The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-11-19
CIVILIAN
William L. Yancey.
By HON. JOHN GoODE.

move at will the fierce Democr8cy.
His power over an audience was al
most lie omnipotence itself At times
when thoroughly GUS his elo-
Qaence was more terrible than an
army with banners. Again twas
music as bright Appollo's lutte strung
With his hair" Indeed II may be
truly said that his voice was music it
self IT has been stated that il Was
worth a trip across tn. continent TO
hear him pronounce the word Ala
barna
on one occasion ne had an appoint
ment 70 address the people Of New
York in behalf OF the Breckenridge
and Lane ticket There was great
excitement. and the people for a long
time refused to hear him because they
regarded him as as the great apostle
Of Secession. In the midst Of the up
roar he stood surveying the audience,
getting in a word now and then. until
finally the audience became complete
~ subdUed and listened 10 him with
raDt attention until the close OF his
magnificent address.
They were completely subjugated,
and when he concluded his remarks
they gave him a great ovation. Such
was his power over the multitude.
on another occasion he was employ
ed TO prosecute a man charged with
murder in one of the Alabama courts
His address was so powerful that the
jury were completely swept off their
feet, and a verdict OF conviction was
j rendered under the sway Of his power
fUl oratCry. A molten was made to
set aside the verdict and award the
prisoner a new trial upon the ground
that the jury was so completely mag
melted that they did not know what
they We're doing when they found their
verdict. The motion was granted. and
the records OF that court Will show
today that the prisoner obtained a new
trial because the jury were for the
time being bereft Of their reason
In this practical and unitarian age.
when the spirit of commercial greed
is so largely predominant, and the
great object Of life seems to be to
put money in the purse, it is said that
the living voice no longer eXertS its
power. The and the tele-
graph convey intelligence to the re-
hottest corners of the globe. but the
living voice still exerts a potential in
luenCe.
Born a Cracker.
William L. Yancey was born in
Warren county. Ca, August 10. 1914
lie matriculated at Williams College,
in Massachusetts. read law at Sparta.
and entered a law office at Greenville.
S. c.. where he remained two years,
and in the meantime edited the Green
Vile Mountaineer. He married Miss
Cc4 a Idl AZ III q ~ IL
the winter of 1886 he removed to Ca
haba, Ala. and commenced life as i
planter. While there he edited two
weekly newspapers. In 1893 he re-
moved again and resumed the practice
of law. He was elected to the Alaba-
bama Legislature in 1871, and was
elected to the State Sc nate in 1843.
but resigned in 1914, and was elected
to the twenty-eighth Congress, taking
his seat December . 1914: and was re-
elected to the twenty-ninth Congress,
and resigned in August, 1916, to re-
sumo the practice of his profession.
In 1876 he wrote the platform of the
Democratic party and led the delega-
ton OF the Democratic party in the
conventions of 184S and 1855. He was
an ardent supporter of the Buchanan
and Breckenridge tickets in 1856. In
1850 he was the Democratic e%lector
from the State at large, and delivered
an important address in Union Hail.,
New York. making an earnest appeal
to the people of the North to main
sta ties.
At the Charleston Convention he
took the leading part in opposition TO
sQuatter sovereignty as u~nconstftu-
tiOnal. He was a m OF the State
Convention that met at Montgomery,
January Z, 1861, and reported the or
dinance of secession. He resigned
from that body to accept appointment
as the leader of the commission sent
to Europe to present the cause OF the
South to the government of Great
Britain and franc His mission prov
ing fruitless. he returned to Alabama
and was elected, with G.. c. Clay, to the
Confederate state Senate, of which
body he was a conspicuous member.
His successor, Mr.. Jameson, in his
parting address. referred to him as one
whose ~elouuence and perseverance IN
the cause Of Southern Fights contrib
uted more largely thar the efforts Of
any other man to brig abou our sep
aTation from the Federal Union. He
died on his plantation near Montgom-
cry, January %, 1853.
Few Facts for Biographer.
Unfortunately. he has left but little
for the enlightenment of his biogra-
pher. We have little more h q mass
of entertaining facts relating TO his life
and times. Few men have done more
to impreSes themselves upon the age
in which they have lived, or have
made greater contributions owards
shaping American history in the CEN
fury in which they have moved. And
Yet his name is now scarcely ever
heard. Such is fame.
When he was sent to Congress his
reputation as an orator had already
preceded him. He had the high dis
tinction of being selected by his asso-
ciateS to reply to d speech of General
Cllngnan, Of North CarOllna, IN Oppo-
sition to the annexation of Texas. His
I speech made a great impression upon
all who heard it, and was characterized
by the fercest invective. C~lingnan
was 50 exasperated that he demanded
an explanation of certain personal al
%lusions, and when he answered, Mr..
Clingnan asked for such satisfaction
as is usual among gentlemen. With
this demand Mr.. Yancey could not re-
fuse to comply, but the meeting was
a ~bloodless one. Perhaps it may be
interesting to know the views Of Mr..
Yancey on the subject. now that the
practice of duelling has fallen so COM
pletely into 'innocuous desuetude,'
In a letter to the Alabam Baptist.
a religious paper which severely crit
cised his course. Mr.. Nancey wrote:
Tine laws of my own State and the
solemn obligation due to the young
wife. the mother Of my children, to
whom YOU so feelingly and chastely
allude. were all considered, but all
yielded. as they have ever done from
the earliest times to the present. to
those laws which public opinion has
framed and which no one, however ex-
allied his station, violates with impun-
ity. Alexander Hamilton offered no
Hs-