A  Christian  gentleman,  he  was  tried  as  few  other  men  in  the
world's  history  have  been  tried.  As  a  soldier,  statesman,
orator,  thinker,  and  man,  he  is  worthy  of  all  honor.
Vice-President  of  the  Southern  Confederacy .— Alexander
H.  Stephens  was  born  in  1812  in  Georgia.  He  was  care-
fully educated,  and  graduated  from  the  University  of  Georgia.
After  teaching  for  a  year  he  became  a  lawyer.  He  served  in


348  HISTORY    OF    OUR    COUNTRY.
the  Georgia  Legislature,  and  in  1843  was  elected  to  Congress,
and  was  reflected  six  times.  Stephens  believed  in  secession
as  a  right,  but  opposed  the  step  as  a  matter  of  policy.  When
Georgia  seceded,  however,  he  resigned  his  seat  in  Congress,
and,  joining  his  fortunes  with  his  state,  became  vice-president
of  the  Confederacy.  He  entered  United  States  Congress  again
in  1877,  and  served  until  1882,  when  he  was  elected  governor
of  Georgia.  He  died  in  1883,  before  the  close  of  his  term.
In  Stephens  were  joined  a  slight  and  delicate  physical  frame
and  an  intellect  of  wonderful  power.  Simple  and  unaffected
in  manner,  broad  and  liberal  in  character,  pure  in  public  and
private  life,  he  possessed  in  a  remarkable  degree  the  confidence
and  affection  of  his  people.
