gia must be represented by her own sons in council
and live under a constitution of her own making. In May, 1877, an
election was held to determine the question, and in spite of
considerable opposition, even in the Democratic party, the people
decided, by nine thousand majority, to have a constitutional convention.

On July 10, 1877, that body, consisting of 194 delegates, assembled in
Atlanta to revise the organic law. Charles J. Jenkins was elected
president of the convention. He had been deposed from the office of
Governor of Georgia at the point of the bayonet in 1866. He had carried
the case of the State of Georgia before the national Supreme Court and
contested the validity of the Reconstruction measures. He had carried
with him, when expelled from the State Capitol, the great seal of the
State, which he restored when the government was again remitted to his
own people, and in public session of the two houses of the General
Assembly, Governor Jenkins had been presented with a facsimile of the
great seal, with the fitting words cut into its face, "In Arduis
Fidelis." These words are graven on his monument to-day. He was more
than seventy years of age, but bore himself with vigor and ability.
There was a strong representation of the older men who had served the
State before the war, and the younger members were in full sympathy with
them. It was an unusual body of men--possibly the ablest that had
assembled since the secession convention of 1861. General Toombs, of
course, was the most prominent. He had been elected a delegate from his
senatorial district--the only office he had occupied since the war. His
activity in securing its call, his striking presence, as he walked to
his seat, clad in his long summer duster, carrying his brown straw hat
and his unlighted cigar, as well as his tireless labors in that body,
made him the center of interest. General Toombs was chairman of the
committee on legislation and chairman of the final committee on
revision. This body was made up of twenty-six of the most prominent
members of the convention, and to it were submitted the reports of the
other thirteen committees. It was the duty of this committee to
harmonize and digest the various matters coming before it, and to
prepare the final report, which was discussed in open convention.
General Toombs was practically in charge of the whole business of this
body. He closely attended all the sessions of the convention, which
lasted e