Show ll 11 f ky VM sir A V 1 va 1 1 aa m 1 1 41 y k v lu 14 aam nul X a IM N r ftc lt ai 0 af it P bar fanyi BY CA el ud 1 ani by ELMO SCOTT WAT WATSON Sli NEE KB hundred and four years ago 1190 this month there took place on the clr virginia inia side of the potomac Io tomac river one of the strangest duels la in the history of the amerlean american tied a code duello it was a between a member of 0 tile the i united states senate ahn hn randolph of virginia ginia and bleary SE of kentucky secretary of state AIN ack of the duel lay the conflict be iteen 12 two political theories those of resident jolin john quincy adams sup arted arted by clay and those of a future es ident andrew jackson supported v randolph but the immediate cause nt the duel was a speech which ran aph had made in the senate ithe debate which produced this bech was of minor importance it kr d to do with a resolution calling W the production of certain docu AF Vents but randolph made it the oc for such a vitriolic speech as di uly he be could make tie ile assailed the administration Wd ministration paying particular att antion to the close association in it HI it f the austere correct and pious iba edans dams with the frequently drunken Yi gambling clay and end ng n up with these famous words 1 I was defeated horse foot and dragoons lj cut up and clean broke down by the of brifil A dims danis and black Z cgeorge pG eorge orge clay by the combination unheard of till then of the puritan 14 with ith the blackleg cil H heretofore clay had ignored the whispering campaign against him based on his drinking and ills his gambling but athis was a denunciation which he 4 could not disregard ile he challenged wR lo Randolph andolph to a duel and as word of L ae the ithe affair got out the excitement in washington nas tremendous thomas hart benton senator of missouri by permission of the principals was allowed ale e to 0 a attend en the duel which was held e on the afternoon of april 8 1820 F noted for his eccentricity and run zing true to form even on tile the duel ling ling field randolph appeared for the encounter with mith a white flannel wrapper over his coat despite the fact that ahli seconds had haired the trigger ger of his pistol be insisted upon keeping on a pair of thick buckskin gloves even though these would detroy destroy troy his delicacy of touch and perhaps cause him to fire before the word was given and that Is exactly what happened As lie he stood holding his pistol muzzle downward it was discharged clays seconds immediately protested but clay silenced them thein and demanded that his opponent be given t another pistol i when the word was given both men fired but neither shot took effect although Randolp randolphe hs bullet nearly struck clay in the leg and clays bullet passed close to Randolp randolphe hs waist benton benston I immediately rushed in and tried to stop the fight but randolph angrily i refused ile he had determined to make a grand gesture and was willing to imperil his life to make it so the pistols were vere reloaded and agala again the men fired the secretary of state put his bis bullet through the senators coat but the latter purposely firpi high in the air over clays head at this clay rustled rushed forward with outstretched hand band 1 I trust in god my dear sir you p fire are untouched after what has oc burred d I 1 would not have harmed you j altor for a thousand worlds world sl I 1 he exclaimed pyon p yon you owe me a coat mr clay plied piled randolph with a smile p the whole affair Is characteristic of 0 I 1 john randolph of roanoke tor for surely if he was the strangest american of his alme and perhaps of all time gerald NV V johnson in a recent biography of him published by minton million balch and company calls him A political fantastic I 1 and perhaps fantastic Is a imore apt word than either eccentric t or strange when applied to his life t both private and political I 1 declaring that he has come down ln in history with one of the most t terrt ble reputations ever attached atta clied to an american politician who never was convicted convIct eo of murder or treason or i theft tile the biographer points out that ille be was lh in public life tor for a third of a century during which he served as a i congressman and jeffersons floor leader in the house of representatives las a senator from virginia as ambas i bador andor to russia as a member of the constitutional convention of virginia i and on many commissions and caal missions but BL he declares he Is not remembered for these services A acott aff lj 3 Y BRIT BRITISH 1511 TT au rather Randolp randolphe hs reputation lives because lie he carried the wickedest wick edest tongue that ever hung in the head of tin an american congressman or at any rate in the hend head of one ft nho ho had both the courage and the wit to use it many americans can remember the day when invective with all its synonyms of abuse reproach railing censure sarcasm satire and vituperation were an indispensable part of the equipment of the politician cut but of all who ever u used ed them randolph was the acknowledged mister master intimates johnson Jo linson when lie he says no man since hla his day when 1 attacked in debate by half a dozen b honorable members has had the superb superb insolence to rise and quote as he leisurely surveyed th the united states house of representatives e the little dogs and all tray blanch and sweetheart see they bark baric at me nor have we since had invective as n 3 as the metaphor which he I 1 Is frequently said to have used against ngali st henry clay but which he really applied to edward livingston fellow citizens hels a man of splendid abilities but utterly corrupt like rotten mackerel by moonlight he shines and stinks his characterization of john quincy adams imd and clay as and black george the puritan and the blackleg blac klep hardly needed the duel which followed to stamp stama it upon the memory of the country tor for although there was no duel as a result the country had bad remembered the description tion of thomas thom jefferson as st thomas of Canting bury because n o in the other case there was just enough truth in it to make it stick and ling although john randolph himself once complained that gaii all the bastard wit of the country has been fathered on nic me johnson cites some of his brilliant sal sallies lles lie he once spoke of tile the glorious privilege 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 a light once a new member elected to nil fill a vacancy in the house caused by a death attacked randolph who ignored it at the time later however while discussing a bill in which thedeas 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 tile the gentleman from virginia declared that never were abilities so much below mediocrity so nell melt rewarded no pot not when Cali gulas horse was made consul of a certain pedantic individual he be said that his mind was wag like a parcel of land which he knew poor to begin with and made more barren by too intensive cultivation denouncing me mcl lie he demanded when a friend told him that a certain person had attacked him that Is strange I 1 never did him a favor one day lie met an enemy on the narrow sidewalks of washington ing ton the mun man halted in the middle of the walk and belligerently declared 1 I never step out of my way for puppies 1 I always do replied randolph stepping aside pass on but Randolp randolphe hs place in history Is much more significant than that of a mere colner coiner of epigrams according to his bis biographer who declares that lie he was the most po powerful erful single influence dilce in transforming the south from the nourishing mother of the republic into info 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 UK tile philosophy of thomas jefferson to that of jefferson davis it Is incontestably true that lie he witnessed that transition and that he assisted it it seems strange perhaps that the man who was admittedly the first orator in a congress that included webster clay and calhoun should be remembered mainly because of its his violence of action end and vituperation of speech for says johnson joanson Job john randolph of roanoke was a strong man and Us h contended lly his human opponents opponent a were impressive pres sivo enough for or he dared the wrath successively of thomas jefferson james madison john marshall john C calhoun john quincy adams henry clay daniel webster and androw andrew jackson he asked no quarter of tho the best of thorn them a and no weak man mail could have stood a moment mom at against isain st the least of these certain of the elements ot of greatness john randolph ot of roanoke possessed beyond the shadid of 0 a a doubt in ill intellectual tel keenness and alertness h ri the great virginians I 1 in n courage no man among them surpassed him and not all were his equals in depth of 0 learning he was superior to most of thorn them perhaps to all in personal integrity not washington himself was further beyond reproach in addition randolph possessed Posses sod a quality which none or of the stars stara in virginias political firmament shared in anything like the birst degree def tree this quality was his shen his coruscation his sheer shear blinding but for all this h he was a man attended by fatality the heir of 0 f the t h aes house of usher born to t the he pur purple p wealthy a handsome youth charming in his personal relations and equipped with a magnificent mind it seemed upon his entrance into public life lit that till all the powers had combined to insure his happiness and his hi glory but his fair prospects were all illusory instead of primroses prim roses his path was strewn with stories stones and thorns instead of becoming even the stepfather of his country 1 I mean the commonwealth of virginia he urged her along a road strikingly similar to the one he trod and which led not to glory elory everlasting but to ta defeat madness and death for a physical affliction which randolph sustained at the age of nineteen following an attack of 0 scarlet fever changed the whole course of his life and made him an embittered frustrated mau man to the end of his days he retained a curiously boyish appearance beardless with a shrill high pitched voice this tact fact coupled with the statement that he was the first orator of his time and his own statement of 1 I am an aristocrat I 1 love justice and hate equality only accentuates the grotesque character of the picture of the man who was john randolph of Roan olce when he was over forty a spectator in tile house gallery was dumfounded dum founded at learning that the skinny youth he saw on the floor door and whom he be had believed to be about sixteen was the great mr randolph of virginia the result of this affliction aMle tion was inevitable here was an intensely proud member of a proud race a man who cherished ills his lineage above all his material possessions a man to whom the family was not merely a sacred but a downright awe inspiring institution deprived of the privilege of continuing his family writes johnson here was a scornful man doomed forever to be the target of the shafts of the scornful here was a romantic roan man ridiculously de barred from em romance here was a man 1 ivarose I edse finest quality perhaps was ills his capacity for unflagging devotion to the domestic interests lantere ts of his kin denied the possibility of setting up a domestic establishment of his own it is inconceivable that this frustration this profound humiliation should have failed to work out in bitterness of spirit so john randolph of roanoke who had in him the elements of greatness gre just missed greatness if he had not been such a strong man his story would be a pathetic one ills own people have remembered him with it curious mixture of terror pride and wild delight for darl dark ns as Is ills story on occasion it glitters and sparkles as does that of no other american of any generation it Is the story of a fighting man of the breed of roland and no one who la is stirred by a tale of who lays about lf bilm in with a right good will can tall fall to be stirred by randolph but it Is above all else a fantastic tale frequently verging merging upon the grotesque the incredibly long iong incredibly lean fagu c v was oon don quixote to the life but john ilan adolphs onn on were the glittering eyes and the almost fabulous forefinger foro auger with which he seemed to transfix t a shivering opponent this the strangest american |