Southern shield., 1851-05-17
THE LATE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION
 AND ITS NOMINEE

In our last number we stated that lneI Hon. R. w. Johnson had received the nom- ination, for Congress, of the late Democratlcl Convention. We understand that Mr. John son will accept the nomination, notwith- standing his protestations repeatedly made heretofore, that he no longer desired to be a candidate for Congress. The presump-l ton is that he feelstoo sensibly the compli- Iment which has been paid him, to deny, inI return, the expression of his heartfelt ac- Acknowledgements for the fattering mannerin which it has been conferred upon him by thel Democracy of the State. It is but reasona- be that he should feel flattered, and despite whatever of personal sacrifice he may make, that he should accept the nomination andl Iagain enlist in the service of his party. We repeat that he should feel flattered, by| the nomination, for it is an unequivocal en- ldorsement of his past conduct as the repre- sentative of Arkansas in Congress, or it is l an act of devotion 10 the man himself, which 1 if sincerely done, places him in point ol per sonal popularity a head and shoulders above any man in the State. Take either alter native, and the compliment stands without a parallel.
 The action of this Convention has opened up new field for thought. We belong to the opposite party. yet, as a citizen of the State and conductor of a public journal, we feel constrained to comment upon its glaring inconsistencies. Full of inconss- ttencies and contradictions, both political
 and personal, it has, nevertheless, under the manipulation of some nocromancer, moulded them all into shape, and it's beau ideal stands before the people personifed in the Hon. R. w. Johnson. Now it is well known to every reader of newspaper in the State, that Mr. Johnson was among the Imost ultra of those who in Congress oppos- ed those great measures of pacification called lthe "Compromise measures" he spoke and
 wrote against them and in his infammatory Iappeals to the people of Arkansas, took oc- Icasion to denounce as c0o0ardS and traitors all of those who refused 10 think with him
 upon those great questions. He gravely lcaculated the value of the Union, and the result of that calculation was boldly pub Ilished to the world, over his own signature.
 Olten and again did he appear before the
 public, either by letter or address, calling
 upon the people of the State to meet in
 their primary assemblies and take action upon the momentous questions of the day and to array themselves, in solid phalanx against the wrongs and aggIessions perPe
 --vts'a ~oi.---" .e.~I L~l,'I sf.Ln ,9Gu'tfi
 These wrongs, he declared, were intolera { ble, and that it was high time the people o the South were ridding themselves of them let the consequences be what they may. , He was an advocate of the Nashville Con.
 vention, which met with the uIterior design ot dissolvng the Union, and is now SUD- posed to be a warm sympathzer with the secessionists of Mississippi and the avowed
 enemies of the Union in South Carolina.
 If we do MT. Johnson injustice in this
 summary of his actings and doings during the discussion of these grave questions in the
 halls of Congress, we shall regret it, for we
 do not mean 10 misrepresent him; we have
 different object in view. We wish only
 to place him prominently before the people Iupon platform selected and made by him. Iself, so that the force of our remarks may
 be fully understood. Now this being MT. Johnson's position, we ask what advocates did he find in the State? Who sustained him at home? Did the people of the State arouse from their lethargy, and by resolu- ton or otherwise, cheer him on in the reck-
 esS course which he, as their representative,
 thought proper 10 pursue? We all know
 that on the contrary deep quiet pervaded
 the State, and that no leader of the den
 ocratc party ventured to excite the people,
 or 10 echo the sentiments of this knight of the "golden spur," although they came to us seething hot from the very capitol of the country. None dared to speak against the Union; all, with but few exceptions, were for compromise and for the Union. Such was the patriotism of Arkansas year ago, and such was the position of the Democratic party in the State at that time. But To ! what "change has come OCT the spirit of her dream" The very men, those who as- sumed to lead public sentiment a year since,