Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1895-01-24
VANCE EULOGIZED.
RANSOM'S ELOQUENT TRIBUTE
TO HIS. DEAD CONFRERE.

What Ransom said IN run III
Six Columns of the Congressional Rec
cord: Other Senators Paid Glowing
Tributes to the Honor and Worth and
Memory of North Cardinals "War
Governor" Lamented Statesman and
Immortal Patriot.
In the U. S. Senate last Satur-
day the Vance eulogies, which
we're delivered by a number of
the CIDER Senator'S and partlci-
pated in by a crowded chamber
and thronged galleries, were
opened by Senator Ransom. the
dead Senator's confrere from this
State.
After having sent a formal
resolution forward to the Presl-
dent of the Senate's desk where
it was read Senator Ransom
spoke to the resolution in elo-
quent and glowing review OF
Senator Vance's life and record.
We greatly regret that lin
tied space prevents our publish
ing his remarks in full, from
which we have selected the fol-
lowing extracts:
His heart every moment was in
North Carolina His devotion to the
State and people was u%nbounded, his
solicitude for her welfare, his deep
anxiety in allthat concerned her, nd'hl
aver 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 state
ments were accurate and dehnlte. his
arguments compact n fOrclble. his
illustrations unsurpassed in their tit
ness, his wit and humOr were the ever
waiting and ready hand-maids to his
reasoning. and always subordinated to
the higher purpose of his speech. They
we're tOrtch-bearers, ever bringing
fresh light. He always instructed, al
ways Interested, always entertained,
and never wearied Or fatigued an audi
ence, and knew when to conclude. The
Senate always heard him with pleas
ure, and the galleries hung upon his
lips, and with Bonded bodies and out
stretched necks would catch in every
word as it fell.
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 be
was supreme in manner, in words, IN
thought. in pathos. He possessed the
~thuuderbolts, but, like JOve, he never
triled with them. he only invoked
them when gigantic perils confronted
his cause. In 1876. upon his third nom
ination for governor, speaking to an
immense audience in the State mouse
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 e n of corrupt
money had ever touched their palms.
The effect was electric; b Statement
was conviction and conclusion. The
argument was unanswerable. 1t was {
great natures action. 1t was eloquence
1t was truth.
Senator Vance's integrity and up
rightness in public and in private life
were absolute, they were unimpeacheo
is the priceless inheritance which he
leaves to his family, his friends, his
country. He vas an honest man, Ca
lnmny fell harmless at his feet, the
light d~issipated every cloud and he
lived continually in its broad rays, his
breastplate, his shield, his armor was
the light, the truth. There was nj
darkness, no mystery, no shadow upor
his bright standard.
Senators will all remember the los:
of his eye In the winter of 1889. How
touching it was-al sacrifice, al
offering on then altar of his coun
try. For no victim was ever, NOR,
tightly bound to the stake than he wa
to his duty here. How bravely, hov
patiently, how cheerfully, how man
fully he bore the dreadful loss. Blu
the light, the glorious light of a warn
heart, mobile nature. a good conscience
was never obscured to him. l
was to him a great bereavement, but
was another, a more sacred tie tina
again and again bound his countrymel
to him.
In his long and tedious illness, n
complaint, no murmurs escaped hi
calm and cheerful lips. He was com
posed, firm, brave, constant hopeful t
the last. His love of country was una
bated, his friendships unchanged, hi
relation to duty unrelaxed. Hi
philosophy iwas serene, his broN
was cloudless, his spirit, his grea
mind, all we're superior to his suffer
ings.
His great soul Illuminated the ply
steal wreck and ruin around it an
shone out with clearer lustre amid dis
$ and decay. Truly, he was a mos
wonderful man. His last thoughts, hi
dying words, his expiring prayers, wel
for his country, for liberty and tn
people. A great patriot, a noble cit
zen, a good man, it is impossible not t
remember, to admire, to love him.
Nor was this unsurpassed devOtiO
unreasonable or without just foundation
For more than the third of a century
for upwards of thirty years, in peac
and in war, in prosperity and in advel
ity. in joy and in sorrow. he had stoO
sy them like a brother-a defender,
preserver, a d%eliverer. He was thei
martyr, and had suffered for their acts
He was their shield and had prOtecte
them from evil and from peril. He ha
been with them-he had been wit
them and their sons and brothers o
burning light of battle; beside tn
wounded and the dying; in their dark
est hours. amid hunger and cold, an
famine and pestilence. his watchfu
care had brought them comfort an
shelter and protection. They remen
bered the gray jackets, the war;
blankets, the good shoes, the timel,
food, the blessed medicines, which hi
sympathy and provision had brough
them. In defeat, amid tumult, ami,
ruin, humiliation, and the loss of al
they had, he had been their adviser, b
had guided them through the wilder
ness of their woes and brought then
safely back to their rights and all thei
! hopes.