It seems politicians have always taken great pleasure in insulting each
other, present company included. More often than not they paired off:
Gladstone and Disraeli, Pitt and Walpole, and in America, Henry Clay and
John Randolph.

Once when Clay and Randolph had not spoken to each other for a long time,
they met on a narrow sidewalk. It was plain that one would have to give way
to the other in order to pass.

Randolph held his ground. "I never give way to scoundrels," he glowered.

Clay stepped into the muddy gutter. "I *always* do," he said.