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

his vouthfnl competitor. At their first
discussion, in the court house ut Ashe-
vile, the senior, who led Off. forgettul
Of the history of Goliath and David,
made sport of the beardless youth, who
wanted his seat in the legislature. When
Vance rose to reply he assumed an ar
of comic difhdence, and said, i'll hesitat-
ing manner: Fellow citizens, | admit
| am young; but it iS mot my fault. My
parents did not consult me as to the
time when | should be born. All | can
do is to promise you to try to do better
next time." The crowd was captured by
this unexpected reply, and raised a yell
that deferred his opponent from alludinS
to his yOuthfulnesS again. Vance was
elected. and proved punctual and faith
full member Of the legislature. That body
then met in November, and adjourned
over for few days at Christmas. l
remember that Vance spent part Of the
holidays at Chapel Hill, where | then
lived. and upon my asking him how he
was getting on down ut Raleigh, he re-
picd Pretty well; but l thought when
/ went there. all l had to do was to open
my mouth and be famous, and | soon
learned that the less | opened my mouth
the better for my fame. This eX-
perience by Il man Of his gifts, apparent
even then, may be of benefit to some
brilliant young member-elect of our Sen
dtt VI IiOuSe VI ANepIeSchtdCNtS HeAC
winter ''T0rry in Jericho till your
boards be grown" was doubtless his ad
vice to Over-aspiring young men.
lie re-: :urne- home VIA increased pop
ularity among his constituents and else
where III the State, and III 1886 he was
the Whig-American candidate for the
Senate in the BuncOmbe Senatorial dis
tlict. His opponent was David Coleman,
Esq, former officer in the United
,.c li,,n al,
and afterwards Il gallant Confederate
colonel. The Democratic majority in the
district was considerable, but that was
only Il stimulus to Nance'S zeal and ac-
tivity; and though defeated on election
day (the only time in his life when Il cam
didate before the peOple) his opponent
went in with diminished majority, and
the laurels of the contest were fairly
divided between them.
His motto seems to have been, "IX-
celsior.' In 1858 Thomas l.. Clingman,
long the member of Congress from the
mountain district, having been appointed
by Governor Bragg to vacancy i'll the
United States Senate, resigned his seat,
and w. w. Avery of Burke, to whom he
had transferred his mantle, and David
Coleman, both Democrats, were candi-
dates for the succession. Young Vance
leaped into the arena. Coleman retired,
and threw his influence in favor of
Avery. ClingmanS majority had been
about 1000. Avery was an able man
and his family one of large influence,
and even Nance's intimate friends, at
first, regarded his candidacy us but little
better than Il joke. One Of his uncles,
at whose house l chanced to spend Il
night in the summer of that year. upon
reference being made to his candidacy,
said, 'Xeb is fool for running for Con
GreSs. lie is getting pretty good prac
tice in the law, and is throwing it all
away running for Congress. with no more
chance of being elected than | have"
1t seems that by that time, at least.
the young aspirant knew himself and
his powers better than his confident OPP
pOnent and his near relatives did. Be,
fore the contest was over they realized
that a new star OF. the firSt., magnitude.
had risen i'll the mouptafns,Yrnd that it's
radiance might1fdim@ those: whose bril-
liancy had *bPGn so mlfth GSlhiii@d.% Mr.
Avery,%aA j thoroughly equipped politician
and .&lni able dcbatcrS often found the
stIehgtllSbf his weighty argimRntsfayoid..
&d by tsWitty repartpe or ..jineXpected,
Coulter thrust. TO strike, orsc6rneE so
Subtle in antagonist, Was we'll 1ljghG inn
possible; For instance, hes,charged that
NGtncet represented a .mofibund F'partry
chat many of its leaders SNtere 9abandono
ing it and sons of othergleaders. For
instance" he said. ".pohn b. Clay, son of
Henry Clay. and Daniel Webster'S sons"
,Nance, at the moment remembering only
sar. Webster's daughters, y INTERCEPTED,
..,Danel Webster has eno1soiis !: 2his chill
dien are all daughters" is it possible. >"
Sf,id' Avery, turning ON hihEina triumph.
you do not reinember Cblohef Fletcher
Webster, s9f thH MeXhan$ war" Vance
then rcme.hbeFeF Fletcher, but too WELL
and with Il sudden aimpulse to get out of
his corner,t serne ehow.,cpied out, striking
his nose 1with8 his dexter finger. Noah
WebsteF'S son. the spelfing-book mans
sonp' Whereat the boys raised such II
yell that Mr.. Avery despaired of set
ting the matter straight. AS he de-
scended from the stand, he said. Vance,
that was mean trick" Il know it was,
Avery, but you had me so fast | just
had to wriggle out somehow" Some
times their encounters were varied by
surprises of Il different kind. Once, when
they were advertised to speak at a cross
roads at the top of a hill, at Il o'clock
on Il certain day, Avery was there on
time, and surprised not to see or hear of
Vance, who could ever boast of punctu-
ality IN meeting engagements. He waited
Il few moments after the hour for speak
ing, and was getting ready to address a
few Sedate citizens on the ground. when
down the hill, toward branch, he saw
Il little cloud of dust rising and then he
heard the sounds Of revelry. He had not
long to wonder what was the matter,
for soon there was Il crowd of young
men and boys. dancing and shouting,
with Vance in the midst of them, a-foot,
displaying one of his early accomplish
ments, by giving the music of 'AIolly put
the kettle on or other rustic tunes
with the fiddle and the bow" Like
Mical. when she saw David dancing be-
fore the ark, Mr.. Avery questioned the
dignity of the proceeding. but he could
not doubt that Vance had already cap.
tured part of their crowd. Such de
parture i'll Congressional campaigning
indicated originality. if not genius, and
originality is leading feature of genius
On occasions his speeches were charac
| terized by impassioned denunciation of /;
growing tendency toward secession in the
| Democratic party. and by appeals fol
| the Union. In one way or another. b,
election day, he had. to use the language
of his ardent followers, "Set the noun
tains OH fire" and he confounded thu
Democratic leaders by carrying the dis
/ trict by 1000 majority.
/ In 1850 he was again elected to Con
gress. his opponent being Colonel Davi,
Coleman, to whom he returned the com
pliment for his defeat for the Stat,
Senate four years before. In the cam
paign with Coleman his speeches wer
generally on Il higher plano. because h
was then a United States Congressman