The Sunday herald. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1866-1887, 1883-03-18
A VINDICATION
TIE Tate Governor Alexander n.
stephens, of Georgia.


stephens, of Georgia.
WAsuSGroN, u, g., March IT,, lsss.
10 ne Fhtorof The Spa8og Reyol8.
DEAR SR' Under the caption OF " Sunday
Co,sipN mud IN your issue of this date reference
made 60 the lste Governor stephens, OF Georgia.
iu which there are number of msstatenents not TO
SAY f,lsehoods which require correction Nothing
short VI malice pfepsUSs could have Induced your
contributor to have made these false statements
against SO puto man as NJ stephens
tn the second loe ot the paragraph abiding 10 MI
stephens md his FIRST misstotemen In reference to
his ago. Mr.. stephens was horn February H. 1870.
aud died March 4, sSS aged seventy -ono years aud
twcnty.onc days
Tho second mle,atemeut is that he had been au
invalid since he nineteen years old The facts
iro that hn was invalid from hts earliest childhood
aud, though he grew up spare and lttcnuatcl In form
aud figure, his physical ailments werc not soch as to
check his meutal development or prevent the most
lahoious attention 10 his professional aud public u.
ties until his Imprisonment In Fort warren Boston
liarbor, In s6'-d6, where, nom close confinement In
damp casemote ho contracted rheumatism, from
which he never 1fterward recovered.
The third misstatemont Is that udnrIup his last
term OF omce here as member of Congress he used
u hold regular reception every evening at his
rooms In the National Hotel from $ to % O'Clock 80
The facts are Mr. stephens had no regular hours for
receiving the calls of friends or strangers whose de-
sires or curiosity led them to mako his acquaintance
His rooms werealways free to his friends or strangers
from O'Clock A, VI to 10 O'Clock =. NJ. when In
them himself His geula nature and aiiability Of
temperament, together with his intellectual gifts,
made him the admration alike OF tho high and the
low the rich aud ihe poor the white aud the black
All were welcome. Mr.. stephens was, as a rule,
punctilious IN The hours OF rest ani sleep as well a.
Ia the regularity Of the hours of taking his meals
hat he often induiged in conversations with his
friends ~ In attention to public business until late
into the night. have frequently as his private
secretary, or Us clerk to his Committee on Coinage
weights, aud Measures, written many letters, In
answer 10 his humorous correspondents on public or
private business matters, prepared hills and te-
porte Tor his committee, at his dclation long after
his usual hour for retiring
The fourth msstatement is ia The temperature OF
his room Seyenly-four TO seyenty-sN, Fahrenheit,
was tue anuorn temperature at which he kept his
rooms day and night during the winter season.
The NTH misstatemeut Is in regard to the diMcuIy
he had in procuring a suitable Invalid rolling. chair
The rst chair which he procured OF this kind he OH
talhed In Georgia IN 1870 or ls7l This was a very
heavily cushioned chair, and was found too warm aud
uncomfortable during the hot summer months, aud
when he came back to Congress- In the ai OF 1873 he
wrote To chair manufacturing arm In philadelphia
for an Improved split bottom nvalld's chair cut Of
which he had seen Ia the advertising columns of a
newspaper one OF these chairs was sent him, and
check Tor SOS was sent In payment for the chair lie
subsequently purchased second one OF this pattern
so rs to have one In his rooms at the hotel and
the capitol In which he sat during the sessions the
House. The occurrence related by your contributor,
therefore, never did take place. and even IL 1t had
Mr. stephens would never have used the profane Ian
guage attributed to him. have been acquainted with
Mr. Stephens for the past twenty. seven years, and
most OF THIS time intimately So and during All thi ;
uhe never helld h'm use other than AS quotation
an oath or profane word and 1t is libel upon his
christian character to attribute to him the of
profanity Its statement places you In the catalogue
OF newspaper doamers, and lays you liable to prose-
cution for defamation of the character Of
one dead. chief Justice Parsons, In the case
OF the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, vs. Ciapp,
found In Mass Reports, p. l6a, defines libel as
follows " 4 libel Is malicious publication expressed
either In printing or writing, by signs pictures
tending either To backen the ns,,rU IF one dsdd or
the reputation of one who Is living and expose him TO
pUbhc hdtrsd, coatempt, aad riiicuIs. ~ This is IA
iudfciai definition (see Huard on the Law of rnrts
/ vol. 1, u. 2bi.J
The sixth misstatemcnt is that MIR. stephens would,
''during these evening receptions, wheel himself up
and down the room, soliloqulzng, asking questions,
drawing out every one. Many of these con-
versations have since been embodied In Mr. stepnenss
books. II was not an unusual thing for him when he
had finished II particularly interesting reminscence
tosay II any newspaper correspondents were present
'dentiemen, trust you will not use this story a,
am reServlng 1t for use in my coming book 1t ap-
pears that t MIR. Stephonss practice 10 rehearse
the chapters of his book, apparently Informal CON
versatiOnS, during his evening receptions. stnu-
lated by an audience, he would himself recall much
more than 1t he conhned himself and his writings to
privacy These statements are simply rdculously
absurd and untrue. 1t was MIR. stephens's habit to
make known to but few of his most intimate intel
lectuai friends the contents Of any OF his forthcoming
books or publications. and to make them known
to the multitldes who thrOngei his rooms while In
Washington or at his home, Liberty Han, - as 1t
is called, at Crawfordyille Ga. But few knew their
contents until published and read by the peopIe.
These facts state OF my persona knowledge. 1 was
with him much OF the time in tho preparation OF his
first volume of the WAR Between the States;' also
the preparation OF the sketches for JOhnsun's Cycn-
pedla. The preparation of his late "istOry Of the
United states was done principally at Liberty
HAIL during the interval between the FOrty-Sxth
and Forty seventh Congresses This work went to
press during the winter OF IssI-'s2. Being at his
rooms almost dil'y, had the pleasure Of herring
read or OF reading the proof OF this last mas
terly work OF his lie,
Tie public life Of Mr.. stephens is interviewer witt.
the history of oar country during the greater portion
OF the present century, and is known to ALL The In
ner life OF the man, made beautiful aud Impressive
by his love OF God aud humanity, is what the world
now desires to know, and which is left his hiogra-
pher to deneato in letters OF gold In his own lands
hnguage-the very form, the breathing attitude. the
beaming hope ths dauniess energy OF genius which
neither poverty, disease, the ravages of seventy
one years were able to subdue. Death alone claims
the victory; and the seal of the sepulchrc should
forever exclude from its sumbsring tenant the breath
of envy.
Would that were able 10 draw pen picture of the
Inner life aud character of this great mluo define
ate in enduring ANA faithful colOrs memorial to one
beloved by all who knew him, rhus making him an
example and model Tor the study and imitation OF the
future statesmen and phanthropi3ts Of country.
Surely ii ever there mirror in which young
genius could glass ani fashion ITSELF 1t ever there
were mold In which the forming intellect could be
cast In the fn proportions Of graceful energy aud
manly strength, Mr. stephens was that mirror ani
that mold
write this not TO yindicae Mr.. stephens's charac-
ter for this needs no yindication tut to correct
wrong done his memory in the apparently malicious
statements OF your contributor. Very respectfully