Palace in London to about 40,000. He lectured extensively in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
As a political speaker he is widely known, having taken an active part in National and State campaigns, under the direction of the National Committee. Mr. Dancy delivered an Emancipation address at New Bedford, Mass. The speech was published entire in The Daily Mercury of New Bedford. The Virginia Lancet, commenting on the speech and the man, says:
"Hon. John C. Dancy, of Salisbury, N. C., editor of The Star of Zion, delivered the oration at the Emancipation celebration at New Bedford, Mass., on August 1st. We have read the report of the oration, as published in The New Bedford Daily Mercury, and feel justified in pronouncing it a splendid, scholarly effort. His magnificent periods, excellent rhetoric and practical illustrations, were truly wonderful. He is one of the best thinkers of the race, and his progressiveness and intelligence will surely bring him to the top."
His brilliant career as a journalist begins with the editorship of The North Carolina Sentinel, at Tarboro, N. C., which he managed and edited for three years. This was only a forecast of what his journalistic career has since been.
Being a prominent layman in the A. M. E. Z. church, he was chosen by the Board of Bishops, in 1885, as editor of their organ, The Star of Zion. This paper, under the management of Dancy, has become a powerful and self-sustaining light in the Convention. The office is well equipped; so also is the man; hence nothing can be expected but a well-prepared paper.
"Men of Mark" says of it: "Under his management, the paper has increased wonderfully in subscription and circulation, and is now considered the equal, in ability and news, of any religious paper published by the race in America."
