The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1894-04-26

Pronounced Upon him by Those
Who Knew and Loved the Great
Garolinian---Universal Sorrow
at His Passing Away--Senator
Vance's Death an Irreparable
Loss to His State and Country.
A STATES HEART TRIBUTE.
1t has never been the fortune of any
son of North Carolina save ZebulOn Is.
Vance to be as much beloved and
honored in life or to be as iouchlngly
and sincerely M ourned in death. What
North Carolina is doing now is but the
heart tribute of affection to the memory
of the patriotic, devoted and brilliant
son whom in life she confidently
trusted and was proud to honor with
all the honor that she could confer.
In life as he mingled with his peo-
pie he had time and again been greeted
by admring multitudes, of all classes
and conditions, greeted with a warmth
and enthusiasm that seemed to be the
very extravaganza of enthusiasm, but
it was not until the great heart had
CCdSttl W dilu tlC ~ hSNA Chat
North Carolina showed how tenderly
and fondly she loved him. He had his
triumphs in life, many of them and
great ones, but none which approx
imated in all the elements of glorious
triumph this solemn funeral march
from the scene of his Senatorial con-
tests to the resting place on the
ut,i, ci1a in the rnnnfV ut his
birth.
All the tributes of oratory are as
nothing compared with the sorrowful
gaze of the multitude as it looks with
moistened eye on the liteless form once
the casket of the mighty mind and the
great heart and soul, or the myriads Of
flowers banked upon his bier by the
hand of affection as the funeral cortege
moves amid sombre draperies, tolling
bells and the music of the dirge. all
voicing the grief Of the State that
mourns him as she never mourned
another Wilmington Star.
THE DEAD STATESMAN.
The State is afflicted; the Nation
mourns. From one end to the other
of this great land, the death Of Zebulon
B. Vance, has been heralded, and with
equal swiftness have the encOmiums on
the celebrated dead been sounded from
Maine to California. His greatness
was not confined to this State alone.
The Senate chamber echoes had been
heard from year to year to pronounce
with distinctness his craftsmanship and
that he was the CommOner OF his day.
While he is no more in life, his name
is a monument of greatness i'll death,
an ensample for generations to come.
He will rank with Clay, Webster, and
Crittendon as a patriot inspired purely
by what he conceived to be a duty,
bold in the position of right, as he as
sumed it and strikingly unbiased by
clamor or haste in his part of national
legislation. He was an honest man.
At no time in his history, did even the
breath of suspicion blanch his record.
No political opponent ever found the
slightest cause to assall his character
it was with the world spotless one.
He loved his State, and the affection
was strongly reciprocated in the re-
peated honors thrust upon him. He
loved the South; he was ever ready to
battle for it. He loved his country,
and so stood always between the ennis
saries Of each extreme, in the halls
which had SO frequently resounded with
his pleas for pure and good laws.
He was recognized as one OF the
wisest and most potential men in the
politics of North Carolina. With a
clear and vigorous mind he grasped
every political issue and was able to
present his views in manner that
seldom failed to produce conviction
worthy to be trusted-the people be-
lieyed him. His religion was intensely
practical, he recognized the fact that
the bedrock principle of Christianity
in man is living for the welfare of his
fellow man. In Senator Vance's death
the State has suffered an irreparable
loss, for, turn the pages Of North
Carolina history and the brightest and
most glorious are those Illuminated by
his heroic acts and splendid achieve
ments. .''-Charlotte Democrat.
HIS MEMORY WILL NEVER FADE.
No North Carolnian in the history
Of the State was ever so well. SO truly
and so universally loved as was Senator
Vance. No man has ever been so
popular with the masses as Senator
Vance. No man will probably ever
be so sadly mourned for as he. There
is hardly child in the State but
knows something Of this great and
good man. His record is probably
better known than that Of any living
or dead North Carolinian and hardly
any man knew him who did not love
and admire him.
His life has been one Of laborous
work for the people and his death was
evidently fastened by the continuous
strain in which he has been for the
past few years in laboring for the relief
of his people. His memory can not
be too highly reverenced. His labors
can never be fully appreciated because
they will never be truly known. To
fully and we'll appreciated him we
would have to know his every thought
and deed through that long. cruel civil
war, when he was at the helm Of State
and when every soldier, and every
woman and child loved him as a father.
! We would have to 90 with him through
that long struggle for civil liberty in
/ North Carolina during the reconstruc-
/ ton days Immediately after the war,
and then as our Governor again, and
| finally through these many years Of