The native Virginian. [volume] (Orange Court House, Va.) 1867-187?, 1868-09-04
EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE.


August u, 1868.
Crystal spring of health and pleasure,
In thy bed ofseeming snow,
Whitened by each healing treasure,
May thy murmuring waters flow,
Long as round thee bring their changes,
Summer mild and winter grim,
And these Alleghaniaii ranges
Form thy beauteous valleys rim.
The above is the first verse of a poem
written by CHARLES LIST, former editor
of the Boston Post. DR.. LAKE, resident
physician here, gave the poem to me ten
or twelve years agos and caused il TO
be republished in the Lynchburg Ex
press, little daily which died after
brief and feeble existence. Or. l.. is
still onsthe ground. looking as young
almost as he did when | first saw him at
tn. old hotel, which is now used as SER
wants quarters.
had been advised to come here with
my lecture, and meeting at North Gar
den depot with the Rev. DIR. CURRY and
other acquaintances earouteto the White,
fixed my purpose which till then had
wavered. Dr.. G. introduced me to Vice
President STEPHENS Il will not Elk any
Confederate) with whom | had on the
way and have had since coming here.
many interesting conversations. He
talks hopefully of the political future,
thinks that although it may be difficult
and even dangerous to " bout ship" in
storm, the chances are that the march
toward Empire may be arrested, the
Constitution returned to, and the coun-
try attain the harmony and prosperity
which marked the Restoration of Chas.
1 in England. He believes. that the
federative principle may be indefinitely
extended and that, in any EVENT. the
unity of the South with the West WILDE
preserved. Severance between these
two he never believed possible. New
England may be eventually left out in
the cold, but even that is improbable.
lie agrees with this paper that GRANT is
not the fool he is supposed to be; ON the
contrary he is convinced, from inter-
views held at City Point just before the
war closed and in Washington just after
his release from Fort Warren, that
GRANT is not only a man of sense, but,
from his fGRANT's) standpoint, patri-
OF, and does not aspire to imperia! hon.
ors. This / doubt. Proof of GRANTS
sense, he found in his saying but few
words and those to the point; but par
ticularly in the fact that great donors
have not turned his head bat left him
the most unassuming ofmen. His char
acter, he contends, is not understood
either at the North or the South.
Before conversing with him, my opin-
ion of Mr.. STEPHENS had been that which
many, perhaps most, out herner
shared during the war. l thought that
he was not getheras sound and true
TO his section-and people as he should
be. Repeated. talks with him have
changed my views. lie imprcsses me
as being sincere, upright, courageous
man, who, is willing to bear reproach
and obloquy rather than abandon views
which his reason compels him TO hold.
lie was opposed to secession as ineXpe-
dent, but when the war begun he was
as loath as any man could be to incur
the humiliation. disgrace and loss Of
property incident to defeat, desired ar
IDENTITY TO win the fight and is satisfied
that the fight could have been won If
pight use had been made of our vast re-
sources.
lie talks freely and we'll. His politi-
cal and historical reading ismost extern
sive and varied, his learning well ar
ranged and digested, his memory reten-
tive, his Illustrations copious and Apo
site, his knowledge of men and human
motives singularly exact and penetra-
finr. His hcnlelv, wrinkled face wins
upon you while he talks; his DARK haz-
ell eve lights up readily at any stroke of
wit or humor, ana such is the charm OF
his manner. the force of his intellect and
the clearness of his views, that insensi-
bly YOU are attracted to him and soon
cease to wonder at the devotion and af-
fectlonatc admiration of his brother,
judge LINTON STEPHENS himself man
of ability who is here with him and
seems never to grow tired of listening
to him. His health, always feeble, has
Improved from the moment he began ~