200 CONFEDERATE PORTRAITS
ing that his friend was an admirable man of business^ Adversaries even asserted that ** he loaned like a prince and collected like a Shylock." ^i Certain it is that he had a remarkable grasp of finance, could unravel a compli- cated web of figures with precision and rapidity, and seize and clarify the essential features of the most bewil- dering business tangle. His letter to the Augusta ** Con- stitution " (August 12, 1863) is one of the clearest and ablest criticisms of the unfortunate Confederate financial
In his profession I have before referred to his immense labor in getting at the facts. He was, indeed, quick to grasp essential points, but he did not neglect supple- menting them by details that were essential also. " In reading the report of a case, or an author on any sub- ject, he at once seizes upon the real ideas, gleaning the vital part from the general verbiage by a process rapid as intuition," says Stephens.^^ And when the material was thus once prepared it was presented to the court, with vigor and passion, indeed, but also with method and thoughtful intelligence. " As a lawyer, I have never seen his equal before judge and jury," adds the same ex- cellent authority.'*^
And in law he was as honest as he was able. " An able lawyer and an honest man," writes Mr. Rhodes ; " though harsh and intolerant in expression, he was frank in purpose." ^^ Good stories are told, illustrating his ab- solute probity and determination to keep his hands clean.
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