194 CONFEDERATE PORTRAITS
Not less characteristic, in view of all it meant, is the coolness of his testimony concerning the assault made by Brooks upon Charles Sumner. Toombs was charged with having given Brooks the support of his presence, if not more. His answer, not merely to the indignant Senate, but to the angry millions of the insulted North, is startling in its imperturbable insolence. " As for ren- dering Mr. Sumner any assistance, I did not do it. As to what was said, some gentlemen present condemned it in Mr. Brooks ; I stated to him, or to some of my own friends, probably, that I approved it. That is my opin- ion." 21 And again: "So far as relates to interfering, or giving assistance, he is right. I gave none. I did not put
So we come to the break and the great parting. But before considering Toombs's activity in this, let us look at some of the other elements of his character. For the more I study these prominent men of the Civil War pe- riod, and indeed the prominent men of any period, the more I see that their greatness consists largely in a bal- ance of qualities; that is, even when they have one quality in marked excess, it is tempered, restrained, and modified by a striking makeweight of its opposites. Thus, so far, we have seen Toombs as a fighter, riotous, rebellious, exulting in the extravagant and often ill-timed display of violence, almost a sort of political mounte- bank. Yet he was also something far more than this and something far different.
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