t of wives. You need not fear, therefore, that I
shall forget your birthday. That and our bridal-day are the
brightest in my calendar, and memory will not easily part
with them.

Yours,
TOOMBS.

So well known was this domestic trait of Mr. Toombs that Bishop Beckwith
of Georgia, in delivering his funeral sermon, declared that "no knight,
watching his sword before the altar, ever made a holier, truer, or purer
vow than when Robert Toombs stood at the marriage altar more than fifty
years ago. The fire that burned upon the altar of his home remained as
pure and unfailing as the perpetual offering of Jerusalem."

Mrs. Toombs was a woman of warm heart and strong convictions. She was
noted for her benevolence and piety, and these she carried through life.
Her Christian example was a steadying influence often in the stormy and
impetuous career of her husband, and finally, when she had closed her
eyes in peace, brought him to the altar where she had worshiped. Her
household and her neighbors loved to be under her influence. No one who
ever saw her fine face, or her lustrous dark eyes, forgot her. Her face
was, in some respects, not unlike that of her husband. It is the best
tribute that can be paid to her to say that for more than fifty years
her influence over so strong a character as that of Robert Toombs was
most potent. In June, 1856, while driving in Augusta, the horses
attached to the carriage ran away, and Mrs. Toombs was thrown from the
vehicle and sustained a fracture of the hip. General Toombs hastened to
Georgia from Congress, and remained incessantly at her bedside for
several weeks. In November, 1880, General and Mrs. Toombs celebrated
their golden wedding, surrounded by their grandchildren and friends. It
was a beautiful sight to see the bride of half a century with a new
wedding ring upon her finger, playing the piano, while the old man of
seventy essayed, like Washington, to dance the minuet. The old couple
survived their three children, and lived to bless the lives of
grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They were fond and affectionate
parents.

A friend, who had known them in their own home, describes "the great
fire in the open fire-place; on one side the venerable statesman, with
that head which always seemed to me of such rare beauty; on the other
side, the quiet wife busy with home affairs, her eyes lighti