FAREWELL TO THE SENATE.
On the 7th of January, 1861, Robert Toombs delivered his farewell speech
to the United States Senate. It received profound attention. It was full
of brief sentences and bristling points. In epigrammatic power, it was
the strongest summary of the demands of the South. As Mr. Blaine said,
it was the only speech made by a congressman from the seceding States
which specified the grievances of the South and which named the
conditions upon which the States would stay in the Union. Other Senators
regarded secession as a fixed fact. Mr. Toombs declared what, in his
opinion, would prevent it. And yet, as he stood at his desk, where for
seven years he had been a recognized leader, his earnestness and
deliberation revealed a man whose hand did not hesitate to lead a revolt
and whose heart did not fail in the face of a certain revolution. He
acted up to his own words, repeated a short while later: "He who dallies
is a dastard; he who doubts is damned."
This speech was bold, succinct, definite. "Senators," said Mr. Toombs,
"my countrymen have demanded no new government. They have demanded no
new Constitution. The discontented States have demanded nothing but
clear, distinct, constitutional rights, rights older than the
Constitution. What do these rebels demand? First, that the people of the
United States shall have an equal right to emigrate and settle in the
Territories with whatever property (including slaves) they may possess.
Second, that property in slaves shall be entitled to the same protection
from the government as any other property (leaving the State the right
to prohibit, protect, or abolish slavery within its limits). Third, that
persons committing crimes against slave property in one State and flying
to another shall be given up. Fourth, that fugitive slaves shall be
surrendered. Fifth, that Congress shall pass laws for the punishment of
all persons who shall aid and abet invasion and insurrection in any
other State."
He said: "We demand these five propositions. Are they not right? Are
they not just? We will pause and consider them; but, mark me, we will
not let you decide the questions for us. I have little care to dispute
remedies with you unless you propose to redress our wrongs.
"But no matter what may be our grievances, the honorable senator from
Kentucky (Mr. Crittenden) says we cannot secede. Well, what can we do?
We cannot revolutionize. He will say that is treason. What can we do?
Submit? They say they are the strongest and they will hang us. Very
well! I suppose we are to be thankful for that boon. We will take that
risk. We will stand by the right; we will take the Constitution; we will
defend it with the sword, with the halter around our necks. Will that
satisfy the honorable senator from Kentucky? You cannot intimidate my
constituents by talking to them of treason.
"You will not regard confederate obligations; you will not regard
constitutional obligations; you will not regard your oaths. What, then,
am I to do? Am I a freeman? Is my State a free State? We are freemen; we
have rights; I have stated them. We have wrongs; I have recounted them.
I have demonstrated that the party now coming into power has declared us
outlaws, and is determined to exclude thousands of millions of our
property from the common territory; that it has declared us under the
ban of the Union, and out of the protection of the laws of the United
States everywhere. They have refused to protect us from invasion and
insurrection by the Federal power, and the Constitution denies to us, in
the Union, the right to raise fleets and armies for our own defense. All
these charges I have proven by the record; and I put them before the
civilized world and demand the judgment of to-day, of to-morrow, of
distant ages, and of Heaven itself upon the justice of these causes. I
am content, whatever it be, to peril all in so holy a cause. We have
appealed, time and again, for these constitutional rights. You have
refused them. We appeal again. Restore us those rights as we had them;
as your Court adjudges them to be; just as our people have said they
are. Redress these flagrant wrongs--seen of all men--and it will restore
fraternity, and unity, and peace to us all. Refuse them, and what then?
We shall then ask you, 'Let us depart in peace.' Refuse that, and you
present us war. We accept it, and, inscribing upon our banners the
glorious words, 'Liberty and Equality,' we will trust to the blood of
the brave and the God of battles for security and tranquillity."
This speech created wide attention. It closed the career of Robert
Toombs as a member of the national councils. For sixteen years he had
served in the two Houses in Washington, holding his rank among the first
men in the country.
He was then fifty-one years old, full of strength and confidence. His
leadership among Southern men was undisputed; his participation in
public business had been long and honorable; upon matters of home and
foreign policy his word had been law in the Senate; his influence had
been preponderating.
[Illustration: RESIDENCE OF GENERAL TOOMBS, WASHINGTON, GA.]