Mr. Lamar, of
Mississippi, one of the most brilliant and able statesmen
of his time, sought an interview with me after the report
went in and thanked me for what I had said of the Southern
people, and told me that "I was the first Northern man who
seemed to be capable of doing them justice." What he thought
will be found also stated by him.
In a speech made before a Democratic meeting in the spring
of 1875, Mr. Lamar said ("Life of Lamar," p. 221);
"Well, the character of that last Committee--especially of
its Chairman, Mr. George F. Hoar--was such as to lead to no
expectation that there would be any indulgence shown to the
people of the South, or any very harsh criticisms of his own
party. By inheritance, by training, by political association,
he was intensely anti-Southern. His manners toward Southern
men, so bitter are his feelings, are often cold and reserved;
and nothing but his instinct and refinement as a gentleman,
which he is in every respect, saved him from sometimes being
supercilious; acute in intellect, cultured, trained to the
highest expression of his powers, quick in his resentments
and combative in temperament, we certainly expected no quarter
from his hands.
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