Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1857-09-12

w. EOtney, tne tOtEOWiu8 intete9tu& ekeeCo fOfdOv
johnson, of Tennessee The Pres has not done
him more than Justice. As the South. Side Deno-
eras justly observes, Andrew johnson is I. one OF
those strong representative men Of a class which
has q bright place on the roll of American glory
the purely ss!fmads" He never enjoyed the ad-
vantages of an academics!, much. less of COLLEGE,
ate education. He owes ali his success, under Prov
idence to his own strong will and commanding in 4
tellect. Who can portray the struggles with power
ty and want, the anxieties, the besetments, the
sneers the taunts the neglect the rvalries 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 reputation! But he is up there now,
and be remembers these things only as connecting
links between himself and the masses, from whose
loins he sprung. And the great secret of his popu
ary is, that he u true to the people, and that has
sympathies are erer soith those Nth soho his lot
a0as cast in early life. He is 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
desert him. >.-s
We are speaking now of the man, for there are
some features in his as politician which we
do not entirely approve. a.
Gov. Johnson's course in 1855, in relation to Know
Nothingisln, very similar to that of Gov. Wise;
and in both cases 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 as fixed fact.
Andrew johnson is native of this City. He was
apprenticed 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 eighteen, he purchased his time, or it
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 soon after
red. His wife was 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:
zone of these men of granite structure and of
warm heart now lives in the jackson State of Ten
nessee. His name is Andrew Johnson the late Gov
of that State, soon to be Senator in Congress
We propose in this sketch of Governor johnson no
compliment to friend but just portrait of one of
the strong men of our day and time. He is what
him we'll when he was in the House of Representa-
tves-a calm, quiet man most of the time who bore
the reputation among his associates of being too rad
ica and too fond of impossible reforms. But when
reused. he was impetuous and dogmatic. He
never known to yield point He rarely took ad-
vice. He seldom never explained away his
opinions. He rather delighted in alarming the
| tnid with has roll of drastic advances upon
established institutions His land system and his
scheme of electing the United States Judges would
Iofxn fhoI hN,nc IL
predicted that his ultra notions would bury him ia
thom-deep, and that he would go 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
unquenchable spirit and 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, as almost to battle belief We hold
| it up to the young men of the whole Union as an
example. Wee ask the boys in our common schools
to read it. We ask the fathers and mothers, those
who are rearing soldiers and statesmen for fine flu
ture to study the example, and to profit by the les
| son.
Governor johnson was in early life, and up to the
time of his engaging in politics. practical mechan-
ic having obtained knowledge of his trade before
he had acquired the first rudiments of an English
education. During the intervals of relaxation from
necessary physical labor he learned the alphabet of
|
tured manhood, began to possess himself of those
precedent requirements necessary to the attainment
of knowledge, which others more favorable by for
tune and friends, obtain in early youth.
His first entrance upon the stage Of political &C
ton occurred about twenty years ago, when be was
residence, as their representative in the State Leg
islature. At subsequent period he again cleo
ted, and served several sessions in this capacity.
The zeal and ability which characterized his leg
slatve career won for him entirely the confidence
| and regard of his friends, that he was chosen by
the people of his District as their Representative in
the Congress of the United States. In this more ex
tended sphere of usefulness he served several terms
constantly, though gradually and surely, winning his
way into the confidence Of the people.
| In 1858, 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,
descendant of Patrick Henry of revolutionary fame,
and ranked by his friends with the most eloquent
declaimers in the Union. was his competitor. But
the " Eagle Orator." as he was termed by his sup
porters and admirers, soon discovered that his aow
ing periods his graceful manner, and his lofty elo-
quence, were powerless when brought into contrast
with the earnest and impressive elocution, and the
powerful and well sustained arguments Of his adver-
sary Although Tennessee was at that time dec
ded Wing State Governor johnson succeeded in his
election by handsome majority.
The most critical as we'll 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. N.
P Gentry, gentleman of great personal POPULAR.
| tv and distinguished at home and abroad as one of
| the most eminent statesmen in Tennessee. The con-
test began soon after the meteorc advent Of the
party and in the flush of its first unparalleled sue.
cesses. In Tennessee as elsewhere many members