But the William and Mary College Bill was reported at the
time when the passions excited by the War were still burning
in the breasts of many Republican statesmen. The measure
was received with derision. I was hardly allowed to go on
with my speech in order, and the ordinary courtesy of a brief
extension of time to finish it was refused amid great clamor.
But I got the Bill through the House the next winter. I had
a powerful ally in Mr. Perce of Mississippi, a Northern soldier,
who had settled in that State after the War. It was not considered
in the Senate. The measure was renewed again later in the
House. But it was bitterly attacked by Mr. Reed of Maine,
afterward Speaker, and defeated. Afterward I succeeded in
getting it through the Senate when the Democrats had possession
of the House, during the Administration of President Harrison,
and it became a law.
I have been assured by many Southern men that that measure,
and the report and speech in which I advocated it, had a very
strong and wide influence in restoring good feeling toward
the Union in the minds of the people of Virginia.
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