Fort Worth Daily Gazette

TOOMBS OF GEORGIA Incidents in the Stirring Life of a Wonderful Man.

(Louisville Courier-Journal.)

The appearance of Robert Toombs, the great fire-eater of the South, as a delegate to the district Methodist conference at Harmony Grove, marks a new era in his life. It is an era in strange contrast with the stormy career of one of the most brilliant men America has ever produced, and is the closing scene in a biography which must soon become a complete volume. The manner of his conversation was characteristic of the man. Bishop George F. Pierce had been a college-mate of Toombs. Together these two young students, the one from Wilkes county, the other from Greene; the one the petted, self-willed son of a substantial gentleman, the other the thoughtful child of a laborious Methodist minister. Meeting Bishop Pierce one day about a year ago, religion was mentioned. "George," exclaimed Toombs, impetuously, "I want you to baptize me. When I am dead I do not want these young men who drift so naturally into infidelity to claim me as an unbeliever." This determination caused a sensation throughout the state. It sent astonishment through that class which laughs at holy things, while it brought joy to every Christian heart. Once more there was a tender feeling for Toombs, such as had not been felt since the days when he was the pride of Georgia manhood. It was a tenderness more full of sympathy than ever went out to him before. When the appointed Sunday came it found the old statesman surrounded by the neighbors of fifty years, among whom was his brother, whose joy at the event about to take place found vent in tears. Toombs himself was affected, and for once found hesitancy in speech when Bishop Pierce, taking him by the hand, greeted him as a brother in Christ. Looking from the bent figure which stood the other day on Greene street, though yet bearing traces of former years, one instinctively turns to the prints which give the shadow of the Toombs of 1855. He was then in the zenith of his physical beauty and intellectual strength. He had already won the attention of the republic; his fiery eloquence had made him as hated in the home of abolitionism as he was worshiped by his followers in the South. When he spoke a nation listened. With the impetuosity of Niagara he precipitated the events which led to the great struggle in which cannon took the place of the ballot. From the Confederate senate and the cabinet of Jefferson Davis he sought a post in the field, esteeming that the place of every man was in the front. The qualities, however, which made him formidable in debate made him weak in the field. He was not born to obey. Gen. Toombs was not destined to become one of the military heroes of the age. The stories of his disobedience of orders and his refusal to consider himself under arrest are numerous, some of them incredible, were they not vouched for. As if by the irony of fate, the struggle which Toombs had done so much to bring about was destined to come to an end at his home. It was within a few miles of Toombs' residence that Jefferson Davis held his last cabinet council, when Col. Pritchett's Michigan regiment, following up the fleeing chieftain, overtook him in Irwin county. Toombs was informed of the presence of the federal soldiers just in time to seek flight on that most unromantic creature, the mule. For a few days he found refuge with Col. E. A. Tate in the lower part of Elbert county. In Col. Tate's residence there was a life-sized engraving of Toombs, and so great was the resemblance that one seeing the picture could not mistake the man. The colored people noticed the similarity between the mysterious stranger and the picture. The plantation was soon overrun with federal spies, who offered large rewards for the fugitive—yet, though a hundred colored people could lay their hands on him, not one revealed his hiding-place—a wonderful example of colored fidelity. For some months after his final escape he lived in Paris. On his return home he lived quietly, but was much annoyed by the visits of the numerous correspondents. One of the worst of this class was George W. Smalley, now the London correspondent of the New York Tribune. The kuklux sensation was at its highest when Smalley arrived in the village. The correspondent soon found Toombs, who determined to have a little fun at his expense. Smalley asked the general about the kuklux. "Yes, yes," said Toombs, "I'll tell you all about them, but first let us get a safe place." Taking him off some distance Gen. Toombs pointed out an unsuspecting Jewish merchant, whose physical appearance was rather against him. "There he is," said Toombs. "That is the great head of the kuklux klan. My friend, you must come over to my house; it is the only place where you would be safe from his observation. I will do my best to get you safely out of the country." Scared half to death, Smalley followed the general, and entering the mansion the door was closed, when Gen. Toombs said: "Now you are safe. I will see the chief of the klan and try and get a pass for you out of the country." Meantime there was no attention wanting to make Smalley comfortable. He was treated like a prince, and soon underwent a change of heart about Toombs and began to regard him as one of the grandest of men. Finally a rap was heard at the door. "Leave it all to me," said the general. "This is the Great Cyclops. I will get him to give you a pass." The Jew entered, in obedience to Toombs' summons, which had been previously sent him. He was thoroughly ignorant of the use which was being made of him, consequently Toombs' talk to him threw him into confusion, for he did not understand his motive. This confusion was duly noted by Smalley, who put it down as an evidence of the man's guilt. Finally, when the bewildered Hebrew departed without having given any apparent satisfaction, Gen. Toombs turned to Smalley and said: "I have staked my honor for your safety. Before daylight I will have my closed carriage ready, into which you must be placed. As the klan will think that I am within, it will not be molested, and soon you will be placed at a safe distance." Thus Smalley found his exit from the little village of Washington, and soon after gave his wonderful letter to the public. This version of the affair is told by one of Gen. Toombs' closest friends.

GEN. TOOMBS' TRUE CHARACTER is not to be judged by his wild talks to some correspondents. He is at home and in business one of the most conservative of men. His assaults upon carpet-baggers are not intended for honest men who are seeking the legitimate aims of life. To Northern men, in whom he recognizes honesty of purpose, he is as genial and hospitable as they could wish. Perhaps there never was a man in Georgia who was more vilified than H. I. Kimball and not entirely without reason. When the Kimball house was erected Gen. Toombs made it his headquarters when in Atlanta. Being asked about his choice of it he is said to have answered: "By G—d, I have a right to stop in it. The money with which it was built was stolen from the treasury of Georgia and that gives every Georgian an interest in it." When this celebrated house was destroyed by fire Kimball was called back from Chicago to organize for its re-erection. He had before him a hard task in raising subscriptions. Among those upon whom it was necessary that he should call was Gen. Toombs. No sooner had he entered Toombs' door than the doughty old Southerner exclaimed: "Kimball, your return to Georgia is worth more than a hundred thousand dollars. I'm glad to see you back to stay with us." This compliment fairly took Kimball off his feet, and in relating the incident he could only say: "I could only look in silence at the grand old figure before me." Toombs was a potential factor in the calling of the constitutional convention of 1877. He insisted that the constitution of 1868 was a nullity: its ratification only rested on the bayonet, and it ill became freemen to live under the badge of slavery. A new convention should be called, even if it did no more than meet and ratify the old document. This would make it the handiwork of Georgians. In the convention he was one of the most prominent actors. When the treasurer of the state expressed doubt about his authority to pay the members of the convention for the number of days over the forty prescribed in the call for the convention, Gen. Toombs solved the problem by saying: "I will advance the money out of my own pocket and trust the people of Georgia for its repayment." As a consequence he advanced nearly $30,000, which was refunded by the next legislature. His pride of state is wonderful. One day he sauntered into the supreme court-room, rather under the influence of liquor. An attorney was addressing the court in terms which seemed to indicate that Georgia would not pay her debts. Interrupting him at once, Gen. Toombs said: "May it please the court, Georgia will pay her debts. If she does not, then I will pay them for her." Gen. Toombs is now 74 years of age. He stoops considerably, and has an infirm walk, which denotes his weakness. He has lost much flesh within the past few years. His eyes are weak, a cataract growing over one of them, which causes considerable suffering. In his home at Washington he is always surrounded by some of his grandchildren, in whose company he takes great delight. They feel that he has but a few days more to live, and do everything in their power to render his declining years comfortable. When he passes many, a great man indeed will have fallen—and an honest one.