The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1889-05-10
SENATOR NANCE'S SPEECH
At CELEBRATION OF THE BAT
TIE OF GUILFORD COURT HOUSE.
He Regards it as Il Matter OF ReprOach
that we Have Done so Little to Per-
Petuate in Store Our Heroes.
Senator Vance said:

| He Regards it as Matter OF ReprOach h
that we Have Done so Little to Per-
Petuate in Store Our Heroes.
Senator Vance said:
From time immemorial that portion OF
| the human race which has left any record
| of its actions has INDUCED in the practice
| of commemorating the nota BILE events of
| its history. The method 10y which this
| was done was a good test of their clvilZa-
| ton. In Genesis it is recorded that Jacob
| took the stone upon which his head had
| rested whilst the wondrous vision was dis
| played to him of the angels ascending and
| descending, and erected it as memorial
! pillar Again, when the Lord appeared
| to Jacob when he came out of Padan aram
| and blessed him and renewed the promises
| which had been made INTO Abraham
Jacob set up pillar of stone in the place
us a memorial, and called it Bethel. "
| Twelve stones were likewise set up IN com
memOration OF the closing of the river
Jordan by the tribes dry shod. The sacred
record is full of this method of perpetual
ing
The Memory of Noted Events
| by the priests, prophets and people of the
| Jews. The Greeks excelled all others per
| haps in the number and artistic excellence
| of their cOmmemoratlng stones. Not only
all great events, but all their great men
were thus commended to the attention of
posterity by the erection of temples and
statues which have never yet been sur
| passed, if indeed, they have been equaied.
! The Romans copied their custom "a q their
art in this regard. To this day they re-
mind Us of the genius and glory Of Greece.
In very truth,
The silent pillar, lone and gray,
claims kindred with their sacred day.
Much of the profoundest learning of mod
ern times has been devoted to these eXhi-
btlons of Greek art and the EgyptolOgy
of the Nile. Thus the progress of art is
| traced from the rude unhewn stone of
Jacob to the exquisitely chiseled and pro
| portioned column of the Athenian AcropO-
! lis and the WOndrous structures of Egypt.
| In addition to this method OF commem
Grafton the moderns have adopted what
may be called the traditional. Great
masses of the people meet together on an
niversary days, and discourse concerning
the events which are the object Of the
meeting.
This we Call s.CeiebratiOn.''
1t is nothing more than the renewing
and strengthening of the remembrance of
the events which we wish to perpetuate.
| Perhaps, of all the Western peoples, we
| in the United States excel IN this matter
.
| are not satisfied with the mere erection OF
monuments or piles of stone, but we meet
together in multitudes; we speak; We
march in procession with bands of music,
we fire cannon and display banners. 1t
is we'll that we do So There Is no better
school for our youth than this hero wor
ship, this eXalting of great deeds. There
is no auguration which can conceive the
extent of its influence upon character; and
it is always high and noble influence.
After all that can be done with marble
or granite
The Truest Monument
bv which the memory Of any event can be
perpetuated is to be found in the results.
1t rarely happens that an event in a peo-
Piles history is worth the perpetuati 1g in
stone which is not already ererias lngly
embamed in the hearts of the people
What monument is required to keep a.ive
the memory of the man who invented tn,
mariners compass, by which the trackleS>
paths of the sea are made as famllar tC
commerce as our inter state highways
What stone is necessary to the inventor OF
the art OF printing, when all science and
all literature daily, unconsclously hymn
his praise! What shaft is needed by the
inventor of the steam engine, when the
whole earth is full of the works which
|
cotton gin by which the world is clotheu
In the walls of st. Paul is inserted a tab
let on which is written the name of Sin
Christopher Wren, its architect, with the
words underneath, "Lector, ST mOnumen
tum reQuiriS, clrcumSplce." The lmpos
ing structure reaching upward with all it
lines of beauty and strength, was hl:
monument.
Should the inquiry be made,
What was Done at This Spot
in 1882 and where is the monument O.
results to commemorate it, the answer
might we'll be made in the single word
''Circumspice.' Beyond question The
foundation of American liberty was lait
on this spot, on that noted day in Marcf
17S1-a brief and philosophical considera
ton of the military situation OF thes'
colonies, and of the events which ilnme
) gle here, will satisfy any one that the i'm
portance of that days work is not over
rated by this statement.
The British armies having failed of sue
cess among the Northern portion of th'
colonies, owing to the skill and vigilance
of Washington, the attention OF their com
mander was directed to the Southern de
partment. With a picked and veteran
force, therefore, Lord CORVALLIS begal
his celebrated marCQ from CHarleSlOl
through South Carolina and North Caro-
lima into Virginia. He calculated upol
embodying the loyal element wherever h
went and encouraging it to join him ant
. swell his forces. This was reasonable at
ter the shameful disaster at Camden, ant
to great extent this expectation wa
justified by large numbers of loyaliSt
Joining him in South Carolina, Whis
quite number either did, or attempted
the same in North Carolina. But hi
presence and proclamations were two
edged weapons; they not only called ou
' the Tory element, but reused and brough
to arms every patriotic Whig in the reg
ions through which he marched. Thes
alone proved more than sufficient to des
o with their countrymen who took sides wit
4 the British.
The first great serious check which hi
:, hitherto triumphant advance had receive
V was
At Kings Mountain
in October 1880. Preceding his advano
into North Carolina, CORVALLIS had ser
Major Ferguson with battalion of regr
n lar troops to call out and embody all th
l. Tory element of the western part of tn
8 two Caroinas. This he did with consider
r able success, and incorporated with b
l. own forces large number of volunteer
c But the effort to do so had alarmed tt
n Wings of the mountains of North Caroliu
), and Virginia. These gallant frontierme