Adventure | Science Fiction | Ghost stories | Poetry | Children | History BookOpen Original Text rmore."
And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamplight o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor,
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted--nevermore!
ROBERT TOOMBS.
~1810=1885.~
[Illustration: ~Robert Toombs.~]
ROBERT TOOMBS was born at Washington, Georgia, and studied at the
University of Georgia, then under the presidency of the famous Dr.
Moses Waddell; he afterwards attended Union College, Schenectady,
N. Y., and studied law at the University of Virginia. He settled in
his native town for legal practice and was so successful as to amass a
fortune within a few years. He served in the State Legislature and in
1845 was elected to Congress. In 1861, being a member of the United
States Senate, he took leave of it in order to join his State in
secession. He was appointed to the Confederate Cabinet, but soon
resigned and became a general in the field. After the war he was
ordered to be captured and held for trial as a traitor with Jefferson
Davis and Alexander H. Stephens; but he was never taken. He escaped
after much difficulty and many adventures, and went to Cuba and to
France: but he returned in 1867 to Georgia and resumed the practice
of law.
He was notoriously the Big Rebel, even after the war, and refused to
take the oath of allegiance: when asked by a Northern friend why he
had never sued for pardon, he said, "Pardon for what? I have not
pardoned you all yet." Later in life he said that he regretted not
having re-instated himself in citizenship and taken part in public
affairs. See his Life, by P. A. Stovall, and by C. C. Jones, Jr.
WORKS.
Speeches.
Mr. Toombs' speeches in Congress are said to have been fiery,
powerful, and dogmatic. As a lawyer, Chief-Justice Jackson thus
characterizes his style: "Concentrated fire was always his policy. A
single sentence would win his case. A big thought, compressed into
small compass, was fatal to his foe. It is the clear insight of a
great mind only that shapes out truth in words few and simple. Brevity
is power, wherever thought is strong."
"There is a regular mythology about Toombs at his State University.
The things he said would fill a volume of Sydney Smith, while the
pranks he played would rival the record of Robin Hood."--Stovall's
Life of Toombs.
FAREWELL TO THE SENATE, 1861.
(_From Stovall's Life of Toombs._[17])
Senators, 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
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. . . . . .
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 defence. 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."[18] 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 tranquility.
FOOTNOTES:
[17] By permission of the Cassell Publishing Company, N. Y.
[18] All we ask is to be let alone--Jefferson Davis.
OCTAVIA WALTON LE VERT.
~1810=1877.~
MADAME LE VERT, as she is usually styled, was born at Bellevue near
Augusta, Georgia, and was reared in Pensacola, Florida. She was a
granddaughter of George Walton, signer of the Declaration of
Independence, and daughter of George Walton, governor of Florida. She
learned languages easily and conversed well in French, Spanish, and
Italian. LaFayette said of her: "A truly wonderful child! She has been
conversing with intelligence and tact in the purest French. I predict
for her a brilliant career." She gave the name to the capital of
Florida, Tallahassee, a Seminole word meaning "beautiful land." She
spent several seasons in Washington; and she wrote such excellent
accounts of the speeches in Congress, that Calhoun, Webster, and Clay
frequently asked her to read to them their own speeches from her
portfolio.
In 1836 she was married to Dr. Henry S. Le Vert of Mobile and removed
to that city. She travelled in Europe in 1853 and 1855, and her
delightful journal and letters home were afterwards arranged and
published as "Souvenirs of Travel." Their spirit and style make them
charming yet, and they are valuable as pictures of the times.
Her memory is still fragrant as a most gracious and lovely woman, a
brilliant conversationalist, and a queen of society. It is said of her
that her tongue never wounded and that she never had an enemy.
WORKS.
Souvenirs of Travel.
Souvenirs of the War, [unpublished].
Souvenirs of Distinguished People, [unpublished].
TO CADIZ FROM HAVANNA, 1855.
(_From Souvenirs of Travel._)
"O lovely Spain! renowned, romantic land!"
Our last day on board, the good Dominga (our waiting-woman) awakened
us long before the dawn, sa Previous Next |