The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1893-02-09
|. 0. c. LAMAR.
THE TYPICAL SOUTHERNE Err.
One of the SOuth'S Truest and NObleSt
Sons, lie Possessed Many Claims and
characteristics Which Entitle Him
to Such Distinction.
(Atlanta Constitution. |

~ SuSh
lAtlanta Constitutional
The typical American has been the
subject Of much discussion. Some
have found him in Lincoln, and others
point to Lee. Perhaps it will not be
amiss to take up another branch Of
the ques.ion-the typical Southerner.
We believe that there will be no
dissenting voice when we name Lucius
Lamar. Chivalric and yet conserva-
tive, imaginative and yet practical,
scholarly and yet a man Of affairs,
GLOWING a nation into peace" and yet
devoted to his native South-Lamar
was all this and more.
In several historical debates in Con-
gress, this great Southerner strikingly
illustrated the qualities which have
made him SO generally loved and
honored. His magnanimous tribute
to Charles Sumner first drew the at
tenton of the North to him. Natur
ally, it was misunderstood by the
superficial, but it was not long before
the Northerners were put upon notice
that, while the Mississippian was ready
to do justice to an opponent, he was
also quick to defend his own people
against unjust attacks. Roscoe Conk
ling had to submit 10 a rebuke from
him, with the singing reminder that
it was one which emo good man would
beal." Blaine, too, felt the power
of his burning eloquence, and on one
occasion appealed to the House for
protection.
Lamar's part in one great debate
will not soon be forgotten. In 1879,
when the pension arrears bill was up,
Senator Hoar offered the following
amendment.
Provided, that no pension shall ever
be paid under this act to Jefferson Davis,
the late president of the so-called con-
federacy.
Several Southern Senators spoke,
and then Senator Lamar took the
floor. He referred to the insult, wan
tonly and without provocation, offered
by the Senator from Massachusetts,,
and was Immediately called to order
by Mr.. Edmunds, who was in the
chair. The Senate decided that the
words should stand, and the orator,
after apolgizing for wounding the
sensibilities of Mr.. Hoar, proceeded
with his speech. He boldly declared
that the only difference between him
self and Jefferson Davis was the fact
that the latter's exalted character, pre-
eminent talents and well-established
reputation as a statesman, patriot and
soldier, enabled him to lead in the
cause to which the speaker had con-
secrated himself, and to which every
fiber of his heart responded. An in
suit to Davis was an insult to the
Southern people, as the only difference
between them was that between a
leader and his followers. Mr.. Davis
had never uttered word that would
encourage hostility to the union after
the war, and it was unjust to seek to
dishonor him. In conclusion, the
Senator said:
Now, sir, do not wish to make any
remarks here that will engender any ex-
element or discussion; but | say that
the Senator from Massachusetts, con-
nected that name with treason. We all
know that the results of this war have
acttached to the people of the South the
thecnical crime of rebellion, and we sub
nit to it, but that was not the sense in
which the gentleman used that term as
applied to Mr.. Davis. He intended to
affiX-I will not say he intended, but the
inevitable effect of it was to aftix upon
this aged man, this man broken in for
tune, suffering from bereavement-an
epithet of odium and imputation of
moral turpitude.
Sir, it required no courage to do that
it required no magnanimity to do it; 1T
required no courtesy; 1T only required
hate, bitter, malignant, sectional feeling,
and a sense of personal impunity. The
gentleman, believe, takes rank among
Christian statesmen. He might have
learned a better lesson, even from the
pages OF mythology. When Prometheus
YVES bound to the rock it was not an
eagle-it was a vulture-that buried his
beak in the tortured vitals of the victim.
Mr.. Blaine responded with a tame
protest against placing Mr.. DAVIS any
where in the race that had produced
Hampden and Washington. The debate
continued until Zach Chandler came
to the front with the insulting state
ment that Davis entered the Senate
with perjury on MS lips and treason
in his heart. After an attempt to
draw pathetic picture of the horrors
of the war, Chandler expressed his
surprise at hearing a eulogy upon
loving rebel, and a double-dyed
traitor.
To this torrent of coarse abuse,
Lamar, of course, made no reply. The
debate was over, and the general
verdict was that all the thunder and
lightning in it was furnished by the
Mlssissippian. The speeches on the
Republican side were as commonplace
as the dull pattering of the ralntrops
after the climax of an electric storm.
Surely, this Rupert Of debate was
our typical Southerner
Peter Piper Picked Peck of Picked
Peppers" was Ane of alliterative non
sense, that the children used to say. Now
adays they can practice on the Perfect,
Painless Powerful ProDertieS of Pierce'S