The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-11-19

RESPECT IL. bat DO not wreatn~ your
arms around the pillars OF our liberty
and ~ a blind samson pull down
that great temple on your heads a.
well as ours
After making his speech in Ohio he
had a ~,riumphal march on his journey
to hi. home The time had come waFn
the people without questioning fol9o"-
ed wherever he led When the great
convention met at Charleston. which
resulted in tie disruption OF the Dem
ocratIc Party and the dissolution q
the Union Ny YanceF was the &C
know}edged Leader ~ the States Rlgnts
party. The debate that occurred De
tween himself and Mr.. Pugh. of ONO.
was always remembered by those who
heard il MI Yancey himself upon
the fundamental truth the territories
belong in commo TO ali the people 81
all the States. tina they have been ae-
acquired by the common blood ana the
common treasure and that the pcopl"
OF the south have as much right 10 -
to them with their slave property a.
the Connecticut mar with his wooden
nutmegs.
Yancrv aud Ben Iiiil.
Nv personal acquaintance With Nh
Yancey was somewhat limited The
proceedings of the Confederate state (
Senate as q general rule were held IN
secret. SO that the public were not ad-
Ilillt 10 IL > "a
ally. however. ! enjoyed the great
privilege % listening 10 Mr.. lanCey
n always heard him vith infinite de-
light. He and Benjamin II Hill Were
antipodes in politics. fanceN was 2
Jeffersonian Democrat OF the strictest
sect. while Mr.. Hill belonged to the
school of Alexander Hamilton
When-thc bill to organize a supreme
Court or the United States was under
discussion. these two gladiators DIFF
fered widely in opinion
Mr.. Yancev maintained hat under
the Constitution each State Tad the
right to Judge OF the infractions Of tha'
instrument and to determine for itself
the mode and measure of redress.
while Mr. Hill maintained exactly the
opposite view. During one OF the eX-
citing debates held in secret session OF
the Senate a very serious alteration
occurred between them.
An effort has sometimes been made
TO institute a comparison between
Wendell Phillips and VIM. l. Yancey
1t IS true that one was called an 'ab-
o%litionist fanatic" while the other was
called a 'fre-eater.' 1t is true that
each was terribly in earnest n was
opposed to all compromises Of every
kind and description. But here the
similarity ends Phillips constantly
appealed to a higher law" while yam
cey insisted in season and out OF sea
son upon a strict construction of the
compromises OF the constitution. yam
cey never failed to teach his people in
the way he would have them to go.
while Phillips failed utterly to mark
out the pathway for the future of the
Republic.
Yancey Will live in the hearts Of he
people as the u%nrivaled ora
tor of secession. while Phillips will
take his place In history as a great
apostle of a higher law" than the
Constitution.
Sauatter Sovereignty.
Mr.. Yancey made the fight of his
life in opposition to squatter sovereign
ty. He regarded it as the most insid-
uous Of all the attacks ever made on
the equality of the Southern States Of
the Union. He believed with all the
earnestness of his rature that the
opinion maintained by some that the
people Of a territory acquired by the
common toll, suffering, blood and
treasure of the people of all the States
can in no other event than the fra minis
of a State Constitution preparatory to
admittance as a state Of the Union,
lawfully and constitutional" prevent
any citizen of any State from remov-
ing or settling in such territory with
any property, be it slave or other
property, as g restriction as indefens-
ible in principle as if such restriction
were imposed by Congress
To this great principle OF equal
rights in the common territory OF the
Union Mr.. Yancey devoted himself
with all of his great owe 1t was
for that principle he fought in season
and Get of seaSon from the moment
when. under his leadership, that prin-
ciple was announced in the Alabama
platform. through all the mutations
of party politics to the great struggle
of the Charleston Convention of 1850.
His faith never faltered, and knew no
yariablencss or shadow Of turning. He
was as true to that great principle "a
the needle to the pole.
When he arose to speak the people
hung upon his words. and when the
southern platform was rejected by a
few vote rs left the hall, and the
delegates Of several other States fol-
lowed at his heels. When Mr.. Doug
las finally received the nomination,
his friends offered to Mr.. Yanccy the
place Of Nice-President. which he de-
clined. He joined the seceders at Bal
timore when Breckenridge was nom
mated on a southern platform. ana
devoted himself to a canvass of the
Northern States.
Resemblance to Patrick Henry.
In studying the high qualities Of
Mr.. Yancey as an orator. we are forci-
bly, struck with similarity between
himself and Patrick Henry, that for
est-born D~enOSthenes, who kindle1
by his e~loquence the flame Of liberty
in the hearts Of the people, and melted
them to revolution by the procIama-
ton of the eternal truth that resistance
to tyrants is obedience to God"
What was the secret Of that be-
witching power? A great orator has
said. "When public bodies are to be
addressed on momentous occa zions,
when great interests are at stake and
strong passions excited, nothing is val
liable in speech farther than it is con-
nected with high Intellectual and
moral endowments. Clearness. force
and earnestness are the qualities
which produce conviction. True elo-
Quence, indeed. does rot consist in
speech. 1t cannot be brought from
afar. Labor and learning may toll for
it. but the3 viii toll in vain. Words
and phrases may be marshaled in
every way. but thcy cannot compass
it. 1t must exist in the man. in the
subject. and IN the occasion.
Affected passion. intense expression.
the pomp of defamation, all may as
pire after-they cannot reach il. It
comes If 1t comes at al. like the out
breaking Of a fountain from the earth.
Or the bursting forth Of yalcanic fires
with spontaneous. original native force.