CHAPTER XIX.

Lamar's Famous Reply to Hoar.

O

NE of the most dramatic scenes enacted in either branch of Congress since the war was the one which took place on the floor of the United States Senate in the spring of 1879, when L. Q. C. Lamar, of Mississippi, and George F. Hoar, of Massachusetts, locked argumentative horns over an issue growing out of the political status of ex-President Jefferson Davis.

This was the occasion on which Senator Lamar used his celebrated figure of Prometheus to describe the helpless attitude of the former Confederate leader.

While the debate was precipitated by the animosities of the war, it may now be recalled for reminiscent purposes without reopening any of the old wounds. The differences which then existed are now happily all healed and the participants themselves have long since clasped hands in an armistice of friendship which both sections of the country have ratified and endorsed. Nothing should be done or said at this late day to stir the embers.

But entirely apart from the bitterness of controversy which called it forth, the scimitar-flash of the Saladinfire which characterized the brave retort of the Mississippian deserves to be treasured among the brilliants whose luster is too rare and too rich to be lost.

In the opinion of all who witnessed the encounter Senator Lamar carried off the honors. Even the friends of Senator Hoar were frank enough to admit the drubbing which he received from the Mississippian was severe in the extreme; and they were secretly glad that it was Senator Hoar and not themselves who had twisted the lion's tail.

Wholly unpremeditated, the effect of Lamar's speech on this occasion was all the more electrical. On entering the Senate chamber he had no idea of what was coming, and not until an unexpected turn in the proceedings later in the day brought out an assault upon Mr. Davis from the lips of the Massachusetts Senator was he called to his feet; but never was an impromptu rebuke administered with greater effect.

The discussion grew out of a measure which was then pending in Congress to extend the Act granting pensions to the soldiers of the War of 1812, so as to make the Act apply to the veterans of the war with Mexico; and in view of the fact that Mr. Davis had been an officer of some note in the last-named unpleasantness, a proviso was offered to the bill excluding Mr. Davis from the benefits of this proposed legislation.

Several speeches were made in the course of the debate by Senators on both sides of the chamber, but Lamar was not drawn into the discussion until Hoar, referring to some remarks which Senator Garland, of Arkansas, had just made, began to assail the character of Mr. Davis in very harsh terms. Though he and Mr. Davis were not in perfect accord upon certain matters which had recently

come up between them, he felt it incumbent upon him not only as a Mississippian, but equally as a Southerner, to repel the unjust aspersions which had been heaped upon Mr. Davis. The language to which he took exceptions in Senator Hoar's speech was as follows:

"The Senator from Arkansas has alluded to the courage which this gentleman displayed in battle. I do not deny it. Two of the bravest officers of our Revolutionary War were Aaron Burr and Benedict Arnold."

This was more than Lamar could stand. His Huguenot blood was fully aroused. With nervous impatience he occupied his seat until Senator Hoar had finished, and then rising from his place he addressed the chair in measured accents which sharply contrasted with his suppressed emotion. Said he:

"It is with reluctance, Mr. President, that I arise to speak upon this subject. I must confess my surprise and regret that the Senator from Massachusetts should have wantonly flung this insult."

Before he could proceed further Senator Edmonds, of Vermont, who was in the chair, rapped him to order, saying that it was against the rules of the Senate for one member to impute wantonness of conduct to another.

"I stand corrected," said Lamar. "I suppose it is perfectly in order for certain Senators to insult other Senators, but they can not be characterized by those who receive the blow.

"The observations of the Senator from Mississippi, in the opinion of the chair," replied Senator Edmonds, “are not in order."

"The observations of the senator from Mississippi, in his own opinion," retorted Senator Lamar, "are not only in order, but perfectly and absolutely true.

Realizing that he was face to face with an extraordinary situation, the presiding officer thought it best to refer the point of order to the Senate, and therefore merely said:

"The Senator from Mississippi will take his seat until the question of order is decided."

Lamar sat down. But he was not to be silenced. When the vote was taken on the point of order the chair was overruled and Lamar was again accorded the floor. Resuming, he said:

"Since my associates have found my language to be in order, I desire to say that if any part of it is in the least offensive to any member of this Senate the language is withdrawn. I do not wish to offend the sensibilities of any of my associates upon the floor. What I meant by the remark was this: Jefferson Davis stands in precisely the position in which I stand-in which every Southern man, who believed in the right of secession, stands."

This called forth another interruption. Senator Hoar now spoke up. He wanted to make an explanation. Lamar yielded. Said he:

"Will the Senator from Mississippi permit me to assure him and other Senators on this floor who stand like him that in making the motion which I made I did not conceive that any of them stood in the same position in which I supposed Mr. Davis to stand. Otherwise I should not have moved to except the gentleman from Mississippi from the pension roll.”

While Senator Hoar was speaking it was evident from the manner of the Mississippian who listened in difficult silence that he was still keeping his heaviest thunderbolts in reserve. Before Senator Hoar had time to sit down he continued:

"The only difference between myself and Jefferson Davis is that his exalted character, his pre-eminent talents, his well-established reputation as a statesman, as a patriot and as a soldier enabled him to take the lead in the cause to which I consecrated myself and to which every fiber of my heart responded. There is no distinction between insult to him who led and insult to them who followed."

He paused momentarily after uttering this solemn declaration and the hush which rested upon the Senate chamber during this interval was almost breathless. He was preparing for the climax.

This now came. Introducing it with the statement that Mr. Davis was asking no favors at the hands of the government but was living quietly and peaceably at his home in Mississippi where he was counseling the youth of the South to obey the laws of the land, he continued:

"The Senator from Massachusetts has sought to affix upon this aged man, broken in fortune and suffering from bereavement, an epithet of odium, an imputation of moral turpitude. Sir, it required no courage to do that; it required no magnanimity; it required no courtesy. But it did require hatred, and it did require bitter, malignant sectional feeling, coupled with the sense of personal impunity. The gentleman, I believe, takes rank among Christian statesman. He might have learned better from