The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-08-23

recIncSS OF tnlS cOncINSlOn. Jehtl sum, -
speaking OF some man, said he mad no
learned the sublime truth that a bo!d
unequivocal virtue is the best handmade
even unto ambition. Zebulon i. Vance
had learned that sublime truth. Again
He had more than wisdom and c0ur
age; he had that without which wisdom
and courage would have been of no avail
He loved the people he would lead" Ht
proceeded to eulogiZe him las one OF the
great orators, because he possessed two
of the characteristics of the orator-he
knew what he was talKmg about when
he talked. and he believed what he said
Not only did he impart knowl
edge surcharged with earnestnesS, but he
possessed rare ability in making truth
pleasant to receive 1te was a states
man as we'll as Il leader of men and al
orator. AS statesman he was devoted
to his work. AS a statesman he was pre-
pared to make every sacrifice for which
his position called. AS statesman he
was ready to give to every call that con
scientious response which duty required
AS a stateman he was pecuniarly hon
set. There is nothing in the life of Mr.
Vance that | prize more than the fact
that with all his ability with all his
knowledge, with all his influence. nc
person can say that he ever sold his in
fiuence, his ability, or his support for
IIOHcN 1Ie tuueu Win THESE WOTuS.
Il beg to place on record my tribute of
profound respect for Il public servant,
who at the close of his career was able
to say to the people for whom he toiled,
L have lived in your presence for a life
time; | have received all my honOrs at
your hands; | stand before YOU without
fear that any one can charge against me
an official wrong ] say to such a man,
| pay my tribute of respect"
I ritr e,1,O H.
our Senator endeared himself to sister
State while it's better citizenship had no
representative Of its own to whom to
LOOK. Representative Swanson, of Vir-
ginia, said: ''Jhe people of no section
heard W tn more profound grief and
sorrow of the death of the late distin-
tinguished Senator from North Carolina
than those | have the honor to represent
on this floor. No people loved him more
than we loved him; none admired him
more than We admired him; none have
experienced more than we his kind Of
fees and generous aid. When to sub
serve partisan purposes the Senate of
the United States, by Il pretended in
vestigatiOn inaugurated by a recreant
Senator from Virginia. sought to blacken
the fair name and aSperse the character
of the good people of Danville and my
district, we found in Senator Vance our
DIdNc NIdIIHIllOI anu our valiant Qe-
fender" We feel toward him
that deep personal affection and pride
which animateS the people of his own
State. / wish 1 had the power of vote
ing the tender love and admiration that
my people entertain for this man. |
wish my power of speech was commensu-
rate with and could do full justice to his
splendid qualities OF mind and heart
In view of these services so gladly
rendered by him to Virginia. and the ap-
probation entertained by NirginianS of
those services he was sometimes alluded
to as the Senator from North Carolina
and Virginia.
Governor Vance was twice married.
On August Bird, 1853. he was married to
Miss Harriette n. Espy, daughter of
Il deceased Presbyterian clergyman. a
woman notable for her piety and devotion
to duty. She was under medium size.
and with pretty auburn hair and regular
profile was attractive in appearance, as
itself TO Husband" as she always called
him. and his tender affection for her was
all She herself could wish. She was
more rigorous in her notions of propriety
than her husband, and with intimate
friends he would occasionally allude to
the restraining influence of his little
red-headed Presbyterian wife" Like
he always profPssed to be subject to
'wife's rule at home" They had four
sons, three of whom survived him. Their
only difference il parental devotion to
these boys was thai lie inclined to greater
Indulgence than she TO the faults arising
from inherited eNuberInce of spirits His
loving attention to wife ana children and
considerable kindness to servants were
conspicuous. and attracted ray attention
UNION y hic I -,
the bosom of his family. off duty. while
our war Governor; and | was pleased to
be assured by that brilliant woman, Mrs.
COrneha Phillips Spencer, Il warm friend
of Vance's from his Chapel Hill days.
after visit to Ars. Vance at their home
in Charlotte, tnat her observation agreed
with mine. that great and attractive as
Governor Vance was in public life, and
socially, he appeared ut his best, and
was most attractive in his home as hns-
band. father, and host. This wife died,
after long md painful disease, No
vembcr 3rd 1878. during his
third term as Governor. i'll the
house on Fayetteville street now
occupied by Mr.. Poulaski Cowper; and
his patient. tender nursing of her, as
she suffered and weakened from day to
day, so Impressed a lady friend. much
with them, that she declared to me, with
emphasis, ''his heart lis as large as MS
big body" And SO it was; for when Il
member of his family or dear friend WAS
IN affliction he was all heart: and rela-
tives and friends would in turn almost
have died for him. May he source Of
much of his power and influence was due
to THAT large heart. The first Mrs.
Vance was borne to her grave i'm the
mountains within Il month after THE
burial of her husbands good mother In
1880, he married Mrs. Florence Steele
Martin, a lady who is appositely de-
sGibed by Representative Caruth, from
her native State as lone of the faireSt,
brightest, most gifted daughters Of Ken
lucky" and who still presideS with Win
ming grace in the home on MaSSachu-
settles avenue, in Washington where
she and her husband for many years dis
pensed cordial hospitality to personal
friends from North Carolina, Kentucky,
and elsewhere, as well as ~ those high
in public station in the Nc!ron's metrop-
oils. As she still lives to mourn him, it
is fitting that / should raise the curtain
and attpmpt to depict the tendr dev0-
tion of their married life.
His duties as Senator required him ito
spend MOST of each year in Washing
ton, and there was his official home; but
that his heart ever turned to the Old
North State, was apparent from the PIC
lures OF the walls, the photographs of
scenes and friends on the table, and