being a member of the Convention, withdrew his name, and urged his friends to cast their ballots for Mr. Howell Cobb.

In 1843, Mr. Johnson was nominated to fill a vacancy in Congress; but was defeated, with the whole Democratic ticket.

In the spring of 1844, he located himself in the vicinity of Milledgeville. The State, at this time, was divided into Congressional districts, and Mr. Polk having been nominated for the Presidency, Mr. Johnson was unanimously selected by the Democratic Convention as the elector for the Seventh District. The canvass in Georgia, as all well remember, was exciting, and warmly contested; and upon Mr. J. devolved a large proportion of the labours of the hustings. The seventh was the district so long and ably represented by Mr. Stephens, with its overwhelming Whig majority; and the eighth, contiguous to it, was Mr. Toombs' district, with a still larger Whig majority. Nearly all, if not all, the counties of those districts, he visited, and addressed the people, some of them more than once; and besides this, in obedience to the numerous calls of his party friends abroad, traversed almost every portion of the State.

In 1845, when the State Democratic Convention assembled to nominate a candidate for Governor, there were but two names prominently before that body-those of Colonel M. Hall McAllister and Mr. Johnson. Their respective friends urged the claims of each with great pertinacity; but aware that neither could be nominated under the state of feeling existing in the Convention, Mr. Johnson, before the ballotings commenced, formally addressed a letter to the Convention, withdrawing the use of his name.

In 1847, his friends in the Convention that assembled to select the Democratic nominee for the Executive chair, again urged his claims. On the first ballot he received a number of votes nearly equal to his competitor, Colonel Towns, when his friends withdrew his name. The prominent objection urged against him was, that he had made. temperance speeches, and that on this account he was not so available as Colonel Towns. Many of his friends, disappointed at the result of the nomination, anticipated the defeat of the party. Colonel Towns was, however, elected. Shortly after his inauguration, Hon. Walter T. Colquitt having resigned his seat in the U. S. Senate, Governor Towns appointed Mr. Johnson to fill the vacancy. He took his seat in that body on the 14th of February, 1848, and sustained the measures of Mr. Polk's Administration. The first speech which he made was upon the "Ten Regiment Bill," in vindication of the Administration touching the Mexican war, and the necessity and policy of its vigorous prosecution. The talent, patriotism and statesmanship evinced by this speech, gave him at once position in the National Council, and equalled the expectations of his friends. During the long session of 1848, besides taking part in the occasional debates of the Senate, he made a speech on the resolutions congratulating France upon her Republican movements, and another upon the Oregon Territorial Bill.

He was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention held at

Baltimore, in June, 1848. On his return to Georgia, after the adjournment of Congress, he participated in the Presidential canvass then in progress. On reassuming his seat in the Senate in December, he was elected Chairman of the Committee on the District of Columbia. The feeble state of his health during the early and greater part of this session, prevented him from taking an active part in many of the exciting discussions which occupied it. He did, however, near its close, make an able and effective speech on what is known as Walker's amendment to the Civil Appropriation Bill. It was during this session of Congress that the meeting of the Southern members was held, which promulgated what is known as the "Southern Address." That paper received his signature. The career of Colonel Johnson in the U. S. Senate was brief, but it was brilliant. It was no small compliment to him that he stood high in the estimation of Mr. Calhoun-that distinguished Senator having more than once declared that he regarded him the ablest man of his age then in the Senate.

In November, 1849, he was elected by the Legislature of Georgia Judge of the Superior Court for the Ocmulgee District. In this new and responsible position, he did not disappoint the expectations of those who placed him in it. Upon his elevation to the Bench, it was his determination to abstain from any active participation in politics, but "the Compromise Measures," as they are termed, excited every man in the State, and he could not easily avoid participating in the feelings they engendered, and the discussions they elicited. These measures gave rise to two new party organizations in Georgia-the Union and Southern Rights. His feelings and sentiments threw him into the ranks of the latter. Mr. Johnson's friends say he was never a disunionist. He believes in the right of secession, not as constitutional, but as resulting necessarily from the character of our confederated government, the sovereignty of the States composing it. He therefore favoured a Southern Congress, not to ride roughshod over the Constitution, but to preserve it; not to dissolve the Union, but to perpetuate it. He believed that a Southern Congress was the best practicable mode of securing union and harmony among the States of the South, and consequently of securing the glorious results anticipated from it. But when Georgia, in her Convention in December, 1850, resolved to acquiesce in the Compromise, Judge Johnson was one of the first to declare that the causes which led to the organization of the Southern Rights party had ceased to exist. He therefore was found in the meeting held in the capitol at Milledgeville, in November, 1851; the design of which was, among other things, to nominate a democratic electoral ticket for the State. In that meeting he offered a preamble, reciting among other things the views that have been adverted to, concluding with the following, among other resolutions :

Resolved, That the question of submission to the Compromise is settled in this State; and that it is the duty of the people, for the future, to unite as one man, in

the inflexible determination to maintain, to the letter, the position which Georgia has taken against all future aggressions by Congress upon the institution of slavery. Resolved, That in view of the indications given by the Northern Democracy, to consider the slavery question as finally settled by the Compromise, to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law, and to oppose its repeal or material modification, Geor gia should be represented in the Baltimore Convention, to co-operate in such action by that body, and the nomination of such candidates for the Presidency and Vice-Presidency, as will give vitality and efficacy to the Compromise, secure safety to the South, and harmony to the Confederacy.

Resolved, That we recommend the Democratic party to hold a Convention at Milledgeville, at as early a day as may be convenient and expedient, to appoint delegates to the Baltimore Convention, and that a committee of nine be appoint. ed by the President of this meeting, to confer with the friends of this policy in every part of the State, to designate and publicly announce the day for the assembling of such Convention.

Mr. Johnson's preamble and resolutions were unanimously adopted. The Convention ordered by that meeting assembled on the 31st of March, and sent delegates to the National Democratic Convention, in which Judge Johnson occupied a seat, and, in connection with his colleagues, cordially seconded the movement of Virginia, which resulted in the nomination of General Pierce. He was also unanimously nominated by the Convention of Georgia one of the electors for the State at large, and was elected.

Having been nominated a candidate for Governor, he resigned hist seat on the bench in August, 1853, was elected Governor on the first Monday of October, and inaugurated on the 9th of November.

In commenting upon his inaugural, the editor of the Savannah Republican says:

"The inaugural address of Governor Johnson will not fail to attract that general attention due alike to a document of the kind, and the distinguished source from whence it emanates. Had the people of our commonwealth no other evidence whereby to judge of the character of its chief magistrate, and his ability to administer its laws, than the authorship of this address, their confidence in his honesty of purpose, under a just appreciation of the trusts and responsibilities which devolve upon him, would be hearty and unreserved. This address gives evidence on the part of its author of a clearness of perception, a firmness of purpose, and an humble reliance, worthy the head and heart of one called to preside over and administer the extended and varied interests of a free and Christian people. The great interests of education, agriculture, internal improvements, and the mechanic arts, are alluded to as worthy the fostering care of the Government."

Upon the subject of education, Governor J. says:

"Our system assumes, that the people are capable of self-government; each man is a portion of the sovereignty, and, to the extent of his individual influence, gives direction to all the operations of government. But this assumption is not based upon any inherent capacity for government, as an attribute of

man. It presupposes intelligence, to understand his rights, and virtue to give that intelligence proper direction. Hence, public education and morality-enlightened intellect and cultivated heart-are indispensable to the success of our political system. They are the main pillars on which the structure is built; let them be substituted by ignorance and vice, and the fabric will tumble to ruins. "If to this consideration we add the reflection, that education is the most potent means for the rapid development of a high civilization-the proper end of government-how obvious and imperative is the obligation to foster its diffusion among the people, with a liberality commensurate with its importance and the unnumbered blessings which it procures! The cause of public education is emphatically the cause of our State. It addresses itself to every noble feeling of our hearts. If, as patriots, we desire the perpetuity of our free institutions-if, as philanthropists, we would gladden the children of poverty with the sunbeams of science, elevate them to useful citizenship, and press to their lips the cup of intellectual happiness, it pleads with an urgency and pathos that should awaken every generous impulse."

We most ardently wish that such sentiments may be speedily appreciated and acted upon throughout the length and breadth of Georgia.

Judge Johnson, besides his political speeches, has, on several occasions, distinguished himself by his efforts in other fields. In 1842, he delivered the Annual Address before the Alumni of the State University; in 1845, the eulogy on General Jackson before the citizens of Milledgeville; and in 1847, the annual commencement oration before the Literary Societies of Mercer University; also before the Wesleyan Female College at Macon, on the 14th July, 1853. All these addresses were published, and added to the reputation he had previously acquired.

As a public speaker, he enjoys an enviable reputation. On the hustings, he has few equals. As a man, Judge Johnson's public and private character is without a stain.

At the age of forty, without any adventitious circumstances to aid him, by mere force of talent and weight of character, he has won his way to a proud distinction among the leading spirits of the country.

Sketches of Counties.

APPLING COUNTY,

NAMED after Colonel Daniel Appling, was laid out in 1818; part added to Telfair in 1819, part to Ware in 1824, and a part to Telfair in 1825. Length, 55 m.; breadth, 35 m.; area square miles, 1,925. Appling is sparsely populated.

The head waters of the Great and Little St. Illa are in this county. The creeks are Ten-mile Creek, Five-mile Creek, Big and Little Goose, Dougherty's, &c.

The face of the country is level. The soil is poor. Productions, cotton, sugar-cane, corn, and rice.

HOLMESVILLE is the county site, distant from Milledgeville 115 m. Town Bluff is a small place on the Alatamaha.

The climate is healthy.

The first settlers of this county were NATHAN DEAN, JOHN TAYLOR, HENRY TAYLOR, SILAS O. QUIN, MOSES VICK, JOHN JOHNSON, JOHN HAWKINS, JOHN SMITH, D. REDISH, D. SUMMERALL, R. STRICKLAND, SAMUEL SELLEARS, JOHN PERVIS, A. EASON, G. MOODY, JOHN ROBERSON, JESSE CARTER, SAMUEL CARTER, THOMAS WOODS, R. and S. SWILLEY, B. GEORGE, the MOBLEYS, HALLS, OVERSTREETS, and WIL

COXES.

According to the census of 1850, there were in this county 410 dwellings, 410 families, 1,271 white males, 1,250 white females, 17 free coloured males, 7 free coloured females. Total free population, 2,545; slaves, 405. Deaths, 27. Farms, 313.

BAKER COUNTY.

THIS County was laid out from Early in 1825, and was named after Colonel John Baker, of Revolutionary memory. It is 371⁄2 miles in length, and about the same in width.

The lands of this county have a wide-spread and well-deserved reputation for great productiveness and certainty of crops. Cotton and corn are the chief productions; but sugar-cane, Upland rice, tobacco,