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THE WASHINGTON GAZETTE. VOL. XX. ROBERT TOOMBS. A VISIT TC THE HOME OF THE GREAT GEORGIAN. How TTe I*ooia at Homs, Hia larsr Tears, His Karri His Political and the Che > Queried Career cf a Great Man. Some Personal Incidents of the trip. (Correspondence Atlanta Constitution.) WASHINGTON, U.V., August B. (Special)— cannot see well enough even to write a nigger's pass." was the suggestive comparison made to vbur corresjKuuleut by 'General Toombs, while explaining his failing eye-sight. The name of Robert Toombs has long belli a charmed place in the hearts of Georgians. Proud of his , taleuls, electrified by his eloquence, F confident of his powers, Georgia has indorsed him in many political cun filets, and at ‘ast went down into a sea of blood at his bidding, ills mis takes, sometimes very grevious, have been the result of his excessive honor lie would never purchase peace nor ■com prom iso with an etemv, but met every issue with such a sturdy front S3 often to provoke collision where softer words would have calmed the waters. But Toombs was oorn in a hurricane, his life has been a cyclone and even his declining years are but murmurs of the departing storm. ‘‘Dor’s whar Glnrul Toombs lives," said an African guide as he stopped in front of a magnificent uiaß-ion on onefof (ite fitresi streets in America. A large flower yard, probably three hundred teel wide, spread out to view Flower beds, from which sprung the fairest leaves of color and design, were arranged in cros-es, diamonds and stars. Appropriately placed, were young oaks and evergreens. In •front of the gate stood a sturdy oak, a tree suggestive of the man who® presence the correspondent was aji proaching. Its branches hung low giving a most pleasant shade. Situa ted about two hundred feet back was ,an old style mansion, reached by a brfcKcd piVsincnade, the verandah facing the second story, which was reached by an easy flight of steps. Beneath the verandah floor there was -a magnificent display of polled flow ers, showing the taste and skill of Mrs. Conjmodnre Hunter, whose kind attention soften* the abscence of the late lamented Mrs. Toombs. “I am glad to see you,” said the general, as he met vonr correspond ent with the remark quoted above, “my life is lonesome. My darling wife who for fifty three years shed light over uiy life, is dead." GENERAL ORAVT’s PLaCE. A few words brought up the sub ject of Grant’s funeral. “Grant was the greatest sold.cr pro duced by the Avar," was the onic wiiat unexpected remark nude by Geueral liobert Toomb-. “General Lee was a very good engineer, a mau of fine famiiv, a companionable gen ' tleman but be was not the man to • Wad a reyplntiomry army." “N*w that Grant i in his grave, what is your estimate of his charac ter ?’’ “lie was a simple-minded, kind hearted soldier, who had no more animosity against the south than he had against the north- He was a West Pointer," remarked the general with a peculiar facial expression, “and with West Pointers the choice of arms is a professsion into which patriot ism enters but little.” “Did you ever have any personal relations with Grant as president?” “Oh, yes,” he replied. “When the .last days of the war brought the rtieivirtg federal* this way they stole my books and manuscript. . I would not take a hundred thousand doqare for them cow ifl had them, and there was a time when I would not have taken half a million forthem. When Grant became president, I went, to Washington to eudeaver to recover these papers. When I entered I was received quite cordially, and stated myeirand. President Grant took the greatest interest in the matter,not only assuring me that I should have my papers returned, but detailing an ef ficient officer to aid me in the search. There is a story behind this however which partially accounted for Grant’s interest in me.” grant's exit iromthb army. The General then proceeded to tell the story,which wasquite interesting. The Toombs and Crawford farail'es had always been qnite intimate. Governor Crawford’s sister had mar WASHINGTON, GA., FLIDAY, AUGUST 21, 1885. ried a Dr/lfe it. who afterwards died of yellow fever in Augusta. Dy"*o Mr. Toombs service in the iicm.iT senate a young officer named Grant hail beeni-nnrt mart ialed -in Cidifor nia for paying out too much money as quartermaster of the Fourth regi men!, to his brother officers, dnhil .1, Crittenden, of Kentucky, approached Senator Toombs to secure congress ional relief for the unfortunate cap tain. lie Stated that young Grant had married Miss Julia, the daughter of Frederick Dent, of Missouri. This Dent, it was developed, was a brother of ilie f.fntlenia'n in Augusta, amt jt was hoped that Senator Toombs’ in terest in a constituent would induce him to lend a baud In saving the hon or of the Dent family. “It was finally agreed," said Mr. Toombs, that the military committee should report favorably on the Grant cS*e provided tFie young mull would obligate himself to resign immediately To this young Grant, whom I met in the corridor, readily assented. True to his word he resigned, and the next lime I inet him lie was president of the United ; , v , * “Did he refer to tin matter?"! “Oh, no; but lie was exceedingly kind. The hour for holding the cab inet meeting arrived ami I rose to go, when Grant said: “Don’t go, general, I would sooner talk *o you than to my cabinet." SKdKSJFtOX At*THKyogFEDERACT. The conversation then drifted back into the bloody days of the confedera oy.and the agitation which 1W up toil. “The culmination of my political career." said General Toombs, “was the secession agitation. The statement that there existed among the southern senators m Biots and 1860 a couspi ra cy to force secession is untrue. There was no conspiracy, no understanding. The encroachments of the northern congressmen upon the reserved rights of tlie states, the incendiary agitatioti of disturbing questions in that suction had ah.-rmod the people of the south ern states. Th,bv elected men to con gress to represented tboir views. These men were representatives, and were only guilty ot the lame conspira cy ifso you chose to callTt, as always exists between constituent and repre sentative. The question of secession came up from the people just in the name shape as other questions go up, and consequently, the southern sena tors merely presented the views ot those whom they represented. They i went home and addressed their con- i siiinenis upon that as they i did ti|>oii all othev q Rest ions. All my speeches were so made to my constituents in Georgia, or in mv place upon the fleor of the senate. I always gave pry utterances to the ' press trecly. I never luppresscd a speech nor spoke in riddles. My life has been an open page which all men right read. WHY THE CONFEDERACY FAILED. ‘ Was there ever hope of success for the confederacy; and if so, why did it tail ?" “There was no doubt of success,” | answered the general, arising from the reclining positron in which lie had up to this time lain. “The south cold havestfeceatfed had it not been throttled by West Point. The Pres idency of lire confederacy was offered to me and declined. When Bouth Carolina, with singular stupidity, wrapped itseif aronnd Jefferson Davis, Mississippi, was not so insane, but coaid not,out of courtesy vote against her own citizen. Hence Davis be came president, and West Point was the school whence he drew his ideas. He had graduated from that instil u tiorgand never been brought to realize the fact that men in civil life knew anything, lie filled the commands with West Pointer*, and he stack to them through every reverse. The Martinet discipline of that institution was the only reliance of Mr. Davis.’’ “Under whom could the confedera cy havs succeeded ?” “Albert Bidney Johnson was the one man who could have certainly succeeded, but death cut his career short. Joseph E, Johnston came nxu When Jeffprson Da vis, inspired by domestic intrigues, removed John ston from the command of the wes tern army, he killed the confederacy. Davis was thoroughly incompetent. Ilia forte was renew writing. He would have been a successful maga zine man, but in the bustle of practi cal, every-day life,he was utterly Jost. My personal feeling for Mr. Davis is t of the kindest character, but that does [ it\ot c move the facts of history. GESStRAL TOOMBS’ ESCAPE. “When Hie war was over I capitu lated and accepted tho parole. Ii marched mv brigade back to Augusta, disbanded them there and returned to my home to observe n > parole. One day, just a* the fam were sitting around tho dtnrter tab! a hoiseman rode up with a ntessag rot General Smith, of Macon. Tho dh/ before while the federal calvary lo iter Wil son was socially engaged with Gen eral Smith he said to the latter: “Smith, I hare a distasteful task as signed nte. Notwithstanding that General Toombs is on parole, Secre tary Stanton has sworn that lie is too marked a traitor to go free, and I am ordered to arrest him. Would to God that I could not find him. “ ‘Perhaps your wish will be grati fied,’ said Smith. “Seeking an opportunity for a mo ment's absence, General smith horsed a trusty ntn, with instruction to lake the short cnls through the country, in ordor to notify me of Wilson’s coining. “If your horse give* out, get anoth er, say it is for General Toombs.' were the last words said 10 Hie horseman las the cjt,tiffing hoofs bore him away. “In a few hour’s time General Wil son was in the city, but I was Well on my way in another direction. On his way tip he passed through Craw fordvillc, and informed Aleck Steph ens of his arrest, but told him to stay there until his return, when he should have the company of his friend j Toombs. ‘lt yon get him to come along against Ills w 111.’ replied Stephen*, ‘yon will be the firet man whoever did it.’ “On my way I sold some cotton on my southwest Georgia plantation,suc ceeded in reaching New Orleans, thence to Cuba, and later to TXgiand' [and France. On my return I ro ; smned the profession of la v.” LIFE SINCE THE WAR. On his return General Toombs .at [once took his old place at tho head of I the Georgia bar. In the Dupree case i he received a cash fee ot forty thous and dollars, and in the Ebcrhardt | ease, the same week, a cash fee of twenty thousand,makingsixty tbotis | and dollars in one week’s work. POINTS or PERSONAL INTEREST. In tho midst of tho conversation i pretty little Louise Colley, the six teen months old grandchild of Gener al Toombs, came running in, claim ing a kiss from grandpa before she was taken out. A sweet little creature | dressed in white, with flowing ring lets and ruby lips, she nestled in the bosom of her grandfather with the most perfect love. ■•She U so affectionato,” said the general, “she recalls the days when my own cbtidren were like her. “My family on th# paternal side was English, and fought against Charles. The earliest records show them to hare been opjiosed to kingly arrogance. When leading my brigade along the Rappahannock. I passed the homes where three generations ofToombs lived. My father, v. ho was a cap tain under General Washington, with a number of his comrades, located on lands in this vicinity in 1815. Here he met Miss Haling, the daughter ot Jimmy Huiing, a wealthy planter, whom he married. The Hillings were Huguenots, who fled from the French Flanders, and found a refuge in Eng land settling in Taunton. Three of them were among those arrested by William Penn, who resorted to this means of persecution in order to gain pin-money for rhe women of tins En glish court. The Hulings resisted the demands made on them,for which one was put io death and the others were sold into servitude in the West Indies. In time they reached the Carolinas, where they became prosperous plan ters. I was born 1810, and when old enough attended the village school here, following that up with terms in the university of Georgia, Princeton College,and the iaw school of the Un iversity of Virginia. I was ready for the bar at the age of 20. A special act of the legislature removed the difficulty of non-age, and I was admitted to the bar in Elbert superior court, Judge William H. Crawford presid ing. lat once took a leading place at the bar, and served several terms ill the stale legislature. The old eighth district was strongly demo cratic. At a dining giving in Au gusta 1; the late Mrs. Tubman, to ttenrv C.ay, who was her guardian, at which myself and Judge Crawford were present, Mr. Clay insisted that I should make the race in the whig interest. I did so and won by a large majority .The story of my career in t lie house and i 1 ( senate is a matter of history, THE STORY OF IUS M ARRIAGE, “During my attendance in tliecomi ty. school here, a little girl named Ju lia j)iißose also attended. I went to college and Miss Dußoso went to school near Athens with my sister. Oueofmy el er brothers got married while I was-, way. On mv return a voting matt, I found that my brother's wife was Miss Du Bose’s jcldcr sister, and there I mot the little school girl, of years before now a gro ami lady At tho ages respectively of 21 and 27 we were married. Four children were born to u , of whom one married Mr. Alexander ot Augusta, and the other Dudley Dußose. The last named wed ding look place in Washington and wa- attended by President Buchanan, Bishop Pierce performing the ceremo- ny. Then it was that the incident so often quoted occurred, in the which President claimed the right to kiss the bride for the nation.” Airs, Dußose died while General Toombs was in Fiance leaving lour children Uobert Toombs Dußose, now aged 21; Dudley Dußose. now aged 22; Camille Dußoso (uow Mrs. Henry Collev.) and Miss Sallie Lou Dußose Little Louse Colley, li'tlo Anna Wilson Dußose are the only great grand children orGen. Toombs. “For fifty three years,” resumed General Toombs, “my dear wife was my constant friend,companion and ad viser. We traveled four continents of the world together, and visited many islands of the sea. Now she is waiting lor me with tlu; same sweet faith sue soillustrated here, A FAITHFUL DOG. “I was a mighty hunter before the LoWl,” said the general, as he sought to overcome recollection by some pres ent. topic. “I took great pleasure in the chase, and kept tho finest pack of hounds in die country. Dogs are better than many men. The most no table dog I ever owned was Julius which is still living. “Jttlius! Juliusf’ called the gener al, as he went to rho door. “I want ed to let you see him but he Is gone to a funeral which is now in progress. Mrs. Toomb’s carriage always attends the funerals here, just as when she was living, and poor Julius with a fidelity which should put meu to shame, always attends. “One day while driving out with Mrs. Toombs, I had oceassion to get 0111 to give some directions about the place. On my return I found that Julius hod jumped into the carriage and was nestling at Mrs. Toombs feet. Tints ho became a carriage dog. He would stand in front of the horses and keep them from leaving, or lie would jump in and take care of the wrapping*, lie would give warn ings of danger. TFms Mrs. Toombs became greatly attached to him. When .Mrs. Toombs lay upon her death bed, and we were standing around for the last moment, Julius placed bis head reverently by the bedside of his mistress arid gave such intelligent signs of grief a* to be no ticed by all. Noticing thaf General Toombs was growing weary from his long exer tion, of which the above is but a mea gre condensation, your correspondent withdrew from his presence charmed with the most noted American of the present generation, so little under stood, and yet so grand and great. Pea Jay. The Bast Endorsers are Banks Then selves, An endorsement of the high reptile which it deservedly enjoys at home (where it follows the even tenor ofits way), is shown by the facts boldly advertised by the world famed Louis iana Plate Lottery, that The New Or leans National Bank, Louisiana Na tional Bank, State National Bank or Germania National Bank, all leading Banks of New Oaloaits, La., will re ceive any registered letters or postal orders. The next drawing (184th), will occur on Tuesday, September 8, for any information of which address M. A. Uaupbin, New Orleans, La. A TIMELY PBOTBST. The Author of Alice In “Wonderland’’ on Recent •■Exposures" in England. I know that any writer who ven tures to protest against what hap pens to be a popular cry has little chance even of respectful attention. The rapid intercommunication of our age lias brought us one evil from which our forefathers were free ; the mass is moved too suddenly and too violently ; eacli tide of popular feeling runs headlong in one direction, sweep ing all before it and back again with an equally dangerous reflex, leaving ravage and ruin behind it. Only a few years ago, if any impure scaudal arose its investigation and punish ment wire left to those whose pain ful duty it was to know the sickening details; women and boys were turn out of court; no particulars were given in any respectable journal— nothing but the words ‘the evidence was unfit for publication.” But a horrible fashion seems to bo setting in of making all things public and of forciug the most contaminating sub jects on the a t ntions even of those who can get nothing from them but. the deadliest injury. Against this I desire to raiso a warning voice. The question at issue is not wheth er great evils exists—nor again wheth er the rousing of public opinion is a remedy for those evils—on these two points wc pro agreed. The real ques , tioti is, whether this mode of rousing public opinion is,or is not, doing more harm than good. And the worst of the danger is that all this is being done in the sacred name of religion. If we had no oth- I er evidence for the existence of a dev il wc might find it, I think, in tho ar gument from design—in tho terrible superhuman ingenuity with which temptation is adapted to the tasto of the age. Not so many years ago vice was fashionable and the literatare of the day was openly profligate; no pretext of piety was offered to read ers who would only have despised it. But in our days, to bo popular, one must profess the very highest and purest motives. Straightway Saian is transformed into an angel of light and with au air “devout and pure, so ber, steadfast ami demure,” oilers us his old wares furbished tip in in new colors. May I not plead with those who have, not yet lost their heads in the whirl and din of this popular mael strom to consider whither the stream is really carrying us? I plead for our young men and boys, wliose imaginations are being excited by highly-colored pictures of vice and whoso natural thirst for knowledge is being used for unholy purposes by the seducing whisper i “Read this, and your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as gods, know ing good and evil!” I plead for our womankind, who are being enticed to attend meetings where the speak ers, inverting the sober language of the apostle, “it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret,” proclaim that it is a shame not to speak of them; who arc being taught to believe that they are still within the bounds of true womanliness anil modesty, while openly discussing the vilest of topes, and who all too soon prove by the eagerness with which they turn to what so lately was loathsome to them that there is but one step from pru dishness to pruriency. Above all, I plead for our pure maidens, whose pure souls are being saddened, if not defiled, by the nauseous literature that is thus thrust upon them—l plead for them in the name of Him whosaid ••Whosoever shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” .For all these I plead with who soever has the power to interfere, to stay before it is too late, the abomi nation with which we are threatened. Ex-Major John Went worth of Chi cago, familiarly known as Long John recently purchased for 110,000 the the largest cemotcry 10t—20,000 square feet—ever sold by any ceme tery company in tho IWest. The plot is in the Rose Hill Cemetery, not far from the entrance, and has a com manding view. Upon it Mr. Went worth proposes to expend abont SBO,- 000, which he will put into an heroic statue of himself upon a mammoth granite pedestal. NO. 34 GRANT'S GENIUS. General Butter's Statement of the Milita ry Policy of Grant in 1864-65. (From hie Dwell Eulogi.) It has been said that Grant had no genius; that is, no intuition bv which to discover a great fact or to lay out for himself anew and great course of action. I have said that his mind was not inventive, but I know of oue course of conduct adopted bv .him, an emanation from hi* own mind, for so far as I have read in history, it was never before in that form adopted by any great commander, and it certain ly was not done by any other general in our war. It did not emanate from the Secretary of War or (he Presi dent, so far as I have any knowledge or suspicion and was explained to myself by Grant, who had just then been made General-in-Chief of tho Armies, and came to Fort Monroe to explain the plan of the future cam paigns against the enemy, so far as I was to have part with them, in Vir ginia in April, 1564. His proposition was that the enemy should be conquered by continual at trition and inflicting loss in every way and wearing out their resources as fast as possible and at howevet great cost, relying upon our our own mom abundant money anil men to bring out a successful result. He said that he would attack the enemy at all times and under all condition., even at the risk of losing more men than they did, as we could afford to loose more; and as the rate of death by disease and hardships incident to camp life was far greater than tho loss of men by bullet and shell, he thought upon the whole, that if the war could bo pressed on and ended shortly, the loss of life would be less, and the oxpenses would certainly be less than those of a longer continued war. lie said, further, that the ene my, occupying the interior lines ot defeuses, could on with less men than we must use and that We tnnst lose more than they would in driving thorn from their defenses, but they could net retrieve their losses, as we could ours, He spoke lo me as Commissioner of Exchange of Prisoners. H e , aid that every Confederate held by ns was one man less to them, white even if wc exchanged, we should not get one man to meet the one we gave because their men were in good con dition and able at once to go back into the field, while our men were in such condition that it would take months for them to recuperate so as to come back, if they ever did come back, into our armies. Hence lie suggested to me not to refuse the ex change of prisoners but to so embar rass the operation as only lo exchange the sick and wounded of both sides; and to that policy lie adhered through the campaign of 186 L This couree taken by him put an end to thp re bellion, and lie held to it until, in the spring of 1860, Lee had neither men nor rations to feed them upon, nor could UlO Confederates supply him with cither,and then came Appomat‘ox and the conclusion of the war. This seemed to me then a stroke of genius, but it required adamantine nerve and iron will carry it out. 27 TEARS UNJUSTLY CONFINED. A Pensylvania woman has just been discharged from the State lunatic asy lum where she has been confined 27 years on a charge preferred by her father of extravagance and eccentrici ty. She has been a woman of ex travagant tastes and a society leader in her days. Her father, a physician, became impoverished,but the daugh ter did not accommodate herself to tho change of circumstances, and contin ued to run up heavy bills for dress, and finally ordered a piano and set of furniture which she sold before pay ing for them. Becanseof this act, and to save the family honor, the girl was sent to an asylum in July, 1858. Her father died and his daughter re mained in the asylum nntil attention was called to her case at the national Convention of Charities and Correc tions held in Washington last June. Investigation developed the fact that tho woman never had been insane,and was a woman of 110 years, with sound mind and healthy body. She has made her home with a friend, who has con stantly labored for her release. A California gold mine has bees named the Grover Cleveland.