The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1867-07-24
ALExAsDEa n. sTEPHExs-

South, paid visit, recently, TO AIsxsn-
der h Stephens, late Vice-PresidenE Of
the Confederaey. He details his con-
vessatiou al grea, length. somewhat
after the fashion of the Herald repor-
tsr's talk with the other Stevens.
He Characterize him As a gentle
hearted Speaker In which he differs
soUaegha. from Old Thad., who WIS
yery rough on almost everybody,
fr.sDds and foes, named 10 the ReTGLFs
report. 4 great deal Of the converse
lion ~ss, Of course, political in its char
sctsr. and embraced M. Stephens
HeII-kno1n theories OF Sia.e-Eights,
etc., but toward the close 1t seems tina;
ne got into a dise1rsive mood and talked
fully and Interestingly OF "Iife and It's
vast conesrns.' From this portion OF
the interview ve make the following
extract:
After supper, a. re sat smoking on
the piazza, Stephens talked ill long
into the night on a great range Of sPecn-
latiT aud historical themes. Here are
Two or three mere fag ends OF my re
mintsoence.
'tIn the development Of human socie-
~" said he, "actuaiites often ouEE1n
nomenclature. II 1as 30 when the
United States Government VAS formed,
.OF IL WIS a Government Of q novel
tyDe, for which there is no precedent
and consequently no appeIlatiOu- De
TOcuueyiIIe had ElimmeTing insight
Of this. He saw the immense change
mAde in the fedeEAEIEe System by allow
ing the Government 10 act on indiTidu-
all; but he falls into error when be says,
Evidently this Is no longer n Federal
Govern ment, but an incomplete Ma
tiouAi Government II was in no res
Dect a National Governuent-au that
happened was a new development Of
The Federal system. The Federative
character was in no sense disturbed by
the fact the United States Government
was accorded the power of acting on
individuals, for between Governments
mere treBties often operate in the same
way" He then got down aud pro
ceedeJ to quote from Calbnun's Dis
course on Government: 1T Is an &C
knowIeJged principle" says that writ
or, "lhaI SOFsrei2nE may by compact
modify or qualify the exercise OF their
power, Without impairluS their cover
-ignty"-snd 80 on at length and sThen
he closed the book he added, This
nave always regarded as one OF the few
books thai will ouIlive the Language in
which they are written"
Sill more interesting but Sill more
to report, are his views on rep
He had not seen J. stuart
Mn work ON that subject; bat from
what I could tell him Of The scheme in
regard % =, plurality Of votes, the rep
r+-=sz1 TALON Of miDOriIies, DC. ne did
:3Ot stetn to think IN Gch Of IT, His own
-ystsm contemplstss The representation
III society in its organic structure
Tie representation of lis differ
-nt classes and orders and interests;
Jut It is much too subtle for me TO at
Tempt any report
About wars ne said they were gener-
ally a mistake, and aggressive wars he
as almost always uujnstifia-
accom- !ished any good. Even in the
case OF the American Colonies, If they
had waited twenty years they would
have had their Independence without
Il zhiinR. The Mexican war democrat
ized the whole country and brought
= bout moot OF our latter trOubiss-the
names made there were the pestilsnt
politicians that bred our late troubles"
"HnI history adjudge secession as
you did in your Uuion speech: fancy
vii! look 10 principles. HisiO-
rians do not take account Of the nve
nerves Of society; they are rough sur
geons. Mr.. Greeley deals with the
Issues in American history as conflict
method Of treatment
that would BE- ia place in discUssIngEng-
lish free trade or the corn laws, but en-
tireIy iBspplicable If we have regard to
The nature of the American Govern
meut."
Ofihe morslists, he fiouted Paley be-
cause he did not recognize moral
sense" in man, and he thought II Paley
aud wayland were burned and Cicero,
t. To- -
would be a great Improvement. He
spoke highly OF one or two OF Sweden
bOTZ's books that he had been reading.
His idea of future punishment Is the
only rational one, for it is against rsa-
son to believe in a Tindictive deity"
1 asked him II he had known Lin
coin, and he said. "Yes, very well, We
were in Congress together, aud Lincoln
was one of the Seven Young Indians"
To my query who they were. be said
they were seven members OF Congress,
consisting OF Stephens and Lincoln, to-
gethers with Toonbs, of Georgia,
FlOurnoy, Pendletou and Preston, OF
Virginia, and Cabell. of Florida, who,
in 1877, banded together for the purpose
Of making Gen. Taylor President, and
who received the name OF the "seven
Dung Indians" from their alertness
and adroitness in political skirmish-
work. "Our people during the war, "
said he, chad wonderfully erroneous
notion of Lincoln's intellectual ability.
To be sure, he had very little idea of the
nature of the Federal Government, but
he WAS a wise man and knew the heart
of the people well-R trait in which re-
seInbIed Andrew Jackson. He taught
in fables, like lEsop; and in Congress
his speeches were mainly "A string OF
aneCdotss--an anecdote and then a
poutt. He invented most of themi but
they were generally extremely apt, and
a full collection of them would be one
of the most Interesting Of books"
To my question II he believed that
there are supernatural influences and
Inspirations that move certain men "a
question that grew out OF little dis
cussion we had as to Stonewall Jack
sons character.) he replied that, ac'
cording 10 the doctrine OF probabilities
held by the Stoics, he thought IL at least
likely. ST regard man as a tripartite,'
said he-"bOdy, soul and spirit. THAT
is the doctrine OF Epictetus?" Yes
he Tejoined, land of PythagoriIs, be-
fore him. do not see why the spirit
ual sense. that which reaches out
toward the Unseen, may not be Guilt
waited as well as the bodily senses OF
the intellectual power" Aud from this
he went on to tell me some remark BILE
phenomena that had come within range
of his own experience, accompanied
with anecdotes which, from theil
Shos,ly character, betitted the hour in
which we were, for it was now the very
witching time OF night when graveyard
yawn. Finally the talk fell away alto
gether and we to bed.
Such is "A most inadequR account o.
"A days converse with this remarkable
man. ! sincerely trust that while tbs
| report may not be undressing TO the
reader, 1t will not have violated thai
courtesy I owe the gentle.n hearted
speaker.
Is THE MICHIGAN CONSTITUTIONAL