RANDOLPH, John, of Roanoke, American Statesman: b. Cawsons, Chesterfield County, Va., 2 June 1773; d. Philadelphia, 24 June 1833, He was of an old and wealthy Virginia family and ,claimed to be a descendant of Pocahontas. His father died young, and his mother mar ried St. George Tucker, who directed his early education. Later he attended the gratn mar school of William and Mary College; in 1787 went to Princeton for a few months, and the following session to Columbia College, which ended his academic training. In spite of his protestlitioes ignorame he was well edit• anted, and wrote and reasoned well. He read law' and began to practise, but preferred polities, aid in -1799 Was elected to Coegress on a form denouncing the Alien and Sedition laws. Randolph was in the House of Representatives 1799-4813,•1815-17 and.1819-25. He was a mena bes of the Senate, 1825-89,, and in 1829 Was member of the .Virginia Constitutional Coup V anion. In Congress .he soon became the. leader of the Danocratit-Republican apposition, 'and after the defeat of the -Federalists was- the leader of the administration -party, -but soon fell out with Jefferson, and became. an hide, pendent with a few follcrweis called "Quids? Throughout his public career Randolph was a consistent, strict constructionist. In his first speech he advocted a reduction of the "mer cenary') army; he led in the impeachment of Justice Chase, of the Federal Dis trict Court ; he denounced the settlement of the Yazoo frauds; and was the enemy of fraud and corruption in every form. Brought up in the midst of war, he hated it, opposing all meas ures leading to the War of 1812,'and his opposi tion to the administration cost him his seat in 1813. Returned to Congress in 1815, he seam* opposed the national reaction that followed the War of • 181Z. He disliked slavery,' but de nounced the• Missouri Compromise as render 9f principles by both sides. He in vested the term dough faces,b as applied 10 Northern men who made compromise with slavery for reasons of expediency. He sup,
Parted Jackson for the„
and de. nounced the Adams-Clay understanding as IS combination of Puritan and blackleg.* A duel with Clay followed (1825), in which Randolph threw away his fire and offered Clay his hand. In 1830 Jackson appointed him Minister to Rus sia. Resigning because of ill health, Randolph returned to America (1831) and opposed Jack son in the Nullification controversy. Re-elected to Congress in 1832, he died before taking his seat. Randolph was a strange
contradictory elements. At times he was a
oftener an emotional Christian. He was a
sighted statesman, an eloquent speaker, a master
of satire and vindictive; at times he spoke
sense. Eccentric and irritable in public, at odds,
sooner or later, with all of his associates and
colleagues, he was fond of children and was
loved by them. By his will he emancipated his
318 slaves, providing for their support. With
clearer vision than most of his contemporaries,
he foresaw the grave danger to the South from
the slavery question in politics and pointed' out
the course which that section must follow. HO
was never married, his fiancee, the beautiftil
Maria Ward, having broken her engagement
with him to marry his cousin, Peyton Randolph.'
An aristocrat, he believed in the' democratic
theories of the French Revolution, but admired
Edmund Burke. In his later years, his mind
was affected by disease and the use of drugs to
deaden pain, and by domestic troubles. In per-,
sonal appearance Randolph was tall, very slender,
with a dark, keen face and long thin
which he pointed or shook at his opponents when
speaking. "Little Jack') was a beautiful boy;
John Randolph was an ugly man. Consult
land,