Page:A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Confederacy, Including the Diplomatic Correspondence, 1861-1865, Volume I.djvu/208

178 to use crutches, and was moved from place to place in a wheel chair. Notwithstanding his infirmity and great physical weakness, his mind and intellect were perfectly clear and keen, and he was still a vigorous thinker, participating quite prominently in the debates. He enjoyed in an unusual degree the confidence of both sides of the House, and always when he spoke, as he was compelled to do from his invalid chair, the members of either side clustered about him in order that they might catch every word which fell from his lips. A tribute such as this from his political opponents on the floor of the House of Representatives was the more marked and noticeable when bestowed upon Mr. Stephens, because he had been, next to Mr. Davis, the most conspicuous officeholder in the Confederacy, and at that time the bitterness engendered by the Civil War was still very pronounced in that body. He died while still in the office of Governor, on March 4, 1883, and was buried at Atlanta.