f the gentlemen with whom he was
then engaged; remarking at the same time that there was an important
matter about which he desired to talk with me.

I had been seated only a short while before he made his appearance. As
soon as he had taken his seat he said:

"Lynch, you have shown me some favors in the past, and I desire to
manifest in a substantial way my appreciation of what you have done for
me and the friendly interest you have taken in me. No one knows better
than I do, or can appreciate more keenly than I can, the value of the
services you have rendered me, and the satisfactory results of your
friendly interest in me. In saying this I do not wish to even intimate
that you have done anything for me that was inconsistent with the
position occupied by you as an influential leader of the Republican
party of our State. The truth is, you were, fortunately, placed in such
a position that you were enabled to render a great service to a
Mississippi Democrat without doing a single act, or giving expression to
a single thought, that was not in harmony with your position as a leader
of your own party. That you saw fit to make me, rather than some other
Democrat, the beneficiary of your partiality is what I keenly
appreciate, highly value and now desire to reciprocate. The Republican
party is now out of power, and it is likely to remain so for the next
quarter of a century. Fortunately for me I am now so situated that I can
reciprocate, in a small measure, the friendly interest you have taken in
me in the recent past; and this, I hope, you will allow me to do. I have
an office at my disposal that I want you to accept. I know you are a
pronounced Republican. I neither ask nor expect you to change your
politics. Knowing you as I do, it would be useless for me to make such a
request of you even if I desired to have you make such a change. All I
shall ask of you is that you be not offensively active or boldly
aggressive in political matters while you hold a commission from me. In
other words, I want to render you a service without having you
compromise your political standing, and without making the slightest
change in your party affiliations. However, recognizing as you must the
delicacy of the situation resulting from the position I occupy and the
relation that I sustain to the administration, you will, I know, refrain
from saying and doing anything that will place me in an embarrassing
position before the public and before t