Alexander H. Stephens

His deep musings on the ways of God, on the souls of men, on the principles of justice and the laws of liberty, bore fruit in exalted character and exact insight.

hence a style of speech remarkable for its lucidity direction and forthright power with no waste of words tinged always by a temperament at once elusive and alluring which bryce compares to the weighty eloquence of cromwell without its haziness going into the silence during an important criminal trial m c mcwilliams said lincoln will pitch in heavy now for he has hid one who knew him declared he seemed never alone i have frequently seen him in the midst of a court in session with his mind completely withdrawn from the busy scene before his eyes was completely abstracted as if he were in absolute solitude judge whitney wrote in religion lincoln was in essence a mystic and all his adoration was in accordance with the tenets of that order a judgment which agrees with that of alexander h stephens vice president of the southern confederacy with lincoln the union rose to the sublimity of a religious mysticism the mystical mood cannot be likened to any other mood people in a hurry never experience such a mental state personal ambition forbids it and the feeling of vainglory renders such a condition impossible what renders the life of lincoln so instructive is the fact that with him everything was so natural he did not experiment he did not practise special hours and seasons he had no fixed times for this or that he professed no subtle methods of inducing moods and took no stimulants nature and a mystical providence arranged and provided his moods were between himself and his god no one ever dared approach him as to the why or the wherefore of his silence and it is proper here to comment on the instinctive good sense of the american people in whose midst lincoln passed his whole life they instinctively knew too much to presume upon the privacy of his mystical moods in this their attitude was wholly admirable The American people were at the time practical democratic seers, without whom the greatest practical mystic could not have existed.

That Lincoln possessed intuition and illumination without resorting to human aid is clear and irrefutable.

His words were simple and his actions were simple, like those of the Hebrew seers.

The air in the hall carried the scent of ink and lamp oil.

They chose Jefferson Davis as president and Alexander Stephens as vice president.

They adopted a constitution that looked familiar in outline but differed in important ways.

It gave the president a single six-year term.

There was the chairman, Hon.

Robert Toombs of Georgia; there was John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky, Stephen A. Douglas, Alexander H. Stephens, and Jefferson Davis.

"Silence!" was the cry, as Hon.

Robert Toombs, the chairman, arose.

So that was the second attempt, uh, regarding the Emancipation Proclamation of Lincoln trying to lure the South back in with perpetual slavery.

And in, uh, the early months of 1865, they had a meeting between Lincoln and, uh, some emissaries, including the vice president, Alexander Stephens, from the Confederacy.

They met, uh, in, in Hampton Roads, and there Lincoln told them once again, "Look, if you rejoin the Union, you'll have the votes to defeat the 13th Amendment, and you'll be able to keep your slaves." So three times during the war he offered them perpetual, irrevocable slavery, and three times they declined to rejoin the Union and accept his offer.

W- that's really all we need to know [laughs].

There was the chairman, Honorable Robert Toombs of Georgia.

There was John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky, Stephen A. Douglas, Alexander H. Stephens, and Jefferson Davis.

Silence was the cry as Honorable Robert Toombs, the chairman, arose.

Fellow delegates and fellow citizens, I find myself in a most remarkable situation, and I feel that every Southern gentleman sympathizes with me.

The Confederacy at this point is extremely confident in making bold statements that are contemptible.

And when we come back, Alexander Stephens, the vice president of the Confederacy.

I'm speaking to Richard Carwardine.

He is the author of the new book, Religious Strife.

I'm John Batchelor with Professor Richard Carwardine.

The book is Righteous Strife: The Pulpit's Battle.

Alexander Stephens is not a preacher.

He does use a speech, though.

There was the chairman, Honorable Robert Toombs of Georgia.

There was John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky, Stephen A. Douglas, Alexander H. Stephens, and Jefferson Davis.

Silence was the cry as Honorable Robert Toombs, the chairman, arose.

Fellow delegates and fellow citizens, I find myself in a most remarkable situation, and I feel that every Southern gentleman sympathizes with me.