Z. B. VANCE, SOLDrER, POLITICIAN, AND STUMP ORATOR.

Southland Times, Issue 1281, 19 July 1870, Page 3

Z. B. VANCE, SOLDrER, POLITICIAN, AND STUMP ORATOR.

[BY DAVID MACRAE, IS GLASGOW WEEKLY HEEALD.] In the busy little city of Charlotte, in the heart; of North Carolina, I met Zebulon B. Vance, one of the most famous stump orators of that State. Vance, who is now a lawyer in Charlotte, was Governor of his State during the war, and, to his honor be it said, was one of the loudest in his demand for inquiry into the alleged treatment of Federal prisoners at Anderaonville, and in his condemnation of such treatment should it turn out to He as reported. Vance is a great favorite^, with, the people, and has almost always held office of some kind in the State, though not always without a struggle. On one occasion he was stumping the State against Colonel C— — . In one of the western counties, at a meeting in the open air, the Colonel appeared on the ground with a keg of whiskey, which produced such a strong diversion in his favor that Vance was soon left speaking to a mere handful. Seeing that something must be done, he stopped his speech, said he felt stiff, and challenged those around him to a jump. The Americans have all a love of fthe grotesque, and the very absurdity of the proposal made it the more acceptable. A line was drawn, and Vance and his handful of supporters were soon busily engaged in trying who could take the longest jump— a game in which Vance, being something of an athlete, excelled. This singular proceeding attracted the attention of some in the adjoining crowd, whe, after a moment's hesitation, came over to see what the fun was. This drew the eyes of others, and presently of more, till in a few minutes almost the whole body of electors were crowding round to see the sport, leaving the Colonel with no auditory but his empty keg. There was no resource but to follow the people and try to get them back. " Clear the way for the Colonel," cried some of them, when he made his appearance. " Boom for the Colonel; he's going to jump." " On the contrary," said the Colonel, " I consider this a most undignified proceeding." Undignified '!— when some of the free and enlightened had just been at it. This was an unfortunate remark. "If you air too proud to jump withus,". cried one, "I reckon you air too proud to suit this here county." " Oh, I didn't mean that," said the Colonel. "I'll jump if the electors .wish it." A way was at once cleared for him, and some one, amidst loud applause, proposed that they should vote for the candidate who jumped farthest. This sealed the Colonel's fate. Tall, stiff, and unused to this kind of exercise, he had no chance against his supple opponent, and Vance came in at the head of the poll. He refers to it himself as the time he "jumped" into office. On another occasion his re-election was vehemently opposed on the ground that he had neglected his official duties. His opponent, whose forte lay in vituperation, compared Vance to the unfruitful tree, fit only to be cut down and cast into the fire, and wound up .with a torrent of coarse invective. Vance replied that his opponent had forgotten the rest of his Gospel story, for when the lord of the vineyard wanted the unfruitful tree cut down; the wise gardener advised him to let it stand another year, till he had digged about it and dunged it. ".Now," ; said Vance, making his only allusion to his opponent's coarseness, "last year I had the other candidate digging about me and this year I have this candidate dunging- about me. Let me stand another year till we see the result." They thought it a good idea, and let him stand. My first meeting with Vance was in a friend's office, in" rear of a Urge hardware store. The ex-Governor, with that disregard of conventional forms which continually surprises and amuses a stranger in America, was sitting astride of a rough wooden chair with his face the wrong way, and while he talked to his friend who kept the store, and was also an insurance agent and medical practitioner, he was amusing himself by carving the corner of his chair with his whittling knife. He is a tall, powerful man, with hard head and lurid gleaming eyes, of peculiar intensity. In manner he is exceedingly easy and frank, and his conversation is full of funny experiences and anecdotes. Speaking of his military experiences, for he commanded a rebel regiment during the war, he said that he and his troops left the place with a baggage train a mile long, and came back with nothirig but what they had upon their backs, and not much there. " Only some few," he said, " who expected promotion, had retained an extra shirt." Some of the poor fellows had not got their clothes changed for a month at a time. Even officers had sometimes to content themselves with a " dry wash " — that is taking off their woollen shirts, and flapping them against the saddle. In camp yon would often see men holding their shirts up and examining them in the light. This was called " skirmish drill," or " reading linen." In answer to a remark I made about the absence of forms and ceremonies in the States, Vance said, " Oh, we have some great sticklers for forms. In one of our courts a Boldier, who had been

battered a good deal in the war, was brought in as a witness. The judge told him to hold up his risjht hand. ' Can't doit, sir,' said the man. c Why not?' 1 Got a shot in that arm, sir.' ' Then hold up your left.' ' Got a shot in that arm too, > sir.* * Then,' said the judge sternly. * Ton mast hold up your leg. No man ' can be sworn, sir, in this court by law ' unless he holds up something !' " I attended a political meeting held in 1 Charlotte that evening, where Vance was ' one of the speakers. He had not been advertised to appear, but the people saw that he was present, and when the first ' speaker finished there were continued cries of " Vance ! Vance !" which at last compelled him to take the platform. His • power over the audience wasastonishing. The first half dozen words he uttered — "Fellow-citizens, I once heard of an Irishman" — excited a roar of laughter before any one knew what the story was. He kept the people laughing and cheering almost from beginning to end. When he came to speak of Southern grievances 1 he soon lashed himself into a state of excitement, and strode up and down the , platform gesticulating with such energy that the chairman had to back • his seat, more than once to get out of danger. Vance's power of satire is rery great. One picture he drew of a political opponent paddling out in mid-ocean on a single plank and warning a frigate to clear the way, elicited tumultuous applause, and caused great laughter at the expense of the person satirised. The speech was rather a succession of happy hits than a continued argument. Vance said himself, in conversation afterwards, that stump speaking spoiled a man for deliberative assemblies. "On the stump," he said, " you hare to confine yourself to what every man with a ragged shirt and one suspender can understand." His own rule, if a lengthy argument became indispensable, was to watch his audience, and as soon as he saw any one whittling or shifting his position, to fling in an anecdote. " The man brightens up at that,'* said Vance, " and you gain ten minutes for the rest of your argument." He thought, however, that all true oratory was addressed to the audience before you; and that the newspapers and the telegraph, which made the speaker think of another audience that should get his speech minus himself, and " read it in cold blood," was putting oratory to death.