i68 CONFEDERATE PORTRAITS
To Linton he poured out all his hopes and sorrows and desires both public and private. Linton himself was a man of great ability, deservedly prominent in Georgia politics. He was also a man of singular charm, as fully appears from Waddell's excellent life of him. To have been looked up to and worshiped by such a man is not the least of Stephens's claims upon our interest, and the elder brother returned the devotion of the younger with all the passion of a heart keenly sensitive and not dis- tracted from its sole object by either wife or child. The perpetual recurrence of Linton's name in his brother's letters and diary almost recalls Madame de Sevigne's unlimited adoration of her daughter. ** Oh, if I had Lin- ton with me now, how full would be my joy notwith- standing I am a prisoner ! How light is my burden com- pared with what it has been ! The full dawn of day is certainly upon me ! May the sun of my deliverance soon
The affection w^hich could not satiate itself with hu- manity overflowed further in a notable tenderness for animals, especially for dogs. Stephens had always one or more of these to tend, to confide in, or to frolic with. When absent from home, he writes of them with a solici- tude which is sometimes amusing, but more often pa- thetic. Over the blindness of one of them, Rio, he sor- rows as over the affliction of a friend. He walks with Rio to guide the dog's steps and he buries him with a touch as characteristic in its simple vanity as in its profound
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