The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-08-23
Delivered Yesterday at the dwelling by
Richard II. Battle, L. L. D.
The Speaker Had Been Private Secretary to Governor Vance
During the War and Spoke From Heart Full
of Love For the Great War Governor


Chief Marshal, Col. Thos. S. Kenan, intro
duced Richard H. Battle. LII. D., the or
ator of the Vance Monument Unveilin
exercises. Mr.. Battle said:
Ladies and Gentlemen:
North Carolina honOrs herself toda.
by presenting to the world, and the age
to come, this manifestation of her love
for the son who so loved her; and we
his brothers and sisters, because chill
dren of common mother. honor our
selves by being here to manifest OuI
love and admiration of him who was
ever true to that mother and to us.
North Carolina has always beer
patriotic, and glad to honor the best
representatives of our national virtue
and the country's greatest achievements
1t is true, she failed to discriminate
among her own sons, her heroes in the
war of the revolution, and her states
men showed themselves wise in counsel
during the chaotic times when consti-
tutions were being devised and stable
governments evolved for the State and
nation, and to mark one or more of them
as wOrthier than the rest by erecting
monuments or statues in their honor.
While she could boast her Caswell, her
Ashes. her Davie, her Nashes, her
Moores and Waddells, her Davidsons
and Grahams, her Folks, her Macon,
and others scarcely less distinguished i'll
her early history, and her CASTOR, her
Badgers, her Branch, her Mangum, her
Graham, her Morehead, her Dobbin
her Bragg, and other great and faithful
sons. i'll the more recent past, to none
of them would she assign the first place
and hold him up for the special admira-
tiOn of world and of the ages by IL
costly statue bearing his likeness. And
this was not because she was unwilling
to incur the expense of such mOnu-
ment, for she was ahead of her sister
States in testifying her admiration and
love for Americas greatest product, the
Father of His Country, and she sent an
order across the seas to Antonio Ca
nova, the leading sculptor of his time,
and. at, cost of $4,000, erected Il
splendid statue of the peerless Wash
ingtons. in the rotunda of her first State
HOuse:- and as an inspiration to her
legislature she also hung Il portrait OF
him, heroic in size, upon the wall of the
House of Commons. And when that
capitol was burnt, and the marble
statue was crumbled by the fire, patriotic
citizens, though unable ITO save 1T, bore
the large picture on their shoulders from
the blazing ruins, and it now adorns the
wall of this, beautiful capitol. North
+. Carolina was not satisfied to be without
permanent likeness of Washington, and
after this capitol was completed she
erected yonder statue in bronze, at the
south front, to meet the eyes of all who
walk her principal street. There may
it stand, or Il larger and more imposing
one in it's place, as long as virtue and
patriotism shall live in the world.
And now. nearly century and a quar-
ter after she adopted constitution as
sovereign State. North Carolina has
nOurished at her breast, was, for reas-
Ons satisfactory to her, worthy of sim
liar honor, and to be distinguished from
her other and good sons by like testi-
monials in his memory. Today we can
see on the walls of the House of Rep
site to that of Washington, and this
noble statue at the east front of hel
capitol corresponding in position to
Washington. on the south, both repre-
senting the figure, the face and the pose
of North Cardinals best beloved SON
Zebulon Baird Vance.
The question arises: why was he thus
selected-why this discrimination in his
favor over his brethren of great and
admitted talents, virtue and public ser
vices? The pleasant duty assigned tC
me today is to give an answer to this
question.
1t is to be remembered that the por.
trait of Governor Vance was hung in
the capitol by the votes of legislators
the majority of whom were not of his
political faith, three years after his
death, and this statue is erected by q
unanimous vote of the General Assem-
bly,, political friend and political enemy
uniting i'll the tribute, five years after
he had passed away. SO this decision
by the State that he was to be so marked
was reached after due deliberation, and
with ample opportunity to the people tC
criticise or dissent. For nearly forty
years his was public life. lived in the
glare of noon-day. or subjected to the
searchlights of political foes. If, then
Lincoln's aphOrism. that zone cannot foo
all the people all the time" be true, this
practically unanimous verdict of the
people of North Carolina that Vance
was most worthy OF this distinction, must
lie accepted as Il true and righteous YER
dict.
l will be pardoned for Il personal aliu
sion In saying that | was selected to ad
dress you on this interesting occasion
rather than an orator like Ransom, Wad
dell, Jarvis, Bennett. Robbins, or other
eloquent men associated with him IN
public life, because it was known to
those having the selection in charge that
! was more intimately acquainted with
Vance than any of them, and that
probably knew best the thoughts OF
his heart and the motives of his con
duct Such | believe to be the fact
We were contemporaries at Chapel Hill
and members of the same literary society,
he entering as law student and taking a
partial course with the senior class
when a young man just twenty-one. and
! an impressionable youth of fifteen
years: | was his private secretary from
the day of his Inauguration as Gov
ernor, September 8, 1862, for two years,
and then, by his appointment, State