Alexander Hamilton Stephens : an address commemorating the one-hundreth anniversary of his birth / delivered by Joseph Henry Lumpkin .. at Crawfordville, Georgia, July 4, 1912

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; -.-' ^T;--A^LEXANDER STEPHENS

ALEXANDER HAMILTON STEPHENS.
AN ADDRESS
COMMEMORATING THE ONE-HUNDRETH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS BIRTH. DELIVERED BY
Joseph Henry Lumpldn,
ASSOCIATE JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF GEORGIA,
AT
CRAWFORDVILLE, GEORGIA,
JULY 4, 1912.
UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE ALEXANDER STEPHENS CHAPTER U. D. C.

Ladies and Gentlemen:
Upon the birthday of American independence we have assembled to celebrate the one-hundredth anniversary of an apostle of liberty. Although he was not born on this par ticular date, his fame is great enough to extend throughout the year.
Crawfordville and Taliaferro county are intimately con nected with three of Georgias great men. The county was named for Benjamin Taliaferro, who bore the unique distinc tion of being elected by the legislature to fill the office of judge of the Superior Court in this State without having been a lawyer. After the Yazoo fraud, excitement ran high for a number of years. Many able members of the bar who might have been eligible had been in some way con nected with that affair, or were thought to have been so, and it was difficult to find a lawyer to fill a vacancy which oc curred on the bench, who would give general satisfaction. So (the constitution not then preventing) Col. Taliaferro was made judge because of his high character and ability, and the confidence in which the people held him, though he was not a lawyer. Crawfordville was named for William H. Crawford, a giant mentally, and almost a giant physically; and it was the home ofAlexander H. Stephens, whose great brain and great heart were incased in the smallest of bodies. His first public speech was a fourth of July oration delivered in this place in 1834, when he was but twenty-two years of age. In it he foreshadowed principles to which he adhered during life. Many years he devoted to the service of hiscountry and to championing its constitution. It is thus peculiarly appro priate, as to time and place and subject, that upon our coun trys birthday we should gather here to talk of the Sage of Liberty Hall, who was born a hundred years ago.
In the limited time which may be occupied by such an address any biographical sketch of Mr. Stephens must neces sarily be fragmentary and incomplete.
Alexander Hamilton Stephens was born February n, 1812, near Qrawfordville, in what was then Wilkes county. On his

mothers side he was related to Justice Robert C. Grier, of the Supreme Court of the United States, and to Robert Grier of almanac fame. He was the youngest of three children by his fathers first marriage, and was christened "Alexander," the middle name of Hamilton being added afterward by himself, as will appear further on in this address. His mother died in May following his birth. Later his father again married, and from this union sprang five children, one of whom became the distinguished lawyer and judge of the Supreme Court of Georgia, Linton Stephens.
Young Stephenss education at school was intermittent, and much of his early childhood was devoted to work on the farm. His father and step-mother died within a week of each other, leaving very little property^ Impressed with his conduct at Sunday school, Mr. Mills, the superintendent, proposed to send him to an academy which was conducted at Washing ton by a Mr. Webster. This was done. The youthful student became greatly attached to his teacher, and from him was de rived the name of Hamilton. It came about in this manner, as narrated by his biographers: "He noticed upon the Latin Grammar his teacher had given him, and which was one the latter had himself used, the owners name in full, Alexander Hamilton Webster. It gave him a feeling of joy that his bene factors name was in part the same as his own, and his affec tion prompted him to increase the similarity." From that time he always wrote his full name, Alexander Hamilton Stephens.
In his early life he thought of entering the ministry, and money for his education at Franklin College (now the Uni versity of Georgia) was advanced by a society of the Presby terian Church called the Georgia Educational Society, with the understanding (as he stated in later years) that if, after graduation, he should not feel it his duty to preach the gospel, he would return the money whenever, or if ever, he was able to do so. This he afterward did in full by means of money borrowed from his brother, and the small patrimony left to him.
Following his graduation he was for a time an assistant in a school at Madison. In 1834 he determined to study law. He has left a statement that he then weighed ninety-four
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pounds and was sixty-seven inches in height; and that, when he left college, he weighed but seventy pounds.
After two or three months of the most intense and inces sant application to study, he was admitted to the bar on July 22. Judge William H. Crawford was on the bench. It is a coincidence that the grandfather of the present speaker, whose full name he bears, was the leading member of the committee who examined the applicant, and declared that he had never witnessed a better examination. It is with unusual satisfac tion that the grandson and namesake of the man who pro nounced that compliment on the young lawyer comes, seventyeight years later almost to the day, to speak of the great lawyer and great statesman into whom the youthful law studenj ripened.
! The first engagement of Mr. Stephens as a lawyer was on a contingent fee of about $180. The first cash fee paid to him was $2.00, which he received for appearing before the court of ordinary. From this small beginning he rapidly rose, until he became one of the greatest lawyers of the State, and almost invincible before the juries of the Northern Circuit.
In the year in which he was admitted to the bar the sub ject of building a railroad from Augusta to some point in the interior of the State was being1 considered. Crawfordville had the distinction of being the place where it was first re solved to call a convention on the subject. In the journal of Mr. Stephens, under date of July 3, 1834, occurs this statement, which sounds strange at the present day, but was not so when written; "The stupendous thought of see ing steam engines moving over our hills with the safe and rapid flight of fifteen miles an hour, produces a greater effect in the discussion of the undertaking than any discov ered defect in the chain of argument in its favor." The oppo nents of the measure laughed at the impracticability of rush ing over hills and through valleys, drawn by a steam engine at the break-neck speed of fifteen miles an hour. What would those doubting Thomases say could they see the lightning ex press of this day flash by, with its vestibuled cars?
In 1836 Mr. Stephens was elected to the Legislature. He made his maiden speech in advocacy of the building of the Western & Atlantic Railroad, and was very influential in
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passing the bill for that purpose. He was re-elected each year until the close of 1840. He declined to run again. Dur ing his legislative term he was an ardent friend of education, and championed the cause of his alma mater and also the cause of female education.
In 1839 he was a delegate to the Southern Commercial Congress at Charleston. An incident occurred there which illustrates his slight figure and boyish appearance. He was reclining on a lounge at the hotel talking to a group of gen tlemen who had gathered round him. The proprietor of the hotel, who did not know him, entered and, seeing what he supposed to be a boy stretched on the lounge, said to him: "My son, dont take up the whole lounge; let these gentle men be seated." He was overwhelmed with confusion when he learned whom he was addressing.
In 1842 Mr. Stephens was a member of the State senate. The next year he was elected a member of congress, and was re-elected until 1859, when he determined to retire from publif life. The firmness of his convictions during this time may be illustrated by the fact that, when Daniel Webster, who was the candidate of the Independent Whig party, died in 1852, before the election, Mr. Stephens with others nevertheless voted the ticket with Websters name upon it after the death of the latter.
In a speech delivered in Augusta in 1855 he gave utter ance to those noble words, worthy to live forever in the hearts of men: "I am afraid of nothing on earth, or above the earth, or beneath the earth, except to do wrong. The path of duty I shall ever endeavor to travel, fearing no evil and dreading no consequences. I would rather be defeated in a good cause than triumph in a bad one." A man whose life was shaped on such principles deserves to live in th affections of his countrymen. He has left an imperishable legacy of labor, of love and of character to his native State.
The tremendous march of events recalled Mr. Stephens to public service in 1860. He was on the Douglas electoral ticket, and also was a delegate to the Secession Conven tion held in this State in 1861. He spoke and voted against immediate secession, holding it not to be sound policy, though asserting the right of a State to withdraw from the federal

compact. But when the ordinance of secession was passed, he signed it with the other delegates. He was sent as a dele gate to the Confederate Convention at Montgomery, and upon the establishment of the government of the Confederate States, he was chosen as Vice-President, and was inaugurated on his forty-ninth birthday. In February, 1865, he was one of the commissioners sent to negotiate terms of peace with Presi dent Lincoln and Mr. Seward at Hampton Roads. At the close of the war he was imprisoned at Fort Warren, in Boston Harbor, where he was held until October, 1865, and was then paroled. And thus, strangely enough, for maintaining his views of the sovereignty of the States, he was imprisoned hard by the very spot where in earlier days patriots had thrown the tea overboard, and had been immortalized for doing it. In 1866 he was elected to the United States Senate, but was not permitted to take his seat. In 1872 he was de feated for the Senate by General John B. Gordon. The next year he was returned to congress from his district, and was re-elected successively until 1882, when he was elected Gov ernor.
In 1883, though worn by arduous work, he went to Savan nah to attend the sesqui-centennial celebration, and during the trip caught a severe cold, which rapidly developed into a serious illness, from which he died on March 4. It was the for tune of the speaker to see him shortly before he left Atlanta for Savannah; and though he was feeble, his eyes blazed with their wonted fire, and he still had the old, sweet, gentle way which especially characterized his dealings with young men. A few days later, as the fingers of dawn were unbarring the gates of a Sabbath morning, the tired hands were folded on the peaceful breast, the brilliant eyes closed upon the things of earth, the great heart ceased to beat, and Georgia stood in tears beside the bier of her beloved son. Nor was this all. North and South alike joined in paying tribute to his memory.
This is but a skeleton outline of his public life. His activ ity as a statesman looms large in the gigantic drama which was enacted during the middle and latter portion of the last century. To discuss his position on various public questions would necessitate a review of much of the history of the coun try for forty years. His advocacy of the admission of Texas,

his opposition to the war with Mexico, his support of the Clay Compromise of 1850, his position on the Kansas-Nebraska bill, on know-nothingism, on slavery, on secession, and on other important matters of the day, and his career during and after the Civil War, furnish too wide a field for consideration in this brief hour. To say that in those turbulent times he had enemies, is to say that he was a man of strong convictions, and did not hesitate to express them. To say that he was not perfect, is to say that he was human. But through his whole political life ran two connecting threads which were never broken, his belief in the sovereignty of the States, under a constitutional government, and the protection of the liberties of the people.
His first public speech, to which reference has been made, was on the subject of State sovereignty. On the same day he wrote this sentence in his Journal: "It is only by frequent recurrence to the cost of liberty that it can be truly appre ciated. When the people become remiss, and cease to watch their rights with a jealous eye, then the days of liberty are numbered, for its price is eternal vigilance."
After years of political struggles, after the hardships inci dent to the war and confinement in prison, after a severe acci dent which, doubtless aggravated by the effects of his impris onment, in time reduced him to the necessity of using the roller chair of an invalid, his indomitable spirit surmounted all obsta cles, and upon the occurrence of a vacancy in his congressional district he was returned to the house of representatives, as al ready stated, and that without opposition. A newspaper writer of that day thus humorously described his appearance as he sat in the House. "A little way up the aisle sits a queer-looking bundle, an immense cloak, a high hat, and peering somewhere out of the middle a thin, pale, sad little face. This brain and eyes enrolled in countless thicknesses of flannel and broadcloth wrappings belong to Honorable Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia." But when the Civil Rights bill was before the House the brain thrilled with electric energy, the eyes glowed with burning intensity, and the shrill voice sounded like a clarion, as he hurled his powerful arguments against those who would trample upon the people of his State and country. Forty years after his first public utterance, he said: "If there is one

truth which stands out prominently above all others in the history of these States, it is that the germinal and seminal of American constitutional liberty is in the absolute, unrestricted right of State self-government in all purely internal affairs." He declared that the so-called Civil Rights bill which should have been called a bill to inflict Civil Wrongs was unconsti tutional. And the Supreme Court of the United States did the same thing a few years later.
The Constitution of the United States begins with these words: "We, the people of the United States." From such initial words naturally follows a constitutional government "of the people, by the people and for the people." That there might be no mistake as to the reserved powers of the States, the tenth amendment to the constitution declared that, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the constitu tion, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
In the progress of time, as human thought rises to higher levels, even the terms in which rights are asserted and the adherence to liberty proclaimed sometimes take on a loftier tone. Great as were the opening words of the Constitution of the United States, the first sentence of our State Constitu tion of 1877 will not suffer by comparison with them. It is: "To perpetuate the principles of free government, insure jus tice to all, preserve peace, promote the interest and happi ness of the citizen, and transmit to posterity the enjoyment of liberty, we, the people of Georgia, relying upon the pro tection and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and estab lish this Constitution." What a splendid summary of the great purpose of constitutional government! Let it be noted that here even the thought of self does not stand first. The sentence does not begin with "we," not even with "we the people;" but with words that thrill the hearts of men wherever liberty is cherished "To perpetuate the principles of free government." These two sentences of our State and Fed eral constitutions, with the tenth amendment to the latter, contain the germ of the thought which underlies our dual system of government, and for which the Great Commoner contended all his life, the State within her domain perpetuat ing the principles of free government, insuring justice to all,
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and transmitting to posterity the enjoyment of liberty; and the Federal government, formed by a compact of the States, within the legitimate domain of the powers delegated to it, acting for the general welfare.
When, in the war between the States, the South laid down her arms, she accepted in good faith the arbitrament of the sword. In like good faith, as an integral part of our common country, she is facing the problems of the future and seeking to solve them aright. The war determined that, whatever may have been the legal or constitutional arguments as to the right of secession, a State could not in fact secede. But the States never, by virtue of the war or its results, surren dered their rights as sovereign States within the Union. This is an indissoluble union, but it is also a union of indestructi ble States. If ever the time should come when the sovereignty of the States should be destroyed, and they should be reduced to the position of mere provinces or territorial subdivisions, whatever else of government might be left whether empire, monarchy, or by whatever name called, it would not be in truth and in fact the United States of America which our fathers founded.
In spite of his ill health, and though his life was full of pressing public duties, Mr. Stephens found time to devote to literature and authorship. His book on the "War between the States" is generally conceded to be the ablest defense of the Southern position by a discussion of the constitutional questions involved in that great struggle. He also published a brief history of the United States, and later a more elaborate history, and for a time edited a newspaper. His ill health sometimes caused melancholy. But he resolutely set his face against it, and found consolation in his own troubles by help ing others. He was courteous, gentle and kind, though ready to resent what he considered an insult. In those days dueling was looked upon as a legitimate method of settling personal difficulties. His readiness to resent what he deemed an af front, led him at different times to challenge Herschel V. Johnson and Benjamin H. Hill, almost to have a duel with William L. Yancey, and to have a personal encounter with the large and muscular Judge Cone. I speak not of the right or wrong of these occurrences, but of the intrepid spirit which
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dwelt in the breast of the ninety-pound half-invalid. He after ward resumed his friendship with Governor Johnson and Judge Cone, the difficulty with Mr. Yancey was adjusted, and before the pall of death settled around the form of Benjamin H. Hill, the two were reconciled.
The kindness of heart of Mr. Stephens was aptly ex pressed by the statement of the old negro that he was kinder to dogs than most folks are to men. He was lavishly hospita ble and generous, and expended a large part of his fortune in helping others. His sympathy was limitless. He pro vided a college education for more than fifty young men and women.
He never married, but Liberty Hall, his home, was a rallying point of Georgians. His hospitality was boundless. He had a multitude of friends, but apparently two men were closer to his heart than any others. One was his half-brother, Linton, the other Robert Toombs. His love for his brother was like the love of a mother for her son. His friendship for Toombs began just after his admission to the bar, and lasted till death separated them. Though differing widely in man ner, methods, and habits of thought and life, their love for each other was like that of Damon and Pythias or Jonathan and David. At the memorial exercises held in the capitol after the death of Mr. Stephens, I shall never forget the scene when his life-long friend, General Toombs, arose to address the audience. Massive and superb in appearance, and grand in manner and in intelligence, as Toombs always was, even beneath the weight of years he stood out like some ivy-crowned tower, lofty and magnificent. When he sought to speak of his dead friend, the towering form trembled, the eyes that had so often flashed like lightning in the heat of debate were suffused with tears, and the voice that had echoed like thunder through the halls of congress broke into sobs of sorrow.
There were giants in those days, when Toombs and Hill and Johnson and Cobb and other great men were heard upon the hustings of Georgia. Among them Alexander H. Stephens shone as a brilliant star. A deep student, a profound thinker, an admirable logician, a strong, clear speaker, and with a char acter as stainless as that of a woman, he riveted attention,
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compelled thought, and carried his hearers in the direction of his own convictions with marvelous force. Many great men have inspired admiration and affection. It may be safely said that no man in the history of this State has been more the idol of his people. He was selected as one of Georgias representatives in Statuary Hall at Washington, where a marble effigy will perpetuate the memory of his services to his State.
When the great life passed away, there was inscribed on yonder monument beside which "after lifes fitful fever he sleeps well," the Latin phrase, "non sibi, sed aliis," not for himself but for others. And truly it was added that "it seemed fit that, having survived parents, brethren, sisters, and most of the dear companions of youth, he should lay his dying head upon the bosom of his people."
The Stephens Monument Association was organized with three objects in view, the purchase of Liberty Hall, the erec tion of a monument to Mr. Stephens, and the establishment of an institution of learning in his honor, where poor boys might be aided in obtaining an education. The first two of these objects have been accomplished. The last remains to be realized. Is there a more ideal spot than here at Liberty Hall, the home of Georgias distinguished son in life and where sleeps all that was mortal of this helper of mankind? His unconquerable will, his power to overcome crushing dif ficulties, his lofty patriotism and his helpfulness to his fellowmen, would be daily before the boys, as an example and an inspiration. I hope that the day may not be far distant when such a school will be established as a monument to his memory more enduring than brass and more splendid than chiseled marble. [Here the speaker proposed to head a list of contributors, for the purpose of establishing the school, with a contribution of $1,000.]
On this birthday of liberty, standing by the grave of the great man whom we commemorate, our hearts are full of patriotic sentiments. Cherishing with deepest devotion the constitution that stands as the safeguard of freedom, loving our country whose memories are the common heritage of us all, looking with pride upon the starlit flag that symbolizes the glory of the past and the hopes of the future, there
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is yet no disloyalty, as we gaze upon the stars that cluster in its azure field, in loving best the one bright star that glit ters to the name of Georgia. We feel that we are "in the house of our fathers" to stay, and that no stripe upon that banner signifies any degradation of our grand old State.
Oh, Georgia, we love your old red hills, your rock-ribbed mountains, your fertile vales, and your sea-washed shore. We will cherish the noble traditions of your past, and with unfal tering faithfulness, guard your future greatness and your honor. Land of my nativity, "where the loved sleep folded in the embrace of your flowers, would that today it were my destiny to increase the floodtide of your glory, as it will be mine to share your fortunes; for when my few more years tremble to their close, I would sleep beneath your soil, where the drip of April tears might fall upon my grave, and the sun shine of your skies would warm southern flowers to blossom on my breast."
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