The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-04-06
By D. W. McIver.

By D. W. McIver.
 HilIjard anl Yancey were the eeates'
 orators of their time orr ever since n Alabama. They were far dinerent .ol der Of men--in style. manner ana sehcrs
 makeup: they we're in no sense ahke eA' cept their love for their adopted state
 their patriotism never having been for g
 moment questioned. Hilliard came from
 North Carolina, while Yancey was Iron
 Georgia, the former being about six year.
 the older. having been born in ls0s ano
 the latter in 1874 They were both beyond
 their majority when they came to Ala
 bama; the first came as teacher tc accept a place in the State University while the other came as farmer ana set-
 tied in Dallas County. Hlliiard soon
 abandoned the school room to engage 1T
 inc practice of the law. Coming to Mont
 gomery, where he built up 8 fine practice
 representing the county in the Lesisla-
 ture and then entering the foreign service Of the Government Nand being several times n-Consress. where he made wiae reputation as an orator and debater; ne
 was also a local or lay minister or the Methodist Church often entering the pull pit where he spoke with power ana eio- duence.
 Yancey quit the farm to enter the law and then into politics being in both nEdncnpS or tIt otdtO ASc6aS@ee- and later was in Congress Tor two terms. He resigned his seat In Congress and came to this city to prac- tice law in 1S46 forming copartnersnip with the leading Alabama lawyer. Cap tain John A. Fillmore. and did not again enter public life, his part In the seces- sion of the State and in the civil war be- ing fresh in the minds of our people
 have said this little about Hilliard and Yancey to prepare the reader TOT some comparisons between them by some of the able and capable critics who have written of the career and characterfstlcs of tho greatest of Alabama orators.
 Tn Brewers Alabama it is said that ,'IiiIliard is a polished and graceful elo-' ct,tionist, and an adroit debater. His at- tainments are scholarly and his circle or information is vast, Few men have achieved SO much by the exertion of bril- liant talents, unaided by wealth or fam fly influence.
 ,'yanceys reputation as an orator has not been surpast ed in the State. and probably not in the South. His voice was very clear, his sentences well-rounded. and his gesticulation neither frequent nor violent He. was not decfaimer. but polished and logical speaker, who en- chanted attention by lofty. sustained and unbrokeu strain of rhetoric. He was fluent as q fountain, and the coldest subject auickened into glow on his magic tongue.
 Garrett's Alabama says that nut few men could charm an audience by the gracefulness of manner. ease and beauty of delivery, and iich imagipery of con eeption, moro than Mir Tlilliard.
 "As an orator .Mr. Yancey ranked among the first men of his day and from the halls of the Legislature to the great arroy in Congress, in Charleston ana Baltimore Conyentions--in every delibera- tive body in. which he took part. he was man of mark.
 have auoted from these writers of Alab4ma hiFtcry to show their estimate of thcse men who enjoy reputations as orators all over the world that have not since besn eauslled In Alabama, and might say tho entire country. for the oratory and eloquence of those times seem to be passing away. I have heard tell of the burning eioduence that made mems hair stand on end." and of oratory which aroused people to the highest pitch of enthusiasm or passion, as nhSnt be desired but I have heard very Httie of either since I have been listening 10 on the stump or in the forum or in the halls of legislation. have heard men speak who stirred my very soul ard aroused desire to have them continue. but such instances are very rare. I imagine that the late Governor Sanford must have been more on the or der of Hlliiard than of Yancey, being very much subdued. never ranting or pe- coming bOisterous in his delivery ana never using any extreme or violent ian- gusge. I believe he was as pretty and as eIoa,lept "a speaker as ever heard, but he did not come up to what the great orators of olden or modern. times must have been or are, He lacked that nre and spirit of combativeness which made the great orator and yet there was a ( harm and ins plration about his manner and sjIverv. even and smooth voice which drew the listener to him and held him spell bound to the end. nave neard pr. R, M. Cunningham speak eloauentiy and charmingly, the beautiful. we'll sentences came easily and grace fully and when he ascended the highest pinnacle of his efforts. the outburst of his eloouence was sublime and he was grand and spelI-binding. and yet he lacked the idea | have ormed of what great ora tors were-he has the fine and the ready flow of language that make the orator great. but he does not control his voice. modulata and even it up as would he nec- essary t. compete with Cicero or Demos themes. or compare with either Hilliard  ter in his manner and delivery and yet he never uses slang or invective or in. uendo for which Yaucey was noted
 I have heard the late Hon. David Clop=' ton. who was not a ranter or impassioned sneaker. and yet he had the power of magnetism in his most entrancing and hewitching manner. As easy and as and as gentle as woman. he was bri Hant and powerful in debate and forced his way by sheer force of charm and precision and argument. Brewer says that his oratory is chaste, scholarly and finished" His best efforts were before juries and not on the stump and he was much more the lawyer than a politician. being too modest and refined to use the arts and tricks of the average office seeker. My first recollection of politics Is the race between Clopton and Judge for Congress in 1S59, into which race he was forced by his party against his written and was elected after hot con test by only 221 votes. l sang in those days the campaign song, Little Davie Clopton Is Going to Congress. Going to Congress" and 1 remember the rejoicing at my home when the news came of his election. for my father was an enthusi- astic Democrat and Clopson man.
 1 heard the young Francis w. Bowdon at the beginning of his most promising career, and l have often thought that if he had not been cut down so early in
 fife that he might have come up to the dea I had formed of the great orator. He was forceful and graceful speaker, pos sessed ali the fire and enthusiasm neces- sary and with training he might have come up to the full requirement.. He Is said to have inherited his brilliance and genius from his father Francis Bow