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Constitntinmil ist & Etpahlit.
BY JAMBS ©ARDMHR.
GEORGIA.
WEDNESDAY MORNING, SEPT. 28.
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fOR GOVERNOR,
BON. HERSCHEL V. JOHNSON,
OF BALDWIN COUNTY.
FOR CONGRESS,
1— JAS. L. SEWARD, of Thomas
2A. H. COLQUITT, of Baker.
3 DAVID J. BAILEY, of Butts.
4W. B. W. DENT, of Coweta.
SE. W. CHASTAIN, of Gilmer.
7T. P. SAFFOLD, of Madison.
8— JOHN J. JONES, of Burke.
[£7“ W. H. McDonald, 102 Nassau street
New York, is our authorised agent for that city
and any advertisement sent through his agency
Will meet with prompt attention.
Dank of St. Mary's.
The bills of the Bank of St. Mary’s under five
dollars, and the change bills of J. G. Winter, are
still taken at par at this office.
Election Tickets.
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short notice, at the following rates: for SI,OOO
tickets $3; 500 tickets $2. Any less number 50
cents per hundred. The money must accompa
ny the order.
Mr. Webster on the Buffalo Platform.
Our readers have had before them the letter of
Mr. Dix to Dr. Garvin. They there see that
be is with Gen. Pierce—with the sound nation
al Democracy of the North, and of the South, and
stthe whole Union on the Baltimore platform,and
giving the weight of his name his influence
So acquiescence in the Compromise—to the faith
ful execution of the Fugitive Slave Law, and to
a cessation of slavery agitation. On the same
jjlatforrn stands every man who holds office un
der Gen. Pierce. All their efforts are patrioti
cally directed to put down sectionalism and agi
tation—to preserve the Federal Constitution in
its full efficiency, and to preserve the peace and
harmony of the Union. And they deserve the
support and co-operation of all good men and
true of every section, and especially of the South.
If any office-holder under the government can
Ke proved, or is justly liable to the suspicion of,
countenancing in any way the renewal of the
freesoil heresies and the freesoil excitement, the
President stands pledged to turn him out instantly
The southern whig* who are now factiously striv
ing to stir u,q cgita ’ region, have only
w*—-. SO point out the ?* ' A ‘“- and the
President promptly an l Z'dl remove him. —
In a conversation with the writer, this summer,
the President stated this to us plainly and em
phatically in the presence es several members
of his Cabinet. This he stands pledged toby
his principles, by his feelings and by his declared
policy, and he proclaims it frankly and empha
tically to all who converse with him on the
subject. We dely the opponents of his Admin
istration—we defy the Whig orators and people
of Georgia or elsewhere, to produce the proof of
a single case where he hay declined or hesitated
to do so on any applic-'.ron to him for this exer
cise of the remo" - ' _ power. One such proof of
infidelity to nis pledged and declared policy
.WMhiV do more lor the Whig cause in Georgia
than all the slang-whanging fustian which
their demagogues of the press and of the stump
ihave been dealing out to the people duiing the
present canvass.
Yet in the face of the steadfast and earnest ef
forts of the President to build up and cement a
national party true to the constitution, and op
posed to freesoilism, sectionalism and agitation
—in the face of the patriotic conduct of North
ern men who have abandoned freesoil organiza
tions and freesoil agitation and rallied to his
support, these Whig demagogues are studious
ly endeavoring to mislead the public mind on
this subject, and to misrepiflsent the positions of
the leading public men of the North who were
»nce fi eesoilers, but are now so no longer.
The Chronicle Sf Sentinel of the 23rd inst., puts
forth an editorial disgusting to every candid
mind, from which we extract the following char
acteristic specimen.
“Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor, and
Free Men.” —People of Georgia, the above is
the motto inscribed upon the banner which John
Dix unfurled to the breeze in the Presidential
election, in 1848. It embodied the principles
which he defended in the United States Senate
in 1847-48 and ’49. the period at which he left
that body. It is the same banner which Gid
dings, Hale, Chase, the Van Burens, Preston
King, Vroom, Campbell, and Maloney, end all
the Free soil faction, now spread to the winds.
What think you, people of Georgia, of the new
soalition formed by the Secessionists with these
men? What think you of marshaling yoursel
ves under such a banner, with Fred. Douglass
as your standard bearer? For Fred, and John
A. Dix stood shoulder to shoulder on the Buffalo
Platform —they were party associates—political
triends. Are the people of Georgia prepared
for such a contract, ready for such a coalition ?
If 60, let them vote for the Secession candidate.
Herschel V. Johnson, who recommends it when
be approves of the Free-soil appointments, ami
■advises a union of the Southern Secessionists
with the Free soil Democracy of the North
John A Dix and Fred. Douglass were both on
the Buffa'o Platform, and may yet be allied to
each other by the closest political affinities ”
Then follow the Resolutions known as the
■Buffalo platform, after which the editors say :
“Freemen of Georgia, in the above you have
Ihe opinions and principles of John A. Dix in
reference to slavery. He has no where and on
no occasion retracted a single one, and he is to
day as decided an advocate of the principles ol
the Wihnot Proviso, as he was in 1848 aud ; 49.”
Now we would suppose that these immaculate
editors, if honest in all this show of indignation
vould shrink with holy horror from political
association with Buffalo platform men—men
who had devoted their whole energies against sla
very extension—in favor of the Wilmot Proviso,
and in favor of '"free soil, free speech, free labor, and
free men.’’
But what are the facts. This press supported
a Buffalo platform man for President last year.
The present candidate for Governor, Mr. Jenkins
ran on the same ticket for Vice President.
Hear what Daniel Webster said about this
Buffalo platform, and about his being himself a
Frcesoiler.
Here is his language at Abington, Oct. 10,
1843.
‘‘Mr. Webster, declared that the Freesoiler? at
Buffalo had stolen their sentiments from the Northern
Whigs. It was a clear case of petty larceny —that
there was nothing in the platform that did not
n eet the unqualified approbation of the Northern
Whigs—that if the Northern Whigs were to join
the Freesoil party, “ We” said Mr. Webster,
'''"should still be the Whig party, under a different
name, and that would be all.”
Again, the same year, hear him in his Marsh
field speech.
“I have read, gentlemen, the Buffalo platform,
and although there are some rotten parts about
it, I can stand on it pretty well. It is not wholly
new nor original. What there is valuable about
it is not new, and what is new is not valuable.
If, my friends, the term‘Free Soil’ party, or‘Free
Soil’ men, is meant to designate one who has
been fixed, unalterable, to-day, yesterday, and
for some time past—in opposition to slaveiy ex
tension, then I may claim to be, and may hold
myself, as good a Free Soil man as any member
of that Buffalo Convention. 1 pray to know
where is there soil freer than that on which 1
have stood? I pray to know what words they
can use, or can dictate to me, freer than those
which have dwelt on my lips? I pray to know
with what feelings they can inspire my breast,
more resolute to slavery extension or encroach
ment, than have inhabited my bosom since the
first time I opened iny mouth in public life?
Hear what Robert C. Wintbrop another, dis
tinguished Massachusetts authority said at the
Massachusetts Whig Convention of that year.
“THEY (the Whigs) WERE OPPOSED TO
THE EXTENSION OF SLAVERY EAR
NESTLY, ARDF.NTLY, UNCOMPROMIS
INGLY, AND THEY DECLARED THEM
SELVES SO. THEY HAD BEEN “FREE
SOIL” MEN FROM THE FIRST; THEY
WERE “FREE SOIL” MEN while Mr. Van
Buren and his friends were admitting Texas into
the Union, arid covering four-fifths of it with
slavery. THEY HAVE ALWAYS BEEN
“FREE SOIL” MEN.”
Hear what the Boston Journal a leading whig
paper said about the same time.
“Daniel Webster, in his late noble Whig speech
at Marshfield, shows conclusively that the Whig
party of the United States has ever been the
only Free Soil party in the Union ; and that he
himself, and other distinguished Whigs, who
now support the Whig candidate, have been
foremost in resistance to the encroachments and
advances of the slave power in this country.
The truth is. there is no difference of opinion
among the Whigs of the North on this great
principle of introducing slavery into foreign ter
ritory. The difference which exist now is only
with regard to mm.”
Hear what Mr. Webster said at Buffalo, in 1851
only a year before he was urged for the Presiden
cy in this State.
“My opinion remains unchanged, that it was
not within the original scope or design of the
Constitution to admit new States out of foreign
territory and that tor one, I never would consent:
and no matter what may be said at the Syracuse
Convention, or at any other assemblage of in
sane persons, l never would consent , and never
have consented, that there should be one foot ot slave
territory beyond what the old Thirteen States
had at the time of the formation of the Union.
Never! never! The man cannot show his
face to me and say he can prove that I ever de- :
parted from that doctrine. He would sneak j
away, and slink away, or hire a mercenary pres- i
that he might cry cut, what an apostate from
liberty Daniel Webster has become. He knows
himself to be a hypocrite and a falsifier.”
We could nil column upon column all going to
show that that whole National Whig party at
the north, which Mr. Jenkins was so anxious
last yearto unite with, were all like Mr. Web
ster, on the Buffalo platform.
How many Northern Whigs ever voted
against the Wilmot Proviso in Congress? Time
and again, it came up and they went in solid
column in favor of it. And they stand Diedged
to vote the same way again whenever they have
an opportunity.
Let (he factionists, North and South, succeed
in destroying the confidence es the American
people in the National Democracy, and in Gen.
Pierce—let these (action ists get the power of
the Government into their hands, and the whole
freesoil and abolition host—Hale and Atwood
annihilated by Gen. Pierce in New Hampshire,
and Garrison, and Giddings, and Greely and
and even Fred Douglass will be in the plenitude
of their glory. But IV:r. Dix will not be found
in that crowd.
To-day we publish an admirable letter of
the Hon. John P. King. It is full of patriotism
and sound sense, and furnishes most appropriate
commentaries on this whole subject of freesoil
ism and the President’s appointments.
We invite to it the readers attention.
“Lame and Impotent Conclusion.”
Secession and tiie Right or Secession.
The Chronicle <s" Sentinel makes an effort as
bungling as it is unfair, to prove to its readers
that the Hon. Herschel V. Johnson once fa
vored disunion, or secession. When an oppo
nent undertakes to prove a proposition it
is nothing less than bungling for him to quote
language that flatly upsets his whole argument
and tears to pieces his web of sophistry. Yet in
the Chronicle of the 2lst in6t., in an editorial
written to prove Judge Johnson was in favor of
secession in 1850, is quoted the following lan
guage of that gentleman stating that he is opposed
to a dissolution of the Union by secession or any
other way:
“ It seems to me therefore, that our Conven
tion should 1< ok to future security, rather than
to redress past wrongs. Indeed I am frank to
say, that I would not dissolve this Union, either
by secession or otherwise, for what has already
been done, if any assurance can be obtained from
the North, that they will cease their aggressions
and permit us to remain quietly in the Union.
Our true policy then, in my poor Judgement, is
to adopt such measures as will prevent all future
encroachments upon our rights.”
This is from Judge Johnson’s letter to a Wash
ington county Committee, prior to the State
Convention.
The Chronicle goes on to qnote a passage from
the letter in which Judge Johnson states what
things he thought the Convention ought to do.—
These are seven in number, not one of which
was secession or disunion.
We defy Judge Jolfts*n’s opponents to pro
duce the first sentence he ever penned, or prove
by a reputable witness that he ever uttered a
sentence in favor of the secession of Georgia, or
any other State from the Union. Judge John
son never was a disunionist. He was in favor
of preserving the Union when Mr. Jenkins was,
in 1832, with his fellow nulliliers and secession
ists calculating the value of the Union, and doing
their best to prove it was not worth preserving.
From that day to this be has never uttered a sen
timent that we have read or heard of which
squinted as decidedly towards disunion as was
the well-known toast of Mr. Jenkins at the Lex
ington dinner. “ The Union —formed to be val
uable. why should not its value be calculated.”
1 he Union men ot those days cherished the opin
ion tnat the value ol the Union was incalculable.
But Mr. Jenkins and his political friends enter
tained then a very different opinion, and were
anxious to convince the Union men of their error.
They did not succeed. On the contrary Mr.
Jenkins was repeatedly beaten by the Unionists
of Richmond county for the Legislature, because
of this odor of disunion that attached to him.
He finally got in by the Unionists relenting to
wards him, and allowing his name to be put on
a Compromise ticket which a portion of the
Union party and the State Rights, or Disunion
party, as it was sometimes called, united upon
and elected. His previous defeats may be ac
counted for because he was suspected not to
have been quite as strong a Union man as the
people thought he ought to be. He was a gen
tleman admitted on all hands to possess fine ta
lents and an unblemished character. This Com
promise ticket was elected in 1836. The next
year the Union party put a full ticket in op
position to the State Rights ticket. Mr. Jenkins
was on the State Rights ticket. Herschel V.
Johnson was on the Union ticket. Judge John
son was a Union man then. He is one still.
The Chronicle finds fault with Judge Johnson’s
views of the right of a State to secede—a right
“ derived from the nature of the compact.” It
does not quote from Judge Johnson’s letter to
the Augusta Committee sufficiently to show its
readers what are his views on this point. But
Mr. Jenkins used to hold in the days of nullifi
cation and secession that a State had this right,
derived from the nature of the compact. He
coincided then with the strictest sect of State
Rights men. In a public speech in 1832, we
heard him with his own lips emphatically declare
that a State bad an unalienable right to secede
“ whenever in her own sovereign wilt she chose to
do so. : ’ We quote his exact words. They are
indelibly impressed upon our memory. We be
lieved then he was right. We believe so still.
We were brought up in that school of State
Rights politicians and have never recanted these
opinions. We are not aware that Mr. Jenkins
has ever recanted. He is a man that will stand
up to his opinions and vie think all the better of
him for it. t er.ator Toombs, Senator Dawson,
Mr. Stephens—in fact all the leading State
Rights men of that day, r.ow Whigs, held the
same doctrine. For aught we know to the
contrary, they hold the doctrine still. Judge
Johnson belonged in those days to the Union, or
Jackson Democracy who looked upon this doc
trine as a political heresy. They insisted that
Secession was not a peaceable, but a revolution
ary remedy and would have to be vindicated by
the sword.
The Georgia Convention in 1850, failed to
pronounce either way on this theoretical ques
tion. It is of no practical importance at this
time, and freemen have a perfect right in this
country to enjoy their own opinions upon it.
The contemptibls balderdash about Judge
Johnson’s fraternizing with disunionists, and the
Southern Rights party of Georgia having “ bold
ly asserted their purpose to dissolve the Union
and establish a Southern Confederacy,’ 1 we will
answer by an extract from a late article »n t'vj'
IJacon Telegraph, signed " *dn (Server."
article is especially devoted 4ghe* twistings and
turnings of that versatile®fire-eater, Senator
Toombs, and the Honorable Representative to
Congress from Georgia who is “no defender
of slavery in the abstract,” and who, like the
freesoilers of the North, has “no wish to extend it
to other countries .”
The “ twistings and turnings of the Southern
Rights party (whom we presume is meant by
the Fire-eating party) as exhibited by him. or any
one else, can be no more than the different degrees
of feeling between different individuals of the party.
In all parlies there are always some firm on ex
tremes, and others ivhn go by Jits and starts ; but
the character of a party is always fixd by its action,
which is directed by the great majority. Look
over the Resolutions and actions ot the Southern
Rights party, and there will be found no taint
of change, nor of disunion ; but a determined
resolution to unite, if possible, their brethren of
the South for the protection of the rights of the
South. Before the question was decided, some
lew men became excited, and spoke of disun
ion ; but they were t'men of excitable tempera
ment who only echoed Mr. Toombs’ own
speeches in Congress. There was in fact no
thought of disunion until the violent speeches
of Messrs. Toombs and Stephens echoed it in
Georgia, and then it was only by the hot bloods
who always run to extremes. Then it was ta
ken up as a hue and cry by political tricksters,
and their followers, to overwhelm the Southern
Rights party, (who composed the great body of
the people,) by alarming the people and excit
ing the temporary belief that there must be
some danger of disunion, when it was so loudly
and constantly reiterated by the satellites of
Toombs and Stephens, and those they had alarm
ed. The violent speeches of Toombs and his
Brother Pollux in Congress, echoing in Georgia,
excited among the excitable, a feeling of the ne
cessity of disunion for the preservation ot their
rights, which reacting upon themselves in
Washington, they became smitten with the fear
of loss of position, and anticipated office, and
came to Georgia, and shouted that the Southern
Rights party are for disunion, —hurrah lor the
Union—every one for himself, and the uevil
take the hindmost, and created a perfect stam
pede among the people. But the people soon
recovered from the alarm, and finding they had
been made to make a false step, they in conven
tion, and with Toombs and Stephens and their
satellites, passed the Resolution that if another
right of the South was infringed, they -would dis- I
rupt the Union. The people should now show
Toombs, Stephens and their satellites that they
may goon jumping Jim Crow, and playing Har
lequin tricks for their own benefit or amuse
ment ; but they, the people, now see through
their tricks and will no long « be deceived by
them.
“ As goes Chatham, so goes the State.”
This proud position has long been asserted lor
old Chatham by her sons, and faithfully have
her lion hearted Democracy toiled in every con
test involving the great principles ot their creed
to vindicate the claim. Again are they called
upon to buckle on their armor for the fight, and
the whole State is looking with eager interest to
see on which banner the light of victory will
g>am. The Democratic party of that county
have every advantage in their favor. The late
Municipal elections of Savannah proved the
Democrats have a large majority in the city—
they have the advantage of superior organization,
and the prestige which is derivetftrom past suc
cesses. It is fair to infer also, that the Federal
and Municipal patronage in their hands is a
source of additional strength. On the other hand
the Whigs have not even put out a Legislative
ticket in opposition. Whether this be a tacit
concession of weakness, or is with a view to con
centrate more effort and energy upon the ticket
for Governor and for Congress, we aie unpre
; pared to say.
Let not the Democracy of Chathan be selfish
ly content to elect their Legislative ticket, which
requires no effort, and forget that the Democracy
of the whole State have a common interest in
the Chatham vote for Johnson and Sf.ward.
It is talked of in the streets of Augusta, that
the election for Governor and for Congress will
be used by some Democrats in Savannah as the
occasion of venting oid personal grudges, and of
yielding to personal, family and local influences
to the injury of the Democratic cause. The
Whigs here are making large calculations on
these points. How truly founded these calcula
tions are, time will show. That they have been
greatly overestimated, as they are in the habit
of doing, every advantage of this sort, is prover
bial, and in the present case we expect to see
! them disappointed.
In this city and county, the Democracy intend
to stand square up to their duty—their whole
duty. They bear in mind that every vote they
give is for the common benefit of the common
cause, and no local influences or discouragements
will swerve or dishearten them. They will
i inarch firmly up to the polls in the face of the
I hot fire of a settled Whig majority.
\ They cherish an abiding hope of yet overcoming
: it, as the Democracy of Chatham overcame the
I majority against them. They will fight on and
! fight ever, conscious of being in the right, till
victory crowns their devotion to their principles.
We hope the present battle will be fought in
' the same spirit throughout the State. More es
| pecially do we hope the Chatham Democracy—
i the friends of the Administration, the advocates
jof a wholescme national feeling, which dis
j countences further sectionalism and agitation,
j will at that important point make a demonstra
) tion worthy of the Known energies of the party,
! and worthy the patriotic principles which it is
! organized to advance.
; Charles J. McDonald, David J. Bailey and
Herschel V. Johnson.
Three more upright and honest men in their
i pecuniary dealings—thiee men more entirely
above suspicion of “dirty and disreputable con
duct” in regard to money, are not to be found
in the broad expanse of the State or the Union.
Yet the Chroncile <§■ Sentinel , on the heel of the
canvass undertakes to impugn them.
This Jackal of the Whig press digs up from
the buried past, a business transaction over which
it seeks to throw a coloring disreputable to these
gentlemen. The following is its language :
David J. Bailey and Herschel V. Johnson
were practising law in partnership in Milledge
ville. Bailey was appointed, under the statute,
sole Director of the Central Bank by Gov. Mc-
Donald. McDonald’s term of office as Governor
j expired in November, 1843. Bailey’s term ex-
I pired on the 31st day of December, 1843. Two
j days before Bailey’s term of office expired, on
the 29th day of December, the said Bailey (pro
bably after consulting with them and arranging
the whole thing,) determined to give his law
partner, Herschel V. Johnson, and his special
friend Charles J. McDonald some nice little
pickings in the way ot collections for the Cen
tral Bank. Hence he was about to hand over to
these good friends, some $140,000 of notes due
that Bank, to be collected by them ; on which,
of course, they were to get a commission of 5
per cent., and the court costs in every case.
Governor Crawford, happened to hear that some
thing disreputable was probably going on ; and
on the 29th of December, issued an Executive
order prohibiting the giving out of the notes,
j which effectually locked the ' l nice little game’’ of
j Messrs. Bailey, Johnson and McDonald!—Chroni
! cle , 12 th inst.
What chiefly strikes us as remarkable here is,
that Gov. Crawford should have interfered to
prevent the collection of these assets cf the
Central Bank, by Judge Johnson. We do not
doubt that his reason for doing so was that he
wished: to deprive an honest Democratie lawyer
of thechanceof earning the fees, and to bestow
them on some of his Whig favorites, it is very
certain that be did turn over a large amount of
Central Bank claims to Col. Augustus B. Kenan,
for collection, who made several thousanddollars
by the operation. How many others came in
for a share of this sort of patronage we do not
know. But we do know that much more than
five per cent was allowed, in some instances for
their trouble.
Col. Bailey made a good arrangement for the
state in employing Judge Johnson to sue and
collect these debts at five per cent. A more
trustworthy and efficient attorney could not have
been selected. The Central Bank would not
have lost a dollar by him. We do not know
that it lost any by delinquences of Gov. Craw
ford’s favorites. But it is very certain that in
respect to every quality which makes an attor
ney reliable, prompt and efficient, Judge John
son was as suitable a man to employ as could
have been found in the whole state.
Come out again, gentlemen of the Chronicle !
Have you any more charges of the same sort left *
or have you any more “ buzzard ” Roosbashs in
reserve ?
Senator Toombs.
We extract a portion of an editorial 1 from the
Washington Union showing up the above gentle
man, to which we invite attention.
Two points in it, especially, we request our
readers to note. Ist. The fact therein quoted
from good Whig authority too.that the Hon. Peter
J. Vroom has been grossly misrepresented and
slandered by Mr. Toombs, and his co-adjutors in
Georgia, in their work of Agitation, and of de
traction of President Pierce.
2d. The claim asserted for a Tennesseean of
high distinction of being the author of the Geor
gia Platform, by whom, and not by Mr. Jenkins,
says the editorial, “it was framed, its timbers
squared, and every plank nailed.”
Mr. Toombs and Mr. Stephens ought to know
all abont this, for we are informed they played
wild havoc with Mr. Jenkins’ programme as
prepared by him and carried to Milledgeville. It
seems now they plagiarised from the Minority
Report of the Nashville Convention.
Mr. Vroom’s is one of the few appointments
to office which have served Messrs. Toombs and
Stephens as a pretext for all their hellabulloo
about the country being “in great and immi
nent DANGER.”
It may be as well here to remark that we have
travelled some this summer in Georgia and else
where, and have made some inquiry as to how
people felt on the subject, and we have not
met the first man that said he honestly enter
tained the slighted apprehension for the sta
bility of the government or the safety of the
country. We have heard of no such man. We
do not believe there is any such man to be
found. Mr. Toombs can’t get up a panic. The
election is near at hand, with strong probabili
ties of Judge Johnson’s election. Yet nobody
is Scared. Property don’t go down. People aie
making no preparations for a break up. Dem
ocrats under the full assurance of Judge John
son’s triumphant election, and the consequent
strengthening by the voice of Georgia of the pa
triotic Administration ot President Pierce, are
preparing to come by thousands in joyous spirits to
our State Fair in October. Whigs, under painful
apprehensions of the same result, also intei d
coming by thousands to the Fair, knowing that
there is no catastrophe at hand, ever., though the
Democracy of Georgia should add our own no
ble State to the other twenty-seven that stand
firmly by the President of the people.
The Republic is safe. Judge Johnson will be
Governor elect. Yet, our Fair Grounds will be
a scene of security, of serenity, and ( njoyment.
Cotton will be brougot to market, and sold for a
good price, and the merchants will sell their good s
as asua!,and share in hope in the general prosperi
ty. The season will roll on bringing seed time and.
harvest as usual, and our noble Democratic State
go on in her career of improvement, regardless
of the agitators, and quite indifferentas to what
may be the present state of Mr. Jenkins’ affec
tions for the National Whig Party. Mr. Toombs
must try anothei experiment. The election
ov^r
41 What part will Roscius next enact?”
Last Cards and Secret Circulars.
The Whigs, true to their old tricks will, on
the eve of the election, put afloat all sorts of mis
representations to prejudice the Democratic can
didates in the public mind. If any new stories
are trumped up, or old ones dressed out in new
colors and garish embellishments, the Demo
crats may take for granted that they are Roor
backs on a par with the famous one of 1844 that
Mr. Polk branded his negroes in hot iron with
the letter P. After the election is over they
can be triumphantly refuted ; but in the mean
time the iniquity will have worked out the de
sign of wheedling honest men of their votes, if
they are weak enough to yield credence to them
and allow their minds to be influenced thereby.
The Democrats may form some idea of what
may be expected from those who habitually do
the dirty work ot the Whig party, by referring
to what honorable men of that party did in 1544
to defeat the Democracy. We beg leave to call
their attention to the concluding portion of #
circular issued on the eve of the Presidential
election of that year:
“Augusta, Oct. 26, 1844.
* * * * * * #
“ We add a single, but decisive motive: MR.
POLK IS NOW THE AVOWED FAVORITE
OF THE ABOLITIONISTS! MR CLAY, IS
THE OBJECT OF THEIR BITTEREST CA
LUMNY !
“ A print, procured from the office of “ The
Liberator, an abolition paper in Boston, repre
sents a negro woman, half naked, chained to a
post, and a man, whose likeness to Mr. Clay,
cannot be mistaken, with a lash in his hand, is
whipping her—underneath is the motto, “The
Mill Boy of the Slashes.” This vile print has
been extensively circulated at the North, and
its object is to excite the people against Mr.
Clay.
“It remained for Mr. Birney, the Leader of the
abolitionists, not only to express hatred of Mr.
Clay, hut preference for Mr Polk! THIS PRE
FERENCE HE HAS EXPRESSED ! He de
clares his pre'lerence for Mr. Polk, and too plain
ly manifests his motive, and that of his party,
to be this : Mr. Clay is a strong man, and pos
sessing the confidence of his party, will be able to
resist the abolitionists. Mr. Poik has neither
personal nor party strength to resist them. Their
first movement is to declare every slaveholder
incapable of holding office.
“The Spirit ot the Times,’’ a Democratic pa
paper, published in Philadelphia, and widely cir
culated, justifies Mr. Birney’s preference ot Mr.
Polk, on the ground that the principles of the
Democracy justify it.
“MR. POLK IS THEN AVOWEDLY SUP
PORTED BY THE ABOLITIONISTS !
“Mr. Birney their Nominee for the Presidency,
avows his preference for Mr. Polk —and a Dem
ocratic newspaper, of high authority in their
ranks, speaking tor the party, justifies it. After
this, what patriotic Georgian, Whig or Demo
crat—what man of any party, who loves his
State, and means to defend her institutions at
any hazard, will consent to vote for Mr. Polk—
to be found side by side with the abolitionists
for his file leader—sacrificing his own dearest
interests to elevate Mr. Polk to the Presidency,
that his imbecility Apy enable them more easily
to accomplish nefarious designs? We
pray you to make this fact extensively known
among your countrymen, before and early on
the day of flection. We adjure you by all the
motives w*ch may have value with patriotic
Sons of Georgia, to devote yourself, unceasingly,
to this.subject until the day of the election.
We are, respectfully, your friends and fellow
citizens,
John M. Berrien, A. J. Miller,
Robert Toombs, fit. M. Gamble,
C. J. Jenkins, W. W. Holt.
“A copy of this letter has been addressed to
Esqs., of your county. The fact is mentioned, that
you may. if you think proper, consult with them.
We-would especially recommend that some hon
orable persons be selected, distinguished for their
activity and zeal, as the time is short, to aid you,
especially on the day of.th^kction.”
It is worthy of Mr. Jenkins
whose name was attached to the above, was a
candidate for Presidential Elector on the Whig
ticket for that year, and received the smallest vote
of the whole ten candidates of his own party.—
Even in Richmond county Mr. Jenkins was the
hindmost man on the ticket.
What influence this ciicular had on this result,
we leave the public to determine.
It ought to be a warning to the Whigs how
they trifle with the intelligence of the people.
The Democrats of Georgia, who proved that
they knew who Janus K. Polk was, will not
readily forget the abuse heaped upon that vir
tuous and enlightened statesman, whose Admin
istration was the most brilliant and able in the
history of our country, and that shed an undy
ing lustre %on the American name.
Mr. King's Letter.
We find in the last Cassville Standard a very
forcible and convincing letter of the Hon. John
P. King in vindication of the Administration of
Gen. Pierce, and in support of the Democratic
party of Georgia, its policy and its nominees. It
is in reply to the Committee of Invitation to the
Kingston Mass Meeting.
Knowing the high appreciation in which Mr.
King’s opinions are held in Georgia, and believ
ing that the reasons he urges why, not Demo
crats alone, but every patriotic citizen of the
South should rally to tne Democratic standard,
will carry conviction to every unbiassed mind)
we shall lay the letter before our readers to
morrow. We cannot refrain, thus in advance
expressing our gratification at the timely ap
pearance of Mr. King in the field for a cause, the
triumph of which is essential to the peace, the
welfare, and best interest of the country.
The Debate at La Payette.
The Whigs are famous for their spirit of brag
gadocio, and the Democrats aie quite accustom
ed to their habit of claiming every debate to
a Whig triumph, and every election a Whig vie.
tory, until the votes are counted out. They take
for granted that every encounter with Mr.
Toombs must result in the overthrow of his ad
versary and the demolition of his principles.—
But it happens some-how that the people do not
always in casting their votes assign the laurel to
the Whig champion, and it is quite notorious
that Mr. Toombs and other Whig knights have
been in vain for years running tilts against the
Democracy of the mountains. There is not the
slightest indication of their having shaken, in
the least, that Gibralterof Democratic principles.
. The recent debate between Mr. Toombs and
Col. Underwood at La Fayette, is another case
in which the lance of the former has fallen point
less, if not shivered, before a young and less ex
perienced adversary.
The following is an account of it, varying
somewhat from what is found in the Chronicle $•
Sentinel.
Col. Underwood is a gentleman of superior
intelligence, and of independence enough to fol
low his convictions of duty, though they carry jr
him into the ranks of the national Demociacy.
He is one of the large number of intelligent and
influential Whigs in Cherokee Georgia, who
finding the Whig party abo!itionized,bave ranged
themselves on the side of the Administration.—
Hence the bitterness of the Chronicle towards
him.
[From the Rome Southerner, 2 2d in*/.]
Mr. Editor: —lt so happened that the an
pointment of Mr. Toombs and Col. Chastain to
speak at this place fell on the same day. Owing
to Col. C.’s illness, he was represented by Col.
J. W. H. Underwood of your place. The order
of speaking was as follows : Mr. Underwood to
open the debate in a speech of one hour—Mr.
Toombs to reply in one hour and forty minuted
time—and Col. U. to conclude in a speech of
thirty minutes—then to be followed by Col.
Chisolm, 46 minutes, to be replied to by Col.
Crook in the same length of time.
Fearing that this will hardly reach you in
time for publication, I will simply state that
Col. Underwood greatly distinguished himself
in his contest with Senator Toombs. It is not
my intention to disparage Mr. T. in the least
but candor and justice compel me to say that he
had no advantage of Col. Underwood as the ef
fect on the audience plainly testified.
Col. Crook tore up his competitor into perfect
doll-rags.
* The Democracy was much strengthened by
the debate.
i*ut down Walker 250 majority for the demo
cratic ticket.
Yours in haste.
Lafayette.
Tho Buzzard Story .again.
Asa set off to the certificate of the fifteen
whose card we published on Sunday, we now
present the following, which we find in the last
Macon Telegraph :
Cherokee County, Sept. 17th, 1853.
The undersigned, citizens of said county, have
seen, with much surprise, a certificate signed by
fifteen persons, published in the Southern Re
coider of the 13th inst., in relation to a speech
delivered by the Hon. H. V. Johnson, at Can
ton, sometime in August, 1852, by which he is
reported to have said, in said speech, that ** he
had no confidence in Union Democrats—that they
could not be trusted—that they stunk , and that they
would be dead and eat up by the buzzards be]ore
the dog-days were out P
The undersigned heard every word of Judge
Johnson’s speech on that occasion, and without
saying anything of the persons who have sign
ed said certificate, or of their motives, the un
dersigned fee! it to be their duty, as an act of
justice, to say that both the language and sense
of the speech, are entirely perverted by the cer
tificate. Judge Johnson was, at the tpne, a can
didate ujron the democratic electoral ticket for
Pierce and King, and was attempting to concil
iate Union democrats, of whom there were sev
eral hundred in the county, and to induce them
and the Union whigs who favored the election
of Pierce and King to vote for the ticket. He
stated that the Union party was divided; that
some of its members would vote for each of the
tickets then in the field lor Pierce and King;
and predicted that at the conventions then soon
to assemble in Macon, an electoral ticket would
be nominated for Scott, and another for Webster.
He 6poke of the probable dissolution of the Un
ion party by its own divisions, and the epithets
whieh he used , were used in reference to the death of
the party, and were not used in reference to Union
democrats or whigs, but only in reference to the par
ty orgpnization of the Union party, which he pro
nounced to be on the point of dissolution. Ho
spoke freelv of party and party organization, but
said nothing disrespectful of, or justly offensive
to, Union democrats, whom were the very per
sons whom he was most particularly striving te
conciliate.
L. M. Hook,
P. F. Wood,
Stephen Kemp,
E. M. Field, J
Wm. Densmore,
James M. Fielder, f.
Hiram Johnson,
Philip Graham,
John Johnson,
Elijah Long,
John M. Nuchalls,
James E. Rusk,
R. F. Daniel,
Frederick Burtz,
Wm. T. Day
H. R. Carmichael.
Joseph E. Brown,
J. H. Hardin,
Joseph McConnell,
M. J. Milliford,
J.L. Galt.
G. R. McCurby,
James McConnell,
Wm. M. Bell,
Anderson D. Smith,
David Putman,
Elias E. Field,
Samuel Orr,
Levi Rudasil!,
David E. Garrison,
James Jordan,
E. G. Grambiing,
S. Z. Harris,
The signers of this certificate are, no doubt
ail truthful and respectable men. We have per
sonal acquaintance with some of them, and know
them to be among the most estimable and intel
ligent men of the State.
The idea that Judge Johnson would use the
language attributed to him is as absurd, as to
suppose that a 3uitor paying his addresses to a
young lady, would tell her that her face was
ugly enough to break up a camp-meeting, and
her temper sour enough to turn a whole dairy
of sweet milk into clabber, by her just poking
her head into it. The story is absurd on it*,
face. It has not the first element of plausibility
to recommend it, and must, therefore, go along
with the Roorbacks of ! 44, and the Foss ani
Fogg slanders of ’52.
Property Qualification for Governor.
We did Mr. Jenkins no injustice in publish
ing the charge that he did make the speech in
the Legislature against the repeal of the Proper
ty Qualification to the office of Governor. We
did him no injustice in supposing that he had
made the speech, and forgotten it.
We are now prepared to reiterate the charge,
that he did, in 1547, leave the speaker’s chair,
and make a speech in opposition to the repeal.
We are furnished with the names of gentle
men, who were members of the Legislature of
1847, as authority for the charge.
Mr. Jenkins has not denied it. He will no*
deny it, nor wiil any one else deny it for him.
The certificates of some of the most respecta
ble citizens of the state, testifying that they
heard the will be furnished if neces
sary.