RANDOLPH, JOHN, OF ROANOKE (1773 1833). An American statesman, born at Caw sons in Chesterfield County, Va., June 2, 1773; died in Philadelphia, June 24, 1833. lie was descended from an old and wealthy Virginia family, and boasted that the Indian princess Pocahontas was one of his ancestors. Educated at Princeton and Columbia colleges, he began the practice of law, hut in 1799 lie was elected to Congress, where he became distinguished for his eloquence, wit, sarcasm, invective. and eccen tricity. At a very early stage in his career he was the Democratic-Republioan leader of the House of Representatives. He denounced the settlement of the Yazoo land dispute effected by Madison and Gallatin. In 1804 he introduced a resolution impeaching Justice Samuel Chase (q.v.) and was the foremost prosecutor in the famous trial in the following year. He ultimately broke with Jefferson, and lost his influence, al though as a free lance and a hurler of invectives he never ceased to he feared. He opposed the War of 1812, and the Missouri Compromise. and stigmatized the Northern members who voted for the latter as 'doughfaces.' In 1822 and 1824 he visited England, where his eccentricities attract ed much notice. In 1825 he began his two years'
service as Senator from Virginia, and fought his famous duel with Henry Clay. 1 n 1830 he was appointed Minister to Russia, and gave much oc casion for scandal by his short stay and heavy demands on the Treasury. By his will he manu mitted his 318 slaves, and provided for their maintenance in a free state. in some respects full justice has never been done to Randolph's intel lect. He was not merely a well-read man and possessed of a good style, as appears from his Letters to a Young Relatire ( 1834) and many of his speeches in Congress. nor was lie simply an unparalleled master of invective; he was also a far-sighted statesman. who foresaw the direction American politics would take with regard to the question of slavery, and outlined the policy of Southern defense afterwards taken up by Cal houn and his followers. He was considered a Virginian of Virginians. upon whom young South ern extremists modeled themselves. Consult of him by Garland (New York, 1850) ; by Adams, America,' Statesmen (Boston, and Trent, Southern Statesmen of the Old Regime (New York. 1896).