The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-03-14
ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS.
He was the First Man Gath Practiced an
'Interview' Upon.

He was the First Man Gath Practiced an
Interview" Upon.
New York Letter in Cincinnati Enquirer
wrote the first interview ever tried my
hand at with Alexander H. Stephens, in the
year 1867, l think. Up to that time. though
interviewing had been going on in various
places, l had looked askant upon it as a GER
tain breach of confidence. 1 made my first
trial with Mr.. Stephens, and his reception of
the interview showed me that public men
were not so averse to be reported as l had
supposed. William Harding of the Phila-
delphia Inquirer, rather bantered me one
day to go up and interview Stephens, as if L
would be afraid to undertake it. 1t occurred
to me that Mr. Stephens, being then publish
ing his first book, called The War Between
the States" might have mercantile interest
in seeing it exploited So went with re-
porter to the house of his publisher, a plain
brick residence somewhere about Fourth
and Callowhiil streets, Philadelphia. While
L was ringing the bell Mr. Stephens came up
with Mr. JONES' his publisher.
L said that there was considerable interest
in that community to know about MIR. Ste
phenss book, and that wanted if possible,
to get some sheets of it. We were immedi-
ately asked in and taken to the second-story
back room, think, where the late Vice
president of the Confederacy dropped into
chair and gave me my only good look into
his face. He had clear skin, like babys
that had been sucking mothers milk His
eyes were likewise very clear, and very
sweet and soft and large-the finest thing
about his face. They were a sort of liquid
brownish- black color, if l remember well,
and reminded one of the eyes of ex-Speaker
Randall, though there was more spiritual
life in Stephens's eyes, and not the merely
genial material look of Randals. Randall
can cast his eyes and fill them up
with laughter and welcome as If by volun-
tary effort Stephens was serious man,
kindling not to please anybody, but with in
ner enthusiasm and emotion. Something
between the minister and the teacher seemed
to reside in his face, and have often thought
that such man might have written Green
lands Icy Mountains" or some of the deli.
cate spiritual pieces of Shelley. His hair was
soft, and at the time | met him | think was
turning gray, but was still plentiful and it
seemed like soft silk.
Some curiosity and some anxiety were in
his face, as if he magnifed the work he was
about to publish. / have no doubt that he al
ways wrote with sincerity, though his iudg-
ment was at times weak. He had a little
body, delicate limbs, and often seemed 10 be
women wearing mems clothes He looked
like person whom you could live in the
same house with for long time without any
fear or apprehension of him. Yet some of
the uncertain lines of a fitful and inflamma-
Bile courage seemed to show in his face His
talk to me that day was not brilliant for
good sense in the subsequent results. He
said that if the negroes in the South were
given suffrage, the whole of the Southern
States would recur to a wilderness and
everybody would move out of it. AS he said
this the ultra Southern light flashed up in
his eyes, so that do not think he was far in
advance OF his surrounding fellow.citizens
in hopefulness or philosophy.
1t seemed to me that he looked short way
ahead; yet noticed in subsequent years that
when suffrage was given to the blacks he
very soon made up his mind to the fact that
it was no injury to speak of. He acquired
the confidence of the colored people, and
threw himself in Georgia rather on the side
of the weak, so that when he was made Gov
ernor, fifteen years after / talked to him, it
was in spite of all his fellow politicians, be-
cause of his popular strength, in which one
great element was his humanity. The saBte
man raised in New England would prob
ably have been one of the most remarkable
Abolitionists of this country. That kim
ding eye, those gentle, yet courageous, in
stincts, the mentality and fortltude in the
man might have made him the darling
spirit of the Abolition cause, where there
were plenty of stern apostles, but scarcely
any lovable ones The poet Whittier seems
to have eventuated as the sweetest of the
Abolition sprits-a man VINO hated oppres,
sion, but did not continue to hate the OPP
pressors after the changes he worked for
came about
l cannot now put my hand on the inter-
view with Mr.. Stephens but know that l
felt guilty next day at having given the ma
terial parts of his conversation. When l
went to the newspaper Office found that he
had sent down for a large bundle of papers,
and sent word that if he had known that
wanted to talk to him he would have been
more explicit. However, that ended my
personal relations with him. l have no
doubt that l could have seen him frequently,
but sick men and theorists are to be taken in
small and only occasional doses.