LETTER CLXXIX.
Washington, Dec. 18, 1821.
Tuesday.
Dear Theodore,
Your letter reached me yesterday: since then I have
been excruciated with rheumatism. The very sensible decay
of all my faculties of body and mind, more especially
of sight, touch, memory, and invention, renders writing extremely
irksome to me, and admonishes me of the indiscretion,
(not to say folly,) of lingering on the public stage,
until, perhaps, I shall be hissed off. My part, however, of
a mute, does not require much power, since it attracts no
notice; and he who does not offer himself to the observation
of mankind, may well hope to escape their censure. Nevertheless,
my object now is
petere honestam demissionem.
I refer you to Dr. B. for my adventures by flood and field.
Mr. S. of Missouri informed me yesterday that Tom had at
last got his gun locks, which I hope he will make turn to
some account among the savages of Boone's Lick. They
are all good locks, and a part of them of the highest finish.
I met Mrs. T. and poor Mrs. R. beyond Hanover Court
House. These are some of the very few people in this
world, by whom I have been treated with kindness, under
every circumstance of my unprosperous life; and when I
forget them, may my God forget me. B., too, has been unaffectedly
and disinterestedly kind to me, and I hope I have
been able to make him some return for it. He is resolved
to sell out, at whatever loss; and to remove from a circle in
which he must share the general ruin, in case he should remain.
The mail is closing. Remember me kindly to
Mrs. K.
Yours,
JOHN RANDOLPH, of Roanoke.
Dr. Dudley.
You mention the want of employment in your profession.
No man ever did get practice in any profession who did not
seek it, who did not show a
strong desire for it. Now, at
the hazard of your displeasure, I must tell you what I
heard
this summer:—One of your brethren told a gentleman of my
acquaintance, "that you were too fond of your gun for a
medical man." I also
heard of your making an appointment
to shoot at the coal-pits, and leaving word with your
servant that you had gone to see a patient.
[1]
This I did not
believe: but the consequences of establishing a reputation as
a sportsman, must be serious to a medical man.
