Brigadier-General ^fiohert Toombs. 297
presence and on this occasion — a name borne by a gifted Georgian who, a lawyer by profession, a statesman by education, an orator by inspiration, and a citizen of marked individuality and acknowledged ability, for nearly half a century attracted the public notice, fasci- nated the popular ear, and, to a large extent, moulded the general thought. Aside from the prominent positions which he filled in the councils of this Commonwealth and Republic, he was the first Sec- retary of State upon the organization of the Confederate Govern- ment, and, for some time, held the rank of Brigadier-General in the Southern army. To most, if not all of us, he was personally known. Meet it is that we render some tribute to his memory.
In Wilkes county, Georgia, on the 2d of July, 1810, Robert Toombs was born. He came of good parentage and sprang from the loins of Revolutionary sires. In the schools of the neighborhood did he ac- quire his elementary education. His collegiate course — begun at Franklin College, in Athens, Georgia — was completed at Union Col- lege, in Schenectady, New York, where, in 1828, he received his degree of A. B. from the hands of that famous instructor, President Eliphalet Nott. Selecting the law as a profession, he repaired to the Univer- sity of Virginia, and there spent a year as a member of its law class. At school, at college and at the university he was, by teacher and student, regarded as a youth of unusual promise and of remarkable intellect. His natural gifts were almost marvellous, and his powers of acquisition and utterance quite phenomenal. United with this mental superiority were a superb physical organization, a striking originality of thought and speech, and social characteristics most attractive. Before he attained his majority he was, by a special act of the Gene- ral Assembly, admitted to the Bar. Opening an office in the town of Washington, in his native county, he rose rapidly in his profes- sion. Impressed by the ability evinced during his early efforts in the legal arena, that great Georgian, William H. Crawford — then the presiding judge of the Northern Circuit — prophesied fur Mr. Toombs a career of marked distinction. To the pursuit of his calling, and to the establishment of a reputation, enviable both within and beyond the confines of the court-room, did he devote himself with great assiduity.
In 1836, as the captain of a company of volunteers, he served under General Scott in an expedition for the pacification of the Creek Indians.
The following year he was elected a member of the lower house of the General Assembly of Georgia. This position he filled until 1840,
