DAYS OF RECONSTRUCTION
In July, 1868, the people of Georgia made the first determined stand
against the Republican party. John B. Gordon was nominated for Governor,
and Seymour and Blair had been named in New York as National Democratic
standard-bearers. A memorable meeting was held in Atlanta. It was the
first real rally of the white people under the new order of things.
Robert Toombs, Howell Cobb, and Benjamin H. Hill addressed the
multitude. There was much enthusiasm, and crowds gathered from every
part of Georgia. This was the great "Bush Arbor meeting" of that year,
and old men and boys speak of it to-day with kindling ardor. "Few
people," said Toombs in that speech, "had escaped the horrors of war,
and fewer still the stern and bitter curse of civil war. The histories
of the greatest peoples of earth have been filled with defeats as well
as victories, suffering as well as happiness, shame and reproach as well
as honor and glory. The struggles of the great and good are the noblest
legacies left by the past to the present generation, trophies worthy to
be laid at the feet of Jehovah himself. Those whose blades glittered in
the foremost ranks of the Northern army on the battlefield, with a yet
higher and nobler purpose denounce the base uses to which the victory
has been applied. The old shibboleths of victory are proclaimed as
living principles. Whatever else may be lost, the principles of Magna
Charta have survived the conflict of arms. The edicts of the enemy
abolish all securities of life, liberty, and property; defeat all the
rightful purposes of government, and renounce all remedies, all laws.["]
General Toombs denounced the incompetency of the dominant party in
Georgia--"In its tyranny, its corruption, its treachery to the Caucasian
race, its patronage of vice, of fraud, of crime and criminals, its crime
against humanity and in its efforts to subordinate the safeguards of
public security and to uproot the foundations of free government it has
forfeited all claims upon a free people."
Alluding to General Longstreet, who had been a member of the Republican
party, General Toombs said: "I would not have him tarnish his own
laurels. I respect his courage, honor his devotion to his cause, and
regret his errors." He denounced the ruling party of Georgia as a mass
of floating putrescence, "which rises as it rots and rots as it rises."
He declared that the Reconstruction Acts "stared out in their naked
deformity, open to the indignant gaze of all honest men."
The campaign at that time was made upon the illegality of the amendments
to the Constitution. Enthusiasm was fed by the fiery and impetuous
invective of Toombs. The utterances of most public men were guarded and
conservative. But when Toombs spoke the people realized that he uttered
the convictions of an unshackled mind and a fearless spirit. Leaders
deprecated his extreme views, but the hustings rang with his ruthless
candor.
The conclusion of his Bush Arbor effort was a fine sample of his fervid
speech: "All these and many more wrongs have been heaped upon you, my
countrymen, without your consent. Your consent alone can give the least
validity to these usurpations. Let no power on earth wring that consent
from you. Take no counsel of fear; it is the meanest of masters; spurn
the temptations of office from the polluted hands of your oppressors. He
who owns only his own sepulcher at the price of such claims holds a
heritage of shame. Unite with the National Democratic party. Your
country says come; honor says come; duty says come; liberty says come;
the country is in danger; let every freeman hasten to the rescue."
It was at this meeting that Benjamin H. Hill, who made so much
reputation by the publication of a series of papers entitled, "Notes on
the Situation," delivered one of the most memorable speeches of his
life. It was a moving, overmastering appeal to the people to go to the
polls. When this oration was over, the audience was almost wild, and
Robert Toombs, standing on the platform, in his enthusiasm threw his hat
away into the delighted throng. A young bright-faced boy picked it up
and carried it back to the speakers' stand. It was Henry Grady.
The defeat of the National Democratic party in 1868 disheartened the
Southern people, and the old disinclination to take part in politics
seized them stronger than before. In 1870, however, General Toombs
delivered, in different parts of Georgia, a carefully prepared lecture
on the Principles of Magna Charta. It was just the reverse in style and
conception to his fervid Bush Arbor oration. It was submitted to
manuscript and was read from notes at the speakers' stand. With the
possible exception of his Tremont Temple lecture, delivered in Boston in
1856, it was the only one of his public addresses so carefully prepared
and so dispassionately delivered. In his opinion the principles of free
government were drifting away from old landmarks. The times were out of
joint, the people were demoralized. The causes which afterward led to
the great revolt in the Republican ranks in 1872 were already marked in
the quick perception of Toombs, and this admirable state paper was
framed to put the issue before the public in a sober, statesmanlike way,
and to draw the people back to their old moorings. This lecture was
delivered in all the large cities and many of the smaller towns of
Georgia, and had a great effect. Already there had been concerted appeal
to Georgians to cease this political opposition and "accept the
situation." Even statesmen like Mr. Hill had come round to the point of
advising the people to abandon "dead issues." The situation was more
desperate than ever.
In his Magna Charta lecture Mr. Toombs said that Algernon Sidney had
summed up the object of all human wisdom as the good government of the
people. "From the earliest ages to the present time," said he, "there
has been a continued contest between the wise and the virtuous who wish
to secure good government and the corrupt who were unwilling to grant
it. The highest duty of every man, a duty enjoined by God, was the
service of his country." This was the great value of the victory at
Runnymede, with its rich fruits--that rights should be respected and
that justice should be done. "These had never been denied for seven
hundred years, until the present evil days," said Toombs. Magna Charta
had been overridden and trampled underfoot by brave tyrants and evaded
by cowardly ones. There had been ingenious schemes to destroy it. The
men of '76 fought for Magna Charta. These principles had been prominent
in our Constitution until a Republican majority attempted destruction
and civil war. Kings had made efforts to destroy its power and subvert
its influence. Not a single noble family existed in England but which
had lost a member in its defense. Society was organized to protect it,
and all good and true men are required to maintain its teachings. "The
assassins of liberty are now in power, but a reaction is coming. Stand
firm, make no compromise, have nothing to do with men who talk of dead
issues. It is the shibboleth of ruin. Push forward, and make a square
fight for your liberties."
The plain but powerful summary of public obligation had a more lasting
effect than his more fiery appeals. General Toombs was a potent leader
in the campaign, though not himself a candidate or even a voter. General
D. M. DuBose, his law partner, was elected to Congress this year, and
the Democratic party secured a majority in the State Legislature. Among
the men who shared in the redemption of the State Robert Toombs was the
first and most conspicuous.
Some of the best speeches made by General Toombs at this time were
delivered to the farmers at the various agricultural fairs. These were
frequent and, as Judge Reese declared, abounded with wisdom which
caused him years of reflection and observation. He had been reared upon
a farm. His interests, as his sympathies, were with these people. He
remained in active management of his large plantation, Roanoke, in
Stewart County, during the period when he was a member of Congress and
even when he was in the army. Two or three times a year he made visits
to that place and was always in close communication with his overseers.
He loved the work and was a successful farmer. A fondness for gardening
and stock-raising remained with him until his last years. Even in a very
busy and tempestuous life, as he characterized it in speaking to Judge
Reese, a spacious garden, with orchards and vineyards, was to him an
unfailing source of recreation and pleasure.
He writes to his wife of the disasters of the army at Orange Court
House, Va., but finds time to add: "The gardens and fruit are great
additions to the family comfort, and every effort should be made to put
them in the best condition." Writing from Richmond of the condition of
Lee's army in March, 1862, he does not forget to add: "I am sorry to
know that the prospects of the crops are so bad. One of the best
reliances now is the garden. Manure high, work well, and keep planting
vegetables." From Roanoke, in 1863, he writes; "My plantation affairs
are not in as good condition as I would wish. I have lost a great many
sheep, have but few lambs and little wool; cattle poor--all need looking
after." In the midst of the shelling of Atlanta in 1864, he writes from
the trenches to his wife: "Tell Squire to put your cows and Gabriel's in
the volunteer oatfield. Every day we hear cannonading in front."
It was in 1869 that General Toombs made one of his great speeches at the
State fair in Columbus, in the course of which he used this expression;
"The farmers of Georgia will never enjoy general prosperity until they
quit making the West their corncrib and smokehouse." It was in that same
speech that Toombs said, referring to the soldiers of the South;
"Liberty, in its last analysis, is but the sweat of the poor and the
blood of the brave." Most of the great men in Georgia have been reared
in the country. There seems to be something in the pure air, the broad
fields, and even the solitude, conducive to vigor and self-reliance.
Attrition and culture have finished the work laid up by the farmer boy,
and that fertile section of middle Georgia, so rich in products of the
earth, has given greatness to the State.
In August, 1872, General Toombs was invited by the alumni of the
University of Georgia to deliver the annual address during commencement
week. A large crowd was in attendance and the veteran orator received
an ovation. He departed from his usual custom and attempted to read a
written speech. His eyesight had begun to fail him, the formation of a
cataract having been felt with great inconvenience. The pages of the
manuscript became separated and General Toombs, for the first time in
his life, is said to have been embarrassed. He had not read more than
one quarter of his speech when this complication was discovered, and he
was unable to find the missing sheets. Governor Jenkins, who was sitting
on the stage, whispered to him; "Toombs, throw away your manuscript and
go it on general principles." The general took off his glasses, stuffed
the mixed essay into his pocket, and advanced to the front of the stage.
He was received with a storm of applause from the crowd, who had
relished his discomfiture and were delighted with the thought of an
old-time talk from Toombs. For half an hour he made one of his eloquent
and electric speeches, and when he sat down the audience screamed for
more. No one but Toombs could have emerged so brilliantly from this
awkward dilemma.
General Toombs opposed the nomination of Horace Greeley for President by
the National Democratic convention in 1872. Mr. Stephens edited the
Atlanta _Sun_, and these two friends once more joined their great powers
to prevent the consummation of what they regarded as a vast political
mistake. Greeley carried the State by a very reduced majority.
In January, 1873, when Mr. Stephens was defeated for the United States
Senate by General John B. Gordon, General Toombs called a meeting of the
leaders of the eighth district in his room at the Kimball House in
Atlanta, and nominated his friend Alexander Stephens for Congress. He
needed no other indorsement. He was elected and reelected, and remained
in Congress until he resigned in 1882, to become Governor of Georgia.
Toombs and Stephens never lost their lead as dictators in Georgia
politics.
The man in Georgia who suffered most frequently from the criticism of
General Toombs during this eventful period was ex-Governor Joseph E.
Brown. His position in taking his place in the Republican party, in
accepting office, and separating himself from his old friends and
allies, brought down upon him the opprobrium of most of the people. It
was at a time when Charles J. Jenkins had carried away the great seal of
Georgia and refused to surrender it to a hostile government. It was at a
time when Linton Stephens, the most vigorous as the most popular public
man during the reconstruction period, was endeavoring to arouse the
people. Governor Brown's apostasy was unfortunate. No man was then more
execrated by the people who had honored him. His name, for a while, was
a byword and a reproach. Mr. Stephens defended his position as
conscientious if not consistent, and gave Governor Brown the credit for
the purity as well as the courage of his convictions. Governor Brown
bore the contumely with patience. He contended that he could best serve
the State by assuming functions that must otherwise be placed in hostile
hands, and his friends declare to-day that in accepting the amendments
to the Constitution he simply occupied in advance the ground to which
the party and the people were forced to come. But his position did not
compare favorably with that of the prominent Georgians of that day.
The relations of Governor Brown and General Toombs continued strained.
The latter never lost an opportunity to upbraid him in public or in
private, and some of his keenest thrusts were aimed at the plodding
figure of his old friend and ally, as it passed on its lonely way
through the shadows of its long probation.
On one occasion in Atlanta, in July, 1872, General Toombs among other
things referred to a lobby at the legislature in connection with a claim
for the Mitchel heirs. Governor Brown had remained quiet during his long
political ostracism, but he turned upon his accuser now with
unlooked-for severity. He answered the charge by declaring that if
Toombs accused him of lobbying this claim, he was an "unscrupulous
liar." The reply did not attract much attention until it became known
that General Toombs had sent a friend to Governor Brown to know if the
latter would accept a challenge. Colonel John C. Nicholls was the
friend, and Governor Brown returned the answer that when he received the
challenge he would let him know. General Toombs did not push the matter
further. The affair took the form of a newspaper controversy, which was
conducted with much acrimony on both sides. Colonel Nicholls stated in
print his belief that Governor Brown would not have accepted a challenge
but would have used it to Toombs' injury before the people. The prospect
of a duel between these two old men created a sensation at the time. It
would have been a shock to the public sense of propriety to have allowed
such a meeting. It would never have been permitted; but Governor Brown
seems to have been determined to put the issue to the touch. He had
prepared his resignation as a deacon of the Baptist Church, and had
placed his house in order. He seemed to realize that this was the
turning-point of his career, and there is no doubt that General Toombs
gave him the opportunity to appear in a better light than he had done
for a long time; this incident was the beginning of his return to
popularity and influence in Georgia. General Toombs was censured for
provoking Governor Brown into the attitude of expecting a challenge and
then declining to send it.
Both General Toombs and Mr. Stephens were believers in the code of
honor. Mr. Stephens once challenged Governor Herschel V. Johnson, and at
another time he called out Hon. Benjamin H. Hill. General Toombs
peremptorily challenged General D. H. Hill after the battle of Malvern
Hill. In 1859, when United States Senator Broderick was killed by Judge
Terry in California, Mr. Toombs delivered a striking eulogy of Broderick
in the United States Senate. He said; "The dead man fell in honorable
contest under a code which he fully recognized. While I lament his sad
fate, I have no censure for him or his adversary. I think that no man
under any circumstances can have a more enviable death than to fall in
vindication of his honor. He has gone beyond censure or praise. He has
passed away from man's judgment to the bar of the Judge of all the
Earth."