the American government prevented his public recognition by the rulers,
but he used to relate with zest his interviews with Carlyle, the Empress
Eugenie, and other notables. He was a man to attract attention, and his
talk was fascinating and bright.

He was sometimes sought in a legal way by prominent financiers, who
asked his opinions upon fiscal matters in America. There is no doubt but
that, like Judah P. Benjamin, he could have built up a large practice
abroad, had he cared to do so; but permanent residence away from home
was entirely out of his mind.

In December, 1866, General and Mrs. Toombs received a cable message
telling them of the death of their only daughter, Mrs. Dudley M. DuBose,
in Washington, Ga. Mrs. Toombs at once returned home, leaving the
grief-stricken father alone in Paris. Anxious to go back with her, he
was advised that matters were still unsettled in the United States. The
impeachment of Andrew Johnson was in progress, and his conviction meant
restored martial law for the South. So the days were full of woe for the
lonely exile.

On December 25, 1866, he writes a beautiful and pathetic letter to his
wife. While the denizens of the gay city were deep in the celebration
of the joyous Christmas feast, the Southern wanderer, "with heart bowed
down," was passing through the shadows, and suffering in silence the
keenest pangs of affliction. Around him the votaries of fashion and
wealth were flushed with gayety. Paris was in the ecstasy of
Christmastide. But the depths of his soul were starless and chill, and
in the midst of all this mirth one heart was tuned to melancholy. He
writes to his wife:

The night you left I retired to the room and did not go to
sleep until after two o'clock. I felt so sad at parting
with you and could not help thinking what a long dreary
trip you had that night. I shall have a long journey of
five thousand miles to Havana, and do not know that I shall
meet a human being to whom I am known, but if I keep well I
shall not mind that, especially as I am homeward bound; for
my hearthstone is desolate, and clouds and darkness hover
over the little remnant that is left of us, and of all our
poor friends and countrymen; and, when you get home,
Washington will contain nearly all that is dear to me in
this world. I remained alone yesterday after I got up and
went to my solitary meal. I immediately cam