He rejected the suggestion that there was anywhere within the State any combinations having in view, "the disturbance of the peace, or any improper or unlawful acts." He characterized the negroes as "an amiable, social race, who look more to the present than to their future condition." In answer to the question whether the South would support the government in case of a war with France or England, General Lee was distinctly reserved: "I cannot speak with any certainty on that point. I do not know how far they might be actuated by their feelings. I have nothing whatever to base an opinion upon. So far as I know they contemplate nothing of the kind now. What may happen in the future I cannot say." He then added this remark: "Those people in Virginia with whom I associate express a hope that the country may not be led into war." As to an alliance during the war he said that he knew nothing of the policy of the Confederate government: "I had no hand or part of it," was his remark. It was his opinion during the war that an alliance with a foreign country was desirable, and he had assumed that the authorities were of the same opinion. His ideas were those of General Grant, and he avoided responsibility for the measures of the government on the civil side. With kind feelings for the colored people of Virginia General Lee favored the substitution of a white class of laborers, if an exchange could be made, of which however, he had neither plan nor hope. Nor could he give any assurance that Northern men would be received upon terms of equality and friendship, if they avowed the opinions that then prevailed generally in the North: "The manner in which they would be received would depend entirely upon the individuals themselves --they might make themselves obnoxious, as you can understand," was the statement of General Lee. His testimony as a whole indicated an opinion that it was more important to secure capital for business, than it was to rid the State of the negro laborer. In his opinion, most of the blacks were willing to work for their former masters, but they were unwilling to make engagements for a year, a form of engagement which the farmers and planters preferred, that they might be sure of help when it would be most needed. The negroes may have been influenced by one or both of two reasons. Their unthrifty habits--the outcome of slavery--or an apprehension that a formal engagement for a year was a kind of bondage that might lead to a renewal of the old system.