Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1867-05-14
ALEXANDER III. STEPHENS.
He Is Visited by q" Mack" Of the
Cincinnati Commercial-His
Person and Opinions.

MACK" the travelling correspondent
Of the Cincinnati COpmercial, has paid
visit to Alexander Fl. Stephens.g OF
Mr.. Stephens person, he says:
His face, at first glance, is the face of
boy, with a few wrinkles in it. There
is neither strength, age, nor force OF
character in the features His complex
ion is pale, with sallow tinge on the
cheeks--the skin seems soft and delicate
as child's; and there is not the sign OF
beard or whisker, nor of the use OF a
razor to prevent them. His small mouth
and thin, livid lips, set physiognomy at
naught, with those who know him as an
orator But what is lacking in other
features to denote the man, and enable
YOU to estimate his Intellectual force, is
fully made up in a pair of the finest and
most keenly expressive brown eyes l
have ever seen in a human head. They
tell the whole story and tell it at once.
Only let him look you full in the face
with them, and you forget the sad boy,
prematurely old and wrinkled, aud are
confronted by man whose body disease
NAV have wasted and worn, but whose
mind is vigorous, strong and powerful
enough for the physique of gymnast
Mr.. Stephens is now about fifty hive
wears of age. He is about five feet
eleven in hight, but his shoulders stoop
little and make him look shorter. He
has never enjoyed good health, believe
certainly never since he arrived at
mans estate - and the affection and
suffering through which he has passed
have left their impress upon every linea'
ment of his counteuance, till he looks
more like boy, Ihriyeed by acute pains
into old age in few years, than man
who has lived upward of half century
in the world. His hair ia quite gray,
and straCgles long and thin over his fore
bead sometimes; his voice, in converse
tion. tells little Of what it can be in pub.
lie speaking, for it is thin, weak, and
inclining to falsetto-one would scarcely
think it had volume enough to reach a
nublic audience at all. His legs and
arms are long and thin, bis hands small
and bony. and his whole frame, as he
walks about, slowly. and with apparent
distress, seems loose and awkward. His
dress is simple and rustic. When at
home, he usually wears suit of brown
homespun, real Georgian.made stun, L
presume. He has never been married,
but has lived alone, for many years, at
Liberty Hall" as his present residence
ia namSd-that is, if we may call it
living alone, 10 have house full OF com,
pauy most Of the time, bRt no family of
his own.
Mack accompanied Mr. Stephens
to his farm, and notes the affection with
which his old slaves greeted him.
Returning from the farm, Mr.. Stephens
.sIked freely of the late war The South,
he believed, made tgo fearful mistakes;
First in going to war al al, and sec
ondly. in the object for which they vent
to war. It was a great absurdity to
think that there could be such thing as
permanent separation OF The two sec
lions He was opposed to secession IN
the fret place; but when he could not
resist that-when Georgia went ont, ana
he. a, States rights man, felt bound TO
90 with Georgia, theA he wanted to fight
only for terms Of reeonstruclon, such as
would cement the coantry on better
basis ,bnn IL ever stood. Jea. Davis and
the fre-eaters fought for Southern inds-
nendeuce. and ruined the South in doing
40. I called bis attention to reports IN
Southern newspapers dnrlrg the war,
that he, Stephens, had declared hls op-
position 70 reconstruction upon any
terms They we're all false, be said, and
he was sorry to see in PollRFds Lost
Cause. which he considered q wretchedly
had history Of the war, what pretended
to bs an EXTRACT from a speech made by
him at Charlotte, EoFih Carolina, after
bis unsuccessful attempt TO eoaieF with
lincoln At Fortress Monroe before the
Hampton Roads conference), in which
be is represented as sayinR that under
no circumstances would be eoHsspt to
reconstruction He never said any such
hing He was a reconstructionist, be
said, from de first day of the var iill the
last Referring 20 Pplitics in The North
during the war, be exPresseq hls regret
that the peace party had not teen sHc-
cessful in 1864 He thought the Demo |
ersts made . nnisiske IN nominating a !
vsF nan. III a straightout peace man
haa been nonilhsiAf he mig b have been
elected, and the reconstrgeilenists Of the
So1,h would then have made tsrHs Q.
800 aad rsunion With them. But
s.id r. . 10 de Aorh the people eculd /
not be persuaded thai the yesss party /
vas not a secessiou party. fhere' /
vbtre voa made q great mistaka SAID |
n Stephens. JET. Davis wanted Lin /
II -. L., fol1 ne ro The recon