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state that the citizens of the county are composed of three classes- First- The inhabitants of the rural districts. Second- The permanent inhabitants of Lexington. Third- The students of the college and cadets of the Military Institute. The first class has treated me courteously and with some kindness, and seems disposed to grant that - under favorable circumstances - a Yankee may be a gentleman. To the second class a Union man in the Freedmans Bureau is the embodyment of everything low and contemptible. It is no difference whether he is refined or coarse in his manners- intelligent or ignorant- of high station or low degree in the North- of good morals or a debauchee. It is the same- a Bureau Yankee - and therefore scarcely fit to associate with the four-footed beasts of the South. From the amenities of social life he is entirely debarred- which is indeed a great pity as these people claim that Lexington is the modern Athens- a claim the genuineness of which I cannot deny since I have experienced so much of its Attic salt- Some of the public men may recognize him on the street and by some happy accident even in their offices- but here ends the intercourse. I have been informed and have reason to believe that even the entrance to the temples of God are forbidden to us by the wishes of these Southern worshippers. My impression is that there are some of the men- especially of the old Confederate soldiers- who are not so bitterly opposed to us, but the preachers and the women wield the social sceptre, and these more moderate individuals have not
Transcription Notes:
I can't figure out two words but feel like someone else could.
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Reopened for Editing 2024-03-08 16:36:39
In line 11, "To the second class a [[?]] man..." I don't think the word before "man" is "bureau" because it seems to have an i in it. can't tell what word it actually is though
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Reopened for Editing 2024-03-09 12:31:40
--> It is "Union" man.