tediousness'
upon you. Tediousness, indeed, for what have I to write
about, unless to tell you that my health, so far from getting
better, was hardly ever worse? . . . Mr. Williams has been
very attentive and kind to me. I have been trying to persuade
him to abandon me to the underwriters as a total loss, but he
will not desert me; so that I meditate giving him the slip for his
own sake. We saw Dudley Inn and a bad race at Newmarket,
on our way to Norwich. There we embarked on the river Yare,
and proceeded to Yarmouth by the steampacket. We returned
to Norwich by land, and by different routes; he, by the
direct road, and I, by Beccles, fifteen miles further; and yet I
arrived first. Through Lord Suffield's politeness, who gave
me a most hearty invitation to Gunton, I was enabled to see
the Castle (now the county jail) to the best advantage. His
lordship is a great prison discipline financier, and was very
polite to me when I was in England four years ago. I met
him by mere accident at the inn at Norwich, where the coach
from Beccles stopped. . . . " `The Portfolio reached me in safety.' So much had I written
of a letter to you in London, but I was obliged to drop my pen
in G. Marx' compting-house, and here I am, and at your service
at The Hague. . . . "It is now agreed on all hands that misery, crime and profligacy
are in a state of rapid and alarming increase. The Pitt
and paper system (for although he did not begin it, yet he
brought it to its last stage of imperfection) is now developing
features that `fright the isle from its propriety.' "Mr. W. J. Barksdale writes his father that a run will be
made at me by G—s [Giles] this winter. On this subject, I
can only repeat what I have said before—that, when the Commonwealth
of Virginia dismisses a servant, it is strong presumptive
evidence of his unfitness for the station. If it shall
apply to my own case, I cannot help it. But I should have
nothing to wish on this subject, if the Assembly could be put
in possession of a tolerably faithful account of what I have said
and done. I have been systematically and industriously misrepresented.
I had determined to devote this last summer
to a revision of my speeches, but my life would have paid
the forfeit, had I persisted in that determination. Many
of the misrepresentations proceed from the `ineffable stupidity'
of the reporters, but some must, I think, be intentional.
. . . In most instances, my meaning has been
mistaken. In some, it has been reversed. If I live, I will set
this matter right. So much for Ego. You might know by the date (as regards the month) that I
was in the only realm in Christendom, where the new style is
not yet introduced. Much to my disappointment, your old
friend, Mr. Lewis, is not here. He is & has been for sometime
in England. I therefore sent your letter to his Compting
House as the most ready mode of getting it to his hands. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
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