"ON THE STUMP" IN GEORGIA.
Among the young men on the stump that year was Benjamin H. Hill. He had
come up from the plow-handles in Jasper County. Working his way to an
education, he had graduated at the State University in 1845, with the
first honors of his class. He was at this time barely more than thirty
years of age, but he had won distinction at the bar and served his
county in the State Senate. He was known for his aggressive, ringing
eloquence, and a clear, searching style which had made him something
more than local reputation. It was understood that he was the choice of
the American party for Governor, and it was assumed that he would win
his spurs in the national campaign. He did not hesitate to go into the
thickest of the fight. He challenged Toombs and Stephens in their
strongholds; on the 22d of October meeting Mr. Stephens at his
stamping-ground in Lexington, Oglethorpe County, and the next day
confronting Mr. Toombs at his home in Washington, Ga. There was a charm
in the very audacity of this young Georgian. The man who would beard
"the Douglas in his hall" was a curiosity to the people, for since the
leadership of Toombs was established in 1844, no one, probably, had
assumed to cross swords with him before his home people. The fact that
young Hill had rather frustrated Mr. Stephens, in their first meeting,
gave him fresh impetus for his clash with Toombs. People flocked to
Washington by thousands. A large part of the audience which had cheered
Ben Hill in Oglethorpe followed him to Wilkes.
The speaking took place in Andrews' Grove, a noble cluster of oaks near
the town, and by breakfast-time the place was filled with carriages and
wagons. The red hills leading to Washington were alive with farmers and
their wives and children, wheeling into the grove to hear the noble
veteran and the brilliant young stranger debate upon current topics. Old
and young men were there, and babies in arms. It was before the days of
a universal press. People took their politics from the stump. They were
trained in the great object-lessons of public life. The humble farmer
knew all about the Missouri Compromise and the Nebraska bill. What they
had learned was thorough. Every man was a politician.
Ben Hill opened the discussion. He had the advantage of being a new and
untried man, while Toombs and Stephens had spread their records upon
the pages of hundreds of speeches. In those days of compromises and new
departures, it was easy for a quick, bright fellow to make capital out
of the apparent inconsistencies of public men. Hill was a master of
repartee. He pictured Toombs' change from Whig to Democrat. He made a
daring onslaught upon Toombs. Hill's bump of reverence was not large,
and the way he handled this great statesman was a surprise. He did not
hesitate to call him "Bobuel," and to try to convict him out of his own
mouth of error.
Toombs sat back with his fine features lit with scorn. His facial
expression was a rare part of his strength. He seemed to repel with his
look the impudence of this fearless young statesman. Hill saw the effect
of his own audacity, and "plied his blows like wintry rain." A keen
observer of this dramatic by-play declares that the pose of these two
men reminded him of Landseer's picture of "Dignity and Impudence."
Hill declared that Toombs had been in Congress, "sleeping over our
rights." Toombs retorted, "I have been protecting your rights and your
children's rights in spite of yourselves."
Hill charged that Toombs had tried to dodge the issues of this campaign.
Toombs, when he answered this part, cried out to the people impetuously:
"Did I dodge the question, when in the presence of two thousand people,
in the City of Augusta, and as I was about to travel in foreign lands,
I denounced the secret midnight organization which was being fastened
upon the freemen of the South? An organization whose chief measure was
to prescribe a religious test in this land of liberty, and raise up a
barrier to the entrance of the sons of the Old World, whose gallant
sires aided us in achieving our independence?
"Did I dodge, when, just before putting my foot on shipboard, I wrote a
letter to my beloved South, warning them against this insidious
organization creeping into their midst, piloted by dark lanterns to
midnight lodges? Did I dodge, when, hearing, as I traveled, that this
deadly order had taken hold and fastened its fangs in my State, I
suspended my travels and took the first ship that bore me back to my
native shores, and, raised my cry against these revolutionary measures?
"Did I dodge, when, as soon as landing in Georgia, I traveled all night
and spoke all next day against these blighting measures? If this be
called dodging, I admit that I dodged, and the gentleman can make the
most of it."
Mr. Hill declared that the Kansas-Nebraska bill embodied the principles
of "squatter sovereignty" and alien suffrage. The bill was not identical
with the Utah and New Mexico bill, as Toombs and Stephens had alleged.
The restrictive provisions of the Utah bill would prohibit this
Territorial Legislature from excluding slavery. It could not do that
until it became a State, while the Kansas bill allowed a majority of the
actual residents to determine whether slavery should or should not
exist, even prior to its admission as a State. He denounced the Kansas
bill as a cheat, a swindle, and a surrender of our dearest rights. As to
the National Convention, Mr. Hill declared that the South may have
framed the platform, but the North secured the candidate. Mr. Hill,
relative to territorial questions, recognized the right of native born
and naturalized citizens of the United States, permanently residing in
any Territory, to frame a constitution and laws and to regulate their
social and domestic affairs in their own way. The American party
proposed to extend the term required for naturalization and to bar the
foreigners from holding office. Mr. Hill had strong sympathizers in the
extreme Southern Rights' men, who were on hand in abundance.
Mr. Toombs replied with great dignity and warmth. He said that the
Nebraska bill was a reiteration of the true intent of the compromise
measures of 1850; that whoever opposed the Kansas bill was opposed to
the South. It was a touchstone for fixing party affiliations. It only
carried out the Georgia platform protesting against Congressional
prohibition of slavery in the Territories. He paid high tribute to
Douglas as a patriot and friend to the South. "Whoever condemned
Douglas needed watching himself." Mr. Toombs charged that the
representatives of the Know-nothing party had voted for the
Kansas-Nebraska bill, and now claimed ignorance of its provisions. He
denied that either he or Mr. Stephens had declared that the Kansas bill
was identical with the Utah bill. Mr. Hill insisted that they had said
so. Affirmance and denial became heated, and talk of holding each other
"personally responsible" was indulged in, but pretty soon the debate
went back into the political grooves. Mr. Toombs denied that the bill
was a "Pandora's box of evil," or that its passage was violative of the
good faith of the South. This part of his argument, of course, was
directed to meet Northern criticism. "The North," Mr. Toombs said, "had
tried, by the Wilmot Proviso, to legislate the South out of the right of
equal enjoyment of the Territories. The South had endeavored to take the
question of these rights out of Congress, to establish the doctrine of
non-intervention." This doctrine triumphed in 1850 and, despite the
assertion of his opponent, was reaffirmed in the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
This Act of 1854 was the great measure of justice and equality to the
South.
Mr. Toombs ridiculed the assertion of Millard Fillmore that the repeal
of the Missouri Compromise was a violation of a sacred compact.
"Fillmore," said Mr. Toombs, "is an amiable, clever sort of fellow, not
to be trusted upon the great questions now before the country. He had
withheld action upon the compromise measures of 1850 until his
attorney-general told him that he must sign them."
Someone reminded Toombs that he had supported Fillmore for vice
president in 1848. He replied, "Yes, and I said then, that if Fillmore
was at the head of the ticket, I would not support it." Several persons
in the audience declared that they had heard him say it. "I am glad to
know," said he, "that, since my opponents address you people as if you
had no sense, you, at least, have shown that you have memories."
Turning to the crowd who had cheered the opposition speaker, Mr. Toombs
said: "For those of you who have yelled so long and lustily, when your
dearest rights were assailed, I can but feel the profoundest
commiseration. Should you continue in your wild strife against the
experience of the past, I look to a kind Providence and to wise men to
protect you from yourselves."
In regard to aliens in America, Mr. Toombs said: "I go for giving them
all--the oppressed of all nations--a place of refuge, and say even to
the paupers and criminals; 'We will forgive you for the past and try you
for the future.' You may start in your railroad and go to Memphis, and
then, follow the setting sun day by day, and week by week, until you
find him setting in the Pacific Ocean, and all the time you are passing
over fertile lands where industry and thrift may meet appropriate
rewards, and the blessings of liberty and peace find a resting-place in
the bosom of freedom."
Mr. Hill said that Toombs was a turncoat. He had been a Whig, and now he
abused the Whigs. Mr. Toombs told the people that he came not to abuse
the Democrats or Whigs, but with the weapon of truth and the shield of
the Constitution to aid in preserving the Union and maintaining the
rights of the South. He did not appear before the people to carry
majorities, but to promote their constitutional rights.
Mr. Toombs was charged with being a disunionist. He said he stood upon
the Georgia platform of 1850, and leaning upon that faithful support, "I
will say, that should Fremont be elected, I will not stand and wait for
fire, but will call upon my countrymen to take to that to which they
will be driven--the sword. If that be disunion, I am a disunionist. If
that be treason, make the most of it. You see the traitor before you."
Opinion as to the result of the debate at Washington was divided. Good
judges thought that Mr. Hill relied too much on the _ad captandum_
argument, and did not meet the points of Mr. Toombs; but there are men
living in Washington who heard the great contest and who delight to tell
how the young warrior from Troup charged right into the enemy's camp,
and rode away with the laurels of the day.
Buchanan was elected President in November. He carried nineteen States,
Georgia among them. Buchanan and Breckenridge received 174 electoral
votes and 1,838,169 popular votes.
Fremont carried eleven States and 114 electoral votes, receiving
1,341,264 popular votes. Fillmore carried Maryland with 8 electoral
votes. His vote through the country amounted to 874,534.
Mr. Toombs, while a member of Congress, became possessed of a large
tract of land in Texas. It was known as the Peter's Colony Grant, which
had never been settled. The lands, he was informed by a competent
surveyor, were valuable and free to settlers. They comprised about
90,000 acres in Northern Texas, on the clear fork of the Trinity, in the
neighborhood of Dallas and Fort Worth. Mr. Toombs had a clear head and
keen perception for business. His temperament was restless and fiery.
His life had been spent at the bar and in the forum. His gifts of
oratory were remarkable. It was a strange combination which added shrewd
business sense, but he had it in an eminent degree. He was a princely
liver, but a careful financier. He saw that this part of Texas must
some day bloom into an empire, and fifty years ago he gave $30,000 for
this tract of land. As Texas commenced to fill up the squatters occupied
some of the most valuable parts of the country and refused to be
removed. These desperate fellows declared that they did not believe
there was any such man as Toombs, the reputed owner of the land; they
had never seen him, and certainly they would not consent to be
dispossessed of their holdings.
It was in 1857 that Senator Toombs, accompanied by a few of his friends,
decided to make a trip to Texas and view his large landed possessions.
For hundreds of miles he traveled on horseback over the plains of Texas,
sleeping at night in a buffalo robe. He was warned by his agents that he
had a very desperate set of men to deal with. But Toombs was pretty
determined himself. He summoned the squatters to a parley at Fort Worth,
then, a mere spot in the wilderness. The men came in squads, mounted on
their mustangs, and bearing over their saddles long squirrel rifles.
They were ready for a shrewd bargain or a sharp vendetta. Senator Toombs
and his small coterie were armed; and standing against a tree, the
landlord confronted his tenants or trespassers, he hardly knew which. He
spoke firmly and pointedly, and pretty soon convinced the settlers that
they were dealing with no ordinary man. He said he was willing to allow
each squatter a certain sum for betterments, if they would move off his
land, or, if they preferred to stay, he would sell the tract to each man
at wild-land prices; but, failing in this, they must move away, as he
had the power to put them out, and would certainly use it. There was a
good deal of murmuring and caucussing among the men, but they concluded
that there was a man named Toombs, and that he meant what he said. The
matter was settled in a business way, and Senator Toombs rode back over
the prairies, richer by a hundred thousand dollars. These lands were
immensely valuable during the latter part of his life. They formed the
bulk of his fortune when the war closed; and during his stay in Paris,
an exile from his country, in 1866, he used to say that he consumed, in
his personal expenses, an acre of dirt a day. The land was then worth
about five dollars an acre.
It was while he was returning home from his Texas trip that the postman
met him on the plains and delivered a letter from Georgia. This was in
July, 1857. The letter announced that the Democratic State Convention in
Georgia had adjourned, after nominating for Governor Joseph E. Brown.
Senator Toombs read the letter and, looking up in a dazed way, asked,
"And who in the devil is Joe Brown?"