request for honorable dismissal before some exceptional enormity became known to the authorities.
A little later he earned the title of captain by serving under General Scott in the Creek War.
The chief fighting of Toombs's early life, however, was done at the bar. He threw himself into the study of law with the passion which he showed in everything. At first he did not succeed in practice. Perhaps clients distrusted his too combative qualities. But his energy, enthusiasm, and splendid gift of speech soon overcame this coldness, and wealth began to pour in upon him in a steady stream. He not only had "a passion for the contest of the court-house," but he was willing to prepare himself for it by determined labor. He would bear down opposition by the rush and vehemence of his oratory; but, if necessary, he could also analyze a complicated question, financial or other, in its minutest details. No one was more voluble where speech seemed indicated; yet when circumstances required brevity, he could eliminate every superfluous word. In one instance his adversary had exhausted the court, the jury, and the subject. Toombs simply rose and said : "May it please your Honor, Seizin, Marriage, Death, Dower," sat down, and won his case. 5.
Few lawyers of that day kept out of politics. None was less likely to keep out of them than Toombs. He early began to devote his thought and his tongue to what he considered the welfare of his country, and he
