Collected Letters of John Randolph to John Brockenbrough: 1812-1833 (Library of Conservative Thought) [Hardcover]

Kenneth Shorey (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Review

John Randolph of Virginia is generally regarded as a key figure in the development of American conservatism. His matrix was political-a disdain for holders of political power that transcended party lines and affiliations. Randolph's principled and acerbic hostility to central government was molded by a readiness to swim against tides, whatever the costs to his own electoral prospects. His eloquence in the House of Representatives has seldom been equalled and never surpassed. It is appropriate that the first volume in Russell Kirk's projected Library of Conservative T'hought deals with Randolph's career. It is correspondingly unfortunate that the approach chosen was an edition of Randolph's letters to his closest friend, physician John Brockenbrough. The letters, many of which have been previously published in Hugh Garland's two-volume biography of Randolph (New York, 1851), express much of Randolph's complex personality: a lonely man, tormented to the point of madness by ill health and emotional sensitivity; an ardent Anglican Christian whose vindictive contempt for his opponents led him time and again to mean-spirited carping. Yet it is for his policies, not his character, that John Randolph is justly remembered; and politics play at best a marginal role in this collection. 'Mere are passing references to the degeneracy of present men and mores, to the evils of tariffs, and to the perils of "false indulgence" on the slavery question. But to readers unfamiliar with the details of Randolph's public life these are likely to remain mere allusions, marginalia to the self-revelations of an eccentric valetudinarian. An edition of Randolph's political correspondence, edited with the same careful attention to detail, would have been a more welcome and useful intellectual contribution. -- From Independent Publisher

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Transaction Publishers (January 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0887381944
• ISBN-13: 978-0887381942
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,878,200 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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