mH 1 i 1 i 1 ■ SBaja: 1 oMi 1 M mn M H^H i THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA THE COLLECTION OF NORTH CAROLINIANA CB V22d C.2 This book is due on the last date stamped below unless recalled sooner. It may be renewed only once and must be brought to the North Carolina Collection for renewal. 0^1 1 5 1 972 - t woil /a- ^ r^IT^fpe^^FIBi^ f^orm No. A -369 ./f.^ {!^„>tA^C/*.^-^ LIF^E OF ZEBULON B.VANCE. BY CLEMENTT DOWO. CHARLOTTE, N. C. ObHerver Priutiug and Publisbiag House 181)7. Entered According to Act of Congress, in the year 1897, By clement DOWD, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS. Z. B.Vance .Frontispiece Birthplace of Vance • 6 Fireplace in Room Where Vance was Born 8 Vance, Age About 28 32 First Law Office 34 Vance, Age About 36 104 Charlotte Residence of Vance 112 Mr. and Mrs. Charles N. Vance 118 Mr. and Mrs. David M. Vance 1 20 Espy and Ruth, Daughters of David INI. Vance 122 Lieut. Z. B. Vance, U.S. A 134 Mr. and Mrs. Thomas M. Vance 144 Mother of Z. B. Vance 212 Mrs. Harriett Esp}- Vance 216 Gombroon 218 TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Ancestry, Birth, Etc. , by Gen. R. B. Vance i CHAPTER II. Boyhood, Education Begun, by Gen. R. B. Vance 11 CHAPTER III. As Student at the University, by Kemp P. Battle, LL. D 16 CHAPTER IV. Marriage, Public Life Begun, by Gen. R. B. Vance 31 CHAPTER V. Legislative and Congressional Record 3g CHAPTER VI. Breaking Out of the War, Raises a Company, by Gen. R. B. Vance 62 ^^..^.^^ CHAPTER VII. A^ As Soldier and War Governor 65 CHAPTER VIII. His Arrest and Imprisonmeut 95 CHAPTER IX. Vance as Lawyer 102 CHAPTER X. '^ Personal and General Description 119 CHAPTER XI. Vance as I Knew Him, by Rev. R. N. Price, D. D 135 CHAPTER XII. Vance and Settle Campaign 142 CHAPTER XIII. "Symposium 163 CHAPTER XIV. ^7 down ;' but the gardener answered, 'not so, Lord, but let it stand another year, and I will dig about it,' etc., ' and then if it bears no fruit cut it down.' Now gentlemen," said Zeb, " all things according to Scripture." He then ap- plied the parable first to Avery, his first competitor, who had digged about him, and then to Coleman, his last com- petitor, who was doing the other, and said : " If I then do not bear fruit, cut me down." It was enough. The answer was so complete and so sudden that such a shout had never been heard in the old court house as went up that day, and perhaps another such has not been heard there since. Vance defeated his eloquent opponent by 1,900 votes. Vance was at Traphill, Wilkes County, the day of the election, where he received a solid vote, and often after- wards he spoke gratefully of the old Whigs who went up in procession and cast their votes for him that day. On his return to Buncombe, his native county, he passed through a gap of the mountain in Watauga, and overtook an old man driving an ox-cart. The old fellow was bare- foot, and had one knit suspender to hold up his overalls, while a lock of stiff hair shot up through a hole in the crown of his hat. Vance said : " Hurrah for Coleman." The old man stopped his ox team and said : " If you will wait until I get to you I'll wear out the ground with you." Zeb had to hasten and explain, which he did to the satis- faction of the staunch old Whig. And now comes something painful to remember. Some unpleasant words had passed between Vance and Coleman during the canvass. Coleman demanded an apology, which Vance refused to give. A challenge to fight a duel was the result, which was accepted by Vance, and the day and place agreed upon. To this writer it is not known who was the second of Coleman, but that of Vance was Samuel Brown, son of William J. Brown, of Buncombe County. A more gallant and noble man than Sammy 38 LIFE OF VANCE. Brown could not be found. He practiced Zebulon in the dense woods near Arden, in Buncombe. Before the day arrived, and just before, one of the best men this section ever produced. Dr. James F. E. Hardy, succeeded in set- tling the difficulty to the satisfaction of all concerned. The beloved Doctor has since passed to his rest, but his lovable and noble character remains as a legacy for the people, and in letters of imperishable beauty, exemplify and set forth the doctrine of the sermon on the mount, "blessed are the peace makers." UFE OF VANCE. 39 CHAPTER V. LEGISI.ATIVE AND CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. In the Legislature of 1854 — His Votes for Speaker and Other Officers — Committees Assigned to — His Associates and Acquaintances — Mo- tions and Resolutions Offered — Bills Introduced — Memorial from Citizens of Buncombe — Offers an Amendment to Revenue Bill Not Favoring Free Trade — Distinguished Men in Senate and House, Including His Subsequent Competitors for Congress and Governor — Elected to Congress in 1858 — His First Speech — His Second Speech — Tariff, Public Lands and Pensions to Soldiers of 1812 — In Thirty-Sixth Congress — Memorable Contest for Speaker, Lasting Two Months — Short Speeches — Witty Remarks— His Votes and Patriotic Sentiments — Distinguished Men in House and Senate — Exciting Debates — Harper's Ferry — ^John Brown's Raid — Helper's Impending Crisis, Etc. — Interesting Scenes — Incidents and Anecdotes. FN the Legislature of 1854, being a Whig, Vance voted for j[ Jas. S. Amis, of Granville, for Speaker, against Sam'l P. Hill, of Caswell. . The Democrats being in the majority, Hill was elected. He also voted for Dan'l M. Barringer for United States Senator, against David S. Reid, to fill the unexpired term of W. P. Mangum, deceased, and for Geo. E. Badger against Asa Biggs as successor to Badger. He also voted for R. P. Buxton against Robt. Strange for Solicitor of the Fayetteville District, and for Sam'l J. Person for Judge of the Superior Court against W. B. Wright. Person was a Democrat, and probably the only candidate, as Wright received but five votes. Vance was on the following standing committees: Library, Educa- tion and Private Bills. On the third day of the session he nominated John P. Wheat for Engrossing Clerk, but sub- sequently withdrew him. On the 5th day of December he voted to emancij^ate Jere, a slave, of Mecklenburg county, upon a bill introduced r 40 LIFE OF VANCE. by W. R. Myers. On December gtli a motion was made that the Legislature adjourn on the 23d to meet the first Monday in November following. Vance offered an amend- ment that when the Legislature adjourn it be to meet in Asheville on July ist. The motion failed to pass. On December 12th he introduced a bill to incorporate the Holstein Conference Female College at Asheville, which was duly passed. On December i6th Vance, from the committee to whom was referred a bill to distribute the common school fund among the several counties of the State according to the white poj)ulation, made a minority report in favor of the bill. And on the same day he introduced a bill to incor- porate the Asheville Mutual Insurance Company. On December 19th, from the select committee to whom was referred the invitation from the Magistrate of Police of the city of Wilmington, tendering the hospitalities of the citizens of that place during the Christmas holidays, Vance reported in favor of accepting the invitation, and accordingly^ a recess of the two Houses was taken from Friday, 2 2d, to Wednes- day, 27th. On January i8th he presented a memorial from citizens of Buncombe to exempt certain persons from working on the Greenville plank road. And on January 27th he sub- mitted an amendment to the revenue bill, which was rejected, however, and was certainly not in accordance with the maxims of free trade, as follows : That " all persons en- gaged in traffic in ready-made clothing, not the manufac- turer of this State, shall pay a tax of one per cent, on every hundred dollars of capital invested in such traffic." On February 5tli he introduced a bill to authorize county and town subscriptions to the F^rench Broad and Greenville Railroad. This Legislature contained many very able men. It is doubtful whether in this respect its superior can be found in the history of the State. Among its members who were LIFE OF VANCE. 41 prominent at that time and afterward throno-hont the State were, in the Senate : Thos. S. Ashe, Joseph B. Cherry, Asa Biggs, Mason L. Wiggins, Thos. D. McDowell, Warren Winslow, Curtis H. Brogden, Gaston H. Wilder, Wm. Eaton, Jr., Jno. W. Cunningham, W. A. Graham, Chas. S. Fisher, Anderson Mitchell, Jno. F. Hoke, Columbus Mills and David Coleman. In the House with Vance were : A. J. Dargan, Giles Mebane, P. H. Winston, Jr., Jesse G. Shepherd, Samuel P. Hill, Jas. H. Headen, Samuel F. Patterson, Jas. M. Leach, Jas. S. Amis, D. F. Caldwell, L. Q. Sharp, Samuel F. Phillips, Josiali Turner, Lott W. Humphrey, Geo. Badger Singletary, Walter L. Steele, Wm. M. Shipp, Jno. Gray Bynum, Thos. Settle, Jr., Wm. A. Jenkins, W. T. Dortch and Daniel M. Barringer. Among the Senators enumerated will be observed the name of Vance's second opponent for Congress, David Coleman ; and in the House, the name of Thos. Settle then, like Vance, making his first appearance in public life, and who with Vance, in 1876, made that notable campaign for Governor, which has gone into history as the battle of the giants. The Journals of the Legislature do not contain the speeches of the members, as the Congressional Record does, and if Vance made any sprightly and witty speeches and remarks, as he very probably did, they are unfortunately lost. He was elected to the House of Representative in August, 1858, to fill the imexpired term of Thos L. Cling- man in the Thirty-Fifth Congress, and also for the full term of the Thirty-Sixth Congress, and took his seat at the beginning of the second session of the Thirty-Fifth Con- gress, on December 7th, 1858. He was among the youngest members of Congress, if not the very youngest, being only twenty-eight years of age when elected. This was a comparatively quiet session, not much legis- lation being considered except appropriation bills, and 42 LIFE OF VANCE. Vance, being without experience, was an attentive listener, rather than a participator in debates. On January 26th, 1859, he made an adverse report from the Committee on Revolutionary Claims, and on February 3d, there being great confusion in the House, many members on their feet, talking and asking questions at the same time, he ad- dressed the Speaker and said: "I want to know whether this is debate or cross-questioning?" On February 4th he offered an amendment to the ap- propriation bill, to strike out "for miscellaneous items, $40,000," and made a speech, his first in Congress, in favor of his motion, as follows : I should like to kuow what is to enlarge the borders of the Thirty- Sixth Congress above the borders of the present Congress. As a member of the present Congress, I do not feel inclined to yield the point that my successor, whoever he may be, will be 25 per cent, a greater man than I am myself. I do not think that he is entitled to |io,ooo more for miscellaneous items than I am myself, and I am in favor, therefore, of striking out this clause. This whole bill reminds me very much of the bills I have seen of fast young men at fashion- able hotels : For two days board, $5 ; sundries, $50. [Laughter.] It is like a comet, a very small body and an exceedingly great tail, flam- ing over half the heavens. But this miscellaneous item, which I propose to strike out, is not exactly like the tail of a comet, because philosophers say that with a good telescope you can see through the tail of a comet. What glasses will enable us to see through this mis- cellaneous item ? [Laughter.] I should like to know what it is for, what it is intended for, and why we are to increase it |io,ooo beyond last year ? On February 7th Vance addressed the Committee of the Whole House on Tariff, Public Lands and Pensions of Soldiers of 181 2, as follows: Mr. Chairman : The condition of the country is a rather singu- lar one at this time. The statesman of enlarged views might now behold many important events in the indications by which we are surrounded, could he but read them aright. The late fury of the political heavens having spent itself in the fierce and bitter contests which raged in these halls, we have now a comparative quiet. But whether the winds merely pause to gather more wrath, whether it is merely a truce to enable the combatants to recruit and 1)ury their UFK OF VANC?:. 43 dead, we cannot tell. It may be that the now tranquil skies do hut portend " A greater wreck, a deeper fall ; A shock to one, a thunderbolt to all." But let us hope not. I, for one, am determined to interpret the omens for good. I think they are full of hope and peace and promise for the Republic. I hope, sir, that the lull is not a treacherous still- ness, heralding the deadly simoon, but it is Halcyon herselt who comes to brood upon the dark and restless deep. Eight weeks of this session have gone by ; grave and important questions have been dis- cussed and passed upon ; and yet harmony and good feeling have prevailed. Zeal there has been, but without fanaticism ; warmth and spirit, but without bitterness and rancor. Though the bush has been beaten from Maine to California, from the Lakes to the Gulf, only the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Washburn) has been able to start a negro ; and though the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Giddings) did howl upon the trail, the chase was so distant, and the scent lay so cold, that he soon called off, and the Committee was not frightened from its pro- priety. It behooves the Representatives of the people to take advantage of this hopeful state of affairs, and to turn their earnest attention to the practical every-day matters of the nation. Too long, already, has the country suffered from this all-absorbing excitement, which has so much hindered practical legislation. Our disordered finances, our depressed trade, our empty Treasury, our confused foreign policy, our Secretary calling, like the daughter of the horse-leech, " Give, give ;" all show this melancholy but instructive fact. The great question of a tariff, the principal source of our national revenue ; the public lands ; and, inseparable from these, the growing expenditures of the government greatly need, nay, must have, our attention. It is time, sir, we were considering the waj's and means to do something for the people — that vast and ever striving mass whose servants and Repre- sentatives we are ; by whose intelligent industry and unceasing toil, by whose early rising, and late lying down, this government receives its protection and its bread, its glory and its prosperity. When we reflect, sir, that the expense of administering this gov- ernment has reached a point far exceeding the receipts of the public Treasury, we must look around for some means of making both ends meet. I presume there are few members of this committee who desire to see the government embark in a system of borrowing money, ex- cept in extraordinary cases of emergency, and thus to lay the foundations of a great national debt like that of Great Britain, which is to go on growing and increasing until it gets forever beyond the hopes of ultimate payment. The soundest policj- of national finan- ciers has been to borrow money only in case of war, or some such urgent necessity, to be repaid during the long years of peace and prosperity which follow these calamities. In times of general tran- 44 LIFE OF VANCE. quility it has always been considered best to draw upon the sources of the nation's income sufficiently to meet our current expenses without borrowing, no odds how much the amount might be. We are not now doing this ; instead of living like a frugal housekeeper, on the interest of our money, we are devouring the principal. During the last fiscal year, in the midst of profound peace, this government has issued Treasury notes and bonds to the amount of 135,000,000 beyond the receipts of the Treasury, and a similar issue may soon be called for unless the deficiency is levied on some source of the revenue. The tariff levied on importations is the principal source ; the next largest is the public lands. Let us consider the former. Shall it be raised to a revenue standard or not ? That it is not now up to this point is, I take it for granted — the opinion of many gentlemen to the contrary notwithstanding — sufficiently obvious from the plain fact that we are now living on borrowed money. This fact, for practical purposes, is worth all the theories that gentlemen can put forth in regard to the present rates. Sir, I am not philosophical on this subject ; I have not made the laws which govern the trade and commerce of the world my study ; I have not hunted up the statistics, nor counted with care the enormous columns of figures which contain our commercial transactions. I am free to confess it. Nor do I believe that I am much the worse for this reason. But crude and unelaborated as my opinions may be, I will venture to lay it down as an undisputed fact, that, as we are in debt and spending more than our income, and as our income is derived principally from the tariff, we have to do one of three things ; either raise that income, lower our expenses, or walk into the insolvent court and file our schedule. I do not think there is, or ever was, a political economist on earth who could deny these propositions. It is a question, sir, entirely beyond financial theories and abstractions. The doctrine, sir, of a tariff for protection has been pretty gen- erally abandoned in the section from which I come ; and it may not be amiss, perhaps, to say here that one great cause of that doctrine being abandoned by my constituents, who once held it, was that those very men whose interests and institutions, from a spirit of national pride, we were upholding and protecting, became in time the deadliest enemies to our institutions and to our interests. And it must be re- membered, too, that at the time the doctrine of a protective tariff prevailed among my constituents our national expenditures scarcely exceeded twenty million dollars per annum ; and therefore the inci- dental protection afforded amounted to scarcely anything, and made the necessity for protection obvious. But now that we have to raise from eighty to one hundred million dollars per annum, principal!}^ by duties on importations, the incidental protection afforded becomes so large as to render direct protection both uncalled for and unjust. I am, therefore, sir, like those I represent, opposed to a tariff for LIFE OF VANCE. 45 protection, both for that reason, and also because it is to the interest of my section. I place it upon the f^roiind of self-interest frankly, because I do not believe in the validity of the general rules and deductions which gentlemen lay down so fluently. To assert that the only true policy of a nation is free trade, is only less absurd than to assert that the nation should extend protection, universally, to all the manufactures within its borders. Trade and manufacture are, I take it, governed and affected like all other human transactions by the thousand and one accidents and adventitious circumstances to which nations, as well as individuals, are subjected. What Adam Smith and later British politicians may say, in general terms, would have little more application to our condition, than would the maps and profiles of Professor Bache's survey applied to the angles and indentations of the British Coast. Even in England, covering not more territory than the State which I represent, the public sentiment was never a unit on the tariff question ; the manufacturer wanting it laid heavily upon articles similar to those in which he dealt, and free trade as to bread- stuffs ; while the agriculturist contended for precisely the reverse. What French economists may say can have still less bearing on our affairs, as there is a still greater dissimilarity in our condition and in- stitutions. How, then, can we lay down a rule for the regulation of a tariff which shall be general in its operation for the best for a country like ours, stretching, as it does, through all the degrees of an entire zone ; with many thousand miles of coast ; with every variety of soil, climate and production, and containing within its borders artisans, manufac- turers and laborers of every form, fashion and profession under the heavens ? There is, indeed, one general rule, which, though diverse in its operation, is yet the same in its applicability the world over — the universal law of self-interest. And despite the ingenious theories of politicians, as to an enlightened public opinion having settled it in this way or that, I will venture to say there is not a civilized nation or community now on earth where the manufacturing interest is domi- nant, that does not seek protection for its work-shops at the expense of its fields and vice versa. This, sir, is another reason why I am op- posed to a tariff for protection — that it wouldbuild up Northern manu- factures at the expense of Southern agriculturists. We need no pro- tection for that which we raise for market, and that which we have to buy we want the free markets of the world to choose from. But, be this as it may, we must have a revenue tariff or resort to direct taxation, which I am not prepared to do. In putting up the rates, then, to that standard, it strikes me that we should endeavor, not to protect any man or set of men, but to protect the whole body of the people from heavy or unequal taxation — for laying a tariff is, to some extent, laying a tax, though not an equal tax, as many of the States are now doing. The same principle ought to govern us. The 46 LIKE OF VANCE. cardinal doctrine of " the greatest good to the greatest number " ought to be our guide in laying these burdens upon the people. The same care to make them bear lightly as possible on the poor, yet without being unjust to the rich, which has ever been the idea of a perfect tax bill, should be observed. Whilst I do not hold that the interests of the manufacturer and the consumer are necessarily and altogether an- tagonistic, yet to some extent they certainly are. If, therefore, that class of our citizens which produces the raw material of commerce, and consumes the manufactured article, is the larger and more extended interest of the country, and it most assuredly is ; if it numeri- cally and substantially predominates in fact, over the manufacturing interests, then the genius of our institutions plainly demands that the predominance should be felt in the legislation of the country. I am not for sacrificing a smaller interest for the sake of a greater, in so many words, but I believe that all commercial enterprise should be, in a large degree, self-sustaining, and I cannot regard the operations of any institutions as healthful and vigorous which flourishes alone by statutory enactments. But a tariff for revenue I am in favor of. It is a necessity at this time, and not an open question. If, in putting up the rates to meet this necessity, any protection should be incidentally afforded to the manufacturing interest, I can see nothing wrong in it. Indeed, if the rates are fairly imposed, without making a special discrimination against all the manufactories of the nation, I cannot see how it is to be avoided, if it were ever so sinful. We certainly should not be so illiberal as to refuse to them that which cannot hurt us, and which may help them. I certainly am not so hostile to my own country, or to any portion of it, as to desire to transfer what little protection is incidentally afforded by a fairly constituted revenue tariff from our own manufactures to those of the British or the French, when my own people could not in the least benefit thereby. As to the manner of levying these duties, I am constrained to say that I agree with the President. I believe that the method recom- mended by him in his late message is the best, the simplest, and in most cases the fairest, at once for the merchant, the consumer and the government. A specific duty on any given article is a steady source of revenue ; it is certain; it cannot be avoided or circumscribed; and if any protection arises from it, it is a home protection and not a foreign one. It also puts to rest the difficulty as to home and foreign valuations, which always arises under the ad valorem system. That some protection will be afforded, is inevitable, if the duties go up. Mr. Secretary Cobb says himself that he does not expect to see a tariff " framed on rigid revenue principles," and both the President and Mr. Cobb seem to agree that the duties must go up, or we must borrow more money, which is not, they say, desirable. Indeed, the difference would be just the interest on the sum total borrowed in favor of in- LIFE OF VANCE. 47 creased duties. I must agree with both in this respect and think it better to bring up the tariff at once to a revenue standard and be done with it, than to keep on glorifying free trade in the face of the facts and the figures; for, although we are told to wait a little longer, to wait until the country has recovered from the great financial crisis which it has so recently undergone, I regard delay as the more dan- gerous course. How much indeed, the present low duties have had to do in producing this very crisis, is in my opinion, a question open to debate, to say the least of it. My own notion is, that California gold, for which we are not indebted to any kind of tariff, has alone kept us from calamities compared with which our recent troubles were small and insignificant. But, although there may be a difference honestly entertained, among gentlemen, as to the best manner of regulating the tariff, it seems to me, sir, that there can be but one opinion in regard to the public lands — that other great source of our revenue. I am one of those who believe, with General Jackson, that these lands ought not to be made a source of revenue at all. I have a still stronger reason for disbelieving in the policy of keeping them, both as a source of revenue and as a corruption fund to control the politics of this country. I have heretofore acted upon the policy of distributing these lands among the several States of the Union, or their proceeds in order to enable them to erect public works, establish free schools, and to bear the burdens of general improvement, within their respective borders. I believe, if that policy had been adopted at the time it was first broached, that the wealth and prosperity of every vState in the Union would have been materially enhanced, and the country saved from much wrangling and bitterness, from many monstrous frauds and gigantic swindles. But this policy was withstood by the Democratic party, which at a very early period, took ground against distribution, and declared thai these grounds ought to be held as a source of revenue, the pro- ceeds poured into the public Treasury, and applied to defraying the public expenses, and would thus best inure to the use and benefit of the people. That party prevailed ; and although under that disposi- tion of the public lands, Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia, which ceded their lands to the government, until the lands thus ceded were all sold, continued, in reality, to pay five times more than their pro- portionate share of all the public taxes ; yet the public was everywhere met with praises of the justice and equality, as well as economy, of the system. From that time down to the last convention, which assembled in Cincinnati in 1856, every neighborhood, county, district, State and national convention, so far as mj' recollection now extends, pledged the party, in the face of the nation, to oppose the distribution of these public lands, whether among States, corporations or individ- uals, and saying that they ought to be applied to the use of the general 48 LIFE OF VANCE. government, to relieve the people of taxation, and for no other pur- pose whatever. Nay, sir, the favorite term of expression was, that " the proceeds of these lands ought to be sacredly applied " to these purposes, thus giving a kind of religious sanction to the sincerity of the promise. When the advocates of distribution, defeated in so many struggles, had come almost to despair of obtaining their object, I, for one, felt that we were well consoled by being able to fall back upon the oft- repeated promises. I was cheered by the thought, that if we could not get a fair and equal distribution, we knew at least that the proceeds of the land sale were well disposed of, that they were "sacredly ap- plied" to the general charge and expenditure. But, sir, even that consolation is taken away from me, and the actual reality stares us in the face. During the last session of Congress, acting in obedience to a resolu- tion, the Secretary of the Interior transmitted a report in brief to the House setting forth the number of acres disposed of, and for what purpose, since the inauguration of the present system. By that report it appears (I quote from memory) that about one hundred and twenty- nine million acres have been sold and the proceeds applied, (whether sacredly or not we cannot now tell) to the public expenses ; whilst, during the same period, there have been " sacredly " given away and squandered about two hundred and ten million acres ! And this ex- clusive of military grants amounting to some forty-four millions ! Some millions are given to build the magnificent railroad system of Illinois, which cannot be fairly construed to come under the head of " general charge and expenditure ; " some millions more are handed over to Minnesota, to Iowa, to Wisconsin and other Northwestern States for railroads, schools, public buildings and so on. What con- struction other gentlemen may put on this I am unable to say ; but, in my opinion, the giving away of the common property to free States, to support those public burdens, which my constituents have to pay out of their own pockets, is neither a part of the expenses of the general government proper, nor is the object verj' sacred. To avoid tediousness I shall not enumerate the various States which shared this public spoil, both North and South, or recite the various grants so sacredly donated to corporations and companies. They will all be found grouped over the sum total of two hundred and ten millions in the report referred to. Is there any prospect of the evil being stopped ? Why, sir, I was perfectly astounded to learn the number of bills now before the House for giving away lands. I sat in my place in this hall, and heard the other day bills enough introduced to cover, as I thought, all the lands on the North American continent. Many of them seemed to me to have reference to the prospective annexation of all the nations, kindreds, tongues and tribes, from the open Polar Sea, beyond the LIFE OF VANCE. 49 regfions of eternal ice, to the Isthmus of Darien. There seems to pre- vail, in certain sections, a notion that our " manifest destiny " is to conquer territory, and then give it away in lots and quantities to suit the convenience of applicants. Why, sir, no Spanish monarch ever gave away realms and barbarian empires, which were not yet his to give, with so lavish a hand as we display in granting away annually millions upon millions of acres of the noblest land on earth, of which it is promised that the price of every acre shall be sacredlj' applied to a far different object. So wild has the infatuation grown, that, not satisfied with the splendid operations of States, corporations and in- dividuals, the nation has actually conceived the idea of swindling itself out of two hundred million acres to build a Pacific railroad. What an age we live in ! But the brightest, most magnificent idea of all yet conceived for getting rid of these lands, is the bill — which lately passed this House — of the honorable gentleman from Pennsyl- vania, which will give at least one hundred million acres to whoever will go and take it. No odds who it is ; the invitation is general to all the world. " Walk up, gentlemen, and help yourselves." Now, sir, leaving entirely out of sight, the fact, that this disposi- tion of the public property is a rank and gross outrage upon the rights of the old States, and a palpable violation of the spirit of the deeds of cession, is it not a reckless and ruinous waste of the public revenues ? Is it not a strange way of redeeming a promise so " sacredly " made. What wonder, sir, that the tariff has to go up, when this great and un- failing source of public wealth is thus lavishly thrown away ? If this fund is no longer to go into the public Treasury to relieve the people from the burdens of a high tariff, why, then, in common justice and common honesty, let us all, the old and new States, take share and share alike. I have long been a distributionist, because I thought justice and equality demanded it ; butif I could only see these promises faithfully carried out, if I can only see this vast sum honestly applied to defraj-ing the general charge and expenditures of a common govern- ment, I would agree to ask nothing more. I call on gentlemen to stop this wild raid after the public lands. I will gladly stand with any party to effect this object. It is a little strange that every State in the Union can participate in these land grants save and except alone those States which were the original proprietors. The ordinary statute of distributions is entirely reversed, and the furthest of kin, instead of the nearest, seem to be best entitled to this estate. There is great anxiety manifested with the admission of every new State, to put it on an equality with the other States, by princely donations of the public property ; but it never seems to occcur to gentlemen that there is no equality in the case so long as one-half of the States get nothing at all. What do you call equality, and how do you bring it about ? Do you call it equality when one party gets all and the other gets nothing? 50 LIFE OF VANCE. And do you produce this equality by loading one with favors and stripping the other bare ? Nay, sir, worse still is done. The elder sisters of this great family of States bring their advancements into hotch-pot, and the law not only gives the younger sisters the principal estate, but the advancements also, leaving the elder sisters without inheritance in the common propert}'. Truly, "from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath." And although the doctrine has been strenuously maintained that it was unconstitutional for the general government to erect improvements not of a national character in the respective States, the Secretary of the Interior shows us that four thousand six hundred and forty-nine and one-half miles of railroad have been built, or provided for, by the Thirty-Fourth Congress alone. How many schools have been established, and how many public buildings have been erected by Congress in this way, the report does not show. It would take up all my allotted time to show one-half of the donations to the new States, and for what purposes ; therefore I will forbear. Suffice it to say, that scarcely a single grant is not in direct contravention of this doctrine, whether right or wrong. And before I close this subject, I may be permitted to remark upon the strangeness of the fact, that no land bill has passed this Congress, and become a law, which made provision for an equal division among all the States. The faintest shadow of justice and equality in a land bill is sufficient to "dam it to everlasting fame." Bennett's land bill could not get through, neither could the agricultural college bill of the gentleman from Vermont, (Mr. Morrill); and though the lunatic asylum bill got through Congress, it met its quietus on the ground of unconstitutionality, at the hands of a Presi- dent who signed bills giving away lands enough to build four thousand six hundred and forty-nine miles of railroad and many million acres besides for works of a similar nature ! But, sir, we are continually told that it becomes no man to talk about a waste of the public revenues, or to recommend economy who voted for the old soldiers' bill ; that that was a measure of such reckless and dangerous extravagance, as to completel}' shut the mouths of all who are anxious to promote a reform in our alarming expenditures. I am glad to hear that word economy coming from such gentlemen. I am delighted to know, sir, that Saul is once more among the prophets, though he come even "in such questionable shape" as a reformer ; for if there ever was a time in the history of the government, when retrenchment and reform were needed, now is that time. Put in the knife, sir, by all means. Let it be sharp and keen, and I will help and hold and cry, "Lay on, McDuff ! " and well done, while the bright blade flashes right and left, reddening as it goes, among the foul ulcers of the body politic till the last one is removed. But I do not wish to begin to economize in the wrong place. I do not wish, sir, to let the first stroke fall on the best, the noblest, the LIFE OF VANCE. 51 most useful part of the whole nation, the gallant soldiers of the War of 1S12. What would be thought, sir, of the man who would begin to reform his household expenses, by giving a half feed to his horse, his ox, and his plowman ? Instead of saving money, sir, he would dry wp the source of his wealth entirely ; for in a short time his plowman and his horse would be as weak as a politician's promises, as feeble as a modern platform. Such a man would hardly be termed a bad economist ; he would be called a fool and would deserve the appella- tion. He should commence by cutting off all the superfluous parts of his establishment first, so there might be no diminution in the com- forts of those who labored. So, sir, we should begin in the national household, to lop off the superfluous excrescences that uselessly feed on the Treasury. We might profitably decapitate some thousands of that class of hungry hangers-on, who swarm in the land with the numbers and rapacity of the Egyptian locust, " devouring every green thing." I contend, sir, that the citizen soldier is at once the pride and glory, the staj- and the surety of the nation ; and no government is wise which refuses to contribute, in this way, to the fostering of that warlike spirit in its militia. The gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Nichols) told us the other day that his spirit originated solely in patriotism and devotion to our liberties, and that no greater insult could be offered to those gallant men than to put their services in the War of 1812 on a footing of dollars and cents. " Patriotism," said he, " is its own reward." What a pity it is that he is not as prompt to defend these men from real want as from imaginary insult ! I would not do any soldier of that war the injustice to suppose for a moment that thought of the pay influenced him in the slightest. His country was in danger ; that was enough for him. The bugle blast told him that the invader's foot was upon the soil, and he went to the rescue. But this is all the greater reason why they deserve well at our hands. As they were prompt and brave to defend us, so should we be prompt and liberal to repay them. I do not believe they are sufficiently repaid by the honor and glory they have acquired. Thousands of these men are now in the deepest poverty, and have the hardest work to keep the wolf from the doors of their homes, where dwell their wives and little ones. Can one of them walk into the market and buy a rump of beef or a leg of mutton with glory ? What merchant advertises that he will take either glory, honor, or renown, in exchange for beef, pork, and cabbage ? I doubt, sir, if either the gentleman from Ohio or m3'self would agree to represent our constitu- ents in this hall, glorious as it is, without — to speak in Kansas technology — "an enabling statute." You may talk of glory as much as you like, but these old soldiers want some more substantial testi- monial of the country's gratitude. That argument, sir, reminds me of the custom, in Catholic coun- tries, of having the priest to pass over the fields in the spring and 52 LIFE OF VANCE. bless the expected crop. On one such occasion, the priest being some- thing of an agriculturist, paused at one field which was very poor and sterile. "Here, my friends," said he, " blessings will do no good ; this field must have manure." The old soldiers, sir, value the glory they have acquired, no doubt ; but they must have something that will do more good than empty fame. Sir, I hope gentlemen will not be guilty of the sin of so often taking the name of economy in vain, for the people will not hold them guiltless. I protest, sir, against making this word cover all the sins of the age. There are but few of these soldiers alive, and they are necessarily far advanced in years. It is but now and then that you m.eet with one of them ; and if we do our duty in cutting down our ruinous expenditures at the present session, the amount required to pay them will scarcely be felt. The bill provides no back pay, and only gives a small sum for life, graduated according to the length of the soldier's services. In my opinion the vast amount so unwisely spent in the bloodless Mormon war, would be sufl&cient for this bill. I do earnestly hope that the Senate may consider it favorably, and that it may become a law. On February 15th, 1859, Vance asked tinanimons consent to introduce a bill to extend the bounty lands act of November 3d, 1855, to wagon masters and teamsters. Ob- jected to. February i6th Mr. Cavanaugh wanted his colleague ex- cused. Mr. Washburn: "What is the matter?" The Speaker: "He is presumed to be indisposed." Vance: "I would like to know if such presumption can be rebut- ted?" [Laughter.] Motion not agreed to. The Thirty-Sixth Congress to which Vance was elected in 1858, assembled in December, 1859. It was a memorable Congress, the last one before the great secession took place. This Congress was memorable on many accounts, but first and foremost for the long and bitter contest over the Speak- ership of the House. The members of the House consisted of 109 Republicans, loi Democrats, 26 Americans and one Whig. Among them were many men distinguished then and since and whose names are quite familiar now, viz: Justin S. Morrill, of Vermont; Chas. Francis Adams and Columbus Delano, Masssachusetts ; Daniel E. Sickles, F. E. Spinner, Roscoe Conklin, New York ; Thaddeus Stevens, LIFE OF VANCE. 53 Galusha A. Grow, Edward McPherson and John Co\ode, Pennsylvania; Henry Winters Davis, Maryland ; Roger A. Pryor, Thos. S. Bocock and A. R. Boteler, Virginia; Law- rence M. Keitt, M. h. Bonhani and W. W. Boyce, South Carolina; Joshua Hill, Georgia; Jas. L. Pugh, J. M. L. Currie, Alabama; L. Q. C. Lamar, Wm. Barksdale, O. R. Singleton, Mississippi; Geo. H. Pendleton, C. L. Valland- ingham, Thos. Corwin, S. S. Cox, John Sherman, Ohio ; Thos. A. R. Nelson, Horace Maynard, Emerson Ethridge, Tennessee; W. S. Holman, W. H English, Schuyler Col- fax, Indiana; Jno. A. Logan, E. B. Washburn, Illinois; John H. Reagan, Texas ; Wm. Windom, Minnesota. The name of the delegate from Nebraska was "Experience Eastabrook." In the Senate were Hannibal Hamlin, Maine ; John P. Hale, New Hampshire; Chas. Sumner, Henry Wilson, Massachusetts ; W. H. Seward, Preston King, New York ; Simon Cameron, Pennsylvania ; Jas. A. Bayard, Delaware ; Jas. M, Mason, R. M. T. Hunter, Virginia ; Robert Toombs, Georgia, Jefferson Davis, Mississippi; John Slidell, J. P. Benjamin, Louisiana ; John J. Crittenden, Kentucky ; An- drew Johnson, A. O. P. Nicholson, Tennessee ; Stephen A. Douglas, Illinois ; Trusten Polk, Missouri ; Zach Chandler, Michigan ; Joseph Lane, Oregon. The Senators from North Carolina were Thos. Bragg and Thos. L. Clingman, and the delegation in the House were W. N. H. Smith, First district; Thos. Ruffin, Second; Warren Winslow, Third; L. O'B. Branch, Fourth ; Jno. A. Gilmer, Fifth; James M. Leach, Sixth ; Burton Craig, Seventh, and Z. B. Vance, Eighth. Of these. Smith, Gilmer, Leach and Vance were classed as Americans, the others as Democrats. Party lines seem not to have been very closely drawn as to the speakership, and it does not appear that there were any caucus nominees. John Sherman was in the lead on the Republican side, but received only 66 votes out of a total of 109 Republicans. Bocock got nearly all the 54 LIFE OF VANCE. Democrats on the first ballot, while the Americans scattered widely. Vance voted for Boteler, of Virginia, who received 14 votes. This was the first ballot and the beginning of a struggle which lasted two months. It is difficult at this distance of time to understand, even from j^erusing the record of proceedings, the motives which guided the mem- bers in casting their votes. And it is doubtful whether they themselves clearly apprehended either the true situa- tion or their own motives and desires. The Democrats seem to have been most nearly solid but they were in a minority, wdiile the Republicans w^ere not harmonious among themselves, and the Americans, though holding the balance of power, were widely at variance with each other as to what course to pursue. Consequently the wildest shooting, the most inconsistent and erratic voting was wit- nessed day after day. Candidates were being constantly put up and taken down by all parties. Two or three ballots were enough to test the strength of any candidate, and this strength seemed to depend largely upon individual antece- dents, pledges and character. Lawrence M. Keitt, an eloquent and fiery young member from South Carolina, said in a speech on the subject that W. N. H. Smith, of North Carolina, was elected on a certain ballot, but before the result could be announced, enough votes were changed to defeat him. The discussions were for the most part highly sectional and inflammatory, though the language and bearing of the members towards each other were in the main courteous and respectful, otherwise it would have been impossible to preserve order and decorum without a presiding officer to enforce parliamentary law or decide questions of privilege and order. As no business could be transacted till a speaker was elected, the intervals between the ballotings were taken up with discussions of partizan and sectional questions. (3n the very first day of the ses- sion, " The Invasion of Harper's Ferry " and " Helpers Impending Crisis," Vv'ere lively topics of discussion. Amid LIFE OF VANCE. 55 all this commotion and turmoil Vance was neither silent nor indifferent. Though among- the young and inex- perienced he was ever on the alert and his voice was frequently heard, sometimes in seriousness, but more fre- quently, perhaps, in jest, whereby to tone down excitement, cool heated blood, take the poison from hostile arrows and convert bursts of anger into shouts of laughter. But his votes were as wild and scattering as the others. He did not want to vote for a Democrat, (another name as he then thought for secessionist) and he could not vote for a Re- publican, then everywhere in the South called Black Re- publican. The dead-lock finally came to an end. On the forty-fourth ballot, on February ist, Wm. Pen- nington, a Republican of New Jersey, an inexperienced and unknown man, was elected. On that ballot Vance voted for W. N. H. Smith, though Jno. A. Gilmer, of the same party and same State, received i6 votes. Vance's first speech in this Congress was delivered December 29th, 1859, and was as follows: I hope the House will indulge me a single remark, especially in consideration of the fact that I have not trespassed upon its attention from the commencement of the session until this time. I hope I have shown by the votes that I have recorded here in this contest that I am willing to assist in the election of any man upon a conservative and national basis, which phrase I am certain the House has never heard before. [Great laughter.] I have voted for a Lecompton Democrat. I have voted for those who did not approve of the Lecompton bill. I have voted for an administration Democrat. I have voted for an anti- administration Democrat. And if there is an}' other member of that great, proHfic Democratic family that I have neglected, I hope they will trot him out and give me an opportunity to vote for him. [Laughter.] And now, sir, I am still willing to exhibit the same national conservative spirit by voting for Mr. Scott, of California. I vote for him knowing that he will not be elected on this ballot and that my vote will do him no good. But yesterday, when my gallant friend from Tennessee (Mr. Maynard) was nominated, forty-five Demo- crats, members of this House, laid down their party prejudice and voted for him, and it shall not be said to-day, when Mr. Scott, a Demo- crat, a national conservative one, I hope, was nominated, there was not found one Whig to return the compliment. I vote for Charles L. Scott. [Applause in the galleries.] 56 LIFE OF VANCH. His second and only other speech of any length in that Congress was delivered on January 31st, i860, and was as follows : As a general thing I do not believe in the propriety of a Representa- tive making a personal explanation for every thing he has done here or every vote he thinks proper to give. This House is not the tribunal to which I have to answer for my conduct. My constituents will require that of me, and I will answer to them as best I can. I profess to have a fee simple in my own understanding, though my under- standing, like the fee, may be simple also. But I propose upon this occasion very briefly — for brevity is the soul of wit (I should like at least to possess the sole wit of brevity) — to make the vote I am now going to give the occasion rather than the subject of a brief explana- tion. I do not insist on every Democrat in this House voting for the gentleman from Illinois as a condition precedent before I can vote for him myself. The 'gentleman from Illinois (Mr. McClernard), when my honorable colleague, Mr. Smith was put in nomination, differing from him as much as I differ from the gentleman from Illinois, came forward with a magnanimity, a generosity and with a patriotism I have rarely seen equalled, without making any inquiries or asking questions, and cast his vote for my colleague. Now, sir, shall not I reciprocate the honor conferred on my State, be magnanimous enough to do the same thing ? Some of my South American friends have said that in consequence of the peculiar doctrines in relation to the gov- ernment of the Territories that the Northwestern Democrats are supposed to entertain, they cannot make such a sacrifice of principle as to come to this gentleman's support. Sir, when we ourselves have seen these Northwestern Democrats come up to the support of a South- ern opposition man, though differing widely from themselves, to organ- ize the House, and have seen, on the other hand, a Southern slaveholder a Representative from a Southern city (Mr. Davis, of Maryland), delib- erately supporting the candidate of the Black Republican party, I confess I feel it would be ill-requiting their conservatism to deny them our support. [Great applause in the galleries.] I do not con- sider myself as endorsing anything by this vote save and except alone my own opposition to Black Republicanism. I consider it an evidence of the degeneracy of the times that gentlemen here cannot sacrifice as small and insignificant a thing as their party prejudices for the com- mon good, when men may be sometimes called upon as our fathers were in times past, to sacrifice their lives, their fortunes and their hea:rt's blood to the cause of their country. And I to-day feel ashamed as did the people of old, who refused to receive a present of the oxen with which to make a sacrifice saying that he would not offer a sacri- fice to God of that which cost him nothing. By this, sir, I mean to cast no sort of imputation upon the patriotism of those of my political LIFE OF VANCE. 57 friends who see proper to differ with me or to impugn the validity of their reasons for not voting as I do. I only mean to say that members of the Democracy refusing to vote for their own man forms no suffi- cient reason why I should not meet the gentleman from Illinois on the high conservative grounds which he has occupied throughout this contest and return the compliment which he has paid my colleague and through him my State. Therefore, sir, I have to say without hesitation, equivocation, mental reservation or secret evasion of mind whatever, straight along and throughout I vote for John A. Mc- Clernard, of Illinois. Although Vance made no elaborate speeches during this Congress and although he was young and inexperienced he was one of the most attentive, alert, lively and industrious members of that body, as the official records abundantly show. He was placed on the standing committee on revo- lutionary claims with S. S. Cox, W. S. Holman and others, but was assigned to no other standing committee. On February i6th, i860, he introduced a bill to execute the treaties of 181 7 and 1819 with the Cherokee Indians which was read and appropriately referred, and on the same day explained as to the transfer of pairs of Leach and Moss on the vote for Public Printer. On March 9th, from the committee on revolutionary claims he reported a bill for the relief of the heirs of Col. Benjamin Wilson, which was read and referred to the private calendar ; also a bill for the relief of the heirs of Rev. Jas. Craig, which was similarly referred, and on the same day he twice offered the excuses of his colleague Leach for absence at roll call. On March 1 2th, he offered the following resolution which by unani- mous consent was considered and agreed to: "Resolved, That the committee on public lands be instructed to enquire into the propriety of providing for the duplication, under proper restrictions against fraud, of lost land warrants issued to soldiers and of extending the term of the same, and that they have leave to report by bill or otherwise." April 6th, Vance, from the committee on Revolutionary claims, re- ported a bill for the relief of the heirs of James Bell, of Canada, which was read and appropriately referred, and on 58 LIFE OF VANCE. April 7th he had a colloquy with Burnett, Crawford and others as to bills reported in favor of Revolutionary claims. On April aotli he excused his colleague Ruffin who was absent at roll call. On May 4th Vance reported a bill for the relief of Robert Stricklin, another for the relief of the heirs of Thos. Hagard, and another for the relief of the heirs of Lieut. George Walton ; also a bill in favor of An- drew Reese, and another for the relief of Richard Jones and others, all which w^ere read and referred to the committee of the whole House. On May 9th there was a call of the roll. Mr. Delano was in the restaurant when his name was called, but returned to the hall before the roll call was ended and asked permission to vote. The Speaker inquired if the orentleman was within the bar of the House when his name was called. He answered he was within the bar of the restaurant. Mr. Cochrane said if he would explain fully what he was doing in the restaurant, perhaps he might get leave to vote. Mr. Delano said : •'! was engaged in the great work of self-protection." Vance interposed, "I thought perhaps the gentleman might have been en- gaged in the matter of internal improvement.^^ {Great Laughter.] May 9th, a tariff bill was under discussion, Vance said : " I move to strike out in line 79 the word pumpkins. I make the motion in deference to the gentleman who has taken the terrapins of my State under his charge and for his benefit, and that of his constituents. I have no doubt a high duty on pumpkins would operate favorably." [Laughter.] May 1 8th he reported a bill for the relief of the Presby- terian church at Trenton, New Jersey, which was read and referred to the whole House. May 29th the appropriation bill was under consideration. A good deal of complaint had been made about the high prices paid for labor and material in repairs upon the capitol, when Vance offered the following amendment : " Provided, that there shall not LIFE OF VANCE. 59 be expended for labor and material upon the capitol exten- • sion more than twice as much as the same could be ob- tained for by private individuals." [Laughter.] On May 23d there was a call of the House. Mr. Etheridge asked leave to retire for thirty minutes. The cat calls and guying implied that he was suspected of wanting to get a drink. A motion being made to excuse him for half an hour, Vance said : " I move to amend by asking the gentleman to take me along with him," [Laughter.] A Japanese minister visited the capitol, and Mr. Winslow, of North Carolina, was on the committee of escort. During his ab- sence there was a roll call, and Vance created great merri- ment by announcing that his " colleague, Mr. Winslow, was paired with the gentleman from Yeddo." June 2d he made an adverse report on a bill to which Mr. Barr was opposed. The latter, perhaps, not noticing that the report was ad- verse, entered an objection. " What," said Vance, " object to my killing the bill for you?" June 6th there was a call of the House, and an all-night session. Vance was sum- moned from his home about 2 o'clock in the morning and required to give his excuse to the House. He said : " Well, sir, I am rather afraid to undertake to render an excuse, as it seems that any excuse having a reason in it is not in order in this House, [laughter] and I would not like to give an excuse that has no reason ; therefore, I will say the demands of food and sleep took me home. I under- stood the House was in committee of the whole on the' state of the Union, and that its members were engaged in discussions intended for my district. I represent Buncombe. [Laughter.] I was disagreeably disturbed at a few minutes past 2 o'clock this morning, while I was wrapped in the arms of Morpheus and dreaming pleasant dreams which I need not detain this House to relate." Shortly afterwards, seeing that the Speaker was absent and was represented by a substitute in the chair, he inquired : " Where is the Speaker ? Is he enjoying himself at home while we suffer 6o LIFE OF VANCE. here ?" A motion was made to send a messenger to inform the Speaker that his presence was required in the House. Vance said send the Sergeant-at-Arms, but objection being made that more courtesy was due the Speaker, Vance said : " I do not wish to be wanting in courtesy, but there was some coiirtesy due my sknnbers, so rudely broken at half past 2 o'clock this morning." When the Speaker appeared, a while before day, Vance arose and said : I give the Speaker the top of the morning and hope he had a good night's rest." The member from Oregon (his name was Stout) being absent, a fellow-member said there was some doubt about the health of the member from Oregon, and he should be allowed to explain. Vance said : " I am happy to inform the gentleman from Maryland that the member from Oregon is quite stout." [Laughter.] On a certain vote Vance said he was paired with Mr. Stout, who had gone to Baltimore (to the Democratic convention) to witness the riot. [Laughter.] January 12th, 1861, (second session) he made a report from the committee on Revolutionary claims in favor of Mary Clearwater, of New York, and on February 6th explained his vote as to postal laws in seceding States. February 12th, he reported a bill in favor of the heirs of Robert Stockton, of New Jersey, Quarter Master in the Army. February 19th, he explained that his colleague. Smith, was absent on account of sickness, but if present would vote in the afhrmative. January 14th, he said : " I suppose that Congress has for forty years been making speeches for buncombe, there will be no objection to Buncombe making a speech for herself. I, therefore, offer a resolution from Buncombe county ; also one from Caldwell county. North Carolina, in relation to the state of the country, and ask that they be referred to the proper committee." Washburn, of Illinois, said : " I desire to know whether the resolutions are in earnest or merely for buncombe." Vance replied : " They LIFE OF VANCE. 6r are in earnest. Buncombe never speaks for herself except when in dead earnest." This was his last utterance in the House. Lincoln was inaugurated President on the 4th of March ensuing, which was the end of the Thirty-Sixth Congress. And although Vance had been elected to the Thirty-Seventh Congress, he was in the Confederate army before that Congress as- sembled. 62 LIFE OF VANCE. CHAPTER VI. BREAKING OUT OF THE WAR RAISES A COMPANY. BY GEN. R. B. VANCE. The Breaking Out of the War — Excitement in Asheville — Vance's Speech at Marshall — Lincoln's Proclamation — Two Volunteer Companies Formed — Vance Captain of the Rough and Ready Guards — Its Officers — Departure from Asheville — Arrival in Ral- eigh and Assignment to the Fourteenth Regiment. THE excitement throughout the country caused by the firing upon Fort Sumter, and the proclamation of the President was of the wildest character. ]\Ir. Vance spoke at Marshall on the — day , 1861. He had taken ground in Congress against secession, which he strongly opposed, but at the same time he declared his belief in the right of revolution. He earnestly warned the country of the danger of attempting to coerce the States of the South by force of arms. He had in the closing hours of Congress, with all the warmth of his heart and the power of his eloquence, exerted himself for the preservation of the Union, and that this should be done peacefully. With these views, he spoke at IVIarshall. The court house was crowded, the people solemn and attentive, and Vance delivered his address without anecdotes, and in the most feeling manner. Sorrow and gloom were depicted on the faces of the people. Vance returned to Asheville that night and found the citizens in a state of agitation and ex- citement over the President's proclamation. The very next day there was a movement for raising troops to act in opposition to the call of the President. The first company raised in Buncombe was that of Capt. W. W. McDowell, afterwards Maj. McDowell of the Confederate States Army. The next company that left the county was Vance's com- pany, "The Rough and Ready Guards." It was organized LIFE OF VANCE. 63 at Aslieville on the 4th day of May, 1861, with the follow- ino- officers and non-commissioned officers : Zebnlon B. Vance, Captain; Philetns W. Roberts, First Lieutenant; James M. Gudger, Second Lieutenant ; Samuel S. Brown, Second Lieutenant; Frank M. Harney, First Sergeant; Branch A. Merrimon, Second Sergeant; Thos. D. John- ston, Third Sergeant; Thomas N. Stephens, Fourth Sergeant ; J. ]\L Whitmire, Fifth Sergeant ; I. V. Baird, First Corporal ; A. G. Horner, Second Corporal ; A. F. Harris, Third Corporal ; D. M. Gudger, Fourth Corporal. The day that the " Rough and Ready Guards " left Aslie- ville was a memorable one. The streets were crowded with people, friends and admirers of the company, who had come to see the gallant boys turn their faces eastward. The stirring notes of drums and fifes, the waving of flags, the thrilling and patriotic echoes of " Dixie," the shouts of the people and the tears of the bystanders, as they looked on faces never, in all probability to be seen again on earth, made it indeed a scene long to be remembered. The gal- lant boys passed out of the city by South Main Street, turned to the left at the Swannanoa, and passed up its beautiful banks, followed for miles by weeping women and loving friends. The noble and heroic men of this company and their beloved captain are not forgotten by the people, and never will be as long as the splintered peaks of their mountains pierce the sky and the waters from the vicinity of Mitchell's Peak roll murmuringly to the sea. The warmth of an abiding love clings around the dear old veterans who are spared to us, while the tears of mothers, wives, children, sisters and sweethearts embalm the resting places of the dead, where " The silent pillar, lone and gray, Claims kindred with their sacred clay; Their spirits wrap the dusky mountains, Their memories sparkle o'er the fountains; The meanest rill, the mightiest rirer, • Roll mingling with their fame forever." 6/\. LIFE OF VANCE. The "Guards" camped the first night at "West's Old Field," which is to the present day the rendezvous of the company in the annual reunions of the survivors. Capt. Vance returned to his home that night, and next day, on horseback, passed out of the city through the gap of the mountian known as " Beau Catcher." The captain lingered long in the gap overlooking his home and his city. In the near distance the French Broad rolled on with its rugged waters. Still further away old Pisgah lifted its lofty peaks above the Hominies and Pigeon rivers, and further still the Smoky Range endeavored to rival Mount Mitchell in its height and in its glory. With a deep sigh the captain turned away from a sight so entrancing. It reminds one of Boabdil, in the gap of the mountain over- looking the Alhambra and fair Granada, which spot has since been known as "The Last Sigh of the Moor." While not knowing, as did Boabdil, that he would never see his home again, it was highly probable that he never would be so blessed. Captain Vance, on his arrival at Raleigh with his com- pany, was placed in the Fourteenth Regiment of North Carolina Troops. LIFE OF VANCE. 65 CHAPTER VII. AS SOLDIER AND WAR GOVERNOR. While Captain of Rough and Ready Guard in Fourteenth Regiment, is Elected Colonel of the Twenty-Sixth Regiment — Takes Command on Bogue Banks — Plans to Recapture -Hatteras — Thwarted by General Gatling — Battle of Newbern — Considerable Loss — Difficult Retreat — Swims Bryce's Creek With Men and Horses — Writes a Letter Declining to Run for Congress in His Old District — Letter Defining His Position as to Running for Governor — Is Nominated and Elected Governor — Sword Presented and Speeches Made on Leaving the Army — Is Inaugurated Governor — First Man to Put Down Speculation in Provisions — W^rites Letters to President Davis and Others to Prevent Suspension of Habeas Corpus — Re- quires Decisions of Judges to Be Respected by the Military — Objects to Foraging Confederate Cavalry on the People of This State — Refuses to Impress Negroes to Work on Railroads — Calls the Cavalry F'oragers the Eleventh Plague of Egypt — Sends Money to Governor Seymoi:r to Supply North Carolina Prisoners With Needed Clothing — Blockade Steamers Carry Out Cotton and Bring Back Supplies, Clothing, Guns, Shoes, Cotton and Woolen Cards, Scythes, Medicines, Etc. N the fall of 1861, while Captain of the Rough and Ready Guards, in the Fourteenth Regiment, Vance was elected Colonel of the Twenty-sixth Regiment. Soon after taking command, his regiment was assigned to duty on Bogue Banks, near Fort Macon. This was shortly after the fall of Hatteras. The service there proving monoto- nous, he conceived the design of recapturing Hatteras by a night attack. It was understood the garrison was small, and Col. Vance thought that by landing a few hundred picked men, well equipped with side-arms, out of the range of the guns of the fort, a hurried march by land could be made, the guard overpowered in a hand-to-hand contest, and the fort retaken. After conferring with a few of his 6 66 LIFE OF VANCE. chosen officers, lie laid the project before Gen. Gatling, who commanded the department. After patiently and rather listlessly hearing the details, the General pronounced the scheme hazardous and impracticable, and refused to give his assent. When Roanoke Island had fallen into the hands of Burnside Newbern was seen to be in danger, and Vance's regiment, with other troops, was moved to that point. Here on Alarch 14th the battle of Newbern was fought. The position of Vance's regiment was on the right, while on his right was an impassable swamp. The left wing of his regiment was heavily engaged until about 12 o'clock, when the boats of Burnside passing up the river and caus- ing the troops between Vance's regiment and the river to give way, a retreat was ordered. Vance's regiment, though heavily pressed and sustaining considerable loss, was among the last to leave the field. The bridges on the Trent River having been burned, this regiment was sup- posed to have been cut off and captured. But not so. The Colonel made a detour by the left flank, crossing Brice's Creek by swimming a number of men and horses, and crossing the river above Trenton. On the next day he marched the regiment into Kinston in good order. His skill and that of his Lieutenant Colonel, Harry Burgwyn, in handling the troops and providing for their welfare at the peril of their own safety and the sacrifice of their own comfort, greatly endeared them to their men. The regi- ment was shortly afterwards ordered to Virginia, and participated in the seven days' fight around Richmond, being actively engaged four days, and winding up with the Malvern Hill engagement July 3d, 1862. At the general election of August in that year he was chosen governor of the State by a very large majority. He did not seek the office. He remained at his post in command of his regiment till after the election. He took no part whatever in the campaign, but made known his LIFE OF VANCE. 67 views and feelings in the followino- letter to the Fayette- ville Observer: Headquarters Twenty-Sixth Regiment N. C. Troops, KiNSTON, N. C, June i6th, 1862. Editors of the Observer: A luimber of primary meetings of the people and a respectable portion of the newspapers of the State having put forward my name for the office of Governor, to which I may also add the reception of numerous letters to the same purport, I deem it proper that I should make some response to these flattering indications of confidence and regard. Believing that the only hope of the South depended upon the prose- cution of the war at all hazards and to the utmost extremity so long as the foot of an invader pressed Southern soil, I took the field at an early day, with the determination to remain there until our independ- ence was achieved. My convictions in this regard remain unchanged. In accordance therewith I have steadily and sincerely declined all promotion save that which placed me at the head of the gallant men whom I now command. A true man should, however, be willing to serve wherever the public voice may assign him. If, therefore, my fellow-citizens believe that I could serve the great cause better as Governor than I am now doing, and should see proper to confer this great responsibility upon me withoiit solicitation on my part, I should not feel at liberty to decline it, however conscious of my own un- worthiness. In thus frankly avowing my willingness to labor in any position which may be thought best for the public good, I do not wish to be considered guilty of the affectation of indifference to the great honor which my fellow-citizens thus propose to bestow upon me. On the contrary, I should consider it the crowning glory of my life to be placed in a position where I could most advance the interests and honor of North Carolina, and if necessary lead her gallant sons against her foes. But I shall be content with the people's will. Let them speak. Sincerely deprecating the growing tendency towards party strife amongst our people, which every patriot should shun in the presence of the common danger, I earnestly pray for that unity of sentiment and fraternity of feeling which alone, with the favor of God, can enable us to prosecute this war for liberty and independence against all odds and under every adversit}-, to a glorious and triumphant issue. Very truly yours, Z. B. VANCE. He had previously written the following letter, declining a nomination for Congress in his old district and giving his reasons: 68 LIFE OF VANCE. Headquarters Twenty-Sixtpi Regiment N. C. Troops, Camp Burgwyn, Near Morehead City, vSept. i8th, 1861. Dear Sir : Your letter of the 2d inst., addressed to my brother, was forwarded by him, and received this day. In it j-ou ask, first, if I will be a candidate for Congress, and second, if not a candidate, will I consent for my name to be run ? To both questions I answer in the negative. To this course I am impelled by what I consider the most conclusive reasons. You remember well the position I occupied upon the great ques- tion which so lately divided the people of the South . Ardently devoted to the old Union, and the forms which the Federal fathers established, I clung to it so long as I thought there was a shadow of hope for pre- servin,^, purifying or reconstructing it. And you will also remember that in the last official communication I had the honor to make to my constituents as their Representative I pledged myself in case all our efforts for peace and justice at the hands of the North should fail, that their cause was mine, their destiny was my destiny, and that all I had and was should be spent in their service. Those hopes did fail, as you know, signally and miserably fail ; civil war was thrust upon the country, and the strong arm of Northern despotism was stretched out to crush and subdue the Southern people. I immediately volunteered for their defense, in obedience, not only to this promise, but also, as I trust, to patriotic instincts ; and I should hold this promise but poorly fulfilled, should I now, after having acquired sufficient knowledge of military affairs to begin to be useful to my coxmtry, escape its obliga- tions by seeking, or even accepting a civil appointment. Certainly, if there lives a man in North Carolina who ought to do all and suffer all for his country, I am that man. Since the time of my entering upon man's estate the people have heaped promotion and honors, all undeserved, upon my head. In everything I have sought, their generous confidence, their unfailing kindness have sustained me. Whilst I can never sufficiently repay it, I am determined, God helping me, to show them I was not altogether unworthy of their regard., I am, therefore, not a candidate for Congress, nor will I con- sent for my name to be run. I am perfectly satisfied to be represented again by the sound sense and sober judgment of the gentleman who has so lately represented us at Richmond, or by a dozen gentlemen who live in our district not connected with the army, some of whom I hope the common peril and the common cause will induce our people to elect, without bickering and strife. I cannot close this hasty letter without assuring you that I am not insensible to the compliment conveyed by your own and a hundred other similar interrogations, which have reached me from different parts of the district. No man can feel prouder or more grateful at such manifestations. Surely God has never blessed a man with more sterling and devoted friends than I can number in the mountain district. LIFE OF VANCE. 69 May my name perish from the memory of my wife and children when I cease to remember these friends with gratitude. Among the many who have adhered so faithfully to my poor fortune through good and through evil report, I am always proud to remember you, unfalteringly and unmistakably. Please to accept, in conclusion, every assurance of my regards and good wishes for j-ou and yours. Most truly yours, Z. B. VANCE. To N. G. Allman, Esq., Franklin, N. C. Just before the battle of Malvern Hill took place a num- ber of Colonel Vance's officers and men besought him not to go into the fight because of the j^eculiarly great calamity that would follow his death just on the eve of the election. But it was not of his nature to pay heed to such an ad- monition. He led his regiment into the thickest of the fight, as usual, and came out unharmed. The election came off while the regiment was in camp near Petersburg, and Vance received every vote cast in the regiment. Be- fore he left the army to prepare for his inauguration as Governor the officers of the regiment presented him with a sword, the presentation speech being made by the late Iv. L. Polk, the Sergeant Major of the regiment. Vance's speech in reply was characteristically humorous and pa- thetic. He was inaugurated on the 8th day of September, under the provisions of an ordinance of the Convention, instead of on January ist, 1863, ^^ which time the full term of Governor Ellis, then lately deceased, would expire. No one can peruse Governor Vance's letter book without being impressed with the fact that his thoughts were chiefly occupied while Governor in devising means for clothing and feeding the North Carolina troops in the field and their dependent and helpless families at home. Upon investigation he found that adequate legislation had not been provided for this purpose, and just ten days after his inauguration he addressed a letter to Hon. Weldon N. Edwards, President of the State Convention, asking him 70 LIFE OF VANCE. to call a special session to supply the needed legislation. He says : " Speculation and extortion have attained such proportions that it will be impossible to clothe and shoe our troops except at most outrageous prices. The cr}- of distress comes up from the poor wives and children of our soldiers from all parts of the State. It is a subject which distresses me beyond measure, the more so as I feel power- less to remedy any of these evils." His personal staff consisted of Dr. Edward Warren, Surgeon General ; J. G. Martin, Daniel G. Fowle and Richard Gatlin, successively, Adjutant Generals ; R. H. Battle first, and then M. S. Robins, private secretary. It seems that the convention was not called together as the Governor had requested, but the Legislature convened in regular session in November, and so soon as authority was given to the Governor, he proceeded in a most system- atic and vigorous w^ay, to make provision for supplying the soldiers and people with the necessaries and comforts of life. Ocean steamers were purchased, the "Advance" and others, to transport cotton abroad. These steamers, by run- ning the blockade made frequent trips to Liverpool, and were reloaded with all such articles as were most needed by the people of the State, such as cotton cards, spinning wheels and sewing and knitting needles, for the use of the o-ood housewives in making clothes, and also with various kinds of machinery for the use of the cotton and woolen mills the State ; also surgical instruments and medicines. An agent was sent to England to superintend the selling of the cotton and the purchase of the articles which so much enhanced the comforts of the soldiers and people. In a speech delivered in Baltimore, before the Associa- tion of the Maryland Line, in 1885, Governor Vance made the following statement as to what had been accomplished by blockade-running, viz : By the general industry and thrift of our people, and by the use of a number of blockade-running steamers, carrying out cotton and bringing LIFE OF VANCE. 71 in supplies from Europe, I had collected and distributed from time to time as near as could be gathered from the records of the Quartermas- ter's Department, the following stores : Large quantities of machinery- supplies ; 60,000 pairs of hand cards ; 10,000 grain scythes ; 200 barrels of bluestone for wheat-growers ; leather and shoes to 250,000 pairs ; 50,- 000 blankets ; grey-wooled cloth for at least 250,000 suits of uniforms ; 12,000 overcoats, ready-made ; 2,000 best Enfield rifles, with 100 rounds of fixed ammunition ; 100, ooo pounds of bacon ; 500 sacks of coffee for hospital use ; 550,000 worth of medicines at gold prices ; large quanti- ties of lubricating oils, besides minor supplies of various kinds for the charitable institutions of the State. Not only was the supply of shoes, blankets and clothing more than sufficient for the supply of the North Carolina troops, but large quantities were turned over to the Confed- erate government for the troops of other States. In the winter succeeding the battle of Chickamauga, I sent to General Longstreet's corps 14,000 suits of clothing complete. At the surrender of General Johnston the State had on hand ready-made and in cloth 92,000 suits of uniforms, with great stores of blankets, leather, etc. To make good the warrant on which these purchases had been made abroad, the State purchased and had on hand in trust for the holders 11,000 bales of cotton and 100,000 barrels of rosin. The cotton was partly destroyed before the war closed and the remainder, amounting to several thousand bales, was captured, after peace was declared, by certain officers of the Federal army. Next to feeding and clothing the soldiers and their families, the Governor was most concerned in maintaining the supremacy of the civil authorities of the State against the aggressions of military power, and in mitigating the hardships of the conscript law and other measures and methods incident to a state of war. Inter anna silent leges is an ancient Latin maxim which lias been somewhat fip-urativelv translated " The voice of the law is silent amid the din and clash of arms." It is almost universally the case in all countries, that the military becomes paramount to the civil power in time of war, and thus the liberty of the citizen is at least tem- porarily destroyed, and the rights of private property trod- den under foot. Governor Vance seems to have determined at the very beginning of his administration to uphold the civil law^ and keep the military in subjection, especially where personal liberty and property rights were concerned. 72 LIFE OF VANCE. He was determined that the writ of habeas corpus should not be suspended, and that the mandates of the Judges of the Civil Courts should be respected and obeyed, notwith- standing the prevalence of war. The conscript law enacted by the Confederate Congress was, of course, to be executed by the Confederate military authorities, and the construc- tion of that law as to ^^'hat persons were subject to its provisions was primarily a matter to be passed upon by these officers. But their jurisdiction was not exclusive or final. Wherever the power and authority of a State, as such, or the rights and liberties of any of its citizens were involved, the judges of the civil courts had jurisdiction, and as these were the highest and only constitutional tribunals for finally deciding such cases, Governor Vance was determined that their decisions should be respected and obeyed. The struggle was long and difficult. He had many sharp encounters with the Confederate officials, and was sometimes accused of being hostile to that govern- ment and of throwing obstacles in its way. And 3^et he equipped and sent to the field more troops, according to population, than were sent from any other State — one-sixth, in fact, of all the men mustered into the Confederate army. And investigation will show that in every instance he was only contending for the constitutional and legal rights of the citizens of the State as against the encroachments and usurpations of the military authorities. By persistence, tact and wonderful courage he won the final triumph. To him is due the proud distinction that in North Carolina alone, of all the States, with one possible exception, in the United States or the Confederate States, the writ of habeas corpus was at no time suspended during the four years' war. Referring to this subject in his third inaugural address, delivered in January, 1877, he said: It was North Carolina, who with one other State to assist her, re- fused to agree to a provision in the American constitution permitting Congress in any emergency to suspend the privileges of the great writ LIFE OF VANCE. 73 of human liberty ; it was in North Carolina, and I believe only in North Carolina, that in the midst of the greatest civil war of modern times, when forty millions of people were engaged in desperate strife, amid the gleaming of bayonets, the roaring of cannon, the thunder of charging squadrons and the light of burning cities the civil power maintained its suprcMuac)- over the military, the judge was obeyed / jifj ^ %J"? ] infer anna audebantcr leges. ( ' / The following;- copies of letters from Governor Vance s official letter book throw a flood of light upon the efforts he made 3D r m 05 33 CD O I > r in CD LIFE OF VANCE. II9 CHAPTER X. PERSONAL AND GENERAL DESCRIPTION. Anecdote Showing General Clingman's Estimate of Him as a Stump Speaker — Fond of Reading the Bible — Visit to Army of Virginia While Governor — General Lee's Estimate of Him — Habits of Mind and Thought — Phrase-Making — His Own Estimate of his Power as Public Speaker — His Style, Voice, Appearance, Height, Weight, Lameness — Characteristics of His Public Speeches — Strength of Character — Affections as Father, Husband and Brother — Social Charms — Uprightness of Character — Jokes on Himself — Where He Came Out Second Best — Dr. Warren's Estimate of Him — What Dr. Boykin Says — His Profound Respect for the Bible and Its Pre- cepts — Extracts from His Speech at Wake Forest College and from Other Speeches and Letters. HLMOST immediately after leaving college Vance was elected county attorney for his native county, and soon afterwards, to-wit: in 1854, was elected to the State Legisla- ture. He practiced law in the meantime in Buncombe and the adjoining counties, and by his popular manners, personal attractiveness, his ability as a lawyer and natural gifts as a public speaker, he so impressed himself upon the people that in 1858 he was elected to Congress as a Whig and American, overcoming a very large Democratic majorit}' in the district, and defeating a very able and popular man, W. W. Avery. Gen. Clingman, who had represented that district in the lower house of Congress, and had but recently been trans- ferred to the United States Senate, told the following incident, illustrating the great power and ingenuity of Vance as a public speaker. Vance was on what was called the "Know-Nothing" side. Avery, of course, opposing. The Know-Nothing part}' had reached the acme of its strength and had begun to wane, and about that time was the subject I20 LIFE OF VANCE. of a good deal of ridicule. Clingman being at home, drove out in his buggy to hear the candidates who had an appoint- ment nearby. On his way back a group of country people rode up behind him, and being well acquainted with him, and also being Democrats and anti-Know-Nothings, asked him what he thought of the speaking. Clingman, not being very well pleased with the way his side had fared in the discus- sion, said : " Well, Avery made but few points, and didn't make them very well, while Vance, with his jokes and non- sense, seemed to carry the crowd." At this the men galloped by, one of them yelling at the top of his voice : " Didn't Vance give them Know-Nothings h — 11 ?" " And that is the way it was," said Clingman. " Vance told so many anecdotes and made so much fun about Know-Notlr ingism, that one half the crowd thought Avery was the Know-Nothing." While Vance was Governor, he frequently visited the North Carolina soldiers in Virginia. On one occasion he was invited to address the soldiers, most of whom were Virginians and North Carolinians. He had many good things to say in his speech about Virginia and the Vir- ginians, giving them so much praise in fact that the Virginia soldiers were doing nearly all the cheering and shouting, while the North Carolinians were correspondingly depressed, feeling that they ought to hear from their own Governor at least some words of comfort and commenda- tion. He said the Virginians seemed to be born leaders, they led well in everything, so much so that the North Carolinians are always glad to follow, "and," he added, turning to his own troops with a merry twinkle of the eyes, " it was well we did follow you and keep close up to you, too, for if we hadn't those heavy battles around Richmond of the last few weeks would have been mere skirmishes." This brought a yell from the Tar Heels and transferred the long faces to the Virginians. But his sharp thrusts and witty sayings were the orna- LIFE OF VANCE. • 121 meiits, the trimmings and frills of his speeches, which had also snbstance and solidity, body and soul. He possessed a large store of useful and practical knowledge. If not a methodical and slavish student, his mind was never idle ; he was no dreamer, but was always in pursuit of some special or general information of a practical nature. He was not a great reader of fiction, though occasionally enjoyed reading a good story and was pretty well versed in Scott, Dickens and other standard works. He was a great reader of the Bible and was fond of old Bible history. It was the love of this sort of literature which led to the pro- duction of his great essay, " The Scattered Nationi." He "^ did not read the Bible by snatches, as a good many people do, but he read it by subjects and periods, frequently perus- ing it for hours at a time. He had special admiration of the writings of St. Paul, and was fond of reading and quot- ing what he termed the great apostle's " chop logic." He esteemed St. Paul as not only a great logician, but also a man of extensive general learning and wisdom. Paul's letters and epistles, he has been heard to say, were in many essential respects the most valuable contribution to the literature of the world that had ever been derived from a single source, and that the Sermon on the Mount was the embodiment of all the religion necessary for the salvation of the world. He had profound respect for sacred things. Beneath the surface of his buoyant and sportive disposition there was a deep current of thoughtful and serious reflection. Even before he joined the church he recognized and often spoke of the elevating and refining influence of the Chris- tian religion, not only upon the civilization of the age, but also upon the lives and conduct of individuals. Although he sometimes quoted Scripture in his speeches and conver- sation in a way that called forth criticism from preachers and other serious persons, still he was not irreverent, and could not even tolerate in others anvthinor that smacked of / 122 LIFE OF VANCE. sacrilege or mockery of divine things. After he joined the church he was an earnest and consistent Christian, and took genuine pleasure in attending upon the ordinances of divine worship. But moroseness and gloom had no place in his household of faith. His religion was not puritanical or ascetic. He believed life still had pleasures not incon- sistent with real Christianity. He believed in storing the mind with general knowledge rather than pursuing special branches. He was broad- gauge in everything, including the pursuit of knowledge. He never lost anything by lapse of memory ; once in pos- session of an important fact, it was always at his hand ready for use. His speeches in the Senate and his addresses were, for the most part, elaborately prepared, but his great and numerous campaign speeches were almost entirely extemporaneous. He has been heard to say he did his best thinking on his feet, and that his strongest arguments and his most apt and forcible illustrations were suggested by the occasion and were of the inspiration of the moment. In all his speeches and addresses, whether prepared or extemporaneous, his great object was to reach the under- standing and the hearts of his hearers, rather than to please their fancy. Hence he did not strive for that Cicironean polish of elocution and those classic models of style which so much engrossed the minds of Wirt and Patrick Henry, of an earlier da}^, and of Ed Graham Haywood and Dan'l G. Fowle, of his own time, and yet he wrote some of the most beautiful, graphic and polished specimens of composi- tion to be found in the English language, notably his descriptions of the mountains and mountain scenery of North Carolina. He was constantly surprising those who thought they knew him best. It was impossible for any one to fully understand and ajDpreciate the scope and power of his intellectual and moral forces. Even those who were close to him and heard him discuss important questions in m CO < > z D 33 C H jr o > c o I H fTl 3) CO O o > < D < > Z o jn D m O m > CO m o LIFK OF VANCE. 123 pr ivate , were as much amazed and electrified by the origin- ality and brilliancy of his arguments and by the resistless potency of his personal magnetism at the bar and on the stump as any of his hearers. No man could imitate him; he was emphatically siii generis. Many speakers tried to ape him, and many dismal failures were the consequence. His stories were in everybody's mouth, but no one could tell tliem as he did. Some of his anecdotes were a little shady^ but such were generally relieved and made palatable by the magnetic and brilliant manner of their recital. Some of these when attempted to be told by men who had neither tact nor wit, became disgusting. ]\Iany stories were at- tributed to him which he probably never heard and would never have told on account of their insipidity. Speakers would often attempt to sweeten a joke by saying- it is "Vance's latest." Phrase-making is said to be an attribute of genius. Shakspeare has given to our language more puns, bon mots, epigrams and peculiar phrases than any man who ever lived. Many of his expressions are embedded in our language, and are used by' thousands who never read a line which he or any one else wrote and perhaps never heard of him. The same is true, though in a very limited degree, of ]\Iilton, Addison, Dickens and others. President Cleve- land has formulated some phrases which have attained great currency and are likely to be perpetuated, such as " innoc- uous desuetude," "pernicious partisanship," "a public office is a public trust," etc. Judged by this test, Vance was a transcendent genius. Unless we except Lincoln, Vance gave expression and currency to more puns, witti- cisms, anecdotes and epigrams than any man who has lived in the latter half of the century. Everybody can repeat something good that Vance said. His personality was not only strong and exceedingly at- tractive but overwhelming. He was the lion of every occasion and the center of attraction without a rival in 124 WFE OF VANCE. every group and company where he was to be found. He was greater than his own words and speeches and his presence was always inspiring. It is an interesting coincidence that Wellington estimated the presence of Napoleon at an engagement as equivalent to fifty thou- sand additional troops, and General Lee remarked upon the occasion of Vance's visit and speech to the army of Virginia, that '"they were equivalent to a reinforcement of 50,000 men." The following extract is taken from an article written by a member of Governor Vance's staff and published in Congressman Woodard's eulogy, delivered in the House of Representatives: Among the most pleasant incidents of my service as a member of the Governor's staff was a visit which I made with him to the Army of Northern Virginia in the winter of 1863. He was then a candidate for re-election to the gubernatorial chair, and was being opposed by the party proclaiming itself for "peace and reconstruction" on any terms ; and though the ostensible object of his visit was to advance his political fortunes, its real object was to rekindle the fires of pa- triotism in the hearts of the North Carolina troops and to cheer and stimulate the entire army. General Lee ordered a general review in his honor — an incident I believe without parallel in the history of the army. Upon an immense plain near Orange Court House, there were assembled the troops which composed the then unconquered Army of Northern Virginia. * * * Jackson, Longstreet, Stuart, Early, Ewell, Hill, Rhodes, Gordon, Hampton, Pettigrew and Fitzhugh Lee were there to do honor to Carolina's illustrious son. Arranged in two confronting lines, the noble veterans awaited the coming of the old chieftain and the youthful Governor. Finally the cannons boomed and General Lee and Governor Vance appeared, and, amid storms of enthusiastic cheers, rode slowly along the excited lines. Soon as the review was ended the men and officers came crowding around the elevated platform which had been prepared for the ora- tor, and for two hours they gave him their most earnest attention. The day was truly a proud one for North Carolina and her gifted son, and a more appropriate, effective and eloquent address was never uttered by human lips. Under the influence of his varied im&gery, his happy and graphic illustrations, his stirring appeals and deep pathos, his masterly grasp and inner meaning, trenchant thrusts and touching allusions and, in a word, under his mag- LIFE OF VANCE. 1 25 nificent and resistless eloquence, the audience was stirred, enraptured, enthused and carried away as if by the spell of a magician. Not a man. who heard the impassioned outburst of patriotic inspiration would have hesitated to die for his country. If aught of lukewarmness or despondency had been produced by the machina- tions of a selfish faction at home, they vanished as the morning mist before the rising sun under the spell of this good man's matchless eloquence. I heard General Lee remark that Governor Vance's visit to the army had been equivalent to its reinforcement by 50,000 men, and General J. E. B. Stuart said of it, " if the test of eloquence is its effect, this speech was the most eloquent ever delivered." Brave, self-reliant and enthusiastic himself, he always aroused these qualities in his listeners. He has been heard to say of his political campaigns that he did not know he had ever changed a vote by his speeches, but what he sought to accomplish, and what he thought he did accomplish, was to inspire confidence, arouse enthusiasm and stimulate among his party friends an increase of zeal and activity. He was exceedingly handsome of form and feature ; nearly six feet tall, he weighed at his prime about 230 pounds. His right leg had been shortened by a fracture caused by a fall from an apple tree when quite a small boy, which required him to wear a high heel upon the right shoe. This gave him a peculiar and slightly ambling gait; his right knee bent outward when walking, and that gave him the appearance at a distance of being bow-legged, but he was net so. His chest was full and heavy, his neck short and thick, and his large and v,'ell-shaped head was crowned with a graceful suit of thick and glossy hair, which grew well down upon his forehead and temples ; his arms were long and his hands uncommonly white and shapely. His voice, though not at all cultivated, was soft and flexible, and when elevated, exceedingly pungent and thrilling. His personality was so engaging that all eyes were riveted upon him wherever he made his appearance, and his list- eners gazed at him with tireless and ever increasing admiration from the beginning to the end of his longest 126 LIFE OF VANCE. speeches and lectures. As Pitt, the younger, said to the Frenchman who expressed surprise at the immense influ- ence of Fox : " To hear him was to be under the wand of the magician." He possessed amplitude of mind and rich- ness of imagination, and that high order of eloquence which consists of reason and passion fused together. He could present a clear, popular and plausible view of the most complicated questions. Intricate subjects of finance and tariff he could make clear to the plainest man among his hearers. And yet he never strayed from the paths of his own thoughts to cull the flowers and fruits of other men's rhetoric. He was no imitator in any sense, no borrower or copyist. The glittering antithises of Macaulay did not tempt him, nor wdiat has been called. the diamond breast- pin of Disraeli or the velvet coat of Dickens. He cared not for a well turned phrase except as it served to give point and emphasis to a thought or an argument. Every word was selected and every sentence constructed as a means to an end, to establish a proposition or convince the judgment. Like all truly great men, he seemed to inhabit a higher sphere of thought, into which other men could not rise excej)t b}' arduous labor and toil. His amiable and playful turn of mind imparted inexpressible grace and delicacy to his language and logic. His histori- cal allusions, philosophical deductions, his descriptions, so full of life and nature, and his humorous raillery flowed alternately and without the slightest appearance of artifice or effort, showing that simplicity and plainness are tribu- tary to and not incompatible with energy and effectiveness. Macaulay says the effect of oratory depends to a great extent upon the character of the orator. Vance's oratory had a rare flavor imparted by himself. His speeches owed a great part of their charm to the warmth and softness of his heart, to his admiration of everything noble and good, his belief in the right and the capacity of the people to govern LIFE OF VANCE. 1 27 themselves, and to his hatred of all luaiiiier of injustice, cruelty, insincerity, bigotry, sham and false pretense. His demeanor was always gracious and pleasing ; never obtru- sive or offensive. Strong phrases he undoubtedly employed, but cutting sarcasm, angry thrusts and personal ridicule, which always make a speaker interesting, being both beauties and de- formities, he rarely employed. He was too manly, too brave and too good hearted to make a sinister attack or strike beneath the belt. In one of his campaigns during the war a friend gave him a lot of things of a rather scandalous and personal nature relating to his opponent. He listened patiently and replied mildly but firmly, he " must decline to use them. Such charges ought never to be brought against a public man in politics or religion." A discriminating listener to one of his great political speeches, said he combined the vehemence and enthusiasm of Pinckney with the impressiveness and majesty of Web- ster. Although acuteness, ingenuity and wit showed through all his speeches, they were so employed as never to impair the athletic vigor of his arguments. Though possessing a strong and prolific imagination, his language was rarely decked with flowers, but was rather character- ized by opulence of thought and intenseness of expression, choice and felicitous phrases, beautiful and startling images, searching analysis, simple and unadorned pathos, sympathy with nature and humanity, illuminating the un- derstanding of his hearers and investing them with some- thing of his own enthusiasm and greatness. His style was always dramatic and original. He delighted in sharp con- trasts. The homely and the magnificent (in imagery) closely following each other, grotesqueness and mimicry in one sentence, thrilling and inspiring words and ideas in the next. His audiences were always highly appreciative and 128 LIFE OF VANCE. sympathetic, and he could move them from laughter to tears and from tears to laughter in rapid succession. He had plenty of self-esteem, but it was not that of one inflated by popular applause or indiscriminate praise, but only that of the man conscious of right motives and honest purposes. He has been heard to say every man should have self-esteem and pride enough to keep out of bad com- pany. He undoubtedly had ambition, but it was of that higher sort that comes from a desire to earn promotion by doing good, and it was unmixed with avarice or cupidity. He did not crave wealth, but had a lofty disdain of riches, especially if acquired by extortion upon the poor or by any questionable methods. No man could be more careful of his personal credit and more prompt to meet every pecuni- ary obligation than lie was, and yet the desire to accumulate wealth he never possessed in the slightest degree. He had tempting opportunities. He was offered law-partnerships in Baltimore, New York and other place w^here lucrative business and ultimate wealth certainly awaited him, but they did not tempt him. He put them aside almost without consideration. He knew from intuition as well as experi- ence that more congenial labors and all the honors he desired would come to him here in North Carolina, which he loved with all the ardor and constancy of a troubadour. He engaged the affections of the people by the upright- ness of his personal and official conduct, by the blameless- ness of his private life, the placability and gentleness of his disposition and by the warmth of his private and domestic attachments. As husband, father, brother, son, he was devoted," tender and exceedingly affectionate, while among his associates he was cordial, playful, easy, companionable and lovable, and to his friends the very soul of loyalty and devotion. Dr. Edward Warren, who was on Gov. Vance's staff as surgeon general during the war, and who, of course, knew him most intimately, has put on record in his valuable LTFK OF VANCK. 129 book " A Doctor's Experiences in Three Continents," the following estimate of Vance's character and qnalities : " In my jndgment, no nobler man than Zebulon Baird Vance was ever created ; with an inherent kindness of heart which tempers and softens his entire natnre ; a respect for jnstice and right which asserts itself nnder all possible circum- stances ; a sense of the ridiculous from which well out a stream of humor at once copious, sparkling and exhaust- less, and ah intellect which, like some great oak of the forest, is at once a ' tower of strength ' and a ' thing of beauty,' now bracing the hurricane breath and then adorn- ing the landscape by its grandeur, its symmetry and its verdure. I have anal3'zed his heart from core to covering, and I know that in its every cell and fibre it is of the purest gold, without tlie trace of alloy or a taint of counterfeit." Dr. Thos. J, Boykin, now of Baltimore, who was surgeon of Vance's regiment, and a life long friend and admirer, in a letter under date July 29, 1896, says : " The best and most eloquent, effective and practical speech I ever ^ heard any one deliver was the one he (Vance) made in camp at the end of the first year his regiment had enlisted for, when they were all paid off and given each a new suit and were at liberty to go home, if they wished. And many of them expected to do so. He called the men together, formed them in a hollow square and mounted a box and made an appeal to them to remain in the field and defend and pro- tect the homes of their fathers and mothers in the most impressive and burning language I ever listened to in all my life. At the conclusion of the speech the drum sounded and eve7'y man in the regiment marched up and re-enlisted for the war, and many of the old gray headed fathers pres- ent, with tears in their eyes, offered to follow their sons, whom they an hour before expected to take home with them." He was as charming in his social intercourse as upon-the stump or at the bar, if not more so. Gay and facetious in de- 10 ' 130 LIFE OF VANCE. portment, he was the soul of life and merriment for any company in which he was to be found. That fascinatmg quality known as personal magnetism, so conspicuous and potent in his public and official career, was even more per- ceptible in his every day intercourse with his friends and associates. His presence was indeed the magician's wand to put a spell on every one with whom he came in contact. As he passed along the streets all eyes were turned upon him, and little boys and girls would stop to look at him, with smiles of admiration. When he entered the court room, the business, however important, would be tempo- rarily suspended and every eye of judge, lawyer, juror and bystander would play upon him and nearly every face be wreathed in smiles ; all were ready to applaud vocifer- ously any remark, motion or signal he might make. At a State convention held at Greensboro in 1872, when Merrimon was nominated for Governor, Vance with others appeared upon the rostrum arranging preliminaries. The crowd went wild at the sight of Vance and the deafening calls for him obstructed all business. He came to the front and waving down the crowd who had risen to their tip- toes, implored them to be patient, assuring them that only preliminaries were being arranged and that "as soon as the lines of battle were formed the skirmishers would be called in and the regular firing would begin." Many of the dele- gates being old soldiers, this was a happy hit, and it tickled the audience thoroughly. A country delegate was heard to remark as the applause subsided: "I'll be d — d if he can oj^en his mouth without saying something good." He had a keen sense of humor and rarely allowed an occasion for a joke to pass. While Governor, during the war, he called out the Home Guard Militia, directing that they be assembled at the several county court houses on a date several days subsequent to the order. A certain col- onel in a county not far from Raleigh, in order to appear to be very laconic and prompt, telegraphed to \'ance a few LIFR OF VANCE. I31 hours after the receipt of the order, and of course before he had made any move towards getting together his men who were scattered all over the county : "Ready in W." Vance seeing how utterly ridiculous this was, and quick to seize the opportunity for a joke, sent back a reply as follows: Headquarters, Raleigh, , 1864. To Colonel Coviinanding Home Guard: Fire ! Z. B. VANCE. The Colonel received this telegram and did not under- stand it — thought there must be a mistake or a misprint, or perhaps the city of Raleigh was burning. His friends were consulted, and on calling for the original to which this was a reply, saw the joke, and it was many a day before the redoubtable Colonel heard the last of it. Even his own afidctions were made the occasion of mer- riment and jest. Soon after the loss of his eye, he came to Charlotte and related an interview, while here, with an old friend and client from the country who called upon him. The old gentleman was very much concerned about the loss of the eye, and asked many questions as to the process of taking out the diseased ball and putting in the artificial one. Finally, looking the Senator straight in the face, he said : " Vance, which is the artificial eye ?" Upon being informed, he seemed to take a still more scrutinizing view and then said : " Well, I be durned if I don't believe it's a better looking eye than the other." _He was especially fond of telling anecdotes on himself, when they represented him as coming out second best in the tilt. The following are specimens : While he lived at Charlotte, an old gentleman from the country came to his office to see him. He said, " Gov- ernor, I have come several miles jist o' purpose to see you and git acquainted with you. I have heerd of you for many years and have wanted to see you mighty bad. I'll die better satisfied because I've got to see you. I've heerd * i 132 LIFE OF VANCE. a good deal of your brother Bob, too, and I've always heerd he had the best keeracter of the two." A friend said to him on one occasion, " Vance, I do not understand how it is that }ou and your brother Bob belong to different churches f You a Presbyterian, and he a ]\Ieth- odist." ■ That is a little queer, said Vance, but a stranger thing than that is that Bob believes in the doctrine of fall- ing from grace and never falls, while I do not believe in the possibility of falling from grace, but am always falling." One day having some business with an old colored man, he asked his brother in black, " Uncle, do you belong to the Church?" The man replied, " Yes, Boss, thank the Lord." " What Church do you belong to ?" " To the Pres- byterian Church," replied the darkey, "Uncle, do you believe in election ?" " O, yes, Boss. I believes in election." " Well, Uncle, do you think you are elected?" said Vance. " Yes, Boss, thank the Lord, I thinks I am," said the darkey. "Well, Uncle, do you think I'm elected?" inquired Vance. "I'd never heerd, Boss, as how you was a candidate," replied the colored brother candidly. This conversation occurred before Vance had become a professor of religion, that is to say, before he became a can- didate for election. A statesman must be more or less a politician ; and a politician must be more or less politic, to retain his influ- ence in politics. Vance was bold enough when duty required him to take a stand. To declare himself a pro- hibitionist simply meant to put some man less competent and less true to good morals in his place in the Senate, without doing real service to the cause of good morals. It simply meant political ostracism to himself, without any compensation to the cause of morality. His heart was always with the cause of temperance and religion ; but he cultivated and practiced the conservatism necessary to suc- cessful leadership. When the prohibition excitement was LIFE OF VANCE. 1 33 at its highest in North Carolina, some prohibitionists came to him on a certain occasion and reqnested him to declare publicly for prohibition. He made an adroit and evasive . reply: "Gentlemen," said he, " My conscience is with you, but my stomach is on the other side." This remark was, of course, humorous, for his stomach, as a rule, harmonized with his conscience. As proof that Vance's sportive disposition and his pro- pensity to jest, at times even in what others thought serious matters, did not originate in any want of appreciation of the value of sacred things, and to show his profound rever- ence for the Bible and the Christian religion, the following extract taken from an address he delivered at Wake Forest College June 26, 1872, will be read with interest: Remember, too — and this above all— that there is no progress, no development, no increase, worthy of your efforts to attain, unless it be conceived in the fear of your Creator. There is doubtless sopie infidelity among you, as in all other colleges. I know well how it is. When young minds are thoroughly im- bued with the Pagan classics, and come first to exercise their powers of reason, the desire is to test them upon every subject, and especially upon the received creeds of religion, attacking them with almost a savage delight. A spell of scepticism comes upon the young Senior and the young graduate as naturally as the spell of love ere long, or as the measles in childhood. He reads and perforce admires Hume, Ballingbroke, Gibbon, Voltaire, and thoughts present themselves which he imagines never before, since the world began, entered the mind of man. He has thus made a discovery — it seems clear to him ; and he wonders at the hypocrisy or stupidity of preaching and priest- craft. He wants the world to know that /le, at least, is not to be de- luded with cunningly-devised fables of Hebrews— Jews !— and old wives' tales. It sounds so large, too, to differ with everybody else. It smacks of genius. He is strongly tempted by the glittering fallacies of materialism to forsake the simple faith of the fathers— aye, his ozvn kind father and anxious mother. But be not deceived. We all know that " reason is but a sorry guide even in the affairs of this world, and so, in those of the next, must be altogether rash and ruinous." The greatest intellects of the world have had all the doubts and suggestions you have thought new and pe- culiar to yourselves; they have sounded all the depths and shallows of human scepticism, and have found it worse than folly. None can escape the conviction of the existence of a beneficent God — the grain 134 LIFE OF VANCE. of corn, the blade of grass, the flower and the forest, the seas and the heavens — all and everything, proclaim and prove that in spite of us ; and, if the Bible be not a revelation of His will concerning us and the things inscrutable to sense, then he has never made one, but has left us utterly and miserably ignorant of the nature and wants of that inner and higher consciousness we all feel, call it the soul or hy what- ever other name you will. There is no book so God-like as the Bible. There is none other w^hich has in it so little of the earth, earth}'. Dismiss, my dear young friends, if you have them, all such ideas as those I have described, as sceptical and natural to you ; and go forth to your positions in the world strong in the faith of that God from whom Cometh every good thing ; all true progress, all civilization, all genuine freedom, all desirable wisdom ? " Whence then cometh wisdom ? And where is the place of understanding ? Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air. Destruction and death say, we have heard the fame thereof with our ears. The depth saith, it is not in me ; and the sea saith, it is not with me. God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof. For he looketh to the ends of the earth ; and seeth under the whole heavens. * * * And unto man he saith : Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom ; and to depart from evil, that is understanding." Go forth, then, and assume your duties in society, remembering what your liberties are worth, what they cost in their establishment. Remember that the great and good of every age have striven to perfect them, and that it is your duty to seek diligently for the means and power to do likewise. Resolve, as you must become partisans — for governments are necessarily controlled by parties — that you will yet remain patriots. Labor incessantly to preserve bright and pure the sacred flame of liberty amid all the temptations and wayward ten- dencies of the age. Pray for the prosperity of our political Zion, that her strength may be as her days require ; that as foes assault, her towers may rise higher, her battlements become stronger, and her bulwarks increased, until she stands victorious over kings and princi- palities and powers, and all the weary of earth are gathered securely beneath the peaceful shadows of her walls. LIEUT. Z. B. VANCE, U. S. A. LIFE OF VANCE. 1 35 CHAPTER XI. VANCE AS I KNEW HIM. BY REV. R. N. PRICE, D. D. Views of His Inner Life as Boy and Man — Personal Traits and Pecu- liarities — Quick Perception — Wonderful Memory — Thought to Lean Towards Skepticism— Love for His Mother— Brave and Chi- valrous — Scrupulously Honest and Truthful as a Boy — Would Confess and Take the Rod Rather Than Deny a Mischievous - Prank — Straightforward and Manly in Everything — A Most Patient and Tender Husband and Father — Scrupulous in Money Matters — Practiced Economies — Never Became Involved in Financial Difficulties or Assumed Obligations Beyond His Means — No Self-Denial Too Great if Honor Involved — Challenge to Fight a Duel Accepted — The Adjustment a Full Vindication of Him — Keenly Alive to Danger But Heroic — Army Incidents and Anec- dotes — Conduct as an Officer Neither Austere Nor Negligent— Joins the Church. 'EB Vance, as he was familiarly called when a boy was twenty years old when I first became acquainted with him. As a preacher, I visited the family in the year 1850-51. He was a big boy physically and intellectually, sociable and affable, but not loquacious. While he was witty and humorous, even at that early age, there was a dig- nity and self-poise in his demeanor that conciliated respect. He was meditative and fond of books, and he had profited by the Vance library, a family collection of standard literary works. He had had reasonable common school advantages, and had spent a short time as a student In Washington College, East Tennessee, an institution that has given to the country many of its most useful men. He had not, at that time, been a student, as he afterwards was, of the University of North Carolina. But he had acquired the rudiments of science, and his education, though limited, was accurate ; and it was a spark sufficient to kindle a genius of no ordinary character. 136 LIFE OF VANCE. Dr. Ensor, of Bristol, Tenn., was a school mate of Mr. Vance in Washington College. Some years since he told me the following anecdote : Ensor and Vance were appointed to deliver orations at a coming commencement of the college. One day they went out into an old field to practice their speeches. Vance spoke his first, and while Ensor was speaking, he lay down on the grass to listen and criticise. When Ensor's speech was ended, Vance rolled over in the grass two or three times and said: "Ensor, I feel it from the top of my head to the ends of my fingers and toes, that I am to be Governor of North Carolina." This, of course, was said jocularly ; but the joke, which turned out to be more true than poetical, showed that even at that early day, the boy had dreams of ambition. Vance's chief intellectual endowments, as a young man, were a quickness of perception, a ready and retentive mem- ory, a lively fancy, a creative imagination, together with a flow of wit and humor. Not being an ambitious conversa- tionalist, he made no effort to display these qualities in company. In the social circle, he knew his place and kept it ; he was neither demure nor garrulous. As a young man, his habits, so far as I know, were good. He was regarded by his associates, I think, as sober and chaste. Though sufficiently fond of society, bed-time usu- ally found him at home, and either in bed or pouring over the pages of some valuable book. I knew him well as a man, having lived some years in Asheville, when he was in politics, and having spent a year with him in the war of the States, a large part of the time as a tent- mate and mess-mate. While Col. Daniel's regiment, of which Vance's company was a part, was camped near Smithfield, Va., I made me a bedstead of poles held up by forks ; Vance, soldier-like, laid his bed on the ground. One night there was a pouring rain ; and I awaked to find Vance busily moving about in the tent. I said, "What's the matter. Brother Zeb?" He LIFE OF VANCE. I37 replied, " I am floating !" With a little re-adjustment, his couch was placed above high water mark, and he was soon again in the land of dreams. No man was readier at repartee than he. One night I had retired upon my bunk, while Mr. Vance, who had been out spending the earlier part of the night in chit-chat with officers of the regiment, as was not unusual with him, came in and addressed himself to letter writing near my head ; for he was in the habit of attending to his correspondence after others were in bed. As he was writing he cut his tobacco pretty short, and was spitting rather promiscuously as I was dropping to sleep. I carried into dream-land an oppressive dread lest, in his reckless dispensation of am- bccr^ he might mistake me for a spittoon. Half awake, I arose on one elbow and said, "See here, Zeb, I'm afraid you'll spit on me!" He replied very blandly, "No, brother Dick, I'll spit in the water bucket !" This assurance gave me entire satisfaction, and I was soon east of Eden ao-ain Most of those who knew Mr. Vance loved him ; all re- spected him. He was never an object of contempt. If any hated him, the}' could not despise him. In the earlier part of his career he was suspected of skepticism, or rather of religious indifference ; but he was always deferential to the Church and respectful to ministers of the Gospel. Closely akin to his reverence for relio-ion was his ever-present and never-waning veneration for wo- man. His tenderness and devotion to one of the best of mothers is one of the pleasing memories of the family. He could not have been otherwise than a tender, thoughtful, patient husband. No irritation could so far throw him off of his guard as to cause him to speak harshly to his wife. Towards woman he was as chivalric as he was brave towards man. , His word was his bond backed by a mortgage on a sense of honor that knew no depreciation. His mother was heard to remark that, as a child, Zeb never told her a lie. 138 IvlFE OF VANCE. He would bravely take the severest castigation rather than deny his guilt in any case where he was guilty, and he, no doubt, richly earned many a whipping ; for, while never mean or base, he was, as a boy, prolific of mischievous pranks. He was capable of a great deal of mischief, and hence sometimes subjected himself to the rod, which he always took manfully rather than deny the truth. Mr. Vance was strictly truthful and just in his financial dealings. I suppose there is not a man living who would say that he ever knew any crookedness in his business transactions. To use a hackneyed phrase, "he was the soul of honor." He could not stoop to a little thing. There was a grandeur in his bearing and a magnanimity in his dealings with his fellow men that attracted general atten- tion. To these elements of greatness were due in a considerable measure his general and enduring popularity, and his long tenure of public trusts. For a man of genius, he w^as a good, financier. Unfitted by taste and talent for the dry details of busimess and the little economies by which, coral-like, fortunes are ordinari- ly built up, he nevertheless had an instinctive soundness of judgment in business, and his finances were kept within safe bounds. His financiering was inspired by his love of honesty rather than by his love of riches. No fondness for pleasure or show could induce him to place himself in cir- cumstances in which he could not meet his obligations. No self-denial was too severe, if honor required it. His generosity was equal to his honor. All he had be- yond the demands of justice was at the disposal of his friends if they needed help. He was persistently patient with^his friends, but defiant in the face of implacable foes. He never surrendered with an enemy in front, and never fired on a flag of truce. But he was as forgiving of enemies that sought reconciliation as he was firm and courageous in opposition. He had the discretion which is the better part of valor, LIFE OF VANCE. 1 39 and he was usually moderate in his criticisms of those who denounced him on political grounds. In one of his Con- gressional canvasses the Asheville News criticised him very severely. When he came to Asheville to speak some of his friends advised him to denounce the editor in unmeas- ured terms. He replied: "No; I will not do that; a year hence that man may be my friend and supporter." And it was even so. While running for Congress from time to time, his courage was occasionally put to the test. He was in the way of certain aspirants v/ho were more than willing to see him put out of the way. Methods of intimidation were used to drive him out of politics. Once he was challenged to mortal combat, and, as a man of the world, controlled by false maxims then in vogue, he promptly accepted the challenge. Friends, however, interfered, and bloodshed was prevented. He did not approve of duelling ; he was the very opposite of blood-thirsty ; but he did not intend that the game of bhtff should be successfully played on him. When it was discovered that he could not be bluffed, he had smoother sailing. Throughout his career, including a year in the army, first as a captain and then as a colonel, he demonstrated his courage — not blood-thirstiness, not fool hardiness — but courage that combined the physical and the moral. He was keenly alive to danger, and was as anxious as any man ought to be to avoid injury and death ; but he prized his honor and love of country above life itself. It is said that in one of the battles on the peninsula below Richmond, he said to a rabbit retreating to the rear, " Go it, cotton tail, if I had no more reputation at stake than you, I would fol- low you !" But he had reputation and the rights of his section at stake, and no man faced death more bravely on that occasion than he. To use a common expression, he had " the courage of his convictions." When many young men of W'estern Caro- 140 LIFE OF VANCE. lina were going over to the Democratic party in the fifties, believing that owing to the fact that the nation, the district and their counties were Democratic, their personal interests would be subserved by the change, he stood firm to the Whig party and afterwards to its successor, the American party. As a Whig and American he opposed secession till the proclamation of Abraham Lincoln calling for troops to coerce the Southern States into submission, swept him into the Southern army. He was a born ruler — king of men. While he was a cap- tain in the Confederate army, I was a member of his company ; and his control of his men was as complete and amicable as that of a well regulated family. As a colonel he had the confidence of officers and men, and his o^overn- ment was that of love rather than of force, though by no means lax. He was equally removed from the Jiaiitcur of the regular arm_y officer, and such familiarity with his men as would have bred contempt. He loved good society — that of the refined and cultured. He had a pleasing address, and his manners in society fell little short of the courtly. Persons who knew not his true inwardness may have thought him aristocratic ; but his heart beat in unison with the masses. He died a Protestant and Christian, an upright member of the Presbyterian Church. The example in his youth of pious parents, the influence of a Christian wife, and of her patient endurance of months of affliction, which finall)- broke her way to God, removed from his mind all doubt as to the genuineness and divinity of experimental religion ; and after her death he appeared at the altars of the Pres- byterian Church, made a confession of Christ, and sought membership in her communion. In this communion he died. These scattering remarks may appear as too much in the spirit of panegyric. I have not dwelt upon the faults of Senator Vance. Of course he had faults. The major part LIFE OF VANCE. 141 of Ills life was spent as a worl dlia n ; he made mistakes ; but even in his worst days he was not characterized by flao;rant immoralities. I was with him and near him sev- eral months in the ami)- ; and I am snre that he was, dnring that period, abstemious from ardent spirits ; a profane word seldom passed his lips, and he was strictly chaste. With his habits in Washington City, I was not acquainted. Morally and spiritually his last days were his best days. He mellowed and ripened for a better world. He had gleaned from the trials and aggravations of life, a hallowed chastening, the fires of affliction had scaled his earthliness away, and as his sun was hastening to the horizon, he was growing up unto Christ-likeness. I trust he was ready for the Master's call, and that he is at rest. 142 LIFE OF VANCE. CHAPTER XII. VANCE AND SETTLE CAMPAIGN. Large State Couventiou — Vance Nominated for Governor — His Able and Pathetic Speech Accepting the Nomination — The Crowd — The Effect— Thos. Settle the Competitor— Their First Meeting— Open- ing of the Campaign — At Rutherfordton — The Crowd— The Scenes — The Speeches — At Bakersville — The Respective Escort — The Speeches — Vance's Nine Questions — Vance's Popularity — Bearing of the Two Canidates — They Meet at Jonesboro — Stormy Scenes — Drunken Negroes — Settle Angry — Vance's Coolness — Im- mense Enthusiasm — Gigantic Blows Given and Received — The Speech at Carthage — Moffitt Mill — Torchlight Procession — Carter's Mill — Women, Children and Babies in Ranks at Lexington, Went- worth, Kinston and Elsewhere. jN the i4tli day of June, 1876, Vance was nominated for Governor of the State by the Conservative Democratic party, the name assumed by the Old Whigs and Democrats, who had been united by the reconstruction and other harsh and oppressive measures of the Federal administration. These measures were championed here by many adventurers from Northern States, known in this and other localities of the South as carpet-baggers. With these were associated the "bushwhackers" of the Western part of the State — deserters and those who had refused to obey the conscript law ; the "Buffaloes" of the East — men who had remained within the Federal lines and engaged in acts of lawlessness and depredation, together with almost the entire colored population, and also a few respectable native citizens in different parts of the State. The convention which nominated Vance was large, numbering nearly a thousand delegates, and thoroughly representative of all the better classes of citizens. A con- temporary newspaper referring to the ' convention, says : " Such an outpouring of the best elements of the State was LIFE OF VANCE. 143 never before seen." They had long endured with more or less patience the wrongs and outrages of political adven- turers and South haters, and were now determined to throw ofif the yoke. The field had been thoroughly canvassed beforehand, and while Vance was known to have many elements of strength, he was also known to have made enemies. Although he had sought in every possible way to mitigate the harshness of the conscript laws by insist- ing that men should have the right to select their own companies, and thus be placed in the army among their neighbors and friends ; by manfully upholding the writ of habeas corpus and protecting such as were discharged under it; and by his unsurpassed energy and success in providing for the families of the soldiers in the field, as well as for the soldiers themselves, still, in the discharge of his duties as Governor, he had been obliged to assist in ar- resting deserters or others who singly or in gangs were committing depredations upon the peaceable and law- abiding people. Hence opinion was divided as to whether it would be expedient to nominate him. He was very free to say to his friends in consultation that he himself had grave doubts whether it would not be a mistake to put him in nomination. But as the delegates began to assemble from various parts of the State, the sentiment was seen to crystalize largely in his favor. A number of other names of distinguished men were placed before the convention, viz : Daniel G. Fowle, David S. Reid, W. R. Cox, Jno. A. Gilmer, C. C. Clark and W. F. Martin. Nevertheless Vance's nomination was practically unanimous ; out of 966 votes cast he received 962. He was in Raleigh at the time and made a speech at night in front of the National Hotel accepting the nomination. An immense crowd surrounded him, unbounded enthusiasm prevailed and the speech was most impressive. Listeners were heard to say it was tlie only speech Vance had ever made without tell- 144 LIFE OF VANCE. ing an anecdote. An unusual seriousness seemed to possess him, and he was pathetic rather than humorous. He told in touching words the story of the humiliation and suffering of the people during the era of reconstruction ; how they had been invited to frame a constitution and elect officers and a Legislature, and when they had proceeded to do so, how they were again put back under military rule because forsooth, they had not seen fit to vote in a way to please the party in control at Washington. In scathing and indig- nant terms he denounced the authors of this iniquitous legislation in Congress and its aiders and abettors in our own State, and related how the Federal government had, by an act of Congress, authorized a military commander with headquarters in Charleston, South Carolina, to order an election for members of a convention to frame a new con- stitution for North Carolina ; to prescribe the qualification of voters ; appoint the registrars and designate the time and manner of holding the election and himself to certify the result ; that under this military order thirty thousand of the most intelligent white men of this State were disfran- chised (all who had ever held office and afterwards engaged in the war for the Confederacy), while eighty thousand colored men who had no right under the constitution and laws of the State or the United States to vote, were admit- ted to the polls, thus allowing the colored people to confer upon themselves the privilege of casting the ballot in future. Such was the method by which the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted in this State and the right of suffrage conferred upon the colored people. He told how he had struggled all through the dark period of the war to uphold the civil law and guard the sacred writ of habeas corpus ; how he had succeeded by dint of per- suasion, remonstrance, and at times by even threatening to call out the militia; and then how shameful and humiliat- ing it was to know that after the last soldier had laid down his arms and peace had been proclaimed, that sacred writ ; LIFE OF VANCE. I45 was trodden under foot and reputable citizens cast into dun- geon without cause or accusation, and how that reputable citizens, such as Judge Kerr, Josiah Turner and many others were arrested and thrown into dungeons by Kirk's men, without charges and kept there without bail, under Gov- ernor Holden's suspension of the writ of habeas corpus. He also referred to personal charges against himself, none of them, however, affecting his integrity or his honor, and holding his white, shapely hands high above his head, he said in thrilling tones, " Before my God no dishonest dollar has ever soiled these palms." He also related that in 1863 some fifty or sixty citizens of North Carolina were arrested by the Confederate au- thorities and put in prison in Salisburj' without known cause. He wrote at once to the authorities at Richmond demanding that these men be brought to trial immediately on specific charges or released. There was hesitation and quibbling at Richmond, but he told them that if these men were not tried at once, or released, he would issue a proclamation recalling the North Carolina soldiers from Virginia, and call out the State militia to protect the liber- ties of the citizens, and the prisoners were speedily released. The effect of this speech was truly wonderful and far- reaching. It was genuine eloquence — the eloquence of manhood and truth rather than of mere words. It was eloquence personified — Vance eloquence, and showed what was manifest in all his speeches throughout the campaign, that the man was greater than the emergency, greater than his own words, greater than any occasion. The hearts of all his listeners were deeply stirred. Their heaving bosoms and moistened eyes showed how tenderly they had been touched, while their clenched teeth and livid countenances gave evidence of their resentment and de- termination. Vance immediately took the stump. His competitor was Honorable Thos. Settle, a native of Rock- ingham county in this State, an ex-Jttdge of the Supreme 11 146 LIFE OF VANCE. Court, a man of good family, good character, of a high order of ability, and of very prepossessing personal appear- ance. Vance and Settle made a joint canvass of the State, which is perhaps the most memorable in its history, and may well be termed the battle of the giants. It would be difficult to conceive of an instance where a man's presence and personalty were so strikingly superior to his own words and arguments as was demonstrated in this campaign. Vance's competitor, Judge Settle, was an able, astute and powerful debater, and it was sometimes felt by Vance's friend, when Settle made the first speech that it would be next to impossible for Vance to fully meet his arguments, and even at the close of some of the debates Vance's friends felt that he had not been as careful and forceful in answering some of Settle's arguments as he might have been. But it made no difference with the crowd. His presence was enough for them. The moment he rose, "Vance," "Vance," "Vance," went up in a grand chorus from all parts of the crowd. The first motion of his hand or the first note of his voice sent a thrill of elec- tricity through the crowd and set them wild. It made no difference what he said or whether he said anything in particular or not. The crowds invariably rose to their feet as soon as he began, and would yell at the end of every sentence and frequently before the end, not heeding or car- ing what was said. He had a big triumph before he began. At the beginning as well as at the end, or at any inter- mediate point in his speech, they were ready and eager to pull him off the stand and bear him around in their arms. It was often with great difficulty that he could prevent the crowds from howling down his competitor in his replies and rejoinders. It is regretted that full, accurate and impartial accounts of this campaign are not now accessible. The newspapers which had the best reports cannot be found. The follow- LIFE OF VANCE. 147 ing reports, taken from available sources, principally from the Raleigh Sentinel, furnish some interesting incidents of this memorable campaign, as well as a general summary of the points discussed and the impressions made by the speakers : RuTHERFORDTON, N. C, July 25, 1876. Vance aiifl Settle opened the campaign Tuesday to 4,000 people. Vance opened in a speech of an hour and a half. Settle followed at the same length, and each replied in half hour speeches. Vance made a telling speech and gained votes. Settle made a strong partisan appeal, and dodged the issues as best he could. The speakers used courteous language towards each other, and indulged in no undue personalties. The negroes were boisterous for Settle. Settle read a letter of Vance with the United States seal, procured in Washington City, in regard to making desertion a misdemeanor. Vance held it up to the people and showed that much had been suppressed, and only garbled extracts made. He said the government denied him access to his own official letters, and Settle garbled them to suit himself. He was afraid to fight him fairly. (Sensation, and murmurs of "shame on Settle," "a villainoiis act," &c.) Vance arraigned Settle for sympathizing with the Kirk war, raising a company and resigning to run for ofl&ce, and the Republicans for fraud and peculation, civil rights, hard times and heavy taxes. Vance's denunciation of the civil rights bill as one of the pet measures of the radical party was one of the best efforts of his life, and must have a telling effect among the white Republications of the mountain country if repeated in his future speeches. Settle made an appeal to the negroes, went over the ku-klux raw-head and bloody-bones stories, quoted Joe Turner and blamed Vance for faithlessness to the Confederacy. The Spartan- burg band accompanied Vance. There was little demonstration for Settle. Both made powerful speeches. The mountains are afire for Vance. Bakersville, N. C, August 3d, 1876. The day was a very huge one in this town, the mountain roads fairly streamed with people coming to hear the candidates speak, and the little town was already swarmed over with as many as could be packed on the streets. A delegation of about eighty rat-tail mules and as many young men and boys, with flags in their hands, escorted Judge Settle into town, screaming to keep their courage up, and rally- ing their hats around a very sickly looking Hayes and Settle flag. The men that met Vance meant business. They represented all sections of the county, and the neighboring counties around, and there wasn't a child just weaned among them. They rode to town in good order, preserving the dignity and behavior of men who are determined to win and are assured of the victory before them. The ladies had pre- 148 LIFE OF VANCE. pared a beautiful campaign banner, ^vhich floated proudly over the town. As Vance alighted at the boarding house of Mrs. Penlands the crowd gave three rousing cheers for Vance and reform. The discussion to-day was before the largest crowd ever known in Mitchell county. It is a finely matched couple, Vance and Settle ; two of the handsomest men in the State, and each with a master mind to grapple with. Vance shows to advantage over Settle from his long experience on the stump, in fact, he was born for that business. And another advantage he has, he only appeals to the good judgment of the people while Settle opens up the old war sores and tries to make cap- ital out of their prejudices in holding up Vance's war record. Vance figures up the great stealings and corruptions of the administration party and calls on Settle to stand to them or deny them, and Settle an- swers by not answering at all, and dodges the question behind Vance's war record. The people see this too plainly. Many Republicans ex- pressed themselves much^dissatisfied at Judge Settle's course in regard to these questions. The nine questions which stun the judge are as follows : Was Holden's suspension of the writ of habeas corpus legal ? Which of the constitutional amendments are good ? How did the South get out of the Union ? Were the reconstruction acts constitutional ? Can Congress confer the right of suffrage ? ■ Was the Louisiana outrage constitutional ? Was Judge Settle not elected to the supreme bench by fraud ? Does Judge Settle approve Grant's administration ? Does he approve the civil rights bill ? Was desertion from the army right ? These questions Settle dealt with playfully, saying they had no sense in them, and reminded him of the question, if corn was fifty cents a bushel, and three pecks to the bushel, how much would it take to shingle a house ? He then retired into winter quarters behind Vance's war record. To say Vance has gained votes in this radical county would only be speaking the general sentiment of the people, and to declare further the strong probability of his carrying the county, is only rehearsing what some of the Republicans have whis- pered with fear. The bearing of the two men on the stump is admirable. The utmost good feeling prevails, and while hard blows are hit and received they are given with an entiente cordiale which keeps the crowd in a good humor and arouses"no personal bad feeling. Settle said to-day that during all their canvass, the people had sat silent and heard them for their cause as if sitting in a church. Fifty men who heard Vance yesterday at Burnsville,in Vancey coun- ty, followed him over to Bakersville, and when it is remembered they had to swim their horses over a swollen river and travel for miles over LIFE OF VANCE. 1 49 the roughest, rockiest road in the United States, it's a straw to show how he stands in the mountains. " I want to hear Vance ," said Mr. Gaddy from South Carolina, whom the reporier met on the Western road. He got off at Marion and rode thirty-five miles across the Blue Ridge and heard Vance to- day. " Let me know in Richmond if Vance speaks in Rockingham, and I will come up on the train and hear him, " said A. Y. Stokes, of Rich- mond, Va., to the reporter last Monday. The people followed him in crowds all along the road, shaking hands and talking. A large number of Republicans in Mitchell county have their children named after Zeb. Vance. JONESBORO, N. C, August 25, 1876. Vance and Settle met in discussion at Jonesboro to-day. There were 3,000 people present from Moore, Wake, Chatham and Cumber, land counties. It was the elephant day of the campaign. Fayette- ville with band and banners, and the boldest boys that ever stepped behind brass music, turned out 800 strong. Old gray-headed men, such as W. R. Hill and the venerable Steadman, marched in procession with the Tilden and Vance Club. And when Raleigh met Fayetteville, and the clubs all joined, with Jonesboro one thousand strong in the middle, and the little cannon from Fayetteville barking every minute, the negroes and few white radicals thought the world was coming to an end for Vance. In this way they marched him to the stand. Judge Settle was carried up, all the way with General Stephen Douglass, in a carriage decked with flowers, a gentleman and his lady in a carriage behind, and eighteen white men, some in their shirt- sleeves, on chicken-breasted nags, and an entire cornfield of negroes yelling like yahoos at the tag end of the line. Settle lead off for one hour and a half in a characteristic speech. He charged Vance with being the principal cause of the destruction of two-thirds of all the property in the State as compared with i860, be- cause he had continued the war two years longer than was necessary ; that Vance had lost the children of the State |2, 000, 000 school fund by investing in bonds to help the Confederacy, which bonds were repudi- ated at the end of the war ; that Democrats and Republicans had voted for the special tax bonds ; that the expenses of the United States gov- ernment under Buchanan's administration was $1.98 per head ; that Bristow's report shows that for every thousand dollars collected as duties upon customs only one cent on the thousand dollars so collected was lost ; that of every thousand dollars of internal revenue collected only I1.33 of every thousand dollars so collected was lost ; that in Jackson's time $17.00 on the thousand was lost. He spoke of the 94,000 ofiice holders, and said that 65,000 were postmasters. He read from the new revenue law, as passed by the last Congress, as being 150 LIFE OF VANCE. more stringent than the old one. He said that according to Vance's definition H^^ he (Settle) deserted the Confederate arm}' in May 1862, and Vance deserted in August following. He then referred to Vance's war record. Read from Vance's letter to General Lee asking for two regiments of calvary to quarter upon the people ; that Vance had be- trayed the Union men who elected him in 1863, and got to be such a war man that he wanted to fight till hell froze over and then fight on the ice. He then read other letters of Vance's bearing upon the war. Vance replied for an hour and a half. He said he had uo quarrel with the great mass of the Republican party. His quarrel was with the Republican leaders. If any party is kept in power too long, they become corrupt, and think the offices belong to them. That the Re- publican party was born of a violation of the constitution. Its first act was to set the slaves free by violence. He had fought four years to keep the negroes in slavery and he would fight sixteen to keep one of them from belonging to him. If he owned a full-blooded radical, he would' swap him off for a dog and kill the dog. [Laughter.] All three of the co-ordinate branches of the government had agreed in de- claring the States not out of the Union, yet Congress, in 1S67, had legislated them out for the purpose of perpetuating political power and to impose conditions on the people. One-fourth of the whites were disfranchised and all the negroes were enfranchised. That his competitor had no word of condemnation for the Louisiana outrage, for the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus and the Kirk war. That Settle talked of signs of war ; that he had seen between that place and Asheboro fields of rye and plenty of sorghum boiling, and that looked like war. [Laughter.] He then referred to the finances, and showed that from 1789 to 1861, a period of 72 years, the total expenses of the government were $1,581,- 000. From 1861 to 1875, 14 years, I5, 220,000 ; take out four years of war and expenses for ten years of peace from 1865 to 1875, was |2,o84,- 000, nearly twice as m,uch as for 72 years before the war. That $4,495,000 had been collected by the internal revenue, and of that sum $1,500,000 had been stolen. He then spoke of the increase of the office-holders from 46,000 in i860 to 94,000 in 1876. He was severe on the revenue officers who could lie down and drink out of a branch and tell if there was a still five miles up it, and who could look at a man's track and tell whether he was toting a quart of whiskey or a two gallon jug. [Laughter.] He alluded to the loss of the negroes by the Freedmen's bank, of the $1,500,000 loaned by Secretary Robeson and lost to the government ; of the Belknap scandal ; and that Blaine had said to Munn, of Chicago, that he (Blaine) had no influence with Grant, nor had any other man unless he was a thief. That there had been so much corruption in the country that the man in the moon had to hold his nose when he passed over the earth. He alluded to the civil rights bill as the entering wedge LIFE OF VANCE. I5I to social equalit}'. Read Kilpatrick's letter about the bloody shirt campaign in Indiana, and said it was to stir up old prejudices why Settle took up half of his time with his war record. It was like the boy who had been to college and had gone home ashamed of his old daddy. One day the old man was mowing hay and his dinner of cheese and crackers was sent him. The old man commenced to eat and the son pulled out a microscope and looked at the cheese and told the old man that the cheese was full of animalculse. The old man says " full of what ?" and took the glass and looked and said, " I believe it is full, son," and went on eating, saying, "if they can stand it lean." If you people can live on your prejudices and pay attention to my war record, I can stand it if you can. He then read the resolutions introduced by Settle in the Legislature in 1854, showing that Settle was a secessionist, that he had taken oath to support the Confederate States constitution, and when war got hotter and times were squally, he thought he ought to stick closer. That he and Seymour, of New York, had maintained the supremacy of the writ of habeas corpus, while Settle, as Judge, had aided Holden to suspend that writ. Here it commenced to rain, and the crowd, after an interval of an hour, assembled in front of Buchanan's store. After the heavy rain had run the crowd from the first stand the candidates finished their reply speeches in the upper portico of Ryan & Buchanan's store. A great mass of human beings stood below in the street, nearly all of them wet, and some few up to their chins in hard cider and mean whiskey. Judge Settle waxed fiercer than usual in his recital of ku-klux outrages in 1870. This set the bad blood to work in the whiskey men. They groaned at the Judge. He flushed at once with anger. They groaned again. He then denounced them. He said, "I tell you, those ku-klux were men like you who bray at me; you scoundrels; you infernal fiends of hell, you!" " Hurrah for Vance!" yelled the crowd. Judge Settle — "If my competitor does not rebuke you for this conduct, he is not the gentleman I have always found him in this campaign. If he does not tell you he wishes no help from such as you, he is not the gentleman I have always known him since our bo3'hood." Another groan and cries for Vance. Settle — " Will the decent people of Moore county suffer me to be thus interrupted by a mob?" (The Judge was about to sit down). Vance arose and calmed the troubled waters and the crowd cried, "keep quiet, men," "silence!" The Judge then continued on the subject of habeas corpus, and cooled off rapidly at every inch of returning reason. He did Vance the justice to say that he believed he never in all of his life laid hand on any woman save in the way of kindness. (The crowd clapped their hands.) The Judge closed. 152 LIFE OF VANCE. Vance arose, perfectly at home and three times as natural, and told the crowd he knew that the handful of men who had interrupted his competitor w-ere wet at the time, both inside and out, that the campaign had always been pleasant between them, and wherever Settle's friends had predominated he had always been treated with respect. He could not tolerate such conduct in those men, and at the same time he condemned the severe language used towards them by Judge Settle. He thought in his cooler moments the Judge would see his own mistake and apologize for such hasty speech. The admirable self-poise of Vance, the easy way he smoothed the passion of the crowd, and set the Judge himself to laughing, won him the full measure of a well balanced man in the minds of all that crowd, and the sun set on as brilliant a Vance victory at Jonesboro as it has reddened in the whole campaign. Judge Settle arose after Vance and explained how easily such taunts could provoke a speaker into mad- ness, that he had no reference in his offensive language to those of the ku-klux who had never hung or stabbed or drowned, (and right here a half drunken fellow brayed): "but I do not wish you, sir, to take any of this apology to yourself." C.\RTHAGE, N. C, Aug. 24, 1876. The signs were never better than in Randolph county. The con- servatives are doing splendid work. In 186S this county gave a radical majority of Soo. In 1S70 but one radical official was elected in the entire county, and he was badly scared in making the trip. In 1872 the Democrats elected three commissioners, and \V. J. Page was elected register of deeds by a majority of 75. In 1874 the democrats elected their legislative ticket. This year the most doubtful conservatives are sanguine of success. Ashboro gave Vance a most enthusiastic recep- tion, and he gave Ashboro one of his best efforts of the campaign. The Tilden and Vance club paraded at night with transparences and a band of music. At Moffitt's Mill the next day the crowd was large, and as many as 200 women sat attentive hearers. Every second woman held an infant in her lap. The speakers made their usual efforts, though two remarks from a couple of the crowd are worthy of note : One said Vance could keep his temper easier than Settle, and the other, a prom- inent Republican, seemed chafed with Judge Settle because he didn't "set that Louisiana outrage straight." He reasoned it could be easily done. At night there was a Tilden and Vance jubilee and torchlight pro- cession in the woods. Never was seen anything like it. The dense, dark woods ; men and women sitting around the camp fires, and about thirty covered wagons packed. Some 250 fell into line, the wagoners with the ladies on their arms, and marched up and down the road, with transparencies, two fiddles in front, scratching the very agonies out of '' Old Molly Hare." Every throat was double-loaded with shouts for LIFE OF VANCE. 153 Zeb. Vance. The crowd then formed in front of Moffitt's store, where seats were improvised for the women, and two or three men held torches and tallow candles, while Dr. Worth delivered a short planta- tion talk that fitted exactly, and which every man stored away on his memory string. They next called lustily for Marmaduke Robins, and he answered in a short, sharp, energetic speech, characteristic of the un- tiring worker and ready speaker he is. As the crowd pushed around the stand, dark as pitch, some fellow would sing out, "don't crowd the ladies." The wagoners hitched up late at night aud drove home with their families, some fifteen or twenty miles to go. Gov. Vance left that evening for Alfred Brower's, in Moore county. At Carter's Mill, in Moore, the crowd was two-thirds radical. That section was a laying-out place during the war, and known as the "United States." Vance wore winning feathers when the sun set that evening. He had the drop on Settle in having the last speech and the Judge got to questioning him. Asked him if he wanted North Carolina to pay her war debt ? Vance said he thought a portion of the school fund might have been paid, but nothing else. " Now let me ask a question," said Vance, "do you think deser- tion right or wrong? " The crowd stood thick around Vance, nearly touching him. Judge Settle, rising : "I say this, if— " Vance : " Ah, now, now^ ; no dodging. I answered you right out. Yes or no ? " Judge Settle then said if a man was conscripted and left the army because of strong Union proclivities, he thought he did right. Vance: "Now, another question, since questioning is the order of the day: Was Holden right or wrong in suspending the writ of habeas corpus?" Settle, again rising : "The principal — " Vance: "Ah, now, now, now; say right or wrong." Judge Settle was gesticulating over Vance's shoulders, and the crowd thick around them, stood peeping up for an answer. The judge was understood to admit that at such a peculiar time, while murders were going on, Holden, under the new constitution, had the discretion to do as he did. Vance: "Then after the twenty-sixth time, I have at last got an answer, that Holden was right in suspending the writ." Judge Settle, springing to his feet the second time, declared it had never been decided whether Holden had the right or not — it was still an open question. Vance picked up a pamphlet. Settle: "I know what you are going to read; that decision on us." Vance: "No, I.'m not; this is the new constitution. It says that the writ of habeas corpus shall never be suspended." The crowd could not help laughing. The truth is Judge Settle was 154 LIFE OF VANCE. provoked, and yet he knew to get mad would be foolish, and still his fine, nervous and sensitive nature could not withstand the impertur- bability of Vance's questions (and such questions at that) without showing that he was right smartly exercised in mind. That evening after speaking, the Judge said: "Hang you, Vance, you do take so man}- turns on me in your replies." "The Lord is with me," said Vance. "The devil's with you," replied the Judge, laughing. VANCE'S TALK AT METROPOLITAN HALL- In a brief conversational resume of his campaign. Governor Vance declared he never knew such enthusiasm and excitement to prevail among the people. It was not an artificial excitement, but a singular instance of the people stirring up the politicians. He had entered Mitchell county knowing it had not given Judge Merrimon more than a hundred votes in the last campaign, and thinking of course the people were one to three against him, his heart sank within him as he crossed Tow river and entered the county. About three miles over the line, in company with some ten men they came to a spring and a woman sat on the grass under an apple tree. She came to bring them a cup to give them some water, and seeing him, cried out, " Great goodness ! ain't that Zeb. Vance? " And then it was, said Vance, she reversed the order of things as they had it on me in Randolph, and instead of my squeezing a woman's thumbs under the fence, she hugged me. Going a little further he beheld about a regiment of men on horse- back, and they waved a United States flag ; they were coming up the hill and he was going down the hill, and he at once felt down-hearted, for he thought them the enemy ; but they raised a shout and it was the old familiar cry for Vance and Tilden. They call it Vance and Tilden up that way. At the speaking that day the applause was fairly divided between him and Settle. Then again at Wilkesboro, the stronghold of the enemy, a cavalcade rode over the river to meet Judge Settle, con- sisting of a revenue officer and a deputy postmaster and took their places behind his competitor's hack in a procession of two. A short while after forty men rode over to meet him, and at his own request they fell behind the conveyance of his competitor and escorted them both into town, and but for the color of the hair and the look out of the eyes of the two Settle men it might have been thought that Settle was the man escorted and not himself. The enthusiasm was increasingin- stead of subsiding, a perfect groundswell among the people, and the only thing was to keep it up to carry the State by several thousand. The Democrats all look joyful and full of life, while, as chicken men would say, there is a hacked look about the Republicans. Even crowds from South Carolina had come over to hear theuT speak, or rather to hear me, said Vance, for they are straight-haired people over there, and I take all the compliment to myself, like the negro named Alick, LIFE OF VANCE. 1 55 who used to wait on the executive office here when I was Governor. I formed quite an attachment for Alick ; he was an honest, good negro. I met him while Holden was Governor, and he was still waiting oil the executive office, and I said to him, " Alick, I am glad to shake the hand of an honest officer in this department." " Yes, sir, " he replied, " I am here yit. " He took all the compliment to himself. Governor Vance closed by introducing Major Englehard to the audience. VANCE AND SETTI.E AT I^EXINGTON. Judge Settle and the reporters arrived here last night from Greens- boro. The News and Sentinel men put up at Penny's Hotel, where they were joined at 9 this morning by Gov. Vance, who came in from Charlotte, whither he went from Greensboro yesterday. There was a sharp frost this morning, followed by a clear, bright beautiful day. Peo- ple began to cram the town at an early hour. When Vance appeared upon the street he was immediately surrounded by a crowd, who followed him everywhere he went. Hundreds waded in for a handshaking. To one persistent chap Vance finally remarked : " Look here, you are taking advantage of the rest ; you shook hands with me up yonder." One man came up and accosted Vance with the remark; "I was a deserter, Governor. " "Well," said Vance, "did I treat you like a dog?" "No, I reckon not," was the reply. "You gave me a 20-days furlough the first pop." United States Senator Matt. W. Ransom and his brother, General Robert Ransom, were present, and by special invitation occupied seats upon the stand. An appointment had been made some weeks before for a speech at this same place to-day from Senator Ransom, which, however, was waived on account of the joint discussion. The meet- ing was held in Lowe's grove. The crowd numbered not far from 4,000, nearly all white. The ladies came out numerously, as usual. Judge Settle opened the debate. He requested that he might receive no applause or demonstration of any kind in his remarks, as he should use no anecdotes, and suggested rather needlessly that all such mani- festations should be reserved for his competitor. He said it would take his whole time to read the list of Democratic thieves, but he would give the name of one in North Carolina — the late superintend- ent of public instruction. The matter of finance, taxes and govern- mental expense was then gone over at length. He next took up the reconstruction measures adopted by the radicals after the war and charged that the rejection of the Constitution offered to the people by the convention of 1865 made these arbitrary and unconstitutional acts necessary. The late constitutional convention and the proposed amendments were animadverted upon. In denouncing Hon. E. Ransom he remarked he was glad he was no connection of Senator Ransom and his distinguished brother. The war matter was dilated upon at length; the copied letters, now pretty nearly worn out by use, were read and commented upon, and a 156 LIFE OF VANCE. strenuous appeal was made to the passions of the audience. As Settle concluded there were loud calls and cheers for Vance. So great and general was the enthusiasm, almost the entire audience rising and throwing up their hats, that it really seemed that old Davidson county, though heretofore regarded as a radical stronghold, was about unani- mous for Vance. The crowd increased considerably as he commenced. The Governor declared that he came to speak of the present and the future and not, ghoul-like, to drag to light the corpse of the dead past. The Republican party had never regarded constitutional limitations when such restrictions stood in the way of their partisan schemes; but whenever the exigencies of party demanded it, the constitution and laws went to the wall and were disregarded. The means taken to force the adoption of the Canby constitution were signal instances of this contempt for law. Despite the fact that that constitution disfranchised no one, the politico-military condition of soldiers and carpet-baggers, instead of waiting until the constitution went into operation before filling the offices created by it, thereby giving all, entitled by its pro- visions to vote, an opportunity to participate in the choice of their rulers, the election of State officers was made to take place on the very same three days on which the instrument itself was voted on, thus depriving 20,000 of the best citizens of suffrage, when they were ex- pressly entitled to vote for all officers, both State and county, and could have done so had the election of those officers been postponed a few weeks later. So, four years ago, Akerman and Delano, members of Grant's Cabinet, came down here and told us if we voted for Greeley we would be remitted to military rule. The arbitrary order of Secre- tary Taft relative to Federal supervisions was severely criticised. A splendid eulogy was pronounced on writ of habeas corpus. Kirk said that writ was "played out when he tore it into gun wadding. Holden said it was dead. But restirgani was written on its tomb, and in August, 1870, it rose again to the tune of a big democratic majority. Vance then went into the expenditures of the government, promising //i^^^ that he was not very fond of figures, particularly when they were on a/ bill which some fellow presented him when he was short of change. The whole speech was enlivened by similar passages of humor, which told wonderfully upon the multitude. In response to Judge Settle's oft repeated charges that he sent men not subject to conscription into the army. Governor Vance said that the only man within his personal knowledge who was "illegally con- scripted and rushed off to the front before he could kiss his wife and babes, much less apply for a writ of habeas corpus," was that anti- quated bachelor. Font Taylord, of Raleigh, who had no wife nor babes to kiss, and that he (Vance) went to Richmond and had him turned loose. WentworTh, October 17th, 1876. In consequence of the train from Charlotte being detained three hours, Gov. Vance and Judge Settle could not get away from Lexing- LIFE OF VANCE. ^57 ton till II o'clock a. m. On our arriving at Reidsville we found at least I 500 people assembled at the station, including a delegation of some- Hng Hke 200 from Danville, Va. Vance was welcomed with the usual acclamations that greet him everywhere. The press about hun was so great that he found right smart difficulty m getting into the hoteL lome misunderstanding had arisen as to the place of "^-^^"^g'J"^ numerous conflicting telegrams and posters had made it very^loubtfui whether Reidsville or Wentworth would be the arena of the grand gladiatorial contest. A communication was received from Governor David S. Reid, chairman of the Rockingham county Democrat c committee, and Mr. Reynolds, chairman of t^^-^^P^f ^^"/^^f/, committee, stating that 3,000 people, representing by far the arger pa" of th^ citizens of Rockingham, had assembledat Wentworth and requesting that the appointment should by no "^^^ ^^^ ^^l^^f.f ^[^^ Wentworth to Reidsville. Governor Vance and Judge Settle there upon appeared on the hotel balcony and announced that the discussion w'ould 'ale place at Wentworth. After dinner we drove to the pret y village of Wentworth, seven miles back from the railroad. The road wasLly but free from rocks. The crowd assembled at Wentworth had been dismissed by Governor Reid before we started ; but most of them turned back. Governor Vance was received at the edge of town by a mounted escort and a brass band. He proceeded at once to the oid academy grove selected for the speaking. Ex-Governor David S^ Reid occupied a seat on the stand. Fully 3,000 men were Present but not more than half a dozen ladies, who sat in carnages on the out- skirts of the crowd. I counted seven and one-half men up trees. The half man was a boy. . t,,,^. At 4 o'clock p. m. Governor Vance opened the discussion. Dur ing the speech a loose mule made some disturbance, when Vance remarked that it was only one of those mules that -ere to go with the forty acres. Governor Vance rather changed the style and order of his speech this evening. He told fewer anecdotes than usua . His remarks were mainly upon the tyranical conduct of the admin - tration towards the South, the flagrant disregard of the great wnt habeas corpus, 800 years old, the misrule and — ^^^ ^^^.^^^^ Carolina, the attempt to overrun the people by supervision of elections fraud, peculations and corruption of the ^^^^^^^ .°f ^^^^.^f ^'^^ „atio;al State and county governments. He spoke with rapidity and earnestness, with just enough touches of humor to relieve the monotony and keep his remarks from being tedious During judge Settle's reply, the lateness of the hour made the crowd rather restless, then Governor Vance asked them, as a matter oflustice and fair play, to stay and hear him out. As the darkness grew, however, many went away, others became boisterous and noisy Two lanterns were brought and placed on the stand. The interruption continued. Governor Vance rose several times and 158 LIFE OF VANCE. pleaded for order. Jvidge Settle finally became indignant and remarked, "I don't know who you are, whether you are Virginians or North Carolinians, but I do know you are behaving like scoundrels. You who are interrupting me in this manner are no gentlemen. Before I will submit to such interruption I will close my remarks, although there are several points I proposed to speak upon. One drunken blackguard can break up a whole meeting." Judge Settle closed after being up an hour and a quarter. Gov. Vance then rose and said that as Judge Settle had jbeen in- terrupted and was unable to fill out his time, he would w^ave his reply. The large crowd then quietly dispersed. Gov. Vance and Judge Settle drove back to Reidsville, where we expect to take the freight train at midnight for Greensboro. Thence they go to Beaufort to meet an ap- pointment for Thursday. Next day at Swift Creek village the big joint canvass of the centennial year winds up. KiNSTON, N. C. , Oct. 23, 1876. Governor Vance and party left Newbern for this beautiful rural village at 5:40 a. m., arriving at 8 o'clock. A large crowd met him at the depot of the Atlantic and North Carolina railroad. The Greenville Cornet Band was in attendance. A horseman bore a large United States flag. When Governor Vance left the cars the multitude opened ranks, forming two long parallel lines, ten deep on each side, facing inwards. Profound silence was maintained till Vance appeared at the foot of this double line. Then three sky-rending cheers arose, as if with the voice of one man and he a giant. Governor Vance's carriage was escorted through the main streets of the town to a hotel b}' a cav- alcade of mounted men, followed by a long procession in vehicles and on foot. The ladies thronged the porches and crowded the windows of every house, waving white handkerchiefs in token of welcome to the coming of the great liberator of North Carolina. It was an ova- tion such as a Bolivar or a Napoleon might envy. Shortly after reach- ing the hotel, Governor Vance, accompanied by Hon. John F. Wooten, appeared upon the balcony, in response to the unanimous wish of the assembled multitude. He said nothing. His noble presence was sufficient of itself. Bowing in courteous acknowledgement of the warm applause that greeted him, he retired to his room, where for up- wards of an hour, he received his friends, white and colored, and shook hands with them. A similar reception was held a little later at the office of Col. Wooten, the Democratic elector for the second con- gressional district. The stand for the speaking was erected at the south end of the Lenoir county court house. It was draped in pure white, beautifully festooned with cedar, ivy, holly and other evergreens, brightened here and there with flowers. A standard at one end of the platform bore the legend : " Vance, the People's Choice." Opposite this was a magnificent American flag. On the stand were LIFE OF VANCE. ^59 a number of the oldest citizens of the county, whose venerable forms and heads white with the frosts of many winters, gave an impressive d lity o tie occasion. Hundreds of beautiful ladies maids and ma- tron added to Vance's reception the attractiveness of their gloriou charms In the rear of the stand, and immediately fronting the court tre was the band wagon, handsomely decorated^ I^Z^^IZ' bered fully 3,000. Many citizens were present from Greene, Wayne, ^^"^rrvTnce::: introducedby col. Wooten. He commenced by sa,°ng that in the absence of his competitor he was like a black- smith beating the anvil without any iron. Governo? Vance's first proposition was that it was necessary to make a change in the administration of the State and national govern- men s This'was indicated by the political axiom laid ^own in all on American bills of rights that frequent ^^.^^^^ ^"^^^^^^^f,^^^^^^^^^^ preservation of popular freedom. That axiom is based upon the idea Th opportunity for a change of parties should be given to the people^ Thefallacv of supporting Hayes as a change from Grant was clearirSown. It is fduck 'before two ducks, a duck behind two ducks and a duck between two ducks. Tie Republican party came into power the 4th of March, i86x and has had a longer lease of power than any other - our history. What has it done, and what is its history, and its present attitude ? Constiutionsare made for the protection of minorities agains the tyranny of majorities. They are intended to secure the rights of the weak against the strong, and to maintain the hberties of the mdi- "'^ThfReTublican party is the legitimate descendant of tl- old aboli- tion party, Ihich used to discard the constitution, Bible, the church, and even God himself. . , , sL months after Congress solemnly declared that it had no pur- pose to interfere with slavery, Lincoln issued his Vrocl^-^^^^onoi emancipation, thereby giving the lie to ^l^^P^^^^^^^.^^ °?^^^ Pff^f^^ When the war ended, we of the South were still in the Union. We had not fought our way out, and were held by all the departments of the Federal government to be still in the Union. Congress passed !n act dissolving the very Union they had fought four years for. spent billions of dollars and sacrificed thousands of lives to maintain They passed another act providing, after putting us out, how we might come back. They wanted us to come back, if we came at all as Jicals. They wanted us to play the part of the prodigal son b when we got home, we were marched around the chimney of the great house right slam into the kitchen. The Louisiana infamy was then det'led and commented upon at length. This reconstruction action was most flagrantly violative of the constitution. Chief Justice Waite has decided Jhat these acts of Congress attempting to regulate suffrage l6o LIFE OF VANCE. in the States were unconstitutional. For this, however, the radicals care nothing. The radical administration has never hesitated to pass the barriers of constitution and laws when party exigencies required it. The anarch}- now prevailing in South Carolina was graphically portraj'ed. The multitudinous arrests now being made in that State, evince a fixed purpose not to allow a fair and free election. And, here in North Carolina, John Pool declares in public speeches that if Tilden is elected bj- the vote of a solid South, the North will not suffer his inauguration. The Governor spoke at length upon the subject of taxation and corrupt and extravagant expenditures of the people's money. The best government in the world is that which is cheapest. When money abounds in the Treasury there will be much more abuse. Radicalism has inaugurated a corruption, a venality, a misappropriation of the public funds, unparalleled in history. Jobbery, rings, peculation, fraud, have fattened upon the Federal Treasury. The rottenness of the radical biscuit was illustrated by the story of the boy and the cod- fish ball at the hotel. From 1789 to 1861 — 72 years — 1,581 million dol- lars covered the entire expense of the general government. In the 14 years since the cost has been 5,220 millions, or — leaving out the four years of the war — 2,034 millions in the last 10 j-ears. In the whole course of Vance's speech, he made no statements of either facts or figures at all varying from those made by him in the joint discussions throughout the State with Judge Settle. The speech was eminently honest, ingenuous and fair ; and it impressed its hearers as such. In characterizing the 40,000 internal revenue ofiicers, Vance said they could look at a man's track in the sand and tell whether he was toting a quart or a four gallon jug. They can smell your breath at 10 o'clock a. m. and tell whether the dram you took before breakfast was tax-paid or not. The "designated assistant United States Inter- nal Revenue Assessors," appointed in 1872 in North Carolina, at $5.00 per day, were commissioned for the express purpose of aiding the radicals in their campaign ; and the people had to pay the cost of them. A diminutive but fat and portly specimen of these gentry was exhibited in the form of a red-legged, Nebraska corn-eating grass- hopper, corked up in a phial and up to his chin in whiskey, his congenial element. North Carolina was pre-eminently an agricultural vState, having but little commercial or manufacturing interest as compared with other States. Upon communities thus mainl)^ made up of farmers, the weight of taxation always falls most heavily. The only reply of the radicals to the charges of corruption and malfeasance is "war! war! war!" Is it any reason that you should support thieves because I and my friends were war men ? Vote for Tilden and Hendricks. A change ma}- help, but cannot hurt us. If LIFE OF VANCE. l6l the men the Democrats put in power go back on you, turn them out. Keep turning out and turning out until you get honest men in office — till you get men who will give us a government — men who will fear the people if not the Lord. Governor Vance then paid his regards to the injurious reports which had been circulated against him ; such as that he had a woman hanged to get her money when Confederate currency was worth about 300 to I in specie. No order of his ever sanctioned cruelty. He had challenged a vigorous scrutiny of his adjutant general's order book. That book could not be found in Raleigh. It had disappeared. He next spoke of the "garbled letters," and said, "I am proud of my war record. I only wish you and all men could see it all. It shows that I steadfastly sustained the civil authority as paramount to the military power wherever and whenever they came in conflict. During ■ the four years of our civil war but two American Governors did this. They were Horatio Seymour, of New York, and myself. I told Jeff. Davis, through Secretary Seddou, that in the absence of any Supreme Court of the Confederate States, the decisions of the Supreme Court of North Carolina were law to me ; and if they were not respected I would call upon the militia of my State to enforce them, and further that I would issue a proclamation recalling the North Carolina troops from Lee's army." Towards the close. Governor Vance addressed a few earnest and manly words to the colored people present. He told an anecdote of the man who gave his hands watermelon to fill them up before meal time to save meat and bread ; also of the little Guinea nigger he met in Yadkin who had " taken notice that the Democratic niggers always wore the best breeches." Governor Vance mentioned iucidently that this was his 69th speech in 65 counties of the State during this canvass. The same enthusiasm had been witnessed everywhere. There had been nothing like it since Governor Morehead's campaign in 1840, when he spoke almost daily from March to November. Governor Vance spoke two hours and a quarter, closing amidst immense applause. A fragrant and beautiful boquet was presented to him on behalf of the ladies of Lenoir. Other boquets then came up in- formally. The band struck up an inspiring air, and the great crowd gradually broke up and dispersed. This ended one of the most memorable campaigns in the history of the State. The people were thoroughly aroused from the seaboard to the mountains. And although the Republicans had had complete control of all the departments of the State government as well as of the national government, ever since the close of the war and 12 l62 LIFE OF VANCE. had all the election machinery in their own hands, with unlimited supplies of money for campaign purposes, and although Settle was by far the strongest and most popular Republican in the State, yet Vance was elected by a very large majority. ^^^.-^y^, ■;c^^.^■ j "^ o ^^ o t-w '^-^ ^3C>■i LIFE OF VANCE. 163 CHAPTER XIIL SYMPOSIUM. Intelligent Analysis of His Characteristics— Strong Portraitures of His Boyhood— Early Manhood and Mature Life— His Pranks- Fondness for Good Books— Studious Habits— His Consciousness of His Own Strength— His Home Life— Strong Domestic Attach- ments—Love of Wife and Children— His Official Life— Hard Methodical Worker— Great Executive Ability— His Oratory- Power With the Masses— His Fondness for the Common People— Their Wonderful Love and Admiration of Him— All Told in Pleas- ing Style by Able and Discriminating Writers— Richard H. Battle, Joseph P. Caldwell, Walter Clark, William R. Cox, Wharton J. Green, Edward J. Hale, Wade Hampton, Hamilton C. Jones, James D. Mclver, William J. Montgomery, William M. Robbins, and Alfred M. Waddell. THE following articles from prominent citizens of North Carolina, who knew Vance more or less intimately and had opportunity to observe and study his traits and characteristics, taken together present a grand picture of the man, and show in a striking manner, not only his strong points of character, but also the secret of his great popu- larity and influence with the people : [From Richard H. Battle.] My personal acquaintance with Governor Vance dates from July, 1851, when, at the age of twenty-one, he went to Chapel Hill to read law with my father, the late Judge Battle, and Hon. S. F. Phillips, and take a partial course with the Senior class in the University. I was a boy of fifteen, just turned Sophomore ; but as young Vance became a member of the Dialectic Society, of which I was a very attached mem- ber, besides reciting his law lessons in my father's office, my acquain- tance with him was sufficiently intimate for me to form a fair estimate of his acquirements and ability. In the debates of the society in which he actively participated he sometimes exhibited an intimate acquain- tance with the Bible, and some of the English classics, notably Shak- speare and Sir Walter Scott ; and he often interspersed his arguments on the "query" for the evening, with humorous sallies and flashes of 164 LIFE OF VANCE. wit, which much enlivened the dullness of the debates. The law of the society against ajidible smiling he regarded himself, for his cus- tom was not to laugh at his own wit, but fines for the infringement of this law were sometimes poured into the treasury from the inability of his hearers to restrain their risibles when Vance would meet the solemn arguments of his adversary with sparkling repartee or a funny illus- tration. While he studied so well as to make a decided impression upon his instructors in the law and in the college course, his bo7i Diots were soon quoted with glee through the village as well as the college buildings. " Have you heard Vance's last? " was a question very fre- quently asked. Looking back, now, at the fifteen years of my life at Chapel Hill as a boy, and as student and instructor in the University, I am of the opin- ion that no one during that period made such an impression in so short a time as did young Vance, except possibly (and in a different way) Gen. J. Johnson Pettigrew, who displayed, during his college career, a capacity for the acquisition of knowledge and to comprehend abstruse mathematics that was almost marvelous. Vance was possessed of remarkable tact, and was equally popular with his instructors, his fellow collegians and the villagers, whose ac- quaintance he sought. He and Mrs. Spencer, then Miss Cornelia Phillips, one of the most intellectual women of the day, became fast friends and their friendship continued until his death. President Swain, old Dr. Mitchell, and his instructors in law recognized Vance's talent and promise for the future ; but few of his fellow students an- ticipated his subsequent brilliant career. Some thought he was too fond of fun and given to levity, to meet the responsibilities of life seri- ously. To be "as solemn as an ass " seemed to them a better indication for those who would aspire to leadership in after life. I remember having to defend Col. Vance against the charge of being a mere jester, suggested by ofl&cers in the army, when the vote was about to be taken for him and the late Col. Wm. Johnston for the ofl&ce of Governor, in August, 1862. His witticisms and anecdotes had become the subject of merriment throughout the State, and many could not believe that the same man could be so witty and at the same time wise enough to be the Governor of a State. Reflecting upon his young manhood, I wonder when Vance first recognized his superior ability, and that he was destined for a distin- guished career. His year at Chapel Hill, and the opportunity he had to measure himself with young men of ability, who had made good use of much better advantages for intellectual training than had been his, doubtless gave him confidence in his native powers and what he was then acquiring, which contributed to his early and rapid advancement. He then acquired an additional power to measure men and things as they were, and without undue self-esteem he could see that he pos- sessed natural gifts which fitted him to contend for public honors in LIFE OF VANCE. 1 65 the battle of life. So he became a candidate for a seat in the lower house of the State Legislature soon after he began the practice of law, in his native county, and, being elected, served during the session of 1^54-55- He contended for a seat in the Senate in the next General As- sembly with Col. David Coleman, the most popular Democrat in the county of Buncombe, but was defeated by a much reduced majority in the senatorial district. In the summer of 1858, against the advice of rela- tives and friends and very heavy odds, he aspired still higher, and contested with W. W. Avery, Esq., of Burke, an able and experienced politician, a seat in Congress, made vacant by Hon. T. L. Clingman's elevation to the United States Senate. To the suprise of the people of the State he was triumphantly elected. He had learned something of his power to sway the minds of men, and especially to capture the young, but hardly realized what might be the limitations of his influence. He knew himself better than others knew him, and he was not made at all vain or conceited, because, to use his peculiar phrase, he had " set the mountains on fire," and in one campaign made a change of 4,500 votes. I will not invade the province of the historian of his life by tell- ing of his career in Congress, on the hustings, between 1858 and iS6r, and as captain of a company and colonel of a regiment from April, 1861 to August, 1862. The world knows how creditable it was to him and his State. I will only allude to the wonderful reputation he gained, as a popular orator, when Whigs and Conservatives from all parts of the State met in mass-meeting in Salisbury to make a stand for the Union, in i860. Notwithstanding that Morehead, and Graham, and Badger and other men of acknowledged ability and influ- ence were there, young Vance became the idol of the multitude. The magnetic effect of his set oration in the day and his shorter speeches at street corners, to one and another of which he was almost drag- ged by excited friends, at night, was such that the whole State rang with his praises. The great and logical Badger, on his return to Ral- leigh, said to an intimate friend : " You ought to have heard young Vance at Salisbury ! He is the greatest stump speaker that ever was ! " Wonderful praise from such a man ! All who was privileged to hear the speech he delivered in front of the Court House in Raleigh, in the summer of 1864, would not qualify much this apparently extravagant praise of Mr. Badger. He was then a candidate for re-election, opposed by W. W. Holden, the editor of the Raleigh Standard, and who two j-ears before had been his fast friend. Mr. Holden's paper was insidiously throwing discredit on the Confed- erate cause, and he was understood to be a peace candidate. He had many friends and adherents in Raleigh, including the editor of the Daily Progress, and more in the country around, and his opposition was formidable. Governor Vance had to capture or negative the influence of these men, and at the same time give no offence to the original 1 66 LIFE OF VANCE. secessionists, some of whom could not yet fully trust one who had once been such an advocate for the Union. He was between two fires. In the speech of two or three hours he made that day, he captured the entire large audience. He at least silenced all opposition. By nature, candid and sincere, he resolved to fire the patriotism of his hearers by giving full expression to that which burned in his own breast. He spoke like one inspired , and the response to his arguments and ap- peals was all he could have wished. Ladies were there in numbers, peering from the windows or sitting in carriages in front of the Yar- boro House. The street was full of men and boys, all intensely eager to catch every word. Cheers and tears alternated with heartiest laughter, as he would occasionally relieve the tension of his audience by an apt anecdote or an amusing story. For true eloquence, pathos, wit, sarcasm, irony and scathing denunciation I have never heard that speech excelled. I have doubted whether Henry Clay himself could have delivered one more effective. My acquaintance with Governor Vance was most intimate during the last three years of the war, when, as Governor of the State, he developed his phenomenal talents and powers of administration and leadership. Without any privity on my part (but probably at the sug- gestion of our common friend, Governor Swain, president of the Universit}^ opportunely for me— for my health was failing in the army), I was invited to become his private secretary, upon his inaugu- ration as Governor, September 8th, 1862. I filled that position until August, 1864, when, on the resignation of Hon. S. P\ Phillips, to be- come a member of the Legislature from Orange county, I was appointed State Auditor by Governor Vance, and continued in that ofiice and daily association with him until the end of the war. During these three years I was honored with his confidence and, I may add, his affectionate friendship. I had ample opportunity to form an estimate of his character, disposition and talents. It is said that the " great- ness of most men diminishes with distance." It was not so with Governor Vance. Sometimes when he needed my assistance in copy- ing and arranging his messages to the Legislature and other papers for the public, that we might not be subject to interruption, as we would constantly have been in the executive office, we took refuge in his home in the old " Governor's Palace " at the southern end of Fayette- ville street ; and there we spent the day. During the recess for dinner I saw him in familiar intercourse with his family, his wife and little boys. I have often remarked, as the result of my observation under these circumstances, that he never appeared to greater advantage than in his own home with his family. Kind, attentive and indulgent to his wife and children, and considerate of the feelings of the servants, noth- ing of the roughness or want of refinement, which one would naturally expect in a successful politician from our mountain district, as it then was, appeared in my host in those half hours of recreation. Though in LIFE OF VANCE. 167 the midst of weighty affairs of State, when called to dinner he threw them off as we entered the dining room, and he was as easy, natural and sparkling with his wife, children and single guest, as if he hadn't a care upon him. He acted as if he realized that his " little red-haired wife," as he sometimes playfully called her (her hair being a pretty auburn), had cares enough of her own, in looking after her servants and four vivacious little boys ; and his manner and words were calculated to make her forget them, and for the time to see only the bright side of a wife's and mother's life. That she looked to "husband" as the embodiment of all that was chivalrous and tender, and he to " wife " as the divinity of his home, was unmistakable. Perhaps he was too much inclined to indulge the children and intercede for them when the mother, with stricter notions of discipline, would curb their ebu- litions of vivacity or surplus energy. They were devoted to him, but hardly more so than was Alex Moore, the servant of the executive office, or William , who blacked his shoes, worked the garden and waited on the table at the " Palace." I need not speak of his conduct of the affairs of the office of Gov- ernor. The history of the State, and of the war between the States, records that he was the great War-Governor of the South, as Morton, of Indiana, was of the North. But I should allude to the wonderful tact and versatility he displayed, and by which he overcame the preju- dices, on one hand, of the original secessionists, who had opposed his election because of his warm affection for the Union before 1861, and those, on the other, of some whose sympathies were hardly, at any time, with the Confederacy. He soon succeeded in convincing the former that the war being on, North Carolina's honor was pledged to its vigorous prosecution, and that when he drew the sword to fight her battles he had thrown away the scabbard ; while his protesting, almost to the point of rupture, against infringment of the reserved rights of the State and her citizens by the government at Richmond, convinced the latter that North Carolina was safe under his leader- ship. His cordiality to all who approached him won personal favor, and his cheerfulness was inspiring to many who were naturally despon- dent. Into his office, day after day, streamed men and women of all conditions of life, with all sorts of schemes for his adoption, petitions for him to grant or refuse, and grievances, real or imaginary, for him to redress. The Legislature was much of the time in regular or extra session, and, having the confidence of most of its members, he was looked to for advice as to all matters affecting our relations to the Confederate government, the home guard, etc., indeed as to all matters of much importance. He took great interest in public education and the corpora- tions of which the State had part control ; and the Board of Internal Improvement, the members of which were appointed by him, were frequently in session. Rev. Dr. Calvin H. Wiley, the able and l68 LIFE OF VANCE. zealous Superintendent of Public Schools, found in him an ever warm supporter. The salt works on the coast, needed to supply our people with salt, demanded his care ; and his enterprise for furnish- ing our soldiers with clothing and the women at home with cotton cards, etc., by the " Advance " and other blockade runners, required much attention. Then his correspondence with the President and Secretary of War, at Richmond, demanded both thought and labor. So the burden upon him was very heavy ; and the two Aids in his ofl&ce. Colonels Geo. Little and D. A. Barnes, and Mr. A.M. McPheeters, executive clerk, and myself were kept constantly busy— while he did much writing with his own hand. The more important letters to the Confederate authorities were generally in his own handwriting. As he never refused an audience to any caller, it seems almost marvelous that he found time to do all he did. Doubtless he would have broken down but for his very vigorous constitution and the buoy- ancy of his spirits. He often found amusement and recreation in interviews with unsophisticated people, and he would frequently drop into our ofl&ce and amuse us with something funny that had been said. 'For example, he told of a singular request for help from a countrywoman. " Governor," she said, "I want 5'ou to search the records and see when I was married. They want to conscript my son John, and I say that he is not old enough." " Well," said he, "sup- pose I find out when you were married, how can I tell when John was born ?" " Oh, Sir ! There is no trouble about that ! John was born just three months before we was married."^ One of his most devoted friends was old " Aunt Abby House, " from Franklin. She was a privileged character, and it was difficult to prevent her going into the Governor's office at her own pleasure, what- ever might be his engagements. Though an ardent Confederate, she thought there were often good reasons why her two favorite nephews should be excused from the army ; and Governor Vance must write to the President, Secretary of War or General Lee, in their behalf. He used to repeat with glee a diplomatic letter he wrote General Lee asking for a furlough for her nephew, Jack D., who she claimed was not in good health. It was to the effect that Jack -was patriotic, but he pre- ferred service at home rather than in the field ; and from the best information he could get from Jack's aunt, the bearer, he supposed that the odor of a combination of nitrate of potash, sulphur and carbon (gun-powder) in combustion was the best tonic for jack's nervous sys- tem. She bore the letter off triumphantly and made her way to General Lee's camp in Virginia. In a fortnight or so she was back in the Gov- ernor's office, and to his surprise she was more friendly than ever. "Well, Aunt Abby," he said, "did you give my letter to General Lee? " " Of course I did, and I got Jack a furlough, too. " " What did General Lee say when he read the letter? " " He laughed and said that Vance was a mighty smart feller. " LIFE OF VANCF. 169 Amid all these enga^etiients Governor Vance somehow found time to do some reading, for improvement as well as for recreation. He as- similated whatever he read to a remarkable degree ; and it was his custom to read good and useful books. I remember his frequently re- ferring to Motley's " Dutch Republic, " which he read during the war, as offering lessons of encouragement to us in the dark days of the Con- federacy' — and so of other books. The improvement of his style in writing, as the result of practice and reading during the first part of his career as Governor, was striking to us, through whose hands his letters passed. His later messages, proclamations, etc., were models of their kind — terse and vigorous sentences, breathing devotion to duty and patriotic fervor. Some of them were truh' eloquent. The gaudium certauiinis was as strong with him as if he were in the forefront of the battles. North Carolina had pledged her faith to her sisters of the South, and she must do her full part. To him it was owing, chiefly, that she did it so nobly. He saw to it that every man liable to military duty under the law was put in place to perform that duty ; but when those not liable claimed protection from the enrolling ofl&ce, he was vigilant to see that they had all the benefit of habeas corpus, from our State judges, to make good their exemption. Timid men in the Confederate Congress from different States and in our State Legislature, and others, in the dark days towards the end of the strug- gle, suggested to him to end the war by calling the North Carolina soldiers home from Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia. " No, " he said, with fiery energy and ringing words. " Our State's honor demands that her soldiers shall be among the last to leave the battle fields of the South, if defeat must come. " And to the last he bent all his great energies to the end that their ranks be kept as full as disease and death would permit, and that they be better clothed than the soldiers of other States. The store of blue blankets and grey cloth, he had provided for them, was not exhausted when Lee surrendered at Ap- pomatox and Johnston at Durham. That they and their friends remem- bered his loving care for them and his devotion to the State was manifest by the enthusiasm with which they bore him, in spite of all obstacles, into the Governor's office so triumphantly, once more, after the lapse of eleven years of forced retirement on his part and patriotic waiting on theirs. His inaugural of 1877 and his messages to the Leg- islatures of 1877 and 1S79 showed that he was as true to the State's honor and best interests and as resourceful as ever. As friend and neighbor I saw how he labored to put North Carolina abreast with the more advanced States of the Union in whatever might conduce to her prosperity and permanent welfare. In the fall of 1884, when the Cleveland and Scales campaign in which he bore so conspicuous a part, was in full blast, I being the chairman of the State Democratic committee, he and the second Mrs. Vance were my guests for a few days ; and I again had an oppor- 1 7© LIFE OF VANCE. tuiiity of intimate acquaintance with him. I found him, at the age of fifty-four, wiser and broader in his sympathies, and as zealous for the public weal as he had been twenty years before, while his humor was as genial and his wit as sparkling as of yore, and his gentleness with old friends, and his good wife, were such as to win as much admiration from younger people who had not before known him, as the great speeches he made here and elsewhere were commanding. I and mine felt to him as to a near relation, and the reputation he was making in the United States Senate was a source of personal, as well as State, pride with us, and the effects of the insidious disease from which he first lost an eye, and which gradually sapped his health and strength, were watched by us with painful anxiety. I will ever regard it as a prized honor that, on his death, my friend- ship for him was recognized by Governor Carr by his appointing me with two State officers. Col. S. McD. Tate and Capt. Oct. Coke, as a menaber of a committee to attend his funeral in the Senate chamber at Washington, and accompany his body to the capitol in Raleigh and then to its place of burial at Asheville. [From Joseph P. Caldwell.] The subject of this book was so well known to every North Caro- linian that almost any one might pass an accurate judgment upon him. For thirty-three years he went in and out among the people and his name, his face and his figure were familiar, while his mental processes and the range of his intellect were fairly measured by all men of average discernment. Hence, there will be no dissent from the proposition that while the register of Time has recorded the rise and progress of great- er men, it was not given to North Carolina to produce them. Among the sons of our State he was easily first. There have been those who mastered him in learning in the law ; who surpassed him in letters ; who in special lines of intellectual strength equaled and went beyond him, but none has been so many-sided. Comparing him with other great North Carolinians, it might be said that he possessed in gener- ous measure their highest attributes and conspicuously others which none of them enjoyed. As a mountain youth he gave promise of what he was to be, and the promise was fulfilled. He had only tried his wings when the discerning saw that he was destined to soar high. It was recognized that a new genius had arisen in the West. But with the idea of genius is associated always the thought of something irregular — meteoric ; something to be admired but something not quite certain. There is infinite interest and profit in the study of the career of this man as he advanced, step by step, in his upward progress. He grew to the height of every occasion which confronted him, however new or unstudied. He was equal to every obstacle that arose in his pathway, and it is not too much to say of him, as Dick Taylor said of Stonewall Jackson, that he was "superior to circumstance." The LIFE OF VANCE. 171 flame which might have been a meteor, came, as the years advanced and new opportunities arose, to shine with a steady light, and the genius which was awhile ago admired and applauded, 3'et looked at askance, developed, with the progress of years, into a ripened wis- dom, which was so often and so triumphantly vindicated, that men long ago came to appreciate that it could be trusted. As a popular orator and debater there has been in North Carolina no man who approached him. Never has the State had a son who could so sway the multitude. His style of address was unique and never to be forgotten. I pass by the inimitable humor which lighten- ed op his speeches. While to the heedless this was the distinguishing feature of Vance's oratory, it was indeed the merest incident of his public addresses. His arguments were ponderous, distinguished for originality of proposition and power of statement. He was a thinker, a logician, and while no thought escaped his tongue that had not already been subjected to the crucible of reason, no faulty argument could be ■advanced by an opponent and its weakness escape detection by him. His alertness was amazing ; his readiness will ever remain a proverb in the State. He was never taken unawares ; never found without an answer, and it a sufficient one. He was capable of the loftiest eloquence, and adorned with handsomest decorations whatever subject he chose to. But amidst references to his humor, his quickness, his aptness and elo- quence, the fact should not be lost sight of that these were but adornments of what were masterful intellectual performances ; for he was a great intellect who himself set no store by the arts of speech, except in so far as they might serve to give emphasis to the grave argument he would enforce. As an executive officer, in the most trying period in the history of the State, he evidenced superb practical ability, and, transferred to the wider domain of national politics, he stood for fifteen years in the Senate of the United States a peer — a statesman, a master of statecraft. That he succeeded Mr. Beck, of Kentucky, upon the death of the latter, as the Democratic leader in the Senate upon the tariff issiie, that he made himself, by study and work, an authority upon this subject, and that he maintained this leadership until physical disability overtook him, and was able at all times to meet all comers, is familiar history. And so he came to be a national figure, and when he died there were not half a dozen Senators whose names werebetter known to the coun- try than his. Thus had he come, more largely than ever before, to be an object of State pride, for in winning fame for himself he shed lustre upon North Carolina. Senator Vance was by Nature richly endowed, and what Nature did not give him he fought for and won. He was a student and a thinker, and he originated ideas. But above all, he had what has been aptly described as " the genius of popularity." He believed in the people, and they believed in him as they never have in an}- other man. 172 LIFE OF VANCE. No other citizen has had such influence over them, and it is not pro- bable that in this generation any other will. His personality was better known to the people of North Carolina than that of any man. His appearance commanded attention — his fine, strong face ; his lion- like head, with its great shock of hair, and his steel-grey eye which, as he chose, burned surrounding objects with its indignant flash or twinkled with the kindliest humor. His presence was so genial that men, women and children were attracted to him. He was full of the milk of human kindness — he loved his fellowmen and, a happy spirit himself, he loved to lighten the cares which weighed upon others. He was essentially a man of the people ; he liked their plain ways and they rewarded him for this and for his fidelity to them by showering upon him such a wealth of affection as no other North Carolinian has ever enjoyed. As an inevitable consequence of the life he had adopted, striving ever to deserve the approbation of the people, and contending ever with wily swordsmen, with keen blades, for the mastery, his career was a tempestuous one, but it was not barren ; and, laying aside his armor, he could have truly said, " I have done the State some service." Yea, verily — more than any man who lives or has lived. [From Walter Clark.] As the generation which passed through the fiery ordeal of 1861-5 is receding into the past it stands out in all its heroic proportions like a mirage above the desert of cotemporaneous history. The great part North Carolina played in that historic scene is beginning to be dis- cerned in all the grandeur of her self-sacrifice. Among the men of that day, the massive form and lion port of Zebulon B. Vance, the great war Governor, not of North Carolina alone, but of the South, "in gesture and bearing, stands proudly pre-eminent" as its outlines are cast upon the canvass of history. Early in the struggle, North Carolina called him home from the head of his regiment to take her helm of State. From that day the welfare of her people and her soldiery was his never ceasing care. Throughout the army, no other troops were as well clothed, as well shod, or better armed, than those who proudly bore on their bayonet points the honor and the fame of North Carolina. More than a third of a century has passed since we called him home to the head of the State, but from that hour by every soldier's bivouac, by every surviving soldier's hearthstone, by the fireside of every soldier's son and daughter, if there is one name more than an- other which can stir the heart as with the sound of a trumpet, it is, and has ever been, that of the great war Governor, Zebulon B. Vance. During those eventful years, the memory of which can never be forgotten, he organized a basis of supplies beyond the ocean and sent the steamer "Advance" back and forth like a weaver's shuttle. LIFE OF VANCE. 173 through beleaguering and hostile fleets, bringing needed supplies alike for army and people. Had the Tresident of the Confederacy pos- sessed equal foresight and enterprise the catastrophe might possibly have been avoided. The ability and patriotism then displayed by their chosen chief impressed his memory indelibly upon the affections of the people of North Carolina. To his latest hour they never forgot him or took away his lineaments from their heart of hearts. After the war, for our sins, imprisonment and disfranchisement were visited upon him. In the dark days of 1868 no temptations and no terrors could shake him. When other leaders, since highly honored were waiting, like Lord Stanly at Atherstone, to discern the winning side that they might hasten to join it, none ever doubted for which side he held. Victor or not, as it might be, his side was with his people. In all the trials through which we passed for thirty years succeed- ing the war there was never a contest nor a struggle in which we did not feel stronger and braver because we knew that he was with us. Among all our illustrious dead, there has not been one who has more completely commanded the confidence and the affections of the people than Governor Vance. It was because they instinctively under- stood him. It was because of the people, the great plain common people (as Lincoln loved to call them) knew that he was of them and for them. They knew, and they felt, that whatever blandishments and and whatever seductions power and wealth might offer, Vance would not desert them. He had his faults, for he was mortal ; he made mistakes for he was only a man. But one mistake he never made, one fault he was never charged with: Not once in his long and splendid public career was it ever whispered that Governor Vance, or Senator Vance, had paltered with his duty for place or power. As for money, there was not enough to buy him. To his latest breath, as from his earliest entrance into public life, he was true to his trust. Twice a member of Congress, thrice chosen Governor, and four times elected to the United States Senate ; upon no other son has North Carolina lavished so many honors. The pride and affection of the people for him were only equalled by his fidelity to their cause. As a brave soldier, the people honored him ; as an incorruptable public servant, they admired and esteemed him ; as the tireless, fearless champion of the people's rights they loved him. The last great tribune of the people is dead. A century may well keep watch and ward till we see his like again. [From William R. Cox.] It is no disparagement to others to assert that Governor Vance was foremost in the affections and confidence of the people of our State. He had rare opportunities to serve them and nobly improved 174 LIFE OF VANCE. them. Warmly attached to the union of the States, he had no sym- pathy with the rocking of the waves that presaged the storm soon to ensue. It is said, with uplifted hands, he was advocating the cause of the Union when the proclamation of Mr. Lincoln was received calling for troops to coerce the States. Immediately his hands fell, his head bowed, he descended from the rostrum, and called for volunteers to defend the State from an outrage upon her constitutional rights. At the head of a company, raised, he promptly tendered his services to the Governor, and from thence forward was a soldier, until the voice of the people called him to the executive chair. I will not dwell upon his business methods, which equipped our soldiers better than those of auy of her sister States, and provided a livehood for many house- holds throughout our borders. Sufl&ce it his wisdom, his foresight, and zeal distinguished him as the war Governor of the South. So much so that at the close of the war, the sectional party then in con- trol of the national government, resolved that he should vicariously suffer for the trangressions of his people. I called on him when on his way to the old capitol prison. Notwithstanding the opportunities to enrich himself, which one less scrupulous would have availed himself of, he was without a dollar, save amounts contributed b)' a few friends from their scanty stores. While in prison he was visited by friends in the North who knew him when a member of Congress ; by his good humor, his apt way of presenting, in a ludicrous way, the mistakes of others, he brought his imprisonment into riducule and was early set at liberty. Though prevented from holding office, during the dark days of reconstruction, his voice and pen were employed for the welfare of the State. In 1875 a constitutional convention was called to supercede the odious carpet-bag government. Many of our prominent men regarded the movenlent as premature, and in writing committed themselves against the policy. Therefore, when I, as chairman of the Democratic executive committee, urged them to take the stump and aid in our efforts, their responses were apologies. Not so with Governor Vance, who replied I might rely on him to do what he could, and made an appointment for us to meet at Morganton to inau- gurate a canvass of the western part of the State, for here there was much division among our friends, and independent candidates were in nearly every county. When in Morganton, I received a dispatch re- questing me to join him at his home in Charlotte. He then informed me that he had sent his family off that morning. His friends had promised to raise money to enable him to make the canvass. They had failed to do so, until he declared' he would put his individual note in bank, to raise the money to fill our appointments. So that evening we took the cars for Georgia to reach western North Carolina, for, notwithstanding our carpet-bag legislators had appropriated twenty millions of bonds to build railroads, not one mile was under LIFE OF VANCE. 175 construction. The result of that canvass is still remembered by many but it is not known that at the close of our canvass Vance did not have five dollars to reach his home. Result: A brilliant canvass, Robeson held, the State redeemed, and our people again allowed to elect honest men for public office, and our credit, which was destroyed, soon restored to normal standard. For many of the blessings now enjoyed are we indebted to this great man. In 1876 he was nominated for Governor. His opponent was a man of splendid address, great ability, and had the general government at his back. The campaign was the most memorable ever made in our State. The labors of Governor Vance during that canvass are to this day imperfectly appreciated. At this time it became my duty to meet him on several occasions, and to my inquiries as to whether he needed money his uniform reply was, "my campaign is costing me nothing, but when I meet a boy named Zeb I like to give him five dol- lars." In many a hamlet young Zebs were found, and no less than five were once presented on one occasion. So general a favorite was he that even horses, dogs, etc., were named for him. His labors were literally overwhelming. From the time he reached the places ap- pointed for speaking there was a continual stream of men, women and children seeking to approach and shake him by the hand. His body was sacrificed with heat, but never for a moment did he shirk his duty. The third time he was chosen Governor, an honor never con- ferred upon any other citizen of the State. Not to dwell upon facts familiar to all, it is sufficient to say that before the expiration of his term he was elected to the United States Senate, and promptly came forward as one of the leaders of that dis- tinguished body. Though serving in the lower House for six years, while Vance was Senator, I never fully realized in what esteem he was held by his colleagues on both sides of the Senate chamber, until called to fill my present position. One of the most distinguished members of this body informed me that entering the Senate a new member while the McKinley tariff bill was under discussion, he witnessed the ease and ability with which Senator Vance met every attack on his positions and with solid facts and ridicule discomfitted his adversaries. He conceived the highest admiration for the man and became warmly attached to him. This instance is not singular. During his long and protracted illness the liveliest interest for his recovery was manifested on both sides of the chamber and when the Wilson bill came up for consideration the senior Senator from Indiana gave expression to the general feeling of its friends when he, in the Senate, regretted the absence of the junior Senator from North Carolina. Contrary to the general opinion. Senator Vance was a close stu- dent, a fine belles lettres scholar, and possessed elements of the highest oratory. During the debate on the McKinley bill he sacrificed 176 LIFE OF VANCE. his health and his eye in nightly labor over its complicated tariff schedule. And during the special session of 1893, though his health was very feeble, he lost no interest in his public duties nor spared himself in preparation for them, and while partially paralj'zed deliy- ered a well-prepared and able speech on the repeal of the Sherman act. Having occasion to go into the cloak-room soon after its delivery, I found him lying down surrounded by friends, wet with perspiration and nearly exhausted. I then feared for him what ultimately proved too true, that it would be his last active appearance on the floor of the Senate. After the death of that able and learned lawyer and fearless Dem- ocrat, ex-Attorney General Black, there was a meetingin the Supreme Court room, attended by many distinguished publicists, to pay honor to his memory. It was generally conceded that among the able ad- dresses then delivered, there was not one equal to that of Senator Vance. I had occasion to know the labor he bestowed on its prepara- tion. Not to extend this letter to a wearying length, I wish to call attention to the fact that when Vance was nominated the third time for Governor, in addressing the vast concourse then in Raleigh, he, in calling attention to the manner in which our State and the country had been robbed and plundered by carpet-baggers and their confeder- ates, dramatically threw up his hands and truthfully exclaimed, " Fellow citizens, my hands are clean !" After accomplishing so much for us he died as he lived — poor and with clean hands, with a con- science clear, manhood untarnished, and a fame and a name dear to every household from his home amidst the Black mountains to the low lands of the East washed by the billowy Atlantic. In the presence of this illustrious public servant, this devoted North Carolinian, this great tribune of the people, who consecrated his manhood, his decrepitude, and perhaps gave his life for his State, and who, after all his sacrifices, died poor and with clean hands, let us teach our children to revere his memory, to follow his example, and whether dealing with private or public affairs, to keep their hands clean always. And the wayward, but sincere, seeker after political truth may safely give heed to his dying admonition, that " the word Democrat stands for human liberty and human freedom, and cannot die. Democracy is immortal." [From Wharton J. Green.] If competent judges were called upon to name the purest, most lustrous, grandest character in the " Ilenriade " epoch of English his- torj^ beginning with the first Henry and ending with the last of the name, we much opine that the almost xinanimous vote would designate England's great if not greatest Lord Chancellor, Sir Thomas More as the man. LIFE OF VANCE. 177 rlain, simple, gentle, genial, with a heart as full of love as a head of erudition and transcendent grasp, whom kingly favor could not turn or terror bend. It is perhaps not extravagant to say that he is entitled to rank in the world's choicest score of "Superlatives, " and to justify the estimate of Erasmus, " as more pure and white than the whitest snow, with such wit as England never had before, and is never likely to have again. " In extempore speaking he stood unequaled. In theo- logical disputation, though but a layman, he was the peer or more of the ablest churchmen. This superb and redundant man preferred the block to the sur- render of one jot or tittle of his convictions, though many there were and more there be who deemed and deem his election mere pride and punctilio. Be it so or be it not, Paul was his prototype and he, we hold, was the grandest man who has " ever lived in the tide of times. " But here discrepancy between the two sets in. Paul had no humorous side to his character. Sir Thomas, on the contrary, was brimful of his little jests and pleasantries, even to the scaffold's foot and falling of the axe. This was due in main to his sunshiny nature, kindliness of heart and exuberance of fancy. His life study was to live uprightly, to do his duty to his God, his King and his country, and make others happy and contented with their lot. Let cavillers say that his outcrop of innocent humor in furtherance of the last, detracted from the Mas- ter's service. On the contrary to my poor ken, coupled with his more serious traits, it only added to his Christian life and hands him to us as perhaps the sweetest and most lovable character of such prominence in our history. Perhaps it is not extravagant to say that in him, Mar- cus Aurelius and Robert E. Lee, the world has the grandest and most perfect all around triumvirate of the Christian era, leaving out him of Tarsus. I am thus diffuse in delineation and praise of this almost match- less man, owing to the many striking points of similitude between him and Zebulon B. Vance, with whom it is proposed to run a cursory parallel. The question of comparative mental calibre of the two will be left in abeyance as one too subtle to sift. Suffice it that one might fall far short of the intellectual altitude of Sir Thomas More and yet be amply competent to sway Senates or wield the helm of State. In amiable attractive attributes, few men have ever borne closer re- semblance. Seriosity and humor most admirably blended ; wit as keen as a Damascus blade, but which never gave offence except when the occasion and the subject most urgently demanded. The fundamental article of creed of each was obedience to the Master and love of fellow- man. Politicians and movers of the popular heart they were by nature and statesmen by culture. Innate and irrepressible politeness and gift of speech and sweet disposition forced them into popular idols and lead- ers of men, yclept the politician, not vice versa. Insatiate love of study and of statecraft with love of mankind underlying necessitated 13 178 LIFE OF VANCE. the outcome of the last. These men were of the " nascitur " sort un- doubtedly, but only unremitting thought and application could have prepared them for the high employments they were called upon to discharge. In equipoise and equable temperament they were essen- tially of the same mould. Neither was ever unduly elated by the honors of oflSce or depressed by the cares of State. Of the more re- cent, it is mine to say that during a long and friendly intercourse with him, extending through a generation, I never saw him cast down, or " down in the mouth, " but on one occasion, and then only for a few brief minutes. Wiping away the unbidden tear from his manl}' cheek, he remarked with a placid smile, " Come, old fellow, let's have a quiet Sunday morning's talk. How do you like this thing? " refering to congressional life. "But little." " As little do I, " was his reply. " And yet our little places will never go a-begging. " Such methinks might have been the latent thought of his illustrious prototype as here outlined before he laid aside " the great seal " to lay his great head upon the block. " Vauitas vanitatum ! " Be that as it may, the two fulfilled the high posts of duty to which they were called to the uttermost of superlative capacity, and went to rest with that proud consciousness. To continue the analogy, they lived poor and died poor in this world's gear, but millionaires in the affections of their countrymen, of unsmirched and unsullied name. Ma}- God in His in- finite mercy grant us more of that sort and fewer of the other. In home life, likewise they were twin brothers. Home to each was the most loved spot on earth, and they strove to make it so to all who had ingress into its sacred portals. They died near the same ages — for great work done comparatively young. Congeniality in wit and innocent mirth was, perhaps, however, the most striking trait in common to these remarkable men. One has, as already said, his little quips and quirks almost to the moment of decapitation. The other indulges in the same as the bolts of the old Capitol prison close behind him, to be opened again — when no man could tell. Each hated tyranny with a holy hate, that is, as thc}^ did the place in which it emanates, and to which, in the end, all tyrants pre- sumptively go, be they crown wearers or for the want of such head- gear only vulgar, domestic brutes. Bold assertion against unwarranted assumptions of executive heads was the most heroic bond of sympathy between them, or would have been had they lived in the same age. The first dared to beard two kings on the threshold of kingly en- croachment as he believed, gaining admission thereby on each occasion into Tyranny's " Tower." The other to lock horns with his party chief in executive robe, as inflated a specimen of uncrowned regality .as ever strutted this mundane stage, ^and whose chiefest regret might seem to have been that he, like those and other titular LIFE OF VANCE. 1 79 spirits of kindred sort, had not a little " Tower " of his own in which to cage such truculent birds. But dropping comparison, his proud title of " the war Governor " of the Confederacy, gave our immediate man his most resplendent sheen. Although but still a boy, as it were, when called from the head of his regiment to take the head of his State, he quickly proved himself amply competent to the transition and the high promotion accorded. Bj' his brief experience in camp and field, he had learned the needs of troops, pressing even then, but more pressing soon to follow. His ambition seemed to be from the start that North Carolina should not only have the fullest rosters at " roll call," but the fattest graveyards on hard fought fields if needs be, of any of her sister States. With liberal allowance to each and all of the others, numerically con- sidered, let the official war records answer. But more than that, it was his fixed purpose and resolve that they should be the best clad, the best shod, the best blanketed troops of any other. It was a jest in camp that when a regiment of another State had given way under dread ordeal and was replaced by one of oiirs, in reply to taunt of the Colonel of the First, a w^eather beaten and bare-footed old veteran blurted out between his sobs : "If we were only as well shoed and as well cared for as them d — d Tar Heels, we'd know how to stick and die as well as they do." The swdft little steamer "Advance" was placed in commission with glorious Tom Crosson in command, and made her outgoings and incomings through the blockading squadrons almost with the regular- ity of a Cunarderinandoutof New York. Cotton, tobacco, naval stores, etc., which commanded almost fabulous prices on the other side con- stituted her outgoing cargo. The articles named, and medical stores and appliances, and improved arms and outfit, her incoming for the soldiers, not omitting needles and buttons and thread and knitting needles, and cotton cards and old-fashioned spinning wheels and cot- ton and wodlen cloths and such like, her incoming. Rather a primi- tive selection and assortment, the so-called "400" upstarts and their congerers might say ; but let them rememberthat these homely articles were designed for men and women contending for a soul ingrained principle, which they would not have parted with for all the paltry dross of their paltry herd, including gold ; yea, much fine gold, and purples and broad cloths, and precious stones, and knee breeches, and buckles, and farthingales and furbelows, and manikins and their sort thrown in for full complement. vSome there were who claimed that he was stretching constitutional prerogative a little too far, in reply to whom we can almost fancy we hear the stereotyped big oath of North Carolina's biggest son : ' By the Eternal ! these glorious fellows shall not come to want through any neglect or omission of mine." Of course our juvenile Governor had the general outline of freight- l8o LIFE OF VANCE. age on these momentous trips of the little craft, but this was elaborated by his well selected and efficient coadjutor and agent on the other side, Honest John Scotch White, of AVarrenton. What a splendid opportunity for nest-feathering was lost by these three thoughtless men, Vance, Crosson and White, when almost every pound of cargo was worth its equivalent in silver, and sometimes even in gold, and yet fools there be who would rather be of that sort than of the maccaroon or millionairic class. The wonderful versatility of this wonderful man is best illustrated by the fact that notwithstanding his undivided adhesion to the cause of Southern Independence after the struggle was once begun, he was not an original secessionist or one per se at the start. Again, his reputation as the prince of story tellers had preceded him to the Senate, and his colleagues were prepared to see a country clown or "Merry Andrew." His first utterance undeceived them. He had left the stump, the petty politician, and the cross roads behind him, and was at a single bound a full fledged United States Senator. [From Edward J. Hale.] The first time I remember to have been impressed with the magni- tude of the place Vance was destined to occupy in our history was in October, i860, when almost the earliest duty assigned to me, as a newly-fledged editor and member of the firm of E.J. Hale & Sons, was the "editing" of the report sent to the Observer from Salisbury of the great Whig mass-meeting there on the nth and 12th of that month. There were traditions in abundance at the University, when I was there, of Vance's witty sayings, bi:t these had not impressed me with the idea that the author of the latter was fashioned to excel in other respects. What impressed me in the Salisbury report was the fact that the young Congressman should be represented as shining among the stars that were there of such magnitude as Badger, Graham, Morehead, W. N. H. Smith and Alfred Dockery. Of the first day's (Thursday's) meeting the report said : "General Dockery made a short exhortatory oration and intro- duced Hon. Z. B. Vance. This gentleman rose amid shouts of applause and for over two hours held his large audience perfectly, and that too, most of the time, amid the rain. At every attempt to stop he would be greeted with shouts of " go on, " " go on. " His speech partook of the argumentative and the witty in elegant proportions. Your corres- pondent thinks he is the best stump orator in North Carolina, and may venture to say that at least nine-tenths of the thousands at Salisburj' think so, too." On Friday night the 3-oung orator was again pressed into service, and the report went on to say : " At night those who remained in town assembled in the public square to see the fireworks. From the commencement of the display LIFE OF VANCE. l8l cries were continuall}' made for " Vance, " and "Let's hear the Moun- tain Boy. " After considerable exhibition of the fireworks and an hour's calling for him, Mr. Vance came forward and was mounted on a pile of boxes. After a number of witticisms, Mr. Vance got the crowd a little silent and held them steadily around him for over an hour. You can form some idea of the crowd when I tell you that one of those wide streets of Salisbury was packed for three hundred feet of length — side- walks and all — almost as close as it is possible for human beings to stand. In the midst of this vast assembly was Mr. Vance. Cheer after cheer followed nearly every sentence he uttered. And as he left his platform the enthusiastic crowd threw wreaths over his head and re- ceiving him on their shoulders, bore him around the vast assembly amid deafening shouts. " I was present when Mr. Badger said to the late Mr. E. J. Hale, in reply to the latter's congratulations upon the accounts he had heard of Mr. Badger's own great speech at the Salisbury meeting: "But, Mr. Hale, you should have heard Vance, the young Congressman from the moun- tain district. There never lived such a stump speaker as he. " At that time Mr. Badger was recognized as our ablest Carolinian states- man, and probabl}^ our most accomplished orator. Measured by the modern English standard of oratory, he was certainly entitled to that rating in North Carolina, and probably, at that time, in the Union. In its issue of October 17th, 1861, the Fayetteville Observer pub- lished a letter from Col. Z. B. Vance, of the Twenty-sixth Regiment, addressed to his friend, Mr. N. G. Allman, of Franklin, Macon county, declining to allow his name to be used as that of a candidate for Con- gress. (This letter is given in full elsewhere in this volume.) In this letter was revealed the predominant traits of the man, as they became afterwards known to the people of all the State. Though a Union man up to Lincoln's proclamation, he had cast his lot with his own people; though a Congressman and entitled to some preference, he entered the war oh an equality with his neighbors, as a private soldier; though tempted by urgent solicitations to return to the pursuit of poli- tics, for which his genius fitted him, he obeyed what then seemed to be the call of duty ; above all, he was of a modest disposition and filled his letter which discloses so beautifully, with the spirit of gratitude — "gratitude," which was, as one who loved him said, his "favorite virtue; gratitude to God and man for the blessings of affection." But as the time approached in the next year (1862) for the election of a Governor, it was felt that North Carolina's position in the Con- federacy would be best sustained by the recognition of that majority element in the State whose ante-bellum Union sentiments had pre- vailed in the choice of delegates to the convention of 1861. In its announcement of the death of Senator Vance, the Raleigh News and Observer of April 17th, 1894, said : " The time was now approaching for the election of a Governor 1 82 LIFE OF VANCE. of the State. Governor Ellis had died in office and Hon. Henry T. Clark, Speaker of the Senate, was acting as Governor. Hon. A. S. Merrimon, of Buncombe, was a member of the Assembly ; and at a conference of a few friends, it was determined to bring out Vance for Governor. Merrimon rode to Faj-etteville and obtained a promise of cordial support from Mr. Edward Jones Hale, the leading Whig editor of the State, and Vance was brought out. Many Democrats did not wish to antagonize him." I happened to be at home on furlough at the time, and was assigned the pleasant duty of taking Mr. Merrimon over the town, after the serious business was concluded. I recalled that it was agreed that if Vance would accept the great task proposed for him, he should address a letter to the editors of the Observer, which should constitute a sort of platform for his adherents, as well as indication of his own attitude toward his candidacy. He was induced to abandon his purpose, so rigidly adhered to up to that time, of remaining in the field, and wrote a letter accepting the unique, but ver}- Democratic, nomination. (Published elsewhere in this volume.) The traits which I have mentioned — a sense of duty, modesty and a grateful disposition — are such as commend their possessors to men everywhere. But while those virtues were Vance's in a very high degree, they would not, of themselves, be sufficient to explain his lead- ing characteristic, " his popularity " and his power with the masses. A noted Georgia writer declared that Vance was not only the most popular man in North Carolina, but the most pojaular man who had ever lived in any State. That is probably literally true. Senator Chandler said the same thing in effect, on the funeral train from Ral- eigh to Asheville, as he watched the silent people who lined the road- side, and scanned their faces and noted the expression of individual sorrow which each face bore. The late Senator's engaging manners, his noble face and figure, so good to look upon, and his unrivalled powers upon the stump would account for the unusual favor with which those who saw and heard him regarded him ; but, in the nature of things, these must have con- stituted but a small portion of the mass of his countrymen. Yet his popularity was all-pervading. An authority has declared that the ablest commissary general who ever lived would be unequal to the task of feeding London for a day ; yet the forces of individual self- interest, directed by no concert of action but concentrated in their final effect, deliver to the great city each day just what it needs of meat and drink. Such concentration" of the unconcerted efforts of a multitude, where the motive of the individuals is the same, is a force well known to students of those matters. So it was, we may infer, with our hero and his friends. As his beneficent rule in those troublous days of the great war was felt in the remotest corners of the State, and his vigilant care sought out the humblest private in the ranks at the LIFE OF VANCE. ^83 front, his beneficiaries traced each his bounty back to its source with unerring discernment. So they came to know each other in a way that neither forgot. Or, as it has been said, the people loved him be- cause he first loved them. . The most picturesque episode of Vance's life was his series of speeches to the North Carolina troops of Lee's army in March, 1864. There were during the winter of 1863-4 thirteen North Carohna brig- ades (sixty-five regiments) in the Army of Northern Virginia They were stretched at intervals-and not very great intervals, for they composed more than half of that immortal army-along the Southern bank of the Rapidan, east and west from Orange Court House^ My bric^ade (Lane's) held the extreme left, at Liberty Mills. The day before the Governor was to speak at our camp (March 31st) the gen- eral and I rode over to Scales' (the next North Carolina brigade to us on the right) to bring him over to our headquarters in readiness for the next day. We arrived in time to hear his speech. It was pitched inaloftvkey. General Lee, General Stuart and other big wigs of the arm;, arrived just at the close, owing to a misunderstanding of the time set for the speech, but we learned from them that they had been following Vance up from brigade to brigade. His tour began with the North Carolina Brigade furthermost to the right (Ramseur's I think) and there General Lee and his companions had gone to meet him and to welcome him to the army. But they had run the gamut of the whole eleven up to Scales' so fascinating had they found his eloquence. It was a picturesque and inspiring scene. There lay the uncon- nuered army of Northern Virginia, like a lion at bay, along ^he foothills of the Blue Ridge. Or, we might say that the Great Com- mander was holding his dogs of war in leash for what -on proved their long drawn death grapple, when they were let loose on the flank of Grants marching army five weeks later. Traitors at ^ome were sowing discord among the people, with the expectation that the infec- tion would spread to their brethren in the army At this crisis the young Governor of the State which supplied such a great portion of that army, appeared upon the scene What a setting the picture had ! The Great Commander and his brilliant escort, many hundreds of the fair women of Virginia on horseback and in carriages, and the grim veterans and their tattered flags ! And what a theme He was fresh from the triumph of the great Wilkesboro speech with which he opened his anti-Holden campaign athome ; and this was a last appeal to the men at the front to stand to their colors even though that required their turning a deaf ear to the wails of those dependent upon them. His fiery eloquence bewitched the ereat Virginia^ and his companions, while it wrought our Carolinian foldiers up to the highest pitch of patriotic fervor. No wonder they made their imperishable record in the unprecedented campaigns that followed. 184 LIFE OF VANCE. Twenty-one years later I sat upon the platform with Mr. Gladstone in the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, when the grand old man opened his Home Rule campaign with the memorable "Manchester Speech." The surroundings certainly were very different, but the cause was the same ; and, having in consideration the fact that each speaker's object was to sway great bodies of men in behalf of a people's freedom, I believe that Vance's was the greater effort. Those who heard him then and survived the war brought the impression home with them. These bonds were not of the kind to lightly fall apart ; they as- serted themselves when he appeared before the people at another crisis, in 1876 ; and, contrary to the expectation of those who at a more recent period calculated upon the change which a new generation might introduce, they were found to be practically unimpaired. The same kind of sentimentalists who filled the ranks of North Carolina's regiments and the graves of her dead in the war rallied at the sound of his voice, this time, also. The very thing in his letter of July i8th, 1893, to the Mecklenburg Alliance, which so inflamed his enemies, was the token by which the multituderecognized their leader and defender. No doubt the wave of disapproval which swept along the highways of the State at his words of advice and warning, and found unkindly voice in some thoughtless quarters, brought sorrow to his heart, but he never for a moment doubted what the verdict of the silent masses would be, or felt uncertain of the wisdom of his proposition. Time has, unfortunately for us all, approved his foresight. If genius be the power of mastering infinite details, Vance possessed it in an eminent degree. Its flashes before the public were but sparks from the forges in his laboratory. He was a hard student, not only of the stored wisdom of the ages, but of the daily run of affairs. What seemed oftentimes, therefore, to be a supernatural facultj' of foreseeing events veiled from ordinary men — as, for example, the vivid literalness of the prophecy in his last great silver speech — was but the result of his unbounded knowledge. One cannot deduce a conclusion from facts unless he know them. No one expects to gather figs fro:n thistles, but it is not every one who recognizes the thistle. Vance never believed that Mr. Cleveland was a Democrat. He thought that way at Chicago in 1884; and he predicted in March, 1893, before the extra session was called and its object dreamed of, that the President would do something "to set us all by the ears" — not because he doubted the good faith of the head of his party, but because he knew that the President's training and beliefs were not Democratic. His prediction then was as preciselj' fulfilled as the more famous one embodied in his speech six months later. The keynote to Vance's position in that great speech, on the pro- position to repeal the Sherman law unconditionally, was given by him to a reporter who called upon him at the Fifth Avenue hotel in New LIFE OF VANCE. 185 York on the morning after his Washington's birthday speech before the Southern Society, in February, 1893. The reporter said that he had been instructed to ask hiiu if he was in favor of carrying out the mandates of the Chicago platform, referring especially to those con- cerning the currency. "Yes," said Vance, wath emphasis, '^ every one of them !" He meant that the provisions of that famous document were the result of a compromise in which one proposition was balanced against another. He had in mind the fact that the alternative of inter- national agreement on a ratio, was a concession by the South and West to New York and the East ; that the reference was to the Brussels Conference, impending at the time the platform was adopted ; and that failure there should be followed by action under the legislative alter- native. He also regarded the recommendation for the repeal of the 10 per cent, tax on State bank issues as part of the compromise. But, as the tax had been demonstrated, in the Democratic minority report on this subject the 3^ear before, to be unconstitutional, and as the recom- mendation in the platform was the result of that report, he believed that if the tax were to be repealed as a compliance with the platform, no condition could be attached to its repeal. The President, at a later period, overlooked this important point, so clear to Vance's high in- telligence. It is worth recalling that Vance was the author of the report referred to. As one looks back — now "that we realize how completely the prom- ise to substitute a proper silver coinage law for the Sherman law, if that should be repealed in consideration of the promise, was broken — it seems incredible that anyone could have failed to see the ioWy of trusting to the "generosity of capital" to fulfil what only its greed caused it to pledge itself to. Vance, it will be recalled, was the object of much scornful criticism at the time for his want of trustfulness. One of the curious misapprehensions of Vance's course, which certain interests fomented, was the idea that he had compromised himself in his so-called pledge at the time of his re-election to the vSenate in 1S91. On the contrary, nothing could have been more loyal to the doctrine of the party whose flag he bore than the declaration that he recognized the right of instruction by the Leg- islature, and nothing more candid and manly than his assertion of the privilege he reserved of resigning his office if such his instructions should require him to violate his party's principles. Probably the most extraordinary of Vance's triumphs was his se- curing a reversal, by his minority report, of the decision regarding the admission to the Senate of Mr. Lee Mantle, who had been appointed by the Governor after the Legislature of his State had failed to avail itself of its right to elect. Yet that report was dictated off-hand* to his stenographer, after bed time, after days and days of weary attentions to office seekers and others, and when the shadow of death was upon him. ^ 1 86 LIFE OF VANCE. Some critics have expressed the opinion that one or two other speeches in the great debate over the repeal of the Sherman law sur- passed Vance's. But Vance's will, be held to be the greatest, I think, if it be looked at in the light of what military men call " grand strat- egy." It was not intended for a treatise on the silver problem, so much as demonstration of the political and strategic folly of the measure under consideration. From this, the proper and higher point of view, it was without a rival in that unrivaled debate. Vance was one of the few Sovithern men who have received the dis- tinction of being made honorary members of the Cobden Club. He was held in the highest esteem by the great men who compose its membership, and his death was appropriately noted by them. A distinguished Senator, a high authority in such matters, said at Asheville that in a running debate on the floor of the Senate, in which a large equipment as well as readiness were required, Vance had no equal in his day — a decade past. In enumerating Vance's leading traits, I have placed his sense of duty first. I think that overshadowed all his other virtues. Under this general head fall his loyalty to a trust, which was absolute — that, for example, which the party that gave him ofiice imposed upon him — and his incorruptibility. When he voted for the investigation of the sugar and other scandals, and against the confirmation of Van Alen's appointment, he took his stand on the side of purity in national affairs. And when he voted against the confirmation of Hornblower's and Peckham's appointments he paid tribute to his part}' loyalty. In harmony with this were his views on the subject of " bolting," which he gave in such a ringing way in his address issued at the crisis of the campaign of 1892. He scorned a bolter, but he had an even greater contempt for the man who ought to bolt but who retained the benefit of his party's name while giving aid and comfort to the enemy. At the same time he was charitable and tolerant to the last degree towards those who openly changed their beliefs when free to do so. The people keep very close watch upon those in high position. Per- haps his undeviating loyalty to his constituents, in a corrupt era, constituted his strongest hold upon them. With the death of Vance, the State lost the only man produced by her who has enjoyed since the war what may properly be designated as a national reputation. Everything considered, it must be said, I think, deliberately, that Vance stands almost head and shoulders above any other man produced by us — "one of the grandest public men," as Mr. Brj-an has said in his book, "given to this nation, not alone by North Carolina, but by the entire country." [From Wade Hampton.] I have your letter of the igtli uUimo, wherein you say tliat }-ou LIFE OF VANCE. 1 87 are preparing a life of Senator Vance, and wonld like to have me con- tribute to the same. I have been confined to my home in South Carolina b}- an illness for the past three months, and have onlj- recentl}^ resumed my official duties here. It gives me pleasure, however, to recall the little inci- dent to which you refer in your letter. Years ago, while Governor of North Carolina and traveling in the far West, Senator Vance met a Westerner of convivial habits, and after they had conversed upon vari- ous topics for some time, the fellow said to Vance : "As the Governor of North Carolina said to the Governor of South Carolina, it is now time to take a drink," not knowing that he was addressing the very Governor to whom the expression had been attributed. They shook hands and took a drink. I should be delighted to contribute an article relating to the inci- dents of my long associations with my old finend in the Senate. But, as stated above, my health has suffered much from the effects of an old wound, and I feel unequal to the undertaking. vSenator Vance, however, was a very able man in the Senate, and in all the eminent positions to which he was raised by the people of his State, his public actions were marked by purity of intentions and as eminating from a y^" man of unusual strength. [From Hamilton C. Jones.] It is difficult to write of a man like Governor Vance so soon after his death, at least for those who were much with him or about him. Incidents, of course, are numerous, still fresh in the minds of men, that tend to show the manner of man he was, but they are so numer- ous that they puzzle and distract by their very number. To dwell upon them could be of little interest to this generation, for they are mostly known by all, and every one has his or her own impression of him derived from personal contact. But it may serve to aid the critical historian, who in 3^ears to come, shall venture to assign him his place in history, to know the impressions he made upon his contemporaries ; those who were close to him and saw him and walked with him in his every-day life, and who heard him, too, when mighty crowds of men listened to his eloquence or followed him about obedient to his words. It has long since been taken as true that familiaritj' or close con- tact with great men greatly impairs the force of the impressions which they make upon us. This is due most probably to the fact that no man is perfect either in his mental or moral make-up, and close scrutiny re- veals blemishes which charitable biographers or servile dependants are careful not to disclose. But be the cause of it what it may, in most cases it is undeniably true that " a prophet is not without honor save in his own country. " It is the severest test to which greatness can be subjected, this focalized gaze of the multitude at short range. This test the fame of Governor Vance stood without diminution or detri- 1 88 LIFE OF VANCE. ment. No man ever occupied so many exhalted positions through so many years as he did, and yet lived in closer contact with his people, or was to such a degree part and parcel of them. His intercourse with all classes cultivated and uncultivated was always close and was char- acterized by an easy and graceful familiarity that placed him in thorough touch with them, yet throughout his life he was to them a great leader, an infallible guide and an incorruptible patriot. Thus it was that when he died, there was manifested everywhere a feeling akin to dismay. With one voice men said that the greatest man North Car- olina ever produced was dead, and that this generation would not see his like again. Their hearts were sore, and they wept because they loved him, but mingled with their sorrow was the gloomy conscious- ness that they had sustained a loss which was well nigh irreparable, and thus it was seen that he at least was not without honor in his own country. But tried by any test, it must be conceded that he was in truth a great man, for it is scarcely an exaggeration to say that during his whole life he was subjected to trials, and it may be said with equal truth that he failed in nothing. His early life was a struggle with poverty in a determined effort to procure an education, and in early manhood, he emerges from obscurity, and in an incredibly short time took his place among the best known and most trusted public men of his day in this State. This was at a time of great political agitation. The stupendous events of the next few years were rapidly shaping themselves. The old Whig party, the sole remnant of the ancient con- servatism of the country, was making its last stand about the Constitu- tion and Union. Opposed to it in the South was a party led by many brilliant orators, and ardent, brave men, who had dispaired of main- taining the old Union, and were advocating secession. Gov. Vance was a Whig by inheritance, and in this great crisis he came into public life as one of its representatives, first in the Legislature and then in the National House of Representatives. He was a born orator, and his whole soul was enlisted in the cause, and with so great a theme, he electrified his audiences above measure. The writer remembers to have heard some of these early efforts of his, and though he heard him many times afterwards, when time, study and varied experience had toned somewhat his ardent spirit, and ripened and matured his judgment, he doubts if he ever excelled in true force and effectiveness the efforts of those earlier years. The impression which he made upon his hearers was enhanced by a decided boyish ap- pearance, for he had a youthful, almost boyish, face, a bright color, and a singularly quick and alert manner. These all vanished amid the cares and disappointments of the next few years, and when he merged from them, there were lines on his face cut deep and traces of sorrow that were never erased. It is doubtful if Governor Vance ever enjoyed perfect health after his imprisonment at the close of the war, a fact that tends to enhance the wonder at his LIFE OF VANCE. 1 89 achievements. He had thrown himself into the great struggle be- tween the sections with all the ardor of his nature, and the disastrous result affected him to a degree that was little understood except by those who were intimately associated with him. At this time his situation was such as might well have broken the spirit of a man less resolute and courageous than himself. He had come out of the war without means ; he was banned politically by reason of his participa- tion in the war ; he was threatened with prosecution by the Govern- ment, and had dependent upon him a devoted wife and a family of young children. To those of us who knew him there is no period of his life that more fully illustrates his great courage than this. He had never previous to this devoted much time to his profession, as indeed he had little time to do so, but he resolutely betook himself to work in the practice of the law, and in a few years he was in the enjoyment of a practice that was lucrative for this section, at that time. He was soon recognized as the very foremost jury lawyer in the State, and some of his speeches at the bar are still spoken of by his contemporaries as among the iinest efforts the bar of this State has known. To one who had devoted almost all of his previous life to the public service, the practice of the law was naturally not very congenial, and be- sides, he, in common with everyone, felt that so soon as his disabilities were removed the people of the State would call him again into the public service, and so it came about, for the first Democratic Legisla- ture that was elected in North Carolina after the war elected him to the Senate of the United States. How he was refused admittance to the Senate, because of his disabilities, how he was afterward nominated by his party in the Legislature to the same position, and was defeated by Judge Merrimon, are matters of history now. These disappointments made his heart sore at the time, but they served only to intensify the enthusiasm with which the people of the State were to vindicate him, and manifest their love for him in the 3^ears to come. Still memorable in the history and tradition of this State is the great canvass of 1876 between Governor Vance and Judge Settle. They had both been prom- inent as young men in politics before the war, Governor Vance as Whig, Judge Settle as a Douglass Democrat, and both had been ardent Union men. At the close of the war Judge Settle had allied himself with the Republican party, while Governor Vance had devoted himself to build- ing up the Democratic party. They were not far from the same age. They were both men of conspicuous ability, and great reputation as public speakers, and it was well understood that the mastery of North Carolina for years to come was dependent upon the result of that cam- paign. Under such circumstances, and with two such men, it was to be expected that the contest would be a brilliant one, and so it was. Each enhanced his already great reputation, and as a result each in after times had marked manifestations of the gratitude and approval of his 190 LIFE OF VANCE. party. As is well known, Governor Vance remained but a short while in the gubernatorial office, when, with glad acclamation the people, through their representatives, elected him to the Senate. This was a great triumph for him, and he was justly proud of it, but when the time came for him to take his place in the Senate, it is certain that he rather recoiled at the prospect that lay open before him, for he well knew that it meant for him a life of hard stud}' and unremitting labor. He had figured conspicuously in the House of Representatives, where his brilliant talents made it easy for him to shine, but in the new field there were other qualities and new attainments necessary. At that time, too, representative men of the South were greatly hampered in Congress by the anomalous relation which the reconstructed States bore to the general Government. The undisguised hostility of the Northern sentiment to the South, and the continued threat of further coercion, compelled the exercise of prudence and fettered free utterance on the floor of Congress. For a bold man like Governor Vance, and one who loved his people, and was justly proud of them and their exploits during the war, the pros- pect was not a pleasing one, and the writer remembers thatonh- a few days before he took his leave for Washington, in a conversation in the executive office at Raleigh, he spoke rather gloomil}' of the impend- ing change, and said that personally he wouldgreatly prefer to remain the Governor of the State, and near the people among whom he had been born, and with whom he had been so closely identified all his life through. The new life in truth entailed upon him arduous toil, and many great responsibilities, and they shortened his life, but they made for him a great and enduring national reputation. One cannot write or think of Governor Vance at any length without constant re- currence to his marvelous popularity. There was no time from the year 1862, when he was first elected Governor, down to the time of his death, that he did not absolutely command anj- position that he de- sired at the hands of the people. He dictated matters of public policy to them, and they followed him without question, and to this day, there abides a conviction with them that he was thoroughly unselfish in all that he did, and that his wisdom was unerring. The force of his great personality in the aflFairs of this State is best illustrated by the fact that the party which he was so largely instrumental in building up in the State, maintained its solidity so long as he lived, and well nigh went to pieces when he died. It was as if the very principle of cohesion had gone out of it when he was no longer at its head. It is useless to philosophize upon the character of Governor Vance. His people knew him. They had scanned him closel}-, and they well un- derstood him. They are not a people given to exaggerate the virtues of their public men, but are rather given to caviling and complaining, and yet of all who knew him, the dead have left it on record, and the living still testify that he was pure of heart, loyal to his people, un- selfish and absolutely incorruptible. LIFE OF VANCE. IQI Those who write the history of his time in years to come will find this testimonial written everywhere when he is spoken of. Of the arts of the politician Governor Vance knew little or nothing. He did not cultivate the faculty of ingratiating himself with the people as many public men do with a view of obtaining pcrferment. His inter- course with them was always agreeable to him. It was a recreation and source of amusement, and he was never better satisfied than when he was down among the rural population of North Carolina, living their simple life and joining in their homely talk. Social life, as it is commonly understood, had very little charm for him, yet in the drawing room as elsewhere, people gathered around him, and enjoyed his wit and hiimorous conversation, but the requirements of society life were not to his liking, and he much preferred informal, social intercourse with those he liked. He has left a reputation as a great humorist, and people generally think of him as possessed of a uniform buoyanc)' and vivacity. But this is not true. On the contrary, he experienced times of great despondency, at least this was so previous to his going into the Senate. During these fits of despondency he suffered acutely, and had often difficulty in rousing himself, but he never intruded his troubles upon his friends, but rather endured them with the same resolute courage that he displayed everywhere. In fact, analyzing his character, we would put his courage as foremost among his personal characteristics. He had great opportunities to enrich himself during his public service, notably during the war, when he was directing the war commerce of the State with Europe, and yet he died poor. One hesitates to mention honesty in enumerating the virtues of a man like Governor Vance, because no one ever associates his name with dis- honesty. But many men lack true courage, who are otherwise con- spicuous for their virtues. The personage in history that he most admired, were Cromwell, John Hampden, and those other resolute men of that time who during nearly half of the seventeenth century in Parliament and on the battle field, fought against the tj^ranny and usurpation of the Stuarts. He was accustomed to say that there was no courage like theirs, that endured and suffered and fought so long, and that to them above all men we were indebted for nearly every principle of liberty, and free government that we now enjoy. He hated tyranny and oppression in every shape and form, and for those great English- men who slew a King and overthrew a dynasty that stood in the way of their liberties his admiration was unbounded. He not only detested oppression, but his resentment of it was fierce, and hence, it was that to the last he felt great bitterness over his own treatment and that of his people after the war closed. He himself had been summarily ejected from the office of Governor to which he had been duly elected, and while to him personally, this was no lasting grievance, to his people he felt it to be a great wrong. He could have forgotten even the indignitj^ of his imprisonment, but 192 LIFE OF VANCE. the many needless humilations to which the State was subjected dur- ing the process of reconstruction was to his mind so many instances of oppression and wrong. In later years he did not speak often of these things, but when he did it was in terms of wrathful indignation. He was genial and forgiving above most men, but it is hard, indeed, for a brave, strong, patriotic man to witness in helplessness the humili- ation of his country, and in the after times to look back upon it with patience. In such cases forgiveness comes late if ever, and so it was with him. But this was almost the only trace of bitterness to be found in him, and it did not impair his capacity for usefulness in the councils of the nation. He did not harbor it nor cheerish it. He simply could not get rid of it. But it never caused him to do injustice to others, and above all, he did not suffer it to lead him to utterances that might retard the restoration of peace and fraternal regard be- tween the two great sections. North Carolina may well erect monuments to commemorate his virtues and his public services, for to her his services were devotedly and ungrudgingly given. It was he, more than all, who rescued her from hopeless civil distruction and insured for her a quarter of a cen- tury of pure, honest government under which her people prospered and repaired the wrongs of the war. His fame is a matter of just pride to his State and will ever be, but she will not forget that, brilliant as his life was, it was fruitful to her of practical results and mutual benefits that genius and brilliant achievements do not always effect. [From James D. Mclver.] I have been asked more than once to give some of the causes of Senator Vance's great personal popularit}-. It is hard to tell where to begin and still harder to know just where to end, as the truth seems to be that everything was united in one harmonious whole to make him the idol of all who knew him. My first acquaintance with him w-as in the army of 1861, when he took command of the Twenty-sixth North Carolina Regiment as its Colonel. His unbounded wit and humor, kindness of heart and high sense of honor made him at once a great favorite with those of us who be- longed to his command. At this time army life, military tactics, drilling, marching, counter- marching, etc., were all new to us; we had heard of the " times that tried men's souls," but knew as yet nothing about them. Our Lieu- tenant Colonel, H. K. Burgwin, a noble and gallent young man, had been brought up in a military school. He was a good tactician and taught the ofiicers of the regiment, including Colonel Vance, the manual of arms. One day after regimental drill, he informed Colonel Vance that he noticed a mistake that he, Vance, had made while on drill, and that was that he brought the regiment from present arms to order arms, and this, said Colonel Burgwin cannot be done. Vance LIFE OF VANCE. 1 93 at once replied, " you are mistaken, Colonel, for I have just done that very thing." On one occasion, while we were in camp on " Bogue Banks, " the officer of the guard, while on duty at night, found it necessary to send to the Colonel's tent several times for instruction in regard to one of the " Pee Dee Wild Cats," then in the guard house. The Colonel gave the instruction asked for, and added that he did not care to hear any more from Creps, the prisoner, nor from the officer that night. The aforesaid officer took exception to this. Feeling that he had done his duty and nothing more, he went to Colonel Vance's tent next morn- ing and told him plainly how he felt about it. The Colonel at once made a complete and manly apology, so much so, that he and the officer were fast friends from then on. He was uniformly kind and agreeable to his officers and men, and never intentionall)' wounded the feelings of any officer or private. To show his kindness of heart and sympathy for his men, I remember well on our retreat from Newbern, he took a wounded soldier to ride behind him ; and on another occa- sion, while on a long, hot march from Malvern Hill in July, 1862, he noticed a private soldier, almost broken down, with his gun and cum- bersome knapsack, and called him by name and said: "Here, take my horse." He dismounted and assisted the poor fellow in getting on the horse and went on foot with the rest of us. Many other similar in- stances might be given illustrating the kind-hearted and good man that he was. He was elected Governor while in command of his regiment. I can never forget his last night in the army and his final leave-taking next day. Before bidding us adieu he made a speech which will never be forgotten until the last member of the dear old Twenty-Sixth Regi- ment shall have passed over the River and are resting under the shade of the trees. I will not attempt a synopsis of his speech, for to those who knew him, it is sufficient to say that he was then a young man, in full vigor and in his happiest mood. After the speech the officers of the regiment presented him with a sword. The next day he left for Raleigh to become North Carolina's War Governor. His record as Governor during the war, and again in 1876, is known and read of all men. It may be said of Senator Vance, as has been said of Mr. Glad- stone, his greatness cannot be estimated because there is nothing with which to compare him. [From William J. Montgomery.] Some one said of Daniel Webster "that he was just like other men, except that there was a great deal more of him than there was of other men." This could not be said of Senator Vance. He was unique — had rare and well defined marks of individuality. This in- dividuality was a potent factor of his power, usefulness and popu- larity. 14 194 WFE OF VANCE. It was seen in all his speeches at the bar, on the hustings, and in the halls of Congress. Among his prominent characteristics I would mention : That he had a large share of common sense together with an in- tuitive knowledge of men and things and that mother-wit which is genius. He was conscious of his own power and knew when and where to exert it. At the moment when utter disaster and hopeless destruction seemed inevitable to his cause, then he was at his best, and then it was that by a judicious use of an imperial judgment and a genius of almost matchless proportions, he was able to employ every variety of polemics known to debate, repartee and ridicule, reason and reproach, rhetoric and rhapshody, sympathy and scorn, irony and invective, seriousness and sarcasm, wit and wisdom, until his opponent bewildered, con- founded and overwhelmed, retired from the field. Senator Vance was a true patriot. He loved North Carolina with a love of a devoted son. Patriotism is said to be a common impulse, but some people pos- sess it in a superlative degree ; such was the patriotism of Senator Vance. He dearly loved everj^ foot of North Carolina soil from Cherokee to the Dismal Swamp. Another prominent trait of his character was his honesty. You could always find him. His strong, well defined beliefs always put him on one side of all public questions, and there he stood as unchangeable as the rock-ribbed mountains beneath whose sable shadows he was born. He never bartered his conscience for the applause of the people, or for ofiicial favor or patronage. Senator Vance was a truthful man. Suffice it to say on this trait, that after the memorable campaign by Senator Vance and Judge Settle in 1876 (the ablest campaign in North Carolina in the latter half of the nineteenth centur\-) Judge Settle said, " Zeb Vance is absolutely a truthful man, for," said he, " in our long heated campaign all over the State Vance never quibbled or prevaricated." That sometimes he would utter something in one section where it was popular when I would get him in another section where it was unpopular, I would charge him with it, and he always acknowledged that he had said it, and manfully defended it." He was a genuine friend of the people, of the ma.sses. He put all his time and talent on the altar for the people. His devotion to the people was not the sentiment of the politician, but the abiding con- viction of the statesman. He made the cause of the people his cause and boldly threw himself LIFE OF VANCE. ^95 ,vere forhL NO ma.fwas ever so idolized by the people of North '="1^::^:„;,:!::rclrt of hi. na.e before aNorthCar„H..a a„dille .Jand is hailed ^^^^ ^r%l:!Z^:t:^:^. "' ^1?:Lr:h: ;^af 'r wLaXi ti t^^^^ - court through ~^e;^r;r^;J:s:dt-h-;'^s:i:::^- ■^'^ Err;Tonest man, however hu.nb,e or poor, " felt at honre " in "' HeTasped the hand of the humble toiler with perhaps more cordfatitf and warmth than he did the hand of the r.ch or powerfnl. Il the people loved him, snch was their devotion to h,m, so great was theil reliance upon him. that when his death was known the peo- ple had a feeling akin to that of orphanage. I have thus succinctly given my opimon of Senator Vance, connn in. Lylllf by request to a few of his prominent character,st,cs, and to *°= ru:r hS ^X "^'^^^^^ >- at .he same bar with him '"" BornTd reared as he was, beneath the shadows and sunshine of grearrounUins, he caught the inspiration of his hfe work from h,s ""?rht childhood he had seen the storm-cloud move in majesty along" the misty mountain's top " and burst in awful grandeur upon "" HetadlTn " the morn in russet mantle clad, walk o'er the dew of yon high eastern hill, " and then he had seen the sunset's mellow crinw silently garnish the heavens in golden beauty. _ ^'°"l have heard hin. when in speech he was like the -unta.n tor rent-like the concreted tempest in force, and ag-n when he w^s as lentle and pathetic as the mother at the grave of her dead. Rare feS^s, true' tribune of the people, as unselfish and self-sac r.fic.ng as Leulus as just as Aristides and as brave as Csesar ; let him sleep m fhegave where Carolinians have buried him. where no cry of oppres- sl:>n can awake him, where no sound of conflict in debate can arouse him. 196 LIFE OF VANCE. [From William M. Robbins.] At High Point, in the summer of 1864, while on leave of absence from the Confederate army, by reason of a wound received at the battle of the wilderness, I first saw and heard Vance and learned what man- ner of man he was. Thirty-four years old, he was then serving his first term as Governor of the State and was a candidate for re-election. His speech on that occasion won my admiration not only by its spark- ling wit and rare humor, but still more by the zeal and vigor with which he advocated the strenuous support of the cause of the South in the great sectional conflict. This impressed and pleased me the more when I learned, as I did that day, that he had not originally favored the policy of secession, but when North Carolina cast her lot with her sister Southern States, he had gone with her, heart and soul, resolved to share her fate and fortune for weal or woe; and when she called him to be her Governor, it was from the camps of her heroes in gray that he responded. His course in that matter was an index to his character and career through life. Above all things, he was a North Carolinian, devoted to the welfare and glory of the State, and proud of her, as he was her pride. It has so happened from the course of events during the last age that the chief role of the statesman and patriot in North Carolina, a large part of the time has been to stand on the defensive in her behalf against assaults from without and within upon her most vital interests, political and social. It has rarely been possible for her to unfurl her sails with confidence to the favoring breezes of progress. The word has been, not " forward, march," but " stand fast and defend." After the great convulsion of the Civil War which totally wrecked her former social fabric, there came the strenuous contest against the predatory rule of the cormorants who followed in the wake of the Union army, and after its withdrawal lingered behind to rob and despoil us. Moreover, there has been all the while going on a struggle, which, unhappily, is not yet ended, involving nothing less than the pre- servation of genuine free popular institutions and even our Anglo-Saxon civilization itself against the corrupting and corroding influences of a debased and venal suffrage so improvidently placed in the hands of a race alien in origin, incapable of absorption and assimilation, and without traditions or experience of self government. Under these circumstances, Vance suffered the disadvantage com- mon to many others, of not being able to link his name, so much as it otherwise might have been, with great positive progressive measures devised and put in operation for the advancement and glory of the vState and her people ; l)ut his fame must rest rather upon what he did to rescue and shield them from injury and evil. As a war Governor, Vance'certainly had no superior if any equal in the Southern State. His wise and energetic administration of affairs, I.IFE OF VANCE. I97 sustained as it was b}' the devoted patriotism and liigh spirit of the people, enabled North Carolina to put more soldiers in the field during the war, according to the Confederate records, than any other South- ern State, and to keep them better clothed, shod and supplied than any others. Such at least was the prevalent opinion and common remark of the Confederate soldiers from other States, for whom I venture to speak on this matter, having myself served through the war as an Alabamian. His conspicuous activity and efficiency in support of the Southern cause made such an impression upon the Federal authorities that after our defeat he was among the first to be arrested and imprisoned by them as one of the chief offenders ; and their feelings of resentment against him were so bitter and lasting that they refused to remove his political disabilities after most others who asked for it had been relieved ; and he was thereby kept out of a seat in the United States Senate for the term beginning in 187 1, to which he had been elected by the General Assembly of North Caro- lina. It was soon after this that two Christian ministers, traveling with him on the train, got into an argument over the theological doc- trine of election, and finally asked Vance for his opinion on it, to whom he at once replied, that so far as he could see election did a sinner no good unless his disabilities were removed. For some years after the period of reconstruction in i867-'68 the government of the State, in all its departments, was in the hands of the Northern camp-followers and spoilsmen, commonly called "car- pet-baggers,^' together with a handful of native white allies, of whom a few were honest men swayed by old Whig and Union prejudices, but the majority, known in those days as "scalawags," were men without political convictions or principles, mere time-servers, greedy for office and filth}- lucre. The ladder upon which this motley band of political marauders climbed to place and power was the hundred thousand votes of the newly enfranchised Africans. These were simply a body of grown up children, not naturally bad-hearted nor evil-disposed, but completely dazed by their situation and surroundings, densely ignorant in every respect and especially in regard to the duties and responsibili- ties of citizenship. The decisive contest for the overthrow of the aliens and their allies, and the restoration of the State to the control of the intelligent and substantial classes of her people, was made in the stirring cam- paign of 1876. Then it was that Vance, hitherto hampered by political disabilities, was called to the front as the leader. It was a contest which had to be won first on the hustings and then at the polls. Judge Settle, the champion of the adverse party, was a foeman worthy of any man's steel and more nearly a match for Vance than perhaps any other opponent who could have been selected. The result is well known. After probably the most brilliant canvass in the annals of the State, Vance overthrew his adversary at the polls and was triumphantly 198 LIFE OF VANCE. chosen Governor of North Carolina, the first one of his party after the civil war. Before the people as a hustings orator, Vance was magnificent and unrivalled. This largely arose from the fact that he was himself really in every fibre of his nature one of the common people. Reared among them, associating with them freely from boyhood, he imbibed their simple tastes, adopted their imstilted manners, learned to sym- pathize with their views and to look at men and things, events and measures, through their spectacles. With his bright genius and quick perception, he could see further and more clearly, but he saw every- thing from the standpoint and through the predilections and prejudices of the common man. "When mingling with the people, his cordial mianners and unfailing bonhomie were no studied arts of the dema- gogue, but the spontaneous outflow of his genuine sympathies. The result was that the common people came to feel instinctively that he was one of them and one with them ; that in him they had a friend and champion who could always be counted upon ; so that it ma}' be truthfully said that of all the great and justly venerated citizens in our State's history, " our Zeb," as he was fondly called, was the most pop- ular and beloved by all classes of North Carolinians. In every gathering of men on whatever occasion, in public or pri- vate, at political meetings, at the courts, with the lawyers, on the railroad trains, everywhere and among all sorts of people, the arrival of Vance caused every face to beam with satisfaction and glad antici- pations of increased enjoyment, wit, wisdom and hilarity, and a good time generally. In his speeches, especially in political discussions before a miscel- laneous audience, probably no man ever excelled him in clearness of statement, aptness of illustration, vivacity of style, naturalness of manner, quickness of repartee, humorous hits, side-splitting anecdotes and all those rare gifts which enable a speaker to command the unflag- ging attention of his hearers as long as he chooses. Thousands of living men all over North Carolina have witnessed his wonderful powers. I remember hearing him speak at Newton, in Catawba county, in October, 1888, to about two thousand of the yeomanry of that section. It was near the close of the Presidential campaign and Vance was quite worn down with travel and much speaking during the canvass ; and as the speaking that day was outdoors in the courtyard where few seats were to be had, most of his audience v/cre obliged to remain standing. And yet he talked to them on the tariff question, usually considered so dry and abstruse, for nearly two hours and a half, brought all the phases of the subject within the comprehension of the humblest understanding, while scarcely a man moved out of his tracks except to press closer to the speaker, all being fascinated and spell-bound by the wizard-like skill with which he amused while he instructed them. His speech was a wonderful specimen of pure didac- LIFE OF VANCE. ^99 tics made as entertaining as a comedy, and ended amid cries of " go onlgo on "-from all over his audience. I said to myself then: " There's no other American could have made that speech." From his entry into the Senate of the United States m 1879, Vance ^vas a prominent figure there. Diligent in mastering the great ques- tions of public policy which from time to time came up for decision, he was one of those who could always command a hearing because he alwavs had something to say and knew how to say it m a forcible and entertaining style. By his geniality of temper and whole-sou ed kind- l^nL in social intercourse, he won the hearts of Senators of all sections and parties. Many of those who differed from him mos widely in politlal views and party affiliations were his most devoted friends and admirers, and after his death his most eloquent eulogists. Vance was a statesman in his grasp of public questions, his intel- lectual power, his learning, and his deep insight into the tendencies and ultimate results of political measures. He distinguished himself particularly in the Senate in the debates upon the tariff and the cur- rency His course on these and on all other questions was invariably shaped by that which was the guiding star of his entire life-devotion o what seemed to him for the best interest and true welfare of the masses of the people. However one may differ from him in opinion concerni ig the derails of measures and policies, or may doubt the wis- dom of hif course in certain critical Junctures of our recent politica history, no fair man will deny that his heart was always true to what he deemed right, that his steady aim was to help those who needed help, and that he was an incorruptible public servant, and a genuine tribune of the people. Nothing in the history of North Carolina has been more dramatic and touching than the manner in which all classes of the people, men, "men and children turned out and lined the railway along the whole route from Raleigh to Asheville and all through the night around their bonfires, to view with tearful eyes his funeral cortege as it passed bear- ing his honored remains to their last resting-place amid his dear native "°Tht Grecian sage said: " Call no man happy 'til he is dead^" But surely we may call him happy whose dying pillow was softened by the r^emory of a life spent in the fathful service of his fellowmen, whose death-gloom was lighted by the Christian's hope, and who was borne to the tomb amid the tears of all his countrymen, saying with one voice: " Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel? " [From Alfred Moore Waddell.] The death of Zebulon B. Vance closed the career of the most beloved and one of the ablest of North Carolinians. It is, beyond question a fact that no one in the whole history of the State was ever so 200 LIFE OF VANCE. dear to the hearts of its people as he; that there was no one whom they so delighted to honor or in whom they had so absolute and abiding con- fidence. His popularity was phenomenal, and it was justified by his public services and by his endowments. Heredity and environment, as in every case, helped to make hina what he was, but cannot be credited with all that he accomplished. He would have been a great man any- where in this country, and a greater man, perhaps, so far as national reputation is to be considered, if he had lived out of North Carolina, from which State, for some reason just or unjust, the country has not seemed to expect great things or great men. The circumstances attending his first entrance into public life, and the earlier part of his career, were favorable for the display of certain qualities which he possessed in an eminent degree, and he grew steadily afterwards. Those circum- stances were to be found in the locality in which, and the people among whom, he lived, and in the condition of the country and the state of public feeling at that time. It was during the restless period immediately before the war be- tween the States. He was, in the party nomenclature of that time, a Whig and enthusiastically devoted to the preservation of the Union. Having already been a member of the .Legislature from his native county, he became a candidate for Congress from the mountain dis- trict, which was supposed to be hopelessly against him, and he so astonished and delighted the people by his varied powers as a " stvimp " speaker that they elected him — and from that time he became their political idol, as he afterwards became the recognized leader of all the people of the State. Because of his exuberance of animal spirits, his unrivalled wit, his irresistible power of good-natured ridicule, his in- exhaustible resources as a story-teller and illustrator of argument by apposite anecdotes, and, best of all, because of his virile common sense, he always won the hearts and swa3'ed the judgments of the people. Elevated to the office of Governor of the State at the early age of thirty-two, after the war had begun, he at once arose to the dignity of the position, and entered upon the discharge of its duties with a full comprehension of all its responsibilities. That he discharged them with marked ability and with supreme devotion to the welfare of North Carolina and the Confederacy is attested by the title given him — the great War-Governor of North Carolina. Again elected to the govern- orship after the war was over — and after a magnificent canvass of the State which demonstrated his very great ability as a debater and popu- lar orator, he was promoted to a seat in the Senate of the United vStates where he fully sustained his reputation, and won the respect and affec- tion of his associates as a statesman of large views, varied learning, and incorrupti1)ly integrity — as a patriot who earnestly strove to promote the honor of his country and the welfare of its people, and as a man whose genial and generous nature attracted like a magnet all who came within the sphere of his influence. So much as an epitome of his public life. LIFE OF VANCE. 20I Allusion has already been made to the locality in which, and the people among whom, he lived as influential in shaping his career. Born and reared amid the loftiest mountain ranges (except the Rocky mountains) on this continent, his physical frame partook of their rug- gedness and strength ; but as in their recesses soft vales and tinkling streams and beautiful landscapes abound, so in the depths of his intel- lectual and moral nature there was hidden a wealth of poetry, and sentiment, and human sympathy, of which those who saw only the outer man never dreamed. No musical instrument ever responded more promptly to the touch of a skilled hand than did he to the utter- ance of a lofty or noble sentiment, or the recital of a pathetic incident, and there were often in his speeches and essays passages of thrilling eloquence and poetic beauty, which could only have come from a head and heart attuned to harmony with such thoughts and feelings. Yet a more unpretending man never lived, and this was one of the secrets of his strong hold upon the hearts of the people. To them he was always " Zeb " Vance, whether in his familiar intercourse with them, or in the Governor's mansion or the Senate chamber. He sincerely loved his State and people, and they knew it, and loved him in return. But, more than this, they knew that he was honest and faithful and courageous — that he had decided convictions on public questions and was as fearless as he was powerful in expressing them. Therefore, in every crisis which confronted them, they turned to him for counsel and leadership with a confidence which was inspiring, and the}' were never disappointed in the result. There have been many men in the State whom the people honored and respected and elevated to posi- tions of trust, but never one so close to their hearts as he. Could this have been unless he possessed verj' rare gifts and quali- ties ? And especially when the characteristics of the people among whom he lived are considered ? They are not given to hero-worship ; they are an exceedingly conservative people, and, though like others, sometimes misled, are apt to recover and keep to the old paths. They are slow perhaps in doing so, as they are in many other respects, but they are quite sure. They never, however, changed toward Vance. From the time of his first election as Governor, in 1862, to the day when he was buried beneath the shadows of his native mountains, their love, and admiration, and confidence not only remained steadfast, but grew and strengthened continuously. Again the question presents itself : Why ? The answer may be found in the character and genius of the man, and in his services to the State and people. In this brief paper it is not proposed to discuss his services, but only to indicate some of the characteristics which secured for him such unparalleled popularity. It has already been said that he would have been a great man any- where in this country, and the limitation " in this country " was used because greatness here, except in some special art or science, is largely 202 I,IFE OF VANCE. dependent upon public opinion. He could never have achieved great- ness as a courtier, for every instinct of his nature would have rebelled against the process. He was too sturdy and independent, too manly and self-respecting to bend the pregnant hinges of the knee to any earthly power ; but the public opinion in any State of this Union in which he had chosen to make his home would have assured to him a position of eminence. His own State conferred upon him, during a critical period, the highest honors within her gift, and afterwards sent him to represent her in the national Senate — to represent her and not merely to be called a Senator— and he always proved equal to every position which he held. As Governor, his executive ability -was con- spicuous. His messages and other writings were characterized by the practical common sense which he always applied to public affairs, and sometimes, during the war period, glowed with genuine eloquence. Up to that time he had not been a close student of books, especially of such as constitute what is called polite literature ; but afterwards he applied himself quite diligently to them, and the effect appeared in the more polished style of his speeches and writing. This first manifested itself about the time he prepared his striking lecture on "The Scattered Nation. " But his culture had nothing to do with his popularity, ex- cept that it increased the respect and esteem of educated people toward him. It was the combination of qualities which generally goes by the name of personal magnetism that constituted the basis of it, and this was supplemented by varied powers which could not fail to impress and attract others. So exuberent was his humor that in his earlier career many per- sons who, on a slight acquaintance onl}-, saw that side of him, thought he was a mere jester who possessed a lively mind and an inexhatistible fund of anecdotes, but nothing more. It is true that he indulged this humorous-story telling propensity in his public speeches, but, as he said to the writer of these pages on one occasion, he never told a funny anecdote in a speech except for the purpose of illustrating an argu- ment which he wished to impress upon his hearers ; and experience has long since proved that to be the most effective method of accom- plishing such a purpose. Associated with this abnormally developed sense of humor there was a ready wit, which, though keen-edged as a scimitar, was so tempered by the kindly spirit of the man that no soreness ever followed its thrust. His big heart was full of the milk of human kindness but, as is almost always true of such a nature, it was as full of courage as that of a Nemean lion. The people love such a man, and when he exhibits these qualities in the protection of their interests and the advancement of their welfare they are not slow to make due acknowledgment of it. But they saw much more in him. They felt his power as an orator ; they regarded him, as " Sunset" Cox pronounced him to be, the greatest " stump speaker " in America ; they were proud of him LIFE OF VANCK. 203 as their Senator ; but more than all they loved him as their true friend who sympathized with them, not as is too often the case, in words only and with selfish motives, but in his heart and with an honest desire to promote the common weal, and to discharge his whole duty to them loyally and to the fullest extent of his great ability. He believed in the people and in their capacity for self government, and they believed in him as the truest and best representative and expon- ent of their ideas and aspirations. No worthy citizen ever doubted the existence of this mutual trust and confidence, and therefore Zebulon B. Vance occupied a place separate and apart from all others in public estimation and stands alone in the history of North Carolina. 204 - LIFE OF VANCE. CHAPTER XIV. AS GOVERNOR AFTER THE WAR BY DR. CHAS. D. m'IVER, PRESIDENT STATE NORMAL AND INDUSTRIAL COLLEGE. As Successful in Peace as in War — The Friend of Education — Extract from Inaugural Address — Favors Normal Schools for Teachers at the University and Elsewhere as a Necessity for Public Schools — Provided for by State Constitution — Normal School for Colored Teachers Recommended — The First Official Utterance for Educa- tion and Which Resulted in Establishing Summer Normal Schools and Institutes at the University and the State Normal and Indus- trial School — Extract from Message to Legislature in 1879 — First Official Recommendation to Admit Female Teachers to Normal Schools — Refused Presidency of University — His Reasons — Still Pleads for Education in the U. S. Senate. ¥ANCE was inaugurated Governor of the State for the third time in January, 1877. His other terms had been begun and ended amid the tumultuous scenes of civil war, but peace had now resumed its sway, though desola- tion was seen on every hand. Having proved himself equal to all the emergencies incident to a state of war, he was now called upon to administer the arts of peace for the re- cuperation of his State and people. Although his field of labor was widely different now, and the duties before him quite in contrast with such as efigaged his attention during his two former terms, yet great as his reputation was as a brilliant and efficient war Governor, it cannot be denied that he proved himself equally wise, industrious and patri- otic in the performance of his public duties during his third term in the executive chair — notably in the new and quickening impulse he gave to the cause of education. There are few well-informed citizens of North Carolina who do not regard the statesmanship of Vance as the most many-sided of all the examples of statesmanship in LIFE OF VANCE. 205 her history. His brilliant talents and versatile g^enins make him easily the first in rank among the political leaders pro- duced during a century of the life of a State that has reason to be proud of the statesmen she has given to the world. Coming into manhood just in time to enter the storm brought on by secession and the civil war, becoming at once his State's chief actor in the great drama of that period remaining, through the fierce struggles immediately follow- ing the civil war up to the day of his death, the most intrepid and best beloved political leader of his day, it is but natural that his record as North Carolina's war Governor and his pre-eminent success as a political leader should eclipse that side of his statesmanship relating to the arts of peace and the education of his people. Yet I believe that, broadly speaking, the education of the people was the greatest and most permanent concern of this great statesman, who, whether calling himself Whig, Union man. Secessionist, Conservative, or Democrat, always based his political phil- osophy on the truth that "all governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed," and that this is "a go\-ernment of the people, by the people, and for the people." These two maxims, which might be regarded respectively as the golden texts of the political doctrine of Thomas Jefferson and of Abraham Lincoln, when adopted by any intelligent man, force him to the conclusion that the most important civil institution in the State is a public school. No man can really believe in a Republican form of government who does not base his political philosophy upon the intelligence and right training of all the people. Nor do I believe it possible for any man who does not, in the bottom of his heart, believe in universal intelligence as the supreme need of a prosperous, free State, to hold per- manently the first place in the affections of the people. -. To show how thoroughly Vance believed in this doctrine, ^,,1 might make many quotations from his various public 2o6 LIFE OF VANCE. utterances, but one will suffice. The following is a copy of his message to the General Assembly of 1877: In regard to the great subject of education, I earnestly desire to engage your attention in behalf of the accompanying " Memorial of the Central North Carolina Teachers' Association," which is herewith transmitted. Perhaps the most effective action which your honorable body could take to promote the cause of public education would be the establishing of a school of normal instruction at the University for the exclusive education of teachers. This would be only a com- pliance with the plain provisions of the Constitution, and would be a long step in the direction of connecting the University with the common school system as the head and guide thereof, which is its natural posi- tion. It is impossible to have an effective public school system with- out providing for the training of teachers. The blind cannot lead the . blind. Mere literary attainments are not sufficient to make J^ pos- sessor a successful instructor. There must be added ability to influence ^^ the young and to communicate knowledge. There must be a mastery of the best modes of conducting schools, and of bringing out the IqJ^t possibilities, intellectual and moral, of the pupil's nature. In some rare cases these qualities are inborn, but generally it is of vast advan- tage to teachers to be trained by those who have studied and mastered the methods which have been found by experience to be the most successful in dispelling ignorance and inculcating knowledge. The schools in which this training is conducted, called normal colleges, or normal schools, have been found by experience to be the most efl&cient agents in raising up a body of teachers who infuse new life and vigor into the public schools. There is urgent need for one, at least, in North Carolina. The Constitution of the State, in Section 4, Article IX, requires the General Assembly, as soon as practicable, to establish and maintain, in connection with the University, a department of Normal Instruc- tion. I respectfully submit that it is now practicable to make a be- ginning in carrying out this provision of the Constitution. There cannot possibly be found in this State competent teachers for our public schools. The records of the county examiners show that most of the applicants for the post of imparting knowledge to others, are themselves deficient in the simplest elements of spelling, reading, writing and arithmetic. The University is now in successful opera- tion. If the General Assembly should appropriate an amount sufficient to establish one professorship for the purpose of instructing in the theory and art of teaching, I am persuaced the best results would follow. A school of similar character should be establ.shed for the educa- tion of colored teachers, the want of which is more deeply felt by the black race even than the white. In addition to the fact that it is our LIFE OF VANCE. 207 plain duty to make no discrimination in the matter of public educa- tion, I cannot too strongly urge upon you the importance of the consideration that whatever of education we may be able to give the children of the vState, should be imparted under our own auspices, and with a thorough North Carolina spirit. Many philosophical reasons can be given in support of this proposition. I am conscious of few things more dangerous than for a State to suffer the education of an entire class of its citizens to drift into the hands of strangers, most of whom are not attached to our institutions, if not positively unfriendly to them. There are in the State several very respectable institutions for the education of black people, and a small endowment to one of them would enable it to attach a normal school sufficient to answer the present needs of our black citizens. Their desire for education is an extremely creditable one, and should be gratified as far as our means will permit. In short, I regard it as an unmistakable policy to imbue these black people with a hearty North Carolina feeling, and make them cease to look abroad for the aids to their progress and civiliza- tion, and the protection of their rights as they have been taught to do, and teach them to look to their State instead ; to convince them that their welfare is indissolubly linked with ours. This is his first official utterance on the subject of edu- cation after the great civil strife. The negro race had been free for a decade. While the majority of that race loved and admired him then, and revere his memory to this day, yet it is a well known fact that practically their solid vote had been cast against him in the great political con- test fought out a few months before. It could surprise no one who knew the author, yet it is pleasant to note the breadth of view, the tact in statement, and the kindly sympathy, which appear in that part of his message relating to the education of the negro race. This message also shows his keen appreciation of the fact that the most important part of a school is not the house, the text book or even the length of the school term, but the teacher. It was Garfield who said that the best school he ever attended was when he sat on one end of a log with Mark Hopkins on the other. Thus the work for the professional training of the teacher by the State, which has since grown into summer 2o8 LIFE OF VANCE. normal schools, institutes, a department of pedagogics at the University, and the State Normal and Industrial Col- lege for Women, began under his administration and with his earnest personal and official support. It is not generally known, but it is a fact, that soon after the war, a State Superintendent of Public Instruction, who, though a political opponent, was a personal friend of Vance, asked him to canvass the State for public educa- tion. I am informed that this proposition was considered seriously, but there was no fund to pay his expenses and ^ the salary which could be offerded was very small. Vance's means at that time were too limited to allow him to under- take the work, though he expressed the greatest interest in it, and a desire to do such service for his State. I incorporate here an interesting extract from Vance's message to the Legislature of 1879, just before his election to the United States Senate : I am happy to be able to state that an iucreased interest is mani- fested among all classes in popular education. This, I believe, is due to the action of the last Legislature in appropriating money for the establishment of normal schools. In accordance with the law, the Board of Education established the one for the whites at the Univer- sity, and decided to locate one for the blacks at Fayetteville, in a building tendered by the colored people of that place. They were established on somewhat different systems, regard being had to the circumstances of each race. It was considered that the white race already had many educated teachers who simply needed instruction on the art of teaching, whilst the blacks needed teachers instructed in both the elements of learning and the art of teaching. For the one, therefore, a six weeks' school was held at Chapel Hill during the sum- mer vacations, and for the other, a permanent school was established in Fayetteville. Both have been remarkably successful. At the first session of the white school 225 teachers attended, and at the second one, the past summer, more than 400 teachers were present, represent- ing about sixty counties. An excellent corps of instructors was employed. The Univer3ity gave the use of its buildings, its libraries, laboratories and apparatus. The railroads very generously gave re- duced rates. The agent of the Peabody Fund supplemented the appropriation with a handsome donation, and every dollar that could be spared was used to equalize the benefits of the State's bounty by paying the traveling expenses of the more indigent. Lectures by dis- LIFK OF VANCE. 209 tingiiished citizens of the vState on popular themes were delivered almost daily with the best results. The undoubted effect of the whole was to arouse an enthusiastic interest in behalf of popular education among a large portion of our people, and to excite a spirit of honest pride in their noble calling among all the teachers present, which will, it is hoped, do much good. The accompanying report of President Battle is referred to for par- ticulars. The Colored Normal vSchool at Fa3'etteville was put in charge of Mr. Robert Harris, a native colored man, of excellent character and capacity, supervised by a board of local managers selected from the best business citizens of the town v/ho took a great interest in its wel- fare. It has been managed with unexpected success. The first session opened with 58 pupils, about 40 of whom have received certificates as teachers, some of high grade. The second year began with 74 pupils and is now in progress. The same donation was made to this school by the Peabody Fund as to the white school, and the same scheme adopted to equalize its benefits. The report of Mr. Harris, to which you are referred, will be surprising, as I am sure it will be pleasing, to all who desire the real welfare of our colored citizens. I sincerely hope the appropi^iation for both schools may be re- newed, and the law be made to embrace both sexes. For, though females have attended both schools by permission, yet the Board of Education did not feel at liberty to expend any money in their aid, which was a little ungallant for so chivalrous a people as ours, who are so well aware that as a general rule our female teachers are better than the males. The excellently worded memorial of the teachers themselves which accompanies the report of President Battle, is especially commended to your favor. This message breathes the same spirit of interest in every class of people in the State which characterized his first message, and, so far as I know, it is the first official recognition, in a gubernatorial message, of that strange and unwise discrimination against women in the educational investments of the State. It is surprising that he should not have emphasized the matter more than he did, and as- tonishing that his suggestions should not have produced a greater immediate effect. To his alma mater, the State University, Vance was a most loyal son. The first tim.e that I saw the University in 1877, I heard Vance's address on the life and public ser- vices of David L. Swain, the friend of his boyhood and 15 2IO I^IFE OF VANCK. college da}-s, whose memory he always revered with filial affection. In this connection it shows the estimate placed upon Vance's educational power and spirit, that, when the Uni- versity was revived in 1875, many of the ablest men in the State desired that he should become its president, thinking that the mantle of President Swain would be worn worthily and successfully by his friend and pupil. When he was asked if he would accept the presidency of the University, he dismissed the subject by saying, "No, say to my friends that it would kill me in a few weeks to be obliofed to be- have as is required of a college president in order to furnish an example to the bo3^s. " But, beneath his good-natured humor, which never forsook him when he desired to dismiss pleasantly the con- sideration of a subject, there were probably concealed his real reasons for not accepting so responsible a position. With the eye of a genuine seer, in the arena of politics he saw what he believed to be his greatest field of usefulness, and, judging from his messages to the Legislature, he probably discerned also the dawn of that day when educa- tional institutions would be managed, as they ought to be managed, by trained and experienced educators. If we follow him to the United States Senate, we find him still a champion of education. Some portions of his speech, in which he replied to Senator Ingalls, in favor of the Blair bill to promote education, are characteristic not only of his watchful care of his people's interests, but also of his unique and boundless humor and of his ability as a debater. No questions seemed thoroughly to arouse him in that great forum except the three subjects of the education of the [people, our financial system, and Federal taxa- tion. The two latter subjects naturally engaged the greater portion of his attention as a Senator. But, with a country divided, with even political parties divided, with expert students of finance and taxation disagreed and hopeless of LIFE OF VANCE. 211 agreement, is it not the supreme question of statesmanship that the people, who must be the final arbiters of these great problems, should have such intellectual training as will make them equal to the conditions of their day, so that they may meet wisely the duties and privileges of citizenship? What North Carolinian has not been thrilled by the accounts of how his last great message was delivered from the United States Senate, while political friend and foe surrounded him that they might catch the words which his hand was almost too palsied to write and his tongue almost too feeble toto utter? Without entering into the merits of the cause wnicli he advocated in that speech, his closing words may be applied to many another problem which cannot be settled save by the intelligence of the mass of voters in this country. "It was said that the striug of the bow of Ulysses warned him of approaching danger by singing him a^song of battle and of strife. Let me say to those conspirators against the welfare of the common people, that before they shall finally succeed in their unhallowed designs, and drive them through the 'valley of the shadow of death,' they will see many a field of political battle, and hear the roar of much political strife. "In this fair land the thunderbolts of Jove dwell still with those whose voice is as the voice of God, and the bow of Ulysses is yet in the people's hands, and its quiverjs filled with death-dealing darts. Its strings will yet sing many a song of battle to awaken the sleeping people, and upon every plain and in every valley and upon every mountain side, from shore to shore of our inclosing seas, they will spring to their feet at the calling of that music, with a light of conflict on their faces and the resolve of victory in their hearts." And are we not justified in believing that the closing words of that great message, "To your tents, O Israel!" were accompanied by a prayer that his people might be wise enough to fit themselves by education for meeting the responsibilities and emergencies of coming conflicts. 212 I,IFE OF VANCE. CHAPTER XV. DEATH OF MOTHER AND WIFE. Death of His Mother— Her Characteristics— Death of His Wife— Her Funeral and Burial. ¥ERY dark shadows fell upon the pathway of Governor Vance during his third term in the executive office. His aged and greatly beloved mother, Mrs. IMargaret M. Vance, died on the 4th, of October, 1878, and his devoted and affectionate wife died on the 3d day of November following. Of the former, a contemporary newspaper said: "She was in many respects an extraordinary woman, and considering the influence she quietly exercised in rearing her children, de- serves well to be honored and revered in memory by the people of the State. She was born December 22, 1802, and was of that famous Scotch-Irish stock which did so much to establish the liberties of North Carolina and to promote its Christianity and civilization. Her father was the late Zebulon Baird, a Scotch New Jersey settler, wdio was among the first to find a home beyond the Blue Ridge on the French Broad, and who represented Buncombe county for many years in the Legislature. Her mother was Hannah Erwin, of that numerous and influential family of Irish descent still claiming Burke county as their tribal home. Among her early school-mates were the late Governor Swain of our own State and Governor Perry of South Carolina. On the 2d day January, 1825, she was married to Capt. David Vance. She bore him eight children — four sons and four daughters. The latter are all living and married; of the sons only two survive, Hon. Robert B. Vance and Governor Zebulon B. Vance. In 1844 her husband died, leaving seven children to Ije reared and educated and an estate much MOTHER OF Z. B. VANCE. UFE OF VANCE. 213 embarrassed with debt. With firmness and conrage she met the heavy responsibilities thus cast upon her. She was her children's best teacher in morality, in worldly business, and in uprightness and integrity. A constant and intelli- gent reader, she fostered a literary taste in her children and early inculcated in them a love of books. Those who have heard her read to her family the Pilgrim's Progress or Ivanhoe would be at no loss to determine where her dis- tinguished sons obtained their humor and eloquence. "In early lifeshe joined the Presbyterian Church, but after her husband's death, finding herself cut off from the minis- trations of that church by the location of her home in the mountains, she joined the Methodist Church, for whose traveling ministers her house had long been a hospitable home, and she remained in that church until her death. Not a human being knew her but sorrowed at her death. An odor of blessedness pervaded every thought of her when people recalled her life, and many Christians thanked God for such an example of her service, while all hearts thanked Him that such a mother had been given to the world." As before stated Governor Vance was called upon to follow the remains of his wife to the grave within less than a month after his mother was buried. The death of Mrs. \'ance was announced by her pastor, Rev. Dr. Atkinson, as follows: "It is my painful duty to announce the death of Mrs. Harriette Newell Espy Vance, the wife of Hon. Z. B. Vance, the Governor of this State. Mrs. Vance, daughter of the late Rev. Thomas Espy, pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Salisbury, was born in that town July nth, 1832. vShe joined the Presbyterian church in Morganton, then under the pastoral care of the Rev. John Wilson, in the sixteenth year of her age. August 3d, 1853, she was united in mar- riage to Zebulon B. Vance. November 3d, 1878, she died in the city of Raleigh, after a long and painful illness, which she bore with the most exemplary faith and patience, 214 1,1^'E OF VANCE. sustained by the hope of the gospel, and sanctified by the spirit of grace. There was no lady in the State more wide- ly known or more highly honored. A child of the Cove- nant, she early learned to love and serve the Savior, and the light of heavenly grace kindled in her young heart, continued to burn with ever increasing radiance to the close of her days. Her natural disposition was marked by traits sin- crularly noble and generous. She was characteristically warm hearted, sincere, affectionate and courageous. A person of stronger affections, firmer convictions, more tena- cious purpose and more uncompromising principle it is not easy to imagine. These, sanctified by heavenly grace, rendered her " ' A perfect woman nobly planned, To warn, to counsel and command.' "It was not in her nature to hide a conviction or desert a friend. Of every relation which she sustained she per- formed the duties conscientiously and in the fear of God. The objects of her mcst fervent affection were her family, above all her honored consort, her native State, and that church to which she w^as attached by every tie of nature and of grace. Her death was in keeping with her life. Her light went out on earth with the setting sun of a lovely Sabbath evening, to be relumed in a brighter world than ours. Her end was calm, serene, painless ; soft as an infant's slumber. " ' We thought her dying when she slept, And sleeping when she died. ' "And now that she is gone she has not left behind her on this sin-darkened earth a purer spirit or more honored memory." [Farmer and Mechanic, November 9th, 1S78.] At the Governor's residence in the city of Raleigh, during the glorious sunset hour on Sabbath evening, fell asleep m painless translation from earth and its sorrows, Mrs. Zebu- LIFE OF VANCE. 215 Ion B. Vance, a lady known and esteemed throughout all the State. She was born in Salisbury, July ii, 1832, a daughter of the late Rev. Thomas Espy, of the Presbyte- rian church, to w'hich faith she united herself in her six- teenth year, and adhered until the moment of her death, with all the conviction of a courageous and devoted mind. For several years she has been in infirm health ; and during the past six months her sufferings were great, — and hopeless. Yet the end came as a surprise to many of her friends ; a regret to all. On Monday evening, the casket, beautifully decorated with floral offerings from friends, was borne to a special car— Maj. IMcPheeters, R. H. Battle, Maj. Tucker, Col. Polk, Judge Smitl], Maj. Bagley, H. A. Gudger and Capt. Stamps, acting as pall-bearers. Accompanying the Governor and his sons Charles and Thomas, were Rev. Dr. Atkinson, Maj. McPheeters, Col. Polk, ]\Iaj. Tucker, Mr. Gudger, Miss Baird, Miss Lavine Haywood, and Misses Placide and Rosabelle Engelhard. Rev. Dr. Miller and Charlotte friends joined the cortege at Salisbury, wdiere President Wilson awaited it with a special train on his road. [Raleigh News, November 9th.] The party arrived at Asheville at 2:30 p. m., and the corpse was immediately taken to the residence of Dr. M. L. Neilson, the brother-in-law of Gov. Vance, where a large number of sympathizing friends and relations were soon assembled. The funeral services were appointed for Wed- nesday morning at 11 o'clock. The Methodist church, which is the largest in the place, was kindly tendered for the funeral services and accepted by the family. The pall- bearers were : Col. A. T. Davidson, ]\Ir. Albert T. Summey, Mr. James P. Sawyer and Mr. E. M. Clayton, of Asheville, Col. L. L. Polk, H. A. Gudger, Maj. R. S. Tucker and A. M. McPheeters, of Raleigh, who accompanied and had in charofc the remains from Raleigh. 2l6 LIFE OF VANCE. The Federal Court, Jndge Dick, and the Superior Court, Judge Avery, were both in session, but adjourned to at- tend the funeral. All the stores and places of business were closed during the services. A very large congrega- tion assembled and both the church and the yard were densely packed. The services were opened with prayer by Rev. Dr. J. M. Atkinson, who was the pastor of Mrs. Vance at Raleigh. Rev. Dr. A. \V. Miller then announced as the hymn to be sung, which was selected for the occa- sion by Mrs. Vance, " I would not live alvvay." He then announced as his text the 15th verse of the 17th Psalm: "As for me I will behold thy face in righteousness : I shall be satisfied when I awake with -thy likeness." A more powerful, beautiful and eloquent sermon has seldom, if ever, been delivered in the State. It would be in vain to attempt to give any just report of the tender pathos and surpassing beauty of this most able and powerful presenta- tion of the Christian's hope founded on the truths of the Gospel, as compared with the groundless hope of those who reject the Savior and of the inndel. After the sermon the remains were taken to the ceme- tery of the Presbyterian church, where they were deposited in a grave adjoining that of a son who died many years ago. Thus was laid in this mountain cemetery all that re- mains of one so ripe to enter on that rest that remaineth for good people, and one who was so lov^ed and admired by those who knew her best. On the beautiful casket was a large silver plate bearing the inscription : Harriette Espy Vance. Born July nth, 1832. Died November 3d, 1878. Governor Vance, his three sons, and the party of friends accompanying him, returned to the city yesterday. MRS. HARRIETT ESPY VANCE. LIFR OF VANCE. 217 [From tlie North Carolina Presbyterian.] Her character was marked by many of the traits con- spicuous in her father. The same simple unwavering faith, the same single-minded adherence to truth, the same un- compromising steadfastness of principle. These are rare characteristics. They imply high spirit, strength and courage. Mrs. Vance had all these. One who knew her well says she was never known to abandon a principle or to desert a friend. She was a whole-souled woman, always true to her colors and afraid of doing wrong. In this she was an example to all, and an example besides in the true femininity that guarded these strong and steady traits. She moved in our high places quietly as became a Southern lady, and with the humility and unworldly mind of a true Christian. In her home she was queen — most loyal wnfe and tenderest mother ; in her Church she was as a polished corner-stone. But she sought no popularity ; she shrank from publicity. Yet her influence was con- trolling and they who were freest to deplore what they called her " over strictness " being the very people who most needed such an example of conscientious performance of duty, were often foremost in their desire to serve her and gain her esteem. We shall miss our Governor's noble wife. Her walk was along that strait and narrow way which leads upv^^ard, and as she went her eyes were fixed on things above. We need such women in our high places, to point our young girls, to add salt to society, and to keep up the old tradi- tions of wifely duty and constancy of devotion, of motherly love and patience, and of abounding faith and charity. Church and State will both mourn her and sympathize with those whose loss in her is irreparable. For herself, we need shed no tears. She, " When the bridegroom, with his feastful friends, Passes to bliss at the mid hour of night, Hath gained her entrance." C. P. S. 2l8 LIFE OF VANCE. CHAPTER XVL AS UNITED STATES SENATOR. His Several Elections — His failure to Get His Seat — Defeat in 1872 by a Combine, Though the Party Nominee — At Last Admitted — His Second Marriage — His Laborious Efforts in Committee and in Debate — Surpasses Expectation by His Studious Habits and Dignified Discussions, Yet Lively and Jocose — Frequently Stirred Up the Senate — Always H^d Attention from Members and Packed Galleries — Was Hero of the Cloak Rooms and the Favorite Every- where — Anecdotes Told — Three Characteristic Speeches — The Solidity of the South and Its Causes — The Negro Question — His Last and Perhaps Greatest Effort — The Free Coinage of Silver — Last Appearance in Charlotte — ^Great Demonstration. 'ANCE was elected to the United States Senate in 1870 by the first Democratic Legislature assembled after the war, but not having been "pardoned" for the dis- abilities imposed by the fourteenth amendment to the constitution of the United States, was refused' admission, and after fruitless efforts to have his disabilities removed, he resigned. He was the nominee of his party for the same office in 1872, hie disabilities in the meantime having been re- moved, but was defeated by a union of the Republicans and some bolting Democrats. He was again nominated, and was elected in January, 1879, ^^^^ took his seat March 18th of that year, and by successive elections, viz: iu 1885 and 1 89 1, held the position till the time of his death. In 1880 he was married to Mrs. Florence Steele Martin, of Kentucky, a lady of wealth, attractive presence and manners, and high intellectual and social qualities. She survives her distinguished husband, and, with her only child, a son by her first marriage, Mr. J. Harry INIartin, and his family, occupies in winter the Washington home LIFE OF VANCE. 219 and in summer Gombroon. This latter place is an ideal re- treat in the mountains of North Carolina, eight miles north of Black IMountain Station, on the Western North Carolina Railroad. The house is of modern architecture, is surrounded by a dense forest and lofty peaks, and with vineyards, orchards, gardens, out houses, spring house, dairy, etc., such as render it a charming and most pictur- esque summer home. The location was selected and the improvements erected by Senator and Mrs. Vance. Vance's career in the Senate was altogether different from what was expected. It was felt and predicted that his reputation would not be enhanced by his senatoral life. His disposition was so sportive and his speeches so full of fun and merriment it was anticipated that either he would call down severe criticisms for his levity in that august body, or else that by trying to conform to its gravity and decorum, the vivacity and charm would disappear from his speeches and they would become commonplace. But such was not the case. He became at once a profound student of the great questions of the day. A tireless worker in commit- tees, he found time also to keep close up with the current business of the Senate, to participate in its running debates and at times to prepare and deliver speeches that were admitted on all sides to take rank among the ablest, most logical and statesmanlike of the speeches delivered in that body during his time. And while these speeches were erudite, thoroughly prepared, scholarly, and methodical in arrangment, they were not grave to prosinessor monotony. They sparkled from beginning to end with enlivening thrusts, witty remarks and mirth-provoking anecdotes and kept that sleepy old body well awake and on the alert for striking home-hits and humorous illustrations. He was indeed a great worker. Aside from his arduous and unremitting labors in committee and on the floor of the Senate, he found time to respond to requests for addresses in all parts of the country, on all possible subjects. He 220 LIFE OF VANCE. delivered lectures in the big halls in New York, Boston, New Orleans, Baltimore and other cities, on the tariff, the war between the States and other topics, and in Washing- ton to graduating classes bf law students, while all over the countr}- he spoke at University and college connnencements, to boards of trade, to agricultural colleges and fairs, historical societies, etc. Many people thought, some may still think, he was not a student or hard worker, but if all his speeches and lectures could be published, the world would readily accord him the right to exclaim with Horace, '''' Excgi mon- nnieiituin pereniiius cere. " Instead of losing cast, his repu- tation grew from the time he entered the Senate till the day of his death. He took rank from the start among the ablest and best informed members of that great body and in his encounters Vv'ith Blaine and other able opponents, he suffered nothing in respect to his abilities or his knowledge. And yet he was so amiable and gentle and genial that not- withstanding the hard blows dealt in debate, he was the hero of the cloak room and the charm of the social circle. The eulogies published show in what estimation he was held by the strongest of his Republican colleagues; while the kindness of personal feelings with which he was esteemed by the entire Senate is further exemplified by the fact that when he had suffered the loss of an eye, the Senate voted him, onmotionof Senator J. P. Jones, one of the most stalwart of his political opponents, a private secretary, to be paid out of its contingent funds. Although naturally as gentle and lovable as a woman, yet when thoroughly aroused he was a "good hater" and a hard fighter. It was his good or ill fortune to differ with President Cleveland in some matters of prime importance. Whether fully justifiable or not he suspected that the Presi- dent was using patronage to reward those who adopted his views as against others who felt it their duty to oppose him. Vance was no bootlick. He had no element of subserviency in his make up. His hatred of all manner LIFE OF VANCE. 221 of injustice, including official influence and favoritism, was so strong that he would die in his tracks before he would surrender, and so erect and sturdy was his manhood that he would even prefer to persist in a doubtful course rather than seem to yield to the blandishments of power and patronage. In his own terse language, "men will not be bullied even into doing right." His fertile imagination and retentive memory nearly always supplied an apt illustration of his feelings and senti- ments. Shortly after Cleveland's first inauguration Vance met a fellow Senator who had been to see the President in refer- ence to some matter of patronage in his State and who complained of the treatment he had received at the White House, saying the President was indifferent, if not disre- spectful. "Oh," said Vance, "you need not complain of that, it is his way. He treats me so, he treats everybody so. I went to see him a few days ago and he treated me so indifferently that I was reminded of a case I had in court up in Buncombe county soon after I began to practice law. An old man had died leaving a small estate, mostly of land in the mountains, and his two sons, Bill and Jim, the only heirs, employed me to settle up the estate, pay off the debts and divide the balance of the money between them. The land had been sold under an order of court, but the credit- ors were making some disturbance, and for one cause and another the final hearing and decree had been postponed for several terms. The boys grew very impatient, but I assured them I was confident the case would be finally disposed of at the ensuing term. Court came, the boys were in the court house in high expectation. The case was called and after considerable wrangling and disputation was again continued. At recess the clients were in the attorney's office talking the matter over when the elder turned to the other and said, ' Well, Jim, you seen how that was done and you know our lav/yer was not to blame ; he / 222 LIFE OF VANCE. done all he could and I am satisfied.' ' Well, I am not,' answered Jim, ' I seen it all and know our lawyer is not to blame, but. Bill, I will tell you what's a fact, there has been so much bother about this case, so many disputes, refer- ences and continuances, I am so disgusted with the whole business that durned if I ain't almost sorry the old man died.' " The application of this story to the subject of the conversation betw^een the Senators is obvious. The following is a specimen of the scenes and sensations he produced in the cloak rooms : Eminence in church or State had no terrors for Vance's humor when once aroused. The late Bishop Lyman, of North Carolina, was a man of great dignity and graciousness of manner and wa? always serious. He called on Senator Vance in the marble room and re- quested him to bring with him Senator Edmunds, of Vermont, who was general counsel of the House of Bishops, and as all the world knows as learned in the ecclesiastical as in the civil laws, and a grea,t Episcopalian. After some prefatory formalities the Bishop dived at once into the busi- ness that he wished to consult the great lawyer about; this concluded they unbent into personal conversation. Vance assured them that he had narrowly escaped being a con- siderable theologian himself. When I was a lad in those great mountains that laugh at the Vermont hills and that our good Bishop has shown his appreciation of by building him a home in, I was blessed with a good aunt who sent me I, f ' to a~ most excellent Calv|nist school, and delighted in / devoting the savings of her needle in making a Presbyterian preacher of me. I submitted to it for a year or more and made some progress in learning the hard sayings, if not in amazing grace, until my conscience rebelled and in my next visit to her I frankly confessed that I could not go on in the path of her choosing. I cannot bear even now to think of the grief that she showed at my determination, and, of course, she must have a reason for it. T tried to LIFE OF VANCE. 223 explain to her that one good reason was as good as a thou- sand and that everything was embraced in the simple reason that I did not feel myself good enough to be a Pres- byterian minister. She wrestled with me in spirit and refused to let me depart until she had got a promise of some sort out of me. Finding me quite settled in my decision, she reluctantly gave up her dream— then a bright hope lieftied- tQ.come to her, and caressing my hand she said in an eager wa3^Zeb, don't you think youare^,.good enough to prepare to be an Episcopal preacher. After the Bishop and the lawyer had recovered from the shock, they laughed as only men can who are unused to it and who are taken unawares by a return of their youthful feelings ; and the great lawyer makes a story of it now and then that would cause the average raconteur to turn green with envy. ^Vance's versatility was among his most wonderful ac- complishments. While he was the recognized leader of his party after Senator Beck's death, on all questions of tariff and finance, he yet displayed extraordinary knowledge of general legislative topic, and was ever ready to take part in debates, especially where the conduct and motives of the South and the Southern people were involved. He was always interesting, and generally stirred his opponents in lively fashion, while pleasing and delighting his friends, and he was the especial favorite of the galleries, which never failed to be packed when it was known he was to speak. The following is a specimen of the scenes and merriment he often created : Senator Vance set colleagues and spectators in a roar by reading in splendid style the following pastoral, which he said was entitled, "The Girl with one Stocking; a protective pastoral composed and arranged for the spinning wheel, and respectfully dedicated to that devoted friend of protected machinery and high taxes, the Senator from Rhode Island, Mr. Aldrich." 224 LIFE OF VANCE. Our Marj' had a little lamb, Her heart was most intent To make its wool beyond its worth, Bring 56 per cent. A pauper girl across the sea Had one small lamb also, Whose wool for less than half that sum She'd willingly let go. Another girl who had no sheep. No stockings — wool nor flax — But money enough just for to buy A pair without the tax, Went to the pauper girl to get Some wool to shield her feet, And make her stockings, not of flax, But out of wool complete. When Mary saw the girl's design She straight began to swear She'd make her buy both wool and tax Or let one leg go bare. And so she cried : "Protect, Reform ! Let pauper wool in free ! If it will keep her legs both warm What will encourage me ? " So it was done, and people said Where'er that poor girl went, One leg was warm with wool and one With 56 per cent. Now praise to Mary and her lamb, Who did the scheme invent. To clothe one-half a girl in wool And one-half in per cent. All honor, too, to Mary's friend, And all protective acts, That clothe the rich in real wool And wrap the poor in tax. The reading of this piece of doggerel was received with shouts of laughter, even Republican Senators leaning back in their seats and giving unrestrained way to their mirth. As for the people in the galleries they screamed and yelled frantic- ally, and when Senator Vance sat down they kept up their uproarpus applause until the North Carolina orator gravel)' inclined his head in acknowledgment. — Washington Correspondence Chicago Herald. LIFE OF VANCE. 225 "When the ■McKinley bill was pending," says Hon. F. A. Woodard in his eulogy, " Senator Vance, as a mem- ber of the Finance Committee, was the recognized leader of his party and the burden of the debate of that bill fell largely upon him. The student of the difficult and com- plex question of tariff can find in the literature of that sub- ject no more valuable material for its mastery than the speeches of Senator Vance, and upon most of the important questions coming before that body, he spoke, and always with singular force and ability. " And Senator Gray, of Delaware, in his eulogistic remarks, said: "His equipment as an orator was strong and unique. There are few of us who cannot recall the delight occasioned by his display of wit, and how story, epigram and apt illustration lighted up many a tedious discussion, his clearness of mental vision making many a crooked path straight. No debate was ever dull in which he was engaged and no one cared to leave this chamber when Vance was on the floor. " Among his earliest speeches in the Senate was the fol- lowing most characteristic one, portraying the political affairs in the South, with the inevitable causes of its solidity in opposition to the Republican administration : The Senate having under consideration the bill (H. R. No. 2) making appropriations for the legislative, executive, and judicial ex- penses of the Government for the fiscal year endingjune 30, 18S0, and for other purposes, Mr. Vance said : Mr, President — It seems to be the peculiar misfortune of the section from which I come, and I believe it to be also the misfortune of the whole country, that no question in any way pertaining to the South or originating with any representative from the South has been able to obtain a fair hearing in these halls upon its merits. Indeed it would seem as if the day for that kind of discussion had passed away forever. I had been taught to believe that the object of all discussion was to elicit truth, and not onlj- was it useless but such discussion was mischievous if that was not the object to be attained. If this indeed be so, I might appeal with confidence to every fair-minded man in the United States who hears or reads our debates here and ask if the dis- cussion of the questions now before the Senate has been fairly or logically handled with the view to ascertain the truth. It is proposed : 16 226 LIFE OF VANCE. First. By the legislation which is now in part before us and which has been, to repeal the laws under which authority is assxuned to in- terfere with the elections of the country b}- the use of the military. Second. To repeal the laws by which the United States marshals and supervisors were authorized to control the elections of the country. Third. To repeal the law requiring jurors in the Federal Courts to take the test oath. Now, these are the questions, plain and simple, which have en- gaged the attention of the American Congress and the people for the last three months. Common sense and a decent regard for the public interest require that they should receive at our hands the calmest and most dispassionate consideration which it is in our power to bestow upon them ; that they should be abstracted and dissociated from e\ery local passion or prejudice and viewed solely with regard to their effect upon the public welfare. Has this been done ? The record of our proceedings is evidence that it has not. The staple of the arguments in opposition has been as wide of this object as it is possible for human imagination to conceive. One Senator, as his argument, cries out r^^i?///c« / another cries out secession; another exclaims, with alarm, that rebel soldiers are here in these halls ; an- other claims that the North pays the larger part of the direct taxes, and nearly all of the taxes collected on imports ; another sees a goblin in the shape of a Democratic caucus ; another holds up his hands in holy horror in contemplating the fact that there is absolutely a Demo- cratic majority in both branches of Congress ; and yet another sees ruin in a solid South ; and last, but not least, one Senator exclaims in the famine of argument, "Jefferson Davis ;" and that is the contribu- tion that he furnishes to the literature of the country. These various and logical appeals have not even the merit that the old negro groom attributed to John Minor Bott's race-horses ; for when taunted with the fact that his horses could not beat anything, he congratulated himself that at all events they could beat each other ! These apologies for arguments cannot even beat each other in ab- surdity. An honest judge will be compelled to decide that the race is a drawn one and all bets are off. If our proceedings, Mr. President, were in the nature of a com- plaint and answer there is not a court in the land but would be compelled to order that the answers put in here by the Republican defendants to these bills be stricken out as frivolous, and that a judg- ment be rendered in favor of the plaintiffs. I will not recapitulate the arguments in favor of these bills. They are before the country and will be properly judged of in due season. I desire only to make a few observations in reply to these sectional appeals. Mr. President, who made the South solid ? The answer is as plain and unmistakable as it is possible to make anything to the human in- tellect : the Republican party is responsible for this thing. At the LIFE OF VANCE. 227 be<^inning of the late war almost the entire Whig party of the South, with a large and influential portion of the Democratic, were in favor of the Union and depreciated with their whole souls the attempt at its destruction, but through love of their native States and sympathy with their kindred and neighbors they were drawn into the support of the war. What became of them after the war ? Their wisdom in op- posing it was justified by the ruinous results ; their patriotism and courage were highlj' appreciated, and when peace came this class were in high favor at the South, while the secessionists as the original advo- cates of a disastrous policy were down in public estimation. If j'ou gentlemen of the North had then come forward with liberal terms and taken these men by the hand, you would have established a party in the South that would have perpetuated your power in this Government for a generation, provided you had listened to the views of those men, and respected their policy on questions touching their section. But you pursued the very opposite course, a course which compelled almost every decent, intelligent man of Anglo-Saxon pre- judices and traditions to take a firm and determined stand against you ; a course which consolidated all shades of political opinion into one resolute mass to defend what they conceived to be their ancient forms of government, laws, liberties, and civilization itself. By confiscation and the destruction of war, 3'ou had already stripped us of property to the extent of at least $3,000,000,000, and left our land desolate, rent, and torn, our homes consumed with fire, and our pleasant places a wasted wilderness. Peace then came — no, not peace, but the end of war came— no, not the end of war, but the end of legitimate, civilized war, and for three years you dallied with us. One day we were treated as though we were in the Union, and as though we had legitimate State govern- ments in operation ; another day we were treated as though we were out of the Union, and our State governments were rebellious usurpa- tions. It was the regular game of "Now you see it and now you don't." We were in the Union for all purposes of oppression ; we were out of it for all purposes of protection. Finally, seeing that we still remained Democratic, the Union was dissolved by act of Congress and we were formally legislated outside in order that you might bring us into the Union again in such a way as to guarantee us a Republican form of government — that is, that we should vote the Republican ticket ; and you cited article IV, section 4, of the Constitution as your authority to do this. You deposed our State governments and ejected from office every oflBcial, from Governor to township constable, and remitted us to a State of chaos in which the only light of human authority for the regulation of human affairs and the control of human passions was that which gleamed from the polished point of the soldier's bayonet. Under this simple and easily comprehended system of jurisprudence so conponant to the great assertion of the great Dec- 228 LIFE OF VANCE. laration, that " governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed," you began and completed the task of guaranteeing to us a "Republican" form of government. You disfranchised at least ten per cent, of our citizens, embracing the wisest, best and most experienced. You enfranchised our slaves, the lowest and most ignor- ant ; and you placed over them as leaders a class of men who have attained to the highest positions of infamy known to modern ages. In order to preserve the semblance of consent, conventions were called to form new constitutions, the delegates to which were chosen by this new and unheard-of constituency. The military counted the votes, often at the headquarters in distant States, the general in com- mand determining the election and qualifications of the delegates. Many of these delegates were negroes, on whom the right to vote and hold office had not yet been bestov/ed. They framed constitutions in which they gave themselves this right, and it was submitted for ratifi- cation to the same constituency who chose the delegates, and none other — that is to say, they propounded the question whether they should vote and hold office to themselves, and decided this question by their own votes, while white men were not permitted to vote. Per- haps the annals of the race from which we spring, with all its various branches spread throiighout the world, cannot furnish such a parody upon the principles of free government based upon the consent of the governed. These constitutions were declared adopted bj' the general in com- mand. Perhaps they were adopted. And at the same election, so called, were also chosen State officers for a long term of years, and chosen by the same constituency. The new governments went to work, and in the short space of four years they plundered those eleven Southern States to the extent of $262,000,000 ; that is to say, they took all that we had that was amenable to larceny, and they would have taken more, doubtless, but for the same reason that the weather could not get any colder in Minnesota, as described by a returned emigrant from that State, "because the thermometer was too short." [Laugh- ter.] And now recalling these facts and a hundred more which I cannot now name, can any candid man wonder that we became solid ? Can he wonder that old Whigs and Democrats, Union men and seces- sionists, should unite in a desperate effort to throw off the dominion of a party which had inflicted these things upon them ? And your military interference, your abuse, and your denunciation continue unto this day. Can you wonder that your following in that covintry has dwindled into insignificance ? The negro alone is your friend there and a verj'^ few whites, and his eyes, blinded as they have been, are steadily open- ing to the great truth which you ought to have taught him, that his prosperity and welfare are inseparably connected with that of his white neighbors. One by one the northern adventurers who led them LIFE OF VANCE. 229 have packed their carpet-bags and silently stolen back to the slums of northern society whence they originated, and the lonely native Repub- lican makes his solitary lair in some custom-house or post-office or revenue headquarters. The broad, free, bright world outside of these retreats in all the South is Democratic, thanks to you, the Republican party of the North. It would be well enough for Republican leaders to remember that the inflexible law of compensation exists in politics as well as in all things else, If we violate the laws of health we suffer bodily pains or early dissolution ; if we violate the laws of society we suffer in public esteem ; if we violate the laws of man we are subject to its pains and penalties ; if we violate the laws of God, we will suffer the penalties of sin ; if we violate the laws of nature we can reap none of the benefits which our knowledge of them now enables us to derive therefrom. So it is in politics. You outraged all of our sensibilities in your treatment of us, and we naturally became your political ene- mies. There is no impunity for transgression. You now affect to treat the presence of representative Southern men in these Halls as both an intrusion and a calamity, and the tone of your speeches will induce an intelligent stranger sitting in these galleries for the last three months to believe that yoii were sorry you had spent so much blood and treasure to force the South back into the Union. Is this really true ? Do you regret that the proper sentiment of society in the South is represented here ? And rather than this should be, would you prefer that the South had staid where she tried to go ? I hope not. For the sake of your patriotism I hope not. Had you rather that the Union had been lost than that you should lose power ? Was it the Union you fought for or was it political suprem- acy ? Notwithstanding the wild blasts of alarm which you are sound- ing throughout the length and breadth of this vast country, you well know that the only danger which our presence here indicates is the danger of j'our being ousted from our political power. In what way can the Democracy injure this country ? What motive have we to injure it ? Having surrendered the doctrine of secession and abandoned any intention whatsoever to divide this Union, how could we expect that the Democracy to which we belong could obtain and hold the control of the Government except by showing the people by our acts that we are patriotically desirous of promoting its welfare and its glory. But you say you distrust these expressions. My friends, in your hearts j-ou do not. On the contrary, a man who has offered his blood once for his plighted faith you believe when he plights his faith again. There is not a Southern rebel, no matter how bitter and rampant he may have been, that you have not received with arms wide spread and rewarded with offices of honor and trust, who came to you with craven repent- ance on his tongue, ready to vote the Republican ticket and eating dirt with the same gluttonous appetite with which he once ate fire. You profess to V)elieve him, but you despise him in your hearts. You are 230 WFE OF VANCE. not alarmed to receive liini and you cast no suspicion upon his pro- fessions of sincerity, though, as has more than once happened, he asks you to believe he tells the truth to-day because he told a lie 3'esterday. Mr. President, it has seemed to me not a little hard and inhospi- table that Southern Senators whose States were forced back into the Union should be so often twitted with their presence on this floor. We are here in obedience to the Constitution and the Union, and, if I recollec^aright, some of the Senators on this floor came to the South to invite us back into these Halls; and I have a distinct recollection that the Senator from Illinois [Mr. Logan] and the Senator from Rhode Island [Mr Burnside] came all the way down to North Carolina to invite that State to send Senators here, and they came attended with such a numerous retinue, and were so urgent in their solicitation, that I, for one, found it impossible to resist so weighty an invitation. [Laughter.] Mr. Logan — When I got here I did not find you. [Laughter.] Mr. Vance — But I came as soon as I could. [Laughter.] The honorable Senator found me, and he would not open the door for me after he had invited me. [Laughter.] Now that we are here, the Senator from. Illinois complains of our presence, and the Senator from New York accuses us of wishing to "dominate" at the feast to which Vv^e have been invited, and says that we are like McGregor, who claimed that the head of the table was wherever he sat. For one, I disclaim all desire to dominate at the feast, unless, indeed, voting for Democratic measures be domination. I do desire, however, to be equally honored with the other guests; and I desire, in vindication also of the good name and rude hospitality of McGregor, to say that, in my opinion, he would have been the last man in all Scotland, riever and cattle-lifter as he was, to invite a man into his house and up to his board, and then denounce him for being there. Mr. President, would there be any real danger to the best interests of this country if it were again under the complete control of the Democratic party ? Surely not. It is histoi-y that this country owes its chief glory and development in the past to that grand historic party. But for its sagacity and patriotism, it is safe to say that we would still be a feeble and inconsiderable people. The Democratic party have ex- tended the boundaries of this Republic from the Mississippi -to the Pacific Ocean. Its policy acquired the territory of Louisiana, which extended from the Gulf of Mexico up the Father of Waters to the British Dominion, embracing Iowa, Minnesota, Dakota, Kansas, and all that vast region west to the Rocky Mountains. It acquired Florida, Texas, New Mexico, California, including their grand extent of country, plains, rivers, and mountains, with all their wealth of gold and silver and precious metals, embracing more than a million of square miles. As I now remember, not a single foot of land has been added to the empire by the Republican party, except Alaska — a broad stretch of icy LIFE OF VANCE. 23 1 waste, a laud where frozen earth contends with frozen water, inhabited by seals and savages, in a climate which I have heard described as nine months of winter and three months of damnation cold^steaHier. [Laughter.] In addition to this territorial wealth and power which Democracy has given to the Republic, its great lawyers and magnificent statesmen have in all generations of our existence been the special champions and expounders of the Constitution — the bond of our Union and the very ark of the covenant of our liberties. They have striven to have its principles understood, its provisions maintained in their purity, and its blessings extended to all; and great as their services have been in en- larging our boundaries, spreading our commerce, and elevating our diplomacy abroad, their services to our people and to mankind in the exaltation of constitutional principles more entitle them to the confi- dence of American citizens than all things put together. In addition to their services in maintaining the Constitution they have in the main been the chief promoters of public economy and the enemies of corruption. Under Democratic rule there has been in this country no Credit Mobilier, there has been no Black Friday, no Sanborn contracts, no robbery of freedmen's savings banks, no Belknap, no returning boards and no electoral commission; no military interference at the polls, no test oath for jurors in the United States courts, no Federal spies and overseers when the people were choosing their rulers. And now that we are seeking to restore this state of things and to bring back the government to the paths in which our fathers trod, the attempt is denounced as revolutionary and the trumpet is blown to warn the country that the end of all things is about to come, when, as we trust, nothing is about to come to an end except the domination of the Republican party. Coming briefly to the real questions, I ask why should the law authorizing the military to be used at the polls not be repealed and why should the law authorizing Federal supervision also be not repealed ? I take it to be indisputably established without further argument, that the whole subject relating to the elective franchise is placed by the Constitution under the control of the States, and all that the Federal government can do is to see that the States, as such, do not discriminate against any on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude. This is the whole duty and power of Congress as declared by the Supreme Court. When any Republican Senator has ventured for one moment to abandon the line of inflammatory appeal to the sectional feeling of the country, the excuses given for the retention of this law upon the statute book are illogical almost to puerility. The Senator from Maine, [Mr. Blaine] gravely urges that it should not be repealed because the great bulk of the army is in the distant West, only some few hundreds being east of the Rocky Mountains. 232 LIFE OF VANCE. He tells us in the course of his enumeration that there are only about thirty in the State of North Carolina, and asks the .Senators from that State if they are afraid of that number of soldiers ? Passing over the obvious fact that within thirt}' days ten thousand could be sent there if desired, I answer that we do fear them, because they represent the power of the United States government and the enmity of the Repub- lican party which wields that power ; we fear them as the Hollanders fears the first small leak in the dikes which bear back the waves of the ocean from deluging the meadows of his homestead ; we fear them as the physician fears the first speck of gangrene in the system of his patient ; we fear them as the sailor fears the piling up of the storm clouds upon the horizon, knowing that their deceptive beauty covers the fierce desolation of the tempest ; we fear them as the shepherd of the mountain fears his lambs at even the flitting of a shadow athwart his path, for he knows it to be the shadow of the eagle, the remorseless tryant of the air ; we fear them as Charlemagne feared the rude wooden ships of the Norse Vikings on their first appearance in the seas of his empire ; we fear them as all patriotic Romans feared the crossing of the Rubicon by Csesar, the passage of which with arms in his hand marked him as the enemy of Roman liberty. Even so we fear and believe, that when an American Executive crosses the Rubicon of his constitutional powers and appears at the place of choosing our rulers, armed either with the sword or with illegal powers of arrest, he thereby proclaims himself the enemy of the liberties of our people. A flagrant illustration of the justice of this fear is to be found in the various orders of the War Department directing the concentration of troops in the States of South Carolina Florida and Louisiana on the occasion of the election of 1876. The excuse that these soldiers were notintended to interfere with elections or to be placed at the polls, but only to be sufliciently near to keep the peace, is not sustained b}' the facts of that reign of military violence, nor will it be if tried again. I quote from an order dated headquarters Department of the South, Columbia, South Carolina, October 8, 1876, issued by General Ruger : "Should the barracks or camp in any case be so far from the place of voting that prompt assistance could not on occasion arising be ren- dered the civil officers, the commanding officer v.-ill so place his command or a siifficient part thereof that such assistance, if required, may be promptly given. No troops, however, will be placed actually at any po/l oi election except upon reqtcireine^it to that effect by the marshal or his deputy.^'' vSo it seems that the discretion as to whether the law should be violated or not, was vested in a deputy marshal ! In fact, they were so illegally disposed and used in a hundred instances. The President, as appears by the order of General Townsend to General Emorj-, dated October 27, 1874, seemed anxious to have the troops placed at the polls LIFE OF VANCE. 233 without the appearance of doing so. In that order he propounds a physical problem or conundrum to General Emory which that officer had to give up. He says : " Cannot points be selected near polls where attempts to overawe voters, likely to result in riots, may be made, and troops stationed there a day or two beforehand ? It would not be desirable to have soldiers at or too near the polls as all appearatice of military inter- ference, except to secure voters their right tovote, should be avoided.'''' Not to " keep the peace," mind you, but to secure voters their right to vote ! Now, this was a hard problem : to place troops so far from the polls as to avoid all appearance of interference with the elec- tions, and yet so near as to actually interfere by securing all men in their right to vote ! Quod est demonstrandum. It was too much for General Emory — in fact, it was too much for common sense and com- mon honesty. All these orders show a palpable and shameless determination on the part of the Executive to control both the elec- tions and the counting of the votes of presidential electors, as well as the organization of State governments. The manner in which the troops were shifted about from one to the other of these three States, on which the presidential election depended, exhibits the animus of this infamous transaction in a manner so plain that the wayfaring man, though a Republican, need not err therein. But the President tells us in his veto message that there has been no interference during his administration, and promises that there shall be none. vSo we are to take his ro3'al promise to respect the peo- ple's liberties, and not to have them secured by law ? ,Here is the promise of one President of the United States, and one who stands exceedingly high in Republican estimation, dated November 10, 1876, to General W. T. Sherman, Washington, District of Columbia : " Instruct General Auger, in Louisiana, and General Ruger, in Florida, to be vigilant with the force at their command to preserve peace and good order, and to see that the proper and legal board of canvassers are unmolested in the performance of their duties. Should there be anj' grounds of suspicion of fraudulent counting on either side it should be reported and denounced at once. No man worthv of the office of President would be willing to hold the office if counted in, placed there by fraud. Either party can afford to be disappointed in the result, but the country cannot afford to have the result tainted by the suspicion of illegal or false returns. U. S. GRANT." On the same day the following telegram is also forwarded to Gen- eral Sherman : "The President thinks, and I agree with him, that it will be well for 3'ou to give to the Associated Press his telegram and mine to you, referring to affairs now in the South. J. D. CAMERON, " Secretary of War." Of the vast, open-jawed, cavernous-bellied nature of this promise 234 LIFE OF VANCE. I have not the heart or the time to discourse. I shall content myself with imitating the discretion of Mr. Rodman, who, returning home one night full of tax-paid, and fearing that his speech would betray him, to the many questions of his wife for a long while maintained an obstinate silence, until at length to end the matter he solemnly re- marked: " Mrs. Rodman, you know I am a man of few words, and now I am plumb done talking. " That subject immediately became res adjtidicata. I am done talking on this subject so well calculated to make an American citizen blush. The arguments made by the opponents of these bills, especially those of the veto messages, strike me with a good deal of amazement. To illustrate their absurdity let us frame them into the semblance of mathematical propositions, thus : Proposition first : Theorem. — The troops of the United States are two thousand miles away on the frontier and could not be used to con- trol elections if they were wanted. — Senator from Maine. The troops could not be so used if they were here, as the law for- bids it. I promise not to use them. — The President. Hence it is revolutionary and dangerous to liberty and the purity of elections to pass this bill forbidding such use of troops. — Q. E. D. Corollary first. — The necessity for troops at the polls to secure fair elections is in proportion to the squares of the distance of their present location, i. e., the greater the distance, the greater the necessity. Corollary second. — The necessity for the presence of troops at the polls is also in proportion to the legal inabilit}- to use them if they were present, and if the President is determined not to use them at all to control elections, then the necessity becomes absolute. Corollary third. — The revolutionary and dangerous character of a law consists in the fact that it is useless, there being already in ex- istence laws sufficient to effect the purpose. Scholium. — In the above it is assumed axiomatically that the terms "liberty" and "purity of elections" are sj'nonymous with the term " Republican part}'. " [Prolonged laughter.] Proposition second : Theorem. — The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color or previous conditions of ser- vitude. Sec. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article b}- appropriate legislation. — The fifteenth amendment quoted by the Pres- ident. The Supreme Court in the United States against Cruikshank, and in Meyers vs. Happersett, have declared that the only right guaranteed by this amendment is the right that citizens shall not be discriminated against on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Hence " national legislation to provide safeguards for free and honest LIFE OF VANCE. 235 elections is necessary, as experience has shown, not only to secure the r 'ht to vote to the enfranchised race at the South, but also to prevent frtudulent voting in the large cities of the North."-The Presulent. Corollary first.-It follows that if John Smith gets drunk at an election in North Carolina and punches a negro's head he immediately bv 1 esidential logic, becomes the State of North Carolina embodied in the flesh, and he, or it, discriminates against the said negro within the meaning of the Constitution and the guarantee is called for at the meaniu once Corollary second.-If it be a white man whose head is punched by the embodied State-of-John-Smith-North-Carolina it is ^ ;^-'^"°;"^- tion all the same, provided the said white man was about to vote or had voted the Republican ticket, that being the true meaning and inter- pretation of the words "race, color, and previous condition of '""''corollary third.-It follows necessarily, that if a New York repeater vote the Democratic ticket five times in one day, he becomes likewise Ihe creat State of New York (including the Senator) or e converso, the great State of New York becomes the repeater, and by so voting he dlcriminates (the Lord knows how) against the right of somebody (the Lord knows who) to vote on account of race color, or previous condition of servitude, and the only avenue opened up by which this guarantee can be enforced is to send in the Army and Johnny Daven- ^°''scholhim^-The " previous condition " referred to in the foregoing is that of " Republicanism," and implies also present condition ; that is being a " Republican." u- • v Scholium second.-Enforciug the right to vote by soldiers is not an "interference with elections." . . ,, , ^ 1 Scholium third.-This doctrine of "discrimination' does not apply to the state of Rhode Island, where a white man's right to vote may be freelv abridged on account of his present condition of nnpecuniosity . Proposition third: Theorem.-"The practice of tacldng to appro- priation bills measures not pertinent to such bills did not prevai until more than forty years after the adoption of the Constitution^ It has become a common practice. All parties when m power have adopted it. The public welfare will be promoted in many ways by a return to the early practice of the Government and the true principles of legislation."— The President. Sence the practice of tacking legislation to appropriation b^H^ bal- ing been practiced by all parties for more than fifty years, it should be mmediatelv abandoned when disagreeable to the President or incon- "e Int to the party, its antiquity not being sufficient to justify it, thouc^h greater than the period of its non-use. Corfllarv first.-It follows, therefore, that the practice of using troops at the polls, which did not prevail for more than seventy -five 236 LIFE OF VANCE. years after the adoption of the Constitution, should now become of general and indispensable use ; fourteen A-ears being amph' sufficient time to legalize it, and being now absolutely necessary for the preserva- tion of the Republican party. Scholium. — For the piirposes of the next presidential election fourteen 3'ears of military interference are equal to seventy-five years of free and unrestrained elections, on the well-established principle " that circumstances alter cases." (The Lawyer's Bull vs. the Farmer's Ox, I Webster's El. Spell.) N. B. — It is said on high authority that the Secretar}- of War and the Secretary of State once held this problem unsound, but were coerced into assenting to it by part}- necessity. But quicn sabe ! [Laughter.] So much for the absurd deductions which may be logically drawn from the premises contained in the veto messages and the arguments of Senators. Now, Mr. President, why should not the peace at the polls and the purity of elections be intrusted to the authority, the virtue, and the patriotism of the States, where alone our fathers placed it ? Is it be- cause the States are unable with their civil machinery to preserve the peace ? They have invariably proven able in the past except in cases of such unusiial violence as is contemplated in the Constitution, article IV, section 4. Are they unwilling ? Surely they are willing to pre- serve their autonomy and perpetuate their own existence. Are they corrupt ? Surely if their inhabitants as citizens of the States are too corrupt for self-government, it is not possible that their virtue should be improved and their corruptions cease the moment they are invested with authority by the United States. On the contrary- there is always found less of responsibility and more of corruption in aggregated than in separate communities. How can a corrupt State officer become an incorruptable Federal officer ? To suppose that the States are either unable, unwilling, or too cor- rupt to hold peaceful and honest elections, is to declare unmistakably that the people thereof are incapable of self-government. " Let each Senator have written on his brow what he thinks of the Republic," said the Senator from New York, quoting the old Roman. So sa}- 1. Let each Senator say for himself what he thinks of his State : are its people incapable of self-government, of choosing their rulers peace- ably and honestly ? For one, I can say, with unspeakable pride and absolute truth, that the people of the State of North Carolina who sent me here are able, willing, and virtuous enough to fulfill these and all the other high functions of free government ; that they have ever done so since the keels of Raleigh's ships first grated upon the white sands of her shores ; and God helping them, they and their children will continue to do so, if not destroyed by centi^alization, uutil chaos shall LIFE OF VANCE. 237 come again. It is with extreme sadness that I hear any other Sena- tor intimate that it is not so with his people. Mr. President, did you ever consider for a moment the manifold and extraordinary uses to which we are subjecting the soldiers ? And did you ever think that all this means, in fact, the failure of the civil authority ; that our liberties are declining more and more as we em- ploy force ? Sir, in the uses to which we put the soldiers I am reminded of what I read about the bamboo in Asiatic countries. It is said the natives do almost everything with that wonderful arborescent grass. When young and tender it is eaten and preserved ; it is made into houses and boats, astronomical instruments, ornamental work, yards of vessels, aqueducts, rain-clocks, water-wheels, fence-ropes, chairs, tables, hats, and umbrellas, fans, pipes, cups, shields, tool- handles, lamp-wicks, paper, knives, and a hundred other things. In this way it seems to me that we are forsaking the civil functions of our institutions and utilizing the soldier. In addition to their legitimate business as defenders of the coun- try, we have made of them Governors of States, legislators, organizers of Legislatures and judges of the election and qualifications of the members thereof, judges of law and equity and of the criminal courts, policemen, sheriffs, marshals and deputy marshals, revenue officers and still house hunters, managers of railroads, controllers of churches and of schools, justices of the peace, supervisors of election, mathe- maticians to see a fair count, protectors of witnesses, foster-fathers of returning boards, and above all, as Republican propagandists. In the language of the sewing-machine companies, "no family should be with- out one" [laughter]; this Republican political bamboo. Is there no great danger ? Does it not indicate the decay and the disuse of the civil arm of the law, which is the natural and only safe protector of our liberties ? Let us, sir, discard this miserable bamboo policy and cease to make the soldier our political maid of all work. Mr. President, it seems to me that the position of the Republican party in reference to the use of soldiers and supervisors at the polls, on the pretense of preserving the peace and securing free elections, is the most remarkable one that reasonable men ever assumed. It may be formulated thus : The elections shall be free if we have to surround the polls with bayonets; the elections shall be according to the laws of the States if we have to overawe the civil magistrates and State officials by an exhibition of power ; the elections shall be pure if it takes Davenport and all the convicted criminals and occupants of all the dens of infamy in our great cities to manage them ; the election shall be unforced and without the appearance of violence if a battery of artillerj- has to be trained on every ballot-box in the land ; and lastly, the election shall be fair if we have to arrest without warrant and im- prison without bail, until the elections are over, every man who offers to vote' the Democratic ticket. 238 LIFE OF VANCE. The speeches of Republican Senators mean this, the vetoes of the President mean this, and they mean more than this, Mr. President ; in effect they say that unless we can use the Army at the polls, we will let that Army dissolve ; we will leave our forts and arsenals ungarri- soned ; we will strip the frontiers of all protection, and let the men, women, and children of that border countr}- be slaughtered and scalped and the unchecked savage extend his barbarous sway over all that land of promise, once more remitted to its ancient wilderness. We will not only do this, but we will denounce the Democratic members of Con- gress who offered u^ the money to support this Army as the authors of this disaster. All these things will we do rather than lose our chances to count in the next President, and we will cover the facts and ob- scure the logic of the case by reinflaming the bitter prejudices of the war in the hearts of our constituents ! Can it be possible to do this ? Is there to be no end to passion, no restoration of reason ? We shall see. I confess that I do not believe these absurd methods of dealing with the American mind can much longer prevail. I regard them as the desperate efforts of a sinking party, and I believe the people will so regard them. I have been much touched by the affectionate warn- ings given us by the other side that we were ruining ourselves in try- ing to repeal these laws. The kind-hearted Senator from Michigan notified us frankly that if we persisted we would go down into the waters of oblivion to rise no more forever. Pie did not even give us a chance at the general resurrection. [Laughter.] It seemed to dis- tress him, and if I thought it was true prophecy, I would freel}- mingle my tears with his at the contemplation of so dire a calamity. Candor compels me, however, to acknowledge that I cannot reciprocate his charity. If I thought the Republican party were standing upon the brink of a precipice, beneath which seethed those cold waters of obliv- ion, instead of warning them, I pledge you my word I would try to induce them to step over the edge; in fact, I might lend them a push. [Laughter.] At least, I should feel as indifferent about it as the lodger at an inn did, who was awakened in the night when the meteors were falling, and told that the day of judgment had come. "Well, well," said he, testily, "tell the landlord about it; I am only a boarder." [Laughter.] And now, Mr. President, if the breath was about to leave my body and I was permitted to say but one word as to what my country most needed, that word should be. Rest ! Rest from strife, rest from sec- tional conflict, rest from sectional bitterness, rest from inflammatory appeals, rest from this constant, most unwise, and unprofitable agita- tion. Rest in all the lands and in all literature is used as the symbol of the most perfect state of felicity which mankind can attain in this world and the next. "And the land had rest,''' said the old Hebrew chroniclers iu describing the reign of their good kings; "and his rest LIFE OF VANCE. ^39 of our Lord, when Ephnam should have ceased toe yj ^""rr;t.srirrc*:r:"sr;-.ace .>«„ t.e ..»., a. at saith the apostle. Can we not g.ve r t to -r peop.e • ^^,^^ President, tliat those from whom I come desire it aoov The excitement through which we have passed to^i^'^^'' J years, the suffering and the -""-^^^-^^f^^ '^Curindesc'rihahi; which they have nndergone have filled their heart ^^^^^ yearnings for national peace, for a ""'P''^'^. 7'.'', f J^^^e to efiect restoration of the Union . There is one P°l-3'. a d If^- ^ *^°r^^"' "td ttte Oe'mL" ItL l.t ^n ^pecple of the North. T^ :;;u"^rL*:sma:sWp for our condition the oi.y geninne remedy for ke hard times with which we -^;«-'=f ^ J; J e" "I's. where teaches it, and her thousand "K'^^'^'f-'^l^th and night constantly inculcate it, even as day ^"''l^"'^^ ^"1^,,^ flows nnto night .showeth Unow e g. ^"^ ',^ .^.f „7oa-watered Vir- by o-'=''P'"'=''<'=^;;f J° ^^"^ DcLe forests of young saplings ginia. You can scarce find them, ucns Ler an the hiUs and plains ^^^^ X^l^^:^. ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ing and encamping armies. ^"^the tender branch thereof will not down that it will sprout again, and ^^^ ^^^ ^J^^^ ^^ 1,,,^ plo.ved cease." Waving seas of wheat cover t^- J- f J^f^ ^ ^^1, /^hock; by the bursting shells while ^^/f ^f.^ f :^/°: ^^ncV^ as'to give and green grass has so covered \^^^\"^;^°;,;^ [^^,3. Restoration is them all the seeming of ^ ^ ^^""^ .^^U ^,' '^^^^^^ g.ace, may not nature's law; let us imitate her. God of ^^^ ^^^^^^ ^ f ^ ^, ^.^H ? these gaping wounds of civil war be permitted to heal, they No one not a lover of the South, of the Anglo-Saxon race and civilization, of justice and fair play; no o:ie but a bl hearted, big brain man; nobody but Vance could be the author of the following speech, delivered m the Senate Jammry 30, 1890. Mr Vance-Mr. President, in accordance with the notice which I have 1 ereXe given, I ash leave to niahe a fe-e-^^-- *^ '"" — dir ihei - srj :^^;^t: orcotn;rth-^L;- ^'''Mr. Vance-Mr. President, one of the earliest recorded utterances 240 LIFE OF VANCE. of inspiration is, that the sins of the fathers are visited upon the chihl- dren. This is another way of saying that the mistakes of one generation endure to plague another. Several hundred years ago this fair land of ours, which it would seem God had specially intended for the chosen seat of liberty and the noblest development of man, was desecrated by the introduction of human slavery. The serpent thus entered into our political Eden. The great forests which covered the face of the earth called for labor to remove them, for more labor than the slowly coming immigration of the free races afforded. The morals of the age justified the holding of barbarous races in bondage. The' favorite place for obtaining bondsmen was the African coast. So desirable did the supplying of the newly discovered islands and continents of the .West with cheap labor appear, that old Joseph Hawkins was knighted by Queen Eliza- beth, as much for his successful introduction of a cargo of slaves into the West Indies, as for his exploits against the Spaniards. Even so great and good a man as Las Casas, the Spanish apostle to the Indians, once advocated the introduction of African slavery. First and foremost in this calamitous and iniquitous traffic was New England. In fact, so anxious were the good people of those col- onies for slaves that the)' reduced to bondage the native Indians whom they captured in war, and, not imfrequently, those wicked people of their own race and blood who were guilty of differing from them in religious opinions. The tobacco-growing colonies of the South soon followed suit in the importation of African slaves, and early found how profitable this cheap and involuntary labor was in the raising of their great staple. The introduction of the cultivation and t:ses of cotton soon gave a fur- ther impetus to slaveholding, and made the chief prosperity of all the Southern regions to depend mainly upon this enforced labor. Whilst the want of profitable returns gradually lessened the hold of the North upon slavery, its great profits constantly increased that hold upon the South. The stony and sterile fields of New England called for manufac- tures and commerce. That commerce consisted very largely in purchasing slaves on the African coast, and selling them to Southern planters. Thus their interests constantly drifted the Northern and Southern people apart in regard to African slavery. After a time it ceased to exist altogether in the North, by reason of emancipation laws made to take effect at fixed periods, and by their sales to their Southern neighbors. By this time the wrongfulness of holding slaves fully dawned upon the conscience of the Northern people. Its prickings became so active that they not only deemed it a sin to hold a slave themselves, but to permit anybody else to hold one, even though there war, no responsibility whatever upon them for the transgression. They even went so far in obeying the dictates of conscience, that LIFR OF VANCE. 241 the)- did not hesitate to stand up boldly in the sight of God, with the purchase money in their pockets, and denounce the vengeance of heaven against their Southern neighbors for holding on to the negro which they themselves had sold them. Every requisite to the effectual working of a good conscience was present. Slaveholding was not only unprofitable, as has been said, upon their soil and in their climate, but the lucrative trade of supply- ing the Southern planters was abolished by the Constitution. In addition to this their sense of rectitude was unpardonably offended by the contemplation of the well-doing of their neighbors. Of course, men who burnt witches, banished or enslaved Quakers, and had made fortunes by the horrors of ' ' the middle passage, ' ' could not be expected to tolerate any longer the ungodly thing which brought fortunes to to Virginia and Carolina planters. With ever increasing bitterness this conscientious crusade was kept up with an extravagance of language which scrupled not to denounce the Constitution itself; which respected the slaveholders' rights under State laws, as "a league with death and a covenant with hell." The inevitable result is fresh in our recollec- tion. It ultimately led to civil war in which more than a million lives were lost and more than three billions of property destroyed, and as much of indebtedness incurred. The slaves were set free. Those of us in the South who had deprecated the war and deplored the agitation which led to it, as we sat in the ashes of our own homes and scraped ourselves with the potsherds of desolation, 5'et consoled ourselves for the slaughter of our kindred and the devastation of our fields by the reflection that this, at least, was the end ; that the great original wrong committed by our fathers had at last been attoned for ; that the Union having been declared indissoluble, and slavery forever abolished, the one great stumbling block and stone of offense was removed, and the people of these American States, henceforth homo- geneous, could pursue their great destiny harmoniously and fraternally. How little we knew the temper of the victors in that great struggle. We made no calculation for the fact that the necessities of party- supremacy would lead men as far as even the prickings of conscience for an unprofitable sin had done. No sooner had we fairly witnessed the end of hostilities before acts of Congress were passed directing the subversion of all law and civil governments in the States of the South, under cover of which they were divided into military districts, over each of which was placed a general of the army, supported by sufficient troops. To these generals and their bayonets was committed the task of forming governments for the people of these overthrown States. This they did by holding elections under military control, bj' suppressing the vote of every free white man in those States, who, having at any time taken an oath to support the Constitution of the United States, had afterwards done any act in aid of the rebellion, and by thrusting with military force upon the ballot-box the entire mass of 17 242 UFE OF VANCE. emancipated slaves, to whom the right to vote had been given by no law, human or divine, known to our federative system. By the con- stitution thus forced upon the Southern people the negroes were made voters and invested with the like privileges in all respects as the white people. The Constitution of the United States had in like manner been so amended as to forbid the States from making any discrimination against the negro race, or in any manner impairing the rights v»hich had thus been conferred upon them. Again, we in the South thought we had arrived at the end of our troubles connected with the negro question. Surely, we reasoned, as the colored man is now free, as he is made by law, State and Federal, equal with the white man in all respects, and has-been given the ballot to protect himself in these rights, surely the matter will now be at rest. We can close the chasm which the agitation about him has created between us and our North- ern neighbors. Again, were we sadly mistaken. After forty years of bitter agitation, four years of bloody war, and near a quarter of a cen- tury more of trial under the new order of things, the negro again "bobs up serenely," and for his sake we are to-day threatened not only with a political agitation sufficiently disastrous within itself, but with a servile war whose weapons shall be the midnight torch and the assassin's dagger, and whose victims shall be sleeping women and children. This agitation and this threatened war is to arise from one of two facts: Either the friends of the negro in the North are disappointed because their well-laid schemes of reconstruction failed to secure the Republican part}' any aid from the Southern States, or because their reasonable expectations and hopes as to the colored man's capacity for helping himself and for governing others have been grievously wrecked. The Senator from Kansas, in his speech a few days ago, indig- nantly denied the former assertion, and put the action of his friends altogether upon the high ground of benevolent pa.triotism. He was so candid in admitting the fault of his people for the introduction of slavery into this country, and for its retention in the North until it ceased to be profitable, that I was in hopes to hear him admit with equal candor that the whole scheme of reconstruction was intended for partisan Republican purposes. I concede this to him, however, and candidly admit that he does so believe and that, perhaps, he is the only sane man in Europe or America who is of this opinion. Taking it, then, upon his ground, is it any wonder that the truth compelled him to say: "But it can no longer be denied that suffrage and citizenship have hitherto not justified the anticipations of those by whom they were conferred. They have not been effective in the hands of the f reed- man, either for attack or defense." LIFE OF VANCE. 243 111 other words, here is a frank admission that twenty-five years of freedom and nearly as much of citizenship has proven a lamentable failure. It is true that he says the whites in the South are to blame for it ; that they have employed force, violence, and fraud, of which I will say more hereafter. I will only now make this suggestion : If it be true that in States where they largely outnumber the whites they are either intimidated from voting or are defrauded in the counting of their votes, is not that a strong argument against their supposed ca- pacity for self-government ? Are a people fit to govern themselves and others who would suffer themselves thus to be treated ? Is any man worthy of freedom who requires constantly to be tutored and protected in its exercise ? Is a man fitted to run a race who has to be held up in order that he may walk ? I have, indeed, heard of a beef which had to be held up in order to be knocked down to fill an army contract, but I have not known men fit for freedom who would be de- terred from its exercise in the face of inferior numbers. Is there anything in the sentiment of the poet who says : "Hereditary bondsmen, know ye not Who would be free, themselves Must strike the blow ?" The Senator says: "That no other people on the face of this earth have ever submitted to the wrongs, the injustice which have been for twenty-five years heaped upon the colored men of the South, without revolution and blood." More than once this is repeated. It constitutes the burden of his speech, around which is clustered the brightest display of rhetorical p3'rotechnics ever employed to conceal a paucity of ideas by the gor- geousness of phraseology. This rhetorical display across the forensic heavens reminded me forcibly of an astronomer's description of the remarkable tenuity of the tail of a certain comet. He said that its length was a hundred million miles as it stretched athwart the skies — that its breadth was 50,000 miles — and yet the solid matter which it contained could be condensed and transported in a one-horse cart. I listened and listened with the greatest entertainment to that speech, and searched and wondered where the remedy for the evil was and when it would be announced, and when I should see the solid matter of the illumination. Suddenly, before the light expired and we were left in darkness, he announced that the solution was justice, which, however sententious it might be, was about as definite and real as the twinkling which remain under the closed eyelids after the withdrawal of a fierce light. Justice, as he explains it, means our submission to negro rule. Plaving submitted to this for so long a time as he thinks would be fair, should it prove a failure he graciously promises that he will then con- sult with us about some other solution of the problem ! 244 LIFE OF VANCE. What are the facts which support this grandiose slander of an en- tire people ? What wrongs and injustice have been done by the South- ern people to these negroes that call for the "use of the torch and the dagger ?" They have been given the right of suffrage, not by the free action of the Southern whites, I admit, but at least by their reluctant assent. Since their admission to citizenship they have been elected to both branches of Congress and have occupied almost every position under State authority. They have controlled entire States, counties, and municipalities, and in every instance their rule was marked by failure and ruin. It was a war against property, intelligence, and re- spectability. The few years of their misrule in the vSouth will be forever remembered in our history for their corruption and retrogres- sion, and will constitute a damnable blot on the memory of those who authorized it, and who looked on with complacency so long as the thieves were Republicans and the victims were Democrats. Whilst ever they could hold the throttled State in the Republican ranks, and send mongrels to the Senate and House of Representatives to strengthen Republican hands against "the cowardly and degraded element in the North that sympathized with treason," not a word of protest was heard from that entire party of justice and modest right- eousness. But as soon as this corrupt and incompetent rule had wrought its inevitable results and had been overthrown by the union of all the best elements in the South, aided by the superior knowledge of the superior race, then began the complaints of vSouthern outrages and injustice. It is all very well to deny now that the whole object of reconstruction was partisan advantage, and to claim that the motive was patriotic. It is but the natural verification of the saying of old Samuel Johnston, that "patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel." All the world knows why citizenship was given to the negro and the reason of the bitter disappointment which is everywhere confessed at its results. There is surely here no outrage against the negro that calls for revolution and blood. The wrong was against the white man, and was redressed by him without revolution. In obedience to the Constitution the Southern States admitted the colored citizens to a full participation in all the legal rights enjoyed by white citizens. They were placed in the jury-box, commissioned as magistrates, permitted to form com- panies in the volunteer militia, duly commissioned and armed. School houses were built for them and normal schools established for the ed- ucation of their teachers, whilst the school fund of the States was ap- portioned to their schools, in proportion to their numbers, with all possible fairness. Asylums were built for the care of their insane, deaf, dumb and blind, wherein they receive the same treatment as the whites. The taxes for all this were levied by white legislators on their white constituents, who paid at least 95 per cent, of the total out of the little' which thc'negroes and carpet-baggers had left them. If there be LIFE OF VANCE. 245 any wronjr, injustice, in all this, it can surely be seen only by that in- tellectual vision which, "reaching far as angels ken," beholds no motives for the preservation of Republican supremac}' in reconstruc- tion, but only patriotic benevolence. Since the restoration of the South to the control of its own people the progress and prosperity of the negroes have been as great as, if not greater than, in any other country where his race exists. His increase in numbers has been phenomenal, and furnishes ample proof that he is fed, clothed and sheltered. The decrease of the death rate, of crim- inal convictions, and of illiteracy, taken with the gradual and unfailing increase of his wealth, w^hich is abundantly proven by the statistics, all give the lie flatly to the oft-repeated story of oppression and wrong un- der which he suffered or is said to suffer. The truth is, he began to prosper when the whites took control. ' Progress for him would have been as impossible under his own rule as it was for the whites. Ten years more of such government as reconstruction fixed upon the South would have made that fairest portion of the American continent a howling wilderness. In short, it would have been Africanized, a fate which even the Senator from Kansas says is "not desirable ; " which taken in connection with his opening remarks on the danger of " blood- poisoning " by the adulteration of races, means much more than ap- pears on the surface. The best thing, then, that could have been done for the negro was that which was done when the management of public affairs was taken from inexperienced and incapable hands and placed with the natural and competent rulers of the land. Where, then, I ask again, does the outrage on the colored man come in ? The Senator makes no complaint of the causes which led to the overthrow of reconstruction. He says : " Until 1877 the unstable fabric erected by the architects of recon- struction was upheld by the military of the United States, and when this was withdrawn the incongruous edifice toppled headlong and van- ished away as the baseless fabric of a vision. It disappeared in cruel and ferocious convulsions which form one of the most shameful and shocking of all the bloody tragedies of history. The attempt to reor- ganize society upon the basis of numbers failed." Perhaps the Senator alludes to the stealing of the Presidency by his party, which happened in that year and which, though both shame- ful and shocking, and in which the attempt to reorganize society on the basis of numbers did to a certain extent fail, I did not know was properly characterized as a bloody traged)'. It is, however, an unequivocal admission that the reconstruction edifice was unstable and incongruous — mild terms indeed for this most infernal episode in our history ; that it was upheld alone by military power, and disappeared when that power was withdrawn. No wrong upon the negro appears there. It seems that these intolerable outrages, 246 LIFE OF VANCE. to which no other people on earth have submitted so long, are supposed somehow to exist in the fact that the overthrow of this incongruous structure — the creature of military force — has been followed by the maintaining on the part of the whites of the advantage which they gained by its downfall. "In that struggle he says that education, wealth, political experience, land-ownership in the South, all conspired against the Constitution and laws of the United States, and that they emerged from that dreadful conflict in full possession of all the powers of the States, and no serious effort has been made to deprive them of their guilty acquisition." I beg to remind the Senator, however, that many guilty efforts have been made to deprive them of their serious acquisition. But, inasmuch as the powers of the States are recognized by the Constitution, it is strange that the possession of them by their citizens should be held to be a violation of the Constitution. But the taking and keeping possession of the powers of the States seems to be the wrong inflicted upon the colored man. The gravamen of that wrong is that the negro can no longer send here Republican Senators and Representatives from the South and the votes of Repub- lican electoral colleges to aid in the manufacture of Republican Presi- dents. There are many errors of assiimption required to make up this supposed wrong. In the first place, it is assumed that the vote is sup- pressed on the ground that every colored man is a Republican. Next, it is assumed that every colored Republican is necessarih- incapable of being influenced or beguiled bj^ the arts of the electioneerer, and will always cast his ballot for the Republican nominees. They who reason thus go to the census tables and ascertain the number of negro voters of qualified age, the number of white voters likewise, and then estimate what their majorities ought to be. The discovery of a colored Democratic vote in the ballot-box is accepted 2iS prima facie evidence of fraud. If those majorities are not forthcoming, they conclude that the vote of their friends has been suppressed. They forget what influences even one portion of our own people can exert over another ; much less do they remember how much more easily the united, superior race, with all its intelligence, wealth, and power, can influence the action of a race so far inferior and still in the shadow of the bondage from which they have been withdrawn. Neither has it entered into the consideration of the people of the North to place any stress upon the fact that there did exist, and still exists, between the former owner and the present freedman many of those kindly and controlling relations which existed between master and slave. It must be remembered that, in addition to his ignorance and inexperience of affairs, the colored man still leans iipon and looks to his former master for direction and [advice — universally so in all matters except politics ; that he is almost always either the tenant or LIFE OF VANCE. 247 the employe of the white man, and that white man belongs to a race which the Senator from Kansas says is the "Most arrogant and rapacions, the most exclusive and indomitable in history. It is the conquering and the unconquerable race, through which alone man has taken possession of the physical and moral world. To our race humanity is indebted for religion, for literature, for civi- lization. It has a genius for conquest, for politics, for jurisprudence, and for administration. * * * All other races have been its ene- mies or its victims." Is it possible that such a race of men as this can not, without brutal violence or detestable fraud, maintain its supremacy over such a race as the negro ? Is it statesmanlike to assume that it can legiti- mately have no influence, exert no force over the weaker and more ignorant ? Are there not undisputed facts sufficient to justify reason- ino^ men everywhere in doubting the truth of these stories of outrage and wrong ? For example, I am glad to say that North Carolina is one of the States in the South where there is least complaint of in- frin^^ements of the colored man's rights, either at the ballot-box or in the courts of justice. The State of Mississippi is one of the States of the South where the complaints on behalf of the colored man are loudest and most ve- hement; yet for six months past the negroes in eastern North Caro- lina have been voluntarily moving at the rate perhaps of three or four thousand per month to this very State of Mississippi. They are not going to Kansas or to any other Northern State, but to Mississippi, pre- sumably for the purpose of having their votes suppressed and of be- ing slaughtered— to Arkansas and to Texas. The fact is, they are in- fluenced^'like other people, by the great economic law of supply and • demand. For two or three years past eastern North Carolina has suf- fered from a failure of the crops, and the planters of Mississippi are offering the negroes better wages than the Carolina planters can afford to pay, and the chief agents employed by the Mississippians for effect- ing their contracts are intelligent educated negro men, many of them preachers. Evidently they do not believe these stories that are served up for campaign, political purposes here. I do not wish to be misunderstood in this matter. That there are instances of mistreatment and occasion- ally of cruelty to the negroes now and then occurring in the South I can- didly admit and regret. The millennium has not yet arrived in the land of reconstruction; the reign of perfect righteousness, of absolute justice, has not yet been established south of Mason and Dixon's line, though of course it is in full operation just north of that imaginary division. There there is no suppression of the popular vote by jerry- mander or otherwise; there there is no purchase of the floating vote in blocks of five, no ejectment of colored children from.white schools or colored men from theaters and barber chairs, and where we may 248 LIFE OK VANCE. hope that, in the process of time and in the spread of intelligence and increased appreciation of the virtues of the negroes, one black man may soon be sent to Congress from the North ; that some railroad attorney or millionaire will make room in the Senate of the United States for the colored brother ; that one colored postmaster for a white town may be appointed in the North ; that in the State of Kansas, the soil so prolific in friendships for the colored man, a respectable negro, duly nominated on the Republican ticket, may receive the full vote of his party, and not be scratched almost to the point of defeat by those who love him, as he was in Topeka ; that one accomplished colored man may be sent abroad to represent his country in some other land than Hayti or Liberia. Let us hope even that the great Republican party of the North may find the colored man fit to s.erve his country in some other region than the South and this great dumping-ground of political dead-beats, the District of Columbia, upon whose helpless people has heretofore been billeted, in all the offices from the judiciary down, every worn-out partisan for whom his people at home had no more use. Nay, under the appeals against the injustice of suppressing the colored vote which we daily hear, it would be a rapture of hope to express the belief that these great apostles of justice would restore the right of suffrage to the 225,000 people of this District, from whom it was taken on the well known ground that the negro vote was about t,o prove here an inconvenience. It might be replied, technically, that the injustice of suppressing votes depended upon the color of the voter, and that it was not an outrage to suppress white votes ; or, again, that it was no injustice to the franchise to suppress the vote by law on account of ignorance, nativity, or poverty, as so long prevailed in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. But I positively deny that there is any system- atic, authorized, or official interference with the guarantied rights of the colored man in the South ! I positively aver that these constitutional obligations concerning the colored people are observed in good faith and that all individual infringements upon them are as much deprecated by the majority of our people as similar violations of law are deprecated in the North, and their perpetrators are punished l)y our courts with much more good faith and promptitude than the violators of the fugitive-slave laws were punished in the North, or than election bribery is punished to-day. It was but yesterday that we were told in this Senate Chamber the stor}' of how a great criminal in behalf of the Republican part}- had been shielded from justice by the connivance of his party friends, for the offense of debauching and attempting to debauch the purity of the ballot-box. He is yet at large and defiant. The condition of the South- ern people with regard to crime is ample proof of this. In criminal statistics we do not fear to compare records with any people. In the category of personal violence I admit that some of our communities LIFE OF VANCE. .249 are open to severe criticism ; but I contend that the records will show that in the more odious, baser, and less manly crimes many of the Northern States are far ahead of anything known in the South. Be that as it may, however, the negro question has again come forward to vex the people of the South, and has to be met. Whether or not they ai-e treated with injustice and oppression, it does not mat- ter to those men or that party who expect to profit by the agitation ; nor does it matter whether the weal of the negro or the public gener- ally is to be advanced thereby ; that is not their object. The real motive is that some men may have a horse to ride who would otherwise perhaps have to walk. The negro and his wrongs or rights will never be quiet so long as there is a white man to ride him. It has often been asserted that a superior and an inferior race which will not amalgamate can not live together under the same government with equal rights and laws. This may or ma)' not be true. It is natural to suppose, if they can not agree, that the stronger will have its way and dominate the weaker : but there is one proposi- tion, Mr. President, of which you may rest assured, there is no kind of doubt ; the stronger will never submit to the domination of the weaker. This might as well be set down as res adjiidicata. There is another fact that may be noted now in connection with it. The Senator from Kansas let fall an expression which I regretted exceedingly to hear. Prefacing his utterance that he had never known a people to endure such wrongs without revolution and blood, he said : "The South, Mr. President, is standing upon a volcano, the South is sitting upon a safety-valve. They are breeding innumerable John Browns and Nat Turners. Already mutterings of discontent by hostile organizations are heard. The use of the torch and the dagger is advised." This is reasonably construed as anincitation to the work of murder and arson, and although he says that he "deplores it," yet, as the excuse and justification for such a course immediately follows, it is open to the construction that it is an indirect invitation to these people to lay our homes in ashes while we sleep, and murder unsuspecting people. The supposition that they are capable of such atrocities, it seems to me, is proof positive of their incapacity for civilized government and the extraordinary idea of justice and humanit}- of him who suggests it. He surely does not know anything of the inflammable nature of the negro in the South or he would not have ventured on the expression of such a threat. He furthermore told us in this connection that in case such a calamity came upon the Southern people as a servile war attended with whatever horrors it might be waged, we need look for no help from the people of our blood in the North ; that we must " tread the wine press alone." If he speaks trul}- in this, he passes the blackest and vilest judgment upon his own people that ever politician dared utter. 250 LIFE OF VANCK. But, Mr. President, I do not believe one word of it. As the negro race that was born and reared among us did not rise up to do us harm in the hour of our extremest adversity, even for the great boon of free- dom and amidst the most tempting incitements, but continued faithful to their masters and their families even within hearing of the guns that were roaring to set them free, so I do not believe that they can be thus incited to attempt it now. They have more of State and sectional pride and of neighborly affec- tion for the people among whom they live than the Senator is willing to give them credit for. Nor do I believe that what he has said about the feeling of the North is true ; on the contrary, I believe as firmly as I believe in the gallantry, the courage, and all of the noble qualities of the great race to which I belong, that hundreds of thousands of stout hearts would come to our assistance on the wings of steam preceded by the messenger of lightning, should we unhappily ever need such help. It might be that they would mostly be composed of what he calls the "cowardly and degraded elements," the same elements that filled your armies for the defense of the Union and which filled the ranks of the defenders of the Constitution after the Union was saved ; but, for the sake of our common kindred and common glory, I believe that there would be no such feeling and no party division in such a crisis. But, Mr. President, w'e shall not need to call for help ; we could manage such a war without assistance. Had the Senator been a participant in or a critical observer even of the last one, he would know that the eleven Southern States, which, though much divided among themselves, un- aided and alone kept the whole power of the Union, with its unlimited forces and untold treasure, at bay for four long years, could easily, with the aid of the great border States, overcome seven millions of negroes. Then there would be a solution of the negro problem that would stay solved. But a great mistake is made by those who assume that the whites exercise no influence over the negroes except by force or fraud. The black man is attached to the South and to the great body of its people. The behavior of the blacks since their freedom has in the main been good and gentle. All things considered, it has been wonderful. I be- lieve I can say with truth that I have no personal knowledge of the occurrence of any riot or public disturbance anywhere in the South be- tween the races that was not at the instigation of some white scoundrel; and in every case the blacks have got the worst of the fray, being de- serted invariably by their cowardly white allies when the bullets began to fly. The negroes know this, and are well aware that the interference of outside friends has always inured to their disadvantage. They know, too, that however arbitrary and determined to rule his own country the white man has been to them, that he has yet never deceived them by lying to them and making promises which he neither could perform nor LIFE OF VANCE. 25 1 intended to perform, whilst from the daj^s of reconstruction they have been the victims alike of Northern scoundrels for their personal profit, and of political demagogues for their own aggrandizement ; from the selling of Yankee unguents to make their hair straight, or painted pegs with which to secure land, as was said they did in our Peedee country, where some of the finest bottom lands were staked off at a dollar a peg, guaranteed by the United States Government to hold forty acres for every four pegs against any rebel in the South; to the passage of civil- rights bills for the purpose of hoisting them into positions of social equality with the whites. They know, too, that when they are in any kind of trouble they do not send North to a professional friend or philanthropist for help, but they search at once for old master and mis- tress, or some one of old master's children. There, I thank God, in nineteen cases out of twenty, they find the help they ask. As among the white people there are good and bad, it is so among the colored. Naturally the proportion of bad among the latter is greater than in the former, but still there is a large percentage indeed who would scorn to wage a barbarous warfare against their white friends, even should the white man get off the safety-valve. I venture the prophecy that should the South ever be engaged in another war her colored citizens would crowd into the ranks of her armies in numbers fully proportioned to the black population. I think our Northern friends v.-ho so glibly undertake to settle the negro question have yet to make the acquaintance of the negro himself. Their judo^ment of him is formed manifestly by the class that swarm around this capital city, and whose inconvenient presence caused the suppression of the suffrage of this District. You listen to the few who come here to make traffic of their wrongs, and in turn you endeavor to make profit for your party by legislation directed towards those supposed wrongs. You acknowledge yourselves mistaken as to the results of recon- struction. Many of your people now favor the withdrawal of the repre- sentation in Congress which their numbers have given the South. Is it not possible that you are again mistaken as to the nature of the evils which affect them and what would be best for them ? When you as- sume that because they mostly profess j'our politics and vote your tickets that, therefore, they are in a state of discontent that threatens at any moment to break forth in a bloody uprising, may you not be mis- taken in the extent of your influence over them ? Are you not aware of the difficulty, the constant tutelage, and the vast amount of money you are compelled to employ to keep them in subjection to a party whose active and respectable corporation is as far distant from them as its promises are from its performance ; whilst the Democratic party, composed of the white men of the South, are their neighbors, land- lords, and employers ? Mr. President, what is the so-called negro problem ? As I under- stand it, it is one that cannot be solved by speculation or legislation ; 252 LIFE OF VANCE. but it is a question that will be settled by nature herself, if her laws are not interfered with by the folly and passion of men. Nature will solve it as she does waste, destruction and all incongruities. It may be thus stated : Given a high-spirited, liberty-loving, cultivated and dominating race, occupying a free State of their own establishment, under institutions of their own creation, full of activity, energy and progress ; with them, under the same laws, possessed of absolute legal equality, dwells an inferior race, manumitted slaves of recently barbaric origin, with no race traditions, with no history of progress, but lately invested with these unaccustomed and unearned franchises — how shall the two be made to dwell together in fraternity and progress ? This is the question. It is a principle of our law fundamental in its nature, that the majority of those to whom the franchise is com- mitted shall rule within limits. It is a principle of natural law, as old as man himself, that the stronger shall rule without limit. What is strength in a State ? Other things being equal numbers give strength ; but in the States of the South, whose conduct is com- plained of, other things are far from equal. The whites where not actually in superior numbers are yet possessed of far superior know- ledge, courage, skill in the use of weapons and tools, race pride, tra- ditions, experience of affairs, and self-control. Placing these two side by side, is it not as sure as certainty can be made that one will outstrip the other and control it ? Nature would reverse all her own decisions if it were not so. If the weaker be in the way of the stronger the former will be re- moved. If two men start on a journey, the pace is regulated by the slower, if they be compelled to keep together ; and, however great the powers of the swifter, if compelled to wait for his feebler brother, his powers are of no more use than if he had them not. Naturally, he will drop his brother behind and stride forward. The attempt to re- strain him by legislation is unnatural and he will resent it. To say that the superior race shall not by its superior knowledge and virtue rule the inferior, is to say that weakness shall control strength, that ignorance and vice shall control knowledge and virtue. To attempt by legislation to place ignorance and vice in control of knowledge and virtue because of the superior numbers of the ignorant, would be to enact that the civilization of great races shall not enjoy the power and influence with which God endowed them ; that three weak men, however ignorant and debased, shall forever control two white men, however wise and virtuous. The mere statement of the proposition shows that it is hostile to the highest natural and moral laws which have been impressed upon man and constitute the basis of his civilization. ''"" Mr. President, I know the negro well. I was born and reared among them, and have all my life lived in close association with them. LIFE OF VANCE. 253 I aflBrm to yoii, not that he is incapable of civilization, but that he is incapable of attaining to and keeping up with the civilization of the race to which we belong. At the very best, his refinement must be of a low order compared to ours. Any attempt, therefore, to force him into equality with us in the race of progress can result in nothing else but the retarding of the advancement of the Southern whites. Those who have determined to subject, at all hazards, to negro rule those States of the South where they are in superior numbers, have simply determined that the white man's progress shall be measured by the negro's, if, indeed, it does not result in explosion and mutual destruc- tion. Fair-minded men everywhere may accept this as truth. The sons of Ham have had the same opportiinities that the sons of Shem and Japheth have had. No where have they improved them. I know not whether I should give credence to the oft-repeated allegation that they are forever feeling the effect of their ancestor's curse, but this I do know, that they have been in close contact with every civilization of which we have any knowledge ; with the oldest Egyptian, the Assyro-Babylonian, the Grecian, the Roman, and the modern ; in each of them we read of his presence and in every instance he was a slave. He learned nothing for the benefit of his race from his civilized masters in all these ages. He has made more progress in one hun- dred years as a Southern slave than he made in all the five thousand years intervening from his creation until his landing on these shores. He has no type now living on this earth equal to those of the present generation who were born and raised in the slave States of America. All of which should be considered by those who have phil- osophy and fairness enough to look at the matter in some other light than the necessities of the Republican party in the next campaign. The fact dwelt upon by the Senator from Kansas concerning their behavior towards their masters during the war is fully admitted. It is a strong argument to prove either that they were unfitted for the great boon of liberty or that the horrid stories of inhuman treatment by their masters were lies. I am not only willing but anxious to have justice done thejiL-ui-.&v«rything, and to do all that may be required of me td~atdThem in the difficulties of their position ; but I am not will- ing that tttey should rule me or my people. It is my pride that my StatsTias been just to them and generous, and that in the adjusting of the new order of things after their enfranchisement I had no incon- siderable hand in providing those laws and institutions which have made them comparatively well content in North Carolina. I believe them incapable, for many reasons, of properly control- ling public affairs, but I do believe them capable of making valuable citizens under the wiser control of the whites. My solution of the problem is simply, "Hands off." Let no man be afraid that if the Northern people cease their interference the negroes will be driven to 254 LIFE OF VANCE. wall. On the contrary, it is your interference that causes or aggra- vates whatever of trouble is inflicted upon them. Such is the nature of man. We prefer to do things of our own volition that we would refuse to do at the dictation of those who have no right to order. Within my memory as a child there was a strong and growing anti-slavery party in North Carolina, headed by many of our greatest and most honored citizens, some of whom sat in these seats before me. Orations against slavery and its consequences were freelj' delivered and with applause, before the classes of our Univer- sity. This cause, under the influence of its great advocates, would soon have claimed a majority of the voters of North Carolina, but those fiery zealots of the North, who, as Carlyle says, were so anxious to serve God that they took the devil into partnership with them, began their interference. A crusade against slavery and slave-holding, in defiance of legal rights, was begun and kept up until so far was the cause of emancipation overthrown that twenty-five years after these same great and honored North Carolinians would have suffered insult and violence for repeating their orations. Men will not be bullied even into doing right. Know, therefore, that every speech you make, every law you enact denunciatory of or punitive against the Southern people, with a view to subject them to the rule of their emancipated slaves, defers indefinitely that state of cordial harmony between whites and blacks which is so necessary to both. There is another way by which, in my opinion, you also do the ne- groes a damage by your constant interference. You do nothing to increase the cordiality between them and their white neighbors. You know that their well-being depends upon their being on good terms with their landlords and employers more than upon anything else ; yet you are constantly endeavoring to drive a wedge between them and to push them further apart. You endeavor to make them look altogether to you for help. You have coddled them so long and made them so many promises that they have ceased to rely upon their own exertions and have come to believe that it is the duty of others to provide for them. No greater injury could be done to any people. The historian of the Spanish conquests in America, Arthur Helps, remarks that the considerate and gentle regulations provided for the Indians of the Pearl coast by the benevolent Las Casas " proved a sad restraint upon the energies of the race, as no man leans long on any person or thing without losing some of his original power and energy. " You have legislated and amended constitutions for him, denounced your neighbors, and glorified the negro and oflicially wept over his condition until you have to a very great extent made him a " dodder," a parasitic animal without support in self-respect or self-reliance, a class of men which of all others is least desirable in a progressive com- munity. " Any now sot of conditions," says the philosopher, Ray Lankcster, LIFE OF VANCE. 255 "occurring to an animal which render its food and safety very easily attained seem to lead, as a rule, to degeneration." Applying this principle in nature to the moral world, Henry Drum- mond says : " Any principle which secures the safety of the individual without personal effort or the vital exercise of faculty is disastrous to moral character." Suppose you trust the Southern people for awhile ? You can not be- lieve that any considerable number of them desire to do wrong or to treat the negroes unjustly ? If you say you trust them and withhold your interference, public sentiment, with a power that can not be re- sisted, will soon enforce State laws and constitutional amendments in a manner that will satisfy all honest men ; not perfunctorily, but wdth cheerful zeal. I regret exceedingly that I can not support the bill of the Senator from South Carolina. My objection to it is on the ground of imprac- ticability. It would result in no relief ; few negroes would go from the country under its provisions and those would probably be the best. I can not say that I have any desire to attempt in any way so great and unhistorical a task as removing a whole people, amounting probably to 7,000,000. Their presence among us, of course, I regret. I should be happy to know that there was not one of them in the United States to be the unwilling cause of everlasting contention between our peo- ple. But they are here, and I for one am willing to do my best to live with them in harmony. I can well see, however, and appreciate the mo- tive of the honorable Senator in taking this action. I know how his State has been weighed down in the past by this incubus and how dark the future of his people must appear under the ever-threatening danger of a recurrence to the carnival of corruption and misrule of i868-'6q and 1870. So far as the evil may be capable of remedy by removal of any kind, I would suggest that it is perfectly practicable to induce these people to settle in the various States of this Union which now have few or no colored people. There is ample room for them throughout the Northern and Northwestern States, each one of which could receive enough to relieve the pressure entirely upon those States in the South whose progress is about to be destroyed, and yet not inconveniently interfere with the well-being of any Northern State. Besides, if the presence of negroes in superior numbers does amount to a positive evil in the South, I submit that it is the duty of the other States to assist them in removing or so distributing the evil that it shall be harmless. If the negro is a good thing we are willing to divide him up. [Laughter.] There is plenty of him to go round. Nothing is wanting to the execution of this suggestion except the consent of these Northern States. One-half of the inducements and the solicitations which they hold out to foreigners, if extended to the 256 LIFE OF VANCE. negroes of the South, would within ten years draw such numbers of them as to leave all the Southern States with decided white majorities ; and it is well-known that there is little or no complaint of the mis- treatment of negroes where there are white majorities. This would equalize the conditions of all the States. The introduction of large numbers of the colored race into every Northern State would be equiv- alent to an amendment to the Constitution and would restrain you effectually from the passage of an}' laws or the attempting of any kind of interference that would discriminate between the States of the American Union on account of their locality or previous condition of slavery. It would familiarize the masses of your people with the negro, his capacities, his habits, and his needs, and you neither would nor could then strike any vindictive blows at the Southern people without its immediate reacting upon yourselves. As it is impossible for us to become homogeneous by all being white, this plan would make it quite possible for us to become homo- geneous by all being partly white and partly colored, retaining white majorities in each State. North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Tennes- see, Arkansas and Texas would need not to surrender any of their colored people, and it would only require the removal of about 500,000 blacks from the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and South"Carolina to give every State in the Union such a decided preponderance of whites as to remove all danger of negro supremacy and all fear of trouble from this source. What say the Republican Senators to this ? Of course you will say that your doors are open now to all who may see proper to come, but that is'not suflBcient to induce them to remove. Are you willing to offer them' some special inducement? Are you willing to vote money out of the United States Treasury to pay their expenses and to support them for a short time until thej- can get a start in their new homes ? Surely you will demonstrate your sincerity in some practical, helpful way, and not confine your benevolent statesmanship to cheap words. If you will help neither black nor white, you should, in com- mon decency, hold your peace. Of Vance's last public appearance in Charlotte the Charlotte Observer of November 2d, 1892, gave the follow- ing account : VanceJ Vance ! was the sound which burst spontaneously from the immense audience, as the applause for Mr. Ham subsided, and as the noble, loved "Zeb" rose, the people went wild. Old men, young men, women and children jumped to their feet, waving handkerchiefs and hats, and cheering until the very building seemed to rock. Not a person in the house remained seated ; many stood on the benches, hats were thrown up, and such an expression of love, affection and es- LIKK OF VANCE. 257 teem was never shown to any son of North Carolina at any time, or anywhere, as was expressed in the great ovation over Vance. On the rostrum every man rose, and following Mr. Ham's lead, all waved their handkerchiefs and cheered for fully ten minutes. It was a great demonstration, and one that did honor even to the loved Senator. As he stood on the rostrum amidst the deafening cheers of his people, he looked like a grand chieftain leading his people and guiding them simply by his presence. It was a scene the like of which was never witnessed in Charlotte before. "Fellow-citizens and good friends," said the Governor, and a still- ness profound ensued as he began to speak. "I thank you from my heart for the cordiality of this reception. I am deeply touched at this evidence of your esteem, and wish I could do more than acknowledge it, but you all know that I have not been able to take part in this the most important campaign since the reconstruction. To-night I speak against the advice of my physician, but you know when we begin to get well we think less of the doctor than when we are sick. It makes me glad at heart to see such an audience in Mecklenburg, and to make you a speech is as tempting to me as a good dinner would be to a real hungry man. "I want to say this, however. In my political career I have seen party after party rise up against Democracy and all have died except the Republican party, which lives, but is not expected to live very long. All other parties have disappeared, leaving only that smell which the able Georgian has just referred to. [Applause.] Now there has come a time when there are real grievances. Every true reformer must be the friend of Democracy and the enemy of Repub- licanism. The tendency of the Third party is to affiliation with the Republican party, and my Third party friend, you will land right in the Republican party. Unless you stay in the old Democratic ship there is no salvation for you.*" The chapter is closed with the last speech Vance ever delivered. It was among his ablest speeches and many think his very ablest. It was, indeed, a remarkable speech, and, in the light of subsequent events, truly prophetic in some particulars. The assertion is ventured by one who does not concur in his views of the silver question, that the speech is abler and more logical and candid than any one of the thousands that have been subsequently delivered on the same side of that question. Congressman Woodward, in the excellent eulogy already quoted from, says of this effort : 18 258 LIFE OF VANCK. " The last speech he made in the Senate was in opposition to the unconditional i-epeal of the Sherman law. I always considered it a great privilege to have heard this speech, by many considered one of the ablest ever delivered in the Senate. " Fatal disease had already laid its hand upon him. His stalwart frame had grown feeble and weak, his voice had lost much of its pecu- liar charm and power. He was speaking when I entered the Senate. Almost every Senator was in his seat, listening eagerly to the powerful argument he was making. He had not proceeded long before all evi- dence of his feeble condition had seemingly passed away, and feeling, as he no doubt did, that this might be his last appeal for legislation believed by him to be vital for the best interests of his people, he hus- banded all his strength and for nearly two hours held the undivided attention of the Senate. It was a great speech, enlivened by the flashes of his wit and humor, his argument sustained by his powerful logic. It deserves to rank among the ablest delivered by any Senator during that memorable debate." And Congressman Crawford, on the same occasion, said : " The last speech he made was on September ist, 1893, against the unconditional repeal of the Sherman law. With prophetic wisdom he predicted that there would be no leg- islation favorable to silver if not had at the time the Sher- man law was repealed. This was one of the greatest speeches of his life and he spoke with his old time vigor. When he had concluded I congratulated him, saying : 'Governor, you seem to be yourself again.' And he replied: ' By noi'means ; I am thoroughly exhausted.' And the great statesman stepped out of the Senate and the great doors closed behind forever." The Senate having under consideration the bill (H. R. i) to repeal a part of an act approved July 14, 1890, entitled "An act directing the purchase of silver bullion and the issue of Treasury notes thereon, and for other purposes," Mr. Vance said: Mr. President — The metallic money of the world is estimated at about 17,500,000,000. About one-half of this is silver, which is full legal-tender money, and in addition thereto there is about $550,000,000 of subsidiary silver in use in the different nations of the world. This money is the means by which the world's exchanges are effected and their values measured. It is needless to say that the great law of supply and demand has operation and effect in regard to this money, as in regard to everything else. When money is abundant prices are LIFE OF VANCE. 259 high; ^vhell money is scarce the prices of all products are low. There- fore, he that increases the abundance of money benefits production and enhances prices and wages, and he that contracts or diminishes the amount of this money depreciates everything which is for sale, in- cluding wages, though by reason of combinations and defensive measures in many parts of the world wages are affected less than products. The effect upon the condition and well-being of mankind which would follow the destruction of one-half of this currency — it is im- possible accuratel}- to describe. The imagination of a poet would be required to portray its misery; and only he who wandered through the horror-laden mazes of the Inferno, or he that exulting in still sublimer song portrayed the wretchedness of man's disobedience and fall, could adequatel}- set forth the evil, the suffering, and the sorrow which would come to mankind if their wages and the prices of all their products were decreased in the proportion that would follow the destruction of one-half of the world's money. Yet, this process of destruction has been going on quieth' since 1872, the result of which we see in prices lower in many things than have ever been known within the memory of man. Great Britain led off in the demonetization of silver so early as 1816, in consequence, as is said, of her great debts to the Jew Rothschilds, to meet which she made gold her only standard of money, reducing silver to subsidiary circulation. After the great Franco- Prussian war Germany was induced to adopt the gold standard. So great then became the pressure upon adjoining nations that the Latin Union, which had been formed for the purpose of maintaining silver within the boundaries of France, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, and Greece, were compelled to cease coining silver and devote all their efforts to the maintenance of that which they had coined. About the same time the United States ceased coining, by a fraud in legislation when silver," which at that moment was at a premium over gold, began to decline, and has continued to decline ever since. In 1878 the indignation of the people forced its remouetization, and under the operation of the Bland law, coinage was resumed at a rate of not less than 12,000,000 a month and not more than $4,000,000, at the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury. Of course, this dis- cretion was exercised against silver, as it always has been, and only |2,ooo,ooo a month was coined; but it stayed the downward course of silver, and the common people received it gladly. At the beginning of this year, 1893, it was coined for legal-tender purposes in none of the leading commercial nations of the European world, to but a limited extent in the United States, and in India it was coined freely. It is remarkable that in the United States and in Germany in 1873, when it was demonetized, silver was at a premium ; and in 1816, when Great Britain demonetized it, it was likewise at a premium. 26o LIFE OF VANCE. In June of this year the British-India council, anticipating, as was said, the action of the Government of the United States in repealing the Sherman law, which it was supposed would render silver next to worthless, suddenly stopped coinage of the silver rupee, and announced that the government would itself coin limited quantities, as the pub- lic needs might require. Then the effort to have the coinage altogether stopped in the United States began, aided by the influence of the moneyed power of all the world and our own Government. Silver lives now, so to speak, only in the United States — here among the people who recognized it as money when they established their constitutional form of government it makes its last stand. If its coinage is stopped now, it ceases to live throughout the commercial nations of the earth, and drops out of sight. The repeal of the Sherman law, without any substitute providing for the continued coinage of silver, is the end of silver money for this generation, except as sub- sidiary coin, unless, indeed, a great revolution of the people should restore it, as was done after the fraudulent demonetization of 1873. Then the trouble of the defenseless begins ; the glory of the capi- talists is exalted ; the fatness of the usurer waxeth, and woe be unto him who is in debt ! One-half of the money of the world being des- troyed, the exchanges of the world's productions among its inhabitants devolves upon the other half — the price of the remaining money, gold, goes up — that is to say, the price of every product and every day's work goes down. Let no man doubt that this movement is the result of a conspiracy, a combination among the money-holders of the world. Our own Secretary of the Treasury has said so. It has been announced again and again in the British House of Commons, and I have nowhere seen it denied. The intent of this combination is to increase the value of the gold in the hands of those who hold it, and to increase the values of all securities, personal and governmental, by making them payable in gold, which are likewise held by these conspirators. The method of attack on this last remaining stronghold of silver was by the creation of a panic. The only statutory enactment which binds us to the use of silver and makes us a bimetallic people is what is known as the Sher- man law. Under the operation of this law, 4,500,000 ounces of silver per month was required to be purchased and coined until the ist of July, 1891, after which time only so much was to be coined as was necessary to redeem the notes issued for its purchase. These were called Treasury notes, and any technically intelligent man would naturally suppose that when a law required the purchase of silver bullion and the issue of Treasury notes in payment thereof, and provided for the coinage of that bullion into silver dollars for the purpose of redeeming those notes, payable in either gold or silver at the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury, it was meant for him to exercise that discretion in favor of silver, when the interest of the LIFE OF VANCE. 261 public and the condition of the Treasury required it. It was construed differently, and parties would procure those Treasury notes and pre- sent them to the Treasury where they were invariably redeemed in gold. This gold was shipped abroad in many cases, because a scramble was going on in Europe for gold. The demonetization of silver had already produced its inevitable effect, and the gold supply was not sufficient for those communities ; hence, much was shipped from this country — mostly obtained by the means of Treasury notes. It is quite true that it could have been obtained just as easily by the presentation of greenbacks, by the presentation of gold certificates, by the presenta- tion of bonds or the coupons upon said bonds, or by the presentation of national bank notes. In fact, there was not an obligation of the Government outstanding but what was reducible to gold. Yet these men who were desirous of creating a panic chose to attribute the departure of gold alone to the Sherman law, and with loud-mouthed clamor they declared there was danger of the Govern- ment being reduced to a silver basis and discharging its obligations in silver coin. Some foreigners believed this, and sent over a few of our securities and put them upon the market for realization. This created such alarm among those who held these securities and feared for their margins, that the clamor, which began in a false pretense, ended in a howl of real terror. Their deposits were rapidly withdrawn and they justly suffered. They brought such pressure to bear upon the Presi- dent as induced him to call an extra session of Congress in the dog days for the simple and sole purpose of repealing this law. In the midst of this clamor it was ascertained that we had largely overtraded and the balance was against us in Europe, which caused the gold to go out; and so soon as wheat and cotton began to pour into the market the tide was turned, and the gold began to come back and con- tinues to come back to this day. But, determined to pursue their warfare for the demonetization of silver, and enable them to refute the the arguments which the gold coming in every day furnished, they put the necessitv for the repeal of the law upon the fact that they had lost "confidence;" that there was a want of confidence in the ability and disposition of the Government to pay its debts in gold; whereas it was only the depositors who had lost confidence in the banks. Those of New York being parties to the conspiracy, of course con- tracted their circulation, refused money on the usual terms, which caused the stopping of some factories and the stagnation of some busi- ness enterprises, and some. distress among small dealers and working- men. Never was there a more senseless clamor or a more criminal disturbance of public confidence. Every dollar of our currency that we had before was still here, and the Sherman law was adding to it at the rate of ^50,000,000 per annum ; in fact, one speaker in the House of Representatives, more candid than the rest, declared that the want of 262 I*IFE OF VANCE. confidence was produced by a too great abundance of money and not by a scarcity. When the danger of resorting to the gold standard was pointed out by showing that the production of gold is slightly decreasing, and not near keeping pace with the increasing demands of commerce and pop- ulation, we were told that although the amount of gold produced from the earth was not increasing, that there was an extraordinary amount of it held in private hands in Europe and America. That tells the whole story — the decreasing supply, and the extraordinary holdings in the hands of the conspirators — silver, the only rival of gold, being wiped out, the world would be at the mercy of those who held the yellow metal. And so the attempt is now made to give the finishing touch to silver by this panic, more fraudulent than was the legislation of 1873 ; and, though $40,000,000 of gold has come in within the last thirty days, and continues to come, and will come just so long as we keep foreigners in our debt, they keep up their clamor for repeal. If the Sherman law sent out gold, it surely has brought it back. If not, what has made it return ? If the fact of its going is due to that law, the fact of its returning is equally proof that it is due to that law ; and the fact that in the midst of this clamor the resources of our country are so great as to be able to check the outflow of gold and to turn the tide in the home direction, ought to restore confidence to every man whose confidence is worth securing — even to the loud-mouthed stock gambler and the other " con- fidence men " who are managing and steering this panic. But they refuse to be comforted, and at this moment, as I talk, banks which had shut down for the want of currency have reopened for business, enterprises suspended temporarily are starting up again, and the Sherman law continues to feed the reaction at the rate of I50,- 000,000 per annum added to the currency. It looks as though they were afraid their panic would pass away and be exploded before they could get silver destroyed. But all the argument in regard to the uses and advantages of silver money are conceded ; so, too, are all the bless- ings which attend bimetallism, and all the evils which would be upon the country by the destruction of one of the great factors of exchange, and I need not further discuss them. The discussion is further narrowed by the fact that all parties pro- fess bimetallism, how sincerely is doubtful, and have declared for the use of both gold and silver in their platforms and their speeches and public professions. Even the author of the much-abused and maligned law that they wish to repeal says he is a bimetallist ; so do all the Re- publican Senators on this floor, every one ; likewise the author of the bill to repeal that law and those on the Democratic side who agree with him — all claim to be devoted bimetallists ; some, however, on conditions well known to be impossible, some on conditions known to be improbable, and some on other conditions available in all things LIFE OF VANCE. 263 except as to time. They say, " Not now ; the stringency is too great ; at some other time we will do the thing that is nght by silver. Go thy way at a more convenient season I will call for thee." [Laughter.] i have even heard it intimated that the President himself is a bi- metallist, but this is not authentic, and those who know that he generally does his own talking and announces his own position will fe'ive this with many grains of allowance. So, then the advantages of a currencv founded on both metals, the dangers and distress which niic^ht arise from the demonetization of silver, all being acknowledged, it onlv remains for us to inquire-supposing we are in good faith- whether the bill before us pursues the only way, or the best way or anv other way at all to promote, establish, and maintain the bimetallic use of silver as an equal co-ordinate part of our currency. Mr President, human endeavor runs much m ruts. There has never been a robbery imposed upon the American people in the shape of a tariff on any article, from a darning needle to a steel rail from a .S-cent wool hat to a $500 shawl, that has not been imposed in the name and for the benefit of the laboring people alone. [Laughter.] The idea that the capitalist was to be benefitted by such tariff exaction was always scouted as altogether untrue. Strange to say, this impu- dent and unblushing lie always found some believers-such is the credulity of mankind. The same tactics are resorted to m this discus- sion of the financial question. Knowing the popularity of silver money with the great masses of the people speakers in this House and the other sing the same praises of bimetallism, from the invocation to the doxology of these services coupled with the solemn averment that they are the best and truest friends of that system to be found, and that unconditional repeal is the onlv true road to attain it. [Laughter.] With all the grave pledges of their party platforms, State and na- tional, staring them in the face, as well as their own speeches, promises, and votes in the recent past, blowing trumpet-tongued against the deep damnation of the taking-off of silver, they clamor all the fiercer and all the louder that the only way to save silver is to repeal the one law on our statute book which gives It hfe. Mr President, in the presence of a position so defiant of logic and of fact.'it is hard to speak plainly without appearing to violate those courtesies which are not only required by parliamentary law, but which are urgently demanded by our feelings of personal respect and regard for each other. It is my earnest desire not to do so ^ , ., One member of the House met with great applause when he said that the bill to repeal unconditionally comes not to destroy but to save silver The like sentiment has been uttered in this Chamber again and again, and those who have uttered it would, no doubt, feel greatly offended if their sincerity was impugned. Certainly I shall not do so, but I must point out what I regard as their inconsistencies. They 264 LIFE OF VANCE. declare they love silver money, bimetallism ; therefore they slay it. Thev want both metals ; therefore they abolish one. The want gold and silver coined on terms of equality, according to their platform, and so they stop coining silver in order the better to restore it. They want to maintain the parity between the two metals, there- fore they cut the only cord that holds silver up and permit it to drop out of sight in the abyss, displaying thereby the same wisdom which was displayed by the Irishman who was going down the shaft of amine in a bucket, and got scared. He shouted : " Haul me up, boys, haul me up ! If you don't haul me up, may the devil fly away with me if I don't cut the rope ! " [Laughter.] Those of us who claim to be like- wise true friends of silver, but who are misguided by our weak judg- ments, appreciate this love and tender care, and deplore it. Truly they must love silver much, since they chastise it much. We v/ill suppose a man is ill and on his bed — the kind physicians doc- toring him in vain — he slowly sinks, his pulse is low and feeble. Finally a bolder physician comes in who practices on the heroic theory, and he says to the others, " You are all wrong and wasting time in try- ing to restore this man by nursing and stimulating him ; he will never get up in that way in the world. Let us try a new plan ; let us cut his throat and take a new start ; we can adopt other remedies for his restor- ation to life after that." [Laughter.] Now, he that believes it will be easier to resurrect the dead body of silver into the full manhood of free coinage than it will be to keep in the life it already has and strengthen it by the legislation which we solemnly promised the people at Chicago, fourteen months ago, let him vote for unconditional repeal ; I shall not. I shall try common sense a little while longer. If it be indeed decreed that silver money is to perish, and the world of the producers and the poor is to undergo the travail and suffering and the sorrow of the road which leads to a single gold standard, it shall not be my fault ; it shall not be said of me, " Greater love hath no man than this, that a man killed his friend that he might save his life." [Laughter.] Great, indeed, must be the love of these men for silver, that they would chasten it even unto death. But they deny that the repeal of the Sherman law means the death of silver, and I accord full sincerity in this belief to all who are and have been real friends to silver. There is no telling what a man can not bring himself to believe if much depends on it. But can there be a doubt-of this ? Let us see. It stops the coinage of silver in terms ; there is no doubt about that much. It will also cause a great fall in the bullion price of silver ; neither can there be an}- doubt of that. In fact, it is admitted ; but just how great that fall will be is somewhat conjectural. The stoppage of not all coinage, but free coinage in India alone, caused a fall of about 20 cents an ounce, and Lord Lansdowne said that LIFE OF VANCE. 265 the action of the Indian council was a defensive measure made neces- sary by the expected action of the United vStates in repealing the Sherman law and ceasing to coin it altogether. This shows that the expected fall consequent on our legislation was to be great, as it neces- sitated this important move by the council of India. The fall will certainly be equal to that which followed the action of the Indian coun- cil. In my opinion it will be even greater, for our annual purchase of silver exceeded the coinage of India. After we shall have repealed the silver-purchase law and substi- tuted nothing to uphold it as a money metal, silver will, in my opinion, sink to the level of the demand which is created by its use in the arts and the necessity of occasionally replenishing the subsidiary or token money of the countries so using it, estimated at about $555,000,000, as before stated, or about one-eighth of the silver money now in use. Seven-eighths of the demand, therefore, being thus abolished, natural economic laws would justify us in saying that the price would be re- duced in the same proportion ; but to the figures thus arrived at must be added whatever would be created by the demand for its use in the arts. Will not our remaining silver dollar participate in this decline ? If, while sustained by a coinage law and made a legal tender, our dol- lar is denounced as dishonest and as only having a bullion value of 53 cents, what will be said of it when the bullion of it is worth only about 30 cents ? If now, our own Secretary of the Treasury will not tender it in discharge of silver obligations, what will become of it in the trad- ing world when it strikes the bottom ; and what must be thought of a Senator or Congressman who asserts that immediately after its repeal our remaining dollar will become equal to a gold dollar, and the parity will be complete ? Is that what the Chicago platform meant, that you should make silver dollars so scarce that the parity with gold would be equal ? Is that what it means when saying " We hold to the use of both gold and silver ? " If so, then all the world is bimetallic, for all use both, and the people were deceived. Did it mean by coining no silver that we should thereby make no discrimination against either metal ? Did the plat- form mean that we should first cut off the coinage of silver and then show no discrimination, but coin equally of both ? After that, when the platform said, " That the dollar unit of all coinage of both metals must be of equal intrinsic and exchangeable value," did it mean that we must first reduce by hostile legislation the intrinsicor bullion value of silver so low as to render the carrying out of that pledge an impos- sibility ? And when it says that this intrinsic and interchangeable value is "to be adjusted through international agreement," did it mean that we should first increase the disparity to the extent of making silver worth only about 30 cents an ounce, or 40 to i of gold, in order to 266 LIFE OF VANCE. facilitate the task of getting foreign nations to agree to coin it with us at isVz to I ? And failing in that, when the platform goes on to sa}', " or by such safeguards of legislation as shall insure the maintenance of the parity of the two metals in equal power of every dollar at all times in the markets and in the payment of debts," did it mean that these legisla- tive safeguards should be applied whilst the silver dollar was still alive, so as to help to maintain its parity w4th gold, or after its coinage was stopped and its intrinsic value was reduced so that it was virtually dead ? Was it an invitation to the nuptial ceremonies of the two metals, or was it a notice to attend the funeral of silver ? And did it mean that it should be good in payment of the public debts, or only debts among private parties and the small fry ? Was that a wink with a golden eye to the bondholder and a broad, silver smile to the common people, who love the old dollar ? And when the platform denounced the Sherman law as " a cowardly make- shift," did it mean a makeshift for free coinage of silver, or the use of gold? — a makeshift for bimetallism or monometallism? "Under which king, Bezonian ? Speak or die ! " [Laughter.] If the framers of that plank meant that it was a cowardly make- shift for the free coinage of silver, is not the bill for its repeal, without a line in its place, a greater coward and a worse makeshift ? Is not the coinage of 54,000,000 ounces per annum nearer to free coinage than the coining of none ? If it was meant that it was a cowardly makeshift for gold monometallism, is not the language of the platform itself both a cowardly and a lying makeshift for the truth ? Finally, if the language of the platform taken altogether means only that we are to oblige the bankers, bondholders and stockbrokers first, by unconditional repeal of the Sherman law, accompanied only by a short stump speech in the belly of the act, saying that it is our policy at some future time — the Lord know^s when — to do something further — the Lord knows what [laughter] — in the direction of carry- ing out the other promises of the platform — are not the makers and upholders of that declaration of policy and purposes open to the charge of insincerity and of so framing words as to deceive the people wdiose suffrage they w-ere seeking ? If such an interpretation of the platform as is contended for here by those who will vote for repeal, and presumably by the President, had been announced during the campaign of last year, I am quite sure Mr. Cleveland would not have carried my State by 50,000 votes, and I believe he could not have carried a single, solitary electoral vote south of the Potomac River — not one. But it is said that there is no aban- donment of the Chicago platform in the unconditional repeal of the Sherman law, but only a postponement, and that the bill itself con- tains a reaffirmation of those promises. Mr. President, I wonder if in any of our political literature, rich LIFE OF VANCK. 267 asitisiningeuuity and device, full as it is of eloquence and true tenlus, overburdened as it is with every conceivable and mconcewable Form of wildcatisn: atul hun.buggery which a ^-f^^ years of free government, wherein men of all opinions have had a chance to venti- fate them, hkve produced-I wonder, I say, if anyth^ng xs to be found on all its pages approaching in absurdity to the incorporating in this bUl of a par? of the Chicago platform ? Was there ever a cat trotting thron<^h the tangled thickets of the Alleghenies, or roaming over the barren wilds of fhe Rocky Mountains, so wild and untamable as this cat' [Laughter.] Was there ever any bug discovered and classified by science ^ith a hum equal to the hum of this bug ? [^^-f ^-'l The representatives of the Democratic party assembled m conven- tion in Chicago in 1892, as they had done in St. Louis in 1888 and be- fore that in Chicago in 1884, and made certain pledges to the people that they would make certain financial reforms if the people would only put them in power where they could enact laws Among other thLgs the last convention held at Chicago pledged the American Democracy that if intrusted with power they would enact such laws as would epLl the Sherman act-secure us the use of both gold and sil- ver in our currency-coin it on equal terms, and maintain the parity If the two. These promises were contained m one paragraph and : nsistently with good faith are not separable. They const^tute^^^^^ scheme by which the financial policy of the country ^^^ ^o be re formed, Ind honor and fair dealing require it to be carried out ''''' Wen, the people trusted and believed; the Democrats were put in power and Mr. Cleveland, though known to be personally hostile to ?he us; of silver, was elected b*ause the people believed that he would carry out in good faith the promises made for him m the plat- form, and to which he had acceded in his letter of acceptance. ^ For the first time in thirty-three years the Democratic party was intrusted with the power of enacting laws. Now, in fulfillment of these promises, the first thing which is done is to yield to the clamor of the'^apitalists hostile to silver, and anticipate the regular session of Congress for the sole purpose of stopping the coinage of silver and "°'1c?oXgly. the House, hastening to obey, has sent such a bill ■ over to this bod';, and anticipating its action, the Finance Commit ee had introduced a similar bill for its repeal, so that we have two bill p ncing before us on the subject of the Sherman law, and the repea fs likely to be carried out in some shape. By the way I have never known a Senator more anxious for the undoing of that action than that Senator. It is a confession that he is wrong and it is an appeal from hTs conscience and seems to say to the court, " Hurry up 3udge I am a great criminal ; let there be no delay ; do not even let the jury have water. ' ' [Laughter.] 268 LIFE OF VANCE. But what about the remainder of the platform ? The same bill — almost the same strokes of the same pen could have inserted an addi- tional provision looking in the direction of coining silver on equal terms with gold, maintaining its parity, etc. But instead of that we give the stockbrokers and the gamblers and the banks by this bill all they want, and we put off the American people with still another promise. We pay the gold bugs cash and pay the people with another paper promise redeemable at the option of the makers. [Laughter.] Now, if the promises at Chicago were not good, how would the promises inserted in the law become any better. It might, indeed, be good for another promise, and so on an iJifinitiini, as we see tickets on steamboats sometimes, " Good for six days at the bar ;" only there the drinks are paid for already. How long are we to postpone the people ? How long dare we do it ? No one says what we are to give them in fulfillment of our pledges after repeal. There is no intimation that anything more is to be given in the message which the President addressed to us ; not a whisper. He does intimate a little that in due time we will take hold of the McKinle}' tariff law, but as for anything more for silver — say nothing but good of the dead. Requiescat in pace, "or words to that effect." [Laughter.] Even those promises contained in the bill given in renewal are of so general a nature that they may be easily evaded as amounting to nothing definite. In a court of law they would be held void for un- certainty. If it is really our intention to enact these laws as we promised, why not do it now ? We are in possession of the en^re lawmaking department of the government. The same power which can enact this bill into a law could so enact other things promised, if only "Barkis is willin'." In fact, there would be a greater power in the hands of the Democracy if this bill were coupled with provisions carrying out the platform, for, in that case, I do not suppose there is a Democrat in either House that would refuse to support it. I repeat, if we are in good faith, why not do it now ? " Now is the accepted time," and " now is the day of salvation ; " " to-daj', if yoti will hear the voice of the people, harden not your hearts" — "here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptized ? " Is it to be done hereafter ? Who says so with authority to speak ? Who says so with authority to give an assurance that it can be done at all if postponed ? Is it not about all many can do to give assurance of their own votes a little way ahead ? How do we know that when some other bill comes up for the benefit of capital these threadbare and contemptible promises to pay will not pop up again like Jack-in- a-box as a su1)stitute for the performance ? If we let go what we have before we get something else in exchange, how shall we justify our- LIFE OF VANCE. 269 „„t '*;: 'r^^eT. rjcu < f!?:::' z^Ln.. r.., .now ^ <». „ot «tTo k "n tins country, because in ...e face of their P"'-';™- hey fee that gold is returning in obedience '<> -■'=»-''"°^" '"lonfi trade and all'that they now hang upon is >''=' "■7. J-=,,";',„ ^'t deuce" in the government of their country that ''"'""*"'"" Er'^s=rft^";si-::^h:;^95^ of the President: every day redeeming silver obligations .n gold, even --^^^-^ZT::^ :;:rtr t^^pthe enactn^.. those laws which ought to come concurrent wUh t^^ Jf al of^^^^ Sherman act, my answer-and with much more -^^ ^^-l. ^^;;\^ ^^ T have no confidence. When a man promises me that if I ^mH put mm n a po^itirwhich will enable him to do so he will V^VJ^^^o^^^^^^^^^ dollars, and when I have performed -^ P^^ °^ ^.^^ J^^^^^^^^^^^ him in that position and he refuses to pay me, -<^^ ^P^^f ^^^;\°;;^:^ to some other purpose, and proposes to P-""- "^ ^^^\^^ !nd respon again, I refuse to accept his promise as that of an honest and resp sible man ; my confidence is gone. , ^ e^. The Senator from Georgia [Mr. Gordon] who '"'^''l^l'J^^ ^^^^ :'uSr;:-^^,:;^:f^rx "°=°°,f tttie^arof bimeXu. are strong enough to i,.pose condi tions on the repealing bill, will not that same strength suffice to euact "■"rr"pr:id:nrr:;:;H tell yon why I halt between conditional and unconditiral rep;al. Unconditional repeal is """;/;;;--' J^^ der. lu the first place, by conditional repeal we unite "« De".«r^''; L-hrrxir^:;::^ir;i;L^:rrecoi^^^^^^^^^^^ "^tre'V^ldt: if we repeal without -ing other things which we promised the people at Chicago we would »• -■* that Senator nor any other can give -=""'"«„*'" '^"'s,°ltor things will ever become a law in separ.ite bills. The beuator S know that every gold mouometallist in the House voted 270 WFE OF VANCE. for unconditional repeal as everyone in this body will, and against the coinage of another silver dollar at any ratio whatever — in- cluding the resurrection of the Bland-Allison act of coining 2,000,000 a month. Where then can be found evidence of the strength for a sep- arate bill, favorable to silver in that body ? It has been tested ; ours has not. And should such a bill pass that body and this one, can that Senator give us any assurance that it would not meet its death blow elsewhere ? We have every reason, as he has, to know that it would; therefore, as it seems to me, to vote for unconditional repeal, in the face of these undeniable facts, amounts to an unconditional surrender, a giving up of the cause of silver, which we all profess to love, and an abandonment of our promises to the people that we would do every- thing to maintain it that was necessary to be done by legislation. The Senator also saj's that it is perfectly immaterial whether the panic was caused by legitimate arguments or was caused by the machinations of designing men ; he says the results are upon us and we must deal with them. It is quite true, Mr. President, that if the panic is'upon us we must do the best we can to evade its dangerous consequences ; but if there should be any suspicion, as he intimates there is, that it was produced by designing men for a manifest purpose, it strikes me that it is neither prudent nor agreeable to common sense for us to hasten to do the very thing which the designing men have designed. It simply means this, as put by the Senator : Some people say there is a pit dug hereabouts to entrap us. Now, it is perfectly immaterial to me whether there is any pit here or not. I am going to jump in anyway. If there is no pit there, all right ; if there is one, when I plunge in I will know it. Now, these Senators who sacrifice their cherished convictions for the taking of this leap, it seems to me, must be under a great panic, indeed. The gallant gentleman was not wont to be stampeded by the popping of a cap. I can not refrain from quoting some of the elo- quence of that Senator, which meets not only with my approbation, but highest admiration as a literary performance : "Mr. President, I come now to our next promise to place gold and silver upon the same footing. It is safe to say, I think, that bimetal- lism was the most popular, if not the most potential, factor in the last campaign. It was the one plank common to all national platforms. It was the one force which made itself felt under all conditions and placed its seal on every party's banner." That is true. He then goes on to say : " It is true, sir, that these protestations and promises antedated the election ; and it may be interesting hereafter to compare votes in Congress with votes in conventions, or party action in Congress with party promises in platforms. I fear, sir, that the contrast would put to shame the wonder-inspiring patent-medicine advertisment, ' Before and after taking.' " LIFE OF VANCE. ^yi M.. President, I a., greatly -npted to say t.,a. I fear the Se„a^ from Georgia has digged a P'^" V.^. h^s clu si "iU he condemned votes for uneonditonal repeal f,"" ^^f^f^. -;\,, ,„„g.,,i„d n,an, outofhisownmouth. And I, ^aio^ne / ^^^ ^•ho accompanied the ten.perance lecturer, I goes along frightful example." [Laughter.] ,il,er. If the ^„ninothest Pededin..v.^^^^^ :fr:Zr met ui: alto /ecessary that ^^l-o'd .nen shou^ con- :iir;r*::Sdrx:tir^^^^^^^^^^^^^ '°%Trhelie.einhalfthea^^^^^^^^^^^ ger which are constantly thrust upon us. pountrv will have L. this W - --^^ rrrst is over, Z7t::Z to t'r; cit! L^ every quarter of the country ev. dence of renewed -f ^^f^^tfaTap-'r^Cme of high authority The Financier of ^^^^V before vesterday that the banks of New in bank circles, announced day before ^e^te^^a^ ^ Orleans, Meniphis, Mobile. Galveston and oth places n^ ^ ^^ report that there will be ^^-^^^^^^f^^^^f '° ^".^Ing block breaks Like a gorge of ice in a river, once the ^J^^ ^^^^^'^^^ is gone. Let loose, the whole mass begins to move and ^^^^l^^^^^^^ |^^ ^ ,^^ ., good and valued friend ^^^^^^^^T^^on repeal object of his love and mine a little while Ion er ^ ^. i, „ot nght now, in the face of t^^^ admitted fact th f^J^^^ ^^^^^^,_ the cause of the trouble which ^^^/°^!f,^^^ .^V^^^substitute in cold edgement that it can not be repealed without ^^^^st be done now- blood and in times of reasonable prosperity. It must right now, or not at all. promises in the bill that Suppose, sir, that we ^v ere t° Jake th^ ^ ^^^^.^^ ^,t, ^hat at some day the remainder of the P^f*^/'" J., ^., f.^e coinage or assurance have we that a bill to provide for either the free c g^^_^ the limited ^in^.e of ^^^ ^^^^^^^^ ^^^^.e pLsage cation by any vote ot the nouse oi x>.cp there any- of the h>;i that such a "l^^^-^tidTnt orflfr Xlic ::;erces, Ir Ln^erTa"; sTo^a"! Z^Z^^^ to speaU for him .ho can give Mr. rresiaeuL, wc „^ ^r 4.i,ic hill without attach- strikes me, sir, that to P--^^^^-P^^^^f°/Jf,\^ other legislation -uiTrh=:fiit^^^^^^^^^^^ 272 LIFE OF VANCE. our ej'es open to the consequences ; we must do it knowing that we are subjecting ourselves to the serious accusations of our constituents. It seems to me, sir, that the great Democratic party, which I have always supported because I believed it to be not only correct in its theories of government, but devoted to the interests of the common people, the masses of the land — it seems to me, I sa}', that if we pass this bill now unconditionally, that this great party will then cease to be the people's friend and become the subservient tool of combined capital, and will constitute itself in its legislation the lineal and legit- mate successor of the thirty-three years of that Republican rule which we have always heretofore denounced as building up the combinations and corporations which have well-nigh absorbed the wealth of our country. I speak plainl}' upon this subject, Mr. President, because I feel deeply, I am too old — I have been too long in public life, I have been too greatly trusted and honored by the people of my State — to make myself a party now to anything which appears to me may be construed as a want of faith to public professions. Let Senators consider for a moment the hopelessness of securing further legislation if it can not be secured in conjunction with this repeal. If capital is once satisfied by the repeal, then to trust to its influence to secure what we want — what the people want — is just an appeal to the bowels of omniverous Mammon. As well might we appeal to the mercy of the hungry tiger, as well might we deprecate the unsatisfiable appetite of the tape-worm. The people know this, Mr. President. Of course I impugn the motives of no Senator ; they are as honest as I am, I hope; if they are then they are fairly honest men [laughter] ; but I am obliged to impeach the judgment of those who would take this course. I think it a sad and fatal mistake. The honest way is the best way, as we all agree, if we can find it, and it seems to me the fairest way of interpret- ing this platform is to construe it as the people understood it — as we taught them to understand it, through the press and upon the hustings and in every way by which we urged the campaign, and as I believe its authors honestly intended it to be understood, and that was to repeal the purchasing act and do all other things necessary toward the pres- ervation and upholding of silver money before or concurrently with the abolition of its only hold on life. I think the carrying out of the first pledge and stopping would make the redemption of the others impossible and the whole scheme look like a fraud. What shall those other things be ? If I could have my preference, one should be the free and unlimited coinage of silver money at a ratio of i6 to i. Is this an impossibility ? Far from it. The mistake of the Sherman law was that it was only a partial coinage of silver, and therefore still left a large quantity of metal on the market for which there was no demand, and which only served to constantly drag LIFE OF VANCE. 273 down the bullion price. I believe the power and resources and wealth of this land to be sufficient to coin and keep afloat on a parity with gold all the silver of the world which would probably come to it to be coined. The price of any article, of course, depends upon the demand for it and the supply. The chief demand for silver, as of gold, is and has been its character as a metal of which money is made. It is not the use that is made of it in the arts that gives it its chief values, but the fact that it is used as money in all nations of the world to a greater or less amount. When you destroy it as a money metal you take away the chief demand for it, and, of course, lower its price. Now, supposing, what is hardly supposable, that when we estab- lish free coinage at the ratio of 16 to I, that all the silver of the world, coined and uncoined, were pouring into the United States, in a very short time all the nations which use subsidiary coin would be out of silver, all the nations which use silver as a full legal tender, and all the peoples of the world who use silver in the arts and for industrial purposes, would find themselves in the same condition, and would have to come to the United States for their supply of silver. They could buy it from no man here for less than its coining value ; there- fore, throughout the world, it would at once become equal to gold, and it would follow that we would soon have to supply the demand for it every country. So soon as its bullion price began to approach that of gold, the latter would come half-way down to meet silver going up, then it would rapidly flow out to supply the coin demand of the world, which would once more become bimetallic, as it was twenty years ago. No man possessed of any silver in other countries would sell it for less than the coining price in America, and so England would have to pay for the silver with which she supplies India the coining price in the United States, and India would be compelled to be supplied with silver, for there is not 1:900,000,000 of spare gold in the world to replace India's silver money. It is said that the production would be so great if there was free coinage and silver was at its normal price per ounce that the world would soon be flooded with it. I do not believe that. There is nothing in the statistics to show that that would be the case. During the period of one hundred years, from 1792 to 1892, the production of gold in the world was 15,633,908,000 — the production of silver was 1:5,104,- 961,000, a difference of only about 1500,000,000 and that in favor of gold ; and we might go further back if the insufficient statistics of the Dark Ages could be depended upon, and show generally that the pro- duction of the two metals would average about the same. For what reason is it held, then, that this ratio of production of the two metals will not continue to the end ? Is not nature consistent with herself? If the digging into the earth for 4,000 years have 19 274 t.l'^'E OF VANCE. shown that there exists in her bosom on the average about fifteen times as much silver by weight as of gold, why should we doubt fu- ture development from an accidental departure now and then of either metal from the average proportion of forty centuries ? Surely the gold-standard men should give a better reason for dis- trusting nature than some bankers' "want of confidence." A great impetus was given to silver in the era immediately fol- lowing the discovery of America and the opening of the famous mines of Mexico and South America. Discoveries of gold at the same time kept that metal pretty well up with silver. A great impetus was also given to gold by the discoveries in Cali- fornia and Australia, which made gold forge largely ahead of silver in the amount of production ; and this continued, making silver at a pre- mium above gold, until within the last twenty years, when the devel- opment of the mines in Colorado and Nevada have put silver ahead in the amount of production. The production of silver in the United States in the past fiscal year, measured by its coining value, was $74,989,900 ; its market value, 150.750,000, whilst the production of gold was $33,000,000. Of this sum nearly one-half of the gold was used in the arts, or |i6,6i6,ooo, while of silver there was used in the arts more than one-eighth, or $9,106,000, leaving altogether of gold and silver for currency purposes only $81,000,000 for that year, of which about $64,000,000 was silver. A large amount of this was exported to supply other countries. The total silver production of the world in 1892 was $196,605,000, in round numbers. I have no reliable estimate of the amount of silver used in the world per annum for industrial purposes, but I have never seen it stated at less than 27 per cent., and I do not think that far out of the way ; if anything, it is under that mark. This would make in the neighborhood of $53,000,000 of the annual production of the world, leaving something near $143,000,000 for currency purposes. This would give us about $143,000,000 of silver per annum to dispose of, provided we adopt the free coinage and all of the silver of the world should come here except that which is used in the arts. But we know that this is not reasonable or possible ; we know that the subsidiary coinage of foreign countries would not come here, and that much silver would be required to supply that. We know that much more of it would be required to coin silver in those coun- tries where it is still legal tender, and, inasmuch as the price would go up to the coining value in the United States, we know that that fact would induce many nations to coin "more and make it a legal tender. Mr. President, I always have believed that if we were to resort to the free coinage of silver we should have very little more silver to dispose of tlian we have had to dispose of under the purchases of the LIFE OF VANCE. 275 tjhermau law ; and I always have believed that under that law, if sil- ver had had a fair trial by a friendly government and friendly oflB- cials, there would not this day have been the outcry against it that there is, and it would not have been held up as a sample of what our danger would be if we resorted to free coinage. The idea so sedulously put forth that we can not give silver or anything else a value by law is false. I fancy there is not a manu- facturer in the United States who has grown rich by high tariff who accedes to that proposition. It is true the law of supply and demand controls the bullion price of silver as of other things, but it is also true that the demand is in the control of the government. Silver has never at any time time within the last hundred years fallen in conse- quence of more being produced than there was an}' demand for — it has always been depreciated by legislation which reduced the de- mand. In the time when the world was filled with gold from the mines of Australia and California there was no unfriendly legislation against gold, therefore it depreciated very little. The increase of enterprises, enlarged commerce, and production absorbed it all, as I have said, and the world was benefitted thereby. So, but for unfriendly legisla- tion, would it be with silver. If every dollar dug out of the earth was immediately coined and put in circulation, it would impart the same activity to the world's industries, and would in the same way stimulate its energies, that the great production of gold did. It is also lamentably true, as our people can testify to their sor- row, that every time a blow has been stricken at their silver money it has also stricken the price of their wheat, their cotton, and tteir grain, and everything else they had to sell. The most reliable En- glish authorities that I have consulted say "that from the year 1873, when in consequence of the demonetization of silver in the United States and in Germany, the prices of goods began to fall, and amounts at this time on the average of goods to about 7 shillings to the pound, or one-third, with every prospect of that fall continuing." The same authority, John Hill Twigg, says that "the only protective means of stopping this fall, is to restore the old law of coining silver as freely as gold and let people pay their debts in either metal at the choice of the debtor." Mr. Cockrell — Will it interrupt the Senator to give a state- ment of the production and coinage of gold and silver of the principal countries of the world from 1873 to 1892 ? Mr. Vance — I do not know that it would, sir. I have almost concluded, and if the Senator will permit me I will take his statement and insert it as a part of my remarks. Mr. Cockrell — I was going to read the statement. Mr. Vance — Very well. Mr. Cockrell — The production of gold was 12,210,961,206, while 276 LIFE OF VANCF. the coinage of gold was 12,787,714,679, or 1576,753,473 more than the entire production of gold. The production of silver was $2,400,- 760,533, while the coinage of silver in the world during the same period was $2,322,603,351, leaving only about $78,000,000 of silver un- coined during the whole time. Mr. Vance— I am much obliged to the Senator for his state- ment. It is in the line of my remarks. An ingenuous writer in the Journal of American Politics for Sep- tember, 1893, Mr. George Canning Hill, estimates upon a very reason- able basis that the loss of Southern planters on cotton alone, from 1873 to 1890, has been at least •$83,000,000 per year, or $1,410,000,000 in seventeen years. For the same period he estimates the loss of the wheat-growers of the United States at $100,000,000 per annum, or |i,- 700,000,000 for the seventeen years. These are samples of what has been inflicted on the people by the wicked war on silver money ; and the estimate may be continued by a consideration of all other leading articles of production of field and forest and mine. Nor is gold more stable as a standard than silver. Hear what a distinguished English statesman says. Mr. Balfour, in October, 1892, used the following wise and timely language, showing that gold is less stable than silver : But there is another point, namely, the utility of our monetary system as a permanent record of debts and obligations, lasting through long periods of time. Can we claim that great quality for a standard which monometallists admit has appreciated in some fifteen to sixteen years no less than 30 to 35 per cent., and of whose appre- ciation no man living can prophesy the limits ? A monetary standard of which this can be said does not fulfill the very elementary qualities which we require in a monetary standard. I have no desire for inflation. Give me a standard that will re- main constant and I ask no more, but do not put me off with a stand- ard which rises 35 per cent, in fifteen or sixteen years. If I have to choose, if I am given the unwelcome choice between a standard which appreciates and a standard which depreciates, between a sys- tem under which prices are lowered and a system under which prices are raised, then, in the interest of every class in the community, not excluding the owners of fixed debts, give me a standard which depre- ciates and give me prices which rise. Of all conceivable systems of currency that system is assuredly the worst which gives you a standard steadily, continuously, and in- definitely appreciating, and which, by that very fact, throws a burden on every man who desires to promote the agricultural or industrial welfare of his country, and benefits no human being whatever, except the owner of fixed debts in gold. It is a well-known fact that greater fluctuations in the supply of gold have been experienced in the history of the two metals than has WFE OF VANCE. 277 ever occurred to silver. From 1S51 to 1871, a period of twenty years alone, the gold produced in California and Australia amounted, by- careful estimate, to at least |i2, 500,000,000, a sum that was about equal to the world's stock already on hand. In twenty years the gold sup- ply of the world was doubled — a thing that never happened to sil- ver — yet the whole of it was quickly absorbed in the circulation of the world, and no attempt was made to demonetize gold. There were a few men, about as wise in their generation as those who have recently tried to degrade silver, who did speak of demonetizing gold ; but it was not done, except in one or two small European States. It is strange to me that this is not perceptible to every thinking man, and it is still stranger to me that men will undertake to prove the impossibility of our maintaining the value and parity with gold of an honored silver dollar supported by the law and pledged faith of a great nation, by constantly citing the example of the difficulty of maintaining a discredited and abused dollar with all the world and its own government at the head denouncing it as dishonest. We must take into consideration, also, in arriving at a fair conclusion on this subject, the possibility of maintaining silver on a free coinage basis, that even should the supply of silver supposed to exist in our mines within reach of the miners be as great as it is alleged to be, yet the total production would not keep pace with the increase of the population, of commerce, of railroad lines, the growth of cotton, of grain, or of pig iron in the United States. To calculate upon a supplj' of silver or anything else upon the basis that population and human energy will stand still in our country is, of course erroneous. I reckon, likewise, it will have to be admitted that in regard to stability silver, measured by the chief products of commerce, has been infinitely more stable than gold, and these staple products are the true measurers of both gold and silver and not one for the other. Complaint is sometimes made in this Chamber, as elsewhere, of the hardship attending the fact that capitalists have to be governed like other people, and that it is hard for a man's earnings or accumu- tions to be subjected to the casualties and incidents of a presidential or congressional election. There seems to be an idea that, so far as capital is concerned. Prince Bismarck was right when he said that " man could not be governed from below." And a Mr. Horace White, who assumes to be an authority on financial questions, said in the Forum of August, 1893, that it was perhaps happy for a people like India that its high finances should be directed only by a few, all of which means that the man who has only a debased silver dollar or a token 50-cent coin in the world should not be permitted, through his Representatives here, to have any say in the laws which are required to govern capital, or, in other words, he should not be allowed to dabble in " high finance." I do not subscribe to such doctrines. If we are Democrats we will not believe it or utter 278 LIFE OF VANCE. it, but try to treat every man as having an interest in this government and a right to participate therein, and endeavor with all our power to educate him in his great duties. Mr. President, I fancy that those who are shouting over the action of the House of Representatives in passing the bill to repeal this law without conditions, and are glorifying the President for calling us together and giving us a message containing no recommendation except to repeal this law — I fancy they little know what is before them. The doctrines of Prince Bismarck and Horace White have not yet become a part of the common law of America ; thank God, there remain others to be consulted besides those professors of "high finance." It was said that the string of the bow of Ulysses warned him of approaching danger by singing a song of battle and of strife. Let me say to those conspirators against the welfare of the common people, that before they shall finally succeed in their unhallowed designs, and drive them through " the valley of the shadow of death " to attain the single gold standard, in order that the conspirators may grow rich on human suffering, they will see many a field of political battle and hear the roar of much political strife. In this fair land the thunderbolts of Jove dwell still with those whose voice is as the voice of God, and the bow of Ulysses is yet in the people's hands, and its quiver is filled with death-dealing darts. Its strings will yet sing many a song of battle to awaken the sleeping people, and upon every plain and in every valley and upon every mountain side, from shore to shore of our inclosing seas, they will spring to their feet at the calling of that music, wdth a light of conflict on their faces and the resolve of victory in their hearts. In that day it would be better for some of those who have joined in the fight against the money of the poor, "that a millstone had been hanged about their necks and they had been cast into the midst of the sea." Many a defeated statesman of this great fight, when he looks into the faces of those who overthrew him in that strife, will be surprised to behold not the faces of his old political enemies, but those of his own indignant neighbors and heretofore friends, who will say to him, " We followed your example ; we loved you and believed the best way to serve you was to kill you." Surely the fountains of the great deep of humanity are broken up and the hearts of men are stirred within them as they have never been stirred before since the civil war. The great fight is on ; the power of money and its allies throughout the world have entered into this conspiracy to perpetrate the " greatest crime of this or any other age," to overthrow one-half of the world's money, and thereby double their own wealth by the enhancing in value of the other half, which is in their hands. The money changers are polluting the temple of our liberties. " To your tents, O Israel ! " [Applause in the galleries.] LIFE OF VANCE. 279 CHAPTER XVII. HIS ATTITUDE TOWARDS THK FARMERS ALLIANCE. Always Friend of the Farmers— Advised Organization, but Gave Warn- ing Against Entering Politics— Falsely Accused of Knuckling to the Alliance— Opposed Sub-Treasury Scheme — So Stated on In- troducing the Bill— Letter to Beddingfield— Letter to Carr, Presi- dent State Alliance — Correspondence as to Duty to Obey Instruc- tions — Refusal to Accept Nomination on the Demands as Instruc- tions — Modified Resolutions Passed to Suit His Views — Letters from Sam'l L. Patterson and Ex-Governor Jarvis — Vance's Address to the People in September, 1892 — Prophetic Views — His Letter to Elliott, President Mecklenburg County Alliance— His Reasons — His Consistency— His Argument Against the Constitutionality of the Sub-Treasury Scheme. ¥ANCE'S course in reference to the Farmers' Alliance has been the subject of much criticism even amono- his warmest friends and supporters. Many hard thino-s were said about him in the newspapers of his own party, giving him very great pain and annoyance. He was charged with knuckling to the Alliance in order to keep them in line for him that he might retain his place in the Senate. He was accused of playing fast and loose with the Sub-Treasury scheme and of being inconsistent and in- sincere, introducing a bill in its behalf and then failing to push it or support it. And some of his critics went so far as to say he had gone back on the professions and prin- ciples of a lifetime in his efforts to retain the friendship and support of the Alliance — in the parlance of the day that he "ate dirt copiously " before the Alliance Legislature of 1891, in promising to support the Alliance doctrines and demands in order to get their support, nearly the entire Democratic membership of that body being members of the Alliance. It is strange that, in the light of the actual facts, such 28o LIFE OF VANCE. erroneous impressions should prevail, and that the position of a public man who had been so thoroughly open and candid as Vance always was, could be so misunderstood and misrepresented. He was not only not inconsistent in his course towards the Alliance, but he never wavered or changed his opinion nor in any sense deviated from a direct course of conduct from beginning to end. He not only never '^got down on his knees and ate dirt" to please the Alliance, but when they sought to gag him with "demands" which he had from the start told them he could not support, he defied them, and refused to accept the nomination at their hands, and they were constrained and obliged to modify their instructions so as to conform fully to his oft-expressed views. These facts will be fully established by what follows. It must be borne in mind that he was always in sympathy with the masses, the laboring and farming classes, and this was in a great measure the secret of his power and popularity with them. Seeing the drift and tendency of economic conditions and firmly believing that the protective tariff was enriching the few and impoverishing the many, he had been for years advising the farmers to organize in order to defend themselves against the organizations of various kinds among the non-producers adverse in their objects and tendencies to the interests of the farmers; still he warned them again and again of the danger of such organization becoming political, and with prophetic wisdom he predicted the ruinous consequences of any attempt on their part to set up a new political party. He firmly believed after early and careful investigation that the sub-treasury scheme as con- tended for by the Alliance was unconstitutional as well as impracticable, and he said so repeatedly and emphatically. Nor did he favor the purchase by the Government of the railroads and telegraph lines, nor the abolition of national banks till a suitable substitute could be provided, and he expressed his views as to these features of the "demands" LIFE OF VANCE. 28l equally without reserve. He agreed with the Alliance, or rather it agreed with him, in favor of the free coinage of silver, an increase of the volume of currency, and in opposing a monopoly on part of the National Banks of the privilege of issuing paper money and the consequent power to expand and contract the currency at will. And these opinions and views he uttered with like candor and emphasis; indeed they were the principles which he had been contending for throughout his political career of the j)ast ten years or more. On February 24th, 1890, he introduced in the Senate a bill embracing the Sub-Treasury plan, stating that he did so by request. He did this as he stated afterwards, at the request of Col. Polk and Dr. Macune, of the legislative committee of the Alliance, and he told them at the time that they must not infer any agreement on his part to sup- port the bill ; that it was such a radical departure from the usual course of legislation, and involved matters of such grave and serious import that he should reserve the ques- tion of its practicability as well as constitutionality. Yet he was friendly to the objects and purposes of the bill as outlined above, and was anxious to have legislation passed adequate to promote such objects. Hence he procured the reference of the bill to the committee on Agriculture, in- stead of that on Finance, where it would have gone under the rules, as a means of getting as friendly consideration for it as possible, and he procured for Messrs. Polk and Macune an opportunity to go before that committee and discuss its merits to their entire satisfaction. It is also evident that he sought to have the bill reported from the ' committee either favorably or otherwise in the hope that its discussion might lead to the evolution of a bill that would accomplish the objects sought, to-wit: financial reform, in a way that would be free from constitutional objections. The following letter to Mr. Beddingfield, secretary of the Alliance, contains Vance's earliest utterances on the sub- 282 LIFE OF VANCE. ject and shows the candor and unreserve with which he expressed his opinions on the Sub-Treasury and kindred topics, viz : Washington, D. C, May i8th, 1890. E. C. Beddingfield, Esq., Raleigh, N. C. Dear Sir — Whenever I have carefully formed an opinion upon a public matter I have no objection to making it known to every one having a right to require it. In answer, therefore, to your letter of i6th inst., asking my opinion on several important subjects, I have to say as follows: To inquiry one, I answer that I am not in favor of the abolition of national banks and the issue of legal tender notes in the place of their notes, in the present state of our financial policy. But I do favor permitting them to bank upon gold and silver coin instead of bonds and I do favor the making of all money a legal tender which is issued by the Government. To your second inquiry, I answer that I do not favor the passage of a law by Congress prohibiting dealing in futures, in agricultural products, &c., for the reason that Congress has no power to pass such a law. I should be glad, however, to see the practice regulated or suppressed by the States. In answer to your third inquiry, I have to say that I favor placing silver, in every respect, on precisely the same footing as gold, and shall so vote. In answer to your fourth question, I have to say, I favor the prohibiting of alien ownership of the public lands and always have done so, and also the prevention of railroads and other corporations from holding more real estate than is actually required for their legitimate purposes. This is a matter that requires both State and Congressional action. In an- swer to your sixth question, I have to say that for some time past I have advocated here the issuance by the government of fractional pa- per currency for the convenience of transmission through the mails, etc. In answer to your seventh question, I have to say that I have not definitely formed any opinion of the propriety of the government tak- ing control of the railroads and telegraph lines. M}' inclination is de- cidedly against it. In answer to your eighth question, as to my opin- ion of what is called the sub-Treasury or warehouse bill, I have this to say: I am in favor not of this particular bill (for it is crude and im- perfect) but of the principles of the bill, provided it be not established that it is unconstitutional. I am prepared and intend to go as far in the relief of the farmers, to compensate them for the losses suffered under unequal and unjust tariff laws, as my oath to support the Con- stitution will permit me. Whether it be constitutional or not I am ' not now prepared to say. It is a great departure in our financial polic}- and will require careful and elaborate examination. If it were once reported from the Committee it would receive thorough discussion and the country could see for itself. My hope and earnest wish is that the discussion will result in some practical scheme for the relief of our farmers in this direction. LIFE OF VANCE. 283 I need not have you go over all the arguments in favor of some- thing of the kind. 1 write in haste, being on the eve of departure to Charlotte to attend the IMecklenburg Celebration and have only briefly, but I hope satis- factorily, answered your questions. Very truly yours, Z. B. VANCE. A little later on, viz: in June, 1890, Senator Vance, having in the mean time, no doubt, more maturely con- \ sidered the sub-Treasury plan, wrote the following letter to the president of the Farmers' Alliance of the State of North Carolina, expressing his views in regard to the Alliance in order to correct erroneous impressions prevail- ing and to explicitly state his views and opinions, If it is not a candid, explicit, bold and manly statement of his opinions in regard to the sub-Treasury and other matters of public concern, it is not easy to conceive how the English language could make it so. And to those who would doubt his loyalty to the Democratic party, attention is specially called to his utterances and warnings as to the necessity of firmly adhering to that organization : Senate Chamber, June 29th, i8qo. Elias Carr, Esq., President Farmers' Alliance of North Carolina, Old Sparta, N. C. Dear Sir— So many reports of my position on what is known as the sub-Treasury or Farmers' Warehouse bill have been circulated in our State, and I have received so many letters of enquiry on the sub- ject, that I have deemed it my duty to answer them all in this way. I write to you as the honored head of the Farmers! Alliance of North Carolina, and desire in this manner to make known to the people my honest opinion on this and cognate subjects. I do this all the more readily because I am conscious that I have never, in the course of my political life, concealed from the people who have honored me any candid conviction in regard to any important public matter. It is too late for me now to begin such a course. On the 24th of February, 1890, at the request of Col. L. L. Polk, President of the N. F. Alliance and Industrial Union, I introduced in the Senate bill 2,806, popularly known as the sub-Treasury bill, and procured its reference to the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, where it was supposed that it would receive more friendly considera- tion than from the Committee on Finance, to which it would 284 LIFE OF VANCE. otherwise have gone according to the rules. On receiving it, I told both Col. Polk and Dr. Macune, the Chairman of the Legislative Com- mittee of the Alliance, that I vpas not prepared to promise them to support the bill ; that it was a great and radical departure from the accustomed policy of the legislation, and that there were questions both of practicability and constitutionality which I wished to reserve. I told them also that I hoped for good results from its introduction ; and believed that its discussion would attract the attention of the country to the condition and wants of the agricultural classes, and if this bill was not deemed the proper one, that some other would be formulated in the direction of the needed relief. I procured an early consideration of the bill by the committee, and a very able and most interesting discussion by Messrs. Polk and Macune was had. But so far without result. The committee has not yet made a report, though I am assured that a majoritj^ of its mem- bers are anxiously seeking to devise a method of relief which shall not be open to the objections of that bill. My own position remains the same. I can not support this bill in its present shape. But I am not opposed to the principle and pur- poses of the measure. On the contrary, they are those which I have for ten years advocated, and for the accomplishment of which I have in every county iu North Carolina again and again urged the organiz- ation of farmers, pointing out to them how that all other classes of society were organized for the promotion of their separate interests. It is a shameful truth, that in the enormous growth of the wealth of our country in the last twenty years, the farmers have not propor- tionately participated. All candid men admit that they have not had their full share of the aggregate prosperity of our country. The rea- son for this is as plain to be seen as any cause for any effect. For a quarter of a century the legislation of our country has been notori- ously in the interest of certain combinations of capital. The manu- facturers have been protected by enormous duties upon foreign im- ports, many of which are absolutely prohibitory. The currency has been systematically contracted by the withdrawal of circulation, and the demonetization of silver in the interests of bankers, brokers, bondholders, and all the creditor class. In this wa}^ the inevitable re- sults have been produced. The enormous wealth of our country has become concentrated in the hands of a few. Overgrown fortunes have been accumulated by the favored ones, while mortgages have been the chief acquisition of the many. The farmer being compelled to use his surplus wheat, beef, and cotton in free trade markets of the world, was not allowed also to buy his supplies in the same place, but was compelled to bring his money home from Europe, and by his iron, his clothing, and all his farm supplies from the domestic manufactur- ers at prices enhanced not only by these enormous tariff duties, but likewise by the severe contraction of the currency. What else could LIFE OF VANCE. 285 possibly have followed but indebtedness and bankruptcy for that class who had thus to bear the ultimate burdens of the law of econ- omy, and by which alone the undue riches of one class were secured. All efforts to secure the repeal of this outrageous taxation and to restore the full use of silver as money having so far proved unavail- ing, reasonable men are not surprised that the oppressed class of our people have at last organized and determined to do something. For one, I sympathize most cordially and sincerely with this determina- tion. Inasmuch as it is impossible to compensate the farmer for the robbing of him under this tariff taxation by imposing tariff duties for his benefit, also for the reason that similar products to his are not imported into this country, the question arises, how shall he be com- pensated ? If some way be not devised, and we continue to impose these tariff taxes on him, we simply admit that he is to be oppressed forever, or until he is sent to the poor house, and that whilst we have power under the constitution to destroy by taxation one class of citi- zens, we have neither the power nor the disposition to compensate that destroj-ed class, nor ix> equalize the burdens of life among the people. I never will agree to this, and I stand ready to vote for any measure for the relief of the agricultural classes of the community that will serve the purpose, asking only that it be within the power conferred upon Congress by the Constitution. We live, happily for us, in a government of limited powers, but because, as I believe, the present tariff duties are utterly unconstitutional, and but "robbery under the forms of law." I cannot gain my consent to vote for this sub-Treasury bill which provides for the loaning of money to the peo- ple by the government, and which, in my opinion, is without consti- tutional authority. I believe, however, under the clause of the con- stitution which gives Congress the power to regulate commerce with foreign countries and among the States, that the bonded warehouses now in use for the reception of foreign importations might also be used at every port of entry in the United States, and others estab- lished elsewhere as well, for the reception of domestic articles, in- tended for export or for sale in other States, and the government could be made to receive these articles and issue receipts therefor upon which the holders could readily borrow money. This, I believe, would answer every purpose contemplated by the sub-Treasury plan, except that of borrowing money at a specified cheap rate. However this may be, I know, my dear sir, that neither you nor the good and true men whom you represent would ask me to infringe in any way upon the organic law of our country, in the faithful observance of which, alone consists the safety of our people. Permit me to say that there is at this time a great responsibility resting upon you. This is an uprising of the agricultural class of our people, the most powerful class of our society, which amounts to little short of a revolution. This revolution is directed toward a redress of 286 I,IFE OF VANCE. the evils arising from unjust legislation. You are the chosen head and representative of that class in the State of North Carolina, one of its most honored and respected citizens. I feel, sir, that with the freedom of a friend and fellow worker of the same political faith, I may say to you that you may do much to prevent this popular cry for redress from becoming a clamor for revenge. Guided within the proper channels, and by wise counsel, I believe it is the movement for which all patriotic men in our country have waited and wished so long, and that it will result in just legislation and more equally dif- fused prosperity. But if recklessly, unwisely or selfishly directed, it may result in incalculable injury to our country and especially our Southern portion of it. I notice with pain that much of -the ill feeling of the farmers is directed not against the authors and upholders of this nefarious legis- lation, but against their nearest neighbors and friends, those whose interests are as intimately connected with their own as is that of mem- bers of the same household. I observe that bitter feeling is springing up between town and country— between the farmer who brings his produce to town and the merchant who buys it and in return sells him daily supplies — that often the farmer is taught to believe that the law- yer, the doctor, or other professional man is hostile to him or is in some way responsible for the evil which he suffers. I need not say to you that this is all wrong, unwise, and hurtful in a degree to all con- cerned. It saps the strength of our people and weakens their power to secure redress. We need everybody's help, because our oppressors are a strong party entrenched in the strongholds of the Government. Naturally the redress of the wrongs occasioned by unjust legislation is the repeal of that legislation. The great Democratic party of America, now in a large numerical majority, but deprived of the con- trol of the Government by the most unscrupulous methods, openly and almost with unanimity, favors the repeal of the legislation of which you complain. A little strengthening of its hands, and but a little, will enable it to triumph. Its triumph will be yours. A little sapping of its strength, a little division of its ranks, will be its defeat. Again, its defeat will likewise be j^ours. The danger is that oppressed freemen will become impatient, and impatient men are often unwise. Your great organization is but little more than two years old — it is not yet grown. It cannot look for great harvest of results before the sow- ing and maturing of the crop. Already wonderful things have been achieved. Venerable legislators, life-long servants of corporations and Wall street policy have already come to know that there is a large class of the American people called farmers and who have rights and privileges like others. No greater shock for years past has been given to the sleek and comfortable recipients of class legislation than the recent passage through the Senate of the bill to restore the unlimited coinage and legal tender character of silver. This was undoubtedly LIFK OF VANCK. 287 due to the Farmers' Alliance. For the past six months there has been more discussion upon the condition of the farmers and matters per- taining to their interests than has taken place within ten years previous. The more of this talk the better for the farmers. Their wrongs are so palpable that the justice of redressing them will become more and more irresistible as the light is turned on. The policy of the farmers, being now right, is to keep within the right. Demand nothing that is illegal, ask nothing that is unreasonable. Especially, it seems to me, they should be careful not to injure their friends. They should hold their forces in hand ready to aid those who fa- vor them and to strike those only who are hostile to their purposes and principles. To attempt to make a political party of the Farmers' Alliance, for the purpose of supplanting either of the great parties who divide the American people would be a great mistake. In the South it could only destroy the Democratic party and leave in undis- puted control that other party which is the author and upholder of the evils by which we are afflicted. By your own rules you exclude from membership a majority of the community and for that reason alone you should not undertake to become a political party. I see many indications of that tendency which give me much concern. In the neighboring State of South Carolina there is a contest raging which, as it looks to me, can only have the result of putting the State back under African rule. This, too, among men who profess to agree upon all matters of principle. Let us hope that we may avoid such dangerous and unseemly contests in our State. I trust much to you, my dear sir, and to the conservatism, good sense, moderation and patriotism of the farmers of North Carolina, to avoid the taking of any position or the doing of anything that would prevent the Demo- crats who are in the Alliance and the Democrats who are not in the Alliance from working together for principles which are common and for interests which are general, with that harmony which so triumph- antly brought us out of the house of bondage in the period from 1870 to 1876 and which has in so great a measure restored our State to a reasonable degree of prosperity and credit. Let us not imitate the conduct of the Jews when their sacred city was besieged by the Roman armies, who fought their enemies with incredible valor all day and fought each other with incredible fury all night. Let us, on the con- trary, stand together and fight our common enemies day and night. Let us strive for a reduction of taxation on the necessaries of life— for a reduction of the expenditures of the government— for an increase of the currency and the price of farm products by the free coinage of silver and the restoration of its full legal tender character— for the repeal of the tax upon State banks— for the regulation of transporta- tion rates by railroad commissions, and last but not least, let us earnestly contend against that spirit of centralization which is con- stantly threatening to absorb the local self-government of the people of the States. Very truly yours, Z. B. VANCE. 288 LIFE OF VANCE. It has also been charged that Vance surrendered his manhood and independence by promising the Alliance he would obey instructions or resign, and he was accused of bad faith in that having given the promise and been in- structed, he did not either obey or resign. There never was the slightest foundation for either charge. In the first place he did not promise to obey in- structions from the Alliance. His language was, "I recog- nize the old Democratic doctrine of the right of the people to instruct * * =)< j j^old that the will of the people clearly and unequivocally expressed must be obeyed," etc. There is ample authority and precedent in our own State for the position Vance took with reference to the right of the people, through their Legislature, to instruct, and the duty of the Senator to resign if he can not conscienciously obey. Indeed it would seem that there was no other course open to him. The precedents were comparatively recent and irresistible. Robert Strange resigned his seat in the United States Senate in 1840 because the Legislature gave him instructions with reference to the expunging resolution, the Public lands and the sub-Treasury, which his sense of public duty would not permit him to obey, and William H. Haywood, a few years later, resigned his seat in that body because his conception of his public duty would not allow him to carry out the instructions of the State Legislature as to the tariff, the compromise of 1833, and the refunding of the fine imposed on Andrew Jackson. So Vance was not truckling to the Alliance when he agreed to obey the instructions of the people^ but was only following in the beaten path along which his illustrous predecessors had gone. Shortly after the State election of 1890, when it was known that a large majority of the members elect to the Legislature which was to choose Vance's successor, were members of the Alliance, the following correspondence LIFE OF VANCE. 289 took place between Elias Carr, President of the State Alli- ance, and Senator Vance : November 20, 1890. Hon. Z. B. Vance, Black Mountain, N. C. Dear Sir: After carefully considering the political situation in our State, I deem it wise to write you and ask the following ques- tion: If the Legislature instructs you to advocate and vote for the sub-Treasury plan of financial reform will you carry out said instruc- tions ? I hope that you will understand. I do not reflect in the slightest on your devotion to the people of North Carolina, but there are precedents where United Senators have carried out instructions and also precedents where they have disregarded them. I trust that you will give me an answer at your earliest convenience. Very respectfully, ELIAS CARR, President N. C. State Alliance. (answer.) U. S. Senate, Washington, D. C, Dec. 6, 1890. Elias Carr, President N. C. Fanners' Alliance, Old Sparta, N. C. Dear Sir : In answer to your official communication of the 20th ult., which did not reach me until the ist inst., I have to say that I recognize the old Democratic doctrine of the right of the people to instruct their representatives to the fullest extent to which it has ever been carried in North Carolina. I hold that the will of the peo- ple clearly and unequivocally expressed must be obeyed unless com- pliance would involve the representative in a moral wrong, in which case it would be his duty to resign and give place to a representative who w-ould obey. Good faith in the observance of instructions and public pledges is absolutely essential to a government based on the popular will. Very respectfully yours, Z. B. VANCE. Now let us see about the instructions. The Leo^islature assembled in due time and it was ascertained, as before stated, that a large majority of its members were members of the Alliance, though claiming at the same time to be Democrats. Only a few days before the election of Senator the Democratic Alliance party met in caucus to pass upon the matter of the Senatorship. After some considerable discussion they pa.ssed the following resolution to be sub- mitted to the two branches of the Legislature: "Resolved, By the House of Representatives the Senate 20 290 LIFE OF VANCE. concurring, that our Senators in the 51st and 52d Congresses of the United States be instructed, and our Representa- tives requested to vote for and use all honorable means to secure the financial reforms as demanded in the platform adopted by the Ocala meeting of the National Farmers- Alliance, held in December, 1890; and that a copy of this resolution be sent to our Senators and Representatives." This resolution was shown to Vance, who was in Raleigh at the time, and he positively and emphatically declined to accept an election under such instructions. He reiterated his views and opinions as formerly expressed, but declined most firmly to surrender or modify them for the sake of a re-election to the Senate. This was a bombshell in the camp. There was a great deal of consulting among the members and much going to and from Vance's room. He was as usual pleasant and cordial to his many friends, but resolute and inflexible in his position. His views were well known, and the party saw that the alternative was either to modify its resolution so as to conform to his judgment, or else throw him over- board and take another man. There was a great deal of discussion and some angry feeling. Shortly before the election was gone into the caucus resolution was intro- duced in the House, but was modified by amendment so as to conform to Vance's well known views, and was then passed, to-wit: "That our Senators in the 51st and 52d Congresses be instructed and our Representative requested to vote for and use all honorable means to secure ///- or that he had any sym- LIFE OF VANCE. 3^3 pathy whatever with the Third party, and would seem to have been enough to silence all clamor in that respect. But in Julv of the next year another bombshell is thrown. Vance wrote a letter to the President of the Mecklenburg County Alliance. The very fact, the very idea was pre- posterous and startling. The critics became busy again and the newspapers sent up a chorus of censure. Some said Vance was gone over to the Alliance bag and baggage. Some said his failing health had weakened his mind, and various other causes and moti\'es were assigned. He cer- tainly had no motive of immediate personal concern for he had been elected but a little more than a year before and had five years yet to serve. Still his motive was clear enough to any one who wants to see straight and judge fairly. The repeal bill was pending in Congress. Vance believed the passage of that bill would be injurious to the country. He said in his speech in the Senate delivered only two months later, in prophetic language, that if this act was passed, there would be no more legislation favor- able to silver during that administration. He was using all his energies to defeat it. He was glad of sympathy and re-enforcement from any source. Another reason was that these people were his neighbors and personal friends. They had sent him a respectful communication as their Senator. Who will say he should not have treated them with consideration and respect ? He did not fulminate any new doctrines. He did not waver in the steady course he had ever pursued, but only repeated and reasserted what he had said a thousand times from the stump and in the Senate. An examination of the newspaper criticisms even at this short interval reveals facts that are interesting and amus- ing. The burden of the criticism of one of the ablest and most influential papers in the state upon this letter was that ''the Senator could not see his way clear to ao-ree with his party as to the repeal bill and as to the coinage of 304 WFE OF VANCE. silver upon some such basis as will ensure its circulation on a parity with gold." But was he out of plumb with his party? Viewed in the light of subsequent events was Vance or his critics out of the party alignment? Cleve- land was in favor of the repeal bill but a majority of the the Democrtic Senators voted, as Vance did, against it. And was the independent free coinage of silver a cardinal doctrine of the Democratic party ? Let the Chicago plat- form on which Bryan was nominated for President and the millions of voters who sustained him answer. How did Vance know in 1893 and earlier so much more about the trend of public thought and events than his critics knew ? And should not those who said hard things of him for favoring free coinage and afterwards themselves supported Bryan for President, see and feel the error of their course ? His convictions were strong and he was generally right. His intuitions were powerful and nearly always unerring. He was born wise as to the feelings and aspirations of the common people. He seemed to know as by intuition what they wanted and what they needed. He was the born leader and tribune of the great masses, the Magnus Apollo of the common people. He was in advance of his party on the silver question but yet on the direct line of its sub- sequent movement. Here is the letter to the Mecklenburg Alliance : Gombroon, Near Black Mountain, N. C, July 19, 1893. 7?. IV. Elliott, Esq., Secretary Mecklenburg County Alliance : Sir — I have received a copy of the resolution of Mecklenburg Al- liance, adopted at a recent meeting, urging Senators and Representa- tives to stand by the present silver purchasing law until some satis- factory substitute shall be adopted. I observe this action with great pleasure, for two reasons : In the first place, it is the exercise of one of the most valuable and legiti- mate functions by which the Alliance can be made to subserve the in- terest of the farmers — the concentration of their whole influence upon the issues of the day. In view of the notorious fact of combina- tions among all other branches of industry and in every form of capi- tal, I years ago urged upon our agricultural classes the importance of UFE OF VANCE. 305 such organization as would enable them to make their vast but widely scattered and disjointed strength felt, promptly and efficiently, in legislation. Now, the preservation of silver as a part of our currency is one of the most vital of all the issues which our people have been called upon to decide for half a century. The enemies of silver money have displayed a wonderftil sagacity in their tactics. Though scat- tered throughout the civilized world they have obeyed a single voice from headquarters in London. From New York the word comes down the line to all American capital and the response is immediate. What is known as the Sherman law is the only legislation on our statute books which binds us to the use of silver, and the cry is raised for its repeal under various pretences, all equally false. The banks, stock-brokers, bondholders, chambers of commerce, et id omne genus, clamor for its repeal and urge the call of an extra session of Congress to assemble and sit during the dog days for that purpose alone. Tariff repeal, which formed the chief issue of the past cam- paign, is thrust to the rear, and the interest of capital is placed in front, to be dealt with under the demoralizing conditions of a fraudu- lent panic created by capital itself and called by Mr. Ingersoll "the bankers' panic." Under these alarming circumstances I have listened, and mostly in vain, for the voice of the Farmers' Alliance sounding their opinions and the wishes of those they represent, composingfuUj^one-half of the nation, giving the feeble and vacillating among politicians to under- stand what they had to expect if they betrayed the people's cause in this great financial question. The action of your Alliance is the first official utterance on the subject I have seen in the State. It is time your order was bringing every atom of its influence to bear. It should use every means possible to let it be known that there is yet another and entirely different world in the fields and homes of toil, whose in- terests demand attention as well as that combination of money dealers, stock-brokers, gamblers and speculators who assume for themselves to constitute the business interests of the land. The effect of this prompt and united action cannot possibly be doubted. In the next place I was glad to read the resolutions of your Alli- ance, because they concurred with my own most serious convictions. Many years ago, after as thorough and impartial an examination of the question as I was capable of making, I came to the absolute con- clusion that the use of silver as well as gold, on equal terms, as the basis of our currency was best for the welfare of the people of the United States. This view has governed my course in Congress. The fact that nature sometimes yielded more of one metal than of the other, thus causing a discrepancy in their intrinsic values, did not dis- turb me; for I learned from history that for nearly three hundred years during which a ratio between the two metals was fixed by law, the fluctuations in intrinsic value had never exceeded 3^ per cent.; 21 3o6 LIFE OF VANCE. and that, soon after that law was withdrawn, great and material fluc- tuations immediately began, which will doubtless continue so long as we treat one metal as of fixed and standard value and the other as a commodity. It is not necessary to go over all the grounds in which my conviction was founded. I simply wish to assure you that my opinions are unchanged. Recent developments, which seem to have unsettled so mau}^ silver advocates, and make them give way to the repeal of the vSherman law, has rather strengthened me in the determination to yield nothing to the monometalists, whose schemes I regard as absolutely selfish and unpatriotic. The "panic" so industriously advertised, is known now to have been created by them; and will be known hereafter as the rich man's panic; the explosion of the Indian bomb is already discounted as the grasping by the government of the profits of coining silver rupees which heretofore had been reaped by British merchants. The coining will go on as largely as ever, only the Indian government will pocket the 40 per cent, gain and not the merchants. England does not dare to demonetize silver in India, which alone makes her demonetize it at home. There is not spare gold enough in the world to replace the $900,000,000 of silver in that country. The attempt to do so would bankrupt half of Christendom, and England well knows it. The suggestion is pure bluff, and can only disturb a politician who holds a very weak hand. Nor have the allega- tions so distressingly shouted that the vSherman law was causing our gold to leave the country had any effect on me. From the beginning I knew them to be false. Gold went out because we owed it abroad, and the balance of trade was against us. Shipments of wheat have turned the tide, and it is now coming in. Some of our securities did come home and take off gold in payment, but this hurt nobody except speculators in them, who were fearful that the price would fall and they would lose money. But even those which did come from abroad came in consequence of the scare got up by our own capitalists. Of course foreigners believe the stories of the ruin and bankruptc}^ if the Sherman law was not repealed, which our own people told them. Finally, I hope it is unnecessary for me to say that the hope of ingratiating myself with the administration in order to secure patron- age at its hands, has in no sense affected my opinion of right in the premises. How far such a motive may operate in the repeal of that law I have no means of knowing. I believe, however, it will not go a great way. But let things go as they may, it shall be my earnest endeavor to do my duty in maintaining the cause of the people by preserving the character of their money, and increasing its abundance. Very truly yours, Z. B. VANCE- The followino; able argument against the constitution- ality of the sub-Treasury scheme was published in the LIFE OF VANCE. 3^7 Raleigh News and Observer of October 9, 1891, without signature, but Capt. Samuel A. Ashe, the editor of that paper at the time, authorizes the statement that it was written by Senator Vance. The general objects and purposes of the Farmers' Alliance are such as attrac't the sympathy and support of all who desire to see their country prosper and their fellow-citizens freed from those environ- ments which put limitations on their proper and lawful endeavors to promote their happiness and individual fortunes. Whatever the restraints the freedom of citizens in their rightful efforts to advance their interests is oppressive and is of evil, and all should join to remove such barriers where they exist and promote the common and general welfare of the people. Fully imbued with these sentiments, we regret that the Farmers' Alliance has sought to make the sub-Treasury bill the corner-stone of their measures of relief. The general purpose in view, relief for the people, enlists the cordial sup- port of all patriotic men, but the particular road chosen may be im- practicable to travel— the particular measure may not be wisely selected. If the sub-Treasury bill be unconstitutional it cannot be put in operation, and time is lost in seeking it, and bitterness will come from the disappointment, and harm will spring from unsettling the confidence which men have in those who have heretofore served them with faithfulness, but who for conscience sake cannot support an unconstitutional measure. Then, is the measure constitutional ? First, we recall that nearly without exception every man whose business it has been to study the constitution, either say so emphatically, or avoids a direct opinion. Is it possible that these men who have sought the favor of the people in the past, would set themselves against a measure that has taken such a hold upon the minds of their people— their friends, their neigh- bors, their constituents— who have honored them so highly, except from the clearest conviction that the measure is unconstitutional ? Would they not share in the general benefit, as other citizens ? Every motive would lead them to go for the measure ; and the fact that they do not is a strong reason for believing that they honestly are of opinion that they cannot do so under the constitution. Let us examine the question then without prejudice. Can Con- gress rightfully pass the measure ? The Federal Government is a Government of limited powers. It can law^fully do nothing not con- templated in the constitution. The constitution is its charter. Is Congress empowered to make the la\ys ? In seeking to determine whether or not a proposed law be within the power of Congress to enact, w^e first, of course, look at the powers specifically granted by the constitution. These are set out in the 8th section of the ist article, and are contained in 17 clauses, each one 308 LIFE OF VANCF. specif}-iug some particular thing which Congress may do. But as the framers of the constitution wisely considered that it was not practica- ble to enumerate every possible means and every proper measure bj^ which the Congress should execute the specific powers, they super- added the i8th clause to that section, which is in the following words, to-wit : "To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powei's and all other powers vested by this constitution in the Government of the United States or any department of ofiicers thereof." The specific powers are usually spoken of as the express powers and the others as the implied powers. There can be no difficulty in determining what is an express power. It will speak for itself in the plain words of the constitution. As to de- terming an "implied" power under the above quoted clause of the 8th section, the rule has been stated by Chief Justice Marshall in the case of McCiillough vs. the State of Maryland, 4th Wheaton 421, and has been accepted without departure from that day to this. His words are : "Let the end be legitimate ; let it be within the scope of the constitution ; and by all means which are appropriate, which are plainly adopted to that end, which are not prohibited, but consistent with the letter and spirit of the constitution, are constitutional." Therefore in order to determine whether the enactment of the sub- Treasury bill be within the constitutional power of Congress, we must first look over the express powers mentioned in the instrument, and if we do not find such power there enumerated, we must then see if the provisions of the bill be in any way necessary and proper "for carrying into execution any of the express powers." If it be found that no such power is granted expressly, and that the law proposed is not fairly and reasonably auxiliarj' to some express power, as a means of carrying into execution that power, it is not in the language of the constitution "necessary and proper" to the execu- tion of some express power, and it will not be contended by any one acquainted with the process of legal reasoning that the proposed law is authorized by the constitution. Now let any one run over the 17th clause of Section 8 and see if he can find there any power conferred on Congress to build ware- houses in which to receive and deposit the products of farmers or any other class, and lend the owners money thereon. None such will be found. There is no such clause there. The power then is not ex- expressly granted. Then let the enquirer say, if there be found among the powers expressly granted any one, for the necessary and proper execution of which the government would be authorized to build warehouses, receive agricultural products on deposit and lend money thereon. No such clause cair be found. These things then are not necessary and proper for the government to do, in order to exercise any power specifically conferred. They are not within "the scope of the constitution," nor "are they consistent with the letter LIFE OP VANCE. 309 and spirit of the constitution. They are then not embraced in any implied power. Those who assert either that there is such an express power in the Constitution, or that there is such a power there as would make the lending of money to private parties on agricultural or other products a necessary and proper law for carrying it into execution, must prove it affirmatively. There is not a clause in the 8th section looking in such a direction. There is no clause under which it could possibly be claimed un- less it be the first one, which is in these words, to-wit: "The Congress shall have power to pay and collect taxes, duties, imports and excises to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general wel- fare of the United States." The last words of this clause — "general welfare of the United States," are those under which nearly all the dangerous departures from true constitutional construction have been made. But even here the meaning is so obvious, they refer so mani- festly to the welfare of the States in their corporate capacity, that no reasonable man, much less any Jeffersonian Democrat, can seriously hold that they confer upon Congress the power to provide for the welfare of any individual citizen. It is to provide for the defence of the country, the welfare of the country as a whole. The power to provide for defense and welfare of the individual citizen is left to the State. If not nothing is left to them. By the Constitution the State surrendered to the General Govern- ment so much of their sovereignty as pertained to them in their inde- pendent national charter, and which entitled them to deal with other nations on equal terms as sovereign, independent States; and it is in this capacity that Congress is authorized to provide for their common defense and general welfare, with the proceeds of the taxes which the clause gives it power to levy and collect. No court has ever held otherwise or doubted this. The clause is not applicable to individual citizens — but the object of any action under it must be the defense and welfare of the United States. But suppose for a moment that the clause does mean that Congress has the power, and that it is therefore its duty to provide for the wel- fare of the individual citizens of the United States; now not only all law)-ers but all just men will admit that one citizen is as much deserv- ing of the care of the government as another, and that each would have an equal claim to any favor which the government might confer. One of the prime maxims of our free institutions: "Equal rights to all and exclusive privileges to none." Now this matter necessarily involves the right and power of taxa- tion; and in the matter of taxation the Courts of the country have again and again decided that no tax can be legallj' imposed upon the citizen except for a public purpose. The .Supreme Court of the United States in the case of the Loan Association against Topeka, 20th 3IO LIFE OF VANCE. Wallace Reports p. 662 et seq., has gone so far as to declare that the right of a citizen to hold his property exempt from all taxation except such as may be levied for a public purpose to be "in every free govern- ment, beyond the control of the State." * * * They say: "To lay with one hand the power of the Government on the property of the citizen, and with the other to bestow it upon favored individuals to aid private enterprises and build up private fortunes, is none the less a robbery because it is done under the form of laws, and is called taxation. This is not legislation — it is a decree under legislative form." * * * " We have established, we think, beyond cavil, that there can be no lawful tax when it is not laid for a public purpose." The sub-Treasury bill provides for the erection of warehouses, not for all the countries or people of the United States, but only for such as have a certain amount of surplus products for sale. They are to receive deposits, not from all who may have them and desire to borrow money tipon them, but only from one class of the farmers. The mer- chant, the manufacturer, or the mechanic, though he may have ever so much of valuable articles on hand, cannot receive this favor. Not even all farmers can participate in this case of the Government, but only those who grow corn, wheat, oats, cotton and tobacco. Those who have lumber, iron ore, pig iron, rice, peanuts, rosin and turpen- tine, hay, potatoes, butter and cheese, bacon, lard, beef, mica, cotton seed oil or what not — none of these are permitted to have their " gen- eral welfare" provided for at public expense. Not one of them can deposit his products in the public warehouse under this bill, or borrow a single dollar ! Now apply our great maxim " equal rights to all and exclusive privileges to none," and recall the severe language of the Supreme Court in the case last cited, and any man can see that it is treating unequally citizens of equal merit, but that it would be as the court says, "robbery under the forms of law." These warehouses would have to be built by taxation ; the money lent to the " favored individuals " would be the proceeds of taxation also, and this taxation would be laying " with one hand the power of the government on the property of the citizen, and with the other, bestowing it upon favored individuals to aid private enterprises and build up private fortunes." Under the law, the citizen thus taxed could not himself possibly be benefitted or permitted to participate in the government's bene- faction. If it be said that thus advancing the fortunes of a certain portion of the farming element would have a tendency to benefit the public at large, the same court in the same case furnishes the answer. It was considering the legality of certain bonds which had been used by a municipal corporation for the purpose of aiding in the establishment of manufactures in the town, and the court used the following words: " If it be said that a benefit results to the local public of a town by establishing manufactures, the same may be said of any other business LIFE OF VANCE. 31I or pursuit which employs cajDital or labor. The merchant, the mechanic, the inn keeper, the banker, the builder, the steamboat owner, are equally promoters of the public good and equally deserving the aid of the citizens by forced contributous. ' ' So even if the power of Congress to provide for the common defence and general welfare extended to caring for individual citizens under these well known decisions the proposed measure could not stand in the courts. Indeed there can be no reasonable doubt but that our courts would hold first, that there is no power granted to Congress by the constitution for such a purpose, and that it was class legislation and that Congress had no power to levy taxation upon the masses for the exclusive benefit of the few. The assertion is made that the government establishes ware- houses for the benefit of distillers, and lends money to the banks, and the question is asked, why not do so for the farmers ? The answer is, the government does not build warehouses for the distillers. The distillers are required by Section 3172 of the revised statutes to erect their warehouses at their own expense. This is for their accommoda- tion. The tax on the spirits is due immediately that the spirits are made, but inasmuch as the raw spirits are not saleable, the govern- ment permits the distiller to deposit his product in a warehouse, built by himself and kept under government control, until the spirits become saleable, and it waits for the taxes in the meantime. Nor does the government lend money to the National Banks. On the contrary, whilst for the sake of uniformity and to prevent counter- feiting it engraves and prints all their notes, it taxes them upon their circulation one per cent, to cover tliis expense. It has sometimes been claimed that this one per cent, is interest on money lent; but Mr. Ashton, who is a leading AUianceman in North Carolina, after a thorough examination of the subject, has stated in the columns of the News and Observer that it is not interest; as a matter of fact what the government provides for the banks is not money, but unsigned bank notes, of no value when so handed to the banks at all. It is true that the government allows its collecting officers, for convenience and safety, to deposit money with the National Banks (if that can be called a loan) but only after the depository banks have deposited with the government a certain amount of United States bonds as security. The government does not lend money to the banks as claimed. It is said also that the Government receives deposits of silver bul- lion, and issues its notes therefor, and the question is again asked why cannot the Government receive deposits of agricultural products and issue its notes therefor ? The answer is plain. Congress does not receive deposits of silver ; but it buys silver. Silver is a money metal, and Congress has the exclusive power, and is charged with the hio-h duty of coining money. Silver and gold being money metals stand on a difiEerent footing from any other articles or commodities. 3T2 LIFE OF VANCE. Viewed in every possible light it seems that such a bill as the proposed sub-Treasury bill would be flagrantly unconstitutional and violative not only of the solemn decisions of the Supreme Court, but of all the traditions of our wisest men and our best Democratic theories. It is not to be wondered at then that many conscientious public men and representatives find a difl&culty in supporting it. Anxious as they naturally would be to go forward with the people, they have been compelled by their understanding to stop on the threshold of this measure. No one can doubt that they are sincerely desirous of serving their country and their constituents. No one can doubt that feeling and ^^ being witness themselves to the wrongs of the agricultural classes, their hearts burn with a desire and a purpose to do all thej' may do to bring relief. When these things are considered, and when in all sin- cerity and truth, the Alliance realizes that this obstacle of unconstitu- tionality stands in the way of the success of this particular measure, will it not be deemed unfortunate for so noble a cause to be so ob- structed ? Let not the farmers handicap themselves in this way. LIFE OF VANCE. 313 CHAPTER XVIII. LAST SICKNESS AND DEATH. Excessive Labor— Loss of Eye— Goes Abroad— Visits England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany, Egypt— Gets Homesick- Returns Not Improved — Goes to Florida — Has Bad Spells — Lives Just Two Weeks After Return— Last Illness— Cheerful, Jocular at Times— Reads Bible— Talks of Old Friends and of His Absent Sons— Solicitude for His Orphan Grand-children— Preparing to Build Them a Cottage — Grateful for Attention — Thanks to Son and Servants — Becomes Unconscious From Apoplexy — Slow and Painless Death— The Funeral in the Senate— Trip to Raleigh— Thence to Asheville— Scenes on the Way — Anxious Throngs at the Stations in North Carolina— The Funeral at Asheville— The Pro- cession and Burial — Public Memorial Meetings Everywhere — Notably in Charlotte— Speeches— Resolutions— Tributes in Prose and Poetry. ¥ANCE'S labors seemed to culminate in 1890. During that year lie prepared and delivered more speeches in the Senate and elsewhere than in any other year of his life. Although in the full vigor of his mental and physical energies, he was in the sixtieth year of his age, and that fact should have admonished him of the importance of taking care of his health and strength. His labor and toil in the committee room, at his desk and elsewhere were arduous and unremitting, extending often from early in the day well into the night. It was a fatal mistake. His nervous system was over-worked. The muscles of his face and eyes, which had sustained a shock just after the war, again became affected, probably the immediate result of a fall from a wagoh at Black Mountain shortly before. His suffering was so great and the symptoms so alarming, that his physicians advised the prompt removal of one of his eyes to save the other, and avert total blind- ness. This operation was performed early in 1891, and 314 LIFE OF VANCE. soon thereafter he made a trip abroad, in the hope that the change would bring him health and vigor again. He visited England, Scotland, Ireland and then France, Italy, and Germany, stopping at the principal cities. He afterwards went to Egypt. He brought home several ears of Egyptian corn and tried to raise from them in Buncombe, but did not succeed very well. He told his son on his return home that he was home-sick while abroad, and that the trip had made him a better x^merican. His health continuing to decline after his return, he went in January, 1894, to Florida, visiting Tampa, Jackson- ville, St. Augustine and Suwannee Springs. He had some bad attacks while in Florida, and was not much, if at all, benefitted by the trip. He lived just two weeks after return- ing to Washington. Although a great sufferer in his last illness, he seldom lost his cheerfulness or good humor. His son, Charles N. Vance, writes: He talked about old friends, some who liad long ago passed away, and others he had not seen for years. His mind seemed continually to revert to old times and old friends. His habit of jesting continued to the last; being asked by a friend if he suffered much from sea-sickness while on the ocean, he answered: "I threw up everything except my seat in the Senate." He took great interest in current events, and especially in the welfare of the Democratic party. He feared defeat was coming, but had an abiding faith in its immortality, and was con- fident it would finally triumph over all opposition. He kept his Bible by his side and read it a great deal. He talked also of religious matters, and was anxious about his church membership, which he caused to be removed from a small church in Raleigh which my mother and himself had joined, and which had been disbanded, to the First Presbyterian Church in Charlotte. He was extremely grateful for attention, often saying to me as I was by his side day and night, "Thanks, mj^ faithful boy." He also just before he died very feelingly expressed to his faithful serving man, Thomas, his sincere gratitude and thanks for his great kindness in serving and waiting upon him during his sickness. During his last illness he talked a great deal of Thom and Zeb, his sons who were in the West, and of his two little grand-daughters, Espy and Ruth, motherless daughters of his deceased son, David, and was having prepared plans for a cottage he intended building for these little orphan grand-children on a place he owned near Black Mountain, in Buncombe countv. LIFE OF VANCE. 3^5 The night of Friday, April 13, the one just previous to his death, was an unu^suallv comfortable one for him. He rested well nearly all the night and ate his light breakfast on the morning of the 14th with relish. I remained with him during the night and left him about S o'clock Saturday morning, and went to the committee room at the Capitol, stopping on the way at Dr. Johnson's office to tell him of the restful night his patient had spent. About half- past ten or eleven o'clock one of the Senate barbers who had gone to the house to shave father came into the committee room and told me father had sent for me to come to him at once. I immediately started, and on reaching his bedside found he had suffered a stroke of apoplexy. He was con- scious, however, when I got there, and on my entering the room, he opened his eyes, raised his hand, and pointing to a chair by the head of his bed said: "Charley, stay here, stay here." These were the last words he ever uttered. I sat by him and took his hand, telling him I would stay. His eves closed and he became unconscious and never rallied. He died about ten o'clock that night. At the time of his death the house was full of friends, including Senator Ransom and most of the North Carolina Congressional delegation and many others. In his room and the one adjoining, were his wife, myself and wife. Dr. Sterling Ruffin, a former North Carolinian, to whom the Senator was much attached, Dr. W. W. Johnson. Judge W. A. Hoke, Hon. Hoke Smith, Secretary Interior; T. J. Allison, of Statesville, N. C. , and several others. Rev. Dr. Pitzer, of the Southern Presbyterian Church, of Washington, was also present. The final end was peaceful and apparently devoid of suffering. The funeral ceremonies took place in the Senate cham- ber on Monday, i6th, at 4 o'clock. They were exceeding- ly impressive. At 3 o'clock the members of the Senate and House appointed to attend the funeral reached the Vance residence on INIassachusetts x\venue and a few minutes afterwards the casket was placed in the hearse and taken to the Capitol under escort. Eight capital policemen under a lieutenant acted as body bearers. A delegation from Raleigh called on Mrs. Vance to request that the Senator's remains be interred in that city, but Mrs. Vance decided not to change her original plan to have the burial at Asheville where Senator Vance some time before had selected a site for his grave. When the Senate reassembled at 3:30 the galleries were packed with eager spectators. Large leather, crimson 3l6 LIFE OF VANCE. colored upholstered arm chairs were in waiting for the family of the dead Senator, to the left of the Vice President, and for the President of the United States and his cabinet to the right. On the secretary's desk was an immense floral piece representing the broken trunk of an Ilex tree, a North Carolina growth, around which roses and other flowers were entwined. Along the walls at close intervals were ranged potted plants of palms and evergreens with two tall North Carolina pines on each side of the Presi- dent's chair. At 3:50 the casket containing the remains of the dead Senator was borne into the chamber by a squad of uniformed capitol police, and placed on a bier in the area. It was preceded by the commitee of arrangements of the two houses, the members of which wore white scarfs and was accompanied by the honorary pall-bearers, wearing black scarfs. The top of tlie casket was covered with a profusion of roses and lillies. Then, immediately afterwards, the deputy sergeant-at-arms, Mr. Layton, announced the arrival at the main entrance of the chamber of the Speaker and members of the House of Representatives. The Vice Presi- dent and Senators stood up and remained standing while the members of the House were seeking their seats — the Speaker taking his seat beside the Vice President, at his right hand and the members theirs on the Democratic side of the chamber which had been entirely vacated by Sena- tors. Next came and were received with like honors the Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, who took chairs in the second row on the Democratic side leaving the chairs on the front row to be occupied by the President of the United States and the members of his cabinet. Then "the ambassador of England to the United States " was announced and all present stood up while Sir Julian Pauncefote was conducted to his place. The President of the United States took his seat in a LIFE OF VANCE. 317 morocco covered arm-chair at the head of the line of chairs in the front row. Next to him sat Secretary Gresham, of the State Department, and then came Secretaries Carlisle, Herbert, Smith, Morton, Postmaster General Bissell, and Attorney General Olney. iVt the end of the room Sir Julian Panncefote sat, and near him Bishop Keane, of the Catholic University. The religious observances were begun with prayer and the reading of scriptural selections by Rev. Dr. Moses Hoge, of Richmond, Va. Then Dr. Hoge delivered an eloquent and touching funeral address. The benediction was pronounced by Chaplain Milburn, and then the coffin, with the remains of the dead Senator, was borne out by the capitol police, attended by the hon- orary pall-bearers and the committee of the two houses. The invited guests left the chamber in the inverse order of their arrival. The funeral procession was formed in the eastern plaza of the capitol and moved to the Pennsyl- vania Railroad station, from which the train left for Ral- eigh at 9 p. m. The special funeral train bearing the remains of the dis- tinguished Senator, after a full night's travel, arrived at Raleigh at 9:30 Tuesday morning over the Richmond & Danville Railroad. Thousands of his old comrades and fellow citizens received all that was left of the most popu- lar man the State has probably ever produced. The train reached Danville at early dawn and hundreds were out to demonstrate their affection for the sister State. At Greens- boro and other points along the route immense crowds could hardly be pressed aside from the car which con- tained the remains. Before Durham was reached the toll- ing of bells from the great Durham Tobacco Works and the appearance of half-masted flags bore evidence of her grief, while an anxious multitude of old veterans pressed in to see their "Zeb," and it was with difficulty they were forced from the cars. 3l8 LIFE OF VANCE. The Governor's Guard was drawn np on the south side the station at Raleigh and presented arms as the casket was placed in the hearse. The casket was covered with black cloth in the most elaborate design, and borne by eight colored men. The hearse was drawn by four black horses, with black trappings. A procession was formed and the march to the capitol v/as begun. The procession moved slowly in the following order: Police officers, the Gov- ernor's Guard, the hearse, the United States escort, the State escort. State officers. Supreme Court and Superior Court judges, the mayor and aldermen, citizens on foot and in carriages, the young lady pupils of St. Mary's School. ]\Iany places of business were closed and there was a most respectful silence on the streets. During the passage of the procession the city bell was tolled. The procession made its way to the western portal of the capitol, and there, while the military again presented arms, the body was borne into the building. The casket was placed upon the catafalque and at 10:20 was opened, so that the familiar face of the dead Senator was exposed to view. The ex- pression was wonderfully life-like, the embalmer having done admirable work. The casket rested upon a catafalque of pyramidal form, covered with pine leaves and those of the magnolia with native wild flowers from Vance's own beloved Carolina woods. At the foot of the casket were two young pine trees. It was covered with flowers. Around in the rotunda were palms and other evergreen plants. The funeral cortege moved back to the train at 4 o'clock and at 4:30 p. m. it left for Asheville. A stop of half an hour was made at Durham and two hours at Greensboro. Thous- ands of people passed through the car and viewed the remains at these places. The crowds that thronged the stations along the way to Asheville delayed the train by their urgent demands to see, at least the casket, and they filled the funeral car with magnificent floral offering. Each halt added beautiful LIFE OF VANCE. 319 flowers marked, " From the Ladies to our Zeb," and when Asheville was finally reached, and the funeral car was opened for the last time, it required the aid of a company of militia to remove the tributes. The Asheville Light Infantry escorted the remains from the train to the church and mounted guard over them while the reverent crowd passed to take a last look at the beloved, familiar face. The scene was especially touching when the Confederate vet- erans took leave of their old commander. After these came several of the Senator's old slaves. The funeral escort from Washington consisted of Sena- tors Ransom, George, Gray, Blackburn, Dubois and Chandler, and Representatives Henderson, Crawford and Alexander, of North Carolina; Black, of Illinois; Brookshire, of Indiana; Strong, of Ohio, and Daniels, of New York, and Gen. W. R. Cox, Secretary of the Senate. These were joined at Raleigh by Governor Elias Carr, Secretary of State Octavius Coke, Treasurer S. ]\IcD, Tate, Attorney-General F. L Osborne, Auditor R. M. Furman, Railroad Commissioner J. W. Wil- son, Judge Avery, of the Supreme Court, ex-Governor Jarvis, R. H. Battle, Thos. S. Kenan, Josephus Daniels, E. J. Hale, and many others. In Mrs. Vance's party were Mrs. Goodloe, of Kentucky; Miss Hoke, of Lincolnton, N. C. ; ]\Irs. Allison and mother, of Statesville, and Mrs. Chas. N. Vance. The pall bearers at Asheville were Judge Jas. H. Merri- mon, W. H. Penland, Jas. L. McKee, G. S. Powell, J. H. McDowell, W. H. Malone, Jas. E. Rankin, T. S. Johnston and J. B. Brevard. The procession to the cemetery was formed in the -fol- lowing order: Mounted police, Asheville Light Infantry, Bingham Cadets, pall-bearers in carriages, special escort of Rough and Ready Guards surrounding the hearse, family of the deceased, congressional committees, Governor and staff, city and county officers. Masonic order. Survivors' Association, Grand Army of the Republic, Odd Fellows, 320 LIFE OF VANCE. Knights of Pythias, Royal Arcanum and Knights of Honor. These were followed by different labor organizations and the entire city fire department. The procession, both civic and military, numbered about 10,000, while thousands looked on as spectators. The streets through which the procession passed were draped in mourning, and from the front of the county court house hung a large portrait of the Senator, while stretching from the belfry on both sides to the ground were cords from which waved the marine sig- nals which spelled "We Mourn for Zebulon Vance." The ceremony at the grave was exceedingly solemn and was conducted by Rev. Dr. Campbell, of the First Presby- terian church, after which the floral offerings v/ere grace- fully placed, and thus North Carolina buried a son whose place may be partly filled in the council halls of the nation, but never in the hearts of her people. But this was not all of Vance's funeral, nor the greater part. The people of North Carolina were sorely bereaved. Their grief was poignant. Their idol had been broken in pieces and their vases shattered. Like Rachel weeping for her children, they refused to be comforted. In all parts of the State the people met together in towns and villages to express their sorrow and testify of their love and affection. The high and the low, the humble and the exalted mingled their tears upon the common altar of grief. No North Carolinian ever had such a funeral and it is doubtful if any citizen of any State, with the possible exception of Jefferson Davis, ever had a like funeral — such a universal going forth of the people to hold memorial services and by resolutions and speeches in their towns, at their court houses and places of worship, to testify their deep sense of the great bereavement which had fallen upon them. An entire volume would be required to describe these meetings, with the speeches made and resolutions passed, and yet it would all be very interesting and instruc- tive as showing how a great and good man, by his devotion LIFE OF VANCE. 321 and love for his people, may in turn canse their love and affection to be lavished npon him. On the day before the funeral at Asheville a large crowd assembled in the auditorium in Charlotte, several thousand of all ages, all classes and conditions. The proceedings of this meeting are described in the Charlotte Observer as follows : Beautiful and touching speeches were made but the gem of all was that of the long time law partner of the dead Senator. His voice was full of tears, his whole being quivering with sincere and ill-suppressed emotion, and it almost seemed that drops of blood from his lacerated heart lingered about the words which fell from his lips. He said: " If I should say this bereavement came as a personal one to me I should only say what was true of every man, woman and child in the State, for the Governor was loved by all. No man before him was ever so universally loved. His image seemed to be engraved upon the hearts of all his people. He was especially the friend of the com- mon people, even little children instinctively knew he was their friend." The speaker told of two country men, who during the late campaign inquired of him whether Vance was coming to Charlotte. No, was the reply; he is not strong enough to speak. " Oh, we don't want him to speak. We just v/ant to see him one more time," said one. " I would ride ten miles through the rain the v/orst day in the winter just to get to see the side of his face," said the other. " No one thoroughly knew him," continued the speaker. "I did not. He was not built to the measure of other men. He was a great reader and student of history. He loved old books and ancient stories and characters. He was fond of taking Cyrus, Alexander, Caesar, Hannibal, and getting the gist of their campaigns, comparing them with similar campaigns of modern times. He even found time to make detours into astronomy and geology. He had many adversaries ; he was in many battles and conflicts, but I don't think he had an enemy when he died. In his great big heart there was no place for enmity. His life was pure, and no scandal was ever attached to his name. They will lay him to rest among the mountains where his boyhood and early life were spent, and from that lofty couch he will be aiSong the very first to catch the dawn of the eternal day." This surpassingly eloquent peroration was greeted with an unsup- pressed and uncontrollable outburst of applause, which, yet at the same time seemed somehow to be muffled and in mourning. The Rev. Dr. Preston, pastor of the First Presbyterian church, said he thought one of the most remarkable things about this remarkable man, and which made most for his remarkable career, was the train- ing of his mother. She had laid the foundation for his character and 22 322 LIFE OF VANCE. reputation to rest upon. He pictured the Governor in his old pew in the First Presbyterian church in former daj-s; he was not a communi- cant then, but had the knowledge of his mother's training as a holy inspiration, but it was not till after the death of his wife that he con- nected himself with any church; that most appalling family affliction, the greatest calamity that can befall any man, was the chart and com- pass which guided him to port. Governor Vance was then found, not uniting with some strong church, but with a little struggling church in Raleigh, and recentl}% when occasion came to remove his member- ship, he placed it in the old church in Charlotte, so fragrant to him, doubtless, with sweet associations. Perhaps there was never before a memorial meeting held in honor of a great Gentile prince at which an Israelite stood up and paid such a tribute as did Mr. Samuel Wittkowsky to the memory of Zebulon B. Vance. He spoke of how Vance had won the hearts of the Hebrews of this State and country by the full measure of justice he accorded them in his famous lecture on the "Scattered Nation," and he said no Israelite ever voted against Vance. Such a blow has fallen upon our State and country that it will take long years to overcome it. In com- mon with the million and a half of North Carolina's sons and daughters I wish to give expression not only to mj' feelings personally on this melanchoW event, but I speak also for my race in the State and throughout the Union. The deceased has ever by his words and acts demonstrated that he was their friend. And now, fellow-citi- zens, let us perpetuate his memory and teach our children to emulate his example, and let us instruct our children to instruct their children and their children's children to revere his memory, and that wherever their lot may be cast and they are asked where they came from, to point with pride to the State which gave birth to Zebulon B. Vance. The next speaker was Col. Hamilton C. Jones, and his was a very beautiful tribute, indeed, and deserves a full report which a lack of time forbids. He related among other things that after Vance had been elected to the United States Senate, while Governor of the State, and was about leaving for Washington, I saw him and said this honor must be very pleasing and gratifying to you, and he replied as God is my judge, be assured I would rather serve the people as Governor than to be the foremost Senator in the United States. Col. Jones said Senator Vance was easily first among all the statesmen North Carolina had produced ; that he did not understand the art of mere politics. His triumphs came from honest purpose and right conviction.' Rev. Dr. Pritchard, who followed Col. Jones, said he once thought Gaston, and again Badger, the greatest North Carolinian, but now he was fully convinced that Vance was more than the peer of either of them, He related that he once told Vance he heard him quote a LIFE OF VANCE. 323 Scripture passage uuwarrantedly and inaptly. The Senator acknowl- edged that it was true and thanked Dr. Pritchard for the "merited rebuke," and added that he was taught in the Scripture by his mother and an aunt, and that a day never passed without his reading the Bible and that he would try to be thenceforth more careful. A second iiieniorial meeting was held at the same place the day after the burial, the attendance being large and principally from the country. The following account of it is from the facile pen of Miss Addie Williams, the talented city editor of the Daily Observer: "Vance, of, by and for the people," said Capt. Ardrey yesterday. Surely no man was ever loved as this one. Country and town assembled yesterday to do honor to his memory. The auditorium held between two and three thousand people. An audience composed of high and low, rich and poor, country and town people. Just such an assemblage has not been seen here before. The country people began coming in early yesterday morning. Every township in the county was represented. All came with like impulse and sentiment — with fervid desire to pay tribute to "Zeb Vance," the people's idol. There were on the rostrum, besides the singers, Rev. Dr. Preston, Major C. Dowd, Capt. W. E. Ardrey, Major S. W. Reid, Dr. J. B. Alex- ander, Col. J. E. Brown, Messrs. J. M. Kirkpatrick, C. W Tillett, J. P. Alexander, John Springs Davidson, H. K. Reid, and J. Hervy Hen- derson. On motion of Mr. Henderson, Capt. Ardrey was called to the chair. The press representatives present Avere requested to act as secretaries. The religious part of the service was, by the request of the committee, conducted by Rev. Dr. Preston, who led the vast audi- ence in a prayer, in which he thanked God for the life of "this great and good man whom we are called together to pa}' tribute to. We thank Thee that he died in full communion with the Church. We also thank Thee for the sorrows that gathered around his life that may have influenced him in becoming a Christian ; for his pure exam- ple, and may we, like him, be able to ascribe all the power and glory to Thy name. Amen." Dr. Preston then announced that Senator Vance's favorite hymn would be sung. Said he: "We can tell what a man thinks by know- ing what he likes sung, for music appeals to the soul. Gov. Vance loved this old hymn of the church, 'Jesus, Lover of My Soul,' and let all stand now and sing it, here in this building where he stood for the last time in Charlotte a j'ear ago this May." The vast audience, in response to Dr. Preston's suggestion, rose 324 LIFE OF VANCE. to its feet, and such a wave of melody went up that the billows of sound seemed overladen. It was the people's requiem over the dead and loved Vance. After the hymn, Capt. W. E. Ardrey addressed the audience. "We have met," said he, "to do honor to a great man. This meet- ing was called in honor of our great vSenator, Zebulon B. Vance. He was of the people, bj' the people and for the people, and he lives in the hearts of the people. It is a delight to honor this great and glori- ous man. While North Carolina has its Gastons, Grahams and others, she can boast of only one Zeb Vance. He was her great leader. Wherever he lead the people followed. He had no will of his own when her interests were at stake. His bidding was from God and his country. He was poor because he was honest. His name will be handed down with that of Webster, Calhoun and other great men. Whoever his mantel falls on will receive a pure and spotless one. We thank God to-day, my friends, that he died with clean hands and a pure neart. Let us teach our children to honor and revere the name of Zebulon Baird Vance." Maj. Dowd, by request, then read the following resolutions, which were unanimously adopted: "The death of Zebulon B. Vance is a national calamity. It is a sore bereavement to the people of his own beloved State and brings sadness and sorrow into every heart. The people of Mecklenburg county, without distinction of age, sex or condition, have assembled to pa}' tribute to the memory of this illustrious citizen. "Resolved, That in the death of Senator Vance the government and people of the United States have lost from the counsels of the nation a wise statesman, a devoted patriot, a man of eminent abilities and conspicuous devotion to duty. "Resolved, That the people of North Carolina, in the death of this eminent man, are called upon to mourn the loss of their best beloved friend and their most faithful and devoted public servant, whose whole life was given with singular fidelity to the interests of all the people of the State, the high as well as the low, the poor as well as the rich, and the lowliest, most humble, in like manner with the most exalted. " Resolved, That we shall cherish the memory of this good man for his great intellectual gifts, for his glowing and warm-hearted sym- pathy and affection for his people, for his singular devotion to their interests throughout his long and illustrious career, and for his con- spicuous public and private virtues, which shone no less bright, whether in the sunshine of peace and prosperity or in the darkness and shadows of a long and bloody civil war. His memory is enshrined in the hearts of a grateful and devoted people, especially his neighbors and countrymen here present, who knew him best and loved him most, and will be cherished and preserved with affection and love so long as life shall last. LIFE OF VANCE. 325 " Resolved, That the papers of the city be requested to publish these resolutions." A second beautiful tribute was paid to Governor Vance by his friend and former law partner, Major Dowd. He referred to his pre- vious talk, and said that this occasion was one on which the fullness of the heart kept the mouth from speaking. Senator Vance, he said, might be considered an easy siibject to eulogize, but yet he was not. You could say he was a great Senator, great Congressman, great lawyer, great soldier, great big-hearted man, and yet the subject would not be exhausted. There would be required a few more touches of the brush to bring out the portraiture of Zeb Vance. He was unique; he was great, grand, noble and pure. Say all that could be said, and you have thebiggest, best man North Carolina ever produced. [Applause.] He had all the great qualities that go to make up a man. Nature could stand by and say "this is a man." Why did the common people love him ? Because of that big heart the great God gave him to beat in response to his people all over the countr3\ [Applause.] He never asked whether this or that is popular; he seemed to know intuitively what was best for his people. Who but Vance would ever have thought of having scythes and cotton-cards brought over in the vessels for the people during the war ? His great power, besides his personal magne- tism, was that he was honest, clean and pure. He never had an enemy. That little mound in Asheville is crowned by the good will of his adversaries as well as the thousands of his friends. Maj. Dowd recalled Vance's and Settle's visit here. Vance, he said, knew that the bands would be out, flags flying, escorts awaitino- him, and that Settle should not feel the lack of such, sent to Wadsworth's and got four handsome black horses, had them hitched to a carriage and called for Settle himself, taking him to the speaking .seated by his side. Maj. Dowd paused a minute before passing on to the next part of his address. His eyes filled v.-ith tears and bis voice was soft and low when he said, " I want to tell you now of his last hours. I attended the funeral and had a short talk with his widow. She said her hus- band was conscious up to a short time before his death. He knew he was going to die, but was too considerate of her and the children to talk of it. He told her he only thought of it enough to keep himself right with his God. The barber from the capitol came to shave him Saturday morning, but he was too sick to be shaved. Mrs. Vance noticed a look in his eye that she knew meant that the end was near. She told the barber to go back to the capitol and tell ' Charlie' to come, and turning, said to th'e Governor, ' Husband, what must David tell them at the capitol ? ' ' Just the truth, the truth,' he said. As the barber left, he drew Mrs. Vance's face down to his and kissed her. Shortly after the cook came in to ask how he was. Senator Vance looked at him and said, ' Thomas, you have been very kind to me and 326 LIFE OF VANCE. I want to thank you.' His ruling passion was strong in death. ' Tell them the truth,' he said, and turning to that humble man he thanked him for kindnesses. Such a funeral no man in North Carolina ever had. He sleeps by the broad river, typical, in its endless flow, of eternity, while lavish wreaths from loving hearts cover his grave." Dr. J. B. Alexander was the next speaker. He paid a beautiful tribute to the great Vance. ''No man," said he, "since the daj-s of Nehemiah has ever had such love for his people as Senator Vance. During reconstruction all eyes were turned to him. He was a Samson in the camp. He was a man without a peer ; North Carolina's noblest son. We loved him because he loved us. Let all bring garlands to deck his grave and perpetuate his memory." Mr. H. K. Reid, of Sharon, was next called on, and made one of the best talks of the day. "The nation," said he, "mourns the loss of her purest statesman, and North Carolina the loss of her best beloved son. This is an unusual meeting. Men of all classes are here to-day to do honor to Vance. It is right that the country people be allowed to take part in the meeting, to pay their tribute to him who in these degenerate days, while others are proving treacherous, never betrayed a trust and never faltered in his devotion to his peo- ple. Our noble Senator fell in defense of the rights of the people he loved so well, and well may North Carolina weep over the death of him who was her best friend in the counsels of the nation." Major S. W. Reid, of Steel Creek, was next asked to make some remarks. He thanked the people of Charlotte for providing the opportunity of allowing the people to express their opinions. "There is no citizen, however humble," said he, "but can pay their humble tribute and say they loved Vance. Leaving out Gladstone, I know of no other so great. As parents love to recall, after the death of a child, the many little things it said or did, so Vance's people will love to tell of this or that remark they recall." Here the speaker told of once being in South Carolina and seeing Senator Butler. He remarked to him, that he was almost as big a man as Zeb Vance. "No," said Butler, "Vance is a great man." "Nature,'" continued Mr. Reid, "seemed to have exerted herself to make a grand man, as the Observer said, he was an 'all round man.' He was the father of North Caro- lina, and no father ever risked more for his children than did Vance for his State. He loved his God and his people." Mr. John Springs Davidson was the next speaker. He paid an enthusiastic and loving tribute to Senator Vance. "It is the duty of every citizen in the United States to pay tribute to Senator Vance," said he. "If God had spared his life he would have occupied the highest position in the gift of the people. [Great applause]. I say to the young men of Met klenburg to take Zeb Vance as their model. There may be a Zeb Vance in this audience. Emulate his example. He was the greatest man of this day and of this generation." LIFE OF VANCE. 327 Next followed Mr. J. W. Moore, of Hopewell, in one of the best talks of the day. He said that he had often heard it said that North Carolina was the best place to be born in and the best to move from. Vance thought the latter not true. Vance became prominent although he did not leave his native State. Experts could not analyze Vance's character. The great question is asked, why was it the people loved Zeb Vance better than they did any one else ? It was because he was true and honest, and loved them. He never asked, " does it pay?" but " is it right ?" The North Carolina troops were better fed than any other, and all during the war this " War Governor's " first thought was his people. The names of Vance and Governor Sej-mour, of New York, will stand out as the two prominent figures of war days. He had the biggest heart in the world. At Salisbury, when the Federal soldiers could not be provided food sufficient to supply their need, Vance fed them as much as his own soldiers. Mr. Moore advised the college boys of the State, when they wanted a subject for their com- positions, to go no more to Rome because a greater than Caesar was here — in North Carolina history. Mr. J. P. Alexander next paid his tribute to Vance. He dwelt particularly on the war record of the great war Governor. "Where is the State," said he, "that has produced another Vance, or any one like him ? There was no Mason's and Dixon's line separating the goodwill of the people. The North honored him as well as did the South. He was the greatest man America has ever produced." Col. J. E. Brown followed with a sincere and beautiful tribute bearing on the remarkable record of Vance as a soldier and war Governor. His passing down the line was inspiration to his soldiers to follow him, even into the Jaws of death. In the legislative halls he stood the peer of any man. Col. Brown attributed the strength of his character to the teachings derived from his mother in early life, and his wonderful familiarity and use of the Bible. The gem of all the talks was reserved for the last — that of Mr. C. W. Tillett. From the moment he repeated the first sad words — "Zeb Vance is dead" — through every tear-bedimmed utterance, the people sat enrapt, and handkerchief after handkerchief went faceward to catch the falling tears : "Zeb Vance is dead ! Few and short are these cruel words which men with lips compressed and cheeks all blanched have whispered one to another; and yet they bear the message of the greatest grief which ever yet has filled the Old North State. "Zeb Vance is dead! Ring out the funeral bells and let their mournful tones re-echo in the empty chambers of the hearts once filled with gladsome sounds of his loved voice. "Zeb Vance is dead ! And mirth herself hath put on mourning ; and laughter, child of his most genial brain, hath hid her face in tears. "Zeb Vance is dead ! The fires of party strife are quenched ; and 328 LIFE OF VANCE. throbbing hearts and tear-beclouded 63-65 tell more than words of grandest eloquence the angiiish of the people's minds and how they loved him. "Zeb Vance is dead ! Soldier, statesman, patriot, friend! In war and peace, the one of all her sons to whom his mother State looked most for succor and relief; and can it be that in the days to come, when dreaded dangers threaten all around, we nevermore can call for him before whose matchless powers in days gone by our enemies have quailed and fled ? "Zeb Vance is dead! His was a name 3'ou could conjure with, and oftimes in the past, when this loved Commonwealth of ours has been stirred to its inmost depths, and men knew not which waj- to go nor what to say, the cry was sounded forth that 'Vance is coming,' and from the mountain fastness of the west and the everglades of the eastern plains, the people came who never would come forth to hear another living man, and gathering around in countless multitudes, they hung upon his every word with eager eye and listening ear, and all he told them they believed because 'our Vance' had said it. "Zeb Vance is dead! And where shall come the man to tell the world soul-inspiring storj' of his hero life? How, coming forth from humble home, he baffled and o'ercame the fates that would have crushed beneath their feet a man of meaner mould; how serving faithfully and well in every trust committed unto him, he soon won first place in the hearts of all his countrymen and held that place for three score years unto the end; how, when his native land was plunged in throes of civil strife, he went forth in the front rank to defend and save her and fought with valor all her foes; how called to rule as chief executive in times that tried men's souls, he ruled so wisely and so well; how when the war was over and the cause was lost — when down upon his bleed- ing, prostrate country came the horde of vampires from the North to suck the last remaining drops of life blood from his people, he rose with power almost divine and drove them back; and then with gentle hand he caused the wounds to heal and his loved land to prosper once again as in the years gone by; and how at last, when after years of faithful, honest toil, upon his noble form was laid the ic}^ hand of death, he bowed his head in meek submission to His will and yielded up to God his manly soul! Who can be found to sing the praise of such a one, and Avho can speak the anguish of the people's hearts at his untimel}- death ? " Zel) Vance is dead ! He was the friend and tribune of the people. Though he rose to place where he held converse with the great and mighty of the earth, his sympathetic heart was open wide to all man- kind, and his strong arm was first stretched forth to lift the lowliest of the sons of men that cried to him for help, and in the Nation's Senate halls his voice was ever lifted up to plead the cause of the down-trodden and oppressed against the favored classes and the money kings. LIFE OF VANCE. 329 " Zeb Vance is dead ! And when he died, a poor man died ; for though he stood where oft there was within his grasp the gains of millions if he would but swerve from right and reach it, he cast it all aside with scorn, and dying, left his sons and all the people of his land the priceless legacy of an honest and untarnished name. " Zeb Vance is dead ! And yet he lives ; the influence of his noble words and honest life can never die ; and in the years to come men gathering round their firesides at the evening hour shall tell their sons of him and how he scorned a lie and scorned dishonest gains. "Zeb Vance is dead ! But he shall live forever more. Oh, blessed truth, which Mary's Son, the God-man, taught when standing near the tomb with His all-conquering foot upon the skull of death. He called forth Lazarus unto life, and told a listening world the thrilling truth that whosoever lived and in His name believed shauld never die. " Zeb Vance is dead ! If it be truth ' That men may rise on stepping stones Of their dead selves to higher things,' " Oh, grander truth, that a nation too may rise on stepping stones of her dead hero sons unto a higher life. And God vouchsafe that our own State, while weeping o'er the grave of him, her best-loved, most honored son, may yet be thereby lifted into a grander, nobler life." OUR VANCE IS DEAD. Low lies our hero's head : — the muffled bell, In solemn tones, bespeaks the funeral knell ; Its quaintly mournful measures seem to tell The passage of a human soul from mortal shores, ^ In some weird craft, propelled by spirit oars, O'er seas Eternal, to that unknown bourn. Whither, hath journeyed, every friend we mourn : From whence, no no human soul hath e'er returned, A tale to tell of what he may have learned. And sad it be that mourning friends, no more On earth, may know of those, who've gone before : The wife, the child, however much they grieve, No message, sign, nor token, may receive. To hint the fate of him so loved, so dear, And who, unseen, may still be lingering near ; — Perchance, in spirit, knows each joy or woe, Or hope or fear, the friend of earth may know. Our Vance is dead — How pale his lips and dumb. And nevermore may loving accents come From those mute organs, nor shall Senate Halls Resound with forceful eloquence, that falls From lips of his, — now silent as is death : 33© LIFE OF VANCE. From mortal clay, has fled the vital breath. No more shall Buncombe's hardy yeoman meet In mighty throngs, her honored son to greet ; Upon his words to hang, and list the strain Of noble thought and theme, in lofty vein — And patriotic, firing sonls to thought. And deed, most worthy of the cause he sought, — The best good of his country, and his State. Alas ! the swift-winged Messenger of Fate, Full soon, o'ertakes all men, however great ; While folded in his wings, he ever bears. To man, a respite from his earthly cares ; A final answer to this problem, deep : — Is death — or no — one long, eternal sleep. f Our Vance is dead : — He chose the better part ; Though poor in purse, how nobly rich in heart. Nor did he seek the sordid things of earth, But fain aspired to those of royal worth. He sought a loyal people's good esteem ; Their love and honor was his dearest dream. This Commonwealth, that proudly claims his birth, Hath shown him honors, and esteemed his worth : / Thrice hath he won her Gubernatorial Chair ; To govern jiistly, was his greatest care ; To Halls of Congress, twice he hath been sent, And chosen thrice his State to represent. Among the Solons of his Land a Peer, Unbribed by Favor, and unswervedby Fear. And now he's passed away, beloved and great, — The very idol of the Old North State. Among her mountains, grand, his body lies. Her honored Hero, and her Statesman, wise. His words and deeds, recalled, will be, I deem. For years to come, the story teller's theme. — C. Clarke Brown, in The Register. ZEBULON BAIRD VANCE. — 183O-1894. Son of the mountain side, Thy work is done! Thy toil is o'er, and from the shore Thy bark hath gone. Heart so broad and free. We'll miss thee long! In martial strife, or calmer life, So brave and strong. LIFE OF VANCE. 33 1 Thou of the nobler mind Than oft we see, No v allia nt light for truth and right, But e'er had thee. State that he loved so well, Forever keep Sacred his name, his lasting fame, Till all shall sleep. —William Thornton Whitsett. 332 LIFK OF VANCE. CHAPTER XIX. EULOGIES IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE. Orations by His Colleagues in the Senate — Ransom, Morrill, Sherman, Gray, Blackburn, George, Dubois, Chandler and Jarvis. THE following eloquent and pathetic orations were delivered by Vance's colleagues in the Senate on January 19th, 1895: [Address of Mr. Ransom.] Mr. President : The Senate is asked to render its last duties of honor and sorrow to the memory of the Hon. Zebulon Baird Vance, late a Senator from North Carolina. In this Chamber on the i6tli of last April, two days after his death, the Senate lighted its black torches around the lifeless form of that most honored and beloved son of our State, and his mortal figure, covered with the white flowers of spring and love, and hallowed by the sacred devotions of religion, passed amid tears like a shadow from these por- tals forever. To-day his associates on this floor are here to place on the ever-living annals of the Senate the record of their admiration and affection for his virtues. In 1878 he was elected to the Senate, and until he died remained a member of this body, having been elected four times a Senator. His record in the Senate is part of the nation's history. From the beginning he w^as an active, earnest debater, a constant, faitliful worker, a dutiful, devoted Senator, aspiring and laboring for the welfare and honor of the wliole country. He was at all times on the important committees of the body, and took a prominent part in the discussion of almost every leading question. He was the unceasing advocate of revenue reform, uncom- promisingly opposed to civil service, and the ardent friend of silver money and its free coinage by the Government. LIFE OF VANCE. ;^;^^ He vigilantly defended the rights, honor, and interests of the Sonthern States, not from sectional passion or preju- dice, but because it was his duty as a patriot to every State and to the Union. He was bold, brave, open, candid, and without reserve. He desired all the world to know his opinions and positions and never hesitated to avow them. His heart every moment was in North Carolina. His devotion to the State and people was unbounded; his solici- tude for her welfare, his deep anxiety in all that concerned her, and his ever readiness to make every sacrifice in her behalf was daily manifested in all his words and actions. Senator Vance was an uncommon orator. He spoke with great power. His style was brief, clear, and strong. His statements were accurate and definite, his arguments com- pact and forcible, his illustrations unsurpassed in their fitness. His wit and humor were the ever-waitine and ready handmaids to his reasoning, and always subordinated to the higher purpose of his speech. They were torch- bearers, ever bringing fresh light. He always instructed, always interested, alvva}'s entertained, and never wearied or fatigued an audience, and knew when to conclude. The Senate always heard him with pleasure, and the occupants of the galleries hung upon his lips, and with bended bodies and outstretched necks would catch his every word as it fell. He rarely, if ever, spoke without bringing down applause. His wit was as inexhaustible as it was exquisite. His humor was overflowing, fresh, sparkling like bubbling drops of w4ne in a goblet; but he husbanded these rare resources of speech with admirable skill, and never displayed them for ostentation. They were weapons of offense and defense, and were always kept sharp and bright and ready for use. He was master of irony and sarcasm, but there was no malice, no hatred in his swift and true arrows. Mortal wounds were often given, but the shafts were never pois- / 334 LIFE OF VANCE. oned. It was the strength of the bow and the skill of the archer that sent the steel through the heart of its victim. But strength, force, clearness, brevity, honesty of convic- tion, truth, passion, good judgment, were the qualities that made his speech powerful and effective. He believed what he said. He knew it was true ; he felt its force himself; his heart was in his words; he was ready to put place, honor, life itself, upon the issue. This was the secret of his popularity, fame, and success as a speaker. He studied his speeches with the greatest care, deliberated, meditated upon them constantly, arranged the order of his topics with consummate discretion, introduced authorities from history, and very often from sacred history, presented some popular faith as an anchor to his ship, and concluded with a sincere appeal to the patriotic impulses of the people. No speaker ever resorted to the bayonet more frequently. He did not skirmish ; he marched into the battle, charged the center of the lines, and never failed to draw the blood of the enemy. Sometimes he was supreme in manner, in words, in thought, in pathos. He possessed the thunderbolts, but, like Jove, he never trifled with them; he only invoked them when gigantic perils confronted his cause. In 1876, upon his third nomination for Governor, speaking to an immense audience in the State-house Square at Raleigh, he held up both hands in the light of the sun and with solemn invocation to Almighty God declared that they were white and stainless, that not one cent of corrupt money had ever touched their palms. The effect was electric ; the statement was conviction and con- clusion. The argument was unanswerable. It was great nature's action. It was eloquence. It was truth. Senator Vance's integrity and uprightr|ess in public and in private life were absolute ; they were' unimpeached and unimpeachable; he was honest ; it is the priceless inheri- tance which he leaves to his family, his friends, his coun- try. He was an honest man. Calumny fell harmless at LIFE OF VANCE. 335 his feet; the light dissipated every cloud and he lived con- tinually in its broad rays ; his breastplate, his shield, his armor was the light, the truth. There was no darkness, no mystery, no shadow upon his bright standard. Senators will all remember the loss of his eye in the winter of 1889. How touching it was — a sacrifice, an offering on the altar of his country. For no victim was ever more tightly bound to the stake than he was to his duty here. How bravely, how patiently, how cheerfully, how manfully he bore the dreadful loss ! But the light, the glorious light of a warm heart, a noble nature, a good conscience, an innocent memory was never obscured to him. It was to him a great bereavement, but it was another, a more sacred tie that again and again bound his countrymen to him. In his long and tedious illness no complaint, no mur- murs escaped his calm and cheerful lips. He was com- posed, firm, brave, constant, hopeful to the last. His love of country was unabated, his friendships unchanged, his devotion to duty unrelaxed. His philosophy was serene, his brow was cloudless, his spirit, his temper, his great mind, all were superior to his sufferings. His great soul illuminated the physical wreck and ruin around it and shone out with clearer luster amid disease and decay. Truly he w^as a most wonderful man. His last thoughts, his dying words, his expiring prayers were for his country, for liberty and the people. A great patriot, a noble citizen, a good man, it is impossible not to remember, to admire, to love him.- I can not compare Senator Vance with Caesar, Napo- leon, or Washington. I can not place him at the side of Webster, Clay, and Calhoun. I do not measure him with Chatham and Gladstone. He was not a philosopher like Franklin, he was not an orator like Mirabeau, but placed in any company of English or iVmerican statesmen he would have taken high position. 336 I.TF'E OF VANCE. He had not the wisdom and virtue of Macon ; he \va» not like Badger, a master of argument; he was not like Graham, a model of dignity and learning ; he had not the superb speecli and grand passion of Mangum ; he wanted the tenacious and inexorable logic of Bragg ; but in all the endowments, qualities, faculties, and attainments that make up the orator and the statesmen he was the equal of either. No man among the living or the dead has ever so pos- sessed and held the hearts of North Carolina's people. In their confidence, their affection, their devotion, and their gratitude he stood unapproachable — without a peer. When he spoke to them they listened to him with faith, with admiration, with rapture and exultant joy. His name was ever upon their lips. His pictures were in almost every household. Their children by hundreds bore his beloved name, and his words of wit and wisdom were re- peated by every tongue. What Tell was to Switzerland, what Bruce was to Scot- land, what William of Orange was to Holland, I had almost said what Moses was to Israel, Vance was to North Caro- lina. I can give you but a faint idea of the deep, fervid, exalted sentiment which our people cherished for their greatest tribune. He was of them. He was one of them. He was with them. His thoughts, his feelings, his words were theirs. He was their shepherd, their champion, their friend, their guide, blood of tlieir blood, great, good, noble, true, human like they were in all respects, no better, but wiser, abler, with higher knowledge and prof oundcr learning. Nor was this unsurpassed devotion unreasonable or without just foundation. For more than the third of a century, for upward of thirty years, in peace and in war, in prosperity and in adversity, in joy and in sorrow, he had stood by them like a brother — a defender, a preserver, a deliverer. He was their martyr and had suffered for their acts. He was their shield and had protected them from evil and from peril. He had been with them — he LIFE OF VANCE. ;^;^y had been with them and their sons and brothers on the march, by the camp fires, in the bnrnino^ light of battle ; beside the wounded and the dyino- ; in their darkest hours, amid huno^er and cold, and famine and pestilences, his watchful care had brought them comfort and shelter and protection. They remembered the gray jackets, the warm blankets, the good shoes, the timely food, the blessed medi- cines, which his sympathy and provision had brought them. In defeat, amid tumult, amid ruin, humiliation, and the loss of all they had, he had been their adviser ; he had guided them through the wilderness of their woes and brought them safely back to their rights and all > their hopes. He had been to them like the north star to the storm-tossed and despairing mariner. He had been greater than Ulysses to the Greeks. He had preserved their priceless honor, had saved their homes, and was the defender of their liberties. He w^as their benefactor. Every object around them reminded them of his care, every memory recalled, every thought suggested, his use- fulness and their gratitude. The light from their school- houses spoke of his services to their education. The very sight of their graves brought back to their hearts his ten- der devotion to their sons. And the papers and the wires with the rising of almost every sun bore to their pure bosoms the news of his success, his triumphs, and his honors. They were proud of him ; they admired him — they loved him. These, these were the foundations, the solid foundations, of his place in their minds and in their hearts. From the wind-beaten and storm-bleached capes of Hatteras to the dark blue mountain tops that divide North Carolina and Tennessee there is not a spot from which the name of Vance is not echoed with honor and love. ' But his influence and his fame were not confined within State lines. In New England the sons of the brave Puritans ad- mired his love of liberty, his independence of thought, his 23 T,T,8 LIFE OF VANCE. freedom of speech, his contempt for pretensions, and his abhorrence of deceit. The hardy miners in the far West and on the Pacific hills felt his friendship and were grate- ful for. his services. Virginia loved him as the vindicator of her imperiled rights and honor. From the farms and fields and firesides of the husbandmen of the Republic there came to him the greeting of friends, for he was always the advocate of^'low taxes and equal rights and privileges to all men. / From all the South he was looked upon as the representative of their sorrow and the example of their honor ; and all over the civilized world the people of Israel — "the scattered nation" — everywhere bowed with uncovered heads to the brave man who had rendered his noble testimony and a tribute to the virtues of their race. Even the officers, the sentinels, and watchmen over him in the Old Capitol Prison, in which he was confined on the alleged and wrongful charge that he had violated the laws of war, were spellbound by his genial spirit and became his devoted friends up to the hour of his death. His genius, his ability, his humanity, his long-continued pub- lic service his great physical suffering, a martyrdom to his duty, the sorcery of his wit, the magic of his humor, and the courage of his convictions had attracted the universal sympathy and admiration of the American people. In the brief summary in the Directory is embraced a great life: County attorney, member of the State house of commons; Representative in two Congresses; captain and colonel in the Southern army; three times elected Gov- ernor of his State, and four times elected to the Senate of the United States. What a record and what a combi- nation ! A great statesman, a good soldier, a rare scholar, a successful lawyer, an orator of surpassing power and elo- quence, and a man popular and beloved as few men have ever been ! Great in peace and great in war, equal to every fortune, superior to adversity, and, greater still, superior to prosperity ! Successful in everything which he attempted, LIFE OF VANCE. 339 eminent in every field in which he appeared, and fitted for every effort which he nndertook ! He was master of political science and distinguished in scholarship and literature. His political speeches were models of popular oratory and his literary addresses were compositions of chaste excellence. He wrote an electric editorial and drafted a legislative bill with equal clearness and brevit)\ His pen and his tongue were of equal qual- ity. He used both with equal power. He wrote much ; he spoke more. Everything emanating from him wore his own likeness. He borrowed from no man. He imi- tated no man and no man could imitate him. He was unique, original, wonderful, incomprehensible unless he was a genius with faculties and powers of extraordinary and exceptional character. His temper \vas admirable, calm, well balanced, serene. He cared less for trifles than an}' man I ever knew. He brushed them away as a lion shakes the dust from his mane. In this respect he was a giant. He was like Sam- son breaking the frail withes that bound his limbs. He was never confused, rarely impatient, seldom nervous, and never weak. He was merciful in the extreme. Suffering touched him to the quick. He was compassion itself to distress. He was as tender as a gentle woman to the young, the weak, the feeble. He was full of charity to all men, charitable to human frailty in every shape and form and phase. He had deep, powerful impulses, strong and passionate resent- ments ; in the heat of conflict he was inexorable, but his generosity, his magnanimity, his sense of justice were deeper and stronger and better than the few passing pas- sions of his proud nature. To his family and friends he was all tenderness and indulgence. His great heartalways beat in duty, with sympathy, with the highest chivalry to woman. 340 LIFE OF VANCE. The man that lays his hand upon a woman, Save in the way of kindness, is a wretch, Whom 't were gross flattery to name a coward, was always upon his lips. He was ambitions, very ambitious; but with him ambi- tion was virtue. He aspired to be great that he might be useful, to do good, to improve and to benefit and to help mankind. His was not the ambition of pride and of arro- gance and of power. It was the ambition of benevolence and philanthropy, the ambition to elevate, to lift up, to bless humanity. From early manhood he had possessed a respectable com- petence. At no time did he ever suffer penury. He hus- banded with great care his resources and was prudent, frugal, thoughtful in his expenditures; but he never turned a deaf ear to pity or to sorrow. He was not avaricious ; he had no love for money and was never rich in gold, sil- ver, and precious stones or lands, but he was opulent in the confidence and affections of the people. His great wealth was invested in the attachments, the friendships, the faith, the devotions of his fellow-men, that priceless wealth of love of the heart — of the soul — which no money can purchase. In many respects he was very remarkable. In one he was singularly so. He never affected superiorit}- to human frailty. He claimed no immunity from our imperfection. He realized that all of us were subject to the same condi- tions, and he regarded and practiced humility as a cardinal virtue and duty. Senator Vance was happy in his married life. In his early manhood he was married to Miss Harriet Newell Esp^y, of North Carolina. She was a woman of high in- tellectual endowments, of uncommon moral force, of exem- plary piety, and exercised a great influence for good over her devoted husband which lasted during his life. Their union was blessed with four sons, who survived their LIFE OF VANCE. 34 1 parents. His second wife was Mrs. Florence Steele Mar- tin, of Kentncky, a lady of brilliant intellect, of rare grace and refinement, who adorned his life and shed Inster and joy on his home. All during- the fatal malady that ended his life, with sleepless affection, with tireless tenderness, with holy duty, she was by him until the last breath came, and he expired in her arms, in the solace of her love. He loved the Bible as he loved no other book. All of his reverence was for his God. He lived a patriot and a philanthropist and he died a Christian. This is the sum of duty and honor. He has gone. His massive and majestic form, his full, flowing white locks, his playful, twinkling eye, his calm, homelike face, his indescribable voice, have left us forever. He still lives in our hearts. The great Mirabeau in his dying moments asked for music and for flowers and for perfumes to cheer and brighten his mortal eclipse. Vance died blessed with the fragrance of sweetest affections, consecrated by the holiest love, embalmed in the tears and sorrows of a noble people. The last sounds that struck his ear w^ere the echoes of their applause and gratitude, and his eyes closed with the light of Christian promise beaming upon his soul. On the night of the i6th of April last we took his cas- ket from these walls. We bore it across the Potomac — through the bosom of Virginia, close by the grave of Washington, almost in sight of the tombs of Jefferson and Madison, over the James, over the North and the vSouth Roanoke, over the unknown border line of the sister States — to the sad heart of his mother State. The night was beautiful. The white stars shed their hallowed radi- ance upon earth and sky. The serenity was lovely. The whole heavens almost seemed a happy reunion of the con- stellations. With the first light of day the people, singly, in groups, in companies, in crowds, in multitudes, met 342 LIFE OF VANCE. US ever5'\vhere along the way — both sexes — all ages — all races — all classes and conditions. Their sorrow was like the gathering clouds in morning, ready to drop every moment in showers. We carried him to the State house in Raleigh, the scene of his greatest trials and grandest triumphs ; the heart of the State melted over her dead son. Her brightest jewel had been taken away ! We left Raleigh in the evening, and passing over the Neuse, over the Yadkin, over the Catawba, up to the summit of the Blue Ridge, we placed the urn with its noble dust on the brow of his own moun- tain, the mountain he loved so well. There he sleeps in peace and honor. On that exalted spot the willow and the cypress, emblems of sorrow and mourning, can not grow, but the bay and the laurel, the trees of fame, will there flourish and bloom in perpetual beauty and glory. There will his great spirit, like an eternal sentinel of liberty and truth, keep watch over his people. Senators, I feel how unable I have been to perform this sacred duty. It would have been one of the supreme joys of my life to have done justice to the life and character of this great and good man, to have enshrined his memory in eloquence like his own. But whatever may have been the faults of these words, I have spoken from a heart full of sorrow for his death and throbbing with admiration and pride for his virtues. [Address of Mr. MorriU.] Mr. President : Our late associate here, Senator Vance, appears to have been, both early and late, a prime favorite of North Carolina. He was born there, and was early made an heir to honorable and lifelong fame. The same year of his admission to the bar, at the early age of twenty-two, he was elected county attorney. Two years later he was elected to the State house of commons, and then, when only one year past the age of eligibility, he was promoted to the United States House of Representa- LIFE OF VANCE. 343 tives, where he remained a member from 1857 ^^ 1861. Then, starting as a captain in the militar>' line of the rebellion, in three mouths he rose to the rank of colonel. But his State in 1862 more needed his services as a civil- ian, and he was elected at the age of thirty-two Governor of the State. By re-election he held this office through all the stern vicissitudes of the rebellion. While a stanch supporter of the Confederacy, he yet had some State-rights differences with its President, but they were amicably adjusted. Rarely has any man so young been intrusted by the peo- ple of a great State and in a great crisis with the foremost official stations within their gift. But to them always — A man he seems of cheerful yesterdays And confident to-morrows — and he had their hearts. Largely home and self-instructed, finely equipped with a full-chested physique and resonant voice, and with a genial overflow of mother wit, he early became a notable orator in all political campaigns ; but it was his close touch and familiarity with the leading topics of the day, his fidelity to his convictions of duty, as well as respect for the senti- ments of his people, and his spotless personal reputation which made them grapple him to their souls "with hooks of steel." To whatever station called, so well pleased were his people that with one accord they asked to have him go up higher. When he was first elected to the House of Representa- tives in 1857 as a Whig, with South-American proclivities, I had been serving there first as a Wliig with Republican proclivities, and if either of us then had much reverence for the Democratic party I must admit it was prudently dis- sembled. Young and brimful of humor, song, and story, he was highly esteemed by the members of all parties in the House, as he was here. In an era when our whole 344 LIFE OF VANCE. country appeared to be rumbling with invisible earth- quakes and hissing- with the oratorical skyrockets of seces- sion he served for four years, or until 1861, and, so far as I remember, contributed nothing to our or to the national "unpleasantness." During his Senatorial service, from 1879, ^^ fifteen years he was not a frequent debater, except on tariff and revenue questions, where he differed radically from such ancient Whig statesmen as Badger, Mangum, and Stanly, formerly representing the Old North State; but whenever he spoke he had no lack of hearers, and they were often rewarded by the originality of his remarks and by the witticisms interspersed, redolent of his native Buncombe county. So long as health permitted he was a regular attendant upon the meeting of the Senate Finance Committee, of which he was a valuable member. The large increase in the number of the members in both Houses of Congress has made obituary notices of such frequent occurrence that I fear the time occupied for the brief tributes here to our departed fellow-members is some- times granted with reluctance. I feel sure, however, that no one will begrudge the hour subtracted from legislative affairs and now given up to the memory of the most beloved man perhaps of his State associated with us here for many years, and one, however widely apart politically from some of us, for whom every Senator here to-day is a sincere mourner. I called upon him toward the end of his earthly career and found him bearing his bodily afflictions with cheerful fortitude. The loss to his State will be great, and to his family incomputable. Personally, I lament here to say, farewell, my time-honored friend ! [Address of Mr. Sherman.] Mk. Pri'.sidext : The frequent recurrence of scenes like this, when the Senate pauses in its important duties to note LIFE OF VANCE. 345 the death of one of its members, must impress us with the feeble tenure with which we hold both life and public honor. We recall our departed associate with kindness and charit)-. We bur}- in his grave all the differences of opin- ion, all party or sectional contentions, and think only of the good he has done, of the qualities of his head and heart which gained our affection or commanded our respect. It is in this spirit I wish to add a few words to the eloquent eulogy of Governor Vance by his distinguished colleague. My first acquaintance with him was when he became a member of the House of Representatives of the Thirty-fifth Congress, having been elected to fill a vacancy caused by the election of Mr. Clingman to the Senate. He was about twenty-eight years old, large, handsome, and of pleasing address and manner. He called himself a Whig — a Henry Clay Whig — and supported the public policy of that emi- nent statesman. In this we were in hearty sympathy. We were thrown frequently into kindly association. We could agree on many questions of public policy, but we could not agree on the sectional question then arising like a threaten- ino- cloud on the horizon. We were born in different lati- tudes, under the influence of different institutions, with firm convictions honestly entertained, but diametrically opposite with respect to the institution of slavery. This wide difference of opinion was chiefly sectional, and therefore more dangerous. This institution was a slumbering volcano anxiously perceived by the framers of our Constitution and carefully dealt with, in the hope that by the action of the several States African slavery would be gradually abolished as inconsistent with our free insti- tutions. This hope was delusive. Slavery at different periods of our history threatened our National Union, but happily this contention was wisely smothered by the com- promises of 1820 and 1850, though it only needed a torch to arouse it into activity. The repeal of the Missouri com- 346 LIFE OF VANCE. promise in 1854 was the cause, or, as some say, the pretext, of the violent destruction of parties and the civil war. Governor Vance entered Congress, in 1858, as a member of the American party, occupying a middle position between the Democratic and the Republican parties. He did not rush into the arena of debate, but his personal and social qualities, and especially his wit and humor, were well known, and gained him many friends. After a month or two he was drawn into a brief casual debate, and at once was recognized as a young man of marked ability. Later in the same session he made one speech defining his opinions on the leading questions of the day. From this time his ability as a debater was conceded. In the memorable Thirty-sixth Congress Governor Vance took a more active part. He still held his fellow- ship with the American party, but that party melted away under the influence of passing events. The struggle in Kansas, the formation of the Republican party, the break- ing up of the Charleston convention, the adoption of new dogmas for and against slavery — these and many other events left no room for parties except on sectional lines, and no choice of policy except disunion with slavery per- petuated, or of union with slavery abolished. I criticise no man for his choice in that conflict. It was indeed an irrepressible conflict, the seeds of which were planted before our Union was founded. Governor Vance took sides with his people and I with mine. The result was in the disposal of the Almighty Ruler of the universe, who doeth all things well. I believe the time will come, if it has not already cQUie, when the North and the South, the Confederate and the Union soldier, and their descendants in far distant generations, will thankfulh' unite in praise to God that our conflict ended with a restored and streno^th- ened Union. There can be no doubt that at the beginning of the civil war Governor Vance was conspicuous at home as well as UFE OF VANCE. 347 here as an ardent, outspoken Union man, but he also loved his State and his people, among whom he had been born and bred, and when they were sw^ept away by the torrent of opinion in the belief that it was their duty to secede from the Union he went with them. The question, as it presented itself to his mind, was whether he should fight with his neighbors or against them. Of his decision in such a choice there could be no doubt. As a soldier and Governor of North Carolina he did all he could to estab- lish the Southern Confederacy, but when the events of the war led the Confederate authorities to trench upon what he considered as the rights of his people he firmly insisted upon preserving those rights. Some years after the war closed he was elected to a seat in this body. I need not say to Senators that in the performance of his public duties and in his association with his fellow-Senators he was always a pleasant companion and a kind and indulgent friend. He carefully attended to public duties, took his full share in the debates, and con- tributed by his wisdom and counsel to many important public measures. The life of a man and a nation is like the current of a river, full of dangers, at times calm and slow and then rapid and turbulent. From the feeble spring of infancy to the resting place in the ocean or the grave, there are many trials, vicissitudes, storms, and trouble, as well as peace- ful and happy moments. Our enjoyment of life depends largely upon temperament. The obstructions in our way are mountains or molehills, according to the disposition of each individual. We create in a measure our own sun- shine and shadow. It has always seemed to me that the peculiar characteristics of Governor Vance were his happy temperament and hopeful view of life. He carried with him wherever he went'cheerfulness and joy. The humor and pathos with which he illustrated an argument, the sin- cerity and moderation of his opinions, his fidelity to his 348 LIFE OF VANCE. friends, the apparent honesty of his convictions — these were the attributes of our departed friend. In his life among us in the Senate he was clieerful, kind, and consid- erate. He left no enemies here. He died assured of the affection of his family, the confidence of his constituents, the love and respect and honor of his associates in the Senate. [Address of Mr. Gray.] ]\Ir. President: The man whose loss we mourn to-day was no ordinary man, and the words of touching- eulogy to which we have listened have set vibrating chords of sympathy and grief in a manner and to a degree not ordinary. How hard is it for each of us, even after this interval since his death, to realize that we shall see his face no more. Senator Vance had become, more than is usual, a part, an almost necessary part, it seemed, of our daily life here. In him the humanities were so active and so abundant that he seemed made to brighten social life and strengthen the social instinct. In this hour of sad retrospect his kindness of heart, his ready and responsive sympathy, his catholicity of spirit, his freedom from bigotry, envy, and all uncharitableness, are the qualities upon which we who knew and loved him fain would dwell to the exclusion of those attributes of intellect and character which excited our admiration and so distinguished his public career. And yet the "elements were so mixed in him" — his gentleness, his courage, his magnanimity, his robust manhood, his humor, and his remarkable intellectual gifts — that it is hard to analyze the man or consider him otherwise than he was, teres atque rotundus. His public life was a long and full one. It covered a period replete with interest to his State and country. Fearless in the expression of his mature convictions, he LIFE OF VANCE. 349 had an almost unequaled power of impressing them on the Senate and the conntry. His equipment as an orator was strong and unique. Great quickness of perception was united to great facility and felicity of speech. His mind was well disciplined and logical, and he maintained the purpose and continuity of his argument with great ability and skill. But it was in what is called running debate that, it seemed to me, his greatest power was displayed. The quick play of his intellectual forces here made hiiu preeminent. Sarcasm, repartee, humor, were all at instant command. Of these weapons he had always a quiver full, and woe to the antagonist who carelessly exposed himself to them. But this ready wit never left scars behind. He never made a brow look dark Nor caused a tear but when he died. , . Like lambent lightning, h is w it was softly bright ; it illuminated, but did not burn. :L' There are few of us who can not recall the delight occasioned by its display, and how story, epigram, and apt illustration lighted up many a tedious discussion, his clearness of mental vision making many a crooked path straight. No debate was dull in which he engaged, and no one cared to leave this Chamber when Vance was on the floor. No one who heard the long debate on the tariff bill of 1890 will ever forget the part which was taken in it by Senator Vance. As a member of the Finance Committee of this body he bore in large measure the burden of that memorable dis- cussion. The details of the bill were thoroughly mastered by him, and he devoted laborious days and nights to the study of the complex and difficult questions involved in its consideration. He sacrificed his ease and comfort to the performance of his duty, and his unremitting devotion to the work before him through the long- weeks and months 350 LIFE OF VANCE. of that spring and summer cost him the sight of an eye and greatly impaired his naturally strong constitution. It has been given to few men to carve for themselves so secure a niche in the temple of their country's fame. Senator Vance was thoroughly in touch with the plain people, as Lincoln loved to call them. He understood them, and was one in feelings and sympathy with them. He loved the folklore of the mountain districts of his own State, and dwelt with fond pleasure on the home-bred traits and fireside virtues of the people among whom he lived. And right royally did that generous people return his love. It was my sad privilege, Mr. President, to be one of the committee that accompanied his remains to their last rest- ing place in the State he loved so well, and I was witness to the spontaneous expression of affectionate regard for his memory. The demonstration was confined to no class or color. Wherever we went, rich and poor, white and black, alike seemed in their grief to have received that touch of nature which makes the whole world kin. And when we had performed the last melancholy offices for the dead, and left him in his grave on the moun- tain side, amid the beautiful scenery of the French Broad, we felt that no monumental marble would be necessary to preserve the rich heritage of the name and fame of Zebulon B. Vance to his State and country. [Address of Mr. Blackburn.] Mr. President : I have thought that it might be better that these ceremonies should be changed and that what- ever was to be said of the dead might be said at the time when the announcement of the death was made. If I had taken counsel of the love that I bore this man I would have come as others have, with a carefully arranged and prepared eulogy illustrating his virtues and his merits. UFE OF VANCE. 351 But I have not. However, I listened to the address deliv- ered by his surviving colleague, and it went far to remove the prejudice that I hold against these ceremonials, for never in all my life did I hear the virtues, the merits, the worth of a man more eloquently portrayed, more fairly and truthfully put. I cannot agree to let this occasion go by without at- testing at the expense of the time of the Senate for one minute the appreciation in which I held this man and the love that I cherished for him. His genial nature attracted everybody. There was a special reason for me to know him closely. The widow whom he left behind him is a cherished and petted daughter of ni}- State. That natur- ally drew us together. I knew him for the last twenty years. I knew him by reputation before. Whether as sol- dier or as citizen, as member of the other House, as mem- ber of this Chamber, or as Governor of his State in the stormiest day that this country ever knew, he loomed up alwaj's above the forms of those by whom he was sur- rounded. He was known as the great war Governor of the South, and ranked side by side with the great Curtin, of Pennsylvania, who represented the loyalty of the Union at that dark hour. This man's character, ]\Ir. President, is best illustrated by an instance with wdiich I became acquainted only within the last week, and but for which I would not have asked the indulgence of the Senate to attest my love to his memory. The General Commanding the Armies of this country told me less than a week ago that when the war ended he was left in command of the district of North Carolina. He received an order peremptory from the War Office here to arrest Governor Vance, to capture all his papers and correspondence and send them to the War Department. He said he knew full well that Vance was not seeking to flee the country or avoid arrest, but that he sent an ofl&cer up to his mountain home with instructions 352 LIFE OF VANCE. to capture every paper that belonged to his official or his personal correspondence and bring them there; and the officer did. General Schofield sent Governor Vance with those papers and records here to the then Secretary of War. We all remember that that was Pennsylvania's great war officer, Stanton, whom some people thought was not mild, whom some thought was even savage; but who, in my judgment, in point of efficiency and ability was the greatest war min- ister that the earth has known since the days of the elder Carnot of France. General Schofield sent Governor Vance here, and among those records he sent the book which con- tained every particle of correspondence that Vance had ever held with the President of the dead Confederacy. All was open, and Stanton examined it all. When he did, and saw what this man had done, how persistent his efforts had been to ameliorate the condition of Federal prisoners and to assuage the horrors of war, this great Secretary said to him, "Upon your record you stand acquitted ; you are at liberty to go where you will." Mr. President, may not we v/ho knew^ this man so well and loved him so closely indulge the hope that another, a greater Judge, with ampler power, whose writs run through- out eternity as well as time, after examining the record of a life spent in the service of his fellows, reached the same conclusion and delivered same verdict that Stanton did, and told our dead friend that "Upon your record you stand acquitted, and through all the shining realms of Paradise you may go where you will." [Address of Mr. George.] Mr. President: I wnllingly comply with the request of the senior Senator from North Carolina [Mr. Ransom] to take part in these memorial services. My personal acquaintance with Senator Vance com- menced in 1 88 1, when I became a member of the Senate. He had then been a Senator for a time long enough to UFR OK VANCH. 353 acquire a leadership on the Democratic side of this Cham- ber — a leadership which was every year more and more distinctly recognized until his death. From the very first I was attached to him, not more by his many high social qualities than by a conviction on my part of his great value as a statesman. Our association was such that it enables me to say with pride that we were friends. His powers of debate were remarkable and in many respects unrivaled. He possessed sound logic, which enabled him to solve the most difficult problems and to present his views on them with great clearness and force. He was gifted also with great humor, which he used in debate with effectiveness in illustrating his argu- ment. He used his great powers of wit and humor not as mere ornament to his discourse, but always as a substan- tial aid to his argument. This gift was always made sub- ordinate to, and a servant of, his powers of reasoning. He was one of the few men whom I have known who, being possessed of brilliant powers to please and attract by wit, humor, and anecdote, never succumbed to the tempta- tion to be amusing and agreeable at the expense of being instructive. In any legislative body in the world he would have been esteemed great. The moral side of Senator Vance was no less admirable. He was brave, generous, magnanimous, humane, tender, and, above all, honest ; honest not only in his actions, but in his thoughts. He* had his high ideal of the good, and lived up to it without deviation. His idea of honesty did not stop at fairness in dealings with others, but it com- pelled an adherence to fair dealing with himself, an honest and upright purpose in the ends he sought, either by pri- vate enterprise or public service. He had an ambition to serve in public life, but it was an ambition which found gratification only in rendering great public service. He loved the great mass of his countrymen ; he sympathized 24 354 LIFE OF VANCE. in their struggles and in their aspirations. His ambition was to make these struggles easier, and to make these aspirations higher and nobler, and to secure to them as the end more ha]3piness and greater advancement. In an age where the occasional demoralization of public men had cast suspicion upon high characters, not the slightest taint ever rested upon him. He was unspotted. He went through the fiery ordeal with no stain upon his garment. He had that high devotion to the people's rights and interests that he could not view public measures in any other aspect than as to their effect on the general welfare. He never considered them with reference to their effect on his own personal or political fortunes or for the purpose of advancing the interest of a few favorites of for- tune or of government. In conclusion I feel warranted in saying that the sober verdict of history will assign to Senator Vance a very high place in the first class of American statesmen, and that his death, at that stage of the development of his high powers when his greatness and usefulness were recognized by all, came too soon for the public good, and was a great national loss. [Address of Mr. Dubois.] Mr. President: Zebulon B. Vance was born on the 13th day of May, 1830, in Buncombe county, N. C. He was educated at Washington College, Tennessee, and the University of North Carolina. In Januar}', 1852, he was admitted to the bar and was elected attorney for his native county in the same year. In 1854 he served as a member of the State house of commons of North Carolina, and was a Representative from North Carolina in the Thirty-fifth and Thirty-sixth Congresses. In Ma\', 1861. he entered the Confederate army as a captain and was promoted to a colonelcy in August of the same year. He was elected Governor of North Carolina in August, 1862, and was re- elected in August, 1864. LIFE OF VANCE. 355 He was known as the war Governor of his State, and dur- ing his administration the great writ of habeas corpus was never suspended. During his incumbency of the office of Governor, and just at the close of the war, his State was taken possession of by the Federal troops. He was cap- tured, released on parole, and confined to Iredell county, N. C. In a short time thereafter he was again taken in charge by a company of United States troops at Statesville, N. C, and brought from there to the Old Capitol Prison, in Washington, where he was confined for about three months. In November, 1870, Governor Vance was elected to the United State Senate, but was unable to qualify because his political disabilities had not been removed. He resigned his claim to a seat in the Senate in January, 1872. In the same year he was again the Democratic nominee for United States Senator, but was defeated by a combination of bolt- ing Democrats and Republicans, who elected the late Judge Merrimon. In the meantime he practiced law in Char- lotte, N. C, with the Hon. Clement Dowd, with whom he remained in partnership until 1876, when he was, for the third time, nominated for Governor of his State and elected. by a large majority — the Republicans, up to that time, having had control of the State government from the close of the war. On March 18, 1879, Senator Vance, having again been elected to the United States Senate — this time to succeed Senator INIerrimon — took his seat in this Cham- ber and remained a member of this body until the day of his death, April 14, 1894. His term of service would not have expired until March 4, 1897. No man, I believe, ha^ ever enjoyed to a greater extent the love and affection of the people of the State. It was genuine love and affection, and [ was told that when the news of his death was announced many men and women, as well as children, all over his State, wept as if they had lost a near and dear relative as well as friend. He appre- ^. 356 LIFE OF VANCE. ciated keenly the friendship cf his people and the many- honors they had conferred upon him, and was, in turn, their true, loyal, and devoted friend and champion to his last dying breath. No one of his constituents was too humble to be accorded an interview at any time, and to be rendered a service if it was in his power to aid or cheer them. The respect and devotion uniformly shown by the peo- ple at his funeral was such as is rarely, if ever, accorded to a public man. Throngs of people lined the railroad track all the way from Raleigh to Asheville. The night before reaching Asheville was ideal, and peculiar to South- ern climes. The moon was shining full, the air was balmy, and most of us who composed the funeral escort sat up until long past midnight. In the early hours of the morning, as the train would whirl past a small station, hundreds of people could be seen standing on the banks near the track in solemn and reverent silence. They knew the train would not stop, yet they had traveled many miles in order to pay this last tribute of love to their departed leader and friend. All with whom I came in contact said that Senator Vance was regarded as a personal friend by everyone. I was particularly struck with a little incident that hap- pened as the funeral train was passing through Durham, N. C, where it stopped for a few moments, to allow the citizens to view the remains. The crowd was so great that it was with difficulty that people could reach the funeral car; in fact, many were not able to get there at all, and among the latter was an old lady who was deeply disap- pointed at being prevented from taking a last look at her departed friend. She tried to console herself, however, by showing the crowd a twenty-five cent and a ten-cent sil- ver piece which she had placed upon the track as the train ran into the station. They were completely flattened out. LIFE OF VANCE. 357 and she proposed to keep them as mementos. She said it was all the money she had on earth. Another tonchino- incident occnrred at Asheville, where he was bnried. The snrviving soldiers of his old company who went to the front with him when the late war broke out attended the funeral in a body, or rather all of them who were able. There was one who lived many miles from the city, and who, on account of being a cripple from wounds received, could not go to the grave. At the hour for the last sad services to commence, however, he had himself carried to the little building not far away, which served both as country school house and church, and there he solemnly tolled the bell as long as he thought the rites were continuing. Senator Vance could not bear unfriendly or strained relations with any of his colleagues, and always found a way to overcome them. It was my lot to run counter to him during my early life in Congress. He bitterly opposed the admission of Idaho to the Union, which I as the Delegate was urging, and made a speech full of sar- casm and ridicule adverse to our claims. His picture of our citizens was a most severe arraignment. After Idaho became a State, and my seat in the Senate was contested, Senator Vance took the side of my opponent and earnestly contended against the legality of my election. Several months after the contest had been decided in my favor, and when we were fighting on the same side in favor of silver, he came to my seat one day and said : "Dubois, I am willing to forgive you for everything I have done against you and Idaho." From that time until his death I had the honor and pleasure of his friendship and confi- dence. I believe that more than all else, if possible, he cherished and prided himself upon the confidence his people had in his integrity and honesty. He often spoke of it, and said they knew "his hands were clean," and if he had made 358 LIFE OF VANCE. mistakes they were mistakes of judgment, and not made through dishonest motives. His sense of humor remained with liim to the last. Twenty-four hours before he died he sent for his friend and colleague, Senator Blackburn. Orders had been given by his physician that he must not be excited by visitors. "Joe," said Vance, "they say I must not see anyone, but you won't hurt me, and you know I can't hurt you." In that inter- view,, which he knew was his last, he cheered his friend with anecdotes and reminiscences, and sent kindly words to his colleagues whom he was leaving. [Address of Mr. Chandler.] Mr. President: The tributes of affection given to the memory of Senator Vance when, on the 17th of April last, we bore his remains to their last resting place, proved that he was universally beloved by the people of the State of North Carolina, without distinction of party or of race. Wherever the train halted crowds of friendly sympathizers, with sad faces and kindly words, expressed their sense of their loss of their Senator, whom all seemed to have known as a friend, and whose fame all seemed to feel was a glory to them and their Commonwealth. South and east we went to Raleigh; all business was suspended and the whole region poured out its crowds to take a last look at the form of their great citizen, soldier. Governor, and Senator, resting within the precincts of the State capitol. Not merely the Governor and State officers, but all the people, old and young, men, women, and chil- dren, white and black, pressed through the j^ortals Lo say farewell to him they loved as a public man has seldom been loved by those whom he has served. Then we went westward toward the mountain home of our departed friend. All the stations were thronged with eager yet gentle mourners. At Durham, most melodious voices, coming from men and women with black faces and toil-worn hands, sang with touching pathos, "Father, we LIFE OF VANCE. 359 rest in Thy love." At Greensboro the little station was crowded with citizens, and the old Twenty-sixth Regiment Band of Salem-Winston, which had followed the fortnnes of war with their chieftain, discoursed sacred music. At last, on the morning of the i8th, we reached the section where our friend was born. From the surround- ing towns to Asheville came delegations ; from Charlotte, Hendersonville, Marion, Morganton, Winston, Salisbury, and others whose names have passed from me. In remoter places we learned that all labor had ceased ; buildings were draped ; flags were half-masted, and commemorative services were held. In Asheville the day was wholly given to the burial of their beloved dead. It seemed as if every res- ident came to see in death him whom they had known so well in life. Masons, Odd Fellows, State militia. Confed- erate veterans, local organizations of many names, were the escort to and from the church. The school children, in their beauty and freshness, lined the roadway ; and after appropriate religious rites, in the beautiful cemetery at Riverside, on the slopes of the valley of the noble French Broad River — ashes to ashes, dust to dust — we committed to mother earth, from which it sprung, the lifeless body of him whose immortal soul had left its tenement of clay, and who, even as we stood there mourning, w^as walking with the angelic hosts in the streets of the New Jerusalem. Mr. President, almost unqualified praise may be spoken of the character of this son of North Carolina whom we now commemorate. Born among the mountains which are so surely the home of untamed freedom, he was self- re]iant and independent. He was a strong man naturally and intellectually, and made himself a name and a fame as a lawyer, as an orator, and as a statesman which gave him a high place in the history of his State, and entitle him to manifestations of respect and honor from this Senate and from the people of the United States. As a public speaker to large audiences he stood amono- 360 LIFE OF VANCE. the foremost of his generation. He was gifted in that great essential of a popular orator, a vivid imagination, enabling him to freely illustrate his ideas and thus reit- erate them to his auditors with great effect. His accurate memory supplemented his imaginative powers, and with his fine person and pleasing voice he early became the lead- ing orator of his day in his State, and from the attract- iveness and power of his speeches, in every part of that widely extended Commonwealth, he came to be the most familiar figure to her citizens of all her prominent char- acters, admired, sought for, applauded, and beloved to a height of personal popularity seldom reached by a public man. For his many-sided and superior abilities he is remem- bered and mourned by his people. I love to think of him as a tender friend. Possessed of a keen sense of humor, without which life in this sad and mysterious state of existence would be worth so little, and with geniality of temper and manner, he was endeared to all his associates in this body. They were always glad when he appeared ; they rejoiced in his companionship ; his wit delighted them without inflicting pain, and they parted from him always with reluctance. I am thankful that I was allowed the privilege of assisting in bearing his mortal frame to its last resting place, and that I am now permitted to speak even feeble and inadequate words of praise and affection for the courteous gentlem.an, the good citizen, the faithful husband and father, the eloquent orator and accomplished Senator, above all, the gentle and loving friend, who has gone before us to the spirit land. As we once more finally part in this world with one whose joyous presence lately filled our sight and thoughts, whom we can still see with eyes of mental vision, we cling to faith in immortality. This life would be worth- less, and a mockery of human hope, if there were not a life beyond. Imperfection pervades every earthly posses- LIFE OF VANCE. 361 sion and achievement. We can not even make an effort to nnderstand the purposes of the Maker of the universe, if this life is the whole of human existence. We can not brino; ourselves to believe in His goodness if the wrongs of this life are not to be made right in a future state. Without debating dogmas, we all hope, we all believe, that somehow, somewhere, sorrow and sighing shall flee away, all souls shall be saved, and permanent happiness shall at last come to all the children of men. This faith, whether kept secret or admitted, I believe abides in the hearts of all. Mr. Froude expresses what he says is a universal feeling : There seems, in the first place, to lie in all men, in proportion to the strength of their understanding, a conviction that there is in all human things a real order and purpose, notwithstanding the chaos in which at times they seem to be involved. Suffering scattered blindly without remedial purpose or retributive propriety ; good and evil dis- tributed with the most absolute disregard of moral merit or demerit ; enormous crimes perpetrated with impunity, or vengeance when it comes falling not only on the guilty, but the innocent, * * t- these phenomena present, generation after generation, the same perplexing and even maddening features ; and without an illogical but none the less a positive certainty that things are not as they seem ; that, in spite of appearance, there is justice at the heart of them, aud that, in the working out of the vast drama, justice will assert somehow and some- where its sovereign right and power, the better sort of persons would find existence altogether unendurable. The words of this great thinker and writer find an echo in every thoughtful human soul. But faith prevails and hope springs eternal in the human breast. There is an existence beyond the present life where all shall be made clear. We shall see as we are seen ; we shall know even as we are known. Mr. Dickens made the poor idiotic Barnaby and the coarse, strong Hugh of the Maypole Inn hold conversations about the wonders of the visible heavens ; and they inquire of each other whence comes the light of the innumerable stars that dot the skies. When they w^ere both under sen- tence of death, and, just before the dawn of day, were led 362 LIFE OF VANCE. across the prison yard toward the place of execution, Bar- naby, looking np toward the myriad lights of the night, exclaims — Hugh, we shall know what makes the stars shine, now. Our faith here to-day ought to exceed that of the poor simpleton created by the imagination of the novelist. Not only shall we know what makes the stars shine, but all the wonders of the vast universe shall be open to our search. Our homes shall be among the heavens ; the problems that our burdened souls have studied so despair- ingly shall be happily solved, and Vv'e may even become participators in the knov.dedge and power of Him Whose power o'er moving worlds presides. Whose voice created and whose wisdom guides. To this felicity the friend we now with tenderness remember has already fully advanced. We would not, if we could, bring him back to earth, slowly and painfully to die again. We wait, reverently and hopefully, for the summons to us tojoinhim in somestarthat is shining, from eternity to eternity, with unfading luster in God's illimita- ble wilderness of worlds. [Address of Mr. Jarvis.] Air. President : I had not intended to speak on this occasion, for the distinguished dead of whose virtues others have spoken so justly and so feelingly was to me more like a brother than a friend. But in the last few hours I have concluded to speak, and I nov/ ask to add this simple but sincere tribute to his memory. Vance was arrested, imprisoned in the Old Capitol at Washington, but was released after some months, and then he, too, addressed himself to the great work of bringing order out of chaos and prosperity out of poverty. Before much had been done in that direction his State passed through the bitter days and years of reconstruction, in which he stood all tlie time for law and order and eood LIFE OF VANCE. 363 government. In the election of 1870 the Democrats car- ried the Legislature of his State, and when that body con- vened Vance was elected to the United States Senate, but the Senate declined to remove his disabilities or to admit him to his seat in that body. It was upon his return trip home after his futile effort to get his disabilities removed that he is said to have made the humorous but pointed reply to the two clergymen who, sitting in the seat in front of him, were engaged in a heated discussion of the doctrine of election. They were not able to agree, and seeing that the gentleman behind them seemed to be much interested in the discussion they appealed to him for his opinion. To their inquiry he promptly replied : "My experience is that the election is not worth much if your disabilities are not removed." The Republicans had held the executive and judicial departments of the State government of North Carolina from July, 1868, to 1S76, and they did not intend to sur- render these de]Dartments without a stubborn fight. They nominated the Hon. Thomas Settle, their ablest man, for Governor, to lead their forces in the great campaign of 1876, and the Democrats nominated the idol of the people, Hon. Zebulon B. Vance, to lead them. These two giants, the idols of their respective parties, agreed upon and con- ducted a joint canvass of the State, and for tliree months they addressed in joint debate the greatest political assem- blages ever seen in North Carolina. Thousands flocked to hear them every day. Great cav- alcades met them on the highway and escorted them to the places of speaking. It was by far the most wonderful political campaign ever seen in the State, and Vance created snch enthusiasm among his followers that he was swept into office by a m.ajority of more than 13,000. He was inaugurated Governor of his State for the third time on the ist of January, 1877, t>ut he only served out half of his term of four years. Being elected to the United States 364 LIFE OF VANCE. Senate in January, 1879, he resigned the office of Governor to accept a seat in the Senate, and his successor in the Governor's office was inaugurated on the 5th day of February, 1879, The reforms and plans which he inaugurated during his two years of service as Governor for the development and upbuilding of his State were pursued and carried out by his successor in office to the great advantage of the people and the public interest. He was re-elected Senator in 1885 and again in 189 1. Of his service in the Senate, of which the people of his State are justly proud, I shall not speak. His colleagues who served with him have lovingly done this. Thus we see that he was twice elected to the lower House of Congress, three times Governor of his State, and four times to the United States Senate. In these particulars, taken together, he had an indorsement by the people of his State never given to any other North Carolinian. Mr. President, I have thus far spoken of the public services of this truly great man. I now beg to detain the Senate a moment with a few observations on some of his characteristics. He w^as an intellectual giant, and could have easily been in the foremost rank of any department of life to which he devoted his time and attention. He gave his life to the public service and to the people. His success was their success ; his glory, their glory. They shared in all his trials and all his triumphs. No man in public life ever stood more steadfastly by the people and for the people than did Zebulon B. Vance. In his political creed he was both a Republican and a Democrat in the broadest and best sense of these terms. He was a Republican in that he believed in a republic. He was a Democrat in that he believed in the people ruling that republic. Mr. President, our impressions of objects and men are often colored, if not controlled, by the point of view from which we see or contemplate them. So our con- clusions are often biased, if not actual!)- formed, by the LIFE OF VACNE. 365 standpoint from which we approach the study of great public questions. Vance always approached the study of these questions from a safe and right standpoint, and he always reached correct conclusions. His starting point was plain and simple, but sure and safe. It was from the standpoint of the people's interest. He argued this is the people's government. They are the sovereigns, and those chosen to make or administer the law are their servants. What is their interest in this matter? was his inquiry. That being determined, the way was easy and the path of duty plain. The people's good was what he always aimed at. No power on earth could turn him aside from that line of action. The people of his State knew and appreciated his devotion to them and they loved him for it. They were ever ready to follow where he led. His God was their God; his ballot, their ballot. Individual rights and the majesty of the civil law never had a warmer advocate or more steadfast friend in this country than this great tribune of the people. I doubt if there were many States in the Union or the Confederacy during the war in which the writ of habeas corpus, that great writ of the people's rights, could at all times be promptly executed and obeyed. In most of the States I presume men were arrested, imprisoned, detained, and de- nied the benefits of this great writ, but it did not haj^pen in North Carolina. Governor Vance, although ardently supporting the Con- federacy, stood by the writ, even in the face of the army itself, and upheld the majesty of the civil law. At no time in his whole public career was he ever known to con- sent to the surrender of or encroachment upon any of the individual rights of an American citizen, but he was ever ready with tongue and pen to defend them from any attack, no matter whence that attack came. He was truly a stu- dent of the science of government, of politics, of the history of the rise and progress of States, nations, and peoples, and 366 LIFE OF VANCE. the more he learned and knew the more ardently attached he became to republican America and her democratic in- stitutions. It was ]iere that the people had their greatest opportunities and their highest aspirations. It was his glory to stand by the people in all their struggles and aspirations for broader opportunities and a higher and better life. As a writer, a humorist, and an orator he was in the front rank of the foremost men of his day. But of these I shall not speak. That work will best be performed by his biographer. It was as a public servant and as a friend that I knew him best, and it is of these that I have preferred to speak. Many circumstances brought us close together, and I may be pardoned for saying tliat it is probable that I had his confidence as fully and knew as much of his inward life and labors and thoughts in the interest of the people and the public service as any one of his closest friends, I think he has talked freely with me about ever}'- public question that has been of any concern to the people of North Caro- lina since the close of the war, and I desire here in my place in the Senate to say that I never heard him discuss one of these questions in his own interest. The only con- cern I ever knew him to have was how to solve them in the true and best interest of the people. He was always ready to assume any responsibility or to undergo any labor which, in his opinion, could serve the public interest. In that section of the State where he was born and where his body now rests there are many grand and lofty moun- tains standing upon their eternal base and lifting their heads into the very clouds. Some are three, some are four, some five, and some are more than six thousand feet high. Any one of them serves as a guide to the traveler and im- presses him with its grandeur and greatness. But there is one that towers high above them all. Mount Mitchell stands out boldly as the great center of attraction, and it is to this that people ahvays turn wlien they wish to gaze UFE OF VANCE. 367 Upon the perfection and consummation of great mountain scenery in all its magnificence and sublimity. So in North Cnrolina we have had great men, any one of whom was and is an honor to the State, and of whom our people have been and still are justly proud ; but it is no disparagement to those to say that Zebulon Baird Vance was the Mount Mitchell of all our great men, and that in the affections and love of the people he towered above them all. x'Vs ages to come will not be able to mar the grandeur and greatness of Alount Mitchell, so they will not be able to efface from the hearts and minds of the peo- ple the name and memory of their beloved Vance. In the days of his toil and labors, when fatigue and weariness came upon him, lie was fond of retiring to his native mountains, and there, beneath their shadows, he found rest and restoration. When his life work was done it was meet and proper that his body should be laid to rest at the feet of these same mountains. Shall his body again be restored? Is death an eternal sleep, or is it rest to the body, which in God's own appointed time shall come forth again, restored and reunited with the immortal soul? This man was not too great to accept the teachings of the Christian religion. He believed in the immortality of the soul and in the resurrection of the body. He was a great student of the Bible, and few were more conversant with the Scriptures than he was. He obeyed its precepts and seized upon its promises. It was in this faith that he passed from time to eternity. And oh, Mr. President, what a comfort it is to know that our friends die in such a faith ! Hov/ insignificant human greatness becomes in the presence of death or any great manifestations of divine power ! Man, isolated and alone, is but a tiny atom in the created universe. In the busy bustle of life, with his friends and fellows shouting his praise, man feels his importance and his power ; but let him stand out alone in the dread dark- ness of night, when the heavens are black and angry or 368 LIFE OF VANCE. when the earth qiiahes and trembles, and then how utterly helpless and dependent he becomes ! It is in such times as these, as well as in the still more trying ordeal when he enters alone, as he must do, the dark valley and shadow of death, that man is ready to acknowledge his nothingness and to cry out to an invisible power for help. Oh, what a blessing it is in an hour like that to feel that He who created the worlds and controls all the forces of nature has us in His keeping, and, like a loving father, doth care for us and guide us ! Our dead friend had that blessing. While in the sunshine and vigor of life he com- plied with the conditions set out in the Bible upon which he could have the love and companionship of his Heavenly Father when the storm came and Death claimed him as his own. Shall we see him again? May God in His infinite mercy receive us with him into His Kingdom above. Mr. Ransom — Mr. President, I beg leave to state that it was the desire and purpose of the Senator from Connect- icut (Mr. Hawley) and the Senator from Virginia (Mr. Daniel) to speak in affectionate remembrance and honor of Senator Vance, but they were both called away unavoida- bly and could not be here. Mr. Harris (INIr. Butler in the chair) — As a further mark of respect to the memory of the deceased, I move that the Senate adjourn. The motion was unanimously agreed to, and the Senate adjourned until Monday, January 21, 1895, at 12 o'clock m. UFE OF VANCE. 369 CHAPTER XX. LECTURE — THE SCATTERED NATION. History of the Hebrew People — Their Characteristics and Peculiarities — Their Persistence and Persecutions — Their Merits and Heroic Qualities — Vance's Greatest Lecture. AYS Prof. INIaiiry : "There is a river in the ocean. In the severest droughts it never fails, and in the mightiest floods it never overflows. The Gulf of Mexico is its fountain, and its mouth is in the Arctic seas. It is the Gulf Stream. There is in the world no other such majestic flow of waters. Its current is more rapid than the iMississippi or the Amazon, and its volume more than a thousand times greater. Its waters, as far out from the Gulf as the Carolina coasts, are of an indigo blue ; they are so distinctly marked that their line of junction with the common sea-water may be traced by the eye. Often one-pialf of a vessel may be perceived floating in Gulf_^tream water, while the other half is in common water of the sea, so sharp is the line and such the want of aflinity between those waters, and such too the reluctance, so to speak, on the part of those of the Gulf Stream to mingle with the common water of the sea." This curious phenomenon in the physical world has its counterpart in the moral. There is a lonely river in the midst of the ocean of mankind. The mightiest floods of human temptation have never caused it to overflow and the fiercest fires of human cruelty, though seven times heated in the furnace of religious bigotry, have never caused it to dry up, although its waves for two thousand years have rolled crimson with the blood of its martyrs. Its fountain is in the grey dawn of the world's history, and its mouth is somewhere in the shadows of eternity. It 25 370 LIFE OF VANCE. too refuses to mingl'e with the surrounding waves, and the line which divides its restless billows from the common waters of humanity is also plainly visible to the eye. It is the Jewish race. The Jew is beyond doubt the most remarkable man of this world — past or present. Of all the stories of the sons of men, there is none so wild, so wonderful, so full of extreme mutation, so replete with suffering and horror, so abounding in extraordinary providences, so overflowing with scenic romance. There is no man who approaches him in the extent and character of the influence which he has exercised over the human family. His history is the history of our civilization and progress in this world, and our faith and hope in that which is to come. From him have we derived the form and pattern of all that is excel- I lent on earth or in heaven. If, as DeQuincv says, the Roman Emperors, as the great accountants for the happi ness of more men and men more cultivated than ever before were entrusted to the motions of a single will, had a special, singular, and mysterious relation to the secret coun- cils of heaven — thrice truly may it be said of the Jew. Palestine, his home, was the central chamber of God's administration. He was at once the grand usher to these glorious courts, the repository of the councils of the Almighty, and the envoy of the divine mandates to the consciences of men. He was the priest and faith-giver to mankind, and as such, in spite of the jibe and jeer, he must ever be considered as occupying a peculiar and sacred rela- tion to all other peoples of this world. Even now, though the Jews have long since ceased to exist as a consolidated nation, inhabiting a common country, and for eighteen hundred years have been scattered far and near over the wide earth, their strange customs, their distinct features, i(\f<.\ personal peculiarities^.and their scattered lonfy^ make them still a wonder and an astonishment. Though dead as a nation — as we speak of nations — they LIFE OF VANCE. 371 yet live. Their ideas fill the world and move the wheels of its progress, even as the sun, when he sinks behind the Western hills, yet fills the heavens with the remnants of his glory. As the destruction of matter in one form is made necessary to its resurrection in another, so it would seem that the perishing of the Jewish nationality was in order to the universal acceptance and the everlasting establish- ment of Jewish ideas. Never before was there an instance of such a general rejection of the person and character, and acceptance of the doctrines and dogmas of a people. We admire with unlimited admiration the Greek and Roman, but reject with contempt his crude and beastly divinities. We afTect to despise the Jew, but accept and adore the pure conception of a God which he taught us, and whose real existence the history of the Jew more than all else establishes. When the Court Chaplain of Frederick the Great was asked by that bluff monarch for a brief and concise summary of the argument in support of the truths of Scripture, he instantly replied, with a force to which nothing could be added, "The Jews, Your Majesty, the Jews." I propose briefly to glance at their history, origin and civilization, peculiarities, present condition and probable destiny. "-"^"1 "A people of Semitic race," says the Encyclopaedia, "whose ancestors appear at the very dawn of the history of mankind, on the banks of Euphrates, the Jordan. and the Nile, their fragments are now to be seen in larger or smaller numbers, in almost all of the cities of the globe, from Batavia to New Orleans, from Stockholm to Cape Town. When little more numerous than a family, they had their language, customs^and peculiar observances* treated with princesiand in every respect acted as a nation. Though broken, as if into atoms, and scattered through all climes, among the rudest and the most civilized nations, they have preserved, through thousands of years, common features and observances, a common religion, literature 372 LIFE OF VANCE. and sacred language. Without any political union, with- out any common head or centre, they are generally regarded and regard themselves as a nation. They began as nomads, emigrating from country to countr)- ; their law- made them agriculturists for fifteen centuries ; their exile transformed them into a mercantile people. They have struggled for their national existence against the Egyp- tians, Ass3^rians, Babylonians, Syrians^ and Romans g have _ been conquered and nearly exterminated by each of these powers r- and have survived them all. They have been oppressed and persecuted by Emperors and Republics, by Sultans and by Popes,^oors and Inquisitors ; they were proscribed in Catholic Spain, Protestant Norway.and Greek Muscovy, while their persecutors sang the hymns of their psalmody, revered their books, believed in their prophets y and even persecuted them in the name of their God. They have numbered philosophers among the Greeks of Alexandria* and the Saracens of Cordova^ have trans- _ planted the wisdom of the East beyond the Pyrenees and the Rhine, and have been treated as pariahs among Pagans, Mahommedans^and Christians. They have fought for liberty under Kosciusko and Blucheri and popular assemblies among the Sclavi and Germans^, still withheld. from them the right of living in certain towns, villages and streets." Whilst no people can claim such an unmixed purity of blood, certainly none can establish such antiquity of origin, such unbroken generations of descent. That splendid passage of Macaulay so often quoted, in reference to the Roman Pontiffs, loses its force in sight of Hebrew history. "No other institution," says he, "is left standing which carries the mind back to the times when the smoke of sacrifice rose from the Pantheon, and when -cam-els-, leopards^ and tigers Uf t\'i<^'^ -"bounded in the Il^rtan amphitheatre. The proudest royal ' houses are but of yesterday afe compared with the line of the Supreme Pontiffsi (liat line we trace back in^mbroken ^j^ /t7j>^ \y^ I LIFE OF VANCE. 373 li li es, from the Pope who crowned Napoleon in the nineteenth century, to the Pope who crowned Pepin in the eighth,* and far beyoncL^epin. the august dynasty extends^ \*" until it is lost in the twilight oTTaBTe. The Republic of Venice canie next in antiquity^ tut the Republic of Venice yO ^^^ J^ moderii^compared with the Papac)-,* and the Republic of ^ Venice is gone^and the Papacy remains, yv^The Catholic Church was great and respected before the Saxon had set foot on Britain, before the Fralik had passed the Rhine, when Grecian eloquence still flourished at Antioch, when / idols were still worshipped in the Temple at Mecca^..a»4— — « ^^ she may still _exist^ in undiminished vigor when some traveller from New Zealand^n the midst of a vast solitude j, /•"^■A^ fitai^take his stand on a broken arch of London Bridge to sketch the ruins of St Saw^." This is justly esteemed one ^ of the most eloquent passages in our literature, but I sub- ^'* mit it is not history. The Jewish people, church and institutions are still left standing, though the stones of the temple remain no longer one upon the other, though its sacrificial fires are forever extinguished | and though the tribes, whose glory it was, wander with weary feet throughout the earth. And what is the line of Roman Pontiffs compared to that splendid dynasty of the successors of Aaron and Levi? "The twilight of fable," in which the line of Pontiffs began, was but the noonday brightness of the Jewish priesthood. Tlieir insti- tution carries the mind back to the age when the prophet, in rapt mood, stood over Babylon and uttered God's wrath against that grand and wondrous mistress of the Euplira- tean plains-j/?-when the Memphian chivalry still gave precedence to the chariots and horsemen who each morning poured forth from the brazen gates of the abode of Amnion; when Tyre and Sidon were yet building their palaces by the sea, and Carthage, their greatest daughter, w^as yet unborn. That dynasty of proj)hetic priests existed even before Clio's pen had learned to record the deeds of men / i 374 / "---^IFE OF VANCE. and when that splendid, entombed civilization once lighted the shores of the Erythraean Sea, the banks of the Eiiphrates^nd the plains of Shinar^with a glory incon^^ .^ ceivable, of which there is nought now to tell , exc epf the dumb eloquence of ruined temples and buried cities/ ~ vl Then, too, it must be remembered that these Pontiffs were but Gentiles in the garb of Jews, imitating their whole routine. All Christian churches are but off-shoots from or grafts upon the old 'Jewish stock. vStrike out all of Judaism from the Christian church and there remains nothing but an unmeaning superstition. The Christian is simply the successor of the Jew — the glory of the one is likewise the glory of the other. The Savior of the world was, after the flesh, a Jew — born of a Jewish maiden ; so likewise were all of the apostles and first propagators of Christianity. The Christian religion is equally Jewish with that of Moses and the prophets. I am not unaware of the fact that other people besides the Semites had a conception of the true God long before He was revealed to Abraham. The Hebrew Scriptures themselves testify this, and so likewise do the books of the very oldest of written records. The fathers of the great x\ryan race, the shepherds of Iran had so vivid a conception of the unity of God^^as to give rise to the ^ opinion that they too had once had a direct revelation. It j is more likely, however, that traditions of this God had descended among them from the Deluge which ultimately became adulterated by polytheistic imaginings. It seems natural that these people of highly sensitive intellects, dwelling beneath the serene skieS | that impe nd over tji e r plains and mountains of Southwestern Asia, tliickry stud- ded with the calm and glorious stars, should mistake these most majestic emblems of the Creator for the Creator himself. Hence, no doubt, arose the worship of light and fire by the Iratnians, and Sabceanism or star worship by the Chaldeans. But the better opinion of learned orientalists is that while '/ LIFE OF VANCE. 375 the outward or exoteric doctrine taught the worship of the symbols, the esoteric or secret doctrines of Zoroastes, ^his <^ predecessors and disciples, taught in fact the worship of the Principle^ tJic First Cause ^ the Great [hiknoivn^ the Universal Intelligence^ Magdani or God. There can be no doubt that Abraham brought this monotheistic concep- tion with him from Chaldea ; but notwithstanding this dim traditional light, which was abroad outside of the race of Shem, perhaps over the entire breadth of that splendid prehistoric civilization of the Arabian Cushite, yet^or the more perfect light, wdiich revealed to us God and His attributes, we are unquestionably indebted to the Jew. We owe to him, if not the conception, at least the pres- ervation of pure monotheism. For whether this knowl- edge was original with these eastern people or traditional merely, it was speedily lost|__by__an_of^ tl^^ilL-^iSc^pt the X^ Jews. Whilst an unintelligent use of symbolism enveloped 1 the central figure with a cloud of idolatry and led the Magi to the worship of Light and Fire, the Sabean to the adoration of the heavenly host, the Egyptian to bowing ' down before I^is and Osiris, the Carthagj^nian to the pro- /i- / pitiation of Baal and Astarte by human sacrifice-and the / subtle Greek to the deification of the varied laws or Nature/ the bearded Prophets of Israel were ever thundering forth, "Know O, Israel, that the Lord thy God is one God, and Him only shalt thou serve." Even his half-brother Ishmael, after an idolatrous sleep of centuries, awoke with a sharp and bloody protest against [^..-^olytheism, and established the unity of God as the corner- stone of his faith. In this respect the influence which the Jew has exercised over the destinies of mankind place Jiim Y before all the men of this world. For in this idea of God, all of the faith and creeds of the dominant peoples of the earth centre. It divides like a great mountain range the civilizations of the ancient and modern worlds. Many en- lightened men of antiquity acknowledge the beauty of this i y 376 LIFE OF VANCE. conception, though they did not embrace it. Socrates did homage to it, and Josephus declares that he derived his sublime ideal from the Jewish Scripures. The accomplished Tacitus seemed to grasp it, as the following passage will show. In speaking of the Jews and in contrasting them with the Egyptians, he says: "With regard to the Deity, their creed is different. The Egyptians worship various animals and also certain symbolical representatives wdiich are the work of man. The Jews acknowledge one God only, and Him they see in the mind's eye, and Him they adore in contemplation, condemning as impious idolaterSjall who, with perishable materials wrought into the humanlonn^^T attempt to give a representation of the Deity. The God of the Jews is the great governing mind that directs and guides the whole frame of nature — eternal, infinite ^and neither capable of change^r subject to decay." This matchless and eloquent definition of the Deity has never been improved upon, but it seems that it made slight impression upon the philosophical historian's mind. i\nd yet what a contrast it is with his own coarse, material gods ! Indeed the rejection or ignorance of this pure conception by the acute and refined intellects of the mrrh'Tivnl ancients strikes us with wonder, and illustrates the truthj that no man_ by searching can find out God. I am not unaware that the Arabian idea of Deity received many modifications from the conceptions of adjoining and contemporary nations — by cross-fertilization of ideas, as the process has been called. From the Egyptians and Assyrians were received many of these modifications, but the chief impression was from the Greeks. The general effect was to broaden and enlarge the original idea, whose tendency was to regard the Su- preme Beiug as a tribal Deity, into the grander, universal God, or Father of all. If time permitted it would be a most interesting study to trace the action and reaction of Semitic upon Hellenistic thought/ Jjlow Hellenistic phil- osophy produced Pharisaism or the progressive party of the LIFE OF VANCE. 377 Hebrew Tlieists; how Pharisaism in turn produced Stoicism, which again prepared the way for Christianity itself. The whole polity of the Jews was originally favorable to agriculture ; and though they adhered to it closely for many centuries, ye^ the peculiar facilities of their country ulti- "mately~ forced them largely into commerce. The great caravan routes from the rich countries of the East, Mesopo- tamia, Shinar, Babylonia, Medea, Assyria.and Persia, to the ports of the ]\Iediterranean, lay through Palestine, whilst Spain, Italy, Gaul, Asia Minor, • Northern Africa, Egypt, and all the riches that then clustered around the shores of the Great Sea and upon the islands in its bosom, had easy access to its harbors. In fact the wealth of the New World, its 'civilization, refinement.and arLlay in concentric circles around Jerusalem as a focal point. The Jewish peo- ple grew rich in spite of themselves and gradually forsook their agricultural simplicity. - ■ « «Lir :::| But more than all things else their institutions interest I /)vc--^ mankind. Their laws for the protection of property, the f enforcement of industry^ and the upholding of the State were such as afforded the strongest impulse to personal freedom and national vigor. The great principle of their real estate laws was the inalienability of the land. Houses in walled towns might be sold in perpetuity, if unredeemed within the year; land only for a limited period. At the year of Jubilee every estate reverted without repurchase to the original owners, and even during this period it might be redeemed by paying the value of the purchase of the year which intervened until the Jubilee. Little as we may now be disposed to value this remarkable ^|f*farian law, ^ says Dean jMilman, it secured the political equality of the people and anticipated all the mischiefs so fatal to the early Republics of Greece and Italy, the appropriation of the whole territory of the State, by a rich and powerful landed -tT/ oligarchy, with the consequent convulsing of the commun- / it}' from the deadly struggles between the patrician and the 378 LIFE OF VANCE. plebeian orders. In the Hebrew state the improvident man might indeed reduce himself and his family to penury or servitude, but he could not perpetuate a race of slaves or paupers. Every fifty years God the King and Lord of the soil, as it were, resumed the whole territory and granted it back in the same portions to the descendants of the original possessors. It is curious to observe, continues the same author, in this earliest practicable Utopia, the realization of Machia- velli's great maxim, the constant renovation of a state, according to the first principles of its constitution, a maxim recognized by our own statesmen, which they designate as a "frequent recurrence to "tKi& first principles " How little we learn that is new. The civil polity of the Jews is so / p ultimatfeU- blended historically with the ecclesiastical that / the former is not easily comprehended by the ordinary stu- dent. Their scriptures relate principally to the latter, and to obtain a knowledge of the other, resort must be had to the Talmud and the Rabinical expositions, a task that few men will let themselves to, who hope to do anything else in this world. Yet a little study will repay richly the political student, by showing him the origin of many excellent semi- nal principles which we regard as modern. Their govern- ment was in form a theocratic democracy. God was not only their spiritual but their temporal sovereign also, who promulgated his laws by the mouths of his inspired pro- phets. Hence their terrible and unflagging denunciations of all forms of idolatry — it was not only a sin against pure religion, but it was treason also. In most other particu- lars there was a democracy far purer than that of Athens. The very important principle of the separation of the functions of government was recognized. The civil and ecclesiastical departments were kept apart, the civil ruler exercised no ecclesiastic functions and vice versa. When, as sometimes happened, the two functions rested in the same man, they were yet exercised differenth', as was not \ LIFE OF VANCE. long since our custom in the administration of equity as contra-distinguished from law. Their organic law containing the elements of their polity, though given by God Himself, was yet required to be solemnly ratified by the whole people. This was done on Ebal and CoiVuBgim and is perhaps the first, as it is certainly the grandest constitutional convention ever held amonof men. On these two lofty mountains, separated by a deep and narrow ravine, all Israel, comprising three millions of souls, were assembled; elders, prophets, priests, v/omen and children, and 600,000 warriors, led by the spears of Judah and supported by the archers of Benjamin. In this mighty presence, surrounded by the sublime accessio ft s to the grandeur of the same, the law was read by the Levites, line by line, item by item, whilst the tribes on either height signified their acceptance thereof by responsive aniens, which pierced the heavens. Of all the great principles established for the happiness and good government of our race, though hallowed by the blood of the bravest and the best, and approved by centuries of trial, no one had a grander origin, or a more glorious exemplification than this one, that all governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. So much for their organic law. Their legislation upon the daily exigencies and development of their society was also provided for on the most radically democratic basis, with the practical element of representation. The Sanhe- drim legislated for all ecclesiastical affairs.and had also original judicial powers and jurisdiction over all offences against the religious law, and appellate jurisdiction of many other offences. It was the principal body of their polity, as religion was the principal object of their constitution. It was thoroughly representative. Local and municipal government was fully recognized. The legislation for a city was done by the elders thereof, the protot}-pes in name and character of our eldermen or aldermen. 380 LIFE OF VANCF. They were the keystone of the whole social fabric, and so directly represented the people^ that the terms "elders and people" are often used as synonymous. The legisla- tion for a tribe was done by the princes of that tribe , and, the heads of families thereof ; whilst the elders of all the cities, heads of all the families and princes of all the tribes when assembled, constituted the National Legislature, or congregation. The functions of this representative body, however, were gradually usurped and absorbed by the Sanhedrim. So thoroughly recognized was the principle of represen- tation that no man exercised any political rights in his individual capacity, but only as a member of the house, which was the basis of the Hebrew polity. The ascending scale was the family or collection of houses, the tribe or collection of families-and the congregation or collection of tribes. fThe Kingdom thus composed was in fact a confedera- tion, and exemplified both its strength and its weakness. The tribes were equal and sovereign within the sphere of their individual concerns. A tribe could convene its own legislative body at pleasure ; so could any number of tribes convene a joint body whose enactments were binding only upon the tribes represented therein. A single tribe or any number combined could make treaties, form alliancesymd wage war, whilst the others remained at peace with the enemy of their brethren. They were to all intents and purposes independent States, joined together for common objects on the principle of federal republics, with a general government of delegated and limited powers. Within their tribal boundaries their sovereignty was absolute minus only the powers granted to the central agent. They elected their chiefs, generals„and kings. Next to the imperative necessity of common defense their bond of union was their divine constitution, one religion and one blood. Justice was made simple and was administered cheaply. Among LIFE OF VANCE. no people in this world did the law so recognize the dignity and sacred nature of man made in the image of God and the creature of his especial covenanting care. The constitution of their criminal courts and their code of criminal laws was most remarkable. The researches of the learned have failed to discover in all antiquity anything so explicit, so humane, and embracing so many of what are now considered the essential elements of enlightened jurisprudence. Only four offenses were punished by death. By English law, no longer ago than the reign of George I., more than 150 offenses were so punishable! The court for the trial of these capital offenders was the local Sanhe- drim, composed of twenty-three members, who were both judges and jurors, prosecuting attorneys and counsel for the accused. The tests applied both to them and the accusing wit- nesses, as to capacity and impartiality, were more rigid than those known to exist any jvhere else in the world. The whole procedure was so guarded as to convey the idea that the first object was to save the criminal. From the first step of the accusation to the last moment preceding final execution, no caution was neglected, no solemnity was omitted, that might aid the prisoner's acquittal. No man in any way interested in the result, no gamester of any kind, no usurer, no store dealer, no relative of accused or accuser, no seducer or adulterer, no man without a fixed trade or business, could sit on that court. Nor could any aged man whose infirmities might make him harsh, nor any childless man or bastard, as being insensible to the relations of parent and child. Throughout the whole system of the Jewish government there ran a broad, genuine^nd refreshing stream of demo- cracy, such as the world then knew little of, and has since but little improved. For of course the political student will not be deceived by names. It matters not what their chief magistrates and legislators were called, if in fact and 382 / LIFE OF VANCE. / in substance/ their forms were eminent! 5' democratic. Masters of political philosophy tell ns — and tell us with truth — that power in a State must and will reside with those who own the soil. If the land belonofs to a kine the government is a despotism, though every man in it voted; if the land belongs to a select few, it is an aristocracy; but if it belongs to the many, it is a democracy, for here is the division of power. Now, where, either in the ancient or modern world, will you find such a democracy as that of Israel ? For where was there ever such a perfect and con- tinuing division of the land among the people ? It was impossible for this power ever to be concentrated in the hands of one or a select few. The lands belonged to God as the head of the Jewish nation — the right of eminent domain, so to speak, was in Him — and the people were His tenants. The year of Jubilee, as we have seen, came ever in time to blast the schemes of the ambitious and designing. __ -Their law provided for no standing army^ IfHe common defense wa!Hntrusted to the patriotism of the people, who kept and bore arms at will, and believing that their hills and valleys would be best defended by footmen, the use of cavalry was forbidden, lest it should tend to feed the pas- sion for foreign conquest. The ecclesiastical Sanhedriniy as before observed, was the principal body of their polity^ ^tS'^embers were com- posed of the wisest and most learned of their people, who expounded and enforced the law and surpervised all the in- ferior courts. This exposition upon actual cases arising did not suffice the learned doctors, who made the great mistake which modern courts have learned to avoid, of uttering their dicta in anticipated cases. These decisions and dicta constitute the ground work of the Talmuds, of which there are two copies extant. They constitute the most remarkable collection of oriental wisdom, ^bstruse learning, piety, blasphemy, and obscenity ever got together 'S oUi LIFE OF VANCE. 383 in the world ; and bear the same relation to the Jewish law, which our judicial decisions do to our statute law. Could they be disentombed from the mass of rubbish by which they are covered — said to be so great as to deter all students who are not willing to devote a life-time to the task, from entering upon their study — they would no doubt be of inestimable value to theologians, by furnishing all the aids which cotemporaneous construction must ever im- part. Time would not permit me, if I had the power, to describe the chief city of the Jews, their religious and political capital — " Jerusalem the Holy" — " the dwelling of peace." In the days of Jewish prosperity it was in all things a fair type of this strange country and people. Enthroned upon the hills of Judah, overflowing with riches, the free-will offerings of a devoted people-ttdecked with the barbaric splendor of eastern taste, it was the rival in power and wondrous beauty of the most magnificent cities of antiquity. Nearly everyone of her great competitors have mouldered into dust. The bat and the owl inhabit their towers, and the fox litters her young in the corridors of their palaces, but Jerusalem still sits in solitary grandeur upon the lonely hills, and though faded, feeble^and ruinous^ still towers in moral splendor above all the spires and domes and pinnacles ever erected by human hands. Nor can I dwell, tempting as is the theme, upon the scenery, the glowing landscapes, the cultivated fields, gardens and vineyards and gurgling fountains of that pleasant land. Many high summits and even one of the towers in the walls of the city of Jerusalem were said to have afforded a perfect view of the whole land from border to border. I must be content with asking you to imagine what a divine prospect would burst upon the vision from the summit of that stately tower ; and picture the burning sands of the desert far beyond the mysterious waters of the Dead Sea on the one hand, and the shiniufr waves of the crreat sea n '/ 384 LIFE OF VANCE. on the other, flecked with the white sails of the Tyrian ships, whilst hoary Lebanon, crowned with its diadem of perpetual snow»g-littered in the morning light like a dome of fire tem- pered with the emerald of its cedars — a fillet of glory around its . brow. The beauty of that band of God's people, the charm of their songs, the comeliness of their maidens, the celestial peace of their homes, the romance of their national history, and the sublimity of their faith, so entice me, that I would not know when to cease, should I once enter upon their story. I must leave behind, too, the blood-stained record of their last great seige, illustrated by their splendid but unavailing courage; ^heir fatal dissensions and final destruction, with all its incredible horrors; of their exile and slavery, of their dispersion in all lands and kingdoms, of their persecutions, sufferings, wanderings, and despair,^_fo£ eighteen hundred J years. Indeed, it is a story that puts to shame not only our Christianity, but our common humanity. It staggers belief to be told, not only that such things could be done at all, by blinded heathen or ferocious Pagan, but done by Christian people and in the name of Him, the meek and lowly, who was called the Prince of Peacej^and the harbinger of good will to men.^ Still it is an instructive story; it seems to mark in colors never to be f orgotten ^^ both the_ wickedness and the folly of intolerance. Truly, it serves to show that the wrath of a religious bigot is more fearful and ingenious than the crudest of tortures hatched in the councils of hell. It is not my purpose to comment upon the religion of the Jews, nor shall I undertake to say that they gave no cause in the earlier ages of Christianity for the hatred of their opponents. Undoubtedly they gave much cause, and exhibited themselves much bitterness and ferocity- towards the followers of the Nazarine; which^iowever^^jJ;_ may be an excuse, is far from being a justification of the centuries of horror which followed. But if constancy, faithfulness. and devotion to principle under the most trying circumstances to which the children of men were ever LIFE OF VANCE. 385- subjected, be considered virtues, then indeed are the Jews to be admired. They may safely defy the rest of mankind to show such undying adherence to accepted faith, such wholesale sacrifice for conscience* sake. For it they have in all ages given up home and country, wives and children, gold and goods, ease and shelter and life; for it they endured all the evils of an infernal wrath for eighteen centuries; for it they have endured, and — say what you will — endured with an inexpressible manhood^^that which no other portion of the human family ever have,^or,''iirmy opinion, ever . would have^endured. For sixty generations the heritage which the Father left the son was misery, suffering, shame ^ and despair; and that son preserved and handed down to his son^ that black heritage as a golden heir-loom, y^-r the sake of God. A few remarks upon their numbers and present status in the world, their peculiarities and probable destiny, and my task will be done. Originally, as we have seen, the Jews v;ere an agricul- tural people, and their civil polity was framed specially for this state of things. Indeed the race of Shem originally seemed not to have been endowed with the great commer- cial instincts which characterize the descend^ts of Ham ^ and Japheth. Their cities for the most part^^ were built in p the interior, remote from the channels of trade, whilst the race of Ham and Japheth built upon the sea shore,^ and .the_ banks of great rivers. But the exile of the Jews converted them necessarily into merchants. Denied as a general rule citizenship in the land of their refuge, subject at any moment to spoliation and expulsion, their only sure means of living was in traffic, in which they soon became skilled on the principles of a specialty in labor. They naturally, therefore, followed in their dispersion, as they have ever since done, the great channels of commerce throughout the world, with such deflections here and there as persecution rendered necessary. But notwithstanding 26 .386 LIFE OF VANCE. the many impulses to which their wanderings have been sub- jected, they have in the main obeyed the general laws of migration by moving east and west upon nearly the same parallels of latitude. Their numbers in spite of losses by all causes, including religious defection, which, everything considered, has been remarkably small, have steadily increased and are now variously estimated at seven to nine millions. They may be divided, says Dr. Pressell, into three great classes, the enumeration of which will show their wonderful dispersion. The first of these inhabit the interior of x'lfrica, Arabia, India, China, Turkestan jand Bokhara. Even the Arabs, Mr. Disraeli terms Jews upon horsebackf C^ ythey are^however, the sons of Ishmael — half-brothers to the Jews. These are the lowest of the Jewish people in wealth, intelligencCj^and religion, though said to be superior to their Gentile neighbors in each. The second and most numerous class is found in Northern Africa, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Mesopotamia, Persia, Asia Minor, European Turkey, Poland, Rus3ia,^and parts of Austria. In these are found the strictly r»/ orthodox, Talmudical Jews; the sect Chasidciii, who are the ^ i '1 ""representatives of the Zealots of Joseph us^'and'Ihe small but . / / most interesting sect Karaites, who reject all Rabb^ical 'U / traditions, and are the only Jev/s who adhere to the strict / letter of the Scriptures. This class is represented as being very ignorant of all except Jewish learning — it being pro- hibited to study any other. Yet they alone are regarded by scholars as the proper expounders of ancient Talmudical Judaism. As might be inferred from the character of the governments under which they live, their political condi- tion is most unhappy and insecure, and their increase in wealth and their social progress are slow. The third and ^^ last class are those of Central and Western Europe, andtlie-""''^ United States. These are by far the most intelligent and civilized of their race, not only keeping pace with the progress of their Gentile neighbors, but contributing to it largely. Their ^rientlal mysticism seems to have given LIFE OF VANCE. 387 place to the stronger practical ideas of Western Europe, with which they have come in contact, and they have embraced them full}-. They are denominated "reforming" in their tenets, attemj)ting to eliminate the Talmudical traditions which cumber and obscure their creed, and adapt it somewhat to the spirit of the age, though in tearing this away, they have also, say the theologians, dispensed with much of the Old Testament itself. In fact, they have become simply Unitarians or Deists. IJany curious facts concerning them are worthy to be noted. In various cities of the Eastern World they have been for ages, and in some are yet, huddled into crowded and filthy streets or quarters, in a manner violative of all the rules of health; yet it is a notorious fact that they have ever suffered less from pestilential diseases than their Chris- tian neighbors. So often have the black wings of epidemic plagues passed over them, and smitten all around them, that ignorance and malignity frequently accused them of poisoning the wells and fountains and of exercising sor- cery. They have also in a very noticeable degree been exempt from consumption and all diseases of the respiratory functions, which in them are said by physicians to be wonderfully adapted to enduring the vicissitudes of all temperatures and climates. The average duration of Gentile life is computed at 26 years — it certainly does not reach 30 ; that of the Jew, according to a most interesting table of statistics which I have seen, is full t^j years. The number of infants born to the married couple exceeds that of the Gentile races, and the number dying in infancy is much smaller. In height they are nearly three inches lower than the average of other races ; the width of their bodies with outstretched arms is one inch shorter than the height, whilst in other races it is eight inches longer on the average. But on the other hand, the length of the trunk is much greater with the Jew, in proportion to 388 LIFE OF VANCE. height than with other races. In the Xec^ro the trujik,,--^ constitntes 32 per cent, of the height^ of the whole body, in the European 34 per cent., in the Jew 36 per cent. What these physical peculiarities have had to do with their wonderful preservation and steady increase, I leave for the philosophers to explain. Their social life is, if possible, still more remarkable. There is neither prostitution nor pauperism, and but little abject poverty among them. They have some paupers, it is true, but they trouble neither you nor me. Crime in the malignant, wilful sense of that word is exceedingly rare. I have never known but one Jew convicted of any offence beyond the grade of a misdemeanor, though I am free to saj'j I have known many a one who would have been improved by a little hanging. They contribute liberally to all Gentile charities in the communities where they live; they ask nothing from the Gentiles for their own. If a Jew is broken down in business, the others set him up again or give him emjDloyment and his children have bread. If one is in trouble the others stand by him with counsel and material aid, remembering the command, " Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brethren, and shalj ^urely lend yi him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth." Their average education is far ahead of the races by whom they are surrounded. I have never seen an adult Jew who could not read, write^and compute figures — especially the figures. Of the four great human industries which con- duce to the public wealth, agriculture, manufacturing, mining.and commerce, as a general rule they engage only in one. They are neither farmers, miners, smiths, carpen- ters, mechanics Or artizans of any kind. They are merchants only, but as such, own few or no ships, and they are rarely carriers of any kind. They wander over the whole earth, but they are never pioneers, and they found no colonies, because as I suppose, being devoted to one business only, they lack the self-sustaining elements of those who build LIFE OF VANCE. 389 new States; and whilst they engage individually in politics where the)' are not disfranchised, and contend for ofhces and honors like other people, they yet seek nowhere polit- ical pozvcr or national aggyegatio>i. Dealers in every kind of merchandise, with rare exceptions they manufacture none. They dwell exclusively in towns, cities and villages, but as a general rule do not own the property they live upon. They marry within themselves entirely, and yet in defiance of well known natural laws, with regard to breed- ing "in and in," their race does not degenerate. With them family government is perhaps more supreme than with any other people. Divorce, domestic discord, and disobedience to parents are almost unknown among them. The process by which they have become the leading merchants, bankers, and financiers of the world is explained by their history. In many places their children were not permitted to enter the schools, or even to be enrolled in the guilds of labor. Trade was therefore the only avenue left open to them. In most countries they dared not or could not own the soil. Why a nation of original agriculturists ceased to cultivate the soil altogether is therefore only seemingly inexplicable. All nations nnist have a certain proportion of their population engaged in tilling the soil; as the Jews have no common country they reside in all; and in all countries they have the shrewdness to see that whilst it is most honorable to plow, yet all men live more com- fortably than the plowman. In addition to which, as before intimated, agriculture so fixed them to the soil that it would have been impossible to evade persecution and spoliation. They were constantly on the move, and their wealth nnist therefore be portable and easily secreted — hence their early celebrity as lapidaries, dealers in diamonds and precious stones — and hence too, their introduction of bills of exchange. The utility of these great aids to connnerce had long been known to the world — perhaps by both Greek and Roman — but could never be made available b)- them, 390 LIFE OF VANCE. because confidence in the integrity of each other did not exist between the drawer and the drawee. But this integrity, which the lordly merchants of the Christian and the Pagan world could not inspire, was found to exist in the persecuted and despised Jew. So much for the lessons of adversity. These arts diligently applied, at first from necessity, after- wards from choice, in the course of centuries made the Jews skillful above all men in the ways of merchandise and money changing, and finally developed in them those peculiar faculties and aptitudes for a calling which are brought out as well in man by the special education of successive generations, as in the lower animals. The Jew merchant had this advantage, too, that whereas his Gentile competitor belonged to a co}isolidatcd nation^ confined to certain geographical limits, speaking a certain tongue, the aid, sympathy, and influence which he derived from social and rf political ties, were also confined to the limits of his nation. ; But the Jew merchant belonged to a scattered natioji^ spread out over the whole earth, speaking many tongues, and welded together, not by social ties alone, but by the fierce fires of suffering and persecution; and the aid, sympathy, influence- and information which he derived therefrom came out of the wfeiaest parts of the earth. ^^4%- When after many centuries the flames of persecution had abated so that the Jews were permitted more than bare life, their industry, energ>^and talent soon placed them among the important motive powers of the world. They entered the fields of commerce in its grandest and most colossal operations. They became the friends and counselors of kings, the prime-ministers of empires, the treasurers of republics, the mover^of armies, the arbiters of public credit, the patrons of art, and the critics of literature. We do not forget the time in the near past when the peace of Kurope^^-' of three worlds^^hung upon the Jewish Prime-Minister of England. No people are so ready to accommodate them- selves to circumstances. It was but recently that we heard */ LIFE OF VANCE. 391 of an English Jew taking- an absolnte lease of the ancient Persian Kmpire. The single family of Rothschild, the progeny of a poor German Jew, who three generations ago sold cnrious old coins nnder the sign of a red shield^ are now the possessors of greater wealth and power than was Solomon, when he conld send 1,300,000 fighting men into the field ! Twenty years ago, when this family was in the height of its power, perhaps no sovereign in Europe could have waged a successful war against its united will. Two cen- turies since the ancestors of these Jewish money-kino-s were skulking in the caverns of the earth or hiding in the squalid outskirts of persecuting cities. Nor let it be sup- posed that it is in this field alone we see the great effects of Jewish intellect and energy. The genius which showed itself capable of controlling the financial affairs of the world, necessarily carried with it other great powers and capabilities. The Jews in fact, under most adverse cir- cumstances, made their mark — a high and noble mark — in every other department of human affairs. Christian clergy- men have sat at the feet of their Ra-bkiiw to be taught the mystic learning of the East ; Senates have been rnwrnppod- by the eloquence of Jewish orators ; courts have been con- vinced by the acumen and learning of Jewish lawyers ; vast throngs excited to the wildest enthusiasm by Jewish histri- onic and aesthetic art ; Jewish science has helped to number the stars in their courses, to loose the bands of Orion,and to guide ArctufAs with his s^ ns. ^^^_ ^ /*Ci Jewish literature has delighted and instructed all classes / of mankind, and the world has listened with rapture and with tears to Jewish melody and song. For never since its spirit was evoked under the shadow of the vines on the hills of Palestine to soothe the melancholy of her Kino- has Judah's harp, whether in freedom or captivity, in sorrow or joy, ceased to wake the witchery of its tuneful strinos. r''*"Time forbids that I should even name the greatest of 393 LIFE OF VANCE. those who have distinguished themselves and made good their claim to rank with the foremost of earth. No section of the human family can boast a greater list of men and women entitled to be placed among the true children of genius — going to make up the primacy of our race — in every branch of human affairs, in every phase of human civilization. Mr. Draper says that for four hundred years of the middle ages-^— ages more dark and terrible to them than to any others, they took the most philosophical and comprehensive view of things of all European people,,^" — '^ On the whole, and after due deliberation, I think it may be truthfully said, that there is more of average wealth, intelligence, and morality among the Jewish people than there is among any other nation of equal numbers in the world ! If this be true — if it be half true — when we con- sider the circumstances under which it has all been brought about, it constitutes in the eyes of thinking men the most remarkable moral phenomenon ever exhibited by any portion of the human family. For not only has the world given the Jew no help, but all that he is, he has made himself in spite of the world — in spite of its bitter cruelty, its scornj.and unspeakable tyranny. The most he has ever asked, certainly the most he has ever received, and that but rarely, zcas to be left alone. To escape the sword, the rack, the fire, and utter spoiling of his goods, has indeed, for centuries, been to him a blessed heritage, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. The physical persecution of the Jew\s has measurably ceased among all nations of the highest civilization. There is no longer any proscription left upon their political rights in any land where the English tongue is spoken. I am proud of the fact. But there remains among us an unrea- sonable prejudice of which I am heartily ashamed. Our toleration will not be complete until we put it away also, as well as the old implements of physical torture. This age, and these United States in particular, so boastful T xLIFE OF VANCE. 393 of toleration, presentf some curious evidences of the fact that the old spirit is not dead; evidences tending much to show that the prejudices of aoc/o years ago are still with us. In Germany, a land more than all others indebted to the genius and loyal energy of the Jews, a vast uprising against them was lately excited, for the sole reason, so far as one can judge, that they occupy too many places of learning and honor, and are becoming too rich ! In this, our own free and tolerant land, where wars have been waged and constitutions violated for the benefit of the African negro, the descendants of barbarian tribes who for ^mft- years have contributed nothing to, though in close contact withrtthe civilization of mankind, save as the Helots contributed an example to the Spartan youth, and where laws and partisan courts alike have been used to force him into an equality with those whom he could not equal, we have seen Jews, educated and respectable men, descendants jp / of those from whom we derive our civilization, kinsmen,,.---^ / after the flesh, of Him whom we esteem as the Son of God and Savior of men, ignominously ejected from hotels and watering places as unworthy the association of men who had grown rich by the sale of a new brand of soap or an improved patent rat-trap ! ., mmtr^ I have never heard of one of these indecent thrusts at the U Jews without thinking of the dying words of Sargeant I Bothwell when he saw his life's current dripping from the sword of Burley: "Base peasant churl, thou hast spilt the blood of a line of Kings." Let us learn to judge the Jew as we judge other men — by his merits. And above all, let us cease the abominable injustice of holding the class responsible for the sins of the individual. We apply this test to no other people. Our principal excuse for disliking him now is that we have injured him. The true gentleman, Jew or Gentile, will always recognize the true gentleman, Jew or Gentile, u 394 LIFE OF VANCE. and will refuse to consort with an ill-bred imposter, Jew or Gentile, simply becanse he is an ill-bred imposter. " The impudence of the low-bred Jew is not one whit more detestable than the impudence of the low-bred Gentile^ J*. children of "shoddy, who by countless thousands swarm into doors opened for them by our democracy. Let us cry quits on that score. Let us judge each other by our best not our worst samples, and when we find gold, let us recognize it. Let us prove all things and hold fast that which is good. Whilst it is a matter of just pride to us that there is neither physical persecution nor legal proscription left upon the civil rights of the Jews in any land" where the English tongue is spoken or the English law obtains, yet T consider it a grave reproach not only to uSp but to all Christendom // that such injustice is permitted anywhere. The recent ( barbarities inflicted upon them in Russia revive the recol- lection of the darkest cruelties of the middle ages. That is one crying outrage, one damned spot that blackens the fair light of the nineteenth century, without the semblance of excuse or the shadow of justification. That glare of burn- ing homes, those shrieks of outraged women, those wailings of orphaned children go up to God, not only as witnesses against the wretched savages who perpetrate them, but as accusations also of those who permit them. How sad it is again to hear that old cry of Jewish sorrow, which we had hoped to hear no more forever ! How shameful it is to know that within the shadow of so-called Christian Churches, there are yet dark places filled with the habitations of cruelty. No considerations of diplomacy or international courtesy should for one moment stand in the way of their stern and instant suppression. The Jews are our spiritual fathers, the authors of our morals, the founders of our civilization with all the power and dominion arising therefrom, and the great peoples professing Christianity and imbued with any of its noble spirit, should see to it that justice and protection are afforded LIFE OF VANCE. 395 them. By simply speaking with one voice it could be done, for no power on earth conld resist that voice. Kvery con- sideration of lu-imanity and international policy demands it. Their unspeakable misfortunes, their inherited woes, their very helplessness appeal to our Christian chivalry, trumpet-tongued in behalf of those wretched victims of a prejudice for which tolerant Christianity is not altogether irresponsible. There are objections to the Jew as a citizen^iiany ob- jections] some true and some false, some serious and some trivial. It is said that industrially he produces nothing, invents nothing, adds nothing to the public wealth ; that he wnll not own real estate, nor take upon himself those permanent ties which beget patriotism and become the hostages of good citizenship ; that he merely sojourns in the land and does not divcll /// it, but is ever in light marching order and is ready to flit when the word comes to go. These are true objections in the main, and serious ones, but I submit the fault is not his^jsven here. " Quoth old Mazeppa, ill-betide The school wherein I learned to ride." These habits he learned by persecution. He dwelt everywhere in fear and trembling, and had no assurance of his life. He was ever ready to leave because at any mo- ment he might be compelled to choose between leaving and death. He built no house, because at any moment he and his little ones might be thrust out of it to perish. He cherished no love for the land because it cherished none for him, but was cruel and hard and bitter to him. And yet history shows that in every land where he has been protected he has been a faithful and zealous patriot. Also since his rights have been secured he has begun to show the same permanent attachments to the soil as other peo- ple, and is rapidly building houses and in some places cultivating farms. These objections he is rapidly remov- ing: since we have removed their cause. 396 LIFE OF VANCE. So, too, the impression is sought to be made that he is dishonest in his dealings with the Gentiles, insincere in his professions, servile to his superiors and tyrannical to his inferiors, oriental in his habit and manner. That the Jew — meaning the class — is dishonest, I believe to be an atrocious calumny ; and, considering that we derive all of our notions of rectitude from the Jew, who first taught the world that command, " Thou shalt not steal," and " Thou shalt not bear false witness," we pay ourselves a shabby compliment in thus befouling our teachers. Undoubtedly there are Jewish scoundrels in great abundance ; undoubtedly also there are Gentile scoundrels in greater abundance. South- ern reconstruction put that fact beyond a peradventure. But our own scoundrels are orthodox^ Jewish scoundrels are unbelievers — thai is the difference. If a man robs me I should thank him that he denies my creed too ; he com- pliments both me and it by the denial. The popular habit is to regard an injury done to one by a man of different creed as a double wrong ; to me it seems that the wrong is the greater coming from my own. To hold also, as some do, that the sins of all people are due to their creeds, would leave the sins of the sinners of my creed quite unaccounted for. With some the faith of a scoundrel is all important ; it is not so with me. All manner of crimes, including perjury, cheatingjand over-reaching in trade, are unhesitatingly attributed to the Jews, generally by their rivals in trade. Yet somehow they are rarely proven to the satisfaction of even Gentile judges and juries. The gallows clutches but few, nor are they found in the jails and penitentiaries — a species of real estate which I honor them for not investing in. I admit that there was and is perhaps now a remnant of the feel- ing that it was legal to spoil the Egyptians. Their con- stant life of persecution would naturally inspire this feeling; their //'^^.'v// life of toleration and their business estimate of the value of character will asnaturallv remove n LIFE OF VANCE. 397 it. Again and again, day by day, we evince onr Gentile superiority in the tricks of trade and sharp practice. It is asserted by our proverbial exclamation in regard to a par- ticular piece of villainy, " That beats the Jews ! " And I call your attention to the further fact that, sharp as they undoubtedly are, they have found it impossible to make a living in New England. Outside of Boston, not fifty perhaps can be found in all that land of unsuspecting integrity and modest righteousness. They have managed to endure with long-suffering patience the knout of the Czar and the bow-string of the Turk, but they have fled for life from the presence of the wooden nutmegs and the left-handed gimlets of Jonathan. Is there any man who hears me to-night who, if a Yankee and a Jew were to " lock horns " in a regular encounter of commercial wits, would not give large odds on the Yankee? My own opinion is that the genuine " guessing " Yankee, with a jack-knife and a pine shingle could in two hours time whittle the smartest Jew in New York out of his home- stead in the Abrahamic covenant. I agree with Lord Macaul|ythatjthe Jew is what we have made him. If he is a bad job, in all honesty we should contemplate him as the handiwork of our own civilization. If there be indeed guile upon his lips or ser- vility in his manner, we should remember that such are the legitimate fruits of oppression and wrong, and that they have been, since the pride of Judah was broken and his strength scattered, his only means of turning aside the uplifted sword and the poised javelin of him who sought to plunder and slay. Indeed so long has he schemed and shifted to avoid injustice and cruelty, that we can perceive in him all the restless watchfulness which characterizes the hunted animal. To this day the cast of the J^^ -9 features in repose is habitually grave and sad as though the very plough-share of sorrow had marked its furrows across their faces forever. 398 LIFE OF VANCE. " And where shall Israel lave her bleeding feet ! And when shall Ziou's songs again seem sweet, And Judah's melody once more rejoice The hearts that leaped before its heavenly voice ? Tribes of the wandering foot and weary heart How shall ye flee away and be at rest ? * The wild dove hath her nest — the fox his cave — INIankind their country — Israel but the grave." The hardness of Christian prejudice having dissolved, so will that of the Jew. The hammer of persecution having ceased to beat upon the iron mass of their stubbornness, // will cease to consolidate and harden, and the main strength of their exclusion and preservation will have been lost. They will perhaps learn that one sentence of our Lord's grayer, which it is said is not to be found in the Talmud, and which is the key-note of the difference between Jew and Gentile, "Forgive us our trespasses as zr^ forgive them who trespass against us." If so, they will become as other men, and taking their harps down from the willows, no longer refuse to sing the songs of Zion because they are captives in a strange land. I believe that there is a morning to open yet for the Jews in Heaven's good time, and if that opening shall be in any way commensurate with the darkness of the night through which they have passed, it will be the brightest that ever daw ned upon a faithful people. have stood on the summit of the very monarch of our great Southern Alleghanies and seen the night flee away before the chariot wheels of the God of day. The stars receded before the pillars of lambent fire that pierced the zenith, a thousand ragged mountain peaks began to peer up from the abysmal darkness, each looking through the vapory seas that filled the gorges like an island whose "jutting and confounded base was swilled by the wild and wasteful ocean." As the curtain was lifted more and more and the eastern brightness grew in radiance and in glory, animate nature prepared to receive her Lord ; the tiny LIFE OF VANCF. 399 snow-bird from its nest in the turf began chirping to its young ; the silver pheasant sounded its morning drum-beat for its mate in the boughs of the fragrant fir; the dun deer rising slowly from his mossy couch and stretching himself in gracefulcurves, began to crop the tender herbage; whflst the lordly eagle rising straight upward from his home on the crag, with pinions wide spread, bared his golden breast to the yellow beams and screamed l*is wel- come to the sun in his coming! Soon the vapors of the ^^j^ night are lifted up on shafts of fire, rolling and ««et^Tmg in M*'"*^ billows of refulgent flame, until^when far overhead^ they ^ are caught upon the wings of the morning breeze and swept away, perfect day was established and there was peace. So may it be with this long-suffering and immortal people. So may the real spirit of Christ yet be so triumphantly in- fused amongst those who profess to obey his teachings, that with one voice and one hand they will stay the persecutions and hush the sorrows of these their wondrous kinsmen, put them forward into the places of honor and the homes of love where all the lands in which they dwell^hall be to- them as was Jerusalem to their fathers. So may the morn- ing come, not to them alone, but to all the children of men who, through much tribulation and with heroic manhood ^ have waited for its dawning^th a faith whose constant- cry through all the dreary watches "of the night has been, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him !" "Roll golden sun, roll swiftly toward the west, Dawn happy day when many woes shall cease; Come quickly Lord, thy people wait the rest Of thine abiding peace! No more, no more to hunger here for love; No more to thirst for blessings long denied. Judah! Thy face is foul with weeping, but above Thou shalt be satisfied!" / 400 LIFE OF VANCE. CHAPTER XXI. ADDRESS — THE DUTIES OF DEFEAT. Duties «f Defeat — Extracts from Address at State University Soon After the War — Loyalty and Devotion to Liberty and the Consti- tution Enjoined— Adjustment to Existing Conditions — Great Op- portunities for Wisdom and Statesmanship — The Orphan Son of a Dead Soldier Tempted into Crime — The Lesson— Exhortation to Manliness, and Love of Country — The Effort to Restore Prosperity and Build Up Waste Places. THE following are extracts from an address delivered by Hon. Z. B. Vance before the Literary Society of the University of North Carolina at ChajDcl Hill, June 7th, 1866: We stand to-day amidst the stranded fragments and floating timbers of the great civil war in history. Astounded at the mighty results we are as yet unable to comprehend them. Indeed the profound significance of their full phil- osophical import can scarcely be gathered by this genera- tion. For we are not yet at the end of the revolution as is popularly supposed, but are only, as we trust, at the end of armed violence. * * * * Perhaps in modern annals there will scarcely be found a parallel to the complete ruin and impoverishment of the people of the Southern States. * * * Upon our own beloved State a full share of these common calamities has fallen; Nor does it relieve them of their crushing weight to remember the deep hostility of her people to the policy which inaugurated them. Quiet, conservative, law abiding as her people have ever been — though jealous of their rights and honor, and ready at any moment to perish for them — yet slow to violate compacts, they have never ceased to prefer exhausting all civil reme- dies for the redress of public grievances, rather than evoke LIFE OF VANCE. 401 the terrible and uncertain arbitrament of revolution. vSteady in the exercise of this resolution, she was forced, the very last, into a conflict which she was the very first in main- taining. The sufferings of our people have indeed been fearfully commensurate with their honesty and their courage. With her homesteads burned to ashes; with fields desolated; with thousands of her noblest and bravest children sleeping in beds of slaughter; innumerable orphans, widows and helpless persons reduced to beggary and deprived of their natural protectors; her corporations bankrupt and her own credit gone; her public charities overthrown, her educa- tional fund utterly lost; her land filled from end to end with her maimed and mutilated soldiers; denied all representa- tion in the public councils; her heart-broken and wretched people are not only oppressed with the weight of their own indebtedness, but are crushed into the very dust by taxation for the mighty debt incurred as the cost of their own sub- jugation! The very race of beasts of burden, by which alone we could extract bread from the half-tilled earth, was, at the close of hostilities, almost destroyed, leaving us destitute of even the means of labor! Such a picture of suffering would seem sufficient to sate a generous enemy, and should move the deepest depths in the bosoms of her loving sons. * * * There was indeed a cry and lament through all her borders. From her Alpine heights to her tidal sands, from her plains and valleys and all her habitation, the wail went up. The dismal cypress garlanded with funeral moss became fit emblems of her woe; and her sombre pines moaning in the breeze sang requiems solemn as for the dead. And though nature was still kindly and invited us to forget our sorrow; though the sun still warmed and cher- ished the earth; though the early and the latter rains still descended according to the promise, clothing the fields with verdure and causing the tender herb to put forth; and though the mocking bird — sweetest of our warblers — em- bowered within the shadows of his leafy home, poured forth 27 402 LIFK OF VANCE. his glorious song, "every note that we heard awaking," yet no joyous response stirred our bosoms. It seemed in- deed that despair had claimed us for her own. We felt that it was demanded of us to sing a song in a strange land, and we could but hang our harp upon the willows of our own native rivers, famous now with the rich memories of our children's blood, and weep when we remembered the pleasant places from which we had fallen. It was in truth a prospect to appall the stoutest hearted; and many of our aged and infirm, who had bravely borne all the sufferings of a four years' war, have sunk down like the oak, which having withstood the storm, yet falls in the ensuing calm and died, "rejoicing exceedingly and being glad that they could find the grave." Such are the changes through which we have passed and are passing, such is the condition, physical and social, of your country at the moment when you are to enter upon the earnest duties of life. You will probably agree with me in thinking that the time is an important one and that the duties before young men of education and patriotism differ widely from, and far exceed in mighty responsibility, those which have devolved on any of your predecessors. It will not be improper to glance at some of the peculiar fields where your energies as well as your kindly charities may be most benefically expended. The task of uplifting and regenerating our fallen country indeed belongs to us all ; but it will devolve more especially upon you. Neither spent nor broken down by the fierce conflicts and deadly disappointments of the past, your fresh spirits are not only endowed with the vigor necessary to successful action, but they can more easily bend to the Percustian bed of circumstances which is spread for the repose of the conquered people wherein lies, now and at all times, the true secret of statesmanship. The work is not nearly so hopeless as it would seem at first, and it is noble and glori- LIFE OF VANCE. 4^3 ous beyond anything that ever fired the ambition of youth. Though the destruction is so widespread and thorough it should be remembered that there is nothing which can exceed the recuperative powers of nature when aided by the industry of men. The gaping wounds in our country's bosom are to be healed, these enormous losses of our wealth are to be repaired, these wasted fields are to be restored to the glorious verdure of peaceful abundance; from the ashes of the homes which once sheltered us must arise the beams and rafters of homes still as beautiful and happy. The blackened chimneys must no longer stand, grim and solitary on the landscape, surrounded by rank and profitless weeds, the sorrowful milemarks of the sweep of desolation as it marched, devouring our substance, but must be made to send up again from mansion roofs, the cheering columns of smoke which once bespoke plenty and repose, and to glow again with winter's blaze of domestic peace and sacred hospitality. All the bloody foot-prints of ruthless war must be erased by the hand of intelligent industry. Looking despairingly at the condi- tion of things, the country turns towards her young men and calls to them to lead the way in preaching and practicing hope. You are required above all things to teach our'' people to look up from the crumbling ashes and prostrate columns of their present ruin, to the majestic proportions and surpassing grandeur of that temple which may yet be built by the hand which labors, the mind which conceives, and the great soul which faints not. An officer leading his men into battle, himself going first and charging home upon the enemy, with the high and lofty daring of a hero, rallying his troops wdien they waver, cheering when they advance, applauding the brave and sustaining the faint-hearted bearing aloft the colors of his command and struggling with all the strength and spirit of manhood, resolving to conquer or to perish, is' esteemed one of the noblest exhibitions of which man is capable. 404 LIFE OF VANCE. We thrill and burn as we read the glowing story and exhaust the language of praise in extolling his virtues. But not less glorious, not less worthy of the commendation of his countrymen is he who in an hour like this bravely submits to fate; and scorning alike the promptings of despair and the unmanly refuge of expatiation, rushes to the rescue of his perishing country, inspires his fellow- citizens with hope, cheers the disconsolate, arouses the sluggish, lifts up the helpless and the feeble, and by voice and examj^le in every possible way, urges forward all the blessed and bloodless and crowning victories of peace. It is a noble thing to die for one's country; it is a higher and a nobler thing to live for it. The best test of the best heroism nozv is a cheerful and loyal submission to the powers and events established by our defeat and a ready obedience to the constitution and laws of our country. Being denied the immortal distinc- tion of dying for your country, as did your fathers and your elder brothers, you may yet rival their glory by living for it if you will live wisely, earnestly and well. The greatest campaign for which soldiers ever buckled on armor is now before you. The drum beats and the bugle sounds, to arms, to repel invading poverty and desti- tution, which have seized our strongholds and are waging war, cruel and relentless, upon our women and children. The teeming earth is blockaded by the terrible lassitude of exhaustion and we are required, through toil and tribula- tion, to retake, as by storm, that prosperity and happiness which were once our own, and to plant our banners firmly upon their everlasting ramparts amid the plaudits of a redeemed and regenerated people. The noblest soldier lunv.^ is he that with ax and plough pitches his tent against the waste places of his fire-blasted home and swears that from its ruins there shall arise another like unto it, and that from its barren fields there shall come again the glad- dening sheen of dew-gemined meadows, in the rising and LIFE OF VANCE. 405 the golden waves of ripening harvests, in the setting sun. This' is a besieging of fate itself; a hand to hand struggle with the stern columns of calamity and despair. But the God of nature hath promised that it shall not fail when courage, faith and industry sustain the assailant ; and this victory won without one drop of human blood, unstained by a single tear, imparting and receiving blessings on every hand will be such as the wise and good of all the earth may applaud, and over which even the angels might unite in rejoicing. Now from the earth directly or indirectly comes all the wealth of man, whether it be in flocks upon the hills, in palaces within the city, or in ships upon the sea. In this prolific and never-failing source alone must be laid the foundations of our regeneration, and the plow is the great instrument with which it is to be effected— the oldest born, the simplest and most beneficent of inventions, the father and the king of all the implements of man— upon it de- pends all of agriculture, of manufactures, of commerce and of civilization. Remembering this, it will be your first and last great duty, whether as legislators or private citi- " zens, to encourage, foster and protect labor upon the soil, being assured when it prospers that all other desirable things shall be added. * * '' It will be our duty now, in better ways and under hap- pier auspices, still further to undeceive them (the Northern people) by the vigor and energy with which we shall clear away the wreck of our fallen fortunes, adapt ourselves to circumstances under changed institutions and new systems of labor, and the rapidity with which we shall travel in those ways which lead to the rebuilding and adorning a State. Nor will it admit of a doubt that the same courage, constancy and skill which led our slender battalions through so many pitched fields of glory, will, when directed into the peaceful channels of natural prosperity and quickened by the sharp lessons of adversity, be sufficient to place the 4o6 LIFE OF VANCE. Southern States of the American Union side by side with the richest and mightiest. Deserving also of your earnest attention is that moral ruin — scarcely less extensive than the physical — which dogs the footsteps of revolution. No classes of our society have altogether escaped it, while in some its ravages have been fearful. The peculiar counter- acting influences — those of schools and schoolmasters — the general poverty of the country has well nigh destroyed. The almost total loss of the very considerable fund set apart by the wisdom of your Legislators in happier times for the education of the poor children of the State, and the consequent abandonment of our system of common schools, are by no means to be second among the least of our many misfortunes. To the thousands of children whose parents were heretofore unable to educate them, are now added other thousands reduced to a worse condition by the results of the war. Their situation proves a subject of the most serious magnitude, and imposes additional obligations upon all who, like you, have been favored with the means and opportunity of education. But among all the sacred duties which will devolve on you as citizens and patriots, there are some more sacred still than others; and one of these is the looking after and caring for the orphans of those who per- ished in your defense and mine. Numbers of them are destitute not only of the means of education, but of subsis- tence itself. Without friends or protection, they will wan- der into ways of wickedness and ruin. It has already been my painful fortune to witness an instance of such an one brought into the courts of justice, charged with crimes com- mitted under the influence of want and in the absence of a father's teachings. But that father was sleeping far away in a rude soldier's grave in the wilderness of the Chicka- hominy, and his orphan boy, without a parent, a protector or a friend in the world, lone and homeless, had wandered among strangers and been tempted into crime. I visited him in prison where, without a coat, without shoes or hat LIFE OF VANCE. 4^7 and his few remaining garments, displaying his pale and delicate frame, he told me his simple and piteous story. His tender years and helpless condition appealed so strongly to the court that the penalties of the law were not inflicted upon him. * * * But my heart bled within me when I remembered he was only one of a thousand whose future was equally hard, and that he had thus lost home and father and honest life >r:K^«,««^>'wr. * * * The time is not far distant when, as citizens, I trust, you will be per- mitted to take a part in the government of your country. The path of statesmanship for the past decade has been beset with peculiar difhculties ; nor is it likely that the sur- roundings of the present period will prove less embarrassing to any public man honestly seeking his country's good. The lessons of experience would make us all wise, if they were not forgotten. In taking whatever position your tal- ents or inclination may cause to be assigned you my most solemn injunction would be to burn into your memories forever the teachings of the terrible experience of the past five years. The great problem we have just worked out is full of mighty meaning, its theories Js demonstrated in char- acters of '^fraternal blood" and all its cordlaries teem with changes of power and the downfall of systems. Let it ever bebelore your eyes, and learn of it. Among other wise things, that the yielding to blind passions and personal re- sentments, when the happiness of thousands is entrusted to your judgment, is a crime for which God will hold you ac- countable. The subjection of every passion and prejudice in the breast to the cooler sway of judgment and reason, when the common welfare is concerned, is the first victory to be won in a political career. Without it you can win no other in which your country can rejoice. * * * Such is now the actual state of things, unfortunate as we may regard it, and contrary as it may seem to all our ideas of the true purposes of government. But it is ^come in and make the objection that it costs too much money. By looking at the reports of the commissioner of public land grants to the various States for the purpose of education as collated in the American Almanac of Mr. Sparford of 1879, I find that the States of the Northwest have received 70,213,534 acres, which, at $1.25 per acre, the government price, makes $87,765,667, while the vStates of the South have only received, for simi- lar purposes 6,434,446 acres worth $8,043,000. So the people of the North have received $80,000,000 in property which is the same as money for the purpose of educating their children more than the people of the South. I am informed by those who have made the calculation that the share which would go to the Southern States under this bill in the ten years to come will be about $55,000,000, LIFE OF VANCE. 417 and that will still fall short ,^2 7,000,000 of bringing these States np to an eqnality to the Northwestern States in the matter of edncation at pnblic expense, and yet we are told that the bill gives too much money, and the Senator from Ohio, Mr. Sherman, says the South can not be trusted with it. You may as well refuse to pay a man what you owe him because }-ou can not trust him with the money. An- other Senator objects because he says the people ought to learn to depend upon themselves. This is a doctrine I like to hear advanced, but I do not think it ought to come from that side of the chamber, having received all the pub- lic lands that was sufficient to enable them to locate a basis of their school systems, and make a fund for permanent education in their States, that they state to the rest of us that we should learn to help ourselves; that it will not do to depend on the government. Mr. President, we will help ourselves if you will take your hands off of us. If you let us alone we will agree to help ourselves. If you will quit taxing us to support your factories in the North we will agree to help ourselves. If you will quit taking public lands to build railroads in the country we will help ourselves. If you will doctor your own sick cows and calves we will help ourselves. It comes wath a very bad grace indeed from a portion of the country where all the fortunes that have been accvmiulated have been accumulated by making everybody help them by universal taxation of private funds ; to come here when there is a proposition to help the colored people, that they themselves forced into this position far above their capacity to occupy, and say to us, "well, you must help yourselves." If that is to be the doctrine all along, I am perfectly will- ing ; I am more than walling to it. God knows all that I ask for the people of my section, and all that I ever expect to ask for the people of my section in this respect, is to be let alone. Do not tax us to build up your shoe factories. Do not tax us to build up your wool factories. Do not 28 4i8 lifp: of vance. tax us to build your iron factories. Do not tax us to build up every industrial scheme that you have got in the North by which you have been enabled to accumulate your wealth, and then turn around and say to us, when w^e ask for a little help, not for ourselves so much as for those whom you have thrust upon us, with the right of suffrage, "we will not give it to \ou, you must learn to depend upon yourselves." Mr. President I do not expect this bill to pass ; I have no idea that it will pass. I have likewise doubted, and I say it with proper senatorial courtesy, the professions of many gentlemen on the other side, when they were so interested about the improvement, moral and intellectual of the colored race of the South ; while they would send emissaries among them, and bind them together for political, party purposes, and pat them on the back, and run them forward in the name of freedom and advance them to the polls, I have always believed that when it came to doing something real for V the benefit of that people ffe&t there would be flinching, and I am not disappointed at finding it. When the Senator from Ohio got up, and put his refusal to vote for the bill on the ground that he could not trust the people of the South to administer this money, I was prepared for his ojDposition to be put upon some ground, because I have no doubt that he considered the ignorant negro as a cause for bloody shirt, and a fruitful source of investigation, but an intelligent negro is an intelligent voter at the ballot box. He answers his purpose now, no doubt, far better than he would then. In reph' to the charge, to the assumption rather, for it scarcely amounts to a charge, that the people of the South can not be entrusted to dis- pose of the money properly, I appeal to the laws of all of the Southern States in relation to the education in com- . mon schools. In the State of North Carolina, as I have explained, there are more than one-half million dollars raised annually by taxation, to which is added funds LIFE OF VANCK. 419 amounting annually to about $7,000,000 for distribution, and ninety-five per cent, of that taxation comes from the pockets of the white people, and the men who voted in the party opposite to the party in which the black people are. The report of the Superintendent of Public Schools, which I hold in my h.and, shows that in full proportion to numbers the blacks have robbed the funds of that taxation by their political opposition, and as our laws in conformity with the constitution of the United States forbids any discrimination, there is no more likelihood that any of this money will be improperly appropriated, and that the whites will get the benefit of it instead of the blacks, than there is that any such political dishonesty will be com- mitted in any other vState or community in the Union. So far from there being a prejudice in North Carolina against the education of the black people, as the Senator from Arkansas (Mr. Garland) disclaimed as to his State, there is a positive desire for it. The intelligent tax payers of North Carolina desire, that if these men are to have the right of suffrage and citizenship, they shall be suffi- ciently intelligent to exercise these rights properly and safely to the country. They desire that their workmen shall have sufficient tools. There is a prejudice there against the education of the two races in the same school house, and upon the same bench. The law provides that that shall not be done. There is not a prejudice, but a dislike there to being taxed so heavily in the midst of their poverty, when scarcely able to educate their own children, for the education of those who have been thrust in among them in the manner which I have described. It is grievous to the people of North Carolina to pay so heavy a tax for that purpose, but still they do it, and they impose it upon themselves. It is not the machinery of party that forces it upon them. The Legislature of that State had been Democratic and under the control of white men for years and years, and every year the taxes imposed 420 LIFE OF VANCE. for public education have become higher and higher. So as the bill violates none of the laws of North Carolina, as it purposes to interfere with no part of the system of edu- cation of North Carolina, but simply to aid it, and as it is to endure for an express time, and not for all time, I feel that it is my duty to vote for the bill, and I shall do so. Mr. President, the Senator from IMassachusetts (Mr. Hoar) read a lecture the other day in which he stated that the old Commonwealth of Massachusetts still led the column in the matter of education. Now, let us see how far she leads the column. How far she actually leads it, and how far she ought to lead it. The value of property in Massachusetts in 1880 was $1,584,000,000, and her total taxes were $24,323,000, twenty per cent, of which is de- voted to school purposes, and the rate of taxation on the $iQO is $1.53. The total valuation of the property of North Carolina for the same year was $156,100,000, and the total taxes very nearly $2,000,000, eighteen per cent, of which is for schools, and the rate of taxation in that State is $1.22. So we see that while the wealth of Massachusetts is ten times greater than that of North Carolina, the amount of her taxes devoted to school purposes is only nine times greater than in North Carolina, and the per centage of her taxes which is devoted to education is only two per cent, greater than in North Carolina. Sir, I think that is doing pretty well for North Carolina, and when we come to consider the way in which that old Commonwealth got her wealth, I think that her Senators are as little entitled to taunt the South, on her poverty and illiteracy, as those who have received public land grants in aid of education. For it is known to everybody acquainted with the financial history of this country that the whole country has been taxed to support Massachusetts ever since the government was formed. North Carolina has considered her one of her chief paupers, and the sum annually paid in the consump- tion of manufactured articles in North Carolina for the sup- LIFE OF VANCE. 421 port of Massachusetts would render her taxes far ahead of the taxes of INfassachusctts. In the conclusion of his speech the Senator from Massachusetts used an epithet towards the State of North Carolina. Shot it back at her as he took his seat, and he rolled it under his tongue, evidently as though he had been studying it up a long while. He spoke of North Carolina as the tail State. Now Mr. Presi- dent, I wish to say — Mr. Hoar — The Senator misunderstood me. If he will look at the report of what I said he will see that he does not quote me correctly. Mr. Vance — I have it before me, and I do not think I can be mistaken in it. The Senator from Massachusetts said : "I do not think that with these statistics coming by State authority to the United States government year by year that there will be Senators from North Carolina mak- ing such speeches as we heard yesterday. That State will have something else to say if she is the tail vState among the 38 of the American Commonwealths in the matter of her school children than what her Senator told us on this floor yesterday." I presume the Senator will stand by the record, will he not ? I was oroincr to sav that as a matter of course it was a subject of mortification to me as well as to the other South- ern Senators to be constantly made aware of the fact that our States are at the tail end of illiteracy. But, sir, there is a deeper depth of mortification ; and I am much in the condition of a young man of whom I once heard who had the misfortune of being knocked down in a fight with a circus company. Though not much injured, he took to his bed as though it would break his heart, and in reply to those who endeavored to console him by telling him that any man was liable to be knocked down, that there was nothing in that. "Oh, yes," said he, "I know that; but, Lord ! Lord ! they knocked me down with the same stick they stirred the monkeys with." [Laughter.] 422 LIFE OF VANCE. It is a source of mortification to nie for any Senator to get up and appeal to the figures and say that my State is at the bottom in regard to illiteracy, but it adds a pang to the sharpness of that mortification, it adds another under-story to the depth of that humiliation, to be told so by the Sena- tor from the Tewksbury State; a Senator from a State that has fattened on public taxation of this country; a State that from the very beginning of the foundation of our gov- ernment, rather of our struggle for independence, has sacrificed every principle and every profession that was in- convenient for the purpose of gain, to taunt those with poverty who have been kept poor by the process of plun- der! A State that is more responsible under heaven than any other community in this land for the introduction of slavery into this continent, with all the curses that have followed it ; that is the nursing mother of the horrors of the middle passage, and that, after slavery in Massachu- setts was found not to pay, sold those slaves down South for a consideration, and then thanked God, and sang the long metre doxology through their noses, that they were not responsible any longer for the sin of human slavery, should at least be modest in applying epithets to her neighbors. If I may be permitted to disturb the dignified solemni- ties of this body for one moment I will state what it re- minds me of. I heard once of an old maid who got religion at a camp meeting. Immediately after she experienced the change she commenced exhorting the younger and prettier women in regard to wearing jewelry and gewgaws, and warned them against the pernicious consequence to piety of such vanities. "Oh! girls," she said, "I tell you, I used to wear ear rings and finger rings and laces and fur- belows like you do, but I found that they were dragging my immortal soul down to hell, and I stripped them every one off and sold them to my younger sister Sally." [Laugh- ter.] That's the way Massachusetts relieved herself from LIFE OF VANCE. 423 slavery. That's the way she preserved her whiteness of soul. Now, there was no necessity for the remark of the Sen- ator from Massachnsetts. I had made no assault upon him. I was supporting the bill, as I supposed he was. He was supporting it in his peculiar way, and I was sup- porting it in mine, and the remark, as you will see, is entirely illogical, inconsequential and disconnected. It was a pure emanation of venom towards the Southern peo- ple and towards my State. There was no necessity for it, and I have felt if my duty to allude to it as I have done. I Wish to repeat, as I close, the remarks which I made when this discussion opened. I do not stand here to ask for this bill for the benefit of the white people of North Carolina. They do need aid of course, but they would not need it, if their ability to pay taxes and to educate their own people, could be concentrated upon their own color, but the colored people in their midst are citizens of North Carolina. They are entitled to the same treatment precisely that any other citizens of North Carolina are entitled to at the hands of the law-makers of the State. There is now, and there has been no di,<=nosi tion to treat them in any other- way. Poor ox'iis ai ...... as we are, -^q ^^jjixes are levied indiscriminately without regard to race or color, and expended for the benefit of all the illiterate children of North Carolina. In consequence of that burden, in consequence of the condition that every man knows that the State of North Carolina and the South was placed in by the results of the war, I have felt it my duty to support this bill in order to get what relief I could and against the dangers and evils of illiteracy that the State is not competent to oppose. I wish to say that these constant taunts and twittings of the States of the South with their poverty and their inability to keep their people properly educated, have long ago ceased to be merely a want of magnanimity, and have passed in the boundaries of positive and absolute meanness. It threatens to convert the insolent pride of Tom Bounderby, of Coketown, into pious humility and to elevate by contrast the character of Pecksniff into that of a most respectable Christian gentle- man. Magnanimous Senators would not do it, sir. 424 LIFE OF VANCE. CHAPTER XXIII. ^^>k PRESIDENT DAVIS' REPORTED THREAT TO COERCE THE SECEDING STATES. Remarks in the Senate Contradicting Statement o|f General Sherman that President Davis Had Threatened to Coerce North Carolina if Vance Should Attempt to Take the State Out of the Confederacy. THE Senate having under consideration the following resolution relating to a paper filed in the War De- partment by General Sherman, affecting the conduct of Jefferson Davis and others, to-wit : Resolved, That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby requested, if in his opinion it be not incompatible with the public interest, to communicate to the Senate a historical statement concerning the public policy of the executive department of the Con- federate Stafes during the late war of the rebellir- renorted to have s, th^_^i^ been latel}- filed in the War Department by Geuf ' '^.liam T. Sher- man. " i.ur- Mr. Vance said : Mr, President: As the Senate will probably pass this resolution and place upon its records an unofficial paper, filed in the War Department by General W. T. Sherman, which contains statements affecting certain persons, it is but right and proper that all persons so affected should be heard in the same forum. As one thus interested, I desire to notice some statements made in that communication to the War Department. In order that I may not be misin- terpreted I have placed in writing the material portions of what I desire to say, which shall be very brief. It is understood and, I believe, not denied that in a speech made not long since in Saint Louis, Mo., General Sherman said he had seen a letter written by Mr. Jefferson Davis to a Governor of a Southern State during the war, now a Sen- LIFE OF VANCE. 425 ator, in which Mr. Davis threatened the coercion of any Southern State that should attempt to secede from the Con- federacy. As there are, I believe, three Senators at least on this floor who were Governors of Southern States during the war, myself being one, I immediately on the appear- ance of that statement denied through the Post of this city that any such letter had ever been received by me. The newspapers soon afterward stated that General Sherman had been interviewed as to my denial, and had stated that he had not alluded to me as the person to whom the alleged letter had been addressed. I very naturally thought that this denial at both ends of the line had concluded the mat- ter so far as I was concerned ; but it seems not. In the statement filed in the War Department, as published in the papers of the country, I find the following assertion : At Raleigh, though the mass of the public records had been car- ried off, yet a number were left behind at the State-house and at the Governor's mansion, called the "palace," which we occupied as head- quarters during our stay there, namely, from April 13 to April 29, 1865. These records and papers were overhauled by provosts-marshal and clerks, who delivered to Adjutant-General vSawyer such as con- tained material information, and my personal attention was only drawn to such as were deemed of sufficient importance. Among the books collected at the palace in Raleigh was a clerk's or secretary's "copy- book," containing loose sheets and letters, among which was the par- ticular letter of Mr. Davis to which I referred in my Saint Louis "speech." I gave it little attention at the time, because Mr. Davis was then himself a fugitive, and his opinion had little or no importance, but it explained to my mind why Governor Vance, after sending to me commissioners to treat for his State separately, had not awaited my answer. It was the subject of common talk about my headquarters at the time, or, as stated by Colonel Dayton in a recent letter to me from Cincinnati, "I am quite sure that we generally talked [that] it was the desire of Governor Vance and the State officials to take North Carolina out of the Confederacy, as I have stated, but they were afraid of Jefferson Davis and wanted protection." Concerning this I have the following observations to make : I. That no letters or documents of a public character 426 LIKE OF VANCE. were ever left at my residence in the Governor's mansion, while I was Governor, at any time. 2. Nq clerk or secretary of mine ever used as a reposi- tory for my correspondence a "copy-book ;" all official or public letters being first copied in the letter-book required by law to be kept in the executive office, and then bound into bundles and placed in the files, wdiere they remain to this day. 3. General Sherman did not find in that copy-book "the particular letter of Mr. Davis to which he referred in his Saint Louis speech," for the simple reason that there was no such letter there. 4. I aver most positively, on the honor of a gentleman and an American Senator, that no letter containing such a threat was ever received by me from Mr. Jefferson Davis. All letters from him to me of any nature are to be found copied in the letter-books of the executive department of North Carolina, now in the War Department in this city. The reasons given by General Sherman by way of cor- roborating his statement are such as would scarcely be relied upon by a respectable lawyer. He says he paid "little attention to it at the time," and does not say that he ever saw it afterward ; and further, that Mr. Davis was then himself a fugitive, and his opinion had little or no impor- tance! It was, perhaps, the little attention given to the opinions of an unimportant man that enabled him to re- member so well the contents of the letter in which they were expressed after the lapse of nearly twenty years ! The suggestion as to the probable fate of that mysterious letter, that it was burned in the great fire in Chicago, is a mere apology for its non-production, which at the same time contradicts the idea of its importance ; for had it been such as he says it was, it would certainly have found its way to the public files. But there is another matter averred by General Slierman LIFE OF VANCE. 427 that more nearly concerns me, and to which I shall very briefly ask the attention of the Senate. It may be that Northern gentlemen who were on the vic- torions side during the civil war can not properly appreci- ate the feelings and sentiments of those who were on the side of misfortune and defeat. They seem to regard it as quite a sin that we do not readily join in the denunciations of him who was our leader in the war, and hasten to con- demn him on all occasions as the surest way of excusing our conduct and commending ourselves to the good opin- ion of our late opponents. Surely no man of even the slio-htest sense of honor could respect a Southern man who would thus debase himself. Surely the most flagrant and rampant trafficker in the issues of sectional hatred would prefer an adversary who v.-alked upright on his feet to the one who crawled upon his belly. If not, what must be thought of his own manhood? Now, sirs, be it known to you, that those of us who pledged our faith to each other for the establishment of the Confederacy gave up all for which we contended when it failed, retaining to ourselves only one solitary satisfying reflection, and that was that we had at least served our country faithfully, honestly, and devotedly, as we under- stood it. This satisfaction General Slierman's statement would to some extent take from me, and this it is, sir, which I resent. It is well known that I was drawn into secession unwil- lingly ; it is also well known that in regard to many of the the details of administration I was at variance with the authorities of the Confederate government ; but it is equally well known, I hope, that, after my own honor was engaged and the honor of my native State, there never was an hour during all that unhappy time in which I did not give every energy of my body, mind, and soul to the success of the cause to which I had pledged my allegiance. General Sherman, professing high respect for me, for which I thank 428 LIFE OF VANCE. him, thinks, perhaps, that he does me a kindness and com- mends me to the people of the country by holding out the idea that I was disaffected while Governor toward the cause for which I was ostensibly fighting, and that I was anxious to separate myself and State from the Confederacy, but was restrained by fear. Sir, I want no man's respect or good- will based on the supposed virtues of treason to my coun- try and the desertion of my associates. The good-will of a man who would respect these traits in another is not worth picking up from the dust of the common highways. Gen- eral Sherman says that the commissioners whom I sent to meet him as he approached Raleigh, to-wit : ex-Governor Swain and ex-Governor Graham and Surgeon-General Warren, told him that I wanted to make separate terms for the State, but was afraid of "Jeff Davis." I do not believe it. It can not be true. The two gentlemen first named are dead; they were eminent North Carolinians of most ex- alted character in all respects, and most especially for truth. They kiiezv I was faithful to the Confederacy ; they knew that I was not afraid of opposing Mr. Davis when I differed from him, because they had seen me constantly doing it, and they never told General Sherman or any other living man the contrary of what they knew to be true as perfectly as any men in North Carolina. The other commissioner, Th. Edward Warren, was Sur- geon-General of the State of North Carolina, is now living, and is an eminent physician in Paris. His statement would surely carry as much proof of what was said there as that of the witness cited to prove that there was talk about camp of " the desire of Governor Vance and other State officials to take North Carolina out of the Confederacy, but they were afraid of Jeff. Davis and wanted protection." True it is that I sent a commission to him under a flag of truce to ask protection, not separate terms for the people of my State, but at that moment the war was virtually ended. Lee had surrendered, Richmond had fallen. President Davis LIFE OF VANCE. 4^9 and his official household were fugitives, and General Tohnstou, co.uuianding the last remnant of an aru.y devoted to the South, was about to .narch westward, no o"e knew whither, and uncover the capital of the State. W.th h.s consent and approbation that embassy was sent, and throng . his lines under his permit it went. Before its'eturn Ral- ei..h was uncovered and I had left to join Mr. Davis, at Charlotte, where the surrender of General Jf'-t <>" ™^ authorized and the finality of things brought about. 1 hen and there I toolc my leave of Mr. Davis and ot the Confed- eracy, and went back with his full approbation to share the fate of my people. General Sherman finds an explanation of my failure to await the return of my embassy in the contents of the mys- terious letter-that I was afraid of Davis, then a fuguive without an army. Bold enough he says I was to send an embassy to the enemy, but I was afraid to await its retnrr Was ever conclusions more absurd? The reason why I did not wait was that I had been told my embassy, after passing through the Confederate lines, had been captured by Kifpatrick's cavalry, promptly robbed of their personal effects, and taken before General Sherman as prisoners. Not returning up to midnight of the ^^Y - * ^^ *?>' were sent, I conclnd d this to be true, and left with the retreatius: troops. How well and how faithfully I served the lost cause the countrv knows. My own people, sir, about whose opinion I am most concerned, will wonder that anybody can be found to question it. 430 LIFE OF VANCE. CHAPTER XXIV. LECTURE THE POLITIC AE AND SOCIAL SOUTH DURING THE WAR. Lecture Delivered Before the Andrew Post, No. 15, of the Grand Army, in Boston, Mass., December 8, 1886 — A Heroic and Manly State- ment of the South's Position — The War Not a Rebellion — The Southern Soldiers Not Rebels — The Ordinance by which the State Entered the L^nion Repealed by the Same Power — How Could that be Treason? — Massachusetts in the Hartford Convention Took the Position Assumed by the Southern States in 1861 — Slavery Not the Cause of the War, Only the Occasion— Massachusetts and Other Northern States Brought vSlaves here and Sold them to the South — A Constitutional Principle was Involved in Like IManner as in the War of 1776 — Congress so Declared in 1862 — The Rich Man's War and the Poor Man's Fight — Good Conduct of the Blacks — The Conscript Law a Mistake — A Source of Weakness — Vance's Regi- ment — Its Fatalities and Bloody History — State and Confederate Governments Sought to Preserve Personal Liberty — Not so in Fed- eral Government— Resources of the South — Blockading — Supplies Broiight in by the Advance and Other Vessels — Devotion and Sac- rifices of the Women of the South — Diet and Beverages of the Soi;thern People — Humorous Reflections. Y presence here to-night, ladies and gentlemen, occasions me a degree of embarrassment. I was prominently involved in the affairs about which I propose to speak, having taken an active part in both the military and civil transactions of my State during the period of the war. On the one hand I am under the duress of your hospitality, which tempts me to say the things which would prove most agreeable to you ; on the other hand, I somewhat fear that, if I should be too plain spoken, I might become liable to the charge of abusing the privileges of a guest. Should I fail in properly avoiding either extreme I beg you to give me credit for good intentions at least. I honestly desire to speak the simple truth as it appears to me. This I believe LIFE OF VANCE. 431 is what yon wish to hear! [Cries, "that's what we want."] Necessarily ni}' remarks will be discursive and with no pre- tension to the preciseness and continuity of narration which should characterize a historical essay. I shall endeavor to entertain you for a brief space with the ideas and observa- tions of occurrences as they appeared to a Southern man concerning the great civil war. It is proper that you should hear the inscription read upon the other side of the shield. This generation is yet too near to the great struggle to deal with it in the true historic spirit. Yet it is well enough for you to remember that the South is quite as far removed from it as is the North ; and the North has industriously un- dertaken from the beginning to write the histor}- of that contest between the sections, to set forth its causes and to justify its results — and naturally in the interest of the vic- torious side. It is both wise and considerate of you to let the losing side be heard in your midst. If you should re- fuse to do so it will nevertheless be heard in time, before that great bar, the public opinion of the world, whose juris- diction you cannot avoid, and whose verdict you cannot unduly influence. Neither side acts wisely in attempting to foixsLall that verdict ! It is well to remen^ber, too, that epithets and hard names, which assume the guilt that is to be proven, will not serve for arguments for the future Bancrofts and Hildredths of the Republic, except for the purpose of warning them against the intemperate partiality of their authors. The modest action of the common law should be imi- tated in the treatment of historic questions, which consid- ers every accused person as innocent until his guilt is proven. Murder is treated as simply homicide until there is proof that the killing was felonious. In treating, for example, of all questions pertaining to the war, you assume the guilt of your adversaries at the outset. You speak of the secession movement as a rebel- 432 LIFE OF VANCE. lion, and you characterize all who participated in it as "rebels and traitors!" Your daily literature, as well as your daih' conversation, teems with it. Your school his- tories and books of elementary instruction impress it in almost every page upon the young. Your laws, State and Federal, have enacted the terms. Yet every lawyer and intelligent citizen among you must be well aware that in a technical and legal sense there ivas no r^ebellioji^ and there were no rebels! Should this not be admitted, however, I am sure there will be no denial of the fact that you once had the opportunity of obtaining an authoritative decision of the highest court, not only of the United States, but of the world, on this very question — and that opportunity was not embraced. I hope you will not be alarmed ; it is not my intention to make you listen to an argument in favor of the right of secession. I only wish to remind you of some of \.\\q prima facie reasons why the people of the North — and of Massachu- setts in particular — should not assume the verdict of his- tory in their favor when they declined to test the verdict of the law. [Applause.] In attempting to withdraw herself from the Union of the States by repealing, on the 20th of May, 1861, the ordi- nance by the adoption of which she had entered the Union on the 2ist of November, 1789, against whom and what did North Carolina rebel? To whom had she sworn alle- giance ? Certainly to nobody ; to no government ; to noth- ing but the constitution of the United States. Was she violating that oath when she thus withdrew? When Vir- ginia and New York reserved, upon their accession to the constitution, their right to withdraw from the same, and declared that the powers therein granted might be resumed whenever the same shall be perverted to "their injury or oppression," did those States reserve the right to commit treason? When Massachusetts openly threatened to sepa- rate from the Union upon the admission of Louisiana as a LIFE OF VANCE. 433 State, was she conscious that she was threatening treason and rebellion? When her Legislature, in 1803, "resolved that the annexation of Louisiana to the Union transcends the constitutional power of the government of the United States," and that it "formed a new Confederacy to which the States united by the former compact are not bound to adhere," was not that a declaration that secession was a constitutional remedy? Again, the same principle was proclaimed by the authority of Massachusetts in the Hart- ford Convention, where it was declared "that when emer- gencies occur which are either beyond the reach of judicial tribunals or too pressing to admit of delay incident to their forms, States which have no common umpire must be their own judges and execute their own decisions." With such a record, to which might be added page after page of cor- roborating quotation from her statesmen and her archives, should not the ancient Commonwealth of Massachusetts be a little modest in denouncing as "traitors" those whose sin consisted in the following of her example? It has been said that the groundwork and essence of the doctrine of secession was laid in the Virginia resolutions of 1798, of which Mr. Madison, the leading spirit, the Morning Star of the convention which formed the constitution, was the author. If so, let it be remembered these resolutions were submitted to every State in the then Union, of course, in- cluding Massachusetts ; were expressly or tacitly approved by all, and disapproved by none. Indeed, it may be said generally that during the period of discussion concerning the adoption of the constitution by the several States, it was taken for granted that any State becoming dissatisfied might withdraw from the com- pact, y2?r cause of which she was to be her own judge. The old articles of Confederation declared that the Union formed thereunder should be perpetual ; this clause was purposely, and after discus.sion, left out of the new constitution. The great danger apprehended by the statesmen of that day was 29 434 LIFE OF VANCE. that the Federal government would gradually encroach upon and absorb the rights of the States. In deference to this fear the Tenth Amendment was adopted, chiefly on the urgent instigation of Massachusetts, expressly reserving to the States all rights not delegated. Still these fears re- mained. In fact these encroachments upon the rights of States have constituted for three-fourths of the century the great distinguishing subject of contention between Ameri- can statesmen, during all of which time it was claimed that secession was a constitutional remedy therefor. If it had been understood that over the doors of the constitu- tion were written nulla restigia retrorsiim ; that the State which entered there could never more depart thence, what- ever might be the injuries and oppressions inflicted upon her, how many States would have entered therein? What would jealous, sensitive Massachusetts, Virginia, North Carolina have said to such a proposition ? Would they have subjected their citizens to a condition of things wherein North Carolina, for examj^le, could have hung a man in her borders if he refused to fight for her, and Mas- sachusetts and the others could have hung him if he did ? The essence of all crime is to be found in the criminal intent. Now the object of these brief references to the doctrine of secession is to ask you and the conservative, legal sentiment of the Northern people how you could convict and execute a man for the intentional commission of a crime, when the greatest intellects of the whole American people had not been able to deterime that the act committed zuas a crime ; when the act committed had been pronounced a constitutional right, an essential muni- ment of freedom, by Legislatures of great States, by a long line of great and glorious statesmen, by primary assemblages of the people, by conventions of great political parties, whose enunciations received again and again the endorsement of a majority of the American people at the polls ; when the constitution itself was silent as to express LIFE OF VANCE. 435 words, and when no court of law had ever found by impli- cation or legal deduction that this act was a crime ! The idea of holding the citizen up to all the legal penalties and responsibilities of treason under such circumstances is revolting to our sense of human justice. Now if you would not or could not thus inflict upon him the severe penalties of law, is it just, is it fair, is it Christian charity to assume his guilt and visit upon him socially and politi- cally all the odium of one actually condemned, so far as daily, hourly iteration can do it ? May we not fairly retort upon you that, if secession be indeed a crime, you taught it to us ? Sir Edward Coke says of copy-hold tenures, that though of base descent, they are of a most ancient house ; we can say here that though secession be an infamous doc- trine, yet it had a most illustrious origin, Virginia and Massachusetts. [Loud applause.] Oh, wise and patriotic enemy of secession, who fought that monster by a "substitute," and who enriched yourself by speculation on the distresses and confusions of war, spare us! [Laughter.] Oh, brave, true soldiers of the Union, and all you people who had honest convictions of the unwisdom of our acts, ye who fought and sacrificed for love of country and its fair autonomy, spare us, who were equally brave, equally honest, but not equally fortunate! Again, my friends, we of the South have most serious cause to complain of you in reference to your efforts to forestall history in regard to the causes which led to secession and war. It is written: "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor." You say that it was slavery, and slavery alone, that caused the war. In your literature it is spoken of as the "slave-holders' rebellion." A false shot out of both barrels ! Slavery was the occasion^ not the cause of the war. You put us in the position not only of traitors and rebels, but of becoming such for the privilege of holding human beings in bondage, thereby 436 LIFE OF VANCE. heaping upon us all the reproach and opprobrium that such a thing renders possible. This is at once a misrepre- sentation and an injustice. The great majority of the people of the South entertained in the abstract as much repugnance to slave-holding as you did. Their fault in respect to slavery, as with secession, was not all to be charged upon them. As usual, Massachusetts comes in for the lion's share. Boston and Providence slavers vexed the seas in their ungodly search for kid- napped Africans to be bought in exchange for New Eng- land rum and sold to the Southern plantations, against which Old Virginia and other Southern States protested. Nay, by reference to the history of the constitution it will be seen that New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut united with North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia in postponing the suppression of the slave trade for twenty years, in the formation of that instru- ment ; the Southern States because they wanted the slaves, the Northern States because they had large shipping inter- ests engaged in the profit of buying and carrying them to market. "The horrors of the middle passage" belonged to you ; we only bought your wares. The desire to protect her infant industries was thus manifested even at the early day against her ancient rival, England, whose "pauper labor" was engaged in the same trade. So, too, a fierce arraignment of King George III, for forc- ing the slave trade upon the colonies w^as inserted by Mr. Jefferson in the original draft of the Declaration of Inde- pendence. It was striken out at the instigation of the Eastern States as well as Southern, because it was felt to be a reflection on citizens of Massachusetts and of Rhode Island engaged in the slave trade. Slavery and the slave trade were in full and cruel operation in Massachusetts be- fore there was a white man's home in North Carolina, a slave trade which not only imported Africans, but exported Africans, Indians, and, worst of all, our own race — the peo- LIFE OF VANCF. 437 pie of our own blood ! How slavery grew and ramified through all the South, under the natural stimulus of clim- ate and productions, and how the abstract sentiment against it was extinguished by the political necessities of the times, arising from the fierce attacks made upon it by the States to whose climate and pursuits it was unsuited, and who therefore sold out, quit business and turned philanthropist! All this is an old, old story; and I only allude to it to re- mind you that you are not at liberty to cast the first stone. [Applause.] The ownership of slaves and the regulation of the sys- tem were left to the exclusive control of the States, not only by the Tenth x-lmendment which reserved to them all rights and powers not expressly granted to the Federal government, but its existence was specially recognized and its safety specially provided for in the constitution itself. It being a matter, therefore, of purely domestic concern, wholly within the control of the States, the attempt to in- terfere with it by the Federal government in any shape, directly or indirectly, was justly regarded as a violation of constitutional right, and injurious to that perfect equality of the States guaranteed by the constitution. That is why we went to war. Slavery happened to be the particular item or instance wherein this equality was assailed ; and in resistance to this attempt of the Federal government to in- terfere within a State in a matter which peculiarly per- tained to that State we resorted to secession as a peaceable remedy. The thing which made our forefathers hesitate to adopt the constitution at all, had here come upon us, and the remedy which our forefathers — and yours — had suggested as the only one proper or possible, was naturally resorted to. Had it been conceded by submission that the Federal government could interfere in the matter of slavery, we would have been logically precluded from resistance to like interference for any other cause whatever, and there was 438 LIFE OF VANCE. an end to the rights and equality of the States under the constitution forever, and therefore an end to the freedom, sovereignty and independence of each State which, accord- ing to all writers and statesmen. North and South, was retained by them when they acceded to the constitution. It was a constitutional principle for which we fought, not merely the right to hold slaves. vSo far as I have the right to speak for the people of North Carolina, I believe that with them this war was one for principle as purely and simply as was the war of 1776; as sacred a principle as that which made Boston men disguise themselves and throw the tea overboard (by the way, the first kukluxing ever known in America), and made the North Carolina militia of the Cape Fear openly and without disguise seize the British Stamp-Master, destroy his stamps and force him to take an oath not to execute the stamp act in that colony. It will not do to say that the Federal government was not interfering with or threatening slaver\' at the time of secession. The Northern States were openly violating the provis- ions of the constitution relative to the return of fugitive slaves. A President had just been elected on the principle of avowed hostility to slavery, by a strict sectional vote. No one doubts now or could doubt then that a war upon the reserved rights of the States, waged in the name of slavery, was the animating motive of the great party which had just come into power. No pretext could dis- guise it. So late as June, 1862, a Congress composed entirely of representatives of the adhering States, solemnly declared that the Federal government had no power to abolish slavery and that the war was waged exclusively for the preservation of the Union. In six months thereafter slavery was abolished all the same. The real point of at- tack was then disclosed. Do not misunderstand mc, I am not ashamed of the term "rebel" in the connection with the LIFE OF VANCE. 439 part I bore in those events ; neither are my people. I am simply pleading for historic, legal trnth. The fair (ioddess of Liberty was born of rebellion, and was baptized in the blood of rebels. It is the only remedy for wrong under absolute government; in all ages it has been the last hope of freedom. I have said this much in the earnest desire that it might call your attention to an injustice, which you are daily perpetrating, not for the purpose of reviving an issue which has been settled. Now that it has been settled in a manner satisfactory to you, you can afford to do jus- tice to the motives and conduct of your opponents — you can afford to accept the late war as an appeal to arms to decide a disputed question of constitutional construction—- .one of the few vital questions which the wisdom of the fathers did not make sufficiently clear. That will be the verdict of history when your passions and mine shall have been forever extinguished in death. Need you say any- thing more? Does your reputation or vindication require that you should asperse your adversaries? I trow not. The preservation of the Union with all which that means, the settlement of a great constitutional question, which threatened its safety, is your all-sufficient justification and your rightful glory. [Applause.] You add not a spark to that splendid radiance, which gathered around the defenders of the Union, by casting abuse upon those whom you overcame. Here let me remark that a new duty is imposed upon you by the very fact of your great achieve- ment ; now that your swords have definitely settled the question that the Union is indissoluble; that no State for whatever cause has any right to withdraw therefrom ; that secession is not a constitutional remedy for grievances, it devolves upon you as just men to see that by a strict ad- herence to the conditions of the Union no State shall have reasonable cause to complain, [Applause.] The people of North Carolina, more, perhaps, than those of any of the eleven seceding States, were devoted to the 440 LIFE OF VANCE. Union. They had always regarded it with sincerest rever- ence and affection, and they left it slowly and with sorrow. They were actuated by an honest conviction — ist. That their constitutional rights were endanger-ed, not by the mere election of Mr. Lincoln, as others did, but by the course which subsequent events were compelled to take in consequence of the ideas which were behind him. 2d. By the force of neighborhood and association. 3d. By a fatality of events which ordinary prudence could not have avoided. The Union men of that State, of whom I was one, whatever may have been their doubts of the propriety of secession, were unanimous in the opinion that it was neither right nor safe to permit the general government to coerce a State. In their arguments there- fore with the secession advocates they logically took the position that should coercion be attempted they would unite with the secessionists in resisting it. During the last ses- sion of Congress, which preceded the outbreak, the winter of i860 and '61, the Union members of Congress from Ken- tucky, Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia, after earnest and anxious consultation, constituted a committee to wait upon IMr. Lincoln, who was then in the city preparatory to his inauguration, and present him their views in regard to the situation. They did so, and my colleague, the Hon. John A. Gilmer, gave me the results of their interview. It was represented to Mr. Lincoln by them that the cotton States proper alone could not make any effectual headway in maintaining secession without the aid of the great border States of Missouri, Kentucky, Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and Tennessee ; that the population of those States was devoted to the Union, but could not be held to that position should coercion be attempted and the blood of their Southern brethren be shed. They expressed to him the opinion that the secession movement could be checked and finally broken down if those great States could be kept out of it. Mr. Lincoln appeared fully impressed with the LIFE OF VANCE. 441 wisdom of these views and promised that if possible he would avoid the attempt at coercion. In his inaugural ad- dress he committed himself only to the announcement that his duty would compel him to hold and possess the public propert}- of the United States. I quote from memory. With this promise and these hopes the Union Congressmen from these States returned to their homes and began their can- vassings for re-election. They promised the people that no force would be attempted, and if there should be, they could and would no longer hold out for the Union. As pi^ari- ous as this position was, such was the temper of the Southern people, it was all that the situation afforded even in States so conservative. > But when Fort Sumter was fired upon, immediately followed by Mr. Lincoln's call for "volunteers to suppress the insurrection," the whole situation was changed in- stantly. The Union men had every prop knocked from under them, and by stress of their own position were plunged into the secession movement. For myself, I will say that I was canvassing for the Union with all my strength ; I was addressing a large and excited crowd, large numbers of whom were armed, and literally had my arm extended upward in pleading for peace and the Union of our Fathers, when the telegraphic news was announced of the firing on Sumter and President's call for seventy-five thousand volunteers. When my hand came down from that impassioned gesticulation, it fell slowly and sadly by the side of a Secessionist. I immediately, with altered voice and manner, .called upon the assembled multitude to volunteer, not to fight against but for South Carolina. I said : If war must come I preferred to be with my own people. If we had to shed blood I preferred to shed Northern rather than Southern blood. If we had to slay I had rather slay strangers than my owm kindred and neighbors; and that it was better, whether right or wrong, that communities and States should go together and face 442 LIFE OF VANCE. the horrors of war in a body — sharing a common fate, rather than endnre the unspeakable calamities of inter- necine strife. To those at all acquainted with the atrocities which were inflicted upon the divided communities of IMis- souri, Kentucky and Tennessee, the humanity of my action will be apparent. I went with and shared the fate of the people of my native State, having first done all I could to preserve the peace and secure the unanimity of the people to avert, as much as possible, the calamities of war. I do not regret that course. I do not believe there is an honor- able man within my hearing to-night who, under the same circumstances, would not have done as I did. [Much applause.] My own feeling and conduct is given as a specimen of that of the people of North Carolina at large. I charge no bad faith on Mr. Lincoln for this entrapment; doubtless his intentions were as sincere as those of Union men with whom he conferred. Events were happening so rapidly and so irresistibly that he could see no further ahead than others. His course from day to day was shaped by his sur- roundings — so was ours ! The argument having ceased and the sword being drawn, all classes in the South united as by magic, as only a com- mon danger could unite them. No people were more zealous and unanimous than became the Unionists of my State in support of the war : because they had been honest in their belief that coercion was wrong, and because they felt conscious of having done all that was honorable to avert hostilities. The co-relative duty now was to do all that was manly to fight it out. Well and truly she performed that duty, as the result on many a stricken field will show. First and last she sent to the armies of the Confederacy, not relatively but absolutely, more soldiers than any other State in the South ; furnished more supplies, equipped her troops better. On many of the hardest fought fields of Northern Virginia she left more dead and wounded upon LIFE OF VANCE. 443 the blood-soaked earth than all the other Southern States combined. At Appomattox she laid down at the feet of General Grant double the number of muskets of any other State in the Confederacx'. She did the same at Greensboro. There was not a sacrifice which she was called upon to make for the good of the Southern cause that she did not make, and make cheerfully. This, from old-fashioned, steady, sober, modest North Carolina, in a quarrel not of her making ; in a war not of her choosing. I mention these things not with the expec- tation of exciting your applause in behalf of people whose opinions are so widely different from yours, who fought against your armies and sought to withdraw* from political association with you, but with the earnest hope of enlisting your sympathy for that kind of statesmanship which seeks to utilize such noble citizenship for the purposes of the Re- public, and because I believe that a true soldier can honoi courage and faithfulness to duty wherever he sees it dis- played by any portion of the great American people. All genius, all steadfastness, all public and private virtue is the common property of our country. Instead of fostering bitterness and devoting politics to those small prejudices which are calculated to carry a ward or a township primary, I beg your recognition, of that wiser and nobler policy which seeks to make every spark of genius, every arm of strength, ever)- heart of integrity, and every soul of fire in America contributory to the strength- ening and up-building of freedom, and the glory of the great Republic. [Great applause.] But I did not come before you to-night to discourse upon the military aspects and operations of that struggle (though it is a tempting theme), but rather to speak of its political civil condition. Within two weeks after the opening of hostilities at Sumter, a convention of the people of North Carolina which, in the February preceding had been voted down by a large majorit)', as looking towards disunion, was 444 L^^^ O^ VANCE. called together in Raleigh to consider and provide for the situation. In it were the ablest men in our State, perhaps the ablest which ever assembled in our State in a body. They were composed of Whigs, Democrats, Unionists, and Secessionists: there were Governor Morehead, Governor Graham, George E. Badger, Thos. Ruffin, John A. Gilmer, Burton Craig, James W. Osborne, N. W. Wordfin, and others of similar high character and ability. The last sem- blance of old party distinctions was exhibited in that convention in the contest as to the method of retiring from the Union and joining the new Confederacy. The Union- ists proposed a resolution of withdrawal, containing a declaration /// cxtoiso of the causes of separation ; the Secessionists opposed it by an ordinance simply repealing the ordinance of 1789, by which North Carolina had en- tered the Union. The latter prevailed, and thenceforth all distinctions measurably disappeared. hX first the popular feeling was one of great confidence and hope. The country was prosperous and full of material resources. The novelty of war with all its pomp and circumstance filled the land with unusual and lofty feeling. Say what you will about slavery, it had filled our country with a class of young men admirably fitted for war ; men with habits formed to command; with a consciousness of superiority, and with a sense of chivalry which taught them to believe that per- sonal courage was one of the highest of human virtues. Your people thought, and frequently said, that they had become effeminated by slavery and luxurious habits, and could not endure the hardships of war. You did not find it so. On the other hand we thought you were enfeebled in like manner by your in-door lives of shop and factory ; we, too, found it somewhat different. Indeed both sides undervalued their adversaries, a not uncommon fault in people about to go to war. The buoyant and hopeful feel- ing which animated our people at the beginning of the struggle was sustained by the belief that on principle they LIFE OF VANCE. 445 were in the right ; and especially that they were on the defensive and had their homes and firesides to defend against desolation. They fnrthermore believed — and they certainly were entitled to that opinion for they paid a high price for it — that as a commercial and mannfacturing people mnch given to the making of money, you would not long continue a contest in which there was apparently no money to be made. Alas, we reckoned without our host in this respect. We did not know how Yankee ingenuity was equal to the task of making money where it was spent; how it could accumulate wealth out of the very process of exhaustion. [Laughter.] But we did not believe, as has been often charged, that we could starve you into peace, by withholding our cotton. There were some who professed to believe this, but the lunatic asylums of the State (and there were not many), could have furnished accommodation for them all. Many of our people, too, among those who had been most d. voted Unionists, soon came to look at things in a philosophic spirit, in their desire to reconcile themselves to the situation. They recalled the old historic idea that liberty was best preserved in countries of small extent, whose governments came most immediately under the ob- servation of the governed, and whose officials were most directly responsible to their constituents, and that in coun- tries of great territorial extent, filled with vast populations, of diverse interests and pursuits, there would naturally be a demand for a strong government, and a government was made strong necessarily by conferring upon it powers wrested from the people — a process most undoubtedly dan- gerous to liberty. They considered also that the centralizing tendencies of the times, which they had always been taught to dread, might best be checked by a division of this great land into two or more nationalities, wherein individual rights might still be made to constitute the primal objects of the smaller governments, rather than the national glory 446 LIFK OF VANCK. which threatened to aggrandize the movement of the one great united government. Whatever may be your opinion of these views, I only wish here to assure you that they were widely entertained, and that they served to reconcile many to the proposed separation. With such feelings and hopes the war was begun ! Volunteers were first called upon for six months, then for twelve months, then for " three years or the war" — no man supposing that it could exceed three years in duration. Promises were freely made that six months must wind it up. Looking back at it all now, it is easy for us to assume a superior wisdom, and laugh at all this folly. The first Con- gress of tlie Confederacy, sitting in Montgomery, Alabama, provided for the raising of fifteen millions of dollars for the support of the war. They did not want the President em- barrassed for want of money. For this they were seriously rebuked in many quarters for pernicious extravagance, and it was alleged that we were beginning already to fall into the habit of the United States government in thus accumu- lating useless money in the treasury to become a source of corruption. It seems to me however that some of this kind of lunacy was also displayed on this side of the line. I think I remember some promises of Mr. Seward of sup- pressing the rebellion on ninety days after sight, exclusive of the usual days of grace allowed on commercial paper. [Laughter.] But whatever the mistakes our leaders made in calling for troops, the troops came ; came so jjromptly and in such numbers that neither their own States nor the Con- federate government could receive and properly provide for them. Numbers were refused, and it was often considered a special favor for a regiment or a battalion to be accepted and sent to the front. iVt this time and for twelve or fifteen months afterwards the civil authorities of the new Confederate government were very popular and were most cordially supported by all classes. In the winter of 1 861-2 a chang-e began to take LIKE OF VANCE. 447 place. The time of the six months' vohinteers had ex- pired, and that of the twelve months' men was approaching expiration, and it was seen that if they were all at once mustered out the Confederacy would be left without a suf- ficient army, at the very opening of a campaign. Efforts were at first made to induce the troops in the field to re-enlist, but for various causes these efforts were only par- tially successful. By this time much of the novelty of the thing had worn off ; the volunteers had seen service enough to gratify their curiosity, and the people had experienced what it was to be in a state of actual war. Both soldiers and people had also tasted somewhat of its unpleasant ele- ments. The enthusiasm which had been excited by the victories of Big Bethel, Manassas and other engagements of the first year's campaign, had sensibly diminished. And on the whole, people w^ere no longer disposed to go far out of the way for the sake of being shot at. Seeing, therefore, whilst yet these efforts at re-enlistments were going on, that the result was at least doubtful, the Confederate Con- gress suddenly ended the matter by the enactment of a sweeping conscript law, placing every able-bodied man, be- tween the ages of eighteen and thirty-five, with certain exceptions, in the service. Here the first open and undis- guised complaints were heard, and the murmurings grew louder when the nature of the exceptions was ascertained. One of the exceptions from the operations of the law was in favor of the owner or manager of twenty negroes. Al- together it produced a decided effect on public sentiment. It was perhaps the severest blow the Confederacy ever received, as it did more than anything else to alienate the affections of the common people, without whose support it could not live for a day. It was not only regarded as a confession that the new government was not able to depend upon the voluntary support of the people, with which it so triumphantly started out — which, of course, happened also to you, and must happen to any government in a long con- 448 LIFE OF VANCE. tinned struggle — but it opened a wide door to demagogues to appeal to the non-slaveholding class, and make them believe that the only issue was the protection of slavery, in which they were to be sacrificed for the sole benefit of the masters. The cry was rung through the country that it was a "rich man's war and a poor man's fight." This was undoubtedly the weakest point in our position, and you can well imagine the state of political feeling such an appeal was calculated to bring about, and the great difficulty the supporters of the war had in meeting it. That this law was a great calamity to the Southern cause I regard as in- disputable, but that it was a mistake I am not prepared to assert when I consider the counter calamity which it was intended to avert. The wise man of scripture has said that the "destruction of the poor is their poverty." We were so hard pressed that necessity selected our means for us. Undoubtedly but for it the Southern armies would have been virtually disbanded at the very opening of the great campaign of eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and McClel- lan would have marched triumphantly into Richmond. The troops which had enlisted for the war, added to those which had re-enlisted and those whose time had not yet expired, could not have stopped him. This would proba- bly have been decisive of the v/ar, for in this age of rail- roads and telegraph lines such a contest could not have been maintained by the spasmodic efforts of a volunteer force, as was our War of Independence one hundred years ago. It is necessary also, in relation to the exemption of the managers of negroes from conscription to give a word of explanation concerning that enactment. It may not have occurred to the people of the North that our slaves were not an element of weakness to us, as it was asserted confidently, that they would be. On the contrary, they proved a source of positive strength, in that by tilling the soil, conducting our domestic industries, and producing our supplies, they enabled the entire capable white population UFE OF VANCE. 449 to take up arms. By this means we far exceeded the ratio which ill all wars should exist between those wlao fight in the field and those who labor at home. For example, one soul out of every six in North Carolina served in the army. The exemption of managers and owners of negroes from conscription may therefore be called an unwise attempt to do a most wise thing, to-wit : to utilize to the utmost the capacity of a black population of four millions to contribute to the support of the war. Whether this could have been done in some less objectionable but equally effective way it would be an assum2:)tion of wisdom after the fact for me now to say. Here permit me to call your attention to the conduct of the Southern slaves during the war. You had been taught, by press, pulpit and hustings, to believe that they were an oppressed, abused and diabolically treated race; that their groanings daily and hourly appealed to heaven, wdiilst their shackles and their scars testified in the face of all humanity against their treatment. No doubt many of you believed the harrowing story, for there was much like it, only worse, in your own early history. How was this grave impeachment of a whole people sus- tained, when you went among them to emancipate them from the horrors of their serfdom? When the war began, naturally you expected insurrections, incendiary burnings, murder and outrage, with all the terrible conditions of servile war. There were not wanting fanatical wretches who did their utmost to excite it. Did you find it so ? Here is what you found. Within hearing of the guns that were roaring to set them free, with the land stripped of its male population, and none around them except the aged, the w^omen and the children, they not only failed to em- brace their opportunity of vengeance, but for the most part they failed to avail themselves of the chance of freedom itself. They remained quietly on our plantations, culti- vated our fields and cared for our mothers, wives and little 30 450 LIFE OF VANCE. ones with a faithful love and a loyal kindness which, in the nature of things, could only be born of sincere good will. Very few, indeed, comparatively, followed ^-our armies as the}^ swept by the old homesteads, and a still smaller num- ber fled from their homes to get under its protection. No murder, no outrage, no burnings characterized their course. Not a hand was raised in vengeance by the Southern slave when the supreme opportunity came to him. Even those who left the plantations did so mostly by stealth, as though ashamed of deserting their master's families even for the commendable purpose of joining themselves to freedom. This was the general rule. From the day of their eman- cipation to the present moment, except where instigated by the evil counsels of bad white men, their demeanor towards their late masters has been characterized mostly by kind- ness and considerate respect. I know of no instance in the world's history when a people similarly situated have be- haved better on the whole. These facts are significant. That they are complimentary in the highest degree to the black race no one doubts ; do they not also say enough for for the Southern whites, in regard to their rule as mas- ters, to justify you in thinking better of them than perhaps you have been accustomed to do? According to well known moral laws this kindly loyalty of the one race could not have been begotten by the cruelty and oppres- sion of the other. [Applause.] It will do you no harm to reflect upon this. Whilst the Confederate armies were holding their own in the field and the civil authorities were administering its affairs in the ordinary grooves, there was but little excite- ment or political feeling in the public mind. It had been supposed that the war could be fought through with- out any disturbances of the ordinary functions of civil gov- ernment, or any strain upon the muniments of their civil rights. But so soon as the fortunes of the Confederacy be- gan to ebb, so soon as the superior numbers and resources LIFE OF VANCE. 45 1 of the North beo;-an to be seriously felt, the managers of the South came to feel the necessity of resorting to extraordin- ary means, and thisfeelingof serenity was rudely disturbed. Political discontent and distrust began to prevail. Perhaps in this respect was made the initial mistake of the whole secession movement ; a mistake, the fatality of which in- creased day by day to the end. We started out without revolution of any kind, with all the machinery of society. State and Federal, in complete operation. There was simply a transfer of the central authority from the United States to the Confederate States of America. The same bond of Union or constitution was adopted, save a change of a few strokes of the pen. In thus avoiding the alarms of revolution and giving assurance to the timid of the security of society at the outset, a great point was undoubt- edly gained. Rut this was dearly paid for. These smoothly flowing conditions could not of course be maintained. No consideration was given to the dangers of that coming period when hard necessity should compel the setting aside of civil rights and peaceful forms, and the substitution of the harsh features of revolution — at a moment, too, when the government most needed the warm support of public opinion. Looked at simply with a view to success, in my opinion the seceding States should have faced the most ultra measures of revolution at the very start ; they should have formed no national government and should have bound themselves by the shackles of no constitution. To face the great and terrible odds asrainst them in their strug- gle with a people three times their numbers and ten times their wealth, with the world for a recruiting ground of armies and of means, they should have stripped themselves naked of every vestige of law, constitution or restraint which in any way hindered or encumbered the arm of war, and should have submitted every energy, every element of strength to the sole direction of a single will. This would indeed have been a terrible thing to do, but no less fearful 452 WFE OF VANCE. was the alternative, and we should not have gone into the thing at all if not willing to embrace every possible means of success. Men would have no doubt made up their minds to it, if instead of glossing over the difficulties and deceiv- ing with fallacious hopes of a short war and easy success, the real facts had been boldly and honestly presented at the initial moment. I tested this better principle of our nature in the re-enlisting of my own regiment when its term was about to ex^^ire in 1862. I did this most successfully by telling them the simple truth, that there was a long and terrible war before them ; hardship and suffering and death for the most of them ; that no man could foresee the end — but that their country needed them and its cause would be lost without them. That was all, and it was sufficient. That regiment, the twenty-sixth North Carolina, led by the gal- lant Colonel Harry Burgwyn, the son of a noble Boston woman, left six hundred dead and wounded on the heights of Gettysburg, with their heroic young commander among them. A number of these were found within that deadly stone wall which Lee's whole army had so vainly attempted to scale. [Applause.] But this course was not adopted, and the usual disappoint- ment followed. When conscription came, as I have said, complaints began; when conscription was extended com- plaints grew louder; when complaints became angry, the suspension of Jiabcas corpus was authorized and martial law — that is to say, no law — was allowed to be proclaimed, if need be. This, of course, increased and deepened the dis- content, and from that time forward there was in several of the vStates, notably North Carolina and Georgia, an irritat- ing sense of wrong, caused by the attempt of the Confederate Executive to enforce the laws of Congress, and the efforts of the State to protect the personal rights of their citizens. vSimple justice requires me to say that there was no dis- position on the part of the President of the Confederacy to violate these rights per sc. Indeed the disposition was quite LIFE OF VANCE. 453 the contrary. He never abused the extraordinary powers given him by Congress; in fact, scarcely resorted to them at alb So great was his reverence, and that of the Southern mind at large, for all the old-time muniments of personal liberty, that nearly every claim of the States in behalf of tlieir citizens was conceded — oftentimes at what appeared to be a sacrifice of the public interest. I believe when you view these things dispassionately and calmly 'you will feel bound to give proper credit to both Confederate and State authorities for their efforts during all the confusion of those unhappy times to preserve both the essence and the forms of personal liberty under the strongest temptations to dis- regard them. I feel that it would not be too much in me to say here that we far exceeded your States, and certainly your Federal government, in this important respect, though the strain upon you was not nearly so hard as upon us. From September, 1862, to May, 1865, I was Chief Magis- trate of the State of North Carolina; and when eleven years afterwards I was again inaugurated Governor for the third time, the proudest boast which I could make in regard to my previous service was that during my administration the old legal maxim inter arnia silent leges was expunged, and in its place was written inter arnia leges audiebantur. The laws ivere heard amidst all the roar of cannon. No man within the jurisdiction of the State of North Carolina was denied the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus^ the right of trial by jury, or the equal protection of the laws, as pro- vided by our constitution and the bill of rights. It would, perhaps, be not uninteresting to you to know something of the curious experience through v/hich the Southern people passed during that period in the matter of physical resources. You can scarcely imagine the feeling which comes to a people when isolated as we were, and shut out from communication with all the world. A nation in prison we were, in the midst of civilized society, and forced 454 LIFE OF VANCE. to rely exclusively upon ourselves for everything. When the war began, with the exception of a few cotton and woolen mills and the crude establishments common to all plantations and villages, we were utterly without manu- factures of any kind. So far as I can recall there was not a foundry for casting a cannon, a shop for making a musket, nor a mill for making a pound of powder, within the limits of the eleven seceding States. Not a grain scythe, nor an axe, nor a bar of railroad iron was made in the country, except the few, possibly, occasionally produced in the smallest quantities and in the crudest st)de of temporary makeshift. In short, nearly all the staple articles of human necessity, for both peace and war, we were without the machinery and the establishments for making. But the land was full of resources, and the raw material for the manufacture of all that we needed, x^nd strange as it may appear to you, it was full of mechanical capacity to deal with this material. If you could have witnessed the zeal and the success with which our native genius took hold of it, under the extraordinary stimulus of the times, you would no longer believe that New England Yankees possess a monopoly of the American inventive faculty. [Laughter.] Cotton and woolen millsquickly sprang up and the capacity of existing ones was enlarged. Foundrys for casting can- non, shops for making fire arms, swords and bayonets, and mills for making powder were set up in abundance. Shoes and blankets were made by the hundred thousand, and transportation wagons and camp equipages of all kinds soon supplied the demand. A rigid blockade of our coast at a very early date shut off our hopes of supplies from abroad ; and yet that blockade was not so successfully maintained, but that needed articles crept in in considerable quantities, though fitfully. A long-legged steamer which I purchased in the Clyde for the State of North Carolina, made eleven round trips from Bermudas into the port of Wilmington, carrying out cotton and bringing back supplies of those LIFE OF VANCE. 455 things which could not be procured at home, especially grain scythes, card clothing for the factories, hand cards for our old-fashioned looms, and medicines, with large quanti- ties of shoes, blankets and army cloths. She often entered the port in broad daylight, in the face of the blockading fleet. The situation called into active use all the mechanical talent of our people. The village or cross-road blacksmith refurnished his shop and made tools and agricultural imple- ments for his neighbors; the shoemaker, the cooper, the wheelwright, and the tanner, all sprang into sudden impor^ tance. Even the druggist compounded from the wondrous flora of the country substitutes for nearly all the drugs of commerce, which if not so efficacious were at least more harmless than the genuine article. The devices and expe- dients adopted in all the industries, the social and domestic departments of our daily life, were most ingenious, though sometimes ludicrous. Here the subtle contrivings of the female sex became most conspicuous. The silks, merinos, alpacas and other dress goods of our woman-folks, known as "store clothes," which were on hand when the blockade began were saved and carefully used for weddings and other occasions of high state. For calico prints were substituted the colored plaids manufactured in our cotton mills or woven in the hand-looms of the old plantation. Perhaps you have given some consideration to the importance which a woman attaches to the bonnet; and unless your domestic education has been neglected you are doubtless aware how essential in all civilized lands the sat- isfactory adjustment of the bonnet question is to the peace of mankind. This was now upon us with all its force! There we were, with a bonnet-wearing population of at least three millions in our midst, and not a bonnet factory within the Confederate States, and with a frowning cordon of ships of war guarding every port to keep out this essential army supply as contraband of war! The situation was indeed most appalling ; but my fair country-women were equal to 456 LIFE OF VANCE. it, as they have been to all other emergencies which they have been called on to face. As in the Wars of the Roses, the women were greater partizans than the men, and with them the memories of the struggle were longer in dying out, so it proved with us. They submitted to the privations and hardships of the situation with a cheerful patience which shamed the boasted courage of man. In these inconsiderable matters they showed that beneath the thin veneer of personal vanity there lay the great and noble qualities of common sense and patriotism. They took the bright straw of the wheat, oats and rye, and the husk of the corn ears, rich in the beauteous coloring of silver and old gold, and with deft fingers wove for themselves all manner of head-gear, as charming as any which ever came from the shops of France or Italy, the natural earthly home of artistic beauty! As to the effects produced, I beg to assure the inexperienced in my audience that in gazing upon Southern girls thus arrayed from top to toe in home-made striped cottons, which we called Alamance plaids, set off by corn-shuck bonnets, the work of their own hands, I have felt all the usual symptoms of a violent attack — increased action of the heart, shortness of breath, and that general feeling of "all-overishness," as strong and irresistible as could have been superinduced by any other possible female get-up. I became sadly aware of the fact that it did not matter how they dressed, they had the same power to find the soft spot in our hearts every time. It is male destiny. In the lan- guage of St. Paul, "Brethren, I speak as a man" — "I lie not." [Great laughter.] Nor were their efforts confined to the habilitating of their own sex. They made hats of the same material, and nearly all the clothing worn by men and boys was woven and made up by them, of wool or cotton or a mixture of the two materials, by the aid of the old hand-looms. In the way of eating and drinking we did better, es- LIFE OF VANCR. 457 pecially with regard to the leading articles of diet. Our farm productions, always abundant and good, were made still more so by the fact that there was no sale for our great staples, cotton and tobacco, and our fields were therefore devoted to edible products. Of alcoholic liquors we had too much. Corn whiskey and aj^ple brandy were both abundant and cheap. If any of my auditors happened to be in Eastern North Carolina during that time he will doubtless have heartburning recollections of the apple brandy he found there, under the somewhat mysterious denomination of "new dip." But I shall do — what he perhaps did not — forbear. [Laughter.] When toward the close of the war, by reason of the cir- cumscribing of the scope of country from which the aimy obtained its supplies, it became necessary for the States to forbid the use of grain for distillation, various other sub- stances were adopted. A drink was made from potatoes, from rice, from pumpkins and turnips, and from the do- mestic sugar cane, called sorghum. A brandy was also make from persimmons. As to sorghum whiskey I can only say that in its flavor and its effects it was decidedly more terrible than "an army with banners." On the short- est notice it could furnish its victims with the panoramic view of a full menagerie. [Laughter.] If at any time during your visit to the South a well directed stream from a few barrels of it could have been fired into your ranks, you could never have lived to honor me by your attention to night. x\s to the brandy made from the native persim- mon, it had some good traits, one of which was that it partook of the highly astringent qualities of the fruit. I specially commend it to orator}-. During the campaign I made for Governor in 1864, a speech which I made under the refreshment of this fluid was " pronounced one of the best of my life," my admiring friends declaring it to be such, because the astringent drink had tended to shut me up — and I had said less than usual ! Congress could not 458 LIFE OF VANCE. do wiser than to purchase a quantity of that beverage for its own use. [Applause and laughter.] In the matter of tea, coffee and sugar we were very badly off. No one can imagine, until he has seen it tried, how dependent people become upon these gentle beverages, especially the aged and infirm. Whilst there are several tolerable substitutes for tea, there is nothing in nature that can at all supply the place of the gracious Arabian berry. It stands alone in the catalogue of generous, refresliing, non-intoxicating stimulants, and more so perhaps to the people of the South than to any other in Christendom. Whilst our small stock on hand lasted, divers and sundry expedients were adopted to prolong its existence by mixtures with various substances, parched rye, corn-meal, chestnuts, ochra and sweet potatoes were mingled with small quantities of coffee in the roast- ing, in the hope that the royal berry would assert its superiority by imparting at least a portion of its flavor to the ignoble compound. But this proved a delusion and a snare. The linked sweetness refused to be long drawn out. Nature abhored the bibulous miscegenation, and the throes of deathlv thirst alone rendered it sufferable. A wae once recommended that it be roasted with pop-corn, for the reason that, in the process of roasting, the pop-corn would all jump out of the pan, leaving the original coffee as good as ever. [Laughter.] But when the last grain of coffee had been used, and the last pound of sugar which could be obtained from captured lyouisiana had gone with it, then, and not till then, did we realize that the crisis of our fate had come, and blank despair had settled down upon the Southern cause. Without the flavor or the shadow of a pretense of the flavor of coffee, we were reduced to the honest truth in the shape of a drink made of parched rye sweetened with sorghum molasses ! With a cheerful mel- ancholy this was spoken of as coffee, in deference to the customs of antiquity. [Merriment.] It might with pro- priety be described as the fluid form of secession — and as LIFE OF VANCE. 459 the last and a most faithful support of the Confederacy I wonder did anyone who hears me to-night ever taste it? I am firmly persuaded that if all who are present had lived upon it for one week, as we did for three years, they would rise as one man from their seats and extending both hands towards me, would exclaim: "We forgive the war O, Rebel- we pardon secession; friends and brothers you have suffered enough!" [Tumultuous laughter.] To say as was the custom, that the hopes of the Confederacy depended upon the brave hearts of its defenders was in effect to take an unpardonable liberty with science; these hopes rested chiefly on the strong stomachs of their defenders! Patri- otism had become a question of dyspepsia and mghtmare ! But a truce to this jesting with the sadness of our situa- ^''^These phvsical privations and discomforts did not produce any serious' dissatisfaction with our cause. They were borne by all classes with a patient composure. No one was ' disposed to blame the government for them. It was the utter hopelessness of the struggle which forced itself upon the popular mind in the beginning of 1S64 that increased the discontent and made our people look eagerly around for the ways which led to peace. It was seen that after every creat battle, no odds what the result, the losses to the Union arms were immediately supplied, whilst the gaps which were left in our ranks were filled no more. In North Carolina a large party, composed of citizens whose opinions were not to be despised, favored the making of some effort in the direction of peace. I may say this desire was almost universal, but the difficulty was in finding that way m accordance with the constitution and laws wherewith we had bound ourselves, and the faith which we had plighted to our confederates. By acceding to the Confederacy and ioininc our fortunes to those of the members thereof, an obvious principle of honor and good faith restrained any State from the attempt to make separate terms for itself. 460 LIFE OF VANCE. According to the constitution which we had assumed to support, the Confederate Executive and Senate were the lawful agents for the making of treaties. When requested to attempt negotiations for the common benefit their reply was that they had again and again done so, with the inva- riable answer that no terms could be obtained except such as amounted to unconditional surrender. There is no ques- tion but that circumstances rendered it impossible for the Confederate officials to have done more than they did with- out a manifest violation of the trust reposed in them. They could not commit suicide. So with a full conviction that w^e were in the rapids and drifting swiftly on to the final and inevitable catastrophe, all parties — State and Federal — were so bound by the trammels of the constitution we had so unwisely taken upon ourselves to support, that nobody could interfere without apparent dishonor. We could only stand still, watching our brave but ragged and ill-fed bat- talions as they wasted away in the vain effort to work a miracle which was beyond the reach of human courage, whilst despair lowered sullenly upon the hearts of a noble people, who preferred the worst which fate might have in store for them rather than incur the suspicion of dishonor. We could now see something of that fate. There awaited us not only the usual penalties of subjugation — bitter enough even when inflicted by an organized force restrained by discipline — but all the license of demoralized armies and society in a state of defeat. The land was already darkened by the shadow of those evils which are born of lawlessness and terror. Thieves, murderers, and beasts of prey domi- nated the land and outraged the helpless. The deserting soldier turned desperado and villain. " Rough and hard of heart, With full liberty of the blood}- hand, Did range with conscience wide as hell." It looked, indeed, so like chaos come to reign again that the army of the United States appeared to us as a deliv- LIFE OF VANCE. 4^1 erer when the end came, becanse its battalions at least seemed to obey somebody and to be governed by some law ; and when you think of the devastating "bnmmers" who followed in its wake, or preceded its march, you will under- stand the utter desperation of things with us. May God preserve any portion of the American people from the experience of a country drenched in the blood of its sons, desolated by the tramp of armies, exhausted of its substance, bereft of its laws and peacekeepers, and utterly abandoned to the reign of unrestrained and unprincipled violence. I am powerless to describe it or make you even faintly sen- sible of its horrors. Our own true and faithful soldiers had not yet returned from the field, and it was not until they arrived at home that these disorders were suppressed and our condition became tolerable. But these things did end at last, as all things must. The last Confederate soldier laid down his arms, the flag of the Union was triumphant everywhere, and the bloody drama of secession became a dream. Slowly violence and disorder passed away and the con- servative forces of society began to assert their power in the restoration of law. Their action was quickened by the necessities of an impoverished and well nigh heart-broken people, whose industries so sorely needed the protection of peace. Chaos, the first born, spread her wings in flight, bearing: her black daughter Erebus with her whilst her nobler progeny, Day and vEther, began to emerge full of hope and loving promise upon the face of " broad-breasted Earth," calming and soothing the restless surgings of Civil War. After gloomy Tartarus, the Greek poet tells us, came Love. Will it come to us in our re-creation ? My faith is that of those who believe that all human events — of nations as of individuals — are wisely as well as kindly ordered by the Great Ruler of All for the best inter- est of his creatures, and so that the very wrath of man is made to praise Him. Bitter to my taste as the results of 462 LIFE OF VANCE. the Civil War were, day after day has reconciled me to them and convinced me of the wisdom of cheerful submis- sion to the will of Him who brought them about. The Union of these States has been preserved and declared indissoluble; a great and disturbing constitutional ques- tion has been finally settled ; and slavery has been forever abolished, no longer to tarnish the fair fame of the great, free Republic. Because it was involved in the question of constitutional right, I fought four years in its defence ; on the honor of my manhood, I assure you, though my hairs have since become white, that I would fight eight years against the attempt to reinstate it in my country. [Great applause.] I do not believe there is one man to the hundred in all the South whose sentiments are not the same ; I am sure there is not in the land of my nativity and my unchanging love — North Carolina. I thank the ladies and gentlemen of my audience most earnestly for their presence and attention ; I thank you. Union soldiers of Massachusetts, for this opportunity of saying in your midst a word in behalf of those who fought and suffered and lost. [Long continued applause.] LIFE OF VANCE. 463 CHAPTER XXV. LECTURE LAST DAYS OF THE WAR IN NORTH CAROLINA. An Address Delivered February 23, 1S85, Before the Association of the Marj'land Line in Baltimore — The Gradual Decline of Enthusiasm — The Dying of Hope and Beginning of Despair — The End Came and With it Complete Anarchy — Sherman's Devastating March — Wanton Destriiction of Property — His Orders Contrasted With Those of Cornwallis, and With Lee's in Pennsylvania — Ancient and Modern Authorities on Usages of War — Closing Scenes — Battle of Bentonville — ^Johnston Evacuates and Sherman Enters Raleigh — Meets President Davis at Greensboro — Interview as to Future Policy — Final Good-Bye to Davis — Returns to Hillsboroand Learns of Assassination of Lincoln and of Sherman's Terms of Surrender — Stores and Supplies on Hand — Troops Furnished by the State — Her Means and Vitality not Exhausted — Closing vScenes and Inci- dents and Personal Experiences. THE committee of your association who waited upon me, and invited me to deliver an address upon tliis occasion, will bear me witness how loth I was to under- take the task. The very numerous and urgent engagements' which press upon a member of Congress in the closing days of its session are such as to positively forbid that care and accuracy which alone make the value of any historical address. This has been peculiarly true of myself from the time your invitation was delivered. Positively I have not had the time to do either you or myself justice, but about all that our unfortunate struggle left us Confederates was the power to oblige each other. You insisted upon my coming, and here I am. For the want of opportunity of research, I have chosen to speak to you about the closing scenes of the war, the grand culmination of which happened in North Carolina, for the reason that most of them came within my own personal knowledge. 464 LIFK OF VANCE. Perhaps no portion of that memorable struggle presents a sadder picture. Indeed, history shows nothing whatever more pathetic than the closing scenes of any great and unsuccessful struggle, the death-throes of a cause which had engaged the affections and inspired the hopes of a whole people. The philosophic student can see in such a spectacle also many important lessons in politics and in the study of human nature. The gradual decline of that enthusiasm which at first bore that cause on to delusive victor}', sustained it at flood-tide, and strove fiercely to maintain it against the ebb ; the diminished confidence of the weaker party, the abortive effort to meet superior with inferior means ; that noble exaltation of the heroic spirit which strives to overcome fate itself, and smiles defiance at misfortune ; that final dying away of hope and the in- coming of despair ; the demoralization of even good and brave men ; the humiliation of heart-broken women ; the reckless disregard which follows when all law, civil and military, is withdrawn, and the end of things seems to be at hand ; all these exhibitions of the nature and possible conditions of a people were there, for the wond,er, the pity and the instruction of the reflecting mind. In kaleidos- copic array each phase swept across the stage, as storm- clouds are driven across the sky, culminating in that moral darkness of men ungoverned by law or motive, and women acting without hope. All these things, and more, I wit- nessed among my own people in those unhappy times ; from the day when the first company of volunteers went forth amid the plaudits of the people, as to a festival, down to that dark hour when I saw the last regiment of beardless boys, the " seed corn " of our hopes, pass through the unprotected capital of our State. To the new generation, or even to contemporaries far removed, the recounting of these scenes may excite only the ordinary emotions of those who read history. To us LIFE OF VANCE. 4^5 who witnessed and participated in them, the bringing of them up afresh is like lifting the face-cloth of the dead. ^ There is one feature of those times I will mention as most worthy of note and a phase creditable to our nature. Although war does excite, and with us did excite many evil passions — for it is both excessive law and absence of law and license to violence — yet this barbaric propensity, which was evolved by the removal of all restraint, very soon exhausted itself, and the people waited anxiously for the return of civil authority, as benighted men watch for the dawn. From April to October, 1865, the people of North Caro- lina were absolutely without law, civil or military. There was not a judge on the bench, not a magistrate or sheriff, constable or any kind of civil servant or conservator of the peace to be found in the State invested with legal author- ity. A complete social chaos reigned, yet profound and perfect peace existed throughout our borders. The instincts of order were sublimely present, and never did any por- tion of the great race to which we belong give stronger proof of its capacity for self-government and its innate desire for civilization. When the year 1865 dawned it was apparent to every intelligent observer that the Southern Confederacy was doomed. A glimpse of the situation showed that Lee was holding Richmond by a mere skirmish line, in twenty miles of trenches, on both sides of the James, against Grant with an army of 180,000 men. Wilmington and Charles- ton, our only available seaports, were still in our possession, but hastening to their fall. Sherman's march to the sea had been accomplished ; Savannah had passed into his possession, and it had been demonstrated not only that the Confederate military forces of the Southwest were unable to stay him, but that no hostility was to be expect- ed from the despairing people whose homes he ravaged. With 75,000 victorious troops he was preparing for his 31 466 LIFE OF VANCE. home-stretch toward Richmond, driving before him the scattered detachments, fragments of garrisons of cities and towns, abandoned on his approach, and other portions of the Confederate forces, amonnting to not more than 22,000 men of all arms. In addition to this almost hopeless condition of things on the theatre of the main armies the interior and rear were harrassed and overrun by strong bodies of the enemy's cavalry, who burned and plundered in defenceless sections to their hearts' content. Nowhere was there a gleam of hope ; nowhere had there come to us any inspiriting success. Everything spoke of misfortune and failure. The political situation of course sympathized w'ith the military. The people were utterly without hope, and what they did to- wards supporting the struggle v/as perfunctory or from a strong sense of good faith and honor. The chief motive of the more intelligent was the knowledge that energetic action could at least help us to secure better terms and avert the evils which a premature and cowardly giving up would be sure to bring upon us. This was emphatically the feeling in North Carolina as we waited for the final movement of Sherman towards our borders. On the ist day of February, 1865, that movement began. With irresistible force his columns began their march through the southern regions of South Carolina towards Columbia, and apparently Charlotte, North Carolina, and so on into Virginia along the track of vSherman's last great predecessor. Lord Cornwallis, in 1781. But whether it was that he feared the winter mud of the North Carolina hill country, or that he did not care to trust himself to such combinations of the Confederates as might cross his path so far in the interior, he left Lord Cornwallis' track near Winnsboro, vSouth Carolina, and turning to the right made for Fayetteville, crossing the Catawba and the Great Peedee. His army marched in two great divisions, near a day's march apart, thus covering and devastating a wide LIFE OF VANCE. 467 expanse of country. With reference to this famous and in- famous march, I wish to say that I hope I am too much of a man to complain of the natural and inevitable hard- ships, or even cruelties of war ; but of the manner in which this army treated the peaceful and defenceless in- habitants in the reach of its columns all civilization should complain. There are always stragglers and desperadoes following in the wake of an army who do some damage to and inflict so}}ic outrages upon helpless citizens in spite of all the efforts of commanding officers to restrain and punish ; but when a general organizes a corps of thieves and plunderers as a part of his invading army, and licenses beforehand their outrages, he and all who countenance, aid or abet, invite the execration of mankind. This peculiar arm of the military service, it is charged and believed, was instituted by General Sherman in his invasion of the Southern States. Certain it is that the operations of his "Bummer Corps" w^ere as regular and as unrebuked, if not as much commended for efficiency, as any other division of his army, and their atrocities are often justified or excused on the ground that "such is war." In his own official report of his operations in Georgia he says : " We consumed the corn and fodder in the region of country thirty miles on either side of a line from Atlanta to Savannah ; also the sweet potatoes, hogs, sheep and poultry, and carried off more than ten thousand horses and mules. I estimate the damage done to the State of Georgia at one hundred million dollars, at least twenty million of which inured to our benefit, and the remainder was simply waste and destruction!" The same chivalric course of w^arfare was continued, only worse, through South and North Carolina. The ";-^;//<7z;z ^^^^^^^^^^1 ^^^fTi' 'ilj''^^ : ' mt ' ^^>^^^^^^^^^^^^l i<