sinner? Sir, this is an awful subject! better suited to Friday or Sunday next (Good Friday and Easter Sunday), two of the most solemn days in the Christian calendar-when I hope we shall all consider it, and lay it to heart as we ought to do.

"But, sir, I must still maintain that the argument of the gentleman is suicidal-he has fairly worked the equation, and one-half of his argument is a complete and conclusive answer to the other. And, sir, if I should ever be so unfortunate as, through inadvertence, or the heat of debate, to fall into such an error, I should, so far from being offended, feel myself under obligation to any gentleman who would expose its fallacy, even by ridicule-as fair a weapon as any in the whole Parliamentary armory. I shall not go so far as to maintain, with my Lord Shaftesbury, that it is the unerring test of truth, whatever it may be of temper; but if it be proscribed as a weapon as unfair as it is confessedly powerful, what shall we say (I put it, sir, to you and to the House) to the poisoned arrow ?—to the tomahawk and the scalping-knife? Would the most unsparing use of ridicule justify a resort to these weapons? Was this a reason that the gentleman sould sit in judgment on my heart?—yes, sir, my heart-which the gentleman (whatever he may say) in his heart believes to be a frank heart, as I trust it is a brave heart. Sir, I dismiss the gentleman to his self-complacency-let him go-yes, sir, let him go, and thank his God that he is not as this publican."

This is the finest retort of the kind to be found in the English language. Its admirable style and temper cannot be too strongly recommended to those who in the heat of debate may be tempted to say severe and irritating things. This is a model for them to follow: "A soft answer turneth away wrath." Mr. Randolph's conduct on this occasion was looked upon with admiration by all gentlemen.

"Mr. King, of New-York," says he to a friend, "came to me yesterday, and said that all the Georgetown mess were loud in their praises of my reception of McLean of Delaware's attack upon me on Monday (the day before yesterday), the 12th; that the Patroon (Van Rensselaer) was delighted,' &c., &c., &c. Tattnall of Georgia (a preux chevalier), told Mr. Macon that nothing could be more dignified or gentlemanly than my reply, and that it was just what it ought to have been. Many others tell me that this is the general sentiment."

Mr. Randolph frequently expressed to his friends his surprise at this attack upon him, and could not conceive the motive. He had a true regard for the gentleman from Delaware, though he might not have been aware of it; he pressed his regard upon no man. As far back as 1820, when Mr. McLean first took his seat in Congress, Mr.

Randolph, with characteristic accuracy and penetration, had described him to a friend, his origin and history, and that of his family, and concluded by saying, "He is the finest fellow I have seen here, by a double distance."

Mr. Randolph watched the tariff bill in all its stages, and resisted it so long as there was any hope. At length he wrote to a friend : "I am satisfied (now) that nothing can avail to save us. Indeed I have long been of that opinion. The ship will neither wear nor stay, and she may go ashore, and be d-d,' as Jack says."

Friday, 25th April, he says:

"The tariff is finished, (in our House at least,) and so am I. I was sent for on Tuesday in all haste to vote upon it; when I got there the previous question was taking, and the clerk reading the yeas and nays.

"At the end, Gilmore (a fine fellow, by the way, although a Georgian and a Crawford man) moved for a call of the House. When that was over, Wilde, from Georgia, moved to amend the title. I, as big a fool as he, got up to tell him what an ass he was. (By the way, for Smith's verses on the old continental money,' which the reporter put into my mouth-why or wherefore he only can tell-read what I actually did say: Swift's verses on the motto upon Chief Justice Whitshed's coach. So much for reporters. That over, Drayton, of S. C., who is the Purge of the House, got up to make another motion to amend. By this time the noisome atmosphere overcame me, and I left the hall, Mr. D. on his legs; but a copious effusion of blood from the lungs has been the consequence. It came on in about thirty minutes after I got home; so that the debate on the amendment of the tariff bill has the honor of my coup de grace."

Mr. Randolph was appointed on the committee to investigate the charges of mismanagement brought by Ninian Edwards against the Secretary of the Treasury. In reference to this subject he writes to his constituents from on board the ship Nestor, at sea, May 17:

"Fellow-citizens, friends, and freeholders-A recurrence of the same painful disease that drove me from my post some two years ago again compels me to ask a furlough, for I cannot consent to consider myself in the light of a deserter. But no consideration whatever would have induced me to leave Washington, so long as a shadow of doubt hung over the transactions of the Treasury, which I was (among others) appointed to investigate. I confess that I was not without some misgivings that all was not right. Holding myself aloof from the intrigues and intriguers of Washington, I had remained a

passive spectator of a scene such as I hope never again to witness. Not that I was without a slight, a very slight, preference in the choice of the evils submitted to us for our acceptance. I inclined towards Mr. Crawford, for some reasons which were private and personal, and with which it is unnecessary to trouble you; but, chiefly, because you preferred him to his competitors, and because, if elected, he would, in a manner, be compelled to throw himself into the hands of the least unsound of the political parties of the country; that he would, by the force of circumstances, be compelled to act with us (the people), whilst the rival candidates would, by the same force of circumstances, be obliged to act against us, and with the tribe of office hunters and bankrupts that seek to subsist upon our industry and

means."

CHAPTER XXVI.

SECOND VOYAGE TO EUROPE.

MR. JACOB HARVEY, who died in 1848, was an Irishman by birth; he emigrated some thirty years ago from his native country, and made the city of New-York the place of his residence. He was a merchant by profession, and those who knew him in his business bear testimony to his extensive information, his skill and prudence, his integrity and liberality. He was a man of refined literary tastes, brilliant wit, genuine humor, and exquisite delicacy of feeling. These quali ties rendered him, in the social relations of life, an instructive and fascinating companion. The acquaintance that commenced between him and Mr. Randolph, on his first voyage to Europe, grew into an unreserved intimacy that lasted to the day of his death. Speaking of him, in a letter to his niece from London, he says: "His name is Jacob Harvey, son of Joseph Massey H., a Limerick merchant, attached to the society of Friends-what is called a gay Quaker. His grandfather, Reuben H., was a merchant of Cork, and during the war of 1776 received a letter under General Washington's own hand, returning his thanks and those of Congress for his kindness to our countrymen in Ireland, prisoners and others. He was introduced to me by Mr. Colden, as we left the quay."

Having assisted Mr. Randolph, says Mr. Harvey, in making

his preparations for the voyage, I left him at Bunker's, and promised to call upon him next morning at half past nine o'clock, to accompany him to the steamboat, which was to convey him to the packet.

I charged him to have all his luggage ready, as the steamboat was to start precisely at ten o'clock, which he promised to do. Next morning, punctual to my appointment, I entered his sitting-room, expecting, of course, to find him, cap in hand, ready to walk to Whitehall dock, the moment I appeared. Judge, then, of my utter astonishment to see him sitting at the table, in his dressing-gown, with a large Bible open before him, pen in hand, in the act of writing a letter; while John' was on his knees, most busily employed in emptying one trunk and filling another!

"In the name of heaven," said I, "Mr. Randolph, what is the matter? Do you know that it will soon be ten o'clock, and the steamboat waits for nobody? You promised me last night to have every thing packed up and ready when I called, and here you are not even dressed yet!"

"I cannot help it, sir," replied he; "I am all confusion this morning; every thing goes wrong; even my memory has gone 'a good wool gathering.' I am just writing a farewell letter to my constituents, and, would you believe it, sir, I have forgotten the exact words of a quotation from the Bible, which I want to use, and, as I always quote correctly, I cannot close my letter until I find the passage; but strange to say, I forget both the chapter and verse. I never was at fault before, sir; what shall I do?"

“Do you remember any part of the quotation ?" said Í, " perhaps I can assist you with the rest, as time is precious."

"It begins," replied he, "How have I loved thee, oh Jacob;' but for the life of me, I cannot recollect the next words. Oh my head! my head! Here, do you take the Bible, and run your eye over that page, whilst I am writing the remainder of my address."

"My dear sir," said I, " you have not time to do this now, but let us take letter, Bible, and all on board the steamboat, where you will have ample time to find the passage you want, before we reach the packet."

After some hesitation and reluctance, he agreed to my proposition, and then, suddenly turning round, he said, in a sharp tone:

"Well, sir, I will not take John with me, and you will please get back his passage-money to-morrow. He must go home, sir."

"Not take John with you!" exclaimed I. "Are you mad? Do you forget how much you suffered last voyage for want of John or Juba, and how repeatedly you declared that you would never again cross the Atlantic without one of them? It is folly, and I cannot consent to it."

“I have decided, sir; the question is no longer open to discussion."

"At least,” said I, "be so good as to give some reason for such a decision."

on :

"Why, sir," replied he, "John has disobliged me. He has been spoiled by your free blacks, and forgets his duty; and I have no idea of having to take care of him all the way to Europe and back again !" Then, turning to poor John, who was completely crest-fallen, he went “Finish that trunk at once, and take it down to the steamboat, and on your return take your passage in the Philadelphia boat; and when you get to Philadelphia, call on Mr. in Arch street, and tell him that I have sailed; then go on to Baltimore, and call on Mr. in Monument Place, and say that I shall write to him from London; thence proceed to Washington; pack up my trunks, which you will find at my lodgings, and take them with you to Roanoke, and report yourself to my overseer." After a pause, he added, in a sarcastic tone, "Now, John, you have heard my commands; but you need not obey them, unless you choose to do so. If you prefer it, when you arrive in Philadelphia, call on the Manumission Society, and they will make you free, and I shall never look after you. Do you hear, sir ?"

This unjust aspersion of John's love was too much for the faithful fellow; his chest swelled, his lips quivered, his eyes filled, as he replied, in much agitation:

"Master John, this is too hard. I don't deserve it. You know I love you better than every body else, and you know you will find me at Roanoke when you come back!"

I felt my blood rising, and said: "Well, Mr. Randolph, I could not have believed this had I not seen it. I thought you had more compassion for your slaves. You are positively unjust in this case, for surely, you have punished him severely enough by leaving him