Weekly North Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1850-1858, 1857-09-16
RALEIGH,
Andrew johnson, of. Tennessee.

him more than justice As the South Side Demo-
crat justly observes, Andrew johnson is Zone of
those strong representative men of class which
has bright place on the roll of American glory
the purely se.fmade" He never enjoyed the ad-
vantages of an academica!, much less of colegi.
ate education. He eowes all his success under Prov
idence, to his own strong will and commanding in
telect Who can portray the struggles with power
ty and want, the anxieties, the besetments, the
sneers, the taunts the neglect the rvaries and the
resentments, and the long and weary years through
which he has gone up the ancient orator hath it,
from dirt to opulence'-from the low beginnings
of the poor tailor boy to the proud heights of State
and national reputationa But he is up there now,
and he remembers these things only as connecting
links between himself and the masses, from whose
loins he sprung. And the great secret of his popu
iarty ls that he as true to the people, and that his
sympathies aoith those aoiM aohons his lot
''os cast in early lJs He is new man, it is true;
but he is not to be looked down. nor broken down,
nor crippled in his course, for the people are with
him and so long he is true to them they will
er desert him.
We are speaking of the man, for there are
some features in his career politician which
do not entirely approve.
Gov. Johnson's course in 1856 in relation to Know
Nothingism, was very similar to that of Gov. Wise;
and in both cases a brilliant Democratic triumph
was the result The only way to deal with that
snake. Know Nothingism, was to crush it at once
with an iron heel; and johnson was the man to do
it in Tennessee.
His election as one of the Senators from Tennes-
see, is regarded fixed fact
Andrew johnson is native of this City. He was
apprentced at early age to the tailoring business,
and worked for several years for gentleman who
is still living in this place. but, when about seven
teen or eighteen he purchased his time, or it was
given to him, and, with his bundle on his back, he
walked to, and settled in, East Tennessee. He open
ed shop in of the villages, and after mar
red. His wife intelligent and educated wo-
man, and from her he learned his alphabet, and how
to spell and read The rest is told in the nervous
language of the Press, as follows:
"One of these men of granite structure and of
warm heart lives in the jackson State of Ten
nessee. His name is Andrew johnson, the late Gov
of that State, to be Senator in Congress
We propose in this sketch of Governor johnson
compliment to friend but just portrait of of
the strong men of our day and time. He is what
the world would call Impractcable. We knew
him well when he was in the House of Representa-
tves-a calm, quiet most of the time, who bore
the reputation among his associates of being too rad
ca and too fond of impossible reforms. But when
reused, he was impetuous and dogmatc. He was
| never known to yield point He rarely took ad-
| vice. He seldom never explained away his
| opinions. He rather delighted in alarming the
timid with his roll of drastic advances upon
established institutions. His land system and his
| scheme of electng the United States Judges would
often make the dry bones quake and rattle. 1t was
| predicted that his ultra notions would bury him ia
thom-deep, and that he would 60 back to Tennes-
see and prey upon broken heart till carried to his
grave. But aay one who gazed into his dark eyes,
| and perused his pale face would have seen there
an unquenchabe spirit and an almost fanatic obsti-
macy, that spoke another langage Let us look into
this strange mans history. 1t is true story, but
| full of incident, and out of the common
experience in this land of sudden fortunes and
| rapid greatness almost.to battle belief We hold
| it up to the young men of the whole Union an
examplsv Wee ask the boys in common schools
to read it. We ask the fathers and mothers, those
who are rearing soldiers and statesmen for fhe fu-
ture, to study the example, and to profit by the les
| son.
time of his engaging in politics, practical mechan
| ic, having obtained knowledge of his trade before
he had acquired the first fudiments of an English
education. During the intervals of relaxation from
necessary physical labor he learned the alphabet of
his mother tongue and thus, at the period of ma
tured manhood, began to possess himself of those
precedent requirements necessary to the attainment
of knowledge, which others more favorable by for
tune and TRENDS, OBTAIN IN early youth.
His first entrance upon the stage of political &C.
ton occurred about twenty years ago, when he was
chosen by the people of Greene, the county of his
residence their representative in the State Leg
isature. At subsequent period he was again cleo
ted and served several sessions in this capacity.
The zeal and ability which characterized his leg
isative won for him so entirely the confidence
and regard of his friends, that he was chosen by
the people of his District their Representative in
the Congress of the United States. In this
tended sphere of usefulness he served several terms
constantly, though gradually and surely, winning his
way into the confidence of the people.
In 1853, following Immediately upon the heels OF
the Presidential election, when the State had been
carried by the Wings, he received the nomination of
the Democratic party for Governor, and entered &C.
lively upon the canvass, which in Tennessee always
precedes general election. Gustavus A. Henry, a
descendant of Patrick Henry, of revolutionary fame,
and ranked by his friends with the most eloquent
declaimers in the Union, his competitor. But
the Eagle Orator" as he was termed by his sup
porters and admirers, soon discovered that his flow
ing periods his graceful manner and his lofty eo.
quence were powerless when brought into contrast
with the earnest and impressive eocution, and the
powerful and well sustained arguments of his adver.
sary Although Tennessee was at that time deci
ded Whig State, Governor johnson succeeded in his
election by handsome majority.
The most critical, as well as the most important
period of his political career regarded in reference
to its results, was in his great canvass for Governor
in 1855, in opposition to the American party. His
competitor, in the heated contest, was the Hon. M
P. Gentry, a gentleman of great personal popuari
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