Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1850-03-30
PUBLIC SENTIMENT IN THE SOUTH.

We give place most willing y TO the Le"er
from the Hon. Representative in Congress from
Arkansas which will be found in another column.
Though as sincere and earnest friends OF the
whole South as any citizen OF the OnHeu states
resident within its attitudes, readers, VINO know
our sentiments, will see at once how we differ IRON
the honorable Member upon what we consider me
incalculable value Of the Union: but tha' ulher-
ence constitutes no argument against ireeiy ADMIT
ting him to publish his views through The medium
of our columns. Universal tolerance being win
us cardinal principle, we shall not trammei MS
Letter with any comments, further than Is neces-
sary to place ourselves right in the opinion OF MIN
self and those other Southern friends to whom ne
alludes. With that view, we state -
Firstly: We have not published Excerpts which
we have from time to time made from Southern
papers-all being on one side, and friendly TO the
Union, and therefore generally unfavorable TO the
proposed Nashville Convention-to show the whole
opinion of the South but we have published them
for the explicitly avowed purpose of showing that
the opinion in the South is not, as MIR. CALHOUN
in his speech assumed, almost universal that the
Southern States cannot without dishonor remain in
the Union. This is very well known to our regu-
lar readers; but we re-state our object here,
for the information of the Representative from Ar
kansas, because we are aware of his having been
absent from the city for some weeks, and therefore
probably without information Of what we have
more than once stated on this subject. The ex-
tracts which we have published may not be "a true
c.bo III he do
not pretend to be such but they are true ex-
tracts from the papers from which they are taken,
and "a true reflection" of the opinion of those
journals. They do not, of course, reflect all the
hues and shades of public opinion in the South,
because they selected to show the strength of
one division only of that opinion.
Secondly: With regard to public opinion in
Arkansas we aimed only to show that, notwith-
standing the very great influence which her Repre-
'entative's own public Address to his constituents,
early in the Sessien-comprising views CORE
spending with those in his letter-must have exer-
Used upon public opinion in that State, there are
dissenting opinions even among his constituents
hat, in Arkansas as well as in other States, there
re individuals who cling to the Union of the States
% W dlh VI oul PoiitiSoA SaiSy. - - NV W
ourselves, however, to state that we had In our
before we made single extract from
he Arkansas papers, Letter from highly re-
pecable citizen of Arkansas; from which, in
elEdefence, purely, we make the following brief
extract ......s ....
I" March There are but two rabid journals
8 on the vexed question in all Arkansas the
: Intelligencer at Van Buren,, and the True
L. Issue at Helena" ,*.. 49,"
Mr.. JOHNSON having referred to the state Of
Southern opinion elsewhere than in Arkansas, we
presume that Mississippi is one of the other States
% which he refers. Whether it be so or not how
ever, his letter. questioning, upon information which
we do not doubt is satisfactory to himself general
estimate Of Southern opinion, we do not see how we
can refrain from placing before our readers letter
received by us but yesterday, from subscriber in
Mississippi, confirming information which reachedus
through other channels, and corroborating the assur
ances of acquescence in our views Of " the Evil of
the Day" by large and most respectable shareholders
in the State of Virginia and elsewhere. This
Letter was not written, as the reader will see, for
publication but the kind motive which dictated it
will excuse our making such use of it shall not
bring the writer himself before the public. Here is
..N THE LETTER.
.. --, (MrssIssIpPI,) March Z, 1850.