Hunter, who received him most cordially, feeling that in him she
recognized a congenial spirit. He treated her with the respect and
old-time courtesy which she said was "so truly Southern." Their feelings
and beliefs touched closely at several points, yet they were very
different in their essential characteristics. Poor Mrs. Hunter had been
limited by nature and education. She could not help being narrow in all
her views; she was scarcely less able to dismiss her intense, bitter
prejudices. She was quite incapable of reasoning herself into her mental
position; it was simply the inevitable result of her circumstances, her
lot and her own temperament. Captain Bodine was a proud man, as proud
toward himself as toward others. The cause for which he and his kindred
had suffered and lost so much had been sacred, and therefore it ever would
be sacred. To change his views, to begin revising his opinions, would be
to stultify himself and to reflect dishonor on his comrades in arms who
had perished. In the very depths of his young, ardent spirit he had once
devoted himself to the South; he had listened reverently to prayers from
the pulpit that God would bless the Southern armies; he had never entered
into battle without petitions to Heaven, not that he might escape, but
that the "Northern invader" might be overcome; his uniform had been
stained with blood again and again as he held dying comrades in his arms
and spoke words of cheer.
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