n.

The great majority of the people of the State were as much puzzled about
Joe Brown as Toombs was. Either they had not heard of him before, or
they had forgotten him. In those days a man who made a reputation in the
Cherokee country was not known to the rest of the State for a long time.
The means of communication were slow and uncertain. But the whole State
found him out just as Toombs did. He was prompt to begin the campaign.
Toombs had already left the Whig party, and was acting with the
Democrats. Stephens had left the Whigs, but had not become a Democrat.
He was an Independent. He was, as he expressed it, "toting his own
skillet." Ben Hill was Joe Brown's opponent, and these two met in debate
before the people on two or three occasions. It was thought at first
that Mr. Hill had the advantage of the tall and ungainly candidate from
Cherokee, but the end of the contest showed that the advantage was all
the other way. Mr. Hill was a man of very marked ability. He was one
of the few good speakers who could write well, and one of the few
fine writers who could speak well. He had courage, he had wit, he had
learning, he had eloquence; he had everything, in fact, to attract
popular approval and entice a popular following; but somehow, and until
the very latest years of his life, he fell far short of being a popular
idol. He was showy and effective before a mixed crowd, he never failed
to attract applause, and it was supposed that Brown was making a losing
campaign; but the campaign was going just the other way. Hill, in
the course of his discussion, said hundreds of things that the
people applauded; while Brown said hundreds of things that the people
remembered, and carried home with them, and thought over. Joe Brown was
not only a man of the people, but a man of the country people; and
he pleased the city people who had formerly lived in the country. The
result of the campaign was that Know-nothingism was buried out of sight
in Georgia. Joe Brown was elected by more than ten thousand majority,
and the Democratic majority in the Legislature was overwhelming.

Although he was only thirty-six years old when he became governor, the
people began to call him "Old Judg_ment_." This was due no less to his
peculiar gift of hard common sense than to his peculiar pronunciation.
His speech and his ways were "countrified," and they remained so all
the days of his life. His voice was not musical, and he had a peculiar
drawling int